Poverty hits Shoals kids hard

Nearly a third of the children in the Shoals are living in poverty, according to a U.S. Census report released Tuesday.

Of residents under the age of 18, 29.1 percent live below the poverty line, defined by the Census as living in a family of two adults and two children on $21,027 a year.

That sharply contrasts with the 6.7 percent of residents 65 or older who are below the poverty line, a difference Census experts say comes from supplemental income from Social Security.

Overall, nearly one of five residents in the Shoals (18.8 percent) lived below the poverty line in 2007, according to the 2007 Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States report released last week from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Nationally, the poverty rate was 12.5 percent in 2007, unchanged since 2006. The state with the highest poverty rate is Mississippi with 20.6 percent.

Alabama tied with West Virginia for sixth place nationally at 16.9 percent.

"The number of single female mothers coming to our agency has risen. The majority are unemployed with two children," Tammy McDaniel, executive director for Community Action Agency of Northwest Alabama, wrote in an e-mail.

The nonprofit agency focuses on assisting residents at or below the poverty level.

McDaniel said that since Oct. 1, the agency saw 3,059 clients and provided 4,954 services to them.

"By the time we hit Sept. 30, I estimate more than 5,500 services will have been provided," she wrote.

Alabama ranked 48th in the nation of residents (1.2 percent) that received cash public assistance income.

To make up for the difference, several organizations in the area have grouped together in an effort to focus help on Shoals children in low-income families.

For example, Give a Kid a Chance is a local outreach group working with 35 ministries plus nonprofits. This month, the organization helped 900 school children prepare to go back to school with new clothing and supplies, plus provided light medical and dental exams and a meal.

For many involved in poverty prevention, the cycle is difficult to stop.

"Statistics show when a community invests one dollar in preschool, the community will see $17 in benefits," said Ellen McGowen, director at the Lauderdale County Children's Policy Council.

In October, the Colbert County Children's Policy Council will begin Parent Project classes to teach parents how to be handle difficult children, according to Lea Anne Carter, project coordinator.

The Shoals Family Success Center is another collaborative of agencies from Colbert, Franklin and Lauderdale counties that includes business, faith-based, government and nonprofit organizations.

Still, many residents - along with their children - fall through the cracks of the system, said Donna Fisher, community relations director for Faith Church in Lauderdale County.

Referring to working poor families that do not qualify for food stamps or Medicaid for their children, Fisher said, "We have our poor and then our not-poor-enough."

Trevor Stokes can be reached at 740-5728 or trevor.stokes@TimesDaily.com.