Income inequality is the buzz word right now. President Barack Obama is talking about the enormous gap between rich and poor, and the state Assembly is seeking to expedite the 2015 minimum wage raise of $9. But income inequality is not new on the ground. At FOCUS Churches of Albany, it is business as usual.
Our doors are open to our hungry neighbors Monday through Friday. They are men, women, children, seniors and veterans. They show up in need of groceries and a hot meal from our food pantry and soup kitchen, to help stretch gravely inadequate food budgets that are supplemented by inadequate Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.
According to Feeding America, 35,000 people in Albany County are "food insecure." This is a fancy way of describing the hunger experienced by thousands of our neighbors who do not know where their next meal is coming from.
So, this Thursday, FOCUS will stand with hundreds of others from throughout New York state at the Capitol calling for "a New York for all of us," for you, me, and all of the others who are seeking the basic necessities of life. We ask you to stand with us and call upon our legislators to care for all people.
This past week, when FOCUS visited with our legislators in the Economic Security campaign organized by Hunger Action Network of New York State, Sister Francine Dempsey reminded our legislators of the universal directive that "food is a human right." Many of us feel that truth. It is time for our policies and programs to afford this right, this expression of love for all people.
The "New York for all of us" includes people who come to our food pantry and tell us the impact of those cuts that Congress allowed to happen to SNAP late last year. The cut was equivalent to 26 meals per month for a family of four. People tell us that food is too expensive and they have to choose between food or medicine, so they choose medicine.
This is everyday life as we see it. The widening gap between rich and poor may have just hit the headlines, but our programs have been operating for 30 years, and we are eager to speak to the larger issues of inequality that perpetuate poverty. Income equality and an end to poverty have been a long time coming. We need them now.
To find out more about the NY for All of Us event, go to www.nyforallofus.org.
Beth Glassanos is the coordinator of Advocacy, Outreach and Volunteerism for FOCUS Churches of Albany, www.focuschurches.net.