The Daily Tar HeelFriday, January 27, 19893
North Carolina poverty rate exceeds national eye
By KAREN DUNN
Staff Writer
The poverty level in North Caro
lina remains above the national
average despite the billions of dollars
being spent annually to help the
problem, according to a report
released Tuesday by the N.C. Center
for Public Policy Research and The
UNC Center for Public Televison.
In North Carolina, 14.3 percent of
the population is living in poverty,
which is slightly above the 13.6
percent national average.
The report examined six specific
issues related to poverty: the demo
graphics of poverty, state poverty
programs, state tax policy as it relates
to the poor, education programs for
the poor, job programs and the
availability and adequacy of health
care.
"Our benefit levels are very low.
As far as taxes, health care, jobs and
the amount of bureaucracy involved,
we are not generous in regard to other
states," said Mike McLaughlin,
associate editor of North Carolina
Insight, a publication of the N.C.
Center for Public Policy Research.
About $3 billion in state and
federal funds went toward poverty
programs last year, but only 14
percent of those funds were spent on
the two most widely known social
programs food stamps and Aid
to Families with Dependent Children
(AFDC), the report said.
Food stamps and AFDC do not
provide enough allowances to bring
its recipients above the federal
poverty line, the report said. These
two benefits total about $6,024 per
year for families that qualify for
assistance, but the federal poverty line
is $9,690 per year.
The report also found that in terms
of total ethnic population, North
Carirboiro officials discuss agenda at retreat
By THOM SOLOMON
Staff Writer
Carrboro Mayor Eleanor Kinnaird
and the board of aldermen looked at
issues they will address in the next
year, including improving affordable
housing for Carrboro, during a
retreat last weekend at the Carolina
Inn.
The mayor and aldermen spent
eight hours on Saturday hearing
presentations from the heads of
departments such as the police, fire
and planning departments, Kinnaird
said.
Participants began Sunday to
choose topics from a list of 45
suggestions for next year's agenda,
she said.
The newly formed housing task
force was included in the discussion.
The task force is made up of aldermen
Hilliard Caldwell, Frances Shetley
and Judith Wegner, Kinnaird said.
Caldwell said Chapel Hill has a
low-cost housing program called the
Tandler Homeownership Program.
"But what I want is for Carrboro to
' do its own thing," he said.
Caldwell, who serves on the N.C.
Finance Agency, a state agency that
issues low-interest loans to munici
palities for such housing improve
ments, said he hoped to be appointed
chairman of the task force. "It is an
issue dear to my heart," Caldwell said.
Kinnaird said Carrboro was the
center for local low-to-moderate
income housing. The task force was
' developed to take an inventory of
' what affordable housing is available
to this group, which consists mainly
of students and those beginning their
careers. It is not government housing,
she said.
The task force will investigate one
possible site for development in the
Homestead Road area, Kinnaird
: said. But zoning requirements cause
complications and will require f dither
' analysis from the task force, she said.
Another possibility is refurbishing
the historic and older neighborhoods,
Kinnaird said. This would allow the
task force to use town funds to create
affordable housing, she said.
Renovation
of shelter
on calendar
By LD. CURLE
. Staff Writer
; The renovation of the Inter-Faith
; Council's homeless shelter, located in
;the old Chapel Hill Municipal Build
ling, should begin in mid-April and
:be completed by December, an IFC
representative said Wednesday.
; Bernard Segal, the IFC's vice
; president for development, said the
.IFC is waiting for a review of the
building's historical value and a
complex bidding process before the
: renovation starts.
When the renovation is completed,
both the homeless shelter and Com
munity Kitchen will occupy the
present site at the corner of Rosemary
and Columbia streets. The kitchen is
now at a separate site on Merritt Mill
Road.
'.; The IFC, a volunteer social services
group, has raised $260,000 for the
renovation project so far. The group
needs to raise another $90,000 to
reach its renovation fund-raising
goal.
; The IFC has received about half
of the amount needed for the ren
ovation from public sources, includ
ing the town of Chapel Hill.
IFC program consultant Chris
Moran said Wednesday that once the
municipal building site is renovated,
the building will be able to house 56
people and feed 70 people.
The IFC served 281 homeless
people in 1988, and 206 of those had
not been served by the shelter before,
he said. The shelter provides mostly
short-term service, with 45 percent of
its users in 1988 staying between one
and seven days.
During the renovation, the people
who would have stayed in the munic
ipal building will be housed either on
the second floor of the Community
Kitchen or with cooperating church
congregations, Segal said.
The IFC opened the shelter at the
old municipal building site in 1985
after the town leased the site to them.
A special task force of the Public
Private Partnership looked for alter
nate sites for the shelter last year, but
after much discussion, the IFC, the
town and the task' force agreed in
December that the old municipal
building was the best available site
for the shelter.
Some downtown merchants have
objected to the location, fearing the
site would hurt business and lower
property values, Segal said.
Alderman Randy Marshall, who
serves on the Public-Private Partner
ship, said the partnership would serve
the area in the same way the task
force would serve Carrboro.
Many of those who attend school
and work in the Chapel Hill
Carrboro area commute from places
such" as Mebane, Burlington and
Pittsboro. One reason is the unavail
ability of affordable housing in the
area, Marshall said.
Members of the partnership met
Jan. 25 for the first time to discuss
the cost of living in the area and the
implications the lack of affordable
housing will have on traffic caused
by commuters.
Several other issues were addressed
during the retreat. Marshall said he
was concerned about the Orange
Water and Sewer Authority
watershed study, downtown circula
tion, capital improvements and the
impact tax.
The impact tax would require
builders and developers to pay a tax
to help pay the cost of their projects'
impact on the area, such as the need
for new sidewalks, he said.
Kinnaird said the process of choos
ing a topic for the coming year's
agenda involved several steps. First,
a vote was taken on each idea from
the list of the 45 suggestions that the
board received. Four votes ensure
that a topic will be discussed during
the coming year.
Carolina has more whites living in
poverty than blacks.
"In sheer numbers there are more
poor whites. Six percent of them are
living in poverty. But only 23 percent
of the state's population are black,
and 30 percent of them live in
poverty," McLaughlin said.
The report, which was presented
and discussed Wednesday night on
public television, also focused on the
misconceptions of poverty.
"One misconception is that people
are poor because of their own fail
ures," said J. Gordon Chamberlin,
executive director of the North
Carolina Poverty Project, Inc.
Another misconception is that
people can work their way out of
poverty. Many of those living in
poverty have jobs, but the minimum
wage pay they earn is not enough to
bring their income above the poverty
level, Chamberlin said.
"Poverty is a group of people
a system in itself," he said. "If you
live in a poor neighborhood, all your
children's models are poor. They
want to grow up to have the jobs poor
people have. They have low expec
tations. They expect the kind of life
they have always lived."
A third misconception is that
charity is the way to take care of the
poor, Chamberlin said.
"There is tension between charity
and justice. People at the grocery
store say, 'That woman is buying food
with my tax money.' But they must
realize that she is receiving an
entitlement and must meet certain
requirements," he said.
Welfare fraud is an issue that
receives much attention but is often
misunderstood, said Jane Smith,
assistant chief of public assistance
with the N.C. Division of Social
Services.
"There are overpayments and
underpayments, but those situations
are corrected. Fraud is only fraud if
it's proven in court," she said.
Extreme caution is taken to avoid
such problems, she said.
"We believe in prevention rather
than detection."
Bookstore to auction off merchandise
By KATHRYNE TOVO
Staff Writer
Logos Bookstore will hold a final
one-day sale and auction Saturday to
liquidate remaining inventory in the
store.
Logos was a Christian bookstore
located at 100 W. Franklin Street that
closed at the end of last year. Logos
Bookstore of Chapel Hill, Inc., of
which Bob and Jaxie Julian are the
sole shareholders, filed for bank
ruptcy in December 1988.
An over-the-counter sale of all
remaining inventory, including reli
gious books, cards and gift items, will
be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. John
Pait & Associates are conducting the
auction, which will begin at 6 p.m.
Bankruptcy trustee Bill Yaeger said
the sale will also include office
equipment, shelving and counter
tops, an IBM computer and all other
equipment and fixtures in the store.
Filing for bankruptcy provides for
court supervision and liquidation of
all assets, Yaeger said. "The debtor
gets someone else to bury the bus
iness," he said.
Auctioneer John Pait said the
items will be sold at 50 percent off
the original retail price. Anything not
sold during the day at the over-the-counter
sale will be auctioned off in
the evening, he said.
No minimum prices will be estab
lished for the auction, and all items
will be sold to the highest bidder.
"Everything must go," Pait said.
Logos is one of several stores in
the downtown area that has recently
gone out of business. In an interview
with The Daily Tar Heel in October,
Julian said he had noticed a decline
in his business since September 1986
when the new drinking law went into
effect.
Parking problems, increased devel
opment outside the downtown area
and increased competition from
Student Stores has also hurt down
town business, Julian said.
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