v ;
Page 5
Local
y 9, mi Assistance programs help
low-income pay their bills
lou
s
t hardly sat»
By CAROL THOMAS
Battalion Reporter
, Agencies in the Bryan-College
Station area have developed va-
ead in them r “ )US P r °g rams t0 help lessen the
. r. . „ ■ " burden of everyday expenses, as
™ first major I", as the a u y ish y of ^ vert for
the heads of, [ow _ incomefarnilies
ted nations kg Three of these programs are:
will be thefirstthe Women, Infants and Children
‘it Reagan and (WIC) program, the Energy
t will be on i Assistance program and Out-
Vest tensions reach.
has taken a S WIC, a program within the
tnssians \M Braz0S Valle y Communit y Action
lUoSiailJ' mUulgiK . i « . i . i .i
nt nf the fold ^ enC > ’ ,S des '8 ned to ^PPW the ,
nt 0 nutritional needs of women and
n roster Do ^ eir j n f an t s an d children. Based
ce was ushtt-^ econom i can d nu tritiona] need,
• and Nikita Iwomen are issued food vouchers
or cards that can be exchanged at
till plafpertrd 11 grocery stores for nutri-
vn ranks. \Vi tious foods such as eggs, milk,
given free rt iereaI ’ cheese and j uice -
I But the program supplies more
I 1 .’ than nutritional foods; it supplies
bite House nu t r itional education,
daily morninE il “\y e teach them about vitamins
»m nationa ad minerals, and spending
d Allen, wl money wisely,” said Sally Hud-
tly. Thepre : >on. WIC director. “We feel if
use counsel wy do have knowledge they’ll be
m policy, altkM^f”
been in the Rodson said participants are
jiven a dietary assessment before
altering the program in order to
himself shov jJgnniue which foods are
K)licy, Amen needed. The foods are sup-
i confused on elemental, she said, and do not
supply the total need. “We might
3nd problems like inadequate diet
md growth, a history of health
. problems or iron deficiency,”
^Hudson said.
The food cards are issued
onthly and are accompanied by a
esson in nutritional education in-
itiding a film on pre-natal nutri-
ion The film also stresses the im-
irtance of spending money wise-
[y on nutritional foods.
One young mother, whose hus-
d is a food science major at
exas A&M University, said she
ij} already learned much about
utrition from him and was more
Interested in the food.
“I needed food for my daugh-
;er, who is 16 months,” she said.
The woman said WIC had not
towered her food costs significant-
!y/'‘But it is a good help, ” she said.
Another mother said she was
nterested in the nutritional edu-
ation as well as the food cards. “I
Wanted to see the films and
Shings,” she said. “My little boy is
.inemic.”
jQ The woman said the program
lad definitely made a difference in
ter son’s life. “I try to give him the
ght kinds of foods now, and he’s a
t chubbier. ”
Although the foods supplied by
Care only supplemental, Hud-
loti said the overall results have
been good. “We do an assessment
Wery six months,” she said. “And
nost of them do improve. ”
But there have been problems,
ihe said. One problem is misuse of
he food cards. For example, some
Jeople try to redeem the food
ards for something not allowed in
"W he program.
v W 1 Qil Hudson said the grocery stores,
g g^l Ills well as the individual partici-
)ants, have a duty to make sure
mly the nutritional foods speci-
led are purchased with the food
ards. “We’re not sure where the
ault lies,” she said.
« Another major problem is lack
cTlTveoffedurff funds ' The WIC P r °g ram is
i r unded by the United States De-
. , . .lartment oi Agriculture. At one
riign, Do n C j me ^ e y were able t 0 serve
.,400. But because of a cut in
I'hool importsimds, the case load has been cut
o 1,200.
is, it may no| ^ major problem in the lives of
e of anything! h e J 0W income is paying their
useless. )ills, especially electricity. The
ion of inquisi Snergy Assistance program at
ellious minds WCAA is designed to help people
rim their electricity bills through
loss to exp lweat l heri2in |'’ hor r s ,. f f
‘ Sharon Barnard, director ot
mencemen r ner gy Assistance, said the main
[oal of the weatherization prog
am is to help the low income con
erve energy. Three times a week,
' crew works on homes in Brazos
bounty; the rest of time is spent
in six surrounding counties.
Barnard said crew members do
weather stripping, caulking and
gazing windows, window replace
ment and insulation. All are done
o help conserve energy and cut
lown on high bills.
Barnard said they are able to
pend $450 on each house. Four
;ay two:
ichers,!
ipplies,
rever.
es?
POLICY
to Farmers Home Administration,
which provides low-interest loans
and grants to low-income people
who need to remodel or rebuild.
In many cases, elderly people’s
health is so poor they are not able
to perform small housekeeping
tasks, like answering mail or get
ting food stamps.
Outreach is designed to help
such people. By visiting the peo
ple in their homes, staff members
can take care of these possibly dif-
Food cards are issued
monthly and are accom
panied by a lesson in nut
ritional education includ
ing a film on pre-natal
nutrition.
ficult tasks, refer the individuals to
other agencies if their need is very
great and give them emotional
support.
LaVerne Skinner, Outreach di
rector, said she often reads peo
ple’s mail for them. “Some people
I visit are totally blind or legally
blind and they cannot read their
mail, or sometimes they get mail
they do not understand.”
have worked hard all their lives,
usually keeping someone else’s
house and raising someone else’s
kids, and many of their employers
didn’t withhold social security.”
One women Skinner visits,
Pearl Bell, is 81 years old. Besides
keeping her tiny, weathered old
house clean, and growing a garden
of roses, verbenas and amaralys,
she takes care of her nephew, Earl
Brown, who is an out-patient at
Brazos Valley Mental Health-
Mental Retardation Center.
Bell first met Skinner when she
was trying to get financial aid for
Brown. With Skinner’s help,
Brown is now receiving $390 per
month, which may be used only
for his medical expenses. Bell re
ceives $226.70 per month from so
cial security payments. Her late
husband was a janitor at Texas
A&M 15 years ago.
Pearl said she tries not to go to
the grocery store too often, be
cause of the distance and the trou
ble it takes to get there. “When
you go to get food, it’s way up
yonder,” she said.
By sticking to foods like chick
en, beans, rice, grits and coffee,
Skinner said she often picks up
food stamps, prescriptions and
other necessities. During one day,
Skinner helped a woman who was
ill find someone to clean her
home. She also visited a woman
she had helped in the past, just to
see how she was doing.
Skinner said one thing most of
the people she visits have in com
mon is poverty.
“Most of the elderly are simply
living on well below a poverty in
come,” she said. “Some make as
low as $175 to $200 per month. ”
Furthermore Skinner said
many of the low-income people
she visits are black. “They (blacks)
A major problem in the
lives of the low income is
paying their bills, espe
cially electricity.
Bell is able to keep her food bill
down to about $70 per month (for
the two of them). Much of her
monthly income is used on her
electricity bill. She said her light
bill was as high as $85 during last
winter.
Bell says she has learned to
survive on what she has and
doesn’t complain. “I do very
well,” she said. “The things I don’t
need I leave alone.”
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' r sSSw!i# lred dollars is a grant from the
r Jepartment of Energy, and the
est is money they have raised on
i are also welcoaif'igjj. own> Because of this small
she said, they are not al-
I, Texas AMI l /a ys able to repair the house as
nuch as it needs. And many
louses desperately need repair.
“Some people in the rural areas
Tuesday, Wedr re lj v j n g i n ... shacks,” Barnard
summer senreslP ^ «j t > s amaz j n g t 0 g Q to the
S2esS# es and the y’ n windows
iroken out, or they 11 have only a
16ReedMcDon^ingle wall.”
dlege Station, TV If houses are irreparable, or in
teed of more repair than the
, , . . /eatherization program can
"hS ff ord, Barnard said they refer the
i matter herein ome owners to the local Housing
iollege Station,T' nd Urban Development offices,
/hich can spend up to $10,000 on
ach home. They also refer them
3D
The
Battalion
845-2611
Since 1878
J
THE BATTALION
THURSDAY, JULY 9, 1981
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