Frederick, SD

I found this blog on the mckenzie county, nd. site and found it most interesting

Rethinking Poverty

April 3rd, 2008 by tjswenson

Writing in the Boston Globe (online), Drake Bennett has some fresh thinking about poverty (maybe already voiced by Ruby Payne). People in poverty exhibit what would be an “irrational” approach to money, work, and wealth for those in middle or upper income brackets:

In the community of people dedicated to analyzing poverty, one of the sharpest debates is over why some poor people act in ways that ensure their continued indigence. Compared with the middle class or the wealthy, the poor are disproportionately likely to drop out of school, to have children while in their teens, to abuse drugs, to commit crimes, to not save when extra money comes their way, to not work.

To an economist, this is irrational behavior. It might make sense for a wealthy person to quit his job, or to eschew education or develop a costly drug habit. But a poor person, having little money, would seem to have the strongest incentive to subscribe to the Puritan work ethic, since each dollar earned would be worth more to him than to someone higher on the income scale. Social conservatives have tended to argue that poor people lack the smarts or willpower to make the right choices. Social liberals have countered by blaming racial prejudice and the crippling conditions of the ghetto for denying the poor any choice in their fate. Neoconservatives have argued that antipoverty programs themselves are to blame for essentially bribing people to stay poor.

Karelis, a professor at George Washington University, has a simpler but far more radical argument to make: traditional economics just doesn’t apply to the poor. When we’re poor, Karelis argues, our economic worldview is shaped by deprivation, and we see the world around us not in terms of goods to be consumed but as problems to be alleviated. This is where the bee stings come in: A person with one bee sting is highly motivated to get it treated. But a person with multiple bee stings does not have much incentive to get one sting treated, because the others will still throb. The more of a painful or undesirable thing one has (i.e. the poorer one is) the less likely one is to do anything about any one problem. Poverty is less a matter of having few goods than having lots of problems.

Poverty and wealth, by this logic, don’t just fall along a continuum the way hot and cold or short and tall do. They are instead fundamentally different experiences, each working on the human psyche in its own way. At some point between the two, people stop thinking in terms of goods and start thinking in terms of problems, and that shift has enormous consequences. Perhaps because economists, by and large, are well-off, he suggests, they’ve failed to see the shift at all.

So…

We must ask the poor (and ourselves) whether or not the alleviation of or the avoidance of the problems that beset the poor will result in a “change” of mind or “new thinking” wherein the poor will be able to think in “goods” and stop thinking in terms of problems. Are these the problems to be alleviated?

• Criminal Behavior (including underage tobacco and alcohol use)?
• Lack of Employment?
• Teen-age Pregnancy before marriage?
• Dropping Out of School?
• Divorce Once Married?

To those “looking in” at poverty, these “problems”would seem to be subject to choosing well and engaging in right behavior; but–however rational such choices may be–to the poor these “problems” are irrational but normal.

Today I had the pleasant honor to visit with several of our community Senior Citizens. My interest was to get an understanding of the Senior Meals that they were enjoying. Like any other group of people they all wanted to tell me about it (all at the same time) only because they really enjoy the good food and also the fellowship with each other. They average about 8-9 seniors that come to the Senior Center daily (Mon-Fri) and they deliver 3-4 meals daily to those who are unable to get out of their home. The community of Frederick currently doesn’t have a cafe for them to get the meals so they are now working with the Area IV Senior Nutrition out of Hecla, SD. Every weekday, either Edgar or Johnny drive to Hecla, they leave about 10:45 am to pick up the meals and bring them back to the Community Center for the Senior Citizens to enjoy. They eat at noon but stick around to visit till about 1:00 pm They sign-up ahead of time to ensure that they have enough food for everyone. There is no set charge for the meals however they are encouraged to donate what they can afford. The drivers do get reimbursed for their mileage to and from Hecla from the Area IV Senior Nutrition Program. Everyone agreed that the need for the meals is one thing but the fellowship and always knowing you will be checked up on if you fail to show up are added benefits. Edgar said ” some wouldn’t leave the house otherwise if it wasn’t for the meals & fellowship”. Some of the local Senior Citizens are members of the RSVP (Retired Senior Volunteer Program) and are able to log in volunteer hours by helping with set up / clean up and delivering the meals. Contributions to the Senior Meals Program are tax deductible, If you want more info you can visit with Rick Pesek, Project Director at 605-229-4741 or 1-800-876-4741 or visit www.members.nvc.net/seniorareaiv

I am so impressed with our monthly meetings, we have had excellent turnouts for them and many new and exciting ideas are still popping up. Mainly we are focusing on our strategic plan and the committees are keeping everyone updated on their progress. Each committee is contacting the community members that signed up to help in our earlier meeting. It is nice to see that the “want to help” is still there. It sounds like the Secret Garden is moving right along, They are getting some media info together to get the word out about their expected costs and design plans. The Marketing committee is putting together a brochure to highlight the communities great features, such as hunting, fishing, historical driving tours, Inflatable Movie Theater and more. We are also going to invite a guest speaker to our next meeting to help with our Economic Development, We have not given up on the need to have a gas station in our town, so many people have had to drive 12-30 miles just to fill up and that is just taking income away from our community and putting a financial strain on us, especially with the price of gas these days, and if they go out of town for gas they will more than likely shop out of town also. St Paul’s Lutheran WELCA has established an account to help families in the community, they knew that it was a project that Horizons II group was working on and as soon as that is up and running they will transfer their funds over to the Frederick Forward. Thanks ST Paul’s Lutheran Women. The people in Frederick have helped so many families over the past years and not just financially, If someone needs there lawn mowed, driveways cleaned, rides to Drs. appt. field work or their car jumped, someone is always there to help. I know that having a committee to oversee these needs will make it so much easier for everyone. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK.

http://www.city-data.com/city/Frederick-South-Dakota.html

Click on this link or paste it into your browser for everything you would ever want to know about Frederick:  income, occupations by male/female, average income local vs. United States average from 2005 census, demographics of every kind and description in blazing color bar charts, graphs and tables.  None of it boring.  There’s also a link to a $1,000 photo contest where you can upload great photos of Frederick.  The site is provided by city-data.com and sponsored by paid ads, of course.  Check it out and post to this blog with your impressions.

Trying to plan for a community dinner is difficult when you don’t know how many will be coming! We planned for 3 big roasters of soup and it was well received at the event on Sunday. We had about 85 attend but were also able to share some of the goodness with those who were not able to join us for the dinner. Donna took some to the elevator; we scooped up several containers to share with others in town. Extra pie was sent to the Community Store to go with the Monday morning coffee. Thanks to all who helped make it possible.

It’s always amazing to see how good planning makes an event like this happen. Food was very tasty; the Northern Lights building was gaily decorated and the local Horizons speakers stepped up to explain different parts of the our strategic plan. Being part of the group that explained what our plans are helped making everything concrete. I helped explain that in our community study of poverty, the definition looks at a lack of resources. We’re concerned that our senior citizens need help with some of their daily living tasks and want to do a survey to find out how the community can help. We also want to prepare welcome baskets to extend hospitality to people new to our area. This will help them understand what businesses and services are available. Anyone wanting to help with these areas is asked to contact me at 329-2176 or Krysti Mikkonen at 329-2027.

Wow!! Yesterday was a beautiful day. Only in SD can you think 30 degrees is a beautiful day. But after 3-10 below zero for highs for several days it IS a heat wave.

Not only was the weather gorgeous, We had a fantastic turnout for our Strategic Planning Event. We had a Soup & Pie lunch before the meeting. We serve about 80 people and I think everyone of them stayed for the meeting!!!!! We had 3 kinds of homemade soups and many homemade pies that were soooo!!delicious that lots of people had to try all of them. We really do have a lot of good chefs in our community. We had babysitting available for those with young children, WII games and just good old fellowship time. We also had door prizes that we purchased from own local business and some donated door prizes. Our grand prize was a $100 beef gift certificate.

The presentation of our strategic plan went smoothly and from the comments I heard, we generated alot of talk about our vision for our town. Most of them were pleased with the ideas, some comments were “they are very reasonable goals and doable”
“lets get started” “I just hope the excitment continues so that when we need the extra hands we don’t have to go begging”

A big thanks to all that helped in anyway to make this a big success.

This article was in todays Aberdeen American News
Our topic in Horizons has been about poverty, So what do we do about it? Well first we have to define it, see who it is affecting in our community and then take action. With the help and support of the the Horizons II staff they have given our community and several others around the state the tools and training to take that action. So we as community members need to step up and get involved so our town isn’t on this “Top 10 List”.

State poverty level rising
In 2005, rate reached highest level since 1997
By Dennis Gale, Associated Press Writer
Published on Thursday, January 10, 2008
SIOUX FALLS - According to U.S. Census Bureau figures, South Dakota’s overall poverty rate in 2005 rose to 13.6 percent - the highest level since 1997.

The statewide poverty rate in 2004 was 12.9 percent.

The 2005 figures indicate 100,765 people in the state lived below the poverty level in 2005.

In 1997, the rate was 14 percent, with 100,537 people below the poverty line. That and 2005 were the only years in the past 10 to surpass the 100,000 figure.

The percentage has been higher. In 1989, 14.8 percent of South Dakotans were at or below the poverty level.

According to the 2007 federal guidelines, the poverty level for a family of four was $20,650 a year.

Some better, some worse: Most of the counties with the highest poverty rates include Indian reservation land. Ziebach County, in north-central South Dakota, had the highest percentage of people living in poverty: 51 percent.

The rest of the 10 counties with the highest rates were Todd, 46.7 percent; Corson, 41.9 percent; Shannon, 41.8 percent; Buffalo, 39.3 percent; Bennett, 34.2 percent; Mellette, 33.4 percent: Jackson, 32.8 percent; Charles Mix, 30.2 percent; and Dewey, 28.3 percent.

Lincoln County had the lowest percentage of people in poverty in 2005: 4.7 percent.

The Census figures also listed children living in poverty. For those under age 5, the 2005 figure for South Dakota was 24 percent, up from 22.2 percent in 2004. The highest rate in the 10 prior years was 26.6 percent in 1995.

Overall, 18.3 percent of South Dakotans under age 18 were living below the poverty level, the Census bureau figures show. Todd County had the highest percentage: 58.7 percent.

Statewide: The statewide median household income in 2005 was $39,265, the Census Bureau reported. The figure has risen almost every year during the past 10 years. The median in 1995 was $29,426.

The measurement means half of the households in a given geographic area had higher incomes and the other half had lower incomes. Some statisticians feel it’s a better indicator than average household income because it is not dramatically affected by unusually high or low values.

Buffalo County’s $16,868 was the lowest median household income among the state’s 66 counties. The $59,583 level in Lincoln County was the highest.

Food is always a great way to get people together. On Sunday, Jan. 27 at the Northern Lights Building on Main Street, we are inviting everyone in the community of Frederick for soup and pie. Starting at 11:30 a.m., people will have three choices: a gumbo-type soup, knoeffla soup and sensational chili along with Finn bread. A variety of pies will be available for dessert. At 1 p.m., the Frederick Horizons group will share the strategic plans that have been put together through community input.
Those attending will be able to try out the Wii games. Free babysitting will be provided. If you have any questions, call Connie at 329-2176 or Krysti at 329-2029.

Getting together to plan the January event to unveil Frederick’s community plan was fun plus educational. As we threw out ideas about what we should do on Sunday, Jan. 27, we started planning who would get what. Some said that they’d pick this up or that up but pretty soon someone said, “Why aren’t we buying all of this at the Community Store?” Everyone shook their heads in agreement – it sometimes takes a whack alongside the head to realize that’s what we all have to do — think locally. We have lost a café and a gas station which leaves us in need. That’s part of the definition of poverty. For us to get our community to grow, we have to support what we have.
So in looking for places to go to get door prizes, we’re looking to provide opportunities for people to use products from Frederick. Changing that mindset has to be part of the strategy what we develop. Can you think of any ways to encourage businesses in Frederick?

Arrrggggg! Why does December get so hectic? I’d really planned to blog but life just got in the way.
We saw some awesome community activity with the local groups reaching out to those in need. The Angel Tree at the Community Store provided an opportunity to reach out to those who otherwise wouldn’t have much of a Christmas. The funds raised from the Cookie Walk helped those. Individuals and families who are struggling.
We’ve also had some real discussions about how we can help out those in need.
Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Westport put together 35 gift bags that were delivered to the elderly and needy in the community. Some of the recipients included people who had recently had surgery or were experiencing challenges in their lives. Some from the Horizons group helped provide names and suggestions of ways to reach out.