Editorial: Don’t ignore poverty on your doorstep

Perhaps the primary “hunter gatherer” of the family died, struggles with addiction or is mentally unstable. Perhaps they have a felony conviction that make getting a job difficult. Or perhaps they merely had the disadvantage of graduating from high school at the height of the “Great Recession” and have been unable to work, as statistics show is the case for many young adults in the past several years.

A person struggling to make ends meet in a small town east of the Cascades may at first glance appear rich compared to another living in an urban ghetto. The rural poor are likely to have a car, for example. You can’t walk or bike 15 miles to work in the dead of winter. Perhaps they have a garden as well, something not often available in an urban setting.

Yet the rural poor can also struggle to eat, stay warm or dress for success. Their future can seem as bleak as the winter-fallow fields they pass on their way to a minimum wage job... or the food bank.

According to a report by the Oregonian in April of this year, nearly five years after the Great Recession officially ended, more than one in five Oregonians continue to rely on food stamps, and nearly 17 percent live in poverty. Rural counties continue to fare the worst, with food stamps and Medicaid rates exceeding 30 percent in Jefferson and Josephine counties. In some timber-reliant counties, the poverty rate exceeds 20 percent.

Charity begins at home not because that is where the need is greatest but because that is where our neighbors are.

Fortunately there are many dedicated to meeting the needs of the poor. They are quick to spread the word when food banks run low or winter coats are needed. There are opportunities for mentorships and tutoring, which can address the underlining needs of many unemployed people.

The needs of the world are great, and there is no shame in giving of our abundance to meet them wherever they may be. Yet to ignore the poverty hidden on our very doorstep is shameful, and speaks poorly of our state and nation.

This holiday season, we urge you to give generously to local organizations that are meeting the basic needs of the homeless or low-income residents.

Teach your children to practice generosity toward those less fortunate and take their responsibility as a human being to care for the poor and needy among us.

Several organizations in The Dalles that come to mind are:

• Community Meals and the St. Vincent De Paul Society, two separate nonprofits that share quarters at 315 West Third Street and can be reached at 541-296-9566.

• Seventh Day Adventist Food Bank, 1100 Pentland Dr., 541-298-1956.

• Windy River Gleaners, 3400 Crates Way, 541-296-2400.

• Salvation Army, 623 E. Third St., 541-296-3341.