Submitted by Anne H. Oman
Reporter-at-Large
November 17, 2014 11:19 a.m.
Nassau is a county of contrasts.
Million-dollar mansions dot our beaches, and luxury yachts bob in our marinas.
We have super-rich homeowners, such as John Grisham, whose legal thrillers have sold some 250 million copies and whose net worth is estimated at $250 million by the website, celebritynetworth.com.
In our posh restaurants, you can feast on foie gras, quail eggs and other delicacies, washed down with fine wines.
But that’s not the whole story. In the midst of this awesome affluence, there is grinding poverty and gnawing hunger.
Senior Vice-President
Social Responsibility
Baptist Health
As Audrey M. Moran, Senior Vice President for Social Responsibility and Community Advocacy, told a rapt audience at a recent fundraiser for Barnabas:
“Here in Nassau County:
One is six adults and one in four children is hungry or facing ‘food insecurity’ – a fancy term that means you are not sure where your next meal is coming from. That means than 10,000 people in Nassau County – our neighbors –are hungry.”
And hungry people, she explained, must make very difficult choices. Should they buy food or pay utility bills? Should they stint on food or on medicine? Should they buy food – and chance eviction?
The problem has been exacerbated by cuts last fall to the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (the former food stamp program) of about $5 billion – or the equivalent of 21 meals per family per month. Each person on the program receives only $1.40 per meal. According to the Food Research and Action Center, 6,383 Nassau County families participate in this program.
Census Bureau and Nassau County statistics flesh out the picture: Of the county’s approximately 75,000 residents, 11.5 percent –or more than 8,000 people – live in poverty. And 50 percent of Nassau County students– or 5,587 children– qualify for free or reduced-price lunches by virtue of low family income, according to Jenny Nye an account for the Nassau County Board of Education.
“That’s the highest we’ve had in ten years,” said Ms. Nye. “It’s up 3 percent from last year.”
During summer vacations, she added, the school board provides free lunches to all children who come to any of several sites around the county.
What else is being done to feed Nassau’s hungry?
Local non-profits, aided by armies of volunteers and donations from area churches, schools, associations, restaurants, hotels, grocery stores and individuals, have stepped up to the dinner plate. For example – and not an inclusive list:
Feeding Northeast Florida brings several thousand pounds of food a week to Nassau County. The food is shared with about a dozen food pantries in the area.
Barnabas operates a food pantry at its center at 1303 Jasmine Street and also provides bags of food to individuals and families at its Hilliard and Callahan satellite offices. Each year, Barnabas provides more than 100,000 pounds of food to county residents with incomes at or below 200 percent of the poverty level.
The Fernandina Beach Church of Christ at Jasmine and 14th Streets provides emergency food assistance and also helps people apply for food stamps and other assistance programs.
The Interfaith Dinner Network brings together volunteers from several churches to serve hot dinners four nights a week at the Salvation Army’s Hope House at 9th and Date Streets in Fernandina and two nights a week at Gracie’s Kitchen in Yulee. Gracie’s Kitchen will also host an all-welcome Thanksgiving Dinner of Thursday, November 27 at noon. It’s located on U.S. 17 N at the corner of Pages Dairy Rd.
The Council on Aging runs Meals on Wheels, delivering meals to needy seniors, and works with the Interfaith Dinner Network on the “Soup Train,” which delivers homemade soup to seniors on the waiting list for Meals on Wheels.
Impressive as these efforts are, are they enough?
“There’s a lot going on, but I can’t tell you that it’s enough,” said Wanda Lanier, Executive Director of the Barnabas Center. “We’ve seen a 50 percent increase in need in the last year – mostly related to cuts in the food stamp program. There are a lot of working people and a lot of older people on fixed incomes who need help. They’re not moochers – they just can’t make ends meet. This is especially true on the island. The cost of housing is so high here, that many people have to spend 50 percent of their income on rent. And a lot of them live in trailers or substandard housing that isn’t energy efficient, so they have high electric bills.
It’s just very difficult for them to afford food…We try to focus on quality food – low income people often can’t afford healthy food. We run a big health center so we know that what you put in your stomach affects your health.”
According to Philip St. Laurent, Operation Manager of the Barnabas Crisis Center, as many as 48 people come to the food pantry each week day.
“They line up outside before it opens,” he said. “Many of them come with children — their own and, often, other peoples’ children that they’re taking care of,” he said. “And often they travel to as many pantries as they can to get enough food – the Journey Church and United Methodist and others.”
What can people do who want to help?
Wanda Lanier of the Barnabas Center sums it up in one word: “Volunteer—we all need volunteers.”
Editor’s Note: Anne H. Oman relocated to Fernandina Beach from Washington, D.C. Her articles have appeared in The Washington Post, The Washington Star, The Washington Times, Family Circle and other publications.
Geez Louise, singling out part-time resident and successful author John Grisham in the article about poverty in Nassau County seems extreme, like comparing Niagara Falls and Death Valley, and not very flattering to Mr. Grisham, while the headline “Poverty, Wealth Co-exist in Nassau County” is designed to do what — point out what’s been documented since the beginning of recorded history, that there are rich folks and poor folks? Not exactly new news.
Nobody wants to see folks suffer and it is admirable that there are people, agencies and churches within our community to assist those who need help. But this article, by Anne H. Oman, who the Observer says has written for the Washington Post, The Washington Star, The Washington Times, Family Circle, among others, reads more like the National Enquirer than those prestigious publications.
The author failed to mention in her statistical summary that Nassau County’s medium household income in 2009 was $49,830, more than $5,000 above that of the state average and its poverty level was 3.4 percent lower than the state average. The article was obviously written to generate contributions and encourage volunteers to assist our needy neighbors, and I hope the charitable organizations are wildly successful in meeting their needs. But let’s be a little more reasonable and thorough in our journalistic approach.
Hey, Dave, can you put in a good word for me with the Enquirer? I could recast the headline to read: “Grisham scribbles while local kids burn with hunger.” More seriously, the article was not meant as a criticism of Mr. Grisham, who is probably a fine and generous person. It was meant to illustrate the fact that there are extremes of wealth and poverty right here in our county. Statistics about median income don’t tell the whole story. It may be comforting for some of us to know that Nassau’s poverty level is lower than the state average but probably not to the mother who is trying to stretch her food stamps to the end of the month. If I was remiss in not including that particular statistic in the article, mea culpa. In the words of Finley Peter Dunne, who wrote a column in a Chicago newspaper at the turn of the last century as “Mr. Dooley”: “The job of newspapers is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.”
How about some more specifics on how/when/where those interested can volunteer or contribute? Thank you!
The truth is, we are living in a new gilded age. CynF
I also believe that the Oman article could have just as much impact without the comparative wealth/poverty comments. The Island “wealth” benefits in multiple ways all County residents: although the Island occupies less than 3% of the land mass of Nassau County, it contributes well over 50% of the County’s tax revenues.
Oman’s article was on target concerning a major issue in this country, reflected in our county. Statistics show that the two poorest census tracks in Nassau County are here in Fernandina Beach. It does contrast with the wealth in the southern part of Amelia Island. It is my opinion that we who have must contribute energy and time into working with persons in areas of poverty to bring a greater degree of justice in our society. That means advocating and working for more affordable housing, more jobs that provide a “living wage”, better access to quality health care, and more access to fresh fruits and vegetables.
Very snide reply to Dave Scott, Ms. Oman. He is correct that no purpose was served by calling out Mr. Grisham over all of the other wealthy residents of the island. I don’t know Mr. Grisham but I suspect that he is a very nice, generous man who could suffer unjustly from your, I assume unintended, aspersions.