Paula Sundet Wolf and Karl Hansen met with Erik Torch of the Northland Foundation following the meeting to gather information about poverty and the lack of daycare in the county. Northland provides grants for the Kids Plus program and for other programs that aid the community.
Tony Sertich, president of Northland Foundation and Erik Torch, director of grant making, spent most of the day in Cook County on Monday, June 5, meeting with a wide variety of people on several hot topics.
About 40 people turned out for the lengthy meeting held at Grand Marais City Hall.
“This is our fourth stop out of 10 listening sessions we are conducting in seven counties,” Sertich said, adding that no two places were the same, and therefore what worked one place, might not work somewhere else.
Northland provides grants for organizations that seek to help children and youth and supports healthy families. The program provides individuals and families with the tools to become self-reliant; promotes diversity and inclusiveness; and encourages older adults to maintain their vitality.
Northland Foundation also has a business finance program. Since July 1986 to January 2017 Northland has given 15 loans totaling $2,017,500 to businesses in the county. Northland has also provided $114,300 in grants for KIDS PLUS programs throughout the county.
Sertich asked three questions, and he gave the audience 15-20 minutes to respond.
What is working at addressing poverty in your community? He asked.
Paula Sundet Wolf replied that education was a key component to helping people leave poverty. She pointed to the success stories that have come from the folks who have secured nursing degrees or other degrees through the support of Cook County Higher Education as one way to help people.
One of those success stories is Kristin DeArruda-Wharton. Kristin said she was a single mom and a college drop-out working in low paying jobs when Cook County Higher Education gave her the chance to go back to school. Today she a registered nurse and recent recipient of a Bush Fellowship.
Beth Kennedy mentioned the Food Shelf, Ruby’s Pantry, Empty Bowls, and several other efforts the county pulls together to aid people.
Karl Hansen pointed out that any child in Cook County that needs dental care can get it, and that the stigma for parents to sign up for the program was pretty much over when the new income rates were released, and it was found that 95 percent of the county would qualify. Someone else talked about the work of Kids Plus, Grand Portage Kids Plus, and the Cook County Early Childhood Coalition.
Dr. Rolf Lindquist told a story about a youngster who would ask for two sandwiches and maybe an extra apple at school. The lunch ladies would oblige, and the child would give the extra food to a buddy who didn’t have lunch tickets. Today the youngster who needed assistance is 35 and very successful, said Lindquist, but that young man said he never forgot getting food from the school, or his friend’s help in feeding him when his parents couldn’t. Lindquist added that he hoped the school could soon provide breakfasts for children in need of that nutrition.
What would improve our work addressing poverty in your community? asked Sertich.
“We need to find some non-traditional solutions,” said Grand Marais Mayor Jay Arrowsmith-DeCoux, who further explained that some in poverty don’t view themselves that way and are therefore hard to help. Sertich nodded and said that was a hard situation with no easy answer.
Sue Hakes addressed another need, identifying those people who live here but are invisible because of poverty. “These people feel powerless,” said Hakes.
What—or who—is missing to better address this issue? Sertich asked.
Diane Booth brought up the short growing season for those who were trying to grow their food or grow food to sell. The high cost of housing and the seasonal jobs in the tourist industry make it hard for people working in those tourist industries to live here, said Booth. “We don’t talk about paying livable wages. 80 percent of the county economy is based on tourism. There is no retirement for these people, only Social Security. We need to talk about paying livable wages.”
“We need better communications between our organizations,” said Pat Campanaro, adding that sometimes toes get stepped on when two or more groups sometimes cross over when trying to fill a need.
A long time volunteer at the Food Shelf, Gwen Lenz said some people are in need of better nutrition. The food shelf gives out one $10 stipend per month for fruits and vegetables, but that isn’t enough, Lenz said. She also knew of people who needed food but were too proud— or frightened—to go to the food shelf and get help.
Tina Krauz spoke up. Working in the restaurant business her whole life, Krauz said she always lived in rented housing, and she felt that there was a need for a renters association and more affordable housing in the county.
Daycare is a big need in the county, said Jeff Kern. Infant and toddler day care providers are few and far between, said Kern, who is working to try and reopen the recently closed Cooperation Daycare Station. A lack of funds caused the day care to close, and Kern isn’t sure whether enough money can be found to re-open the daycare despite the huge need.
Cook County Administrator Jeff Cadwell said the county was in the beginning stages of discussing building a daycare center, but added that this might not ever be a possibility, nor was the county close to making a decision on the matter at this time.
Cadwell brought up the prospect of attaching dollars to children 2 and under. Those are the kids that most daycares don’t have the staff to take. There are about 80 children 2 and under in the county every year, he said. If the county and some businesses could partner and give $2,000 per child per year that could be used to pay stay at home moms (or dads) those dollars, more in-home daycares would pop up because the providers could make enough money to stay open.
“The county has a budget of $19 million. We should be able to afford $160,000, especially if we can find business partners to help solve this problem,” said Cadwell.
Bill Hansen, who serves on the board for the McKnight Foundation, said his organization’s current top goal was figuring out ways to provide daycare solutions for area communities.
Cook County Public Health and Human Services Coordinator Josh Beck read from the new 37-page Early Childhood Community Needs Assessment done for the county.
Based on this evaluation, said Beck, “We know that the births in the county are roughly 40 per year. This number has stayed relatively consistent from what I have seen with the clear highs and lows.
“On page 3 we learn that 56 families accounted for roughly 80 children.
“On page 6 we learn that if full-time child care costs roughly $10,000 a year per child, and roughly 72 percent of families with children make less than $48,000, then full-time childcare would account for onefourth (1/4th) of the average families income.
“On page 15 we learn that about 75 percent of those parents with children under the age of 5 need childcare. This holds faithful to the numbers that the state discussed with me. Roughly 25 percent of parents intend on being a stay at home parent. This means that there are approximately 150 children in the county that are the population we are concerned about.
“On page 16 we see that the survey respondents use of childcare matches the childcare usage that currently exists. Our current licensed non-home setting capacity is 37. Licensed Family is 50. These are rough numbers depending on ages licensed programs can work under different classes of license.
“Page 19 is where we see a lot of the childcare problem in Cook County. Poverty and service industry jobs that require alternative work schedules. With fulltime childcare running $600 month at in-home and $800 in out-of-home, only about 50 percent of children are in full-time child care slots. This alone makes business almost impossible for providers.
“On page 20 we see that 25 percent or 37 families in our population are unable to find childcare.
“On page 21, twenty-one (21) percent want but can’t afford childcare. This one worries me. Without a funding mechanism, if we open more childcare, can families afford it?
“On page 22, 26 percent (or about 38 families) have turned down work because of lack of childcare.
“Page 23, has interesting numbers. In 2015, when the survey was administered, 35 percent expected the need for more childcare in the next two years. This helps to explain the current bump we are seeing in infants and toddlers.”
Following the meeting on housing, Sertich and his co-workers met with a group to discuss the area’s economy and the lack of employees to fill all of the jobs.
Sertich promised to take the information they gathered and see what Northland Foundation can do to alleviate some of the problems faced by the county, but he added that he, nor anyone else, has all of the answers to all of the questions posed.
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