The Oregon Department of Housing and Community Services and the Community Action Partnership of Oregon has released the Report on Poverty 2008 and it shows that nearly 40 percent of families headed by single mothers in the state live in poverty. Across the state, 13 percent of the population, or 474,189 Oregonians, live on less than the federal poverty level, according to the report. In Wallowa County the percentage of residents living under the federal poverty level is higher, 14 percent. Union County reported 16 percent poverty. Few counties reported more, although Benton County has nearly 20 percent of its population living in poverty.

The OHCS analysis of living costs found that a Wallowa County family needed income of roughly twice the federal poverty level of $14,291 per year for a single parent with one child to make it. A single parent with a young child needed to earn just over $25,000 a year, the report said. The calculations of what it considered a “basic family budget” took into consideration a number of factors specific to rural communities, such as the cost of renting, and increased transportation and heating costs. A single parent with one child, working full time, needed a wage of $12.13 to meet that basic family budget.

The federal poverty level for two-parent families with three children is $24,000. The report estimated that such families in Wallowa County would need to make closer to $47,000 to meet basic needs.

A job that pays a wage of $25,000 per year or more in Wallowa County is not easy to find. In fact, Wallowa County ranked 29th out of 35 counties in average annual pay and 33rd out of 35 counties in its ability to supply a basic family budget wage.

According to the report, the largest growth in Wallowa County jobs in 2007 was in the leisure and hospitality sector (38 new jobs) and the average yearly wage for those jobs was just $11,581. At that rate, young two-parent families with both parents working an entry-level position could not even meet the federal poverty level for a single-parent. Trade, transportation and utilities jobs in Wallowa County, (eight new jobs) paid an average of $23,181 per year. Cashiers, retail salespersons, home health aids, nursing aids, and secretaries all made less than the federal poverty threshold. Only local government jobs (13 new jobs) cleared the poverty line for a single parent- and not by much – with an average wage of $31,593. Manufacturing jobs, which just meet the poverty line, have declined by 17 percent in the county.

It’s going to get worse, said OHCS Director Victor Merced. “As the recession deepens, it has begun to touch people unfamiliar with hardship,” he said. “Each day, new faces appear at food banks, soup kitchens and social service offices.”

Even more tragically, many of those suffering the most are children according to Sharon Miller, president of the Community Action Partnership of Oregon. “In 2007, over half of Oregon’s homeless were families with children,” she said. “These children deserve an opportunity to succeed in school and in life, and to do so, they need a stable home. How can a child do her homework from the back seat of a car? Where do you hang a report card in a motel room with no refrigerator?”

Families are not living in cars in Wallowa County – the weather in the county would kill them. Nevertheless, Wallowa County reported six homeless households in 2008 that needed emergency shelter. Five of those households had children. Of those Wallowa County homeless, 33 percent had been kicked out by family or friends, 33 percent were temporarily homeless by choice, 17 percent couldn’t afford rent, and another 17 percent were evicted by landlords (respondents could give more than one reason). These six households do not constitute the total for households teetering on the edge of homelessness, however. According to the report, emergency services in the county placed 315 people into stable housing or shelter.

Furthermore, even children who are housed are struggling. One in five children in the county live in poverty. Almost half (45 percent) of the local children are eligible to receive free or reduced-cost lunches – exactly the same amount as in Baker County, and 5 percent less than Grant County.

Thirteen percent of the county population receives food stamps.

Among the 14 percent of the local population living in poverty, 33 percent are younger than 18 years old. Curry County reported that 66 percent of the families in poverty in that county had children younger than 18. Another 15 percent of those living in poverty in Wallowa County are elderly. The state average is 8 percent.

There was some good news. Healthcare for Wallowa County children is better than that of children across the state. The percentage of 2-year-olds who are adequately immunized in the county is 81 percent – 10 percent higher than the state average. Only 14 percent of Wallowa County residents are without health insurance – 2 percent better than the state average. Only 10 percent of Wallowa County residents smoke, compared with 20 percent statewide.

Furthermore, despite poverty, no child has left public school in Wallowa County due to homelessness or poverty, compared with a state average of a 4 percent drop-out rate due to poverty or homelessness. Wallowa County kids are more protected from drugs as well. Only 4 percent of Wallowa County eighth-graders reported using illicit drugs, compared to 16 percent statewide. The county had less than half the number of teenage births compared to the state average. And criminal offenders make up only 6 percent of the local population. The state average is 12 percent.

Furthermore, Wallowa County has good Community Action Agencies. In 2007, energy assistance programs offered case management and conservation education to 336 households and 291 households received energy assistance. Transportation services provided rides to 562 people. Housing services assisted 50 first-time home buyers in 27 households with education and closing cost assistance, rehabilitated three single-family units, and obtained funding for and began rehabilitation of a 45-unit complex. As mentioned earlier, emergency services placed 315 people into stable housing or shelter. The Wallowa County Food Bank provided food boxes to 1,189 households. And the Summer Food Service Program served 2,973 lunches to children from one to 18 years of age throughout the summer.