Monroe County poverty rate higher than state average

Monroe County’s poverty rate, at 20.7 percent, is 7.8 percent higher than the state average of 12.9 percent, according to the 2010 census.

While one cause may be the high student population in Bloomington, homelessness and hunger are problems facing county residents, Executive Director of Hoosier Hills Food Bank Julio Alonso said.

"I think here we have an underemployment problem where people are working but they are not making enough to make payments,” he said. “Also, over the last decade we’ve lost a lot of high-paying factory jobs and haven’t really had any replacement.”

Throughout the years, there has been an increase in the amount of food Hoosier Hills distributes, Alonso said.

“The number of agencies has stayed the same, but the amount of food we provide to them has grown steadily over the past few years,” he said.

As the holidays are approaching, food banks are hoping for an influx of donations to make up for the decrease in donations this year.

“We’ve been fairly lucky. The financial donations have been somewhat steady, but food donations are down. We’re hoping to turn that around during the holiday season,” Alonso said.

United Way of Monroe County Executive Director Barry Lessow also said donations have varied in this year’s campaign.

“We haven’t met our goal yet, but we encourage people to give to the agencies they think are making a difference in the community,” Lessow said.

He also agrees that the student population could be the reason the poverty rate is higher than the state average, but thinks a problem here does exist.

“We are almost, like other social service agencies, completely dependent on community support,” Alonso said. “There is nothing to step in and fill the void if non-profit agencies aren’t there”

- Jillian Miers