{"id":54628,"date":"2020-03-17T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-03-17T20:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=54628"},"modified":"2020-03-17T14:23:43","modified_gmt":"2020-03-17T19:23:43","slug":"poverty-and-homelessness-in-hays-discussed-at-can-we-just-talk-event","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=54628","title":{"rendered":"Poverty and Homelessness in Hays discussed at \u201cCan We Just Talk\u201d event"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

BY LAURA KRUG
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Would you help your neighbor if you knew they didn\u2019t have a place to sleep or were struggling to find their next meal? Sadly, that situation is much more likely than you would think. On Tuesday evening at Breathe Coffee House, Dr. April Terry\u2019s social justice honors class and the Global Leadership Project teamed up to create a community dialogue on the state of poverty and homelessness in Hays. 
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Six students from the class presented on specific aspects of these challenges in 15-minute speeches. A dozen community members, alumni, and students gathered in the shop\u2019s basement to hear facts about a problem that many people are not aware exists.
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Hays Mayor Shaun Musil and Breathe Coffee House owner Patrick McGinnis were in attendance along with several alumni, FHSU students, and Hays locals.
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The six students spoke about the causes of common problems and possible solutions to them. Dr. Terry acknowledged that poverty and homelessness affect numbers of college students at FHSU. 
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\u201cWe have no idea exactly how many students are homeless, couch hopping, or are food insecure. We are working on gathering more data on this.\u201d Terry said. 
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Holly Sieving spoke on rural-specific issues and lack of resources. 
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\u201cEllis county has a 16% poverty rate, which means one in eight people are in poverty,\u201d Sieving said. 
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Miah Haines spoke on housing-related issues. 
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\u201cIn Hays, 43% of our population are renters and on average the rent for a two-bedroom house is $769.00 a month,\u201d Haines said. 
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If you are spending a majority of your income on rent, you are unable to spend it on food and further contribute to the local economy. If this is over 30% of your income, you are considered an overburdened renter. 47% of all renters in Hays are overburdened. Hays does offer low-income apartments. However, much low-income housing is not up to standard and has a negative effect on the resident\u2019s mental and physical health. 
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\u201cSubstandard conditions in the home affect young children the most. If homes are not up to standard it can lead to underdevelopment,\u201d Haines said. 
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Bree Hysaw spoke on food security. The inability to access nutritious food for the whole family is a problem that many people in poverty must face. 
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\u201cWhen you are poor and have all of these other financial priorities such as paying rent and healthcare, food is the first to go,\u201d Hysaw said. 
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Obesity rates among the poor are going up because they can\u2019t afford nutritious food and do not qualify for government food programs such as SNAP.
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