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News, Status and Articles
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In this Tasks for Transit Newsletter, for October 2017, we feature our latest news, publish some basic statistics and write about "livable wages" in Worcester. We will use the abbreviation TFT for Tasks for Transit throughout this newsletter.
Brian Manning, Co-editor
Steve McClure, Co-editor
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Tasks for Transit is in a growth spurt! For 2017, we planned to more than double the number of bus day passes we distributed in 2017! We are well on our way to do so!
- We are now serving 19 partner charities, on track to increase the number of partner charities to 21 by year's end. We have added at least one new partner charity every month.
- In September we added LUK Inc Crisis Center (for youth).
- ·In October we added the Genesis Club (job training, employment counseling, inexpensive meals).
- The WRTA recently raised prices for bus day passes from $3.50 to $4.50. They also phased out the generous discount previously given to Tasks for Transit. We will have to double our budget going forward because the price increase, from our perspective, is 143% higher now.
- In October we rented a table at a Congregational church fair in Millbury and raised $90! Some of the money came through a new device we have acquired called a DipJar. It allows donors to make a credit card donation by simply dipping their card into the DipJar, which recognizes the donor’s information. The typical donation is $10.
- We also addressed the congregation of the First Unitarian Church of Worcester, asking for donations.
- Bay State Savings Bank Foundation answered our request for a donation with a $600 check.
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From March 2015 to October 2017
Number of charities supported = 19
WRTA day passes dispensed = 2110
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What is a Partner Charity?
TFT's Partner Charities distribute the WRTA individual bus day passes. Since TFT is trying to assist the economically disadvantaged, TFT chooses partners that service this type of client on a daily basis. Partner Charities have the understanding and experience necessary to recognize a person and his or her situation that justifies dispensing a free individual day pass. These Partners Charities are typically 501(c)(3) organizations, not able to provide transportation to their clients.. TFT enables them to do that.
The nineteen organizations currently TFT Partner Charities are:
- South Worcester Neighborhood Center (wide variety of services to poor)
- Standup for Kids (homeless youth)
- Safe Homes (LGBT youth)
- Parent/Professional Advocacy League (youth mental health)
- Straight Ahead Ministries (felons coming out of prisons)
- Clemente Courses in the Humanities (free college-level courses)
- Interfaith Hospitality Network of Greater Worcester (families in crisis)
- Hope Coalition (troubled youth)
- Woodland Academy (homeless families)
- YWCA Domestic Violence Services (abused families in crisis)
- Worcester Homeless Shelter at SMOC (the primary Worcester shelter for homeless adults)
- Eliot Community Human Services (mental health services)
- Friendly House (neighborhood center, homeless shelters)
- Veterans Inc. (homeless shelters for veterans and associated services)
- Visitation House (adult homeless pregnant women)
- Planned Parenthood
- Multicultural Wellness Center
- LUK Inc. Crisis Center (youth)
- Genesis Club (job training, employment counseling, inexpensive meals)
If your organization would like to become one of TFT's Partner Charities, please take and submit our on-line
survey.
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Featured Article
Defining "Economically Disadvantaged
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From time to time we are asked how we define one key phrase in our mission statement: economically disadvantaged. The answer is that we don't. There are several definitions we could use, but we let each of our partner charities use their own definitions. Early in our corporate history, one of our team suggested that we drop the term economically disadvantaged and simple say those in need. We tried that for a while, but returned to the slightly more specific phrase, economically disadvantaged, because it really is all about a person's economic situation!
Having thought about this question over the past two years and attended some conference lectures on the general subject, we have found that one of the best ways to think about this is through the idea of a livable wage. Can a greater Worcester family live within its current monthly income and make it to the end of the month before running out of money? If the answer is yes, then they have a livable wage. The amount of the livable wage will vary with the composition of the family, i.e., it is lowest for a single person without children, and goes up as the family size increases.
Dr. Amy K. Glasmeier is a professor at M.I.T. She manages an
online application
that is a county-based model of livable wages,
driven by several factors
including, in her words, local "
minimum food, childcare, health insurance, housing, transportation, and other basic necessities (e.g. clothing, personal care items, etc.) costs." The data is revised annually.
This
table
shows hourly wages in three contexts: livable wage, poverty wage, and minimum wage, using twelve family compositions. For example, if the family is a single mother and a child, the livable wage (assuming she is working 40 hours a week) for Worcester county is $24.39 per hour; poverty wage is $7.00 per hour; and minimum wage is $10.00 per hour. Notice the huge gap between these numbers. Some of these families, who are taking advantage of government programs that provide aid to the poor in the form of rent subsidies or food stamps, etc., will not benefit as much as you might think when the minimum wage goes to $14.00, because they encounter what social workers call the "cliff effect." They will become economically worse off because they will lose some benefits due to their new higher income. This is the unfortunate circumstance for the working poor.
The livable wage for a single person in Worcester county is $10.94 per hour. That's $22,755 annually. This assumes the person has a steady job. Unfortunately, there are many with only part-time jobs and man further affected, such as the handicapped and the chronically homeless. If one were to use the $7.00 poverty level (federal definition) then by one account, 22% of Worcester families are below the poverty level. We don't know what the percentage would be if the livable wage was the standard, but it is obviously more than 22%. Tasks for Transit isn’t concerned with which definition is used for the "economically disadvantaged." The need for assistance is huge. We ask both individuals and institutions for financial donations to help Tasks for Transit do our small part to address this hardship.
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Bay State Savings Bank
, one of our supporters, more than doubled its contribution to Tasks for Transit this year!
Since 1895, Bay State Savings Bank has been a true community bank
. Bay State Savings Bank is a local bank, based in Worcester. It offers a full range of financial services at seven offices at locations in Worcester, Holden and Auburn. Their latest donation, $600, is enough to support one of our charity partners, SMOC (South Middlesex Opportunity Council) homeless shelter for one year.
More information about Tasks for Transit may be found at our
website.
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Please support our donor organizations. They are listed in the sponsors page on our
website.
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We Need Your Support!
We see Tasks for Transit as a fundamental charity trying to meet one essential need of the economically disadvantaged: safe and dependable transportation for persons who would otherwise have to walk. While walking is an alternative, it is a burden for the handicapped, a daunting alternative for everyone in foul weather and an unsafe alternative at night.
We are hoping you will support our efforts with a generous donation. One way to do that is to go to our Crowd Funding page on
youcaring.com.
We continue to be an all-volunteer organization with no employee costs and no office costs. You can be confident that 99% of your donations will go directly to purchase day passes.
Sincerely,
Brian Manning and Steve McClure
Tasks for Transit
379 Greenwood Street, Suite 4
Millbury, MA 01527
617-851-0313
We also have a Post Office Box
Tasks for Transit
PO Box 70544
Worcester, MA 01607
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Contact | Tasks for Transit | 617-851-0313 | | contact @tasksfortransit org |www.tasksfortransit.org
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A direct and compelling headline
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