Something is wrong with system

“The fact that we have a category called ‘the working poor’ should tell us that something is wrong.” (Unknown)

“Struggling to Make It” says the headline of a front-page story in The Oak Ridger on April 8, written by Carolyn Krause.

Krause was covering a talk about Anderson County given by Naomi Asher to an ORICL (Oak Ridge Institute for Continued Learning) class. Asher is executive director of the United Way of Anderson County (UWAC).

Asher says that almost half of the 77,500 residents of Anderson County have been struggling to make it. “They are one blown tire or one broken refrigerator — one major expense away — from falling below their ability to pay all their bills.”

Asher also says that more than 5,000 households in our county are living in poverty and that an average of 144 individuals become homeless in Anderson County each year.

The UWAC performs a comprehensive needs assessment every three years, but the most recent data does not “reflect all the effects of the 2020 pandemic nor the more recent inflationary spike in food and fuel prices and the shortage of rental housing.”

Asher defined the acronym ALICE as Asset-Limited, Income-Constrained (yet) Employed. Asher calls this group “the working poor.”

The next day, The Oak Ridger carried another front-page article in which Christine Michaels pointed out systemic issues that keep people in our county from working: lack of transportation to get to a job, lack of affordable childcare, lack of money to buy work supplies and/or clothing needed for some jobs. Michaels is president of the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce.

So, this is Anderson County, our county, where extraordinarily expensive equipment is used daily to conduct some of the most sophisticated scientific experiments in the world.

The contrast boggles our minds, and we understand the irony.

I was pondering this the other day when one of the most sincere, concerned people I know described her situation of wanting to give money to charity. Yet, she, and she alone, is responsible for taking care of herself for the rest of her life. Her mother lived to be 98.

I was pondering this the other day when I found a list of recommended charities to help Ukrainian refugees.

I was pondering this the other day when we received 14 solicitations in the mail one day and 11 the next — local, regional, national, international, religious, secular, ethnic and political — a senatorial candidate’s campaign in a neighboring state, separation of church and state, children, health-care, education, hunger, unlawful incarceration, dementia, homelessness, veterans, human rights, visual arts, performing arts, museums — a veritable listing from Charity Navigator.

I was pondering this the other day when I was looking at my own checkbook.

Our decisions for local giving may be easier than other decisions because we often have meaningful personal connections. We have served on our community’s non-profit boards, we are friends with executive directors and staff people of non-profit agencies or our grandchildren go to school with their children. We understand the work of many of the agencies in our community.

Charitable decisions about national and international organizations can be harder, much harder. Hundreds of agencies exist with excellent metrics and good causes, but far too many organizations are scams and are known to prey on older people.

Charity Navigator and Charity Watch can help sort out how well a non-profit group is fulfilling its mission, and I urge you to use one or both to check out any organization you consider supporting.

And now there is Ukraine. As long as war and refugee images are piped into our living rooms, dens and kitchens (at dinner time), we are, I think, going to think about Ukraine.

I see luxury items available to all on Facebook, and then I see a post that Ukrainians need batteries and candles as they get bombed, mortared and shot.

When I checked Charity Navigator, I found more than 100 agencies providing some type of relief in the war-torn area. Social media are carrying dozens of ads for agencies — some bogus for sure.

Then I checked with East Tennessee Foundation (ETF) and found five recommended organizations.

Michael T. McClamroch, president and CEO of the East Tennessee Foundation (ETF) has an “important message” on the ETF website, recommending the following to those who want to aid Ukrainians. With permission, I am listing them here, and the material in quotation marks is taken directly from McClamroch’s recommendations.

Doctors Without Borders, New York. “The mission of Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) is to provide impartial medical relief to the victims of war, disease, and natural or man-made disaster, without regard to race, religion, or political affiliation.”

Center for Disaster Philanthropy (CDP), Washington, D.C. “CDP exists to leverage the power of philanthropy to mobilize a full range of resources that strengthen the ability of communities to withstand disasters and recover equitably when they occur.”

International Rescue Committee (IRC), New York and Minnesota. “IRC helps people affected by humanitarian crises — including the climate crisis — to survive, recover and rebuild their lives. Founded at the call of Albert Einstein in 1933, the IRC is now at work in over 40 crisis-affected countries, as well as communities throughout Europe and the Americas.”

Save the Children, Connecticut. “Save the Children believes every child deserves a future. In the United States and around the world, they work every day to give children a healthy start in life, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm. When crisis strikes and children are more vulnerable, they are always among the first to respond and the last to leave.”

World Central Kitchen (WCK), Washington, D.C. “WCK is first to the frontlines, providing meals in response to humanitarian, climate, and community crises. ... Food is currently being provided to families and those who have had to flee and those who remain residents of Ukraine.”

You can donate directly to all five of these agencies in the “Giving Basket” on the Charity Navigator website.

This is not a piece about giving $5 to every organization that asks and another $5 each time it asks. This is for people, often seniors, who have discretionary income to make considered decisions for a hurting world.

Martha Moore Hobson was an early certified financial planner in the region. Although retired, she is an active volunteer in the Oak Ridge community.

This article originally appeared on Oakridger: Something is wrong with system