Affordable housing discussed

Over two thousand residents of Carbon County, or 13 percent, live below the poverty rate according to the results of the 2015 Carbon County Community Survey of Needs and Services conducted by the Carbon County Community Action Committee (CCCAC). The survey, which is completed every three years, is designed to determine the extent of poverty within the county as well as its contributing factors and what barriers to service may exist.

The survey is required by the State of Wyoming and is a prerequisite for local entities to receive Community Service Block Grant (CSBG) funds to alleviate both the causes and the conditions of poverty in communities.

Sheela Schermetzler, an education specialist from Green River who has aided the CCCAC with past needs assessments, traveled to four different communities within Carbon County to conduct the needs assessment for 2018 with the final stop having taken place at 12:30 p.m. on March 16 at the Saratoga Senior Center in Saratoga. Schmertzler also led the Dialogue on Poverty community meeting.

"The community services block grant helps low-income individuals and families. Right now there are two agencies who are receiving those funds: The Public Health office in Carbon County for emergency medical, dental, hearing, eyes and prescription drugs. The other agency is the Carbon County Crisis Center," explained Schermetzler at the beginning of the meeting.

Schermetzler asked those in attendance, the majority of whom were senior citizens, what their community needed "so families can become self sufficient so they can take care of themselves without government assistance."

"I have a question," said Mikayla Larrow, of Saratoga, "How are they defining low-income? What is the cap?"

"It's 125 percent of the federal poverty level. For one person it's around $18,000 a year," replied Schermetzler.

The 2018 Poverty Guidelines, published by the Department of Health and Human Services, state that a household with one person making $12,140 a year, or $1,011.67 a month, within the 48 contiguous states and the District of Columbia is considered to be in poverty and eligible for certain federal programs.

"In Saratoga, if you don't make $33,000 a year you are stretched to the limit," said Larrow, "I think it's ridiculous that a single mother has to work two or three jobs just to provide rent because there's nothing under $800 for a two-bedroom (apartment)."

According to the State of Wyoming, Economic Analysis Division, the average rental rates for a two-bedroom unfurnished apartment in Carbon County decreased by 12 percent from $810 in the second quarter of 2016 to $706 in the second quarter of 2017.

Sue and Ed Howe, of Saratoga, followed Larrow's statement by adding that their daughter worked multiple part-time jobs because a single full-time job wasn't enough to cover the cost of living in Saratoga.

"The majority of the jobs here are considered blue collar jobs and with an extremely high cost of living, without doing anything about it, all Wyoming is doing is perpetuating the poverty cycle," said Larrow.

In a report released by the National Low Income Housing Coalition in 2017, a person in Carbon County would need an annual income of over $30,000 a year to afford a two-bedroom apartment without spending more than 30 percent of their income.

While the lack of affordable and low-income housing in the area dominated the discussion, it wasn't the only coverage gap discussed at the meeting. Another area that people felt Saratoga was lacking was in affordable child care.

Mary Hohnholt, of Head Start Preschool, noted that despite low-income being a requirement for acceptance into the program, a waiting list of those requesting its service already exists.

"Let me tell you what's going to happen from here," said Schermetzler, "We have the surveys, we have the community meetings and then I go and collect some data from different sources here in the state and put that information together."

Schermetzler added that once the information was compiled, she would be making recommendations to the CCCAC as to how they should prioritize their needs.

"The way the state has set it now is that you have to fund within the top five priorities. They want to match that money with those needs," Schermetzler said.

In the executive summary of findings for the 2015 survey of needs, affordable housing and child care were the top of the list for most highly rated needs. Some in attendance expressed doubt that funds would make it to their community, however.

"I don't feel that our needs have been met. We have these meetings and we talk about what we need. If anybody gets it, it's Rawlins. They say, 'Well, we've got the most population,'" said Sue Howe.

Schermetzler informed those gathered that Howe's thoughts were shared by the communities of Baggs and Medicine Bow. She told attendees that Baggs has, in the past, taken care of themselves in the absence of aid from the county with credit given to Linda Fleming. Schermetzler also noted the lack of ambulance service and public transportation in Medicine Bow.

The final results of the needs assessment are set to be discussed at 5 p.m. on Monday, April 23 in the Carbon County Commissioners' Chambers in Rawlins.