A new report released by the state Public Interest Research Groups is challenging national budget cuts to relief agencies when such agencies are experiencing an massive increase in requests for help. PIRG released the report, entitled \Communities in Crisis: A Survey of Hunger and Homelessness in America"" to colleges across the nation Tuesday.
The report surveyed 900 emergency food and shelter agencies in 32 states, all of which reported an increase in requests for emergency food and shelter.
According to the report, 74 percent of agencies surveyed reported an increase in requests for shelter and a 65 percent increase for food.
The report documented increases of 71 percent and 57 percent in requests for emergency shelter and food in Wisconsin, said Kathleen Barr, an advocate with the National Student Campaign Against Hunger and Homelessness.
WisPIRG found 81 percent of the agencies surveyed in Wisconsin reported having to turn away requests for emergency shelter and over two thirds said it was due to a shortage of resources, Barr said.
Barr said those alarming numbers were exacerbated by funding cuts.
""We found in Wisconsin, despite increasing need, 77 percent of the agencies surveyed had decreasing or stagnant federal funding,"" she said.
According to Susan Webster, professor of social work at UW-Madison, the results of this survey are line with other research, including a major survey done by U.S. Conference of Mayors. This survey explained the increase in requests was primarily the result of a lack of affordable housing.
""We need to increase the supply of affordable housing, but the opposite is likely to happen given the proposed budget for the next year,"" she said.
According to Barr, if the proposed budget passes, the cuts would kick over 250 thousand people off the food stamp program and cut funding for the Community Development Block program by $1.8 billion.
According to Steven Schooler, executive director of Porchlight, Inc., these proposed cuts could wreak havoc on Madison's relief agencies.
""The administration is proposing that CDB be taken out of Human and Urban Development and stripped down and then moved to the department of commerce,"" he said. ""This is a major impact on this community because that is a fair amount of money ... that will probably literally be gone.""
According to Schooler, PIRG's survey truly shows this country's tremendous need for additional resources to be provided for low-cost housing.
""Everyone should have a roof over their head and food to eat especially if we are one of the richest countries in the world. It's absolutely ridiculous,"" said WisPIRG intern and UW-Madison sophomore Jordan Lindenmeyer.
""We are calling on the Bush Administration and Congress to halt all cuts to these programs,"" said Lindenmeyer. ""Because the amount of money they are saving by cutting this programs is hurting an incredible amount of people and barely making a dent in the deficit.""
