Brianna Gibbs/KMXT
As
the leaves change in Kodiak and temperatures start to drop, many families in
Kodiak are scratching their heads at how to afford another winter on the
island. Monte Hawver is the executive director of the Brother
Francis Shelter and said high fuel costs and rent have left many families
struggling to keep afloat in recent years.
-- (Poor
Families Struggle 1 :40 “We’ve been having
struggles here in Kodiak for years. But the last two years have really spiked.
The cost of living here, you know like I was saying everything from a gallon of
milk to a gallon of gas to a loaf of bread that has sky rocketed price wise and
for many families that is just an inconvenience or major annoyance, but for
others, for many, many others, it’s literally a situation where the arithmetic
doesn’t add up. They just can’t make ends meet. They still have eight dollar,
nine dollar an hour cannery jobs and service area jobs and you know
$1,000-1,600 rents.”)
The
high cost of living has also prompted many younger family members to join the
workforce as well.
-- (Poor
Families Struggle 2 :14 “In many families you even have young teens
that are working that are instead of buying clothes and gidgets and gadgets
their literally putting their money in the family to make ends meet.”)
Hawver
said it isn’t just the lower class that has felt the prices rising in Kodiak.
He said many middle class people are finding themselves making less than they
did five or ten years ago because of so much money going toward living
expenses.
He
said usage at the Brother Francis Shelter has been steadily increasing over the
last five years, with huge spikes more recently. He said he’s thankful for his
staff that works diligently to make sure the shelter can stay open and provide
the services it does.
-- (Poor
Families Struggle 3 :41 “Well I have very
committed staff that just work really, really hard to help people to keep their
heads above water. We have feeding services, we feed about 23,000 meals a year.
And we have overnight sheltering services and we also have a very dynamic
homeless prevention program that can assist families that are you know going
under water and to help them enough that they can keep their head above water.
But it’s much, much harder than it used to be. I mean there are many families
that are right on the edge and it doesn’t take anything to throw them into
financial chaos.”)
Hawver
said if things don’t change soon many community members may find themselves
seeking greener, or cheaper, pastures beyond the emerald isle. He said
electricity saving methods like the turbines and hydroelectricity are certainly
helping, but another harsh winter will still prove difficult for many Kodiak
families.
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