As Auto Jobs Vanish, Rust Spreads in Mich.

It Was Lone State With Rise in Poverty Rate

CHELSEA, Mich. -- Nancy Paul doesn't need a Census Bureau report to know poverty is rising in Michigan. She sees it in the moms and children who show up at her small nonprofit agency seeking free back-to-school clothes. She hears it in their plaintive requests for cereal or soap or assistance with utility bills. And she feels it in the strain of keeping the food pantry stocked.

And she sees more of it.

According to the Census Bureau, Michigan was the only state that experienced an increase in its poverty rate last year. It was also the only state where the median family income declined in 2007, thanks to an economy that is almost as rusty and untuned as a 20-year-old Chevy.

Michigan's poverty rate of 14 percent is high for a state than once prided itself on high-wage union jobs and well-tended middle-class neighborhoods. But the poverty rate has inched up every year since 2000, when it was 9.7 percent. Now one-third of the residents of three cities -- Detroit, Flint and Kalamazoo, live in poverty. Poverty and its sister, unemployment, have overstayed their welcome in those cities and moved into even well-heeled suburbs such as Chelsea, about 65 miles west of Detroit.

Poverty "tends to be more invisible here," said Chelsea Mayor Ann Feeney, who noted that some people "find it undignified to ask for help." But some do ask, for more time to pay their taxes or for assistance from Faith in Action, Paul's nonprofit group.

"They come in and ask, 'Could I just have some laundry detergent and some diapers? And I have no toilet paper in the house,' " she said. "We've started running lower in food" through the summer months since families with children can no longer depend on free or reduced-price school lunches.

In Michigan, 1.4 million people live at or below the federal poverty level, which for a family of four means income of around $21,200 and for an individual under 65, just $10,800. In Washtenaw County, which includes Chelsea and Ann Arbor, the poverty rate of 12.7 percent last year was about even with the national rate of 12.5 percent.

In years past, poverty and Chelsea would scarcely appear in the same sentence. The city of 5,000 is home to the Purple Rose Theater run by actor Jeff Daniels and Chelsea Milling, whose white silos stand over Main Street and whose Jiffy Mix corn muffin and baking mixes sell better in slow economic times. Chelsea has antique shops, gift shops and three art galleries. Its homes have clean front porches and blooming flower beds. And its population has grown steadily, drawn by its sense of safety and community.

Near the back of Zou Zou's, a French cafe that sells $2 scones and $6.50 cherry chicken salads, fliers offering lawn mowing, garden work, pet-sitting, guitar lessons and other services have multiplied, taking over space that used to be filled with art and theater postings. Owner Marie-Ann Fody thinks it's people seeking "little ways to supplement their income" or replace lost income.

Poverty's inroads in Chelsea, nearby Saline and in cities in wealthy Oakland County and elsewhere can be tied to the state's loss of jobs, especially high-paying automotive jobs. General Motors, Ford and Chrysler have shed thousands of white-collar and blue-collar jobs, and auto suppliers have cut even more, pinching companies and individuals that supply them.

"Throughout the last six or seven years, Michigan has done worse economically than the United States, going from unemployment rates that were below the national average to unemployment rates which are among the highest in the nation," said Sheldon Danziger, director of the University of Michigan's National Poverty Center.

In fact, Michigan's 8.5 percent jobless rate is the nation's highest and is nearly twice as high as the 4.4 percent rate shared by Maryland and Virginia. Finding a job, especially one with a good wage, can be difficult.

At Faith in Action this week, Savannah Cole, 20, looked for baby clothes and perhaps some shoes for herself. She hopes to find a job as a security guard, but, she said, her car broke down, so even looking for one is difficult right now. Her last job, at Wendy's, paid just a little over the minimum wage, but after her Tristan was born four months ago, her hours were cut. With rising gas prices and child-care expenses, the job didn't cover the cost of going to work, so she quit. "It kind of bites" being poor, she said. "I'm ready to move out of Michigan."

More families seek help at hospitals and schools, too, with the number of children receiving free or reduced lunches rising 50 percent in three years in Chelsea. "We deal with depression, anxiety, stress," said Beth Morris, the social worker for Chelsea's public middle and high schools.

Saline Area Schools, just outside Ann Arbor, started giving scholarships three years ago to cover $125 fees to play football, track or other sports. Last year, 20 athletes requested one (out of 600 who play at the middle and high schools), said Scot Graden, superintendent. But 120 high school youths or their parents qualified for free and reduced lunches, and those totals in Saline jumped 22 percent in two years.

The town is the home of a factory that makes instrument panels for Ford trucks and cars. More than half of the 1,250 United Auto Workers there receive little in the way of health coverage, said Mark Caruso, president of Local 892 in Saline. "They need some benefits," he said.