Number of people in poverty on the rise in Yakima County

Mindy Alvarez says that all her 12- and 13-year-old daughters want for Christmas is a cellphone. But she, like most of the more than 100 people seated in line at the Vineyard Church food bank last week, has only three bills in mind: rent, utilities and food.

"I just can't afford a telephone," Alvarez, 50, said.

She and her family are among the 57,612 Yakima County residents living at or below the federal poverty level, roughly 24 percent of the population, according to newly released data from the 2010 U.S. Census. That statistic has grown by more than 20 percent since the 2000 Census, when the county's poverty rate was 19.7 percent.

Taking medication for diabetes, depression and other health issues, Alvarez depends on $700 a month in government disability payments. Her husband, who is deaf, makes less than $25,000 a year working at a warehouse where hours are frequently cut when business is slow. He owns a cellphone for work, but only uses it to receive text messages because he can't afford to send any.

"It just helps that we can come here and stretch our food bill," she said.

Alvarez is far from alone. Yakima County has the second highest poverty rate in the state after Whitman County, where 24.4 percent of the population lives in poverty. Island County had the lowest rate at 9.7 percent. Nationally, the poverty rate stands at 15.1 percent.

The federal poverty rate for a single person is now set at about $11,000 a year, while the annual threshold for a family of four is $22,350.

Jennifer Romich, associate director of the University of Washington's West Coast Poverty Center, is one of many academics who say those thresholds are too low.

Those rates don't account for anomalies in local economies that can drastically affect the cost and quality of living, such as the shortage of rental housing in Yakima County. Romich said the poverty threshold for individuals should actually be about $17,000 and for a family of four about $40,000.

Romich said families with children are the group most likely to be living in poverty.

"It's a more difficult balance for adults than just earning a living," Romich said.

According to the 2010 Census, the median household income in Yakima County is $40,503.

Part of the reason for the county's rising poverty rate is the types of available jobs.

Agricultural jobs, which tend to be low-paying and seasonal, made up 24 percent of Yakima County's workforce last year, according the state Employment Security Department.

More than 2,500 nonagricultural jobs, primarily in manufacturing, construction and government, have evaporated from Yakima County since 2008, according to Dave McFadden, president of New Vision, the Yakima County Development Association.

While agriculture-based economies tend to have high poverty, McFadden says agriculture could boost other industries, such as manufacturing, through food production.

Another factor in the poverty rate is the number of residents lacking adequate education or job training.

Statewide, nearly 31 percent of those 25 and older have at least a bachelor's degree. In Yakima County, that rate is 15.7 percent, according to the Census' 2005-2009 American Community Survey.

The same survey revealed that 16.4 percent of all Yakima County residents age 25 or older have less than a ninth-grade education -- more than quadruple the state rate of 4 percent.

Improving education and training will play a role in reducing poverty and bringing in a more diverse labor market, though McFadden says the national economy is still the biggest factor.

"We won't see a lot of change until this (economic) flu at the national level works itself out," McFadden said.

Another indication of poverty is demand for state services, such as the Basic Food Program, which provides benefits to individuals and families with incomes up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level.

It assisted 79,904 people in Yakima County last year. That's slightly more than one in three county residents, or 33.5 percent, according to the state Department of Social and Health Services. The state average is 12.6 percent.

Even more telling of the level of economic suffering is that in the 2010 fiscal year, 107,635 Yakima County residents -- 45.1 percent of the population -- received some form of economic services from DSHS, such as cash assistance, work-focused services, food benefits and social services to help people meet basic needs.

Sunrise Outreach director of operations Ken Trainor, who oversees the weekly food bank at Vineyard Church, says volunteers move from 4,000 to 6,000 pounds of food each week. The number of people showing up has increased since the economic collapse of 2008, Trainor said, and he hasn't seen a drop-off yet. More than 200 people will sometimes show up at the food bank, he said.

Among those in line last week was Daniel Madrid, 49, unemployed for nearly three years after working 12 years as a security guard. He said he has been stabbed in four incidents, including one that went 6 inches deep, leading to disabilities that made him unfit for security work, a field that hadn't trained him for much else.

His physical disabilities prevent him from walking or even standing for a great length of time, and he said he also suffers from depression. He's not sure who would hire him for what, so he said he has applied for disability benefits and is waiting to be approved.

"They're always hiring security, but they're looking for young bucks," said Madrid.

For Alvarez, she says the family gets by despite their precarious financial situation. She hopes the worst of the recession, the pay cuts, the shrinking hours and the layoffs, are behind her and other people's families.

"There's a lot of work, then they only have a little work," Alvarez said. "I feel like (my family) is just right there on the line."

* Mike Faulk can be reached at 509-577-7675 or mfaulk@yakimaherald.com. Follow him on Twitter at @Mike_Faulk.