Contra Costa organization uplifts the working poor

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Dec 28, 2007 | by Lisa P White

Doris Gomez and Patrick Soriano have had a tough year.

The couple fell a month behind in their rent and ended up losing their three-bedroom mobile home.

Soriano's hours at the landscaping job he worked for more than a year dwindled from full-time to a few days per week before drying up entirely.

And police recently towed the family car from in front of their home because it didn't have valid registration tags.

"What do they say? When it rains it pours," said Soriano, 37.

The couple and their three children -- Marivelle, 7, Jasmine, 9, and Issacc, 4 -- are barely getting by on Soriano's earnings from a part-time job through a temp agency and state aid payments for Jasmine, who is developmentally disabled.

So the family has turned again for help to the Contra Costa County Women Infants and Children program, which provides food for about 18,000 low-income pregnant women, new mothers and children up to age 5.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture funds the program, which gives families earning up to 185 percent of the federal poverty level -- $38,203 for a family of four -- checks to buy staples such as milk, beans, eggs, baby formula, juice and cereal.

"When we needed help, we used to get it off and on," said Gomez, 37. "But if I didn't need it I didn't, you know? Let somebody else get it. But now we're in a situation where we need it."

Mary Jane Kiefer, senior public health specialist for the program, said some of the clients have lost a job recently and need help temporarily, while others are members of the working poor who regularly receive assistance.

"People are working a couple of jobs and they still can't feed their families," said Kiefer, who works in the Pittsburg office. "Especially in Contra Costa County where the rent is so high, it really makes it difficult for the working poor. ... A lot of times people pay the rent and don't have much money for anything else."

Kiefer said the program used an $8,000 Share the Spirit grant this year to buy 400 $20 gift certificates to Target, Safeway and Wal-Mart so parents could afford extras like a turkey for Christmas dinner or small presents for their children. But Kiefer tries to do more. By reaching out to her friends and church members, Kiefer collected toys and children's coats, too.

And the Salvation Army delivered two truckloads of dolls to the Pittsburg and Concord WIC offices last week.

"It's actually sort of magical. We have nothing and we get things from here and things from there," she said. "I don't know how it works, it just does. People are so kind and they're giving and we really appreciate it and we really try to get it out to the people who need it most."

In the Gomez-Soriano home, a Christmas tree from a local church brightens the tiny living room. Donated presents for the kids -- three scooters, Bratz dolls for the girls and tiny cars for Issacc - - were wrapped beneath it. It isn't much, but it helps. And the couple hope they will find full-time work soon and that their situation improves in the new year.

"Don't let the problems get the best of you. You've still got your health, you've still got your kids," Soriano said. "That right there is enough to motivate you to do better."