When Alvin Gibson read that Maryland was the wealthiest state in the nation, he was dumbstruck.
“I need gas for my equipment, so I have to make a choice between gas for my business or feeding my family,” said the 36-year-old North Avenue resident, who occasionally prods Baltimore’s homeless out of people’s flower beds as a landscaper and lead paint inspector for the Association for Community Organizations for Reform Now.
“I walk four blocks from my house, and I’m at risk of being shot — and you want to say I’m living in the richest state in the nation?”
Gibson is one of many Baltimore City residents — 20 percent of the city’s population in 2007, according to the latest U.S. Census estimates — struggling to make ends meet, despite Maryland having the nation’s highest median household income.
The American Community Survey reported that 8.3 percent of Marylanders in 2007 were living below the “poverty line” — a factor determined by income and family size. Maryland was up from 7.8 percent in 2006 but was lower than the national average of 13 percent.
“Those with good skills are being well compensated for them, but those without are struggling,” said Daraius Irani, associate vice president of economic and community outreach at Towson University.
“The gap between them is growing wider and wider.”
Most counties in the Baltimore region saw an increase in poverty during the past year. Harford and Cecil counties showed the largest increases — Harford went from 3.3 percent living in poverty to 5.4 percent, and Cecil grew from 7.5 percent to 11.1 percent.
At a meeting in Edgewood this month, Harford’s Community Action Agency told attendees that it had fed nearly 15,000 needy people during the summer.
“It didn’t sit well with me that this could happen,” said Mildred Samy, an anti-violence advocate in Edgewood.
“Not in Harford County. Not in my ‘American dream’ county.”
Upper Chesapeake Health Center’s Healthlink primary care clinic had been getting about 200 patient visits a month, but anticipated that number to double during the next year and a half, said Kathy Kraft, director of community health improvement.
The Havre de Grace clinic and two mobile units treat adults who fall well below the poverty level.
“We’re seeing more people losing their jobs, or having things happen in their lives they could never anticipate that bring them to us,” Kraft said.
The Maryland Rural Development Corp., which provides Head Start services to Harford and Cecil counties, has been serving the same number of people, but has seen an increase in demand, said Executive Director R. Kevin Brooks.
“We’re seeing an increase in eligible families,” he said. “Our funding and enrollment has remained static over the last couple of years, but we recognize the need to expand.”
Samy said the increase in poverty was linked to crime by people turning to more and more desperate measures as they sank deeper below the poverty line.
“Poor people used to be able to survive, but now it seems the poor are getting poorer,” she said.
BY THE NUMBERS
• Baltimore City, with a median household income of $36,949, has the greatest percentage of people living in poverty — 20 percent.
• Not far behind is Cecil at 11.1 percent. The median income in that county is much higher than Baltimore City at $63,159.
• Cecil and Baltimore City, however, are well above the state which has 8.3 percent living in poverty. The state’s median household income is $68,080, which is higher than Baltimore County’s median of $60,844.
• The poverty level in Baltimore County is slightly below the state at 7.8 percent.
• Harford’s rate of people living in poverty is 5.4 percent. Its income sits at $72,372.
• Anne Arundel, Carroll and Howard have similar percentages of people living in poverty with Anne Arundel at 4.7 percent and Carroll and Howard both at 4.5 percent. They differ in median household incomes with Anne Arundel at $80,402, Carroll at $82,492 and Howard at $101,672.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2007
