Change. It’s the word at the tip of everyone’s tongue with the way America’s economy has been shooting downward. We’re covering the affects these hard times are having on our close community and how a change in the economy is hitting wallets harder than we ever expected.

assisting.

Sts. Joachim and Ann Care Center provides hope for hundreds of struggling families in need
julia gabbert

Thursday. A day of “organized chaos” for the Sts. Joachim and Ann Care Center. It is on this day every week that needy families from all around the area line up as early as three hours prior to the opening of the food pantry. And in the last year, that lines just seems to get longer and longer.

It’s a stressful yet fulfilling process for workers and recipients alike, beginning at 8 a.m. and lasting until 8 p.m. On this particular day, it is rainy and cold, but the weather isn’t dampening the spirits of any of the employees and volunteers. Just within the front door is a room with several rows of chairs, a desk, a computer. Mostly empty. This is where pantry program coordinator Jan Hooker gets most of her paperwork done.

“It looks empty now…wait until 6:30. This room will be full.”

It seems that each year, a slew of new families file into the care center, searching for food, shelter and hope.

“In 2006, we provided for 54 homeless families total,” Miriam Mahan, executive director and one of five founders, said. “In 2007, it was 140 families. By March alone of 2008, that number had already grown to 300 families.”

Hooker turns to the left and enters the next room. A garage-like door takes up most of the front wall. This will be open later so the families can receive their food quickly and conveniently. Boxes, grocery bags full of food, fruits, pies, cakes, and bread line the walls. This is where you will find 76-year-old Robert Burns, 72-year-old Pete Petrosky, and 69-year-old James “Speedy” Southerland. The “4 o’clock team.” Their job is to organize and set up all the food that needs to be kept cool, so that it’s ready for families to take home.

She enters the next room, where shelves upon shelves are packed from floor to ceiling with canned goods, boxes of cereal, jars of sauces, paper towels, toilet paper, enough supplies to feed you and your family for months. This is also the room where, between 4 and 5:30 p.m., volunteers from the Duchesne Key Club and DeSmet can be found. The mood in this room is light hearted. Everyone seems to get along like family here. The boys joke with one another, along with Martha Ricker, head of the key club.

“The best part of being here is that is gives us a great feeling of accomplishment…” Andy Thro says. “Plus, we get to hang out with Martha!”

Standing no taller than 4 feet 10 inches, Ricker is small in stature, not in character. Looking towards an abandoned mug of coffee, Ricker stops in her tracks.

“Who’s is this?!”

The four o’clock team walk in.

“This?” Petrosky says, looking at his old mug of coffee. “This is Ed’s!”

“Who is Ed?!” Ricker questions.

“That’s you!”

Martha stalks off, shaking her head. Everyone else laughs to themselves.

It’s 5 p.m. Time passes quickly here, each team working together to get their part done, preparing for the big opening just a few hours away. At 6:30, the awaiting families are given cards with a number. Similar to the deli at your local grocery store, families will file into the first room and wait for their number to be called, at which time they are given a card with their family name, the number of people that need to be fed, and whether they are diabetic or not. They will receive a shopping cart outside, and take their card to the garage door of the next room, where their cart will be filled up with food in less than a minute. Preparing for this event is no walk in the park, and with the economy in the shape it is in, there’s more to worry about.

With more and more people losing their jobs and homes, more people are in need. In the last two quarters of 2008, there has been a 20 percent increase in families referred to the Care Center. Donations from local households are starting to decrease, because there is less money to spare among families. The Care Center is learning to stretch the amount of food they get from grocery store donations and government grants to feed more families.

It’s 6:27. Show time, let the chaos begin. Hooker was right, the room fills up fast. She begins calling off number by number, giving people their cards. A little girl wearing red framed glasses, a blue sweater, with a silver purse stands and waits patiently by the door, alongside her father and brother. The numbers are flying by. It’s 6:37.

“Number 21!”

Another girl of nine years old wears a raccoon mask and giggles wildly with her sister.

“We’re 20 numbers away!”

Marisa Hummert stands outside waiting to receive her food. She’s been coming here for almost two years to provide for her husband and two kids at home. Her husband is disabled and unable to work. Their family is in the approval process for disability from the government, after having been denied a year and a half ago.

“We joke at home,” Hummert laughs. “As soon as you open the refrigerator on Tuesdays, you know it’s time to come. [The Care Center] has been very helpful. Food stamps only help a little, this helps a lot.”

Darlene Jilg comes to the Care Center to provide for herself and her son. With the help of the Care Center, Jilg and many other families can worry about paying for other things instead of food.

“J and A has enabled us to live in a house in St. Charles instead of a small apartment in a very bad neighborhood in St. Louis. Our living situation has improved dramatically because of their help and others. With the weakening economy, we don’t know how we’d get by without J and A.”

Another woman shows just how hard it is to get by in today’s society. She’s 62 years old with two part time jobs. She came to the Care Center in search of a third job.

“It’s just sad,” Hooker sighs. “She should be retired at home, and instead, she has to work three jobs.”

Luckily, the Care Center provides other services such as employment, housing, health and wellness, children and youth, and transportation services.

It’s 7:54. One hundred and four is the final number of families fed for the week in just 87 quick minutes. One hundred and four families with one less thing to worry about.

“We did a record tonight, all the bread’s gone!” president William Zywiciel says.

The shelves are empty. It’s closing time. It’s been a long day, it’s time for Jan Hooker to finally relax. Until next Thursday when the familiar faces are back, and the process starts over again.

reviving.

Local businesses feel pinch
ryan firle and chelsea kaufman

Walking down North Main Street in St. Charles, maybe stopping for lunch at Trailhead, walking on toward Riverside Sweets for ice cream, and finishing the walk looking at some antiques in the numerous knick-knack shops, many would walk right past George Denninger Gallery.

George Denninger is an artist, and his studio, the Gallery, is located at 115 North Main Street. One look inside the windows - fascinating. The attention-grabbing piece of art that calls for a better look is a hand-crafted piano made of Brazilian Mahogany. It has been in prestigious magazines such as the New York Times, and even been made into an exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. As one would expect, the labor was extravagant.

“If you work eight hours a day, seven days a week, it will take six months to build,” Denninger said.

Even with the fame of his work having been displayed at the Met, it does not help with his business. With the economy in a downward slide, the Gallery is being greatly affected.

The greatest way Denninger has directly been affected is that most of his artwork is bought from tourists. With the price of fuel being so high, there are nearly 50 percent less tourists coming into his business from cities other than St. Charles.

As well as tourist numbers dropping, Denninger’s greatest fear is that people are no longer going to purchase things they want, but things they need. As people are living paycheck by paycheck to survive, most spend their money on necessities such as food, water, and shelter instead of entertainment items such as art. Although he agrees that those necessities are more important, he remains disappointed.

Daniel Montgomery, another St. Charles resident, understands this type of disappointment from the opposite perspective.

“I used to go out and find all types of things that I didn’t need, but I had a great love for,” Montgomery said. “For example, I would always go out and look for old collectables or little knick-knacks or just anything that I felt like having, but now I just can’t do it anymore.

“Now I really have to watch everything that I buy. It’s sad, but if I don’t need it, then I can’t bring myself to buy it.”

Denninger finds himself greatly affected by people like Montgomery.

“I have people that come in and like my work,” said Denninger. “But they’ll just say, ‘Well, I’ll come back’ and they will wait until they aren’t concerned with getting a paycheck.”

The economy has an affect on Denninger personally as well as his business. He has made each of his studios a home. In his present studio, he lives upstairs to save money and doesn’t drive much either.

“My car has sat in my driveway for a whole week before,” said Denninger.

Although the long-term future is unclear for Denninger’s Gallery with the economy being so unpredictable, the short-term future is evident. With a “for sale” sign plastered to his building, Denninger can only hope that someone will buy his studio; thus, him changing his way of life and moving on to a more successful financial future.

growing.

Family grows together as they push to thrive, bond
logan ponche

This past year, the Ramsey family has been running a marathon. Everyday, they have persevered in their trip, taking it step by step, hoping to eventually reach their goal. Now of course the family is not literally out on the road running. No, their marathon has been on a path named Economy, and their goal is to survive a recession that turned that path uphill, making it difficult to get by day to day.

“Right now we’re in a recession, a horrible recession,” Ms. Ramsey said. “And we need to get someone in office soon who can change this around.”

The Ramsey family, like many families, is feeling the effects of a changed economy. As the sole provider to a family of four, Ms. Ramsey has had to deal with paying for four dollars a gallon for gas, for groceries, utilities, and house and car payments. She also has to pay for her oldest son, Lee, to attend college in Mississippi - all on a bus driver’s salary. Now however, things are even harder for her because of the recession, and Ms. Ramsey is left to do what most have had to in order to get by: change her way of living.

“I think that this year especially has been really hard on us,” Ms. Ramsey said.”Money has been tight, and the kids and I have had to rely on each other to get by.”

To start, she has had her kids, Liana, Larry and LaRita, work to help out. Larry and LaRita have worked at McDonald’s while Liana plans to apply once she turns 15.

“Forty dollars out of our paychecks go to our mom every two weeks.” sophomore Larry Edwards said. “She uses it for cell phone bills and whatever else she needs. The rest we get to buy stuff for ourselves. I just like having my own money.”

Having their own money is a sentiment shared by all of Ms. Ramsey’s kids, as none of them like asking their mom for extra money.

“Having my own job means that I don’t have to ask my mom all of the time for money,” junior LaRita Edwards said. “I feel so bad when any of us ask her at the wrong time, like after she’s paid the bills.”

While the extra income helps, it alone is not enough to get by. In the past year, Ms. Ramsey has learned to change her way of shopping to deal with rising prices.

“Today, I look for a lot of bargains,” Ms. Ramsey said. “My mind is trained to look for them. Before I didn’t think about discounts at all. Before I never thought about coupons, but now every little bit helps.”

Even though the Ramsey’s try to do all they can to conserve, they have still lost the ability to go out whenever they want, make the occasional splurge, or for once not worry about prices. However through all of the sacrifices they have made, the Ramsey’s have had one undeniably good experience come out of this recession. In the past year, they have spent more time than ever together as a family. Which is something Ms. Ramsey wouldn’t trade for anything.

“I know that the kids have their football games and other stuff on Fridays and Saturdays,” Ms. Ramsey said. “But now, Thursdays and Sundays are when we get to be together. Everybody stays home and we just hang out all day. And it’s nice.”

For now, the Ramsey family will continue running their marathon.

Q&A.

Business Teacher Mike Kenny and John Sederburg of Sederburg and Associates

.So, what is a recession? Are we actually in one?

Mike Kenny: Well, a recession is defined by two consecutive quarters of a decrease in the economy. So I would think that since we have had that, yes we are in a recession.

.How does it affect high school students?

MK: One, it affects employment. The economy is decreasing, and less jobs are available. When people are out of jobs, they will take the $8 jobs. And it will squeeze you guys out of jobs you would normally have.

.How do we get out of it?

MK: That’s a loaded question. I’m not sure if anyone knows the answer to that question. There are things that can be done like creating jobs, which will create income and in turn spending. It’s like a big circle, each thing supports the next. And if we can get it started up again, that might help.

.What can high schoolers do about it?

MK:Right now [high schoolers] are a temporary employee, a part-time employee. When the time comes for them to be a full-time employee, they need to have the education to be prepared to do what they want to in life.

.With the elections over, how do you think the economy is going to change?

John Sederburg: It’s going to get immensely better. It’s at the bottom right now and it’s going to go up. We only have room to grow from here. By next year, we will have forgotten all about it.

.In regards to the election results, what do you think President Elect Obama will be able to accomplish with the economy?

MK: I really don’t know too much about President Elect Obama’s policies. We’re just going to have to wait and see. We don’t know what he’s going to do yet.

.What will Obama’s policy mean, in terms of the economy?

JS: I don’t think either candidate had a strong policy. Obama doesn’t know - neither McCain or Obama know. It didn’t matter who got elected, they both wanted change; they talked about it, but they never answered as to how they were going to change the economy. It’s no longer in their hands.

.If the economy is no longer in the hands of the government, then how do we, as a nation, fix it?

JS: We become confidant again. If we don’t spend, the economy goes downhill and fails. But if we just spend money with confidence, the economy will be fine. People are scared to death to spend money, that’s the real problem. If people just start spending like they used to, in five years, the economy will be great.

interviewed by tyler kirk and logan ponche

surviving.

Family works as team to overcome financial obstacles
brittany schulze

It’s 1 p.m. Senior Katy Bogar sits in her dimly lit living room with 19-year-old boyfriend, Robby Gantz, watching the end of “The Pursuit of Happyness.”

“Did he get the job?” Katy says.

“Well, he is clapping, isn’t he?” Robby replies sarcastically.

Ironically, Katy and Robby find themselves in the same situation as Will Smith’s character. Robby is currently unemployed and has been searching for a job for two months, while Katy works twice a week at Harvester Lanes.

The teens occupy a crowded home, as they currently live with Katy’s parents, Katy’s older sister and four dogs.

All is quiet until hiccups are heard coming from the 3-month-old sitting on Katy’s lap. This little baby is Katy and Robby’s daughter: Leah Marie Gantz. Born on July 17, Leah arrived just two days before Katy’s eighteenth birthady.

“[Leah] was named after my grandma,” Robby says.

Last year, Katy and Robby started dating and on Nov. 22, Katy found out that her life was going to change.

“I remember telling my mom in the morning before I left for school,” Katy said. “My dad was saying how he was going to puke.”

Along with dealing with the teenage pregnancy, Katy and Robby are also experienceing financial troubles due to the hardships the economy is suffering from.

“We try to budget our money as best as we can,” Katy said. “We have saved up a lot of money for Leah. She has somewhere between $650 and $700.”

The movie that represents their life so well finally comes to an end.

“I love this movie,” Robby says.

While Katy holds her, Leah begins to cry.

“What’s wrong, Leah?”

“Let me see her,” Robby says.

As soon as Leah touches her father’s arms, she stops crying. Amused, Katy heads for the restroom.

“Smile for daddy, Leah,” Robby says in a baby voice.

Katy returns to the living room as a new movie, “Employee of the Month,” begins.

“This is what we do,” Katy says. “We watch TV with Leah.”

For now, with Roby’s unemployment, it’s all they can do. However, occasionally, the couple tries to find time for themselves.

“Once or twice a month, Katy and I go out while [Katy’s] parents watch Leah,” Robby says.

Leah lays quietly asleep, next to her father. Making sure she’s fast asleep, Katy picks up her daughter and carries her to the brightly colored yellow and pink room that Leah sleeps in every night. Bambi, the famous fawn with a will to survive - just as Robby and Katy - lines the trim of the walls, along with a framed drawing of the character that Robby drew himself.

Katy places Leah in her crib, kissing her head. But before Katy can leave the room, Leah begins to cry.

Back in the living room, Robby sits, watching “Employee of the Month.”

Katy hands Leah to Robby and sits on the couch beside him. On the floor lay many of Leah’s toys.

“The most expensive thing we bought was the breast pump,” Robby said. “It cost $300.”

Even though the pump was expensive, it saves money in the long run. With the prices of goods going up, it is harder for the couple, and the nation, to budget money.

“To save money, Katy carpools with people to work,” Katy’s mother, Julie, said. “Gas is just too expensive.”

For the time being, Katy lends her Neon to her dad, while she and Robby take turns driving his car. Katy’s dad normally drives a diesel truck, but with the gas prices right now, $4 per gallon is too much for the family to afford.

“We work as a team,” Julie said. “We know times are hard right now, but we can’t just give up.”

As Julie said, times are hard in their home. Not only did Robby get laid off, but the company Julie works for, Horacs Mann Insurance, is being transferred to Dallas, and the company her husband Dave works for was recently bought out. In Feb., Horacs Mann will be gone for good, and Julie will be forced to find another employer.

“I found out about my [business's transfer] the day before Leah was born,” Julie said. “I had to make a decision. I couldn’t just tell my family to pack up and move. There’s another baby to take care of now.”

The phone begins to ring and Robby answers it.

“Hello?

“This is him.

“Hey, how are you?” Robby says as he walks into a different room.

“It’s probably about the job,” Katy says.

The job Katy refers to is one Robby recently applied for. If hired, he would be serving food to the elderly.

Robby hangs up the phone and returns to the room, a smile spreading across his face.

He got the job.

Katy, obviously ecstatic, congratulates him.

In a matter of minutes - in one phone call - the day-to-day stress on their shoulders was momentarily lifted. Now that Robby is no longer unemployed, pinching pennies won’t be as much of a necessity; they will be able to spend their money with a little less to consider.

It seems, for now, Robby and Katy’s lifestyle is improving, all because they never gave up in their search for employment. They never gave up in their will to survive. They never gave up in their pursuit of happiness.

Senior Katy Bogar and North graduate Robby Gantz spend the day with their baby, Leah Marie. The two became parents on July 17, bringing home a brand new baby girl. With a 3-month-old daughter, they have a lot to prepare for and look forward to in their future. Katy and Leah live at home with Katy’s parents and Robby spends most of his time there as well. (sarah semmel)