Northwest Indiana Discussion

Look at Indiana unemployment compared to the nation

Oh Gary this and Gary that well hush your mouth look at you and your community now!

http://money.cnn.com/news/storysuppleme ... my/gapmap/

http://foodbanknwi.org/programs.html

If you are a person or family in need, please call our Agency Relations Director Marjorie Wilson at 219.981.5117 and she will direct you to an agency close to your home.

Interested in Joining the Network?

If you are an agency interested in starting a food pantry or soup kitchen � or are already operating and would like to become a member of our network download our pre-application form and contact Marjorie at 219.981.5117 or email her at mwilson@foodbanknwi.org

Click here for pre-application form

Exciting New Jewels Hunger-Relief Grant Opportunity!

Jewel-Osco is committed to increasing access to nutritious food for people with limited economic resources. Understanding that many financially struggling households visit emergency food assistance sites, Jewel-Osco is inviting qualified food pantry programs and community soup kitchens to apply for capacity-building funding through its newly established Hunger Relief Grant Program.



Food Bank of NWI Member Food pantries and soup kitchens may apply for grants up to $2,500 to fund projects that address the goals of Jewel-Osco’s Hunger Relief Grant Program.

2248 W 35th Avenue Gary, IN 46408 | P: 219-980-1777 | Email: info@foodbanknwi.org � 2005 Food Bank of Northwest Indiana

Stephen Baldwin Files For Bankruptcy Youngest Baldwin brother owes money all around town


Baby Baldwin Stephen and wife Kennya are bankrupt.

Court records show the Baldwins are millions of dollars in debt and have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

A filing Tuesday in federal court in New York shows that Baldwin owes $1.2 million in two mortgages on a property about 30 miles north of New York City valued at $1.1 million. The document shows he also owes more than $1 million in taxes and has about $70,000 in credit card debt.

Baldwin's lawyer, Bruce Weiner, did not immediately return a message left for him late Tuesday.

Baldwin, the youngest of a family of actors and a born-again Christian, has appeared in several films including "The Usual Suspects."

Last month, he left the Costa Rican set of the NBC show "I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here!" after he said he got more than 125 insect bites in eight days.

Perhaps now he's wishing he could escape his debts by returning to the jungle.

RICHES TO RAGS: Chartwell boss' wife bankrupt

Christie Peucker

WITH a flashy house, a nanny on call and money to burn, Rachael Rau had it all.

But little more than $100 is all that is left from the wealth amassed by the estranged wife of fallen Chartwell Enterprises boss Ian Rau.
Have your say on the feedback form below

The Geelong Advertiser has obtained documents showing Ms Rau was officially declared bankrupt on May 15, with just $66.12 in the bank and $50 in her pocket.

The mother-of-six found her life in tatters in April, last year, when the Geelong-based share-trading firm collapsed with debts of more than $80 million.

Ms Rau's debts amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

She owes Chartwell Enterprises Pty Ltd $360,000, believed to be from deposits made into her account by the failed company.

Unpaid school fees totalling $8225.63 are jointly owed by the estranged couple to Geelong College, while two lots of City of Greater Geelong council rates amounting to $8336.30 are also owed.

The Statement of Affairs document, prepared for her bankruptcy application, also reveals Ms Rau and her husband were forced to surrender a boat valued at $80,000 to Lion Finance Pty Ltd and two properties valued at $1.1 million and $920,000, respectively, to the National Australia Bank.

The two properties at Retreat Rd, Newtown, and Swan Bay Rd, Wallington were sold in February, one fetching more than $1 million at auction. The other was sold post auction for an undisclosed sum.

No shares, superannuation or life insurance policies were listed in the statement by Ms Rau, who indicated she had no items of value except a 2001 Chrysler Voyager with an estimated resale value of $5000.

The declaration was a far cry from the lavish lifestyle she was once accustomed to.

A Supreme Court public examination into the demise of Chartwell during the last few months heard Ms Rau, 32, was paid $3000 a week by the company, despite not being an employee.

The company footed the bill for a $42,000-a-year nanny to look after her children, while Chartwell cash was also used to fund renovations to the couple's Newtown mansion.

Ms Rau told the public examination in April she was kept in the dark about her husband's business dealings and had left him after 12 years of marriage.

She said in a Supreme Court affidavit last year her family lived like corporate fugitives in Queensland in the wake of Chartwell's collapse and gave birth to the couple's fifth child on the bathroom floor because Mr Rau would not allow her to go hospital despite the baby being injured during birth.

Bankruptcy trustee of Ms Rau's estate Jason Bettles, of Worrells Solvency & Forensic Accountants, said yesterday she would now sit out three years of bankruptcy.

It is understood Chartwell liquidators have submitted a brief to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission in relation to Mr Rau and partner Graeme Hoy's dealings.

http://dockets.justia.com/search?query= ... -year=2009

Laugh this off we see who the dead beats of society are !

From Six-Figure Salaries To Food Stamps

Since the recession began at the end of 2007, jobs in this country have been vanishing at an alarming rate - more than 11,000 a day.

More than 13 million Americans are now officially unemployed, and as CBS News correspondent Sandra Hughes reports, that's putting some in an unfamiliar and difficult position: turning to the government for help.

Andrew Balzer never thought he would be standing in line for food stamps.

After working in the corporate world as a staff recruiter, he was laid off in November. He had a six-figure income. Now he has a case worker.

"The household income is just unemployment: $950 every two weeks," he told the case worker recently.

That's the limit for unemployment: $1,900 a month to support his wife Michelle, and daughters Brandi, Bailey, Shasta and Skylar.

He's already six months behind on his $3,100 mortgage, and one of his two cars has been repossessed.

"It's been very tough," Balzer said. "Can't lie. It's been very stressful."

The family is hopeful they'll get the full $800 a month offered through the food stamp program.

It's hard to get help, being in the middle class. It really is," Michelle Balzer said.

Throughout Los Angeles, public assistance offices are overflowing with the newly needy. In one suburban location, there are now more than 3,000 requests for help every month. That's a 20 percent increase over this time last year.

"These are mostly people who are really hard working people. They don't want to depend on the system but don't have a choice," said welfare worker Tina Kolgian. "They want to survive."

While applications are up, so are rejections. The county denied more than 18,000 food stamp applications in February, up 14 percent from a year ago. Current rules make qualifying for help almost impossible if you own a car or have a small amount of savings. There are calls to loosen those rules temporarily.

"We're looking at corporations, banks, insurance companies that have gotten a bailout that have been doing very well," said L.A. County Supervisor Gloria Molina. "What were saying here - let's help the middle class. They need a bailout right now."

After four trips, fingerprinting, hours of interviews, and mountains of paperwork, Balzer got a food stamp card, but only for $393 a month.

"It's very nice to have. It definitely would help," he said.

Meanwhile he's home working at the hardest job he's ever had - finding one.

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id= ... photovideo

More than one out of every 10 people in Lee County is currently receiving food stamps, data shows, as Lee County's economic woes continue.

June figures from the Department of Children and Families regional office in Fort Myers showed that 60,579 Lee County residents received food stamps in June.

"The most recent Census data shows Lee County with a population of 593,136. That means currently, 10.2 percent of the total population of Lee County is on food stamps," Erin Gillespie, DCF Public Information Officer, said Friday.

The June figure amounts to a 55.9 percent increase in Lee County over the same time last year. Statewide, receivership is up only 38.5 percent.

Take a broader view and the gap increases exponentially.

"We have seen the number of people on food stamps increase by 150 percent in the last two years or so," Gillespie said. "Lee County has consistently seen the largest increase as far as growth in the last year. There are a lot of people coming to the state for help. We have never seen the numbers this high."

Not surprisingly, the record food stamp numbers coincided in June with an unprecedented unemployment rate that hit 13 percent in Lee County.

The statewide unemployment rate was 10.6 percent for June. The last time the state's unemployment rate was higher than June 2009 was October 1975 when it was 11 percent.

Lee County's peak food stamp numbers have been on a steady rise as the economy has declined, Gillespie said.

"We started seeing an increase about 18 months ago when the construction industry started to collapse," she said. "We took a huge hit then, now with the entire economy going down we are seeing people from other industries needing help as all kinds of other industries are closing their doors or having layoffs. Until something drastic happens, I don't see things getting any better, at least not any time in the near future."

So for now, she said, people who need help should get it and food stamps are not as difficult to get as other types of public aid such as Medicaid or temporary cash assistance and are therefore more readily accessible.

"Food stamp eligibility is based entirely on income, so it doesn't matter if you are single or a married couple, with or without children," she said. "All you need to do is provide the required documentation."

That documentation can be anything from pay stubs to birth certificates for applicants with children.

For a family of four, she said, their maximum gross monthly income is $2,297 and the maximum net income is $1,767. Based on those numbers the maximum amount of food stamps the family would receive is $588 a month.

"These numbers change, of course, based upon the number of people in the family," she said.

Once all the paperwork is in order, the state has a maximum of 30 days to begin doling our benefits, but Gillespie said the current turnaround period in Lee County is 13 days.

Unlike in the past, recipients aren't given unwieldy books of coupons but are issued an Electronic Benefit Transfer, or EBT, card.

"It works just a like a debit card, except that it can only be used to purchase food," she said. "And that doesn't include prepared food like the pre-cooked chicken or subs at Publix."

Because the program is federally funded, there is no limit to how much aid can be given out as long as all the necessary requirements are met.

Gillespie encourages anyone who needs help to apply.

"There is no shame in needing help. If you're hungry or your children are hungry, apply for help, it's why we're here," she said. "We're here to help."