A National ProblemHeating and powering our homes is almost a second thought in America. We sign-up for, routinely pay for, and consume these utilities as an almost automatic action because they are 1.) Entirely necessary and 2) expected of us. Few social sins are as mortifying as the thought of a dark, cold home. But among those living at or near the poverty line, making a utility payment is often a choice between keeping the lights & heat on and eating. Or being able to pay rent. Or keeping your phone on. Or any other innumerable little thing so many of us may take for granted.
The fact is that when you live in poverty heating your home, something that is so natural and ubiquitous in American life, is a burden. And it is one we don't seem to talk about in the United States. In the UK, the concept of Fuel Poverty (the rate of and frequency at which citizens find themselves burdened by the cost of Energy) is a fully studied social problem with definitions and organizations combating it. By applying their definition to the United States (a household needing to pay more than 10% of its income to provide an adequate temperature) we find some truly shocking results: Even at the broadest level, a vast majority of the poorest citizens in The United States are living in Fuel Poverty. Focusing InWhile at the national level there is very little open conversation being had about Fuel Poverty, there are national programs that citizens living near the poverty line can access. LIHEAP (Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program) is a federal level program that administers aid money to state level organizations (Such as WHEAP, Wisconsin Home Energy Assistance Program) in an attempt to keep the Cold at bay.
These type of programs are only meant to assist home owners and not fully cover their heating costs, and the application is only open to households making 60% or below of the state median income. When we begin speak directly about Milwaukee, the problem of Fuel Poverty only becomes more entangled. A Milwaukee Winter is more of an ordeal than a season for most citizens. As temperatures plummet and staying indoors becomes the best option for staying healthy and comfortable, a new set of problems begin to emerge in impoverished and dilapidated communities.
In Sherman Park, an especially impoverished community in Milwaukee, the entriety of the housing stock is approaching ~100 years of age, and in many cases these houses are in need of repair and upkeep to maintain warmth. This is compounded by the poverty that is present in this neighborhood, where in the poorest parts the median income of a household is under $20,000. |
Living in "Fuel Poverty" is defined in the UK as a household needing to spend 10% or greater of its income to maintain a healthy internal temperature.
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Jermaine Alexander, the Director of Housing for the Sherman Park Community Association, confirms that many tenants in these older houses are often need of assistance with maintenance to keep them warm through the winter.
In an email exchange, he was able to deftly illustrate the plights faced by citizens of Sherman Park.
In an email exchange, he was able to deftly illustrate the plights faced by citizens of Sherman Park.
- Michael Muchmore: Is there any one problem with the homes that you run into more than others?
- Jermaine Alexander: Drafty window’s and inefficient heating systems are the top two.
- MM: Is it related to the age of the homes, or due to neglect?
- JA: The majority of the homes in the Sherman Park Neighborhood were built 60 – 100 years ago, so age is a factor. Most SP residents are able to make the needed repairs, but many are not. Years ago, before the 08 Great Recession, if homeowners didn’t have the available funds to make repairs, they would utilize the equity in their home to obtain home improvement loans.
- MM: Are most of these homes rental properties or owned by their residents? Which type of property (rented or owned) do you see more problems with?
- JA: As of the last 10 years, the owner occupancy rate has declined. There are about as many renter occupied homes as there are owner. Of the homes that are noticeably in disrepair, the number is about the same for owner and non-owner occupied. I get some calls from tenants that have issues with their landlord related to repairs, but not many.
With this, Mr. Alexander told me the beginning of a story about what Fuel Poverty in Milwaukee looks like. To me, he was hinting at a story that goes beyond income ranges, house age, and neighborhood boundaries. The story of Fuel Poverty in Milwaukee is surrounded by numbers, but they aren't the core of it, as Mr. Alexander shows.
Numbers can tell us how many are affected, and even how much they are affected monetarily, but even these values only reflect one facet of what it means to live without access to heat. Numbers don't adequately show us what it means to be Cold. They can't tell us what it means to make the choice between warmth and hunger, or what happens when warmth is ripped away from us unexpectedly. Numbers certainly won't tell us what it means to be with out a home in the winter. Fuel Poverty in Milwaukee is a story that intersects with myriad other woes faced by our less fortunate neighbors: It is compounded and amplified by almost every thing that can go wrong in day-to-day life, and because of this there is no one solution to remedy it. But if we bring it to the forefront and continue to monitor it, if we can compile the numbers along with the stories they suggest, we may begin to find a way to warm ourselves. |