In a desperate attempt to get relief, 50,000 people lined up outside Cobo Conference Center in Detroit to pick up applications for utility and mortgage assistance that will only provide relief for 3,500. The economic crisis in capitalism is worsening.
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos
Detroit is 4th hardest hit city in Great Recession
CATHERINE JUN AND CHRISTINE MACDONALD
The Detroit News
Detroit -- More than a third of the city's residents lived in poverty in 2009, a dramatic increase from a quarter in 2000. The median income, meanwhile, fell to $26,098, a 31.3 percent drop from $38,009 in 2000.
That ranks Detroit fourth nationwide among communities most adversely affected.
Councilman Andre Spivey said the numbers show the city must refocus energies on bringing business to the city. Without jobs, residents will leave for work and remaining residents will continue to suffer through foreclosures, he said.
"It's almost like the perfect storm," Spivey said.
"We need to be very aggressive in soliciting businesses to come here."
"There can be no excuses."
Council President Charles Pugh agreed, saying that city officials need to look beyond putting out the daily fires -- such as balancing the budget and contract negotiations -- and lure new companies to Detroit.
"This needs to be a warning signal," Pugh said. "You can't survive on that. An individual can barely survive on $26,000 let alone a family. That's unconscionable."
At St. Frances Cabrini Clinic on Porter Street, each chair in the waiting room is filled on mornings and afternoons. The clinic provides free doctor visits and prescription drugs to indigent patients, many of whom are currently ineligible for Medicaid.
"They had jobs, they owned homes," said Sister Mary Ellen Howard, executive director of the clinic. "They call up very apologetic."
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