Nearly half of Michigan households struggle to afford basic needs, report says

NORTHERN MICHIGAN (WPBN/WGTU) -- Across Michigan, nearly half of households are struggling to get by.

That's according to a new report by the Michigan Association of United Ways and its research partner, United For ALICE.

The numbers are rising, and so are the stories of families who are feeling the strain.

"It's hard, especially when you feel like you don't have help," Nicole Wares said.

Nicole is a single mom living in Traverse City.

"I work at Dunham's," Nicole said. "I've been there almost eight years now. I'm on disability. I would like to work more, but I physically can't do it."

Despite her best efforts, the bills keep piling up.

"Money is tight everywhere.," Nicole said. "Cost of living has gone up; income doesn't really go up much."

Nicole's story is becoming all too common.

"There are people who used to be able to get by on their income, take care of their family on their income, no longer can," said Patty Steele, the social services supervisor for The Salvation Army Traverse City.

Steele said nearly 1,000 people walk through the doors at The Salvation Army in Traverse City every week, searching for help to make ends meet.

"The number is growing," Steele said. "It's definitely growing.

According to a report by United Way, 1.6 million households, 41% of the state, are struggling to afford the basics.

"There's a trend of more and more households slipping below that ability to meet their basic needs," said Aldo Manner, director of grants and data management at United Way of Northwest Michigan.

These households are known as ALICE: Asset Limited, Income Constrained, and Employed.

"These people are the folks who are living often above the federal poverty line but not making enough to pay their bills and to cover the cost of living in their communities," Manner said.

Manner said these are the people you see every day.

"The service workers, the retail workers, delivery drivers, even healthcare nurses," Manner said.

They're working, they're trying, but they're still falling short.

"They're still struggling day after day to pay their bills," Manner said.

The number of households below the ALICE threshold is growing.

"Since 2010, we've seen a growth of 7% in households overall in Michigan," Manner said. "The households below the federal poverty line have remained about constant, percentage-wise, but the percent of those households has increased 18% in the ALICE population."

While wages have slightly increased since then, the cost of everything else- food, gas, rent- has also increased.

"We see that about 69% of the ALICE population is paying more than 30%, often 50%, of their income toward housing," Manner said.

"Right now, I'm seeing lots of people who have bills of $1,500, $2,000, and more for their utilities that they can't pay at this time," Steele said.

Manner said when people are falling behind, it has a huge ripple effect.

"When people are barely getting by, when they are living paycheck to paycheck, they don't have a lot of money that they can put into the local economies," Manner said. "And our tax revenues are lower when people aren't earning enough wages to support themselves."

It also puts a strain on the resources available to help others.

"All the donations are down again," Steele said. "It's tougher on everybody, even the people who try to be generous."

"It's kind of turned into this cycle of lower funds coming in the door that we can then send out to help those community members, and there are more community members in need of help," Manner said.

Community members like Nicole, who rely on these resources.

"It's very important to have someone that you can turn to and ask for help," Nicole said. "I definitely got that here."

Support at The Salvation Army comes in many forms, from food and clothing to a place of belonging.

"Having the free activities here that we can do like game night and stuff that gets us out of the house and interaction with others, [it's] just a lot of fun," Nicole said. "I don't have to worry about anything. I can just put all my worries aside, and I don't think about any of it until I get home again."

Although donations are down, Steele is confident The Salvation Army can keep up with the need and continue to provide hope.

"Whether it's money or clothes or food or just a shoulder, that's the bottom line, is to make somebody leave feeling like their load's a little bit lighter," Steele said.

"It's been a pretty big impact," Nicole said. "It's been very helpful. I wish I would have come in sooner. I wish I wouldn't have waited so long. I wish I would have asked for help sooner."

If you are struggling to make ends meet, don't hesitate to ask for help.

Organizations like The Salvation Army and United Way exist to bring people and resources together to address these issues.

If you need help but don't know where to start, call 2-1-1 or go to 211.org.