Why Human Services are Vital to the Community Pt I

Within the past few years, there has been discussion of the role that human services play in the lives of people and whether such services are actually healthy for individuals and families. As a result, many human services such as school and community health centers, after-school programs, and early childhood care and educations centers get targeted for budget cuts and even ridiculed for helping the less fortunate. And while there are people who will leech, other disadvantaged residents, such as children, the homeless, those living in or near poverty, and those with disabilities use the services as a vital lifeline.

An important fact about human services that is often overlooked is that they are extremely wise investments. According to the Social Impact Research Center at Heartland Alliance in Chicago, human services stave off future costs to the community if many of the issues in the community were left unchecked. Here are a few examples of those costs:

• Child poverty costs the US economy $500 billion per year when considering lost earnings, crime, and health care costs.
• The costs of low education attainment come in the form of lost productivity and earnings potential. The median annual income of someone with less than a high school diploma is 2.6 times less than someone with a bachelor's degree. This translates into lost taxable income and purchasing power.
• The cost of retaining students who are not promoted to the next grade costs $18 billion annually
• The potential economic value to be gained in better health outcomes if all Americans had health coverage is estimated to be between $65 and 130 billion each year
• The annual net burden of crime, including costs of incarceration and the legal system, lost wages, costs to victims, crime prevention organizations, lost opportunity costs, fear of being victimized, and cost of private deterrence, is estimated at over $1 trillion
• The monetary value of saving a single high-risk youth from turning to criminal activity is $1.7 to $2.3 million.

There is no question that human services help people mitigate many of the hardships in life, but they can also mitigate the economic impact of simply ignoring them. How so?  The next post will answer that.

Resident Spotlight: Matthew Odom

Recently, Promise Neighborhoods had the opportunity to sit down and chat briefly with a resident many inside of the MPN may not know of. However, the rest of the city, the state and cities like Chicago, Illinois know him very well. Matthew Odom is a successful local photographer that is pushing the limits of professional photography in the Macon and Middle Georgia area. His work has gotten so much attention that a piece of his work is on display at an art exhibition in Atlanta, Ga. What many don't know about Matthew is that he not only grew up in the Unionville neighborhood but he in fact still lives in the neighborhood.

Matthew holds the piece that will get exhibited at the Peachtree Photography Roots Studio Exhibition

MPN: "So tell us about your neighborhood."

Matt: "Well I grew up in Unionville and still stay there. There are good people in the neighborhood but right now, its just stagnant. It's hard to put a finger on it sometimes. And although its better than it was when I was growing up, the mindset of many who live in the neighborhood isn't one that can push the neighborhood forward. Or better yet push THEMSELVES forward."

MPN: "Well speak on growing up a little. What sort of things did you have to overcome to become as successful as you are. (Matthew owns a VERY successful photography business along with an successful internet based smooth jazz radio station)."

Matt: "Well I lost my mother when I was a young boy so my grandparents raised me and after my grandfather died, it was just my grandma and myself. There was a point when the neighborhood got pretty rough with a rise in gang activity and violence but I never took heed to the peer pressure that the gangs brought with them. I was also very involved in sports and I loved video games; still do! *laughs* But with a strong family along with effective mentors and positive friends, I kept everything on the straight and narrow."

MPN: *laughing* "I can definitely understand where you're coming from with video games and sports. Can you talk about some ways you think that residents in Univionville can, sort of, help themselves get out of many of the situations they are in. You know, change the "culture" that is in place in the neighborhood." 

Matt: Well to me its simple. The key is to educate themselves AND to make sure that their children take their education seriously. Knowledge is the new currency and many people who do well are the ones with the knowledge and know-how to get things done. The neighborhood simply has to educate itself.

Wise words.

See some of Matthew's work at Matt Odom Photography