Neighbors In Need

It can be easy to overlook with the ratio of BMWs to Hondas parked along Elm Street on any given day, but the poverty rate in New Canaan is not zero. Sure, it’s not like up in Hartford, Connecticut's poorest city, where fully a third of the residents are living below the poverty line. But it’s not zero.

If the numbers of families asking for help putting the Thanksgiving meal on the table is any indication, the number of New Canaanites who are struggling is on the rise.

Sixty-one families, representing 155 residents, requested Thanksgiving meals from New Canaan's Human Services Department this year, twice as many as in 2008. About another 20 seniors requested hot meals in both years.

Officially—and this is officially according to 10-year-old census stats—the poverty rate here is 2.5 percent, including 74 families, 485 people. But given the cost of living and with the unemployment rate in the Stamford-Bridgeport area hitting 8 percent in October, the poverty rate likely masks the number here who are struggling.

First of all, the poverty guidelines are a federal thing. The “poverty line” is the same in New Canaan as it is in Hartford—a household income below $22,050 for a family of four in 2009. But in New Canaan, $22,050 is just 12 percent of the median household income ($181,161).

The Living Wage Calculator estimates that the living wage for a family of four in Fairfield County (and that includes Bridgeport) is $32.32 an hour, or $67,227 a year before taxes. Guess what? At least 18 percent of households in New Canaan (according to those old census figures) are living off an income that doesn’t meet that threshold.

"It's a really hard place to be," said Aggie Aspinwall, Administrative Assistant at Human Services. "We pay more for everything."

Human Services distributes vouchers for New Canaan's food pantry, which doesn't receive state or federal funding, on a case-by-case basis rather than by strict income or asset guidelines.

"If they're in foreclosure and they have no liquid assets, you don't want them to go hungry," Aspinwall said, noting that a family in crisis may only utilize the pantry once or twice.

Human Services also helps needy families cover heat and electricity bills.

Fortunately, Aspinwall says, though Human Services is seeing more unemployed residents, the agency has not been inundated.

"People live here and they try to take care of themselves. They try to sell their house if they have to. People have a bit of savings," Aspinwall said, noting that the agency is not getting applications for state aid on a daily basis.

Still, in this holiday season, Human Services is looking for elves to fulfill the wish lists of neighbors in need, and a "giving tree" is going up at Lang's Pharmacy decorated with ornaments detailing the needs of local seniors. Aspinwall also suggests that in lieu of hostess gifts residents collect gift cards for donation at their holiday parties. Human Services, of course, always welcomes direct contributions.