By KATIE EWER

katie@du2.byu.edu

At least one local business is doing its part to reduce the negative effects of poverty in Utah Valley.

Like most rural communities, Utah Valley has not escaped the glaring realities of poverty. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, approximately 38,825 people in Utah County live in poverty: an estimated 13 percent of the population. One-third of the population is estimated to be medically under-served.

Mountainlands Community Health Center, in Orem, is a non-profit organization that provides health care for low-income families.

The Poverty Resolution League, a division of Utah Issues, is another local, private, non-profit organization that was developed to find long-term solutions to the problems of poverty. PRL is based on the belief that poverty is a community/economic problem that diminishes the quality of life for all Utahns.

PRL recognizes the efforts of individual organizations like Mountainlands. PRL focuses on coordinating these individual efforts with others and expanding those efforts to include the entire community.

Rhoda Gaufin, executive director of Mountainlands, said the health center serves approximately 7,800 patients annually, but she estimates only a 10 percent penetration rate of those eligible for their services.

Mountainlands has 75-100 clients who have no income. To these clients, the services are free. But the clientele of Mountainlands consists mainly of patients with no insurance; in this case, each patient's fee is based on that patient's income and the number of people he or she supports with that income.

Gaufin said the patients at the health center are not simply using the health center as a source of free health care. She said 97 percent of the patients are working adults who are trying to get back on their feet.

Mountainlands is just one local facility that works to improve the quality of life for low-income families in Utah County. It is mainly funded through administrative grants, and the employees willingly work for below-market wages. The health center also works through Medicaid and the new Children's Health Insurance Program.

According to the PRL, poverty is a local concern, and the solutions to the poverty problem must be addressed on the community level. When needs are identified in a community, the search for solutions usually results in the development of programs which are controlled outside the community, leaving the community vulnerable to the push and pull of outside political and economic forces.

PRL emphasizes that the options are not limited to government programs, and poverty can be overcome when a community faces the problem of poverty cooperatively and holistically.



Copyright Brigham Young University 8 Sep 1998