Cardboard boxes, chicken coops, trailers and motels.

These are just some of the places where people who eat at the Food and Care Coalition of Utah Valley live, said Dave Latta, a regular at the soup kitchen and resource center.

Latta lives in a friend's trailer and has been eating at the Food and Care Coalition for almost two years.

"If you were here long enough, you'd see a lot of different people from a lot of different backgrounds," he said.

Latta used to work for the Air Force gathering intelligence as an electronic spy, but left because he wanted to work in a field he enjoyed. At almost 50 years old, he is attending Provo College and looking into finding a job in hospitality after he graduates, while he works 20 to 30 hours a week.

Latta said that without the Food and Care Coalition, he would have difficulty providing for his basic needs.

"I wouldn't have any money," he said. "I'd have to be buying food all of the time, and that can get expensive."

He said because his camper does not have running water, it is sometimes difficult to find a place to take a shower, and he occasionally does his laundry at the coalition.

Latta said in addition to the help he receives in having his basic needs met, he also receives emotional support and encouragement at the coalition.

"(Without the coalition,) I probably would have gone nuts because I wouldn't have known how to handle a lot of things. It just feels nice here; it's almost like coming home," he said.

According to the Utah Food Bank, approximately 200,000 Utahns live below the poverty line and must decide each month whether to pay their monthly bills or provide food for their families.

Individual per capita income in Utah ranks the 5th lowest in the nation, while the cost of living is the 17th highest, according to the Utah Food Bank.

According to the state Department of Economic Analysis, Utahns with jobs near the minimum wage do not earn enough money to support a family and pay for inflated housing costs.

Dawn NiSol turned to the coalition for assistance after suffering a debilitating accident and a divorce from an abusive marriage.

"When I first came here, I was really, really depressed," she said. "I was absolutely mortified at having to eat here, but I really had no other options."

Living out of her brother's van, she received help from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but still had to turn to the coalition for support, she said.

She said going to the bishop's storehouse helped, but "You can only do so much with a can opener."

NiSol now lives in a trailer, but still comes to the coalition for most of her meals because there isn't any money left after she pays her trailer park fee and her utilities.

"I don't know what I'll do if I have a medical problem because there's just not anything left," she said.

She said she has difficulty doing a full day's work because she has learning disabilities and has to rest frequently from a back injury, which crushed two of her vertebrae.

"Those vertebrae are half the size of the others and they just hurt all of the time, so everything takes me a real long time," NiSol said. "What other people can do in two or three hours takes me the whole day to do because I have to stop and rest."

According to NiSol, two of her other friends who eat at the Food and Care Coalition live in a chicken coop and are alcoholics.

"If they weren't here, they'd probably be dead, and some people think, 'Oh well, that's OK - they're just bums,' but they're human beings," she said.

NiSol reads stories to the men to let them know she cares about them.

"Who knows, but things like that might be the thing that gets them to feel like they are worth the effort; their lives are worth something," she said. "We can't ever dismiss when some simple kindness might make a difference in someone's life."

Brent Crane, executive director of the Food and Care Coalition of Utah Valley, said Provo's general attitude toward the poor is influenced by the predominant membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

"I think we're, as a group and as a faith, working towards Zion," he said. "We're working towards the 'no poor among us.'"

Crane said he believes because many of the members of The Church of Jesus Christ have high standards, they sometimes make very harsh judgments about people who do not meet that exacting standard.

Crane said tolerance and charity are a matter of perspective and people need to understand that they may not be aware of extenuating circumstances many people who are using the coalition face.

The main role of volunteers at the coalition is to love clients unconditionally and not to judge them for past indiscretions or their current social status, he said.

Carrina Langston, who has volunteered at the Food and Care Coalition, said the clients coming to the coalition appreciate someone listening to them and sitting with them while they eat.

Crane said students at BYU should try to internalize their motto to "enter to learn and go forth to serve," although it is not always easy or convenient to serve others.

"A lot of times our charity is when it's convenient, and true charity isn't always convenient," Crane said.

NiSol said one volunteer can change someone's life for the better.

"What really makes a difference here isn't the money; it's people really caring about other people -- that's what makes the difference," NiSol said.



Copyright Brigham Young University 4 Sep 2001