Goshen News, Goshen, IN

Breaking News

Local News

January 12, 2009

View of economic hardships quite clear at The Window

By ROGER SCHNEIDER

Pauline Yoder hustles around her kitchen each day to prepare and serve lunch to Goshen’s hungry.

“Want veggies with that,” Yoder asks a tiny lady bundled in worn winter clothing who has shuffled up to the serving counter Thursday afternoon.

Yoder knows many of the people in line by name and has gotten to know their likes and dislikes in food.

She also knows there are some new faces showing up for lunch each weekday. Those are the newly unemployed or

underemployed.

But surprisingly — as Goshen’s unemployment rate has topped 12 percent — the recent number of meals served at The Window on Main Street has remained about the same.

Yoder said while some of Goshen’s newly unemployed people are taking advantage of the free hot lunches, many are not.

“The ethnic groups are not coming in anymore,” she said. “There are a few, but not many.”

Speculation in the Goshen area is that as the economy has shrunk, many Hispanics who once worked in the factories and service industry have left the area.

But there is still plenty of demand for The Window’s services. On any day of the week there are between 45-75 people served in the agency’s small lunch room. Members of the lunch crowd find a seat anywhere they can then go to work on their meal.

Yoder said the hot lunch may be the only food her customers get all day. For others it may be their only hot meal.

She told of two men who are living in their trucks. They eat at The Window during the weekdays and grab a lunch to go on Friday’s. They use those take-outs to tide them over on the weekends until the fresh coffee and hot meals are available again on Mondays.

On Thursday there was a steady flow of people lining up for Yoder’s spaghetti, vegetables, salad and a small paper cup full of strawberries. Several dozen donated cookies were snatched up quickly.

“Everything served today was donated,” Yoder said.

She rattled off a list of local businesses that routinely give food to the lunch program. The agency does purchase food and supplies when it has to.

J. Ed Swartley was shocked by the high demand for the free lunches.

“I was surprised by what they all do,” he said. “I did not know they served 45 to 75 people daily.”

Swartley will soon be well aware of all the services at The Window as he has been hired as the new executive director. With just a couple of days on the job he helped serve meals Thursday.

Swartley has quickly formed a positive opinion of the daily compassion showed by the staff.

“(They) have big hearts,” he said.

The unemployed

Since late October Kenny Wilkins of Goshen has often eaten at The Window. Oct. 28 is when Wilkins finished his sixth-month sentence in the county jail for non-payment of child support.

When he was released, the economy was well into its current nosedive. Wilkins looked for jobs through the temporary employment agencies.

“There was nothing happening there,” he said.

His last job was about two years ago at a factory in Goshen. That factory closed and he was not eligible for unemployment benefits.

“It sucks,” he said of the local job market. “I kind of got discouraged there for a minute, but I am going to go back out and try. My grandmother told me ‘You are only a failure if you don’t try.’”

Sitting on a chair in the front of the building waiting to use The Window’s free phone was Lonny Starr. He too has been unemployed for a long time. His immediate worry was how he was going to pay his weekly $100 rent.

“I need help by tomorrow (Friday) or I will be kicked out,” he said. “Then I will be calling one of these homeless shelters.”

He pointed to a list provided by The Window.

Starr said he worked a year ago at Noble Composites, but that job did not work out for him. Since then he has been doing odd jobs for people to keep some money in his pocket.

On Thursday, that was $10.

Text Only
Local News
Parade
Magazine
Click HERE to read all your Parade favorites including Hollywood Wire, Celebrity interviews and photo galleries, Food recipes and cooking tips, Games and lots more.
Poll

Indiana is now the only state in the union that prohibits carry-out alcohol sales on Sunday. What do you think about Indiana’s current law?

It’s time to make the sale of carry-out alcohol legal on Sundays.
The state should continue to prohibit Sunday carry-out alcohol sales.
I really don’t care one way or the other.
     View Results
Community Calendar
Loading…
Events by eviesays.com
AP Video
Jimmy Carter Endorses Egypt's Election Results Biden Addresses West Point Graduating Class Dozens of Children Killed in New Syria Attack Raw Video: Activists Allege Massacre in Syria NJ Man Charged With Murder in Death of Patz Support, Fun for Kids of Fallen Soldiers at Camp Fugitive Penguin Caught, Returned to Aquarium 50 Years Later, Underground Fire Still Burning Light Show Transforms Sydney Opera House Raw Video: Unruly Passenger Restrained in Miami Raw Video: Robber Uses Drive-thru Window Raw Video: Dragon Arrives at Space Station Calif.'s Coronado Named Nation's Best Beach CEO Salaries Become Sore Issue in Labor Disputes Raw Video: Fight Erupts in Ukrainian Parliament Texan Ranchers Remain Wary of Drought Raw Video: Soldiers Plant Flags at Arlington Police: Man Arrested in Etan Patz Disappearance NYC Protests: the Revolution Will Be Scripted Chicago U.S. Attorney Fitzgerald Resigns