Page 18
The
Portland Observer
Black Histoiy Month
February 12, 2014
O pinion
New Prices
Effective
May 1,2010
Martin
Cleaning
Service
Carpet & Upholstery
Cleaning
Residential &
Commercial Services
Minimum Service CHG
$45.00
A small distance/travel charge
may be applied
CARPET CLEANING
2 Cleaning Areas or
more $30.00 Each Area
Pre-Spray Traffic Areas
(Includes: 1 sm all H allw ay)
1 Cleaning Area (only)
$40.00
Includes Pre-Spray Traffic Area
(Hallway Extra)
Stairs (12-16 stairs - With
O ther Services): $25.00
Area/Oriental Rugs:
$25.00 Minimum
Area/Oriental Rugs (Wool):
$40.00Minimum
Heavily Soiled Area:
Additional $10.00 each area
(Requinng Extensive Pre-Spraying)
UPHOLSTERY
CLEANING
Sofa: $69.00
Loveseat: $49.00
Sectional: $ 109 - $ 139
Chair or Recliner:
$25 - $49
Throw Pillows (With
Other Services)'. $5.00
A
ADDITIONAL
SERVICES
• Area & Oriental Rug
Cleaning
• Auto/Boat/RV Cleaning
• Deodorizing & Pet
Odor Treatment
• Spot & Stain
Removal Service
• Scotchguard Protection
• Minor Water Damage
Services
SEE CURRENT FLYER
FOR ADDITIONAL
PRICES & SERVICES
Call for Appointment
(503) 281-3949
Congress Treats the Poor like Second Class Citizens
Cuts to food
assistance
indefensible
by
M arian W right E delman
The Children's
D efen se
Fund
strongly opposes
the c u ts to the
Supplemental Nu
trition Assistance
Program (SNAP)
and points to its newly released The
State of America's Children 2014
report showing more than 1 in 9
children lack access to adequate
food - 23 percent higher than before
the recession.
With millions of poor children
and families still struggling, federal
nutrition programs continue to be a
critical support to ensure children's
daily nutritional needs are met.
SNAP benefits, which serve more
than 22 million children — more
than 1 in 4 children in America —
have been cut in the farm bill by $8.6
billion over 10 years.
An estimated 850,000 house
holds, including 1.7 million people,
will see a reduction on average of
$90 per month in their food assis
tance. This cut comes on top of the
substantial across-the-board ben
efit reduction that took effect in
November and affected all SNAP
households.
The cuts to the Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance Program in
the farm bill are indefensible. Our
latest report shows that SNAP is
the only defense against the
wolves of hunger for 1.2 million
jobless families.
W ith record num bers o f ch il
dren in poverty, Congress should
be launching a w ar on child pov
erty and strengthening the safety
net for children including SNAP.
T h e re s h o u ld be no h u n g ry
people— especially children— in
rich America.
It is sham eful that Congress
continues to treat poor A m eri
cans like second class citizens by
cutting supports they desperately
need.
In addition to the repeated as
sault on SNAP, Congress has ter
m inated em ergency benefits for
the long-term unem ployed and
subjected poor children and fam i
lies to a series o f cascading pro
gram cuts due to sequestration
and deficit reduction m easures.
Cuts at the state and local levels
have w orsened their pain.
Children’s physical health and
brain development depend on ac
cess to nutritious food, particularly
in the earliest years of life. Hunger
and malnutrition have devastating
consequences for children.
Crucial and effective anti-pov
erty investments like SNAP and the
school lunch, breakfast and sum
mer feeding programs help combat
child and family hunger. There are
hungry children in America right
now, who suffer over the weekends
when they don't have access to
school breakfast and school lunch.
Hunger does not take a summer
vacation. Yet findings in CDF's re
port show 89 percent of children
who relied on free or reduced-price
lunch during the school year did not
receive meals through the Summer
Food Service Program.
Three days' worth of what the
U.S. spends on corporate tax breaks
would provide a whole year's worth
of SNAP food assistance for the
estimated 737,000children who don't
have enough food.
Nearly three-quarters of SNAP
households are fam ilies with ch il
dren. SNAP food assistance lifted
2.2 million children out of poverty
. in 2012. Black and Hispanic house
holds with children are more than
twice as likely as white house
holds to lack access to adequate
food.
The State of America's Children
2014 is a comprehensive Children's
Defense Fund annual report on the
well-being of children using the lat
est data available. The report pro
vides state-by-state data and data
by race and ethnicity.
Since children don't come in
pieces, the report addresses the
whole child and contains data on
child population, poverty, family
structure and income, housing and
homelessness, child nutrition and
hunger, early childhood, education,
child welfare, juvenile justice and
gun violence.
Marian Wright Edelman is presi
dent o f the Children's Defense Fund.