Survey reveals jarring picture of poverty, gaps in services

Place dictates destiny for those living in poverty in Savannah.

According to U.S. census data, a child who grows up in Yamacraw Village, the 1940s-era, 315-unit public housing development on the western edge of the Historic Landmark District, is projected to earn, at most, $19,000 by the time he or she reaches age 35.

Less than a mile south on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in the Kayton-Frazier apartments, the prospects are more bleak: $16,000 a year.

Those bits of sobering data spurred Step Up Savannah’s “Bridges Beyond Benefits” survey, which asked 534 low- and middle-income families in the Coastal Empire how the current public benefits landscape could better serve their needs.

Step Up Savannah, formed in 2008 by thenMayor Otis Johnson, seeks to address the greater community’s poverty crisis through basic needs assistance and workforce development.

The survey results paint a staggering portrait of what it means to be poor in Savannah.

Of those surveyed, 57% are Black, 30% white and 15% Hispanic. Mixed race and Asian respondents make up the rest of the group.

About 90% of respondents have at least a high school diploma.

The majority of survey respondents — 78% — saw significant income reduction, to the tune of $10,000, due to the pandemic.

“For every dollar a white person (has), a Black person owns 10 cents. A dime,” said Alicia Johnson, Step Up’s CEO. “It’s a tough conversation, but it’s one that needs to be had.”

COURTESY Across Savannah, the vast majority of those surveyed said they had seen significant income reduction, some by $10,000, because of the pandemic.