To understand the new economic rules that are transforming LaVal Brewer’s world – he’s chief executive at South County Outreach, an Irvine-based nonprofit that offers free food and housing assistance to people living south of the 55 – check out some recent census data.
For example, the census reported this month that the median household income in Irvine is $123,003 a year, nearly a third higher than the California median of $91,551. The census also noted that the city’s poverty rate is 11.2%, comfortably under the statewide rate of 12.2%.
And Irvine might be the poorest of the communities served by Brewer’s agency.
In Lake Forest, the median income is $128,033 and the poverty rate is 8.5%. In Laguna Hills the numbers are $122,902 and 8.3%; in Laguna Niguel, they’re $135,822 and 7.4%; in Mission Viejo, they’re $126,469 and 9.3%. San Juan Capistrano, Coto de Caza, San Clemente, Dana Point – all are south Orange County communities with people who might seek help from Brewer’s agency, and all are places where incomes are high and poverty is low. The numbers point to comfort, not struggle. By every traditional measure, hunger and homelessness in south Orange County should be rare.
But Brewer – and thousands of families helped by South County Outreach – know better.
In 2023, with the COVID-19 emergency waning and the economy settling into a new version of normal, Brewer’s agency saw its client base double. About 1,300 families a month have signed up to get free, healthy nutrition – fresh veggies and fruits, some proteins, eggs, milk, bread – from the grocery-style pantry South County Outreach runs in a business park near the 5 freeway. A few hundred also seek assistance with their monthly rent or mortgage, and a few dozen ask South County Outreach for help in finding shelter so that they and their kids can stop sleeping in cars or parks or greenbelts.
The surge of need at South County Outreach is just an extreme version of what…
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