Anti-hunger advocates praised Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s announcement today that the City would be devoting $150 million to targeted new anti-poverty efforts. Joel Berg, Executive Director of the New York City Coalition Against Hunger, offered the following statement:

“We are extraordinarily pleased that Mayor Bloomberg is dedicating $150 million to test innovative new approaches to fighting poverty. We are excited that he is creating a new office to bolster financial empowerment, with the express goal of helping families develop additional assets to help them move out of poverty. We are particularly pleased that the Mayor said that he would promote the use of Individual Development Accounts, which help people continue to receive food stamp and other vital benefits as they save funds to attend college, obtain job training, place a down payment on a first home, and/or start a small business. Given that we have advocated for years for more City support for such assets-development efforts, we consider this a big victory for low-income New Yorkers.”

“We only have two caveats for our praise. Our first caveat is that, while $150 million is certainly a significant amount of spending, it equals only about $125 per person for the approximately 1.8 million New Yorkers living below the meager federal poverty line. Significant additional investments in affordable housing, child care, job training and other areas will be needed to reverse the tide of growing poverty in the city. Our second caveat is that the City’s commitment to innovative new approaches should not distract it from the need to further improve the functioning and usage of existing anti-poverty programs, particularly those, such as the Food Stamp Program, paid for entirely by federal dollars. Still, caveats aside, the Mayor’s announcement is indeed highly welcome.”