Photo Credit: Woodley Wonderworks
James 5:1-6
Neighbor, O Neighbor,
This is a hard Scripture to hear,
But I’m going to do something about it.
This week Glens Falls made the list again. This time, Glens Falls managed to get on the list of the 50 places in the USA that have been hardest hit by the recession. I have to say that I knew things have been bad, but I was a little surprised about this. I knew things were bad, but I’ve been hearing news that unemployment rates in our area have been finally been falling off. Comparatively speaking, foreclosure rates in Glens Falls are nowhere near as high as other places. Once a month or so, I see an article somewhere saying that real estate analysts are positive about Glens Falls potential for development, and that home prices are making a recovery here. “What’s going on?” I wondered.
As it turns out, though, if the Post-Star’s reporting is correct, it’s this last bit, strangely enough, that home prices have not been as hard hit, that is largely responsible for us being on the list. It’s that home prices have remained high, compared to average income, which is not so high. Which translates into a higher cost of living for a mostly working-class city where people’s income just can’t keep up with the rent.
And as I was reflecting further on that this week, it kind of makes sense. Why else would I get two or three calls every week in the office, from people who are wanting to know, “Does the church have a program to help with people’s rent?” I’d say that it’s probably the number one most frequent call we get in the office these days, after telemarketers. Read more: But What Can We Do?
