United Way/211 First Call for Help Numbers

Total Calls for 2012: 252,282--6% increase

Total calls for 2011: 237,864

Housing/Shelter (including search, rental assistance)  17%

Food (pantries, soup kitchens, food stamp help)   15%

Education, Employment and Income              13%

Health Care and Mental Health Issues             13%

Utilities (financial help, restoring service)        11%

Legal help, Consumer (child support, debt, ID)   9%

Individual and Family Support (parenting, case mgmt)  9%

Clothing/Household Needs (furniture, appliances)   7%

Other                                                              6%

First Call for Help operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and oversee seven counties around Cuyahoga.  They can be reached by calling 211 or click here www.211cleveland.org. 

61% of the callers are from the City of Cleveland

39% are outside the City in the suburbs.

Top 5 Unmet needs by the operators at 211:

• Rent Payment Assistance  7,140 callers
• Utility Payment Assistance 5,226 callers
• Holiday Assistance   4,261 callers
• Appliances needed  1,526 callers
• Food Pantry help after exhausting previous food help  744 callers
  

Posted Data on the Poorest Cities in the United States

We presented the list of the 100 poorest cities in the United States with populations over 200,000 from the US Census.   These are the figures released in August 0f 2012 and are estimates from 2011.  This is the most recent information available.   Cleveland once again is one of the poorest cities in the United States.  Toledo is the 12th poorest city in America.  Here are the Top 10 poorest cities from 2011.

Poverty Ranking	City	State	% of Pop. Living below Poverty	% of under 18 yrs.  Living Below Poverty Level	% of those over 65 Living Below Poverty
1	San Juan	PI	41.4	58.8	31.1
2	Detroit	MI	40.9	57.3	20.4
3	St. Louis	MO	37	53.9	9.1
4	Rochester	NY	35.5	46.8	15.1
5	Cleveland	OH	34.3	53.19	20.9
6	Birmingham	AL	32	43.4	23.8
7	San Bernardino	CA	31.9	44	23.6
8	Laredo	TX	31.7	43.8	33.1
9	Newark	NJ	31.6	39.1	13.2
10	Miami	FL	31	45.3	12

For more information on the Top 50 cities go here.  For the next 50 poorest cities go here.

Voter Turnout and Registrations Vary Across the Globe

Voter Registrations and Turnout Across the World

Information from the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance

Filed by registration rate.  The United State is at the bottom of the list because of the complicated system we have in the US to register voters.  We also have 50 different state laws regarding voting, and have 50 different deadlines, and 50 different obstacles to registering every eligible citizen.

Country	Year of last major national election	Voter Turnout percent of registered voters who actually voted.	Registration Rate  Number registered vs. Voting Age pop.	Total Votes Cast vs. Voting Age Population
Croatia	2010	50%	100%	65%
Czech Republic	2010	63%	100%	78%
Greece	2012	62%	100%	69%
Guatemala	2011	61%	100%	61%
Honduras	2009	50%	100%	53%
Israel	2009	65%	100%	70%
Japan	2009	69%	100%	69%
Mexico	2012	63%	100%	65%
South Korea	2007	63%	100%	64%
Venezuela	2012	77%	100%	79%
Dominican Republic	2012	70%	99%	70%
Brazil	2010	79%	98%	77%
Italy	2008	81%	98%	79%
Sweden	2010	85%	98%	83%
Argentina	2011	79%	97%	77%
India	2009	58%	97%	56%
Russia	2012	65%	97%	63%
Ukraine	2010	70%	97%	70%
Democratic Rep. of Congo	2011	59%	94%	56%
Great Britain	2010	66%	93%	61%
Germany	2009	71%	91%	65%
Spain	2011	69%	91%	63%
Afghanistan	2009	39%	90%	35%
Nigeria	2011	54%	90%	48%
Egypt	2012	62%	89%	55%
Canada	2011	61%	88%	54%
Estonia	2011	64%	87%	55%
Jamaica	2011	53%	87%	46%
United States	2008	70%	82%	57%
Cameroon	2011	68%	74%	50%
Chile	2010	86%	68%	59%
Hungary	2010	47%	31%	14%

Housing Choice Voucher Waiting List

Number of Housing Choice Vouchers in Large Cities--(Old Section 8 Voucher Program)
source: Department of Housing and Urban Development Annual Report 2011

City	Number of Section 8 Housing Units	Number Section 8 on the waiting list
New York City	94,400	123,499
Los Angeles County	21,027	179,651
Chicago	37,318	36,634
Philadelphia	16,772	18,587
Orlando	2,938	1,920
Cleveland, Ohio	14,077	9,400

Public Housing Waiting Lists in Large Cities

Number of Public Housing Units
source: Department of Housing and Urban Development Annual Report 2011
City	Number of Public Housing Units	Number on the waiting list
New York City	178,895	163,965
Los Angeles County	2,962	121,393
Chicago	17,344	59,824
Philadelphia	14,190	7,191
Orlando	1,485	4,018
Cleveland, Ohio	9,509	11,184