By Olivia Adams

Muncie, Indiana has been struggling for years with poverty and trying to make the city thrive a more than what it is now.

 

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in Indiana, 14.6 percent of people live in poverty. In Delaware County, 21.2 percent live in poverty. But in Muncie, 29.9 percent live in poverty. That is double the state’s number and more than eight percent above the county’s numbers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The city officials have been doing a good job with controlling Muncie’s drug problem, and now, it is time to focus on the poverty rates.

 

José Filipiano Gaitan, a 77-year-old American Legion Post 19 Commander, has been a Muncie resident since 1964 and decided to come to Muncie from Texas because of how big the blue-collar industry was here. Gaitan has been Commander of the American Legion since 1990 and he has worked at two factories in the span of 38 years and had to retire because of health-related issues. He worked at Broadrex for 14 and a half years and Labors 1112 for 33 and a half years.

 

Gaitan does not think it is anyone’s fault, rather that

once Muncie fell with the last recession, it has been

struggling ever since.

 

“It’s probably all over, but Muncie is … I’m not saying

it’s the politicians, because if that’s the case, every

politician would be to blame, but they’re not,” said

Gaitan. “It’s just, since the last recession, the economy

hasn’t recovered. Right when you think it’s starting to

recover; it goes back down again.”

 

The city has been poverty stricken since the recession

and cannot find a foothold to start its ascension into a

thriving city. But, Gaitan thinks that he knows what

can help, school.

 

“Education level is not … a lot of the teachers are not

the way they used to be,” Gaitan said. “Classes were

smaller, a lot of times a teacher would go one on one

with a student and help with that. Now, they you don’t

learn or understand, to hell with you, just move onto

the next one. And they don’t worry about whether you

advance or not, but their skills are not the greatest.”

 

According to a press release from the United Way of

Delaware County, Delaware County has the highest

number of children living in poverty in the state. They think the reason for that is the same as what Gaitan thinks, the schooling is just not there.

 

The United Way of Delaware County has a goal that by 2024, all third graders will be able to read at grade level. Reading and comprehending is, “the single greatest indicator of a child’s success in school and life,” according to the United Way of Delaware County.

 

The president and CEO of the United Way of Delaware County, Jenni Marsh, thinks that if the school system focuses more on early educational opportunities, it will put the children on the right path to success earlier than what it has been in the past. It will hopefully make them want to stay in school and get their degree so they can excel in the future and find jobs.

 

 

“Supposedly, Muncie has lost a lot of its skill and the majority of young adults don’t finish school and don’t want to get their GED,” Gaitan said. “A lot of the companies now, they want you to be a graduate and have a GED and even at the labor unions, you got to have at least a high school education so you can get a blue print and read it and understand.”

 

There are accusations on the teaching style and the styles of the school system, but, from Gaitan’s perspective, at the same time, students and children need to want to learn and want to do better and thrive in this city.

 

“A lot of the younger ones, they can go to McDonald’s or Wendy’s flipping burgers or something like that for $7.50 an hour, they are happy. They live at home; momma takes care of them. They don’t have to pay rent or utilities. That’s great money,” said Gaitan.

 

Along with the recession and the school system as factors to Muncie’s poverty level, factories and industries closing could also be a factor in why Muncie is in a hole and cannot seem to climb out.

 

According to an article on The Guardian by David Levene and Matt Fidler, Muncie was thriving in the early 1900s, but they learned that everything went downhill around the 70s because of the recession and foreign competition and changes in the labor market. That was the beginning of the end for the industrial line of work in Muncie.

 

Gaitan came to Muncie because of the countless of opportunities for factory jobs, but now, there are more empty lots of where factories and plants used to be than there are thriving businesses.

 

Overall, there have been a lot of changes and not in the good way, according to Gaitan.

 

“There has been a lot of change. Everything is alright, but it’s not, you know? Because it’s not the same. Everything is changing, which isn’t a bad thing, but there are a lot of changes.”

 

And there will be a lot of changes coming up because there are multiple reasons as to why Muncie is in the place it’s at right now. And fixing the community to be more prosperous will require a lot of change and time. Muncie is not going to fix itself overnight, but with the new adjustments being made and missions starting up, it is going to be a lot better down the road.