The number of people living in poverty throughout Colorado increased by 11,000 in 2004, mirroring an upward tick in national poverty numbers released Tuesday by the U.S. Census.

More than 447,000 people in the state were below the federal poverty line last year - up from 9.7 percent to 9.9 percent - despite the Census data also revealing a slight increase in Colorado's median household income, which rose to $51,170.

It's a trend that troubled Kathy White, project coordinator for the Colorado Fiscal Policy Institute, a Denver-based nonprofit group that analyzes poverty and its related issues.

"I was kind of surprised at the numbers because we are technically four years past the recession," White said. "Even with the lag time, I thought we'd see the numbers move in a better direction."

Nationally, the number of Americans who fell into poverty rose to 37 million - up 1.1 million from 2003 - according to the Census. As for the nation's median household income, it remained flat at $44,389.

White pointed out, however, that the median household income can be a deceptive number.

Despite the fact that Colorado's median household income increased by a little more than $1,100, she said the median indicator simply means half the population makes more than $51,170 and the other half makes less. White said it is possible that large numbers of people make far less than the median household income and many make far more, creating a wider gap between rich and poor.

Andrew Romanoff, the state's speaker of the House, agreed.

"This is a tale of two cities," he said. "Life is getting better for many Coloradans and that's good news. But there are still 110,000 Coloradans out of work, too."

The effect of increased poverty levels within the state is mostly being felt by the groups that deal with the poor on a daily basis.

Food Bank of the Rockies officials said that between 2003 and 2004, they've seen food distributions spike by more than 4 million pounds to a total of 20.5 million pounds this past year.

Kevin Seggelke, president and chief executive officer for the nonprofit group, said that when budgets get tight among the impoverished populations, food is often one of the first areas where people cut back.

"We know folks will use just about all their available income on things they absolutely have to have because they know they can always get access to emergency food supplies," Seggelke said. "Say they're on a $20,000 a year income and they know they have to put gas in their truck to get to work, that's now an increased cost to them and money that isn't spent on food."

Sonny White, pastor of Christ the Answer Church in Golden, said he's heard talk of lost jobs and desperation among those who show up at his building on Mondays for boxes filled with bread, fruit and vegetables.

White said he's been doling out food for the poor for more than 10 years and has noticed newer faces showing up in line each week at his church.

"My only regret is that I don't have enough sometimes. Like I say, some days people will come and will take all our boxes and there's still people coming after them," White said. "The thing is, when some of the people come into my little parking lot, they're already digging in the boxes to feed their children."

And Segun Adenowo, pastor of Christ Harvester Church in Aurora, said the demand for food is far greater than what his church can provide.

"There are many areas we can't help," he said.

On the national front, the increase in poverty numbers wasn't met with surprise by the Bush administration.

Commerce Department spokeswoman E.R. Anderson said the numbers mirror the trend in the '80s and '90s in which unemployment peaks were followed by a rise and then by a decline in the poverty numbers the next year.

"We hope this is it, that this is the last gasp of indicators for the recession," she said.

The increase in poverty came despite strong economic growth, which helped create 2.2 million jobs last year - the best showing for the labor market since 1999. By contrast, there was only a tiny increase of 94,000 jobs in 2003 and job losses in both 2002 and 2001.

The last decline in overall poverty was in 2000, during the Clinton administration, when 31.1 million people lived under the threshold. Since then, the number of people in poverty has increased steadily from 32.9 million in 2001, when the economy slipped into recession, to 35.8 million in 2003.

The poverty threshold differs by the size and makeup of a household. For example, a family of four was considered living in poverty last year if its annual income was $19,307 or less. For a family of two, it was $12,334.

At the Food Bank of the Rockies, the Census numbers were just that - numbers. The groups helping to distribute the food dutifully loaded their trucks and left to tackle a problem many have been facing for years. White was circumspect about the plight of the poor.

"I don't know if it will ever end," the pastor said. "The Bible says we'll always have the poor with us and I'm not going to argue with that."

Poverty, income numbers

Colorado

• 2003   436,000 in poverty (9.7%)

• 2004   447,084 in poverty (9.9%)

National

• 2003   35.9 million in poverty (12.5%)

• 2004   37 million in poverty (12.7%)

Median income in Colorado

• 2003   $51,005

• 2004   $51,170

Median income nationally

• 2003   $44,389

• 2004   No change

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

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