100,000 Homes Make a Difference

How do we save tax payer's dollars? We provide housing for the most vulnerable and most expensive homeless people.

How do we figure that out? By using a vulnerability index.

The Vulnerability Index is a tool for identifying individuals at risk of dying on the street and prioritizing them for housing. Dr. Jim O’Connell of Boston’s Healthcare for the Homeless conducted the original research on the health conditions of the homeless. He identified eight markers that place the street homeless at a heightened risk of mortality:

• More than three hospitalizations or emergency room visits in a year
• More than three emergency room visits in the previous three months
• Aged 60 or older
• Cirrhosis of the liver
• End-stage renal disease
• History of frostbite, immersion foot, or hypothermia
• HIV/AIDS
• Tri-morbidity: co-occurring psychiatric, substance abuse, and chronic medical conditions

How does that help? Once people have homes, we can provide the wrap-around, supportive services needed to help them become healthier.

When someone is living on the street, it is much harder to get the services needed. Yes, the same services are available to someone without a home as someone who has a home but access and ability to obtain these services are much harder.

Perhaps someone has a mental issue. They would need a bus pass to get to their mental health provider. Because of their mental health issue, they may qualify for disability. However, because they're on the street, they have no place to receive that check, which could allow them to purchase their bus passes. Since they can't get to their appointments on a regular basis, they also cannot take the medication needed to manage the mental illness. Even if they have the medication, they have no place to store it. Living on the street also makes it challenging to have a set schedule of when, where, or how to take the medication.

The great thing about Housing First is that it offers people a home. It offers stability. It offers services...often right in the building. Many of the barriers are removed simply by housing people and partnering with services to offer some on site. Health can improve because a person now has a place to cook. They have an address where they can receive a check...which may come from tax dollars, but becomes a preventative solution to much bigger, reactive solutions like tax payers paying for 9-1-1 calls and ER visits when they were on the street. It allows them a place to bathe, which then allows people to look for jobs. It allows the mental health stability...sometimes from simply getting off of a stressful street corner...but also because those mental health services are often provided in the building.

Housing First is not a completely do-it-yourself model. There is usually a team of people on-site who help neighbors get connected with the resources they need. They help encourage some to take their medications. They help others look for jobs. Still others, they walk beside as they face their fears of untreated health issues that have developed during their time on the streets.

I'll admit, there is a part of me that is skeptical about paying for housing and services for someone who seemingly doesn't do anything for it. However, the more I get into my job as Director of Community Life at a Housing First model, permanent supportive housing program, the more I realize Tsemberis (founder of Housing First) really was right in his discovery. Not only do people change and improve, we are actually paying LESS to help them move in that direction. It's a win/win for all of us.

You can join the 100,000 Homes movement here.

Religious similarities and Idiosyncrasies

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Isn't it funny how 1) our religions are actually pretty similar, 2) we are all uncomfortable with the verses that say we should give our money to the poor and unwilling to acknowledge them?

(Look past the profanity...there's a great message here)

Are my tax dollars being wasted?

Each day I have individual meetings with residents who live at CityWalk, an income-based apartment complex in the middle of downtown Dallas. I visit with people who have very little to their name. I haven't had a person yet tell me that they have over $1000 in assets (one of the questions that's asked on the self-sufficiency calculator we  do with people).

As I find out about people, I have realized that my tax dollars are at work helping people. It's a very meager existence and very challenging to survive on that little, but without it, I can't imagine what would happen to so many. If people have any income at all, it might be disability due to an injury or health condition or it might be social security because they're past their prime of working. The benefits for that *might* be around $500. Many of these individuals receive up to about $200 in food stamps, depending on the situation. Finally, they receive housing (i.e. CityWalk) that allows them to pay 30% of their income instead of rent that would probably be close to double their income if they were living somewhere else.

Receiving $500/month isn't the lap of luxury (and many don't receive even that much). I constantly try to figure out how people survive with even their basic needs on that amount...especially if they have children! I know tax dollars are tax dollars. It's my money providing a "living" (if you can call it that) for someone else. The people I've talked to aren't sitting back and enjoying the good life on your dollar. Much to the contrary. They are working to be content with what they receive, but they're trying to find jobs to supplement...or replace...their current income stream from the government (even though most people who find minimum wage jobs will still need that extra help because it will only replace one of their benefits, but will still leave them in poverty).

The way I see it, each of us pay taxes to do greater good than we could do alone. Yes, someone with little or no income might be exempt or might be paying less than I am. I am ok with that because I recognize that $100 out of someone's paycheck of $500 is much different than $100 out of someone's paycheck of $1500.

Right now, I pay taxes *and* I donate money. If I weren't paying taxes, I honestly doubt my donations would increase very significantly. (just being honest) Instead, I would see that as more money going back into my pocket to spend. Plus, if the money were given back to me, I think I would be overwhelmed with wondering which one person to use my money to offset their rent and food expenses...or wondering if I should, instead, donate $10 here and $10 there to spread it out trying to help everyone...and then wonder if $10 would do any good for anyone. I would much rather the money be taken out of my paycheck each pay period so that I can be sure my small contribution can be put in with everyone else's small (or large) contribution in order to help a much larger constituent of people.

Trust me, I'm not naive. I've been working in the non-profit sector for over 16 years now. I understand that there are those who use the system. It's absurd for me to try to tell you differently. In your volunteer efforts, you will undoubtedly meet the handful of people who may explain to you the benefits they receive, which only ensures you (by their actions and decision making skills) that your tax dollars are being wasted. Let me put that into perspective.

Yes, there are some who receive the benefits and are ok with surviving on the little they receive from us and may even abuse it by continuing to use drugs or something. Those are the most visible examples of our tax dollars being "wasted." I would argue that even those tax dollars aren't being wasted, but that's for a different post.

The thing that I think about when I think about how much my government tax contribution is able to stretch in combination with everyone else in this country are the people who *do* need that extra help.

What would happen to my 55-year old friend who is on disability if he didn't have the assistance? He doesn't have family who can help him because they, too, are working at minimum wage jobs. Where would he live? How would he eat? What would happen if he had a heart attack on the street from his rough life? Would he just die because no hospital would be required to serve him? Who would care?

What would happen to my 32-year old friend who has a 6-year old son? She is constantly looking for a job...any job...but can't seem to find one who will hire her. She wants to go back to school to become a nurse. Without government assistance (i.e. financial aid), that dream would absolutely never be a reality because she has no job to pay for it to help her move further along. What would she eat? How would she feed her child? What happens when she gets some kind of treatable illness (like maybe thyroid issues...or diabetes), but can't take care of them? What happens to her son when she can't care for him any more? How does he (or she) get food? How does she feed her son healthy foods so that he doesn't get diabetes?

For those who want less (even minuscule) government and want people to provide for themselves, I have a hard time believing they have thought through these things and are willing to say, "Let them starve," or "Let them die." If they have and are still willing to say that, I am very concerned about their humanity. Does that kind of cruelty really exist in our country? Surely not. I have to believe that we are not that inhumane.

If my tax dollars can eek out survival for those I just mentioned, I truly am not as concerned about the much smaller but much more visible handful who convince us that our tax dollars are being wasted.

Contemplating Wealth

I just spent a week in Mexico at an all-inclusive resort. I made it through most of the week without thinking about anything except the book I was reading. Those thoughtless moments never seem to last long. By the end of the week, I was back in my processing/thinking/pondering mode. Yes, we had gotten a good deal on an all-inclusive resort...but the bottom line was that I was still spending a lot of money on myself. I tried to think about the fact that Mexico survives on tourism and me spending money there employs quite a few people. That is a true fact. However, I also thought about how much money I spend on myself and how little so many other people make who will never be able to enjoy the luxuries I do.

As I talked to our shuttle driver on the way back to the airport, he explained minimum wage in Mexico. He told me their minimum wage is per day. If you work an eight-hour day, you make $55 pesos. During spring break months (February-March), when he is working 14-16 hours a day, six days/week, they receive $110 pesos/day. I guess that's something like time and a half...except he's not just working 12 hours/day like he explained to me, he may work up to 16! While we were in Mexico, the exchange rate was $12.70. That's $4.33/day...or $8.66/day during the three high season months of spring break! That boggled my mind so I looked it up to make sure I understood him correctly. Yep. Here it is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_minimum_wages_by_country

A friend of mine suggested maybe that smaller minimum wage was kind of ok because things are cheaper in Mexico. Maybe it's possible to rationalize that but with the amount we had to spend on things, I can't see it. My chair hammock cost me $20. I looked it up online and it would cost $77 here. So, yes, that's a lot cheaper...for me. My guess is it's the tourists and not the locals who are buying hammocks though. I also went out to eat at a local restaurant off the beaten path (not in the tourist area at all). Our meal cost about $30 (USD) for three of us (with tip). We each had a regular plate of food and a soda (one person had a beer instead of a soda). For someone in Mexico, that one meal would be two and a half days of work!

I mentioned the Mexican minimum wage to a friend of mine. He was just as baffled as I was. He said he wished more people realized how minuscule their wages are. He believed if they did, they would tip more. I'm not so sure. When I was in college, I took a mission trip to Africa. I remember the missionaries there telling us, "People only make about 75 cents/day so when you go to the market, don't let them fool you and talk you into paying more." It made sense to me at the time. I guess the rationale was to not throw the economy off by doing something like tripling or quadrupling someone's wage or lifestyle by being a clueless American tourist. I'm not so sure that rationale makes sense to me now. Why not pay for the services rendered and tip them adequately and why barter them down to nothing since they're barely surviving anyway? Why is the goal, in a third world or lower income country, for us to see how low we can bargain people down on their prices when the price is already cheap for us anyway?

When someone is making $4.33/day in a country we don't consider third world, is it any wonder why they might want to cross the border and hopefully do better for their family? Is it any wonder why Mexican people are willing to work the jobs no one else does in our country...even if they were engineers, attorneys, and business owners in their own country? We are willing to take advantage of what they offer us in their country. Why aren't we willing to return that favor by welcoming them into ours? It seems like a double standard to me.

"I bet that's a rewarding job!"

Often, when I tell people that I work for CitySquare, a non-profit, and explain the job I do either with kids or adults, a pretty common response is, "I bet that is such a rewarding job!"

Ninety percent of the time I whole-heartedly agree. It is a very rewarding job in many senses. However, what I often think people who say that have no idea of the challenges, time, and effort that it takes to get to those "rewarding" moments.

This has been one of those weeks where I believe there is no executive that has as much emotional and physical involvement in their work to deserve their million dollar salaries...and that if our society is to work, we truly should tip it on it's head. The people in direct service to the community deserve the million dollar salaries and the execs sitting in their comfortable, air conditioned offices dictating what happens so that they can increase their bottom line (i.e. their pockets) should be the ones making the salaries well under $100K. (And if any execs are out there reading this, I only half-heartedly apologize.). If you know me, I'm not a money person at all...and I don't think that upping our salaries would change anything about what we do. But the way we value people in "high places" is so absolutely backward!

But back to my week...

I always hesitate to tell anyone about the challenging side of my job because I know these one-time events usually create defining moments for people who like to tell others about why they don't live in low-income communities and why they're so scary. So, just to put perspective here, I have been at CityWalk for three months now and it has been a pretty calm community from everything I've been a part of. On the flip side, Keller, TX (a very wealthy suburb) recently had a fatal stabbing right in the middle of a street just last week...so craziness happens everywhere...and drugs are irrespective of neighborhoods...and affect everyone around them. I could go on about the comparisons, but I'll save that for another post.

This week started by events that led to an intervention with a drug dealer/user who was conning people for money. I knew the dealer fairly well (though didn't realize he was dealing...or using). As that situation grew, I then ended up working to calm the people he had conned from doing harm to him, potentially causing them to risk their own housing and well-being. Later in the week, we were forced to confront a very serious situation where several people were nearly physically harmed and definitely emotionally harmed because of a man who decided to use a substance much more serious than alcohol or marijuana. There was definitely more to that situation and to the week, but I don't have the energy to retell it all. Just know it was a physically and emotionally challenging week.

As I ranted to a friend about my physically and emotionally trying week I became even more overwhelmed and more emotional when I realized that none of it included the regular job duties I still have to accomplish...like outcomes reports, grant reports, managing new interns, getting our webpage ready, and so much more that seems so trivial in the whole scheme of things, but that becomes so much more important to someone who wants to know what we're accomplishing. So, even though this week and these situations have brought out my own realizations of vulnerabilities that I need to process and deal with, by Monday I still have to get together those reports for the other entities involved.

Working "on the ground" is not for everyone. Events like those that have happened this week remind me  that good intentions, a soft heart, and a giving spirit is not enough...and not necessarily what our communities need. We must have a strong commitment to spotting leadership and working with people to equip them with the resources they need to fulfill their goals. We must believe in creating safe communities with and for the people in those communities as much as we want them for ourselves. We must listen to our neighbors to know which systems and activities in the community need to be challenged. We must work with them and for them to challenge broken systems that are in place...despite the resistance that I promise you will face if you are fighting with and for people in poverty. We must create relationships with all people so that those who have been hurt so long can trust us and those who are hurting themselves will understand that we have such a love and concern that we are here to help when they get ready...though also letting them know that may not mean they get to be a part of our stuff in the meantime. For some, we have to remove them from our programs until they are ready so that their behaviors don't hinder the majority who simply need resources, information, and guidance, and are so ready to access what is available. We must realize coddling and charity doesn't help long term progress.

After weeks, days, and/or moments like I've had this week, I could give up. I haven't quite felt like that, but I have contemplated getting to my bed, pulling the covers over my head, and curling up in a fetal position. First hand experience with these incidents definitely makes me realize how messed up our world is. It makes me realize how little I am in this world. I've had moments of being extremely irritated at God for this stupid idea of "free will." But these moments also makes me pray, reflect, and refocus.

Every time stuff like this happens, though, I am always reminded of the rest of the people in the community who have no choice but to deal with those kinds of things on a more regular basis than I do because of their income...because of the broken systems...because of their lack of connections.

It is because of them, I see hope.

This morning when Mr. McCoy's name popped up on my phone, I was very tempted not to answer. Yet, when I did, he simply wanted to know the time for the Financial Education classes that are starting in a few weeks. He and Ms. Leslie (who have already graduated from the class) are recruiting people...on a Saturday morning...in the lobby at CityWalk...without any of the rest of us there.


Now that's leadership!


That's progress!


That demonstrates what our community is all about.


That defines our community.

And that is what keeps me going.

It's the Mr. McCoy's and Ms. Leslie's of our community (and there are a lot of them) who deserve a safe community with lots of opportunities and activities. Because of them, this tough week is just a fading spot on the radar.

They are the reason I continue.

Getting rid of Stigma

I've mentioned that I love working at CityWalk@Akard. The diversity is amazing. To me, CityWalk is an ideal community because of it's diversity...something the large majority of communities don't have.

Ethnicities ranging from White to Black to Asian to African to Hispanic? Check.

Education levels from low adult literacy levels to college degrees? Check.

Talents from musicians to engineers to aspiring attorneys to nurses? Check.

Multiple socioeconomic levels...and multiple stages of life? Check.

Older, retired and/or disabled as well as young kids? Check.

It's a neat community to meet and connect with people. Every person I have met so far is trying to do better...no matter what their situation. They're trying to help out, earn more money, manage what they have, get involved, build their community...

Yet, the part I hear a lot of people focus on most is, "So there are homeless people?" Sometimes it is said with the best of intentions. The person saying it seems to be excited that there are homeless people that can be "helped." Other times, it is a frustration by someone who maybe has moved into the building unaware that there are "homeless" people who also live there.

First of all, let's get one thing straight...

Someone who has a home is no longer called "homeless!"


Second of all...

"Homeless" does not equal "dumb," "irresponsible," "addict," "crazy." Homeless is just that... HOME-LESS..."One without a home."
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A person who was teaching one of our classes the other day made a statement that truly bothered me. The person seems to be a truly wonderful person...and has done a great job with the class. As the class got started, the instructor explained to a new observer of the class, "These people are really smart!" and went on to say, "I don't know why they live here." More than a little offended at a comment that seemed to imply they didn't think the participants would be that smart and shouldn't have to live in a place like CityWalk if they were, I quickly responded with, "Because they want to!" Now, I know that this person did not intend any harm in that statement. In fact, this same person had even expressed the desire to move into the apartments themselves (I assume they were serious).

So how can I explain what we have at CityWalk and in many of our low-income communities?? Allow me to try...

Yes, some of the people who live at CityWalk are fighting addictions. Some are working on stabilizing their mental illness (which is fine once they can access and stay on the right kind of medication). Some are trying to overcome debt that has accumulated over the years. Some have health problems that exacerbated when they were on the street...or in an apartment that cost way more than they could afford because of their small income and, therefore, their health care took the cut instead.

I can't understand why these things are met with paternalism, condescension, or stigma. Yes, sometimes people have messed up. Other times...and for some people, that messing up has been entirely out of their control. CityWalk is and should be a place where anyone can come and be around "family" no matter what their situation.

I know rich people who have mental illnesses. The only difference is that they have a support system around them to help them take their medications on time and ensure they are as well as can be.

I know people of all ethnicities and socioeconomic levels who don't manage their money well and would be better off having taken our YWCA Financial Education class.

I know stubborn people of all sectors who refuse to see doctors when they should...and sometimes make things worse as a result. The only difference is that they have the insurance and money to pay for the care once they get to that point.

I know people in my own family who have used drugs and even got busted. They, too, had some tough life situations that led them down that path. The ultimate difference? They had a family structure with enough connections and credibility to keep them out of jail and help them feel loved and supported until they could turn their situation around.

The people at CityWalk are no different than any other place!

The only difference is that at CityWalk we are working to create a community and help build a support system for anyone who lives there. Oh wait...there is one other difference. The other difference is that at CityWalk, life is more visible. People are willing to admit that they need help...or maybe they're just not willing to cover up something that we've always tried to tuck away so that no one sees (like mental illness...like drug addiction...like financial insecurities). And it's a vertical community so it's kinda hard to enjoy a few beers on your front porch without it getting attention. People see and hear everything you do because you are in a vertical apartment complex.

My frustration with the comments and the stigma people place on CityWalk is that there are still people who live in CityWalk who aren't willing to be vulnerable yet. They are trying to overcome different situations. They may not be as secure about who they are and where they are in life. They do not want or need any more stigma on their life. They have endured enough. They deserve that space...and they deserve the dignity and respect of others who don't patronize or talk down to them...which makes it much harder to suck up that pride.

It is for them that I ask people to please stop stigmatizing!! Please stop referring to people with homes as "homeless." Please stop snidely talking about those with drug addictions and, instead, talk with them (you'll find that they have similar interests and ambitions as you do!). Please stop rolling your eyes at and being scared of people who talk to themselves and, instead, learn more about their illness...do some research...attend some workshops...and learn how you can support the numerous people in our communities who are affected by these illnesses.

In my mind, what makes an ideal community ideal is when all of God's people...with all of our perfections, flaws, talents, and idiosyncracies...are all in one place and we love each other because of and in spite of them. That is CityWalk!

Protecting the Powerless Award of 2010

I received a phone call on Friday morning. It was a week day, but it was my day off for New Year's. I usually ignore unrecognizable numbers on my days off, but I answered anyway, "Hello, this is Janet."

On the other end of the line was a 24 year old guy I met a couple of years ago. His mom lives two streets over from me. We discovered this when I was facilitating an Americorps training he was required to attend. He was surprised that I lived in his neighborhood and knew some of the same guys he grew up with.

When he called, I'm guessing his mom was working on her taxes. He needed someone to write a letter saying that his mom took care of his niece this past year. Though I've talked to him several times over the last couple of years, I don't know much about his family. I had to explain to him that since I didn't know the situation, I didn't feel comfortable writing a letter on our letterhead saying she lived there.

I suppose I could have gone on his word and just written the letter, but I have learned a few lessons along the way. One being, it's not always a good idea to step into something you know nothing about. Even so, it bothers me that I couldn't do something that simple for him.

Situations like his frustrate me because all he needs is someone who can vouch for the fact that his niece is being taken care of by his mother. What his mother is doing is so common in our neighborhood. I've never heard of any official "adoptions" taking place by people in the community, but I know of many who take a child in, despite their own poverty and struggles, to ensure that child has the basic necessities their biological parent can't provide for them at that time.

The people who do this always impress me. They don't ask for anything in return. They usually can't get any food stamps or government assistance for the child despite their own...and the child's...poverty (oftentimes the biological parent could receive it, but they often aren't at a functioning level enough to make it all happen). So much of what that child needs comes straight from the new care taker's pocket...a pocket that has little in it for their own family. Sometimes the child stays for a short time. Other times, their entire life. I think what impresses me so much about the people who take other people's children is that there never seems to be any real contemplation about whether or not they could financially take on an extra mouth to feed. A child needs to be cared for so that they won't enter the "system." Period. End of story. The child enters their home.

So when my friend's mom wants to get what will probably amount to about a $1500 tax credit for this child she has raised all year long, I feel like it's a very small cost to us, the taxpayers, to provide her with that. After all, putting the child in foster care or out on the street may have cost us much, much more in the short term and the long term--financially and otherwise.

It's a hard job. Raising someone else's child means less for your own children. Rationing the money out for everyone in the household means even if there was enough before, extracurricular clubs and activities that would help develop a child and prepare them for college are probably not even considered. And college? I rarely hear that as something a parent has extra money to save for their own child, let alone for a couple of others they've raised along the way.

Last year, as a result of my Christmas gift, The Awe-manac: A Daily Dose of Wonder, and it's suggestion to create annual awards, I created my own. This year as I reflect, the people who take it upon themselves to raise other people's children without any fanfare or recognition deserve to be commended. Thank you for what you do!

"Rock"

Funerals are reminders. Reminders of the past. Reminders of good times. The little stuff doesn't seem to matter so much on days like these.

Today was Rock's funeral. He was 57 years old. He had heart problems. He had led a tough life.

I don't know all of Rock's story...and I'm not sure what changed him. I've heard he used to be a pretty big drug dealer, but I didn't know him like that. For all I know, maybe he was still selling when I met him. It wouldn't surprise me. I've learned that what people do doesn't necessarily define who they are. I have a hard time picturing Rock as the really major drug dealer that he was at one time. Instead, what I know about Rock is his phone calls, his tears, and his love for his grandchildren...his love for his grandchildren...his love for his grandchildren.

Rock loved, but he also wanted to be loved.

Funerals seem to wake me up. Maybe I need to figure out a way to remember those things on days other than funerals.

As I sat at the funeral today I began remembering things I'd almost forgotten. We used to go to Ms. D's for Sunday dinner. Ms. D complained incessantly about us being there (that was just the way she was), but she always invited Rock and usually some others she felt like needed something--whether that be friends, family, or food. Looking back, I guess I was one of those who needed something as well. I don't know that any of us looked at it that way. I'm guessing she probably needed us as well. We were all friends. We argued, discussed, played dominoes, teased, watched movies, and felt a part of something.

Listening to people today made me think that Rock was a networker. When Ms. J.R. got up to speak, she told about how Rock was her patient when she was a nurse at our Health Clinic. As she helped Rock deal with his own health issues, he coerced her into helping his neighbor as well. He wanted to connect his neighbors to the same opportunities he had been given. So he called her every time he or someone else needed something.

I chuckle. :) He did the same to me.

Rock knew I was an educator. He knew I had gotten all of these degrees in education. He was convinced I could help him, despite my own reluctance. Rock called me when he wanted to learn to read. He was probably in his 40s at the time. He called me when he was afraid his daughters weren't leading his grandkids in the right direction. He wanted to learn to read so he could read to them. He wanted to know what resources were available to help them do better than they were. This is where poverty gets complex and complicated.

If changing things were based on love and desire alone, Rock's heart and love for his grandkids would have wiped away his past and gave him a complete new start. Unfortunately, he had all of the baggage from his past that carried on to his children and affected his grandchildren. Rock had turned over a new leaf and would have done everything in his power to make that same change for his long-time girlfriend and his children. No matter how much he changed, though, he couldn't convince them to do the same. I'm guessing that's why he focused so much on his grandchildren. He wanted to make sure they didn't even start down that same path.

The two grand daughter's I know are now 17 and 18 now. Both have children of their own. A few months ago, Rock called me pleading for me to help them get on the right track and make sure they get what they need so they can go to college. We tried, but our program isn't quite set up in a way that provided what they needed. They needed childcare to go to school during the day. They needed to provide basic necessities for their children. They needed an education. It was complicated. They stopped going to school thinking finding a job was the answer. I didn't think it was, but I didn't have any other good solution either. I feel/felt so helpless. And now that he's gone, who is going to continue tracking me down imploring someone to help his grandkids?? Who is going to be the go-between to plead with them to do better while negotiating with someone else who can possibly offer the help they need??


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Sitting at Rock's funeral today made me think about the complexities of the life of a person who made mistakes but desperately wanted to right the wrongs. But by then the deck was stacked against him. Then again, the deck was probably stacked against him before then...which is why he probably made the choices he did.

It's the Rock's of the world who challenge me to press forward and defy the people who say, "You can't change the world." I don't know what exactly I can or will do in the future, but I know I am going to constantly think about and try to figure out how to do more with adult literacy, education, and teen parents. Somewhere, somehow...

I'm glad I knew Rock. I'm glad I knew his love. In his memory, I hope to carry it on.

Exploiting poor people's desire to learn

As I was walking out of my office the other day, a friend of mine in the housing development where I work approached me with a big smile on her face. "I'm so glad I caught you! I wanted to give you my graduation announcement!"

Being the educator I am, I try to make every graduation I can. Graduations excite me. I was honored that she would think of me when she was inviting people.

As I opened the invitation in front of her and saw Everest College, I tried to keep the smile on my face, though my heart cringed. I knew she had just wasted two years of her life and probably had the debt to prove it.

I don't know that our country realizes how well it has sold the idea that education is the key to one's future. I hear it preached over and over again in the inner-city where I live and work...and people listen.

People in the neighborhoods and in the housing developments where I lived and worked have bought into the belief that education is they key to their future. It is because of that belief that they actively pursue "higher education." The problem isn't in their effort. Their problem lies in where they've been convinced to pursue this "higher education."

If someone comes to me to ask for college advice, I immediately, emphatically tell them to stay away from "colleges" like Everest, Remington, ATI, or some these other for-profit schools that promise them they will have no financial obligation and promise them a high-paying job when they finish. I try to convince them what many of us know already. Those institutions lie to get people in the door. See this article: The Subprime Student Loan Racket - Stephen Burd

Sometimes, I can convince people of the lies they've been told. Other times I can't. The for-profit institutions market so strongly to poor communities that people are convinced they are their ticket out of their life of poverty. Instead, they are their ticket into more poverty.

However, it is one thing for me to convince someone before they start their educational career. It is yet another when someone is 1/2 way or all the way through one of these exploitative schools. They are so proud of working toward something, I don't have the heart to tell them the reality they are about to face. Unfortunately, because of these schools, they often get dissuaded and then convince their children that they have to accept the reality that there isn't a way out.

So what do we do about "colleges" like ITT Tech, University of Phoenix, Westwood, Career Education, Corinthian College, DeVry, Brooks Institute, and Everest?

We need to change legislation. We need to prevent these institutions from profiting off of the backs of poor people.

Right now, the government acknowledges these schools and assists with their funding by backing defaulted loans. Sallie Mae works in conjunction with them because they make big profits in working with these for-profit schools.

If you have a similar story, post it here. If you know of people who are being taken advantage of because of these schools, post that as well. Maybe we can build enough stories to convince Congress there need to be strict regulations against them.

We need to get the word out that it is not ok to exploit poor people's desire to learn.

Is God the cause of injustice?

Ever since I read Pedagogy of the Oppressed Pedagogy of the Oppressed several years ago, I have been a Paulo Freire fan.

I recently started reading Pedagogy of Hope. It's a heavy read, but there are little nuggets throughout that make it totally worth reading.

Freire believes in talking *with* the peasants in his home country of Brazil. He learned this lesson from a man who stood up and challenged him after one of his presumptuous talks to peasants explaining that they should not physically discipline their children.

Though that conversation is completely worth writing and repeating here, one that struck me was a conversation with a group of peasants who 1) thought Mr. Freire could provide them with all of the answers and 2) assumed that their life was rough because that was God's destiny for them.

In his book, he has this conversation with them:

"Fine," I had told them. "I know. You don't. But why do I know and you don't?"

"You know because you're a doctor, sir, and we're not."

"Right, I'm a doctor and you're not. But why am I a doctor and you're not?"

"Because you've gone to school, you've read things, studied things, and we haven't."

"And why have I been to school?"

"Becasue your dad could send you to school. Ours couldn't."

"And why couldn't your parents send you to school?"

"Becasue they were peasants like us."

"And what is 'being a peasant'?"

"It's not having an education...not owning anything...working from sun to sun...having no rights...having no hope."

"And why doesn't a peasant have any of this?"

"The will of God."

"And who is God?"

"The Father of us all."

"And who is a father here this evening?"

Almost all raised their hands, and said they were.

I looked around the group without saying anything. Then I picked out one of them and asked him, "How many children do you have?"

"Three."

"Would you be willing to sacrifice two of them, and make them suffer so that the other one could go to school, and have a good life, in Recife? Could you love your children that way?"

"No!"

"Well, if you," I said, "a person of flesh and bones, could not commit an injustice like that--how could God commit it? Could God really be the cause of these things?"

...

"No. God isn't the cause of all of this."

It's the little things in life

Each Valentine's Day our After-School Academy makes super-sized rice krispy hearts and sells them as a fundraiser. We put fruity pebbles in them to make them colorful and extra tasty. My high school used to do the same thing and I always remember being so excited when someone chose to send me one.

So, to carry on that tradition, each year, I make sure each of the kids I know in college receive one. I also try to think of people who have done good things for the After-School Academy without ever asking for a thing in return.

They're just rice krispy treats. Marshmallows, rice krispies, fruity pebbles, and butter. Mixed up, molded into a heart-shape, and wrapped with saran and a few ribbons if we have them.

Yet, after receiving them, a few people I know have refused to eat them. Ashley, a college student, kept hers in her refrigerator for an entire year. I know because she showed me when I was at her house a year later. She never ate it. For all I know, she still has it.

Rana, a resident in Roseland, watches out for me when I work late. When she sees my car there late, she calls to see when I'll be leaving, then comes over to make sure I get to my car safely. She, too, refused to eat hers until one of her children mistakenly took a bite out of her prized possession. She was devastated.

They cherish their gift. They cherish the thought.

As I watched the video (below) from Tony Campolo, I thought of them. I thought about people who don't take for granted the little things they receive in life. I wondered if Ashley and Rana knew that my gift to them was as much out of my gratefulness to them as their not eating it was to show their appreciation to me.

The cost of poverty

I've always wondered why someone like Michael Jordan could walk into a restaurant and get a free meal, but someone who is homeless would be required and demanded to pay full price.

There is nothing easy about being poor.

Being poor takes extra money. Being poor takes extra intelligence. Being poor takes extra determination. Being poor takes extra time. But nothing is set up in our system to allow that extra money, intelligence, determination, or time.

When I was young, my mother used to watch for bargains and stock up. She stocked up and stored it all in our basement or in our multiple freezers. I still follow her philosophy. But I realize people who only have a set amount of money each month and a small apartment can't afford to get ahead like that. They have to buy what's available at the time, which is often more expensive.

The intelligence needed is astounding to me--especially in light of the poor way schools in low-income areas often operate. This summer we are trying to utilize free software available on the internet. We want the kids to realize we are using tools that they have access to without spending money they don't have. However, each free tool takes extra plug-ins and takes a huge amount of knowledge to figure out what other program(s) you have to have to convert the file into a readable format. It would be so much easier to use software we pay for.

Which leads to my point about determination...and refers back to my point about the time it takes to be poor. A person has to be extremely determined to figure out how these tools work...which also takes a lot of time. If a person is working, has a family, hasn't been equipped with even a base-knowledge of technology or education, this determination seems pointless. It would be very easy to give up and exist at what is already known.

Finally, it takes extra time to be poor. One of my friends has been poor for some time now. But she doesn't believe in government assistance. After looking for a job for several months, she decided she would have to resort to being considered "low-income" and went to the office to apply. She explained that they asked her for her life story and they require her to keep going for appointments. Without a car, those hours spent on the bus and in the welfare offices add up to a lot of time spent away from job search and family.

As I am reading Daniel Goleman's Emotional Intelligence book, I realize there is another cost of poverty. There is an emotional cost. And that emotional cost feeds all of the other areas.

A lot of the parents I know speak with short, frustrated commands. They are tired of years of struggle and that struggle gets passed on to their children. They work or go to school all day and don't have the energy or desire to deal with a crying baby or, when the children are older, to take their children places...even if those places are free. When a parent is too frustrated to have empathy toward their children, the children learn to avoid expressing emotions that would need empathetic responses. The reflection of these responses begin in a child's infancy.

Emotional neglect has cyclical effects. It dulls empathy skills but can also result in hyper-sensitivity to emotions and comments of those around them, causing children to react defensively and in anger to comments that could have been resolved easily.

The combination of all of the above often results in a downward spiral. The children who achieve in spite of are those with amazing resilience and are the exceptions to the rule.

The solutions are complex. We have a lot of work to do. We must create learning environments that inspire a release of creativity and allows kids to get lost in their passions. We need to do a much better job of educating children and providing them with opportunities to grow and explore. We need to think through our current society that raises prices in low-income areas and lowers prices in higher income communities.

The emotional toll has huge consequences to all of us. Goleman sites a higher rate of crime from those who have these emotional voids. It is not a problem for those who are poor; it is a problem for all of us. We all must work together to solve it.

Class Matters

If you have never been to the Central Dallas Ministries' Urban Engagement Book Club, you really should try it. Every month Randy Mayeux discusses a book that focuses on a social justice issue that challenges us to think of our society differently. There's no need to read the book beforehand. He does that for us and provides the important talking points of the book.

Today's book was Where We Stand: Class Matters by bell hooks. bell hooks has been a favorite writer of mine since grad school. She's so blatantly honest about what she sees and knows.

One of my favorite quotes today:

For so long everyone has wanted to hold on to the belief that the United States is a class-free society--that anyone who works hard enough can make it to the top. Few stop to think that in a class-free socity there would be no top.

She has a point.

And people who live within this "class-free" society that isn't so class-free have obstacles to making it to the top.

As I drove back to my office today, I couldn't help but think about my 10 years in Turner Courts in far South Dallas. In a city of 1.3 million people, the small section of the city where I worked had absolutely no places to eat, shop, or work other than the two small corner stores that offered over-priced groceries and greasy burgers and fries at the back counter.

During the book club, Randy pointed to the video that I posted yesterday where I pointed out the one grocery store that serves all of South Dallas. The Dallas Observer reported on this a couple of years ago stating that the South Dallas Minyards serves over 30,000 people.

What I wish could've been included on that video was the reaction of the Fortune 500 lady I took into the South Dallas Minyards. In South Dallas, we always talk about how things are over-priced, but I'm not one who memorizes grocery store prices so I figured I might be over-exaggerating. But before I had a chance to say anything she exclaimed, "These prices are high!!" She confirmed my suspicions.

Would someone please explain to me why the lowest income neighborhoods have the highest prices?? I wonder if more people like this lady took the time to visit low-income neighborhoods and were forced to face the reality that in neighborhoods that average less than $10,000 annual income, the prices can be up to 50% higher (so that you believe me...a tub of sour cream in an Allen Kroger was 99 cents, compared to an Albertson's close to my house that was $1.79).

Class Matters.

Not only does it matter, it creates situations that have allowed our society to exploit the most vulnerable. Is that the kind of society we want to live in?

On the cusp of greatness

In my mind, our nation and our world is at a definining moment. To this point, we have defined ourselves as individual countries within continents. We are are pitted with some and allied with others. We have decided who our friends and enemies are based on a few people within an entire nation.

We compete. We do our best to be at the head of the pack. We want the label of being the best and we want all of the blessings. "Buy USA!" "God Bless America!"

How does that language mesh with our spoken desire to help other nations? How does that language contribute to the good of people?

Our world today is different. Travel is easier, cheaper, quicker, and more possible. Speaking to someone overseas is as easy and costs as little as walking out our front door and talking to our neighbor (and we probably talk to more people overseas than we do to our next door neighbors!).

How can we use the tools we have to our benefit? How can we use our networking and connections in a way that brings us all together instead of pitting us against one another? How can we use our knowledge and technology to bring voices to the table across the globe so that people who are in situations of poverty, domination, and suffering can speak out about what they need to help them move forward? How can we bridge the gap to bring their knowledge of their space--whether in Meru, Kenya in Africa or South Dallas, Texas in the United States--together with others' knowledge of systems and politics?

I believe the possibilities are becoming more and more real. The real question is, will we do it? No...the real question is,

Do we want to do it?

Do we truly have the desire to be allies with people? Do we want to get to know the individuals behind the dictators? Do we want to hear the voices of the poor? Do we want to figure out ways to work together to make ALL of our countries stronger...or do we want to remain competitive and separate to see who's the BEST?

Right now our country is broken. But is because of that brokenness that I believe we are on the cusp of greatness.

But it all depends on what we decide to do with that greatness and how we choose to use the power that we still think we have.

So goes the nation

I saw this on the news:



I know things are getting bad. Every day I hear about more people losing jobs and homes, but I guess so far I am in a safe middle area and haven't been directly affected. Watching this was a sobering reality.

Unfortunately, many people still don't see how we are all connected. People still want to distance themselves from the homeless.

In the not-so-distant past, it has been easy to overlook the homeless and blame them for their own problems. It has been easy to distance ourselves from the poor.

It is no longer easy.

Very rapidly, no matter how much we try to distance ourselves, the poor and homeless are creeping into our lives. How long will it take us to figure out that we are all connected?

When one suffers, we all suffer. (1 Cor. 12:26)

Teachers! Stop the cupcakes!!

Poverty often dictates that parents often have to purchase cheaper, more filling food to work within their budget and their limited hours in the day. There are some excellent programs that help parents plan their shopping lists so that they purchase more nutritious food for their children. Unfortunately, for parents who are taking the bus to jobs or are working more than one job, they don't often have the time to take the time to prepare food in the way that this new shopping list dictates.

I have been known to be critical of parents who feed their children junk food or provide the kids with money to buy chips and a soda from the corner store. Unfortunately, it's sometimes the parents who are at home, but have other concerns, that are the least educated...and possibly the least concerned...about what develops their children's brains long-term.

At our After-School Academy, though, we are not just struggling with educating the parents, we fight the influence of the schools and other community organizations. Schools, these days, justify nachos as providing a milk product and a grain...as well as other absurd justifications of the four food groups. But beyond that, teachers dismiss kids with cookies, cupcakes, chips, and other high fat, high sugar junk food.

The latest issue of Edutopia quotes Jan Pruitt, from the North Texas Food Bank that provides much of our food at Central Dallas. Pruitt says teachers are often surprised to learn that a "problem" student is really just hungry: "They will say, 'Oh, my gosh. I never thought of him being hungry.'"

I'm guessing the teachers in our area recognize that kids are hungry. However, maybe we need to start educating people that just because a child's "hunger" has subsided, doesn't necessarily mean he/she will be equipped to learn. In fact, that much sugar creates an adverse affect. When the children come home eating their cookies and cupcakes, they are not in the right mindset to sit down and do homework...and then attend enrichment classes. Their after-school sugar high creates hyper-activity, irritability, and other behaviors.

I'm a very big sweet tooth. However, I've learned that eating sweets leads to wanting more sweets. I've always been a pretty healthy eater, thanks to my mom. But until I got into my late 20's, I was perfectly satisfied having a brownie sundae fill me up...or cookie dough...or any homemade dessert. I justified the 5 cookies I might eat because they filled me up and I figured they were about the same amount of calories as a larger meal. What I didn't realize was that my body and brain functioned much better on a bigger, healthier meal. When I finally started leaving out the sweets, the craving wasn't so strong.

I'm convinced that our charitable acts of giving poor kids cookies and junk is the reason when they do get a free meal, they throw out the sandwich and soup and eat the cookie and chips. Let's educate those providing lunches and snacks for our children. They need fruit and vegetables. As my mom did us, they need to be encouraged to taste two bites of everything so that they can develop new taste buds.

We have got to do better by our children.

Putting the economic downturn in perspective

As I got to the front of the check out line at the grocery store, the lady behind the cash register greeted me.

After she rang up my two items, she asked, "Do you have your [discount] card?" I searched through my billfold to no avail.

"Is it going to affect the price," I asked.

"Probably," she answered.

I kept digging in my purse, then looked up to see what the potential savings might be. It was then that I noticed my total bill was $7.55 for the two, small items I had purchased.

"Oh no, I'm not paying that!" I exclaimed. I had only picked up those two items because they were supposedly on sale. I was about to walk out and leave the items in the store.

"I can look up your phone number," she offered. I took her up on the idea and it worked! My bill went down to $3.18.

"That's nearly five dollars! I can do a lot with five dollars," I chatted with her.

"Believe me, I know," she chatted back. "Five dollars is a lot. In my country, five dollars will feed someone for a week."

Whoa.

"Where are you from," I asked.

"Ghana."

I didn't know what else to say. Her thoughts and comment put things in a completely different perspective. Though I'm aware of the realities of third world countries, when she told me that, it stopped me in my tracks.

As our "economic downturn" continues to get worse, I hope we recognize how many others (here and thousands of miles away) are struggling in ways we can't imagine...and I hope we realize that their struggle should be ours as well.

Reflections of insignificance

As I walked into Albertson's, I could see a man out of the corner of my eye. I could see he was looking at me. He was unshaven and slightly unkempt...I would assume homeless. I continued walking toward the store, looking straight ahead and continuing my phone conversation.

"Hey," I heard.

Here it comes. Someone hitting me up for something...again. I kept walking and talking.

"Janet," he continued.

I turned my head and had to focus a minute. His face looked familiar, but he was much skinnier than I remembered. "Jonathan*!" I exclaimed, and gave him a hug.

I ended my phone conversation so I could talk to him.

"How was your Christmas?" he asked.

"Pretty good. Yours?"

With a shrug of his shoulders, he replied, "It's over."

I hadn't seen him in a while so I asked where he was these days. "Here and there," he explained, but then went on to tell me how he had found this fenced in overhang behind XYZ restaurant that was a covered area that provided safety and protection from the weather. He asked if I would mind picking him up a few things while I was in the store. "Sure!" I replied.

He started explaining how he had figured out how to make his meals work as cheaply as possible and began telling me the few items he needed. I didn't see the point (or the dignity) in leaving him outside while I purchased food so I asked him to walk with me and get what he needed. We chatted and caught up as we walked through the store. He explained his purchases. A loaf of bread...the cheapest brand. A package of individual chip bags because he can eat a bag in a sitting and the ants don't get to them. A 12-pack of sodas for the same reason...plus, he explained, the canned soda doesn't go flat. Preserving meat is a little tricker, he explained. He picked up a package of hot links and informed me about the lasting effect of the sausage. He said he could make two packages last a while and asked if it was okay to get two packages.

After buying the groceries, he asked if I would mind dropping him off at a location around the corner. He explained that a guy was allowing him to store his stuff in a back shed...but the man was real particular about him being discreet so he didn't want me to take him all the way to the house. Jonathan chuckled at his own situation. "Some homeless-looking guy walks toward this house, but he's not stealing anything, he's actually taking groceries in! How can you be discreet about that?!" he wondered aloud.

He wished me a Happy New Year and said he would come visit our new After-School Academy as he unloaded his stuff and proceeded to walk down the street to his storage area.

As I drove off, I realized that to anyone else that may have looked like a good deed--lady walks into the store, says hi to a homeless man, buys his groceries, and takes him home...a good deed during the holidays.

To me, however, it was reason for thoughtful reflection about the way we see (or don't see) people who are "insignificant" to us.

My personal "policy" most of the time is that I don't give money to requests from random people. I try to stay focused on the kids and teenagers I know who are working toward some personal goal(s). But it's not people like Jonathan's fault that I don't know them. It's my own fault.

As we enter the new year, I need to reflect on my own efforts toward meeting and interacting with those who would, otherwise, be "insignificant" to me.

*not his real name

Hurricane Katrina--Invisible to the tourist eye

I chose to take a Hurricane Katrina Tour yesterday. My interest in the tour disturbed me. I didn't want to be the sensational tourist who wanted to see other people's devastation, but I wanted to understand and see for myself the lack of resources that have been placed toward this effort to rebuild. Seeing what New Orleans offers on the surface and what is easily available to tourists makes it too easy to overlook that so much has not been done. It makes it easy for me to be comfortable listening to jazz, eating jambalaya, and going back home thinking everything is fine.

Everything is not fine.

Over three years later, as we travelled around to the different parts of the city, I could still see houses marked with an "X" and "TFW" (Task Force Washington) to let people know the house had been checked and cleared. There were entire shopping centers still vacant and in disrepair. There were very large homes with tall weeds all around them because no one had returned to that property.

The blight was not limited to poor neighborhoods, although many of the wealthier neighborhoods were often located on higher ground and weren't as affected. Small and large houses alike had been hit and were left behind--vacant and now overgrown.

The entire city is like a neglected urban area....like a giant "inner city neighborhood." I couldn't help but think of the $700 billion that has been approved to bail out the economy and has been given to people who knew what they were doing and could've changed course...yet we left an entire city whose commerce and culture is just as vitally important to our country to figure out how to fix their own problems.

Something about that seems terribly wrong. The scars because of our terrible mistake are, unfortunately, hidden--except to those who continue to be affected.

----------------------------------------

While listening to some great jazz music at Preservation Hall I met two people who had come to New Orleans about 18 months ago to work with Habitat for Humanity and Americorps through the St. Bernard Parish Project to help rebuild homes. I believe he said they had built around 50 homes during that time period.

One of the guest drummers works with Sweet Home New Orleans, a non-profit agency that offers social services and financial assistance to the city’s musicians, Mardi Gras Indians, and Social Aid & Pleasure Club members. Sweet Home’s mission is to perpetuate New Orleans’ cultural traditions by providing direct services to the individuals and institutions that will carry them forward.

I also purchased a book called 1 Dead in Attic that is a recently updated version of personal accounts that have happened during and since the hurricane.

After seeing what still needs to be done and talking to people who are doing it, I would highly recommend that you invest some of your money into these two organizations. I'm sure there are more, but these two are ones that I have talked directly to people working with them. People are working hard to rebuild this city with no help from the government. I hear people talk about how we should leave things up to the people...so here it is. New Orleans still needs help. Please consider helping monetarily, coming to rebuild with the local organizations already in existence, or even moving here to take a teaching job.

Many have not moved back because of lack of resources. Housing prices have risen, businesses have disappeared, jobs are not available. Jobs can't become available until people move back and people can't move back until jobs are available. I would encourage everyone to help if at all possible.

To see the slideshow of my New Orleans/Hurricane Katrina pics, click here.

Here a few to preview:

Bailouts? Think about the children

We're busy scrambling to bail out people who have tragically failed our system. What about bailing out the people who haven't even had the chance or opportunity to make a bad decision yet? Listen to Karim's take on it...