Category Archives: Government programs

Blog Post Final Internship Summary

Anti-Poverty Programs

To protect this non-profit social service organization the names of the staff, and the social service organization have been altered.

In previous posts I have not touched on my own experiences but rather more about what my social service internship has been about. In my experiences at Small Social Service I have realized that I enjoyed my time there, but will most likely not return to any position in case management or at a non-profit small organization such as SSS. SSS has the potential to be a great social service however it is lacking efficiency/ professionalism from staff and funding as well. The SSS has amazing goals and I would love to see them go into action such as providing shelters and affordable housing around the city of Redlands. However, in this social service it is dangerous to dream of such things becoming a reality.

From our course we speak on what we can do to solve homelessness and Kay, Small Social Service’s executive Director as well as many of the case managers I have spoken with agree that housing first needs to happen, but it wont happen in Redlands… However, SSS has one of the strongest volunteer and support centers in Redlands. Educational institutions, small/large businesses, restaurants, and companies are all in support of the history of SSS and the work it does to protect those families in crisis.

Although they don’t exactly reach the expectations of their mission, SSS provides a non-judgmental and safe space for those who don’t know where else to go. And although they cannot pay their staff more, and can barely keep afloat during crazy holiday times and try to provide the most for the community, they are a social service that is just as important as any shelter, rapid-rehousing, or large public policy change. Because the city of Redlands needs them. There is no doubt in my mind that if they had the funding they would put it to use for the greater good of their clients and the people of Redlands and surrounding cities that need assistance. It is frustrating to look at the potential of a social service organization that has been around for so long, but know that social/political change needs to happen in order for them to reach their full potential of improving the cities they provide for.

#F*ckThePoor Campaign: Put your money where your mouth is

Anti-Poverty Programs, International, Organizations, Related topics

Yes, this sounds bad; however, this campaign is a great example of how society hinders itself from solving a problem that they are concerned about. On April 7th, 2014, The Pilion Trust Charity asked Londoners to “put their money where their mouths are” by filming their reactions to a man wearing a “F*ck the poor” sign. The video on their blog shows that the Londoners weren’t fans of the statement. However, when the man flipped his sign over to read “Help the poor” and held a donations cup, he was completely ignored by the public. This controversial campaign is the wake up call that not only London society needs, but that all societies dealing with poverty need to be aware of. Their campaign is message is: “We know you care. Please care enough to give”.  What’s the point in caring and being offended by a sign that says “F*ck the poor” if they are doing just that when ignoring a sign that wants to help? We are part of the problem and that is why is it still prevalent today.

Share this campaign and open eyes, because deep down, we all do care and that should be enough motivation to give. Here’s the link to the Pilion Trust’s Blog with the video: http://piliontrust.com.

Who Holds the Power?

Government programs, Homelessness, How we should treat each other, News link, Poverty

Mayor Bloomberg of New York City has been making some interesting comments about homelessness in the past year. This article does a very good job of deconstructing Bloomberg’s ridiculous statements and proving how foolish he is. Bloomberg made the claim last Fall that NYC’s lack of housing is “a good sign” because it means that “there are no vacancies.” My question is WHO is this a “good sign” for? The answer is MAYOR BLOOMBERG (the 11th richest person in the country and 16th richest in the world, according to Wikipedia) and the rest of the upper class population of NYC. Of course they think that the lack of vacancies and affordable housing is a good thing – it benefits their “thriving” economy. But what about the 270,000 people who are on the waiting list for affordable housing? What are they supposed to do while Mayor Bloomberg creates more luxury housing in the places that public housing needs to be built? To add salt to the wound, Bloomberg has also tried to get the city to “fingerprint public housing residents, and make them scan in using a fingerprint scanner.” Mayor Bloomberg is a great example of a person who is using their power to their own advantage, rather than to help the citizens of his city. He stigmatizes the people he oppresses and he profits off of the homeless problem in NYC. There are far too many people like Bloomberg in power in the U.S. who put themselves first, tossing aside the people who need help the most.

Crime of Homelessness

About being poor, Causes of Poverty, Government programs, Homelessness, Portraits of Homeless, Working poor

It has been interesting to see that most people think that homeless people are in the situation they are in because they are lazy and/or have no work ethic. This being said, for my teaching project, I have been trying to find real stories of people who are trying their hardest to get out of their situation as well as break the societal cycle.

Yesterday, a social reform type blog posted an article that did just that.  Shanesha Taylor is a homeless mother of 2 that was offered an interview. Because she had no one to watch or care for he children, she had me wait in the car. When she was done with the interview, her life became much more difficult. She was then arrested and her children we taken to child protective services. Since the story did not explain why she was homeless in the first place, it still shines a bright light on the issue of single mothers and their poverty level.  The article says that about 1.6 million kids in America are considered homeless and that sets them up for immediate failure as it makes it much more difficult to rise out of it. After hearing this story, many people reached out to Shanesha and donated money for her to help regain her children’s custody. As this situation was not her choice, it shows that society is constructed by giving the unfair advantage to those who need it the most. Now Shanesha and many women in similar situations have to deal with systems that will cost even more money and time. It is sad to think that people get in trouble for being in a situation they have no control over.

http://socialistworker.org/2014/04/02/the-real-crime-is-homelessness

Complaining goes a long way

Government programs, Homelessness, News link, Organizations, Reflections on our Reading

In an article posted yesterday by USA Today, benefits from the VA was re instated for those who had “less than honorable discharges.” After recently revisiting their eligibility statements, they quietly removed this category of recipients away.  Additionally, this past December, the VA cut finances to their support program as well as cutting transitional housing for those who served less than 24 months as well as less than honorable discharge. More often than not, the veterans that fall into this category  do not receive VA benefits therefore making them unable to receive benefits from homeless programs, or so the VA decided.

Once people heard of this change, they saw it quite contradicting to the goals that Obama had set in his State of the Union address earlier this year.  Senators, advocates, support groups, social welfare organizations and more all saw the heartlessness  in the VA’s actions. In response, the VA said a law has to be created to change rules. On Friday, Senator Murray, who sits on the Budget Committee, from Washington, created and presented legislation on this topic. “In the meantime, Robert Petzel, the VA’s undersecretary for health, restored support for all homeless veterans who had previously been receiving it.” About 1 in 10 veterans who live on the street have “less than honorable discharges” and almost 60,000 veterans in general are homeless. Not all veterans are immediate homeless; due to post dramatic stress syndrome, abuse, and life events, some become homeless after years of being back from their tour.

This article touched me because it is amazing to see what can happen when people feel like there has been injustice. Especially when a group that was subject to these changes does not have the strength to fight back, it is amazing what the power of voices can do to help make a positive change. From our reading of Book of the Poor, we saw many organizations are out there to aid people and offer them the best well-being they can. In this case, many people and organizations are out there to support veterans everywhere.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/03/29/homeless-veterans-va-denied-support-ptsd-discharge/7013129/

Paying Alcoholics in Beer? Good or Bad Idea?

About being poor, Government programs, Homelessness, News link, Organizations, People, Poverty, Solutions to Homelessness, Solutions to Hunger

Tonight, I was talking to my dad about this class, and he told me about a program he’d heard of in Amsterdam, Netherlands. This article from BBC News does a very good job of explaining the program. Basically, a company (The Rainbow Group) partially funded by the Dutch government have started a program to help homeless alcoholics in Amsterdam. The article describes how the program works: “They arrive at 09:00 and work until 15:00. They take extended breaks for beer, cigarettes and a hot lunch, all provided free of charge.” The aim of the program is not to fix these people, but to give them a better quality of life, while bettering the neighborhoods at the same time. Though this is a very controversial program that I imagine most Americans would not take seriously, I think it’s a very intriguing idea. The program seems to be helping to keep violence to a minimum and has been fairly cost effective. The people involved in the program are given a sense of dignity because they can work for their beer instead of begging for money. One of the men stated that “‘They used to treat us like garbage – and now we are picking up their garbage, we are not the garbage anymore.'” Rather than trying to change the “unchangeable reality” of alcoholism, this project is aimed at creating a better environment for alcoholics to live in.

I’m not sure about this program and its effectiveness, but I think that the change of thinking about these types of things is a good start to changing society. As the article states, why not “abandon ‘old-fashioned political correctness'” and try something “crazy” like this?

What do you think about this type of program? Do you think it would work in America? Is it making a significant difference?

The Real Causes of Homelessness

About being poor, Causes of Homelessness, Government programs, Homelessness, People, Portraits of Homeless, Poverty, Solutions to Homelessness

I found this story written by Mollie Lowery that hit on many of the points we have been making in class about what truly causes homelessness. Lowery writes the story of a chronically homeless woman named Lourdes. This story is powerful in pointing out the many different flaws of our current system and the ways in which we treat the homeless. I see a lot of the arguments Vincent Lyon-Callo makes in his book  Inequality, Poverty, And Neoliberal Governance: Activist Ethnography in the Homeless Sheltering Industry (purchase on Amazon) within Lourdes’ story. One of these arguments is that our society medicalizes homelessness. The best way I can describe this is by pulling a quote from Lowery’s story of getting Lourdes back into housing: “I began each day with reassurances that if Lourdes got in the car with me, I wouldn’t take her to a mental hospital. Such fear and distrust do not emanate from some genetic pathology. It comes from years of being marginalized, excluded, exposed and traumatized.” Both Lyon-Callo and Lowery emphasize the very important fact that the systems that we have in place to “help” homeless people place the blame on personal attributes, rather than acknowledging that the problem comes from these systems that create inequalities.  Though we have many systems in place to try to help the ever-growing number of homeless, Lowery stresses that “a far more humane, effective — and cheaper — strategy would be to prevent people like Lourdes from winding up homeless in the first place.” Rather than putting a band-aid on the problem, we need to focus on preventing the problem from ever happening. And this involves seeing the true cause of homelessness instead of focusing on “individual pathologies and solutions.”

Sheltering Industry

Government programs

Reading Vincent Lyon-Callo’s book “Inequality, Poverty, and Neoliberal Governance,” the talk about staff definitely reminded me of the shelter I am interning at.  It speaks about the staff being professionally trained to fix the people who come in, and that is exactly how it is at my shelter.  There is a very particular training for a specific type of person, and it does not apply to all of the residents at the shelter at all.  All of the residents, however, are grouped into this category that makes them all seem as though they came from the exact same situation.  The shelter I am interning at is a domestic violence shelter, and so there are some similarities between the women, but there is not a cookie cutter story behind them all.  Every resident comes with their own very different story, and it is up to the staff to decide how to deal with that situation.  For the most part, the staff treat them all the same regardless of what has happened to them or what the resident has come from.

http://www.amazon.com/Inequality-Poverty-Neoliberal-Governance-Ethnographies/dp/1442600861

Homelessness in itself

Government programs

Nothing has really changed since the 1790s in Homelessness. You see all the same arguments that are going on today and ideological justifications now are the same as it was in 1790 including the laissez faire economics and political economy of possessive individualism. We have had a series of economic shifts that parallels other eras. There have been shifts in the social contract and decline of labor unions. This world has less effective states. There has been increasing inequality and loss of social safety net and ideological use of foreign threat. Lyon Callo is interested in what people think and why they see the world in particular ways. The key concept is discourses which roughly speaking ways that help people conceive social issues as reflected in their talk. Ways that will shape your career is your education, the way you present yourself, having and address, and most importantly, what jobs are available which name none of us have control over.  There are two major Homeless Aid Acts that came out including the McKinney Act and the Hearth Act. The McKinney Act came out in 1987 and had fifteen different programs. Shelter plus care programs, single room occupancy programs, supportive housing programs, emergency shelter grant programs, etx. There was also agriculture, education, labor, and HUD programs expanded to homeless. The Hearth Act which came out in 2009 consolidated and renewed several McKinney programs which included the $1.5 billion for new housing assistance, homeless prevention and rapid re-housing program (HPRP), and structure as grants to states and local agencies and part of 2009 stimulus package.

Internship Progress Report

Anti-Poverty Programs, Homelessness, Hunger, Local organizations, Organizations, Poverty, Solutions to Hunger, Solutions to Poverty

Since 1898, the service association I have been interning at has relied on donations and a system of volunteers to provide services to low income and homeless families, disabled adults, and impoverished seniors of the East Valley. Today, there are 14 paid staff members and several volunteers.

Families that receive support from this location are either homeless or on the brink of homelessness. The many services provided by the organization are aimed at helping families in danger of becoming homeless pull themselves out of the rut that many get stuck in. The organization uses a case management-based approach that makes their care more compassionate and personal. Parents can take free classes on budgeting, parenting, anger management, computer skills, etc. and get job training or help with job searching. Housing assistance is provided through the Home Again program, which helps families move from homelessness to permanent housing through several different programs.

Food, clothing, furniture, and many other supplies needed for living are provided to clients through the distribution center. The distribution center contains the food pantry and the clothing room, where volunteers work daily to sort and organize donations. Families can “shop” for clothes and bedding in the clothing room each month. Volunteers in the food pantry put bags of food together for families of different sizes. Giving families the food in grocery bags makes it look as though they are just taking food home from the store like any other person, saving them from judgment.

The childcare center provides a place for children to go while their parents are in class or counseling or any other service they receive. There are plenty of board games, toys, puzzles, books, and crafts available to keep the children busy while they wait for their parents. On certain days, tutoring and homework help is available to the children as needed, to help them keep up with school. This is a very important aspect of the childcare center, as many of the families have a hard time keeping up with school with so many other things to deal with.

Meals are provided to families every night at 5:30 p.m. The dining room is set up with each family at their own table. Parents go to the kitchen to get the food and bring it back to the rest of the family, rather than every person waiting in line, as is done at many charity services. This makes the dining experience more relaxed, dignified, and comfortable for the entire family.

This service organization also puts on holiday programs including Christmas gift giving, in which the parents can pick out and wrap presents for their children, Thanksgiving and Easter meals, Easter baskets, and Easter egg hunts. These are fun experiences that every child deserves to have, and which could not be possible without the volunteer help and donations from the community.

All of these services have helped families in need immensely over the 100+ years that the volunteer-based organization has been around. It is clear that this association understands that everyone deserves respect and dignity and treats its clients with compassion and care.