"In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love." -Mother Teresa

Since I started working at the Urban Center, every day, in an effort to gather thoughts or procrastinate, I gaze out my floor-to-ceiling window and notice a young man with his arm gently wrapped in the crook of an elderly woman’s elbow. The first time I saw it, my mind wandered to thinking that perhaps this man is some good samaritan, just happening to come across this elderly lady with a scarf on her head, protecting her silver hair, taking the time to help her across the street. But each day, as I notice the unseemly pair walking down Girard Avenue, it incites a thought process that is perhaps far broader than the Biblically-based theory I had before. My guess is that I will never know their story, but my postulating leads me to the refreshing belief that these Good Samaritans do exist, but that perhaps their presence and relations with others aren’t quite as random as I would’ve thought.

I recently applied to three graduate schools (which is a headache in and of itself), all of which demanded we address a social problem and discuss how we, as social workers, intend to perpetuate change and alleviate the issue. You would think this would be simple... I did take a Social Problems course in college and was surrounded by one problem after another during my time at Saint Francis Inn. But for some reason, I had a hard time settling with one specific issue. You see, after my time at the Inn, I saw so many different problems about which I became impassioned, such as crime, child and domestic abuse, addiction, homelessness, chronic poverty, that I couldn’t pick just one to focus on. I had stories for each that I felt needed to be told.

I was determined to find a common thread among these issues- to see a greater issue that affected those to whom we ministered. Spending some real time thinking about these issues, I continued my work at the Inn, serving meals, going on pickups, working at Saint Benedict’s Thrift Store. Somehow, God’s intervention yet again set things in motion when I greeted a regular on the street. As usual, I asked, “Arnetta, how are you today?” Her placid response of “My son died yesterday,” without any sign of emotion, alarmed me. A tear was not shed, not a trace of anger in her voice, absolutely no semblance of grief crossed her demeanor. My usual reaction upon receiving news as such is a hug, gently and compassionately consoling the grieving, but that seemed out of place here.

When I got home that night and was reflecting on the day’s events, Arnetta’s story kept popping into my mind. I found it hard to believe that a parent wasn’t deeply mourning the loss of her son, that it seemed as simple as if she had said, “I took the bus to get here this morning.” As I let that marinate for a couple days, I began to notice how there were very few people who were excited by such events.

It escalated in me this desire to get to the heart of it, to really figure out what it was that caused such ambivalence and complacency when it came to their relationships. And then BAM! There it was! It appeared to me that there was no intrinsic value placed on human life, either their own or on others’. For so many of our guests, their lives have been full of loss from a very young age, either due to drugs or crime or poor health. They grew up with death as an ordinary occurrence. Those “regular” or “ordinary” social problems suddenly made more sense; people don’t recognize their own value so they use drugs, they prostitute themselves, and they don’t recognize the value that resides in others so they commit crimes against other people, they abuse others.

This naive revelation has given me fuel for the social work fire that was lit within me years ago. I suddenly saw it as my mission to help others see their own value and then to see the value in others. So now you’re asking what this has to do with the young man with the old woman walking down the street... good question.

Here’s the kicker- perhaps the best way to revolutionize the world is to start small. Taking the time to, one-by-one, help others see their own worth, is contagious. I see this in the young man and elderly woman outside my window. It takes the small-scale personal relationships, the individual attention given to everyone, not just those who can afford to pay for it, and our own paradigm shift into thinking that since we’re all walking this same Earth, perhaps we should all be walking side-by-side. The next thing you know (or at least the ideologue in me hopes), we’ll see more people walking arm-in-elbow, less and less use for the soup kitchens and social service agencies that exist, and a positive movement towards social equality.

interesting article

I found this interesting article while perusing CNN.com. Take it for what you will, but I thought it was worth sharing!

http://money.cnn.com/2009/09/23/news/economy/minorities/index.htm?postversion=2009092311&iref=werecommend

"Change your thoughts and you can change your world." -Norman Vincent Peale

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20090917_Woman_s_alleged_bribe_leads_to_Sec__8_fraud_charges.html

This article appeared on the Philadelphia Inquirer website on September 17th, 2009. It discusses an anecdotal story about a woman who manipulated the Section 8 program in Pennsylvania by acquiring $50,000 in housing assistance because she underreported income and assets.

For so many, the news is the only access they have to information about public programs such as Section 8 and welfare. If the only stories they are getting revolve around people taking advantage (which are really the only stories you hear about), the natural sequence is that they would criticize these programs. The articles rarely discuss the remaining 1.5 million people that are receiving vouchers and have and will continue to follow the rules.

I challenge you all (and believe me, myself included) to educate yourself and come to your own conclusion rather than just agreeing with one isolated story.

If this is something you're interested in learning more about, please read the following article about Section 8. Worthy of a read if for no other reason than it came from NPR out of New Hampshire (my home state)!

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112080752

"The vast possibilities of our great future will become realities only if we make ourselves responsible for those realities." -Gifford Pinchot

Health Care Reform:

Just the words make most people who are generally politically inactive or disinterested cringe. We are still recovering from the 2008 elections and are still being bombarded with left- and right-winged strategy and commentary that leaves many of us clinging to our last thread of attention that can be paid to politics.

Believe me, I understand where you’re coming from. But I challenge you to muster up all the political endurance you have left and take note of what’s being talked about here. Read the Cliff’s Notes if you have to. But it’s important and it will affect all of us.

I’ve hyperlinked the video of President Barack Obama’s speech below, it’s a long one so if you have some time, grab a cup of coffee and watch. But there are some interesting and profound points that should traverse partisanship and reach to the core of national well-being and progress. Sure, the details of the plan are important- stagnating the rising cost of coverage for those who have insurance and creating a “marketplace” for public and private insurance companies to compete for those who don’t- but what I find most compelling is Obama’s quest to shift towards an industry and a nation of accountability.

Within the context of the insurance companies, Obama is demanding that the premiums paid by individuals for their health care coverage are actually going to their own personal care. Currently so much of what is paid in premiums is going to overhead costs and is eaten up elsewhere within the bureaucracy of the company, and not just with the for-profit companies, but for Medicare as well. We will hopefully now see either a reduction in costs or an improvement in coverage for those who are already covered.

The accountability extends further- Obama is holding business owners accountable for their employee coverage by requiring them to offer health care or to assist them with their premiums. His hope is that this will reduce the number of those working who are uninsured. And on the micro level, Obama is holding each individual American responsible for seeking out and obtaining their own health insurance. Between the public option and the private companies’ plans, he claims there is no tolerance for negligence. Because those who are uninsured yet still take advantage of the health care institutions are increasing the costs for those who are paying to utilize these services, the reform of the health care system makes it so “everybody does their part.”

“That large-heartedness- that concern and regard for the plight of others- is not a partisan feeling. It is not a Republican or a Democratic feeling. It, too, is part of the American character. Our ability to stand in other people’s shoes. A recognition that we are all in this together; that when fortune turns against one of us, others are there to lend a helping hand.”

This type of talk and this movement towards renewed accountability and responsibility creates a socially conscious people, a people genuinely concerned with the well-being of their neighbors. Vestiges of Christ are seen in American politics after all.

Click here to read a transcript and see a video of Obama's speech on 9/9/09

"We must speak to them with our hands before we try to speak to them with our lips." -St. Peter Claver

With the fresh autumn air beginning to bite at our heels, many of us are opening our arms to the change in the season. While many were sunning themselves on the beaches, Congress was already looking to the winter months and the ways in which the federal government was going to help alleviate some of the hardship brought on by the cold weather. Every year, a substantial amount of money is given by the government to each state to support those who may be experiencing energy turn-offs and limited resources with which to heat their homes. LIHEAP, Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, has been given $5.1 billion this year from Congress to be divided among each state according to need. Pennsylvania has received a $275 million grant, a number comparable to the allocation from last year.

The grant is intended to provide cash assistance to families who are experiencing financial hardship to use towards energy costs for the winter months. It is broken down into three categories, cash grants, crisis grants, and weatherization efforts. The cash grants historically have been disbursed from November 1st until the middle of January, the crisis grants given as needed from the middle of January until April, and the weatherization grants are given throughout the winter months to provide families with the tools to reduce their heating costs. In order to qualify for LIHEAP assistance, households must fall below 60% of the state median income. For Pennsylvania, that number is $44,443 per year for a family of four.

Because LIHEAP funds, and all federal funds, cannot be guaranteed year-to-year, Pennsylvania has put a substantial amount of the LIHEAP grant this year towards weatherization efforts, attempting to better insulate houses so eventually less cash and crisis grants would need to be given. It sounds great in theory, but in the meantime, families are being left in the cold.

Additionally, PA LIHEAP is looking to reduce the amount of time in which the grants would be disbursed, from 8 weeks to just 4, from December 1st until January 3rd. Because the utility shut-off moratorium (a pre-set amount of time in which peoples’ utilities may not be shut off during the winter months) does not begin until December, many people will be struggling through the month of November and the risk of utility shut-off is heightened.

The Public Utility Commission criticizes Pennsylvania’s new plan for the LIHEAP grant, claiming that things should be left the way they are. In fact, many critics of Pennsylvania’s plan are anxious for the annual Energy Assistance meeting that takes place in Philadelphia in the fall to voice concern and opposition to the new plan. Many are concerned, and they should be.

I am unsure of the malleability of the new plan and if there is any hope for change at the big meeting that is to come, but I hope and pray that the state knows what it is doing and is looking out for the good of its constituents, especially those most in need.

“The great thing in the world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving.”

The following was written by Brother John Gill ofm, director of the Saint Francis Urban Center:

I participated in the National Conference on Ending Homelessness this summer in Washington, D.C. This is an annual event that policy makers, direct service providers, researchers and advocates for the homeless gather for three days to learn new ideas and strategies in preventing and ending homelessness. This year, 1,200 people from 46 different states were present at the conference.

There was much attention given to the federal resources made available in the Recovery Act for housing and supportive services. Also, the other major topics included workshops on family homelessness, chronic homelessness, youth and veterans. In addition, they gave several presentations on different models of permanent supportive housing as the primary solution to ending chronic homelessness.

For me, the highlight of the experience was the keynote address given by the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary, Shaun Donovan. Donovan said the federal government will not turn a deaf ear to those most in need. He brought light on veteran homelessness, chronic homelessness, the cost-efficient ways of reducing and preventing homelessness, and the relationship between health care and homelessness. In his address, he pointed to permanent supportive housing as one way to achieve major savings in our health care system.

In his concluding remarks, Secretary Donovan noted that “just as some say we can’t afford to reform our health care system, so too they claim we can’t afford to end homelessness... whether it’s reforming our health care system or preventing and ending homelessness, the fundamental question is the same: It’s not one of ability-- rather it’s a question of will.”