Michael et al, I agree that there has to be a willingness to learn. But, I've also watched that willingness to learn be stamped out by tracking, racial profiling, and concentrated poverty. I've seen this first hand. If all you know and see in your life is failure, drugs, crime, and poverty then all you will know is the same. It takes a heroic someone to break out of that cycle, and we are a tad short on heroes. There has to be a concentrated effort by those inside the cycle and those outside the cycle to break it.
Does anyone here know exactly how hard it is to get welfare in this town? Let me give you an example. There was I time when I left my job due to an unhealthy work environment and a boss who was meglomaniacal and had a problem with both the truth and confidentiality. I had about a months worth of savings in my bank account. I was sure that I would be able to find a job before my savings ran out, or I would be able to register for unemployment as a stop-gap measure until I could finish the resume/interview/hiring process. I had a couple of pretty decent prospects. Well, it turned out that my two decent prospects hired other candidates. But, I still had my savings to go on. So, I registered for unemployment. I received all the paper work, and then I received a letter with the information to call in and order my first unemployment check. The designated day to call in came, and I called. The lovely voice on the machine told me that the order had been processed, and my check would be mailed the next day. So, I went ahead and paid out a couple of remaining bills, and I expected to pay for rent and some other bills with my first unemployment check. But, instead of getting the check, I received a letter saying my case was still pending! The first I'd heard of it. After talking to the Department of Economic Security (which administers unemployment) I fould that my employer was contesting, and it would take another 2-4 weeks before I could possibly access money. So, there I was a college educated professional, out of money, with rent to pay. So, I swallowed my pride, and I went down to the Office of Financial Assistance, and I attempted to register for emergency assistance. Once there, I was told that I did not qualify for emergency assistance for rent because the state requires that you prove that your rent is affordable. The equation for determining affordable rent is 50% of your gross monthly income. Since I had no income at the time, affordable rent for me was 0. In addition, if I were to find a job, I would then have to provide a letter of eviction from my landlord to get any help. Thusly, I was turned away without any support. Luckily, I have friends I could turn to in a time of crisis, but I thought to access services I had been paying taxes to support before I turned to friends and burden them. I also thought about the fifty other people in that office who most likely did not have college educated professional friends and family to whom they could turn for support in a crisis. The myth that the welfare system is just handing out checks is just that a myth. While I was there, I listened to a man who was asking for cash assistance. Only to find that the only way one can qualify for cash assistance (without children) is to be completely disabled for the past 30 days (with doctor proof), and the maximum benefit one can qualify for is 203 dollars. After that experience, I vowed realized that the often times ignorant individuals who are harping about the welfare system haven't clue number one as to the reality of the system. If welfare is reformed further, we won't have it! We need to find ways to break cycles of poverty and crime. And, as I said before, we need to stop giving the City Council and our elected leaders break after break while continuing to scape goat poor folks trying to survive. You can lead a horse to water, but I guarentee if the thing doesn't drink it's because it isn't thirsty. Have you ever seen a horse that is starving for water? At the smell of it, they go semi-beserk trying to get to it. And that is what is happening in the poor/depressed/oppressed neighborhoods in Minneapolis. The people are starting to break down anyone and everyone's door to get to the water inside. -Brandon Lacy Campos -Powderhorn Park _________________________________________________________________ Join the world�s largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail. http://www.hotmail.com _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
