Blog 3: Post K, Extra Credit

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Article 25. (Right to Shelter & Nutrition)

• (1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.

Interestingly, I recently learned that the only two countries in the WHOLE world who do not follow and apply these Universal Declaration of Human Rights is the UNITED STATES and Somalia! How crazy is that the our great nation, the free world, the leader of the world, does not practice or bother to put in place these basic human rights for their own people, but yet we as a nation are quick to shake our fingers to other nations for not taking care of their own!!!

According to globalissues.org, (http://www.globalissues.org/article/139/the-usa-and-human-rights) "The leaders of the United States of America are proud to present the picture of being the foremost bearers of human rights."

• "Yet, they have often been heavily criticized for advancing their own interests and of double standards."
• "They often have not ratified various international human rights related treaties (and where it has, there have been many, many reservations)."
• "US diplomats were influential in drawing up the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, yet the USA has not always put (some of their own) words into action."

Clearly I understand why the U.S. chooses not to follow these rights, because then they would be put on the spot in front of the world as to why we are poorest richest country of all.  The U.S. has failed its people on so many levels including the  right to adequate shelter and nutrition. These rights do not exist in the U.S. because there are MILLIONS of people who are HOMELESS, they live on the street, they don't have a lease to their name, they don't have a key to a home or apartment of their own.  The right to adequate food for oneself and their families also doesn't exist here in the U.S. because MILLIONS go to sleep each night HUNGRY without food in their bellies.  The U.S. talks a good game in being wealthy, and the government is so quick to jump into other countries to solve their problems, instead the U.S. should take that time and MONEY to invest in their own people by providing affordable housing for all who need it, food for every single person, medical insurance for everyone, etc,.

What are the Universal Declaration of Human Rights? follow the link below and educate yourself and be your own judge as to how the U.S. is denying us these basic human rights!

http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/index.shtml

Blog 3; Post G, Food Insecurity in Cook County

Article: 'Families Feel the Pangs of SNAP Cuts'.
Authors: Bowean, Juan Perez Jr. and Vikki Ortiz Healy .
Published/Written: November 10, 2013.
Source: Chicago Tribune.

This article brings to light the struggles of the working poor in Chicago. Many working poor families qualify for food stamp benefits (SNAP) because of their low earning wages.  The food stamp benefits offer a lifeline for many families to be able to put food on their tables each day.  Since the economic fallout, the government increased food stamp benefits on a temporary basis acknowledging that the working poor would be the hardest hit as they were the ones to lose their jobs and homes during this time.  That extra benefit has come to expire for millions in the state of Illinois. 

The families interviewed for this story were stunned to learn that their benefits would decrease by as much as $30.  Many are already having a hard time to feeding their families with the amount already given to them, and now with these cuts, they don't know how they are going to survive.  Like Shipler from 'The Working Poor' states, these families are working families either in part-time jobs, with children, earning minimum wage, faced with everyday struggles. 

We have read in Shipler's book and experienced  in our Oxfam hunger banquet, how one minute everything is ok and the next minute everything can go wrong from a lost job, and illness, a repair needed on a car, etc,.

These families are doing everything right, but when the funds decrease how are people expected to live and feed their families?  Most of these families, like the families in the film 'The Red Wagon' , will have to stretch their hard earned dollars and turn to an already maxed out resource: their local food pantries. "The cuts have also raised concerns from social service advocates who worry that families will lean more heavily on maxed-out aid agencies."  Many families have never had to utilize this resource, but now they have to and depend on them to make ends meet.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-food-stamps-cuts-2-20131110,0,6008699,full.story

Blog 3: Post B: Shipler, Chapter 11, Skill & Will.

Mr. Shipler states that all ways to get out of poverty must be accomplished at once, and to this I do not agree. 

Let's look back to what "all ways" include to be. On page 4 of the introduction section, Mr. Shipler states that "A set of skills, a good starting wage, and a job with the likelihood of promotion are prerequisites. But so are clarity of purpose, courageous self-esteem, a lack of substantial debt, the freedom from illness or addiction, a functional family, a network of upstanding friends, and the right help from private or governmental agencies." 

While ideally it would help out every single poor working person to have everything put in place all at once to finally escape the shackles of poverty, realistically this idea is not feasible. It would never work, it would have to be that all the stars would need to be aligned for it all to work out for everyone at the same time.  All social organizations would have to work together to make this happen by providing everyone with resources for affordable housing, medical insurance, food stamp benefits, etc. All employers would have to agree to pay their workers at least $15 or above for an hourly wage, more dependent on the average cost of living of a particular city.  And with those jobs, everyone would have to be guaranteed the possibility of a promotion.

In a magic world I could see this happening, and wouldn't it be great to finally eradicate hunger, homelessness, drug addiction and overall crime?  

Yes, I would love to see the day where we would all be equal and treated based on our character and not on the stereotypes that come accompany us based on our race or gender.  The truth is the powers that be, the ones who control our society would have to give up their crowns and thrones, and who ever wants to give up their power for the sake of helping us meager folk? No one. It'll never happen..businesses would lose out on what drives this country..greed, money, fame...

To eradicate and solve poor people's problems would mean to lose out on money made out by businesses that cater to their weaknesses like casinos and payday loan stores.  Prisons would be forced to shut down because of decline of population because poor people would not have to resort to steal and kill for money and food and their drug use because they have the good paying jobs now, they can afford the things they need.  

This brings me to a cliche' I often hear, "when you know better, you do better".  While one wants to believe that knowledge is power, not everyone will apply those skills because they lack the will to do and be better no matter if everything is put in place for them to succeed. 

Shipler, D. (2005). The Working Poor: Invisible in America. New York: Vintage Books

Blog 3; Post J, Little Red Wagon: Facing Hunger

The role of food banks in America is one that is crucial and necessary in feeding the millions of American's who often have to choose between food and medicine or rent.  The film 'Little Red Wagon: Facing Hunger' discusses the food insecurity issues of a rural town in Vermont.  When I think of food insecurity I think of big cities with dense populations and often homeless or working poor minorities who use food banks the most.  

This film brought to light that anyone, anywhere in the richest country of the world, can suffer from food insecurity.  When I think of Vermont, I think of maple trees, farmhouses and owners with acres and acres of land at their disposal, growing agriculture items for the rest of the country.  I would have never thought that hunger was an issue that rural tows would face. 

The film highlights a small food pantry that is run by volunteers and serves primarily white working poor Americans.  They work in blue collar jobs earning minimum wages and barely making ends meets. The film shares stories from a single mother, an upper class woman who recently divorced and a handful of elders who are on limited funds like SSI and medicare.  Each story unique, and each with the same desire to feed their family.  They all acknowledge the importance of their pantry and what a lifesaver it is, and that without it they would go hungry.

Feeding America is an organization that collects and distributes food to food pantries nationwide, including the one in Vermont.  According to their website, "Challenges facing rural areas differ from metro/urban areas in several significant ways". They further go on to say that "Employment is more concentrated in low-wage industries; unemployment and underemployment are greater and education levels are lower".

Because of these challenges, there are MORE issues of hunger in rural towns as "15.5% of rural households are food insecure, an estimated 3.1 million households and 8.5 million Americans (17.7%) living in rural areas live below the federal poverty line."

I believe it is important for everyone to educate themselves about hunger and food insecurity issues that affect their communities and  do something about it, whether donating time by volunteering or money or donating food items to their local pantry.

The Red Wagon: Facing Hunger (2005) Directed by Jim Ritvo and Dave Raizman 
 http://feedingamerica.org/hunger-in-america/hunger-facts/rural-hunger.aspx

Blog 3; Post I: The Business of Poverty

I am to discuss an issue raised in the film, Bill Moyers Journal: The Business of Poverty. (2008).

One of the many realities of being poor is that you'll end up paying for items such as a car, furniture, small appliances at a much higher rate because most of the time poor folks don't have the good credit or cash at hand to purchase these items. If they wait till tax season for their refunds, they still end up paying more in cash because businesses have become privy to this practice and usually jack up their prices during this time. Another option for us poor folk is to fall into the traps of payday loan stores. Which is what most poor people do because the loan store business is a booming and profitable business. According to Business Inside, "In the U.S., 12 million people borrow nearly $50 billion a year through payday loans."
 

The film touches on the issues of how businesses such as payday loan stores and used car dealerships take advantage of the working poor. While I do agree that businesses are founded on the principle to offer customers goods to purchase at a profit for the business; I do not agree that they should target and abuse a certain group of clientele; the working poor.

These businesses take advantage to the point of using unethical practices to lure the customer in and once in the door, hooking them into a purchase with promises of easy credit and affordable payments. It is said that most working poor people lack the proper reading and math skills and comprehension skills needed to fully understand what kind of contract they are signing into. Unfortunately, these business take advantage of these statistics and never explain interest rates, hidden fees, and the rights of the consumer.

 

 

 

•  http://www.businessinsider.com/outrageous-facts-about-payday-loans-2013-10#ixzz2lsxXa8YV
•  If you have time I advise you to watch the Bill Moyers video following this link.  http://video.pbs.org/video/1629435064/

Blog 3; Post A: Shipler, Chapter 8: Body & Mind

In this chapter, Shipler says: "The difficult conditions in which lower-income people live, their vulnerability to disease and stress, are now seen as affecting the brain itself." (Page 218).  We are to answer based on our reading how we think this process works.

This was actually an interesting read and something that has never crossed my mind before.

The process is clear:  a person who is poor has limited means to proper nutrition, and the foods they often eat lack the vitamins and minerals that the brain needs to properly function. Life of a poor person has a vicious cycle.  We begin with the daily stressors of life, lack of quality food, housing issues, lack of income, job insecurity, etc. and because our minds and bodies are always on high alert, our bodies are on high stress mode.  And we all know that when we are on high stress mode, our bodies immune system is weakened, which in turn makes our bodies vulnerable to disease.  If our natural defenses are down, then we get sick, either through a cold, body aches or depression.  Depending on the severity of the illness, we have to miss work, which adds to the cycle of stress because minimum wage jobs don't get paid sick days.  And if we don't get paid, bills aren't going to get paid, groceries are not going to appear on the table, and at the end of the month, our belongings could be out in the street.  Life of a poor working person is hard.  We also know that stress affects the brain in many levels.  Poor people are higher likely to snuffer from depression.

                                            

An idea that I always seem to hear is that people are born into poverty and once they are in it, it is hard to escape the vicious cycle.  Chapter 8 touches on this by saying that, "The damage that malnutrition does to the brain development and physical health is stealthy, because it precedes the retarded growth that usually sounds the alarm." (p.215)  "The most sensitive periods of brain growth comes during the last trimester of pregnancy and the fist two years after birth....malnutrition in the third semester retards their maturation and inhibits the production of branched cells called glia."  That being said Shipler uses research to come to the conclusion that babies in womb are affected by their mother's poor eating habits.  They are born with lesser chance of a healthy start.  If their brains are not properly developed they will have problems in the learning process at school when they get older.  If they have problems at school whether it be learning, physical and/or emotional disabilities, they will end up with dead-end jobs,and will likely face the same struggles as their parents. 

Shipler, D. (2005). The Working Poor: Invisible in America. New York: Vintage Books

http://www.minddisorders.com/Kau-Nu/Nutrition-and-mental-health.html

Blog 3; Post H: The Hunger Banquet

Our class was part of the Hunger Banquet presented by Oxfam America at our University.  From what I heard from previous hunger banquets is that people are assigned a 'class'  based on the piece of paper they pick.  And based on their 'class' they either get to eat nothing (poor class) or a fancy meal (upper class).

I was already running late to class because I had cover a shift for a co-worker, usually I don't work on Tuesday's because of my class, nonetheless I was running late and I really wanted to be in and live in the experience; and based on my luck at these sort of 'experiments'  I knew I would end up in the poor class, so because of health reasons I had a small snack and coffee just in case.  

Just as I was told, we formed a line and gave our government names to our host. I was fourth in line and was presented with a box of white pieces of paper.  I reached and grabbed....MIDDLE CLASS! yay! I was going to eat :)  I was then told to sit at a table.  I looked around to see what the other choices were, and I was glad I got a table.  I learned that if I had picked the poor class I would have had to sit on the floor,  but then I took a look at the upper class seating arrangement and I was a bit jealous.  The lucky ones got to sit at a beautiful table with a tablecloth, candles and a server. I took a peek at their food and I was drooling, they even had champagne!   

Upper Class meal

Middle Class meal

The host started the presentation by giving us information about Oxfam America and what their mission was about and facts to support the disproportionate number of families that go hungry each night.  Then next thing you know I was given a scenario on how quickly life as a middle class-er could change in an instant because of a lost job or medical emergency and I was thrown to the poor class.  yup, my meal was gone and life as I knew it took a change for the worse.  I was amongst others sitting on the floor while the upper class started their meal without a care in the world.  They didn't offer us poor folk any crumbs, they ignored us with their fancy food.  The middle class enjoyed pasta and garlic bread, while us poor class were offered broth. No one else in my group wanted the broth, they just talked amongst themselves. Being the team player that I am, I took a sip and almost spit it out, the broth had no flavor, no salt , nothing. It appeared to be made of oil and hot water. I was just glad that I had eaten a snack previous to this and I still had my coffee.

Flavorless Broth: Lower Class meal

What did I get out of this experience? Well, I have lived through these experiences, of the reality of living paycheck to paycheck.  Of knowing what it is to be hungry, of being so poor that the flavorless broth would have been a blessing to me and my children.  I know the reality of what an unexpected illness, a job loss, one of my children being sick and having to care for them, could do to someone with limited income.  because of my past experiences I don't take anything for granted and neither should anyone who is blessed to have some sort of food on the table each day.

                                                            http://www.oxfamamerica.org/

Blog 3; Post F: Reflection of Inequality of Urban Violence in Chicago

For this post we are to write about our choice of an inequality issue in Chicago.  My topic of choice deals with overall violence in the city.  I was born and bred here in this big city and I have lived amongst the many neighborhoods the city has to offer that many Chicagoan's call home.  And while yes, I have witnessed my fair share of violence and personally suffered maltreatment by the city's finest (CPD), it really irritates and gets under my skin that certain groups of people have to suffer and witness the most violence just because of where they live and their economic status.  

It seems no matter what paper you pick up to read someone has to remind Chicago's resident's that their city is the capitol of U.S. violence.  I don't think there ever has been a weekend without someone dying, particularly young children.  To be honest, whenever I read an article like this, I usually can guess where the violence has occurred, usually most always in the West or South side neighborhoods of the city.

According to Daniel Hertz, a graduate student at the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago, "Everybody who lives in Chicago or knows anything about Chicago knows that there's a big gap in many indicators of quality of life, broadly speaking between richer neighborhoods on the North Side and poorer neighborhoods on the South and West Side, and has been for a very long time. But that gap in terms of violent crime has gotten much, much worse."  He further goes on to say that violence depends on where you are and who you are, if you live in the darker blue areas of the city (from map above) and if you are a Black or Hispanic male you are most likely a target for being a victim of violence.  Unfortunately this is true and I hate that it is this way.  Not a day goes by that I remind my teenage son who is half black to please be safe, to pull up his pants, to not look anyone in the eyes, and to come straight home because of who will perceive him to be in a gang or just a troublemaker. 

"When the gap between violent and nonviolent neighborhoods grows, the penalty for being poor gets bigger and bigger." 

 So how is there inequality of violence in the city?  Most crimes are committed in certain neighborhoods in the west and south sides, almost all crimes affect young minorities and innocent children.  The police know this, the aldermen know this, the Mayor knows this, and yet they will protect the richer neighborhoods more because they are richer and the residents of these neighborhoods will move their businesses or sell their homes if they don't get the protection that they demand.  So where does this leave the poor? "There's all sorts of research that shows that people with resources leave neighborhoods that are relatively more violent than other neighborhoods. And businesses don't come to violent neighborhoods. So when the gap between violent and nonviolent neighborhoods grows, neighborhoods on the wrong side of that gap are just going to lose more and more of their middle-class, more and more of their businesses, and the penalty for being poor is going to get bigger and bigger."

The solution to this inequality?  Invest in these neighborhoods, provide social organizations that help teens off the street, provide jobs for them so they are busy instead of being out in the street, let them know that they are a vital part of the city, that there life matters.  Give tax incentives to businesses that locate to these areas, create parks, create better schools, demand the same police presence as in richer neighborhoods, offer better and affordable housing.  There are many solutions, the citry just needs to make an effort.

Source: http://www.theatlanticcities.com/neighborhoods/2013/10/how-chicago-points-growing-inequality-urban-violence/7103/

Blog 3; Post E: Reflection on Wal-Mart: The High Cost of the Low Price (Video)

Previous to watching this video I rarely shopped at Wal-Mart, primarily because the stores I visited always were crowded and disorganized.  Their isles were always obstructed with merchandise that employees never seemed to put away in a timely manner.  Then there is the customer service, there isn't any at Wal-Mart.  I have never been greeted or asked if I ever needed some assistance in finding an item.  The few times that I did shop at Wal-Mart was because I had coupons to use and their prices are almost always cheaper than other big retail stores.  Then one day after standing in line with almost 50 people waiting with me and only 4 registers open, I had had enough.  No amount of savings could remedy my frustration and headaches with the store.  I bowed never to shop at Wal-Mart again, and after watching this video, it reaffirmed my decision and I gt a deeper understanding as to why I never saw a happy smiling employee.

'Wal-Mart: The High Cost of the Low Price' was an eye opener.  I knew the store was bad due to its lack of upkeep but I never would have thought the the problem was deeper than perceived.  The film touches on employee exploitation.  What stood out for me the most was how Wal-Mart employees are made to work on minimum wages while trying to raise a family. Personally, I worked for minimum wages before but my employers were always flexible with my schedule and knew the importance of family first.  It seemed to me that Wal-Mart does not care about any of that.  If a worker needed time off to take care of her family, the store would retaliate by cutting hours the following week and possibly threatening termination.  It also appeared to me that the store only cares about itself and its profits rather than the people they employ because they make them work all hours of the day without a decent break.  Most people understand that there is and needs to be life outside work, but Wal-Mart fails to understand that.  they want to make sure they squeeze every bit f life out of their employee for the sole profit of the store. 

I recently heard that Wal-Mart employees are in such dire need of help with food because of their lack of wages that each store has organized a food drive to benefit their employees.  "Oh how sweet of them" you say, NOT so fast...the goods are not donated by Wal-Mart, they are donated by their employees who can afford to donate a can or so.  As kids now a day say SMDH (Shaking My Damn Head).

Blog 3; Post D, Service Project.

In my earlier post on October 17 (Blog 2, Post D), I proposed to serve my service learning hours at the Common Pantry located on Chicago's northside. As of November 13, I have completed my service project, the details are as follows:

1.    The agency I served was the Common Pantry located at 3744 N. Damen Avenue.  The dates served were on Wednesdays' October 9th, 16th and the 23rd, and in November the 6th and the 13th.  I was honored to have served in various ways to learn the process of the food pantry as they served their clients. 

My first day at the pantry I helped out in the soup kitchen by serving food and dessert and helping in washing dishes.  I was really impressed at the quality of the food being served and that they served it on actual dinnerware instead of using paper plates and plastic utensils.  During my second day of service I mostly learned the ins and outs and operations of the pantry and helped in preparing bags of food for home-bound seniors at Lathrop Homes.  I also helped in restocking shelves with canned goods in preparation for the hours of food distribution.  

On my third day, I mostly did data entry into the pantry's database of records. As mundane as the task might seem to be for some, it is imperative information that is needed so that they may continue receiving donations from the Greater Chicago Food Depository and other surrounding stores like Costco, Whole Foods and Jewel's. During my fourth day of service I found myself in the backroom dubbed as the 'Children's Sunday School classroom', with myself and another student, Alejandro; as we double bagged a couple thousand plastic bags donated from Jewels stores.  I think we spent about two hours preparing these bags for clients to use during their shopping experience. 

On my fifth and final day I was headlining the produce and bread section of the pantry.  I was told the number of people in each household, and I was to use my judgment in giving an appropriate amount of produce and bread to accommodate the number of people in the household.  I found this position a little hard because I didn't know if I was giving enough product to last the family for a week, also I feared that I might be giving too much and not have enough to go around for the rest of the clients. At the end of the night it turned out that we did have enough to go around to have been able to give people double the bread amount.

2.    There were other students that worked at the Common Pantry alongside me.  They included Alejandro and Juan.  On my third day of service (10/23 from 4pm to 8pm) I worked alongside Juan, he helped in double bagging and consolidating canned goods into crates for storage while I sat and did data entry.  At one point we worked together in data entry to make the job more efficient in the time available.  During my fourth and fifth day of service (11/6 & 11/13 from 4pm to 8 pm), I worked alongside Alejandro in the pantry, restocking shelves and moving products from the backroom into the produce bins and shelves.  It was on 11/13 that we spent a few hours double bagging Jewel grocery bags, it seemed like the bags were never-ending.  

There were two other students who served at the pantry, Debra and Alex R., unfortunately I did not serve alongside them, but I did hear of their hard work through the staff at the Common Pantry.