Seccombe , Chapter 4

In chapter four Seccombe discusses the welfare system and the way that is keeping some individuals who are on it from moving upward to a better economic status. The argument that she is trying to show us here is if the welfare system is making individuals in a way lazy, where as long as they are on welfare they don’t try as hard to find a job kind a take advantage of welfare, or discourages those individuals from working by taking the benefits away from them the minute the welfare system. To me welfare is offered to people of need, because today a lot of people need it do to our economy. Do to our economy crises and continuously rising of living expenses even the minimum wage is no longer providing decent living. People are loosing their jobs on daily bases so they need that welfare to have some real sours of income to survive. I think need for welfare these days is needed badly for a lot of families, seniors, people with health issues , and anyone else who is not able to be able to provides basic needs to live. Therefore, I really don’t think that welfare is making other people lazy in any way. I believe that everyone would like a decent job that pays well and guarantees food on the table by the end of the day. I think the system is what needs to be changed where people are going to have a job that pays them enough to live , and where they going to have healthcare.

National Runaway Switchboard

On Thursday March 18th we had a speaker in class that have talked about National Runaway Switchboard . Their mission is to help keep United States runaways at risk youth safe and keep them of the streets. National Runaway Switchboard is just a referring program, they are there to talk to you and offer you help , like finding  safe place to sleep. Their main point is for the runaway to open open to them, to find out as much information as possible and to try to calm them down.

The speaker was pretty interesting when she was presenting the material. She had us do couple of different worksheets that i thought were also interesting and helpful to understand some stuff better. She also showed as an old movie that represents National Runaway Switchboard, it was a bit out dated but was still interesting to see how this kids are trying to figure out a way to survive on the streets. 

Blog Crtitique #2

The second blog that I have checked was from Jennifer. The blog was a bit different then the first one I looked it. There were no pictures or any videos on the page, it was pretty plain. Although it was plain but the blog eateries were well written. The blogs were easy to read and very well organized. The blog was very relevant to material that we are covering in class.Good job Jennifer.

Blog Crtitique #1

The first blog that I looked at was Iselas. I liked her layout a lot and it was well organized blog. All of her assignments were up to date and were very well written. Blogs are very easy to read, and they are all clearly marked with titles and dates. She had covered a lot of information on all assignments. The content of the blog was very relevant to the class. She did a good job on everything.

Poverty in the Philadelphia

Philadelphia has a population of 1.5 million people. As of now in Philadelphia 200,000 people live in poverty. Unemployment rate in Philadelphia is 7.2 % which is higher 1.5% then national rate. One in four people are at risk of hunger in Philadelphia. There are approximately 4000 homeless people on any given day,500 of those people living on the streets, and rest 3,500 men, women and children who live in shelters. Last year City's Office of Emergency Shelter and Services served 14,986 homeless people. Out of that number 9,468 were adults without children, 2,011 were heads of households and 3,507 were children. Children and families constitute approximately a third of the shelter population of any given night. Families entering shelters were single parent household, 86 % of these were female headed and 14% male headed.Approximately 20 % of the single individuals and 13 % of families are chronically homeless meaning that they are homeless for more then one year.

STATISTICS HOW CHILDREN BECAME HOMELESS

15% FOSTER HOMES

44.9 % PARENTS WHO DRANK HEAVILY

20.5% PARENTS WHO USED DRUGS

11.3% SUBJECTED TO CHILD ABUSE INVESTIGATORS

28.1% BEING MOLESTED

MAYOR'S REPORT:

ON THE STREETS : 500 HOMELESS PEOPLE SINGLE ADULTS

EMERGENCY SHELTERS : 2155 SINGLE ADULTS, 1504 PEOPLE IN FAMILIES

TRANSITIONAL HOUSING: 393 SINGLE ADUTLS, 1746 PEOPLE IN FAMILIES

AGE DISTRIBUTION IN SHELTER:

18 - 25 9%

26 - 45 49%

46 - 65 40%

65 + 3%

RACE DISTRIBUTION IN SHELTER:
African Americans 80%
Latino/a 6%
White 13%
Asian 1%
Other 3%

The reason why I think any of the cities not just Philadelphia does not provide homeless people with enough, better and more comprehensive services is because its the minority that they have to deal with. I personally think that minority people are not taken seriously and that bigger and stronger parties don't care about the minority. Other reason is that the minority is usually people of color, Hispanics, and other people that came from other countries. If they were all white Americans, i don't think this would be an issue at all.

JOURNEYS FROM PADS TO HOPE ACTION PROJECT

Group 2

Group members: Zlatan, Michael, Ernesto, Timothy

My group choose to work at Journey from PADS to Hope because it deals with everything that homelessness is. It deals with the front desk which you just register the clients and front desk coordinators which you bring in clients, retriever files, answer phones. Another is kitchen coordinators which you heat and serve/plan meals. Third, clothing closet coordinators which consists of sorting/organizing and you shelve clothing. Fourth, food pantry coordinators. Here you stock and organize shelves and assure levels. Fifth, volunteer coordinators and here you coordinate schedules/tasks and train volunteers. Lastly, community ambassadors and here you present Journeys at fairs, community events, etc. In this program we will be taking care of families that are homeless and in poverty.

The shelters are open from October 1^st until April 30^th. There are five shifts that we could go and do volunteer work at so it shouldn’t be a problem with date or time management. The first shift is the setup shift which starts at 6am. This shift you ready sleeping area (set up pads, linens, receive food donations), se up facility, prepare serving area and registration desk, monitor parking lot(s), and set up dining area. The shift after that is the first shift which starts from 6:30 till 11pm. Here you would provide food as assigned and prepared by volunteers, register guests, assist with serving dinner, make guests feel welcome, monitor all areas and secure doors at 9:00pm (trips to car and smoking breaks must be accompanied by male volunteer). The second shift starts from 11pm till 3am. Here you maintain intake desk, admit approved late arrivals, prepare lunches (site specific), and monitor all site areas hourly. The third shift starts from 3 till 7am. Here you would do the same things as in second shift but you would awaken guests and prepare breakfast. The fourth shift is the clean-up which starts 6 till 7am.Journey from Pads to Hope assists women, men, and families in northwest suburban Cook County. They assist people who have become or are at risk of becoming homeless. They also provide homeless people with clothing and food closets. Some sites also provide case management and mental health treatment.Each of us will go to different locations so we all can get different experience and picture of volunteering.

Kimberley States

On Thursday February, 25th we had a speaker that went thru a lot in her life. Forty years old Kimberley States and mother of two kids stayed on streets for twenty six years . Her presentation was very entertaining and educative. She had a really harsh life, which in a way she choose to go down that path. She came from a good family, but in early age choose to take her own way down the path. She went from being a good person to abusing different kind of drugs, lived on the streets, became a prostitute, and spent some time in jail. Kimberley has been 5 times in prison,she served for 10 years in jail. Thru many years she had serious drug problem. It took Kimberley twenty six year to realize that she is better then being a drug abuser and spending her life in jail and streets. Last time she did in jail she realize that she needs to change her life to better. She had stooped using drugs and other things that she did in past. She is a changed women that is taking care of her self and her family.

Kimberley had talked about how bad it gets when you are living on the streets. Back at the time when she started living on the streets the times was better then now. Random people would give them money and there was not as many homeless people as of now. Now do to recession that is going on in this country a lot of people are loosing their jobs and saving every penny they have. More people are becoming homeless, and less people are giving their change to homeless. She also talked about life in prison. Guards and officers in prisons did not treat them in any respectful way. She made a picture of how jail system really works, and how some of them are not really following the rules. Although her presentation was very good and it showed us that people can change if they want to .

So You Think I Drive a Cadillac? Chapter 2

In Chapter two Seccombe's "So You Think I Drive a Cadillac?" deals with individualism. It focuses on finding explanation as to why poverty and welfare use exists. The argument against Individual perspective in this chapter is what I found very interesting. The fact that it deals with those who feel that the individual should be responsible for their financial situations and achievements through out life. Opportunities are presented for everyone in their life; they just have to find a right path in life and work hard on it. Seccombes argues that people who receive welfare should be able to improve their economic situation easily. For some people it is not that easy to overcome the poverty especially with the lack of jobs we have. Seccombe also argues that is not that easy to leave welfare system if you are a single mother and have to take care of the kids. Its hard for them to find a job because of the time issue, who would then take care of their kids while they are working. So, for them its understandable why they are on welfare. Younger people with more opportunities should not take advantage of welfare. People that are able of making their own money should look for their opportunities in life.