AUSTIN ADVOCATE

Working Poor
An Interview with Barbara Ehrenreich
By Jamal Swaboda

The popular myth that if you work hard you will be aptly compensated is dispelled by the investigative journalism of Barbara Ehrenreich in Nickel and Dimed. In what could have been a book filled with numbers and confusing charts, Ehrenreich instead offers her own undercover experiences as a low-paid worker. She takes on the role of a waitress and cleaning maid, among other jobs, and painfully discovers that it is very hard to make enough money even to survive.

Ehrenreich destroys any plausibility of the famous Horatio Alger tales of “rags to riches” success. The conclusion is made that service workers are not paid enough to survive, making upward mobility almost a lost cause.

Whats Up Magazine recently caught up with the author to discuss the plight of the low-wage worker and how close many of us are to becoming homeless.

Whats Up: What inspired you to get involved with low-income workers and worker’s rights?

Barbara: A lot of what I have written about over the past twenty years as a journalist has been about women and poverty, so this not some short term interest, but rather something I have been consistently writing about. I tell in the book how I got talked into the Nickel and Dimed project, but ever since welfare reform the whole idea that you are a useless parasite if you don’t have a job concerned me. It’s ignoring the fact that these women were trying to raise children under very difficult conditions of poverty, so my attention turned toward jobs. If they are all supposed to work...is work going to support them and their children?

Whats Up: In your writing you simplified poverty to what it represents: the lack of money. Given financial resources, what else does it take to break the mold of poverty?

Barbara: I reject the idea that there is some particular mind-set or psychology that causes poverty. I think people who are in poverty end up having very disordered lives. It is hard to maintain a permanent residence or to have the kind of stability that middle-class families take for granted, such as being in the same home for a few weeks and having dependable transportation. I think those things are caused by poverty. I don’t think poverty is caused by an individual’s character flaws...I guess it is possible. It is possible that someone very affluent could spend all their money on drugs and gambling and fall into poverty that way, but I think that is kind of unusual.

Whats Up: What are the main obstacles that separate the unemployed (but capable) no-wage worker from the employed low-wage worker, and what incentives exist to encourage someone to work for a job that fails to provide for basic housing and healthcare needs?

Barbara: That’s a good question...why do it? Except that today there really is no safety net if you don’t, if you declare that you are unable to work or that it is ridiculous to work for so little money, then there is nothing left to do but to beg. There is no backup. That is essentially what welfare reform meant, that there was no alternative to work on whatever conditions employers want to impose.

Whats Up: Imagine that former federal levels for low-income housing support were restored. What workers would most benefit and what workers would still fall through the cracks?

Barbara: Those levels were 100 percent higher in the 1970s than they are today, but it would be a huge help to all kinds of underpaid people. My biggest problem in this country is that for some of the people, wages and rents don’t match anymore...they are not compatible. Rents go up and up and wages, although they went up briefly in the late nineties, have been going down again.

Whats Up: You report on the underside of capitalism, and from where I stand with many of my peers, as a recent college graduate the possibilities of capitalism seem endless. What would you say to my generation to help us better understand this underside of capitalism?

Barbara: I have been trying to say it for a couple of months now. I’ve been on the road speaking to college campuses since August, mostly to first-year students and have been trying to answer the question why they should care. In some of the colleges, these students are the first in their family to go to college and have worked very low-wage jobs themselves and have some understanding about the world around them. My message to them is to not forget where they came from. They may have gotten into college, but the way tuition is increasing their brothers and sisters may not...unless they become an activist and to try to do something about this situation. To those students who are more clueless and who come from a more affluent background and think everything is going to be fine for them...one thing they should realize is that they might end up in this sort of situation. An education is not a guaranteed protection against falling into a low-wage job trap. I hear from a lot of people who have some education, even master’s degrees, who have been in these jobs for years and years. Finally, they realize that any working-class system of morality and ethics or religious system requires that people who are comfortable do things to help those who are not. This couldn’t be any clearer in Christianity, although that seems to be a part of the Bible that people skip over.

Whats Up: If provided first and last month’s rent and enough money for bills and groceries, which of the employees from one of the lowwage jobs that you took on during Nickel and Dimed would most likely become self-sufficient?

Barbara: There is no way to predict an outcome, because it is not inherent to the individual. Mostly, it is the unexpected events that derail us so easily. Those accidents we don’t expect or the car that won’t start. It can be a child getting sick that requires you stay home from work because a day-care won’t take children when they are sick. It can just be something that hits you out of left field that might make it impossible for you to make rent.

Whats Up: These networks of security that stabilize our lives when things go wrong can break down and many Americans are at risk of becoming homeless. Do you feel that, regardless of the quality of jobs, that anyone can find a job these days to prevent them from experiencing homelessness...you didn’t seem to have much trouble in finding work in Nickel and Dimed?

Barbara: I wrote that book during times of great prosperity, for some at least, so it would be hard to compare the present with the period in which I wrote the book between 1998-2000. I think it would have been hard for me to do the same journalistic experiment now, because why should they hire an unskilled person like myself when they could get somebody who has been a waitress or a nursing home aid for years?

Whats Up: For those that perform the jobs that were part of your experiment everyday, some people might feel insulted to have their lives put on display as part of some journalistic experiment. Who was your audience for this book?

Barbara: I’ve found it too inhibiting for me as a writer to think too much about those who will be the audience. Particularly, for this book, I was focused on reporting what I experienced and saw — as vividly, concretely, and as precisely and accurately as I could. I really did not think of audience, but it really has been quite a range in terms of who I hear from. From the comfortably situated people who say, “Wow, what a revelation...what little did I know!” To people saying, “I’ve experienced all of this...this is my life.”

Whats Up: Can we effectively appeal to both audiences?

Barbara: I think you are seeing that cross-class alliance in movements like the Living Wage campaign where middle-class people are getting involved in these movements. People don’t like the fact that we have become such a class-polarized society. Some people don’t like the fact that we are becoming a society of extremes.

Reprinted from the November/December
issue of Whats Up, St. Louis, Missouri.

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HUD Announces Record $1.27 billion to Help Hundreds of Thousands of Homeless Individuals and Families
By Brenda Curran

Thousands of local programs that house and serve the homeless are being awarded nearly $1.3 billion in grants announced on Friday by HUD Acting Secretary Alphonso Jackson. Never before has any federal agency awarded so much financial assistance to help the homeless.

Friday's announcement is also part of a larger federal strategy being embraced by state and local leaders to end long-term or chronic homelessness for persons who are mentally ill, addicted or physically disabled. To date, more than 60 states, cities and county governments are developing their own 10-year plans to end chronic homelessness. This is also the third consecutive year funding for homelessness assistance has increased to record levels.

Austin/Travis County has been awarded $4.2 million in continuum of care grants. Continuum of Care grants provide permanent and transitional housing for homeless persons. In addition, these Continuum grants fund services like job training, health care, mental health counseling, substance abuse treatment and child care.

Emergency Shelter Grants convert buildings into homeless shelters, assist in the operation of local shelters and fund related social service and homeless prevention programs.

HUD's Continuum of Care and Emergency Shelter Grant programs will provide critically needed funding to more to 3,700 local programs in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. As a result, over 700,000 persons will receive the housing and services they need to become self-sufficient.

Most of the funding announced on Friday, $1.114 billion in Continuum of Care grants, is awarded competitively to local programs to meet the needs of their homeless clients. Continuum grants fund outreach and assessment programs at the local level as well as provide transitional and permanent housing to homeless persons and families.

By contrast, $160 million in Emergency Shelter Grants are being awarded to more than 300 jurisdictions based on a formula of a community's need. Emergency Shelter Grants help state and local governments create, improve and operate emergency shelters for homeless people. In addition, these grants may also support essential services including job training, health care, drug/alcohol treatment, childcare and homelessness prevention activities.

Approximately $140 million of the Continuum grants awarded today will renew funding of existing programs through HUD's Shelter Plus Care program which helps to pay rent and provide permanent housing for disabled homeless individuals and their families. The Shelter Plus Care program requires that HUD-funded projects help their clients live independently and provide needed supportive services from funding sources other than HUD.

In Austin, the following organizations were approved for funding in 2003: The Housing Authority of the City of Austin, Push-Up Foundations, Incorporated, Travis County Domestic Violence and Sexual Assualt Survivors, Youth and Family Alliance, Incorporated, Austin Travis County Mental Health Mental Retardation Center, Youth and Family Alliance, Incorporated, Caritas of Austin, Austin Travis County Mental Health and Mental Retardation, the Salvation Army, A Georgia Corporation, The Housing Authority of the City of Austin, Housing Authority Travis County.

Research indicated that approximately 10 percent of all homeless persons experience long-term or chronic homelessness. These studies also find that this population utilizes over half of all emergency shelter resources designed to assist homeless individuals and families. By shifting the federal emphasis toward meeting the needs of the most vulnerable homeless persons, more resources become available for those who experience homelessness as a temporary condition. To learn more about chronic homelessness, visit www.hud.gov/offices/cpd/homelesschronic.cfm.

HUD is the nation's housing agency committed to increasing homeownership, particularly among minorities; creating affordable housing opportunities for low-income Americans; and supporting the homeless, elderly, people with disabilities and people living with AIDS. The Department also promotes economic and community development as well as enforces the nation's fair housing laws. More information about HUD and its programs is available on the Internet at www.hud.gov and espanol.hud.gov.

HIGHLIGHTS OF HUD's HOMELESS ASSISTANCE

Largest total award of Federal funds for homeless assistance in history - more than $1.27 billion is being awarded to over 3,700 projects nationally. This is also the third consecutive year funding for homeless assistance has increased to record levels.

Over 90 percent of all grants are being awarded to non-profit organizations that are dedicated to ending homelessness.

Grants are being awarded in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Guam.

A record $501.4 million is being awarded to projects that provide permanent housing for disabled homeless persons.

Over 600 grants totaling $168 million are being awarded to faith-based organizations - a record commitment to faith-based grantees in the 16-year history of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act.

Nearly $620 million is being awarded to over 2,000 projects that target homeless veterans among those they serve.

2,379 of the project awards being announced today are either targeting or exclusively serving individuals experiencing chronic homelessness. These projects will be actively working to implement the Administration's goal of ending chronic homelessness by 2012.

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MLF SHARES is a voucher program that provides an opportunity for our community to aid our brothers and sisters in need in a constructive way.

The vouchers, available in $1 increments, are redeemable for food,
clothing and personal care items at participating area merchants
displaying a “MLF SHARES” logo. The vouchers are not redeemable for alcohol or tobacco products. At the end of each month, MLF SHARES reimburses the participating merchants for all the vouchers they have accepted.

MLF SHARES vouchers are a new way for you to share with those in our community who are in need. They are a convenient, safe and constructive means to provide meals, clothing, shoes/shoe repair, and personal hygiene products for those in need.

Each month, MLF Shares reimburses merchants for all vouchers they have accepted.

MLF Shares is a program of Mobile Loaves & Fishes, Inc. You may learn more
about Mobile Loaves & Fishes by going to our web site at
www.mobileloavesandfishes.org. To meet the ongoing needs of our community
and increase awareness about the program, MLF Shares would like to expand
the number of distribution points for the vouchers and involve more
merchants.

If you have suggestions, would like to sell vouchers, or assist in the
coordinating work of the voucher program, please leave your name and number at (512) 328-7299 or email us at info@mlfshares.org. One of our volunteers will call you back. Thanks!.

Participating Merchants

Dollar General Stores
Goodwill Industries of Central Texas
Hickory Street Bar & Grill
St. Vincent de Paul Store
The Austin Shoe Hospital
The Onion
Walgreen's

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A Homeless Lady's Story

To all you women out there with your fancy hairdos and perfume that I smell as you go by and look at me with disgust. If you only knew that was me a few years back. I had the fancy hairdos, and nice smelling perfume, and all the luxuries; like a home, nice clothes, a job, my dignity, and my self-respect. All of the things that you ladies have, that I no longer have. Please don't take all your luxuries for granted like I once did. Homelessness can strike anyone, just like cancer, leukemia, AIDS, or any other tragedy. Divorce, bankruptcy, etc...

Be thankful for what you have today, because it might not always be that way.

I'm thankful for the Austin Advocate, because it's kept what dignity and respect that I do have left, as a homeless woman. Please don't judge a book before you have read it's entire contents. Oh, by the way, I am the wife of the top vendor ALFRED MENDIOLA. Please pray for us. My husband was in construction for 30 plus years and fell sick, has had several surgeries, and now another one is pending for his back (spinal). When all this happened and we lost about everything, I fell into a major depression. But with the help of some friends and doctors, and the Austin Advocate, my husband and I are doing a lot better. We've been married 20 years and have two beautiful grown children. There is my story. Please don't judge a book by the cover. Read the whole story first.

Thanks for listening.
Patricia and Alfred Mendiola

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Apathetic

Apathetic- Letting status quo stand
Apathetic- Believing future is foretold
Apathetic- Say I'm doing all I can
Apathetic- Pleading tired outdated ways
Apathetic- It's not anyone's particular fault
Apathetic- It's all of us for jumping through their hoops
Apathetic- About what doesn't bother me
Apathetic- I'm busy can't you see
Apathetic- Stuck in bureaucratic glue
Apathetic- Under bureaucratic rule
Apathetic- When the vote is bought and sold
Apathetic- On rejecting status quo
Apathetic- When the goons are at your door
Apathetic- That religion could improve
Apathetic- About the profit driven lust
Apathetic- About spirit being raped
Apathetic- About the end result of work
Apathetic- When my job is secure

Free to be but always lock your door
You have the right for apathetic life
if you believe it will never improve
You keep on soiling up the genes
by voting in the same old thing
You have the right to not think it will change
it's been foretold a zombie you will go
It may seem, to some we're doing wrong
so be it, it is in our soul
You believe by voting
your voice will be heard
I say by voting, we're selling our soul
Soldiers lay their life to maintain profit morals
selfish desires are elementary son
So don't blame me for apathetic life
Until my taxes are only for our needs
outdated methods fuel my apathy

Tumen Soliz

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In Memory of Those Angles Upon Our Streets
Jeremiah Hurta

Just how much could I pass on to you in thought, in mind
Never knowing your time, my time would soon be lost
forever
As we stare out upon those friends whom fade from
Our sight
for we soon feel our loses upon those crowded streets
As a spirit fades
Never more understanding life, as death and darkness
Come over us
As I could only to attempt to soften those harsh blows so
Delivered unto you
To touch you only with my prayers, as we both lost a
friend
Oh Lord Jesus as this lonely deserted street bears
Countless souls
Never ever knowing just how many we could touch, or
Did touch in our struggles
Knowing that within a world filled by total despair that
We always counted
As each day another one dies upon those empty streets of
Austin, to be remembered by us

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