Quote:
Originally Posted by BarbJ
Gosh, I don't know what to say. I'm really impressed by your kind attitude and words about the poor, 7 oh 4. I too used to volunteer for Crisis Assistance Ministry before I got a full-time job. That was the firts time I ever knocked elbows with the poor.I made a lasing impression on me. Since retiring I've volunteered at my neighborhood school teaching English to mostly Hispanic 5-7 year olds. Such cute little kids.
I honestly realize that what Charlottean is trying to make us understand by his post is that good, hardworking people can fall on hard times and need public or private assistance. I feel that it is then our role as more fortunate to help them out. What really troubles me is what we started to talk about in another thread ( you remember, Ani) - namely the NIMBY attitude. 7 oh 4 asks where these poor people will go. I, unfortunately, can tell you - the Eastside! IMBY!
You see, i don't mind one or two Section Eight projects near me - it's my duty to help people less fortunate find shelter. But I don't want them all. Let Providence Road keep their share - ONE PROJECT!!! Cry Me a River! (as we used to say when I was young).
Now don't go and get P.O.ed at me, Ani, there should probably be one on Carmel Road, Randolph Road, Fairview Road, etc. One section of the city should not have a corner on this market. I'll take SIMBY, but I want other folks to also take SIMBY.
Should I be running, and ducking as I run, to escape all of those missiles that I see my new-found friends picking up to hurl as soon as I hit "Post Quick Reply"?
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Barb, 7 oh 4, C-Guy, Charlottean, et al . . . I am also very concerned about the gentification of Charlotte, if we want to call it that. I think some of it is true gentrification (what we have seen uptown in surrounding neighborhoods) and some of it (Providence situation that we are talking about here) is necessary rejuvenation.
City planning is at the core of this issue. When I had a voice as a newspaper editor, I was able to speak up in a public forum about such things as city planning wh/ was often engineered to "clean out" pockets of poverty. I have seen time and again where major highways, both state and federal, were planned to go right through impoverished neighborhoods. It didn't take someone very astute to put two and two together and come up with the answer as to why the routes of those streets went smack dab through the middle of poor communities. The response from the public tended to be "Hooray! Taking out the trash." And I understood that attitude.
Progress? Yes. The city paid for the land and houses, wh/ were often owned by absentee landlords and in some situations that I considered especially specious - those landlords were prominent members of the community who even sat on the city council and/or planning commissions. Hmmmmm. Well, we won't go there - another discussion for another day.
Here in Charlotte, highways have wiped out whole neighborhoods. I can remember as a child driving through areas of Charlotte that literally creeped me out. My daddy's hands would grip a little tighter on the steering wheel and even tho no words were spoken, it was clear that my father was hoping to get past these areas w/ no incidents, including a flat tire, overheated radiator or gas stop. Most of you have never seen those areas, where houses were literally no more than shacks.
It was a big relief to residents as well as visitors to have the bulldozers come in, raze the whole area, and construct roadways that not only accommodated travel . . . but made the visual display of poverty "go away."
No one wanted to talk about what happened to those displaced people. My father served in the General Assembly and he was a social activist, w/ great concern for the disenfranchised. In fact, so much so that we ended up w/ threats from the KKK and federal agents on our doorstep, but again, another story for another day.
So yes, there are those amongst us who do care what happens not only to displaced people, but to the disenfranchised. Solutions? I don't know. Public housing? Homelessness? Mental Illness w/in the homeless community? Substance abuse?
It is easy to distance one's self. And yes, as Barb said, the NIMBY attitude sets in. Heck, the NIMBY attitude, wh/ is a reaction to fears regarding crime and falling home values . . . also sets in when "halfway houses" for the mentally ill or recovering substance abusers are suggested.
Back a decade ago, I worked very hard to earn my nursing home administrators license. I decided that perhaps thru/ this work, I would at least make a difference for the elderly, especially those who were being warehoused. Yes, Granny Dumping is a real phenomena. I quickly learned, the bureaucracy is overwhelming . . . the work is so demanding . . . and the risk to an administrator so high - unlike hospital administrators, the law is such that NHAs can permanently lose their licenses for infractions that occur in their facilities. THere are wonderful nursing home facilities out there, of course, but maintaining staff who are dedicated and caring - especially when low salaries are the norm - well, I felt myself becoming very jaded and discouraged. Again, another story for another day.
My point is . . . as a society, we should be judged by the way we treat the disenfranchised. The problem in that is w/ people who "game the system" as well as with those who are chronically impoverished and are not willing to do anything to change their situations - or perhaps I should say - are incapable of changing their situations b/c they are substance abusers, or they are mentally ill, or they are caught up in a saga that includes a poor education, lack of skills and multiple illegitimate babies to feed, or a felony record . . .
Those who truly need assistance get lost in a system that has little way of distinguishing between those who need a safety net . . . and those who, for whatever reason, will be standing w/ a hand out til the day they die.
So where does this leave us with providing assistance for those who need that safety net, or a "hand up" or just something temporary to get them through a terrible situation w/ job loss or illness? And what about those who are disabled and literally cannot work to put food on the table and a roof over their heads?
Seems as a society, we have left it to private enterprise to provide that housing . . . w/ investors often looking towards government subsidies as a way to recoup the rent. I already embarrassed myself once this week by showing my ignorance about the difference b/n Section 8 housing and public assistance and sadly, I still have not caught up on my education about the two and how they are different. So I am surely no expert at addressing this situation w/ subsidies. However, I do know that as a society, we seem to have shifted housing issues to landlords who qualify their properties so that renters can qualify for that government voucher or check each month.
True public housing, as I understand it, has been built w/ federal monies and as we have seen in the aftermath of Katrina, it seems setting up whole communities who rely on entitlement programs to provide them w/ subsistence puts everyone at arm's length for providing solutions to housing should those housing units be lost. Again, another discussion, perhaps, as I am not referring to homeowners, here, but rather to absentee landlords.
Investors are going to do what is profitable, even if they do have the best of altruistic intentions!!! All landlords are not Simon Legree . . . all landlords are not uncaring about their renters. But at the same time, all renters are not responsible people and some renters feel no personal responsibility for the properties they rent when someone else is writing out the checks for the roof over their heads.
We have left low income housing in the hands of either the federal government or absentee landlords, for the most part. Sadly, these areas often b/cm breeding grounds for crime . . .
What would happen if we demanded more law enforcement in those neighborhoods? What would happen if we had a more accessible (and better funded) mental health system that could assure those needing meds and counseling to deal with mental illness received it? What would happen if substance abuse programs had the dollars to provide long term care for people w/ a history of recidivism? What would happen if we could actually provide safe, clean housing for elderly living on limited social security or subsistance?
I tend to be overly optimisitic. I tend to believe if these social issues were really discussed, if they were considered priorities, if our city fathers all across this country would be willing to put the manpower and resources into finding answers . . . we could move society forward. Sadly, it seems to me these problems are left in the realm of volunteer organizations, such as food banks, soup kitchens and AA meetings sponsored by faith-based organizations. Thank God someone is stepping forward! But often, these are bandaids and programs designed to meet immediate needs (homeless shelters) rather than find SOLUTIONS.
I could sit up on this soapbox and write about this all afternoon, but won't, as I bet everyone on this board has thought about these issues, as well. And since many of us have volunteered in whatever small way we can . . . we have seen the poverty and misery up close. I work hard at not allowing myself a "pat on the back" for doing what little I do to help out in the community. It is easy for me to put my concerns on the back burner, or throw up my hands - feeling discouraged - when I really think about the depth of the problems and how little effect my small efforts really have in changing the "big picture."
So how do we go about "cleaning up the community" while still facing the cold hard facts that there are those in our community who, for whatever reason, are going to be living impoverished lives? And how do we best address their needs? Hope investors will step up? Wait for Uncle Sam to tax us more so we can re-distribute the wealth by establishing more entitlement programs, subsidized housing, etc?
I don't know.
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