Speaking Up for Low Income Families

Facilitator: Valerie Forte, Office of Educational Accountability, Legislative Research Commission

Resource Persons: Janice Carter, Women of African Descent & Dr. Robert "Sandy" Goodlett, FYRCs, CFC

"Organizing the Campaign to Mobilize for Welfare Reform: Getting People Involved"

The following is a synthesis of remarks given by Janice Carter, a community volunteer and single parent now employed with the Louisville Police Department. It includes feedback from the audience which Ms. Carter formulated into her advice on ways to involve others in community activism.

Ms. Carter began by praising the virtue of resourcefulness. She cited a personal example of her adopting a neighborhood housing complex in Louisville as her personal challenge. She remarked on the African proverb "It takes a village...." She said, "I didn't think the ‘village’ was coming together, so I went out and got me one." She then offered these suggestions as ways to engage people in a cause.

Empower the group / your group. Demonstrate and reinforce respect. Function in a dignity-based manner.

Involve community advocates. (In the interim, "the current program should give all it can, while it can, to help strengthen and prepare recipients for a leaner future." [Advocates, like KYA, KPWA, NAACP, Urban League, women’s groups, community foundations, concerned individuals and other > activists= could support that end.] )

Change with the times. Understand the times, the needs, and the resources C and help others (especially recipients and policy makers ?) understand as well. Understand "the system:" "If you don’t know the rules, you can’t play the game."

Show Passion C and Compassion. "People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care!" Passionate caring brings people in; it encourages the engagement of the community and volunteers.

Reach out! The campaign is more about "people to people" than people to government." (The political community will follow the will and lead of its constituency, but not go far beyond its perception of the people’s concerns and interests.)

Shop around for resources. Resources mean ideas, approaches, options, etc. C everything! "It’s not just money, but what we can DO!"

Be supportive of each other. These are your "extended family."

Teach/educate, mentor/show, preach/proclaim. "It’s all about perception."

Struggle for success. "The best thing that ever happened to me was my struggle." C Janice Carter

"Approaching Policy Makers and Legislators"

The following advice came from Valerie Forti. Again, it was in the context of a give-and-take "open space" dialogue.

Imagine approaching a legislator or other policy maker who is continually confronted with a myriad of issues, concerns, and competing concerns and constituencies as a situation similar to that faced by a parent. Haven’t we all experienced it? The child comes in saying, "Everything’s awful." We know that’s probably not exactly true, so we ask for more specificity and definition: Well, tell me exactly what’s wrong. Through the process of getting down to the detail, the specifics, we find out the essence of the child’s problem. Then we’ve got something we can deal with to help the child resolve or cope with his problem.

Whenever we approach a legislator or policy maker, avoid "awful-izing" and ambiguity. Be precise and clear. Each time C in advance of your meeting, figure out…

What are your concerns? Get really specific! Is there a constituency?

What do you want? Detail it. Get real! Why ? What would it mean?

What’s your plan? Be succinct. Have it in writing. How can you support it?

FORMULATE. Is it do-able? Approach(es)? Cost-benefit considerations?

FRAME. How to market the plan?

FOCUS. Narrow it down; provide the critical elements.

In summary…

Be prepared. Be plain. Be persistent. Be positive.

"A Former Participants’ View"

A young woman who obviously felt strongly about the issues of welfare and dependency spoke her concerns. She said she was working her way to self sufficiency. She gave these thoughts from her heart:

"Welfare reform is not about ignorant, inbred hillbillies. It’s about people locked in systems that exploit them. Welfare doesn’t work. It entraps people."

"Cannibals became capitalists when they discovered that it was more profitable to exploit their neighbors than eat them" C Henry David Thoreau

Editor’s Note:

This synthesis is from my notes of the May 19^th meeting at the Families in Poverty: The New Reality conference sponsored by the Community Action Council for Lexington-Fayette, Bourbon, Harrison, and Nicholas Counties at the Marriott Griffin Gate Resort in Lexington. This presentation represents my understanding and interpretation of what was said, not necessarily what the speakers actually said. So if they are misquoted or their comments misrepresented, my apologies in advance. Still, I think it’s a fair synopsis of the proceedings. I felt that preparing this summary might be useful for others and that is why it has been prepared. In addition, I have prepared it because the Secretary of the Kentucky Cabinet for Families and Children, Dr. Viola Miller, opened the conference with the appeal, "We have a campaign to run." Speaking, she said to "the choir," she said, "Welfare reform is not about us!" She urged that when we next meet on the challenge of welfare reform that we "find one not involved; bring them next time!" She said we should "Run the campaign. Issue the challenge." "The (welfare reform) law’s not about poverty. It’s a work law. That’s alright, but we’ve got a lot of work to do" (to prepare affected people and families for The New Reality ).

Ronald Logsdon, Executive Director

Audubon Area Community Services, Inc.