Poverty in Chicago...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LxDGEQ9nvs

This is a documentary of the homeless people in Chicago. I find this video very interesting because they have real people on the streets telling their stories. Some are on the streets because of divorce, inadequate education, lack of affordable housing, and being in the service and becoming handicap. There is a place called The Pacific Garden Mission and most of the homeless say that it is hell there. Once you have been in there you never want to return and would rather sleep in the cold. This place in not funded by state or government. They also talk about why there is still run down neighborhoods and half finished housing. Most contractors do not want to finish and do business in low income areas because they will not profit. This video really shows the actually live footage of being poor and surviving.

Poverty in Chicago

With a high of 9.7% unemployment rate in 2009 and high of 11.1%(IDES) currently we can honestly say that we are in a crisis. Chicago is in the top three county's in Illinois that have the highest amount of the un-employment. Recessions have very high impacts with lower income families because it causes rising of unemployment. 405,000 Chicagoans have been pushed into poverty since this recession. Unemployment and poverty correlate very much so because with no work there is no money provided. A bad economy means more people falling into the poverty category. Out of 7 county's in Illinois, Chicago(cook) meets and exceeds the most amount in the extreme poor, low income and poverty chart. Employment is a security and backbone of a community and economy. The reality of this is known that we have reached currently the highest rate ever and with that we need to have the strong support that helps with loss of jobs and to try and create work so that we do not continue to have people on the streets.

www.heartlandalliance.org

Ch 1

Seccombe let me just state is a very intellectual person with strong values and wanting to fufil her purpose in social inequality. In Chapter one she interviews several people on welfare and goes in dept on the particular issues I will be disecting and how life is for them. Not only are the interviews very helpful but they help her have a better understanding with the struggles, and their experiences. These examples help the reader understand their lives and to understand their situation and that it examines the attitudes and reactions that women on welfare get from strangers. She also examines the assumptions, values and perspectives that are assumed with the people on the welfare system.
I think Seccombe wanted to start off interviewing women to see the life they had and have and I think she knows that being a woman is far harder to survive in society than a man. Saccombe points out several times and suggests some statistics on the average employment history of woman and men and it is relativly higher that men will continue to have a better and more paying job than a woman. She states that women are more likley to be dependable on others and are more likley to be poor, lower wage work and being a single parent.
Sheila was the first that she interviewed. Shelia is working on her GED while taking care of her daughter and sometimes her grandchildren. She has looked for jobs but has not been lucky. With her going to school two nights a week, she has figured once she gets her diploma she can have a job by Jan 1. Shelia stated how hard it is to get a job if you cannot type, add, or read. So the jobs that she has had were being maids and cleaning ladies. With her being on welfare it is sort of a security thing as she stated. She fears if she accepts a minimum wage job she wont get health insurance and that her food stamps will vanish leading her in worse conditions. And if she gets laid off she would have to wait to get her welfare at least a month later. It is bad enough the life that she is living now and I can understand the fear of change because the risk of doing so can be a great thing yet a bad thing. Its almost like gambling. You can have 50% winning or 50% loosing. I think Saccombes contention was to share with the readers the real stories and life of someone struggling and being poor. She has been seperated from her man for about 14years and he has not helped with a dime. She has been under water and cannot seem to stay a float.
Saccombe has opened my eyes and to understand the life of people on welfare. I have come to understand that many people do work but still cannnot do it by themselves especially if they do not have their babies father in the picture to help financailly or emotionally. Some people do not even have friends or family to turn to. I know someone close to my boyfriends family that is un-employed and receiving food stamps, unemployment, child support but is capible of working. This person used to work at a job that was of good pay and an established company and now with her having a second child with her boyfriend not working makes me angry that there are people like this taking advantage. I have a hard time with those people. Both parents are capible of working and have some education to suceed and not be on welfare but because it is easier for them, they choose not to look for work. And unfortunetly the father is a drug dealer to make that quick easy cash so that they can live in a nice house. For a long time I resented people on welfare but honestly every person has a different situation and some people work the system and some people need the system to survive. I guess all this time I was looking for an answer as to why people take advantage and realize that the government is there to help you out and some people think it is an easy way out, or laziness. In the end I agree with Saccombe intentions and I think that she makes points that really make the reader think about situations and understand that everything and everyone has their own sitaution and to really never judge unless you know the whole story and are willing to help make a differnce.

Poverty in Illinois

Heart Alliance states that 10 of the top 20 poorest cities are in the Midwest. The total amount of poor people just in Illinois is over 1.5 million with a grand total population of 12.5 million. That is 12.3% living in what we call poor or poverty level. In particular, Illinois is identifying poverty as a huge problem and looking for good leaders for solutions. The U.S. House of Representatives passed a sense of Congress resolution that sets a natural goal of cutting poverty in half over 10 years. Lets hope it is a continued effort during and after those years. I find it great that we have several charities such as the Catholic churches, Hearland Alliance and a place called A center for American Progress as well as many more but these are the bigger ones. With poverty being a high in our state there are many negative effects contributing to being homeless.

15.5% of Illinoisans have no health insurance. Poor people are less likely or able to get access to preventative care, have limited opportunity to be engaged in health-promoting activities. These issues alone are increased each year and the poor ending up having more health care debt and health problems making it harder to get to the top. 2.5 million Illinois workers do not get paid sick days. Like I mentioned earlier we have 12.5 million living here;that is an extreme amount. As for continuing education, public schools have risen 34% from 2002. All Illinois children as well as across the globe should have equal access to quality education. The reality is that many are unable to realize the promise of education due to unequal distribution resulting in performance disparities and continuing higher costs. These two points are two of the major problems Illinois faces on a daily basis. It is often said and done that education and healthcare are overlooked. Education and healthcare should be on our top priority but we often become too wrapped up in politics and finances that we loose our entire philosophy on why we need to make change. Knowing that Illionis is one of the poorest states frightens me because I thought it could not get any worse but there are worse states out there.


Source: heartlandalliance.org

Poverty in the City of Boston

The part of Boston that I took of interest is the street living population and the adults/families in shelters in the city of Boston.

Some statistics: Total population living on the street in 2008 according to http://www.cityofboston.gov/dnd/homeless/default.asp, 79% were male and 21% female. According to the winter in 2007, of the 184 street count 28 were women. In 2008 winter of the 219, 46 were women. An increase with women over the duration of 10 years. Now this is looking over a couple of years and we can see that there is a small yet large increase with women. Also noted on the website the 1998 Census states that in 1998 of the 180 people, 11% were women and now 21% in 12 years. That's a huge amount and it just about doubled. Another factor to consider is the weather. Many numbers increase with bad cold weather causing health issues and safety concerns. The warmer the weather the more homeless people would rather be outside according to the Boston Census. Also, Boston has housing effort programs that provide homes and also vouchers and supported services to those in need.

The adults in shelters has decreased 4% in 2008 Census and has a continuing trend for six years later. Although it is a slight decrease it still is a positive result especially for Boston. The highest percentage of people homeless are between the ages of 31-50. The adult males outnumbered the total adult homeless population. It was a close number but the white adult males had a few percentage more increase than African Americans. I found that interesting because if you read about other cities, you have the opposite with results. And according to what I have learned in some of my classes is that many of the issues and problems we discuss are with and about minorities. Not so much minorities being the cause but minorities struggling to be treated fairly.
http://www.cityofboston.gov/dnd/homeless/default.asp

2000 families and 2900 individuals are living in shelter in 2008. Average stay is 17 days. If there are no shelter space, the state puts them in hotels or motels. It is actually cheaper to put them in hotels and motels. The average stay in a shelter is 99 dollars and a hotel is 85. Being placed in shelters and hotels can interfere with children's education because you can be placed where ever they have room.
www.boston.com/new/local/articles/2008/homelessnesshitsrecordhigh?page1-2.

Poverty definition

What I think poverty means without looking at a definition is not having enough money to live a basic life. What I mean by basic is having a roof that is yours to live under and to have food to eat and pay your bills. Now to break down what I mean is in order to have an "basic life" you pay your bills and have a home to live in. That does not mean a nice home or nice things but as Jose stated in the interview last week you are homeless if your name is not on the lease. But being poor can make you have none of the above or sometimes only one thing. Being in the life of poverty is not a pleasant sight. You wonder how you are going to get your next meal, when you will be able to wash your clothes, where will you sleep, where to find a job, and what do I do now. I never realized how poor my family was until I got older and realized that if it was not for the help of my grandparents my family and I would have probably been on the streets. My mother had two jobs and barely could do anything for herself or her three kids. I consider us having a basic life because we had a roof over our head and we were able to eat and pay some bills. Luckily my family is great and there are not that many families that are there or can help. Poverty is a huge issue and makes the world a harder place to be in. You can loose all hope, become an addict and even not want to live any more. I know people that have been poor and have gotten back on their feet but I also know and hear of people that get so far caught up in their treacherous lifestyle that its easier to stay a failure than to try and make something out of themselves. So to recapture what I just said in a sentence; my definition and how I view poverty is that your are considered poor or at the poverty level if you cannot eat with your own money nor have a roof over your head that is under your name. If you have to start getting welfare and food stamps to survive then you are considered at the poverty level.

The definition of poverty on answers.com states- The state of being poor; lack of the means of providing material needs or comforts. Another website webworldbank.org says- Poverty is hunger. Poverty is lack of shelter. Poverty is being sick and not being able to see a doctor. Poverty is not having access to school and not knowing how to read. Poverty is not having a job, is fear for the future, living one day at a time. Poverty is losing a child to illness brought about by unclean water. Poverty is powerlessness, lack of representation and freedom. Now looking up the technical term opens my eyes in a broader perspective. Not only do you not have food and shelter but you also lack in education, likely succeeding in the future and getting in trouble with drugs. And the most crucial one is not being able to go to the doctor not even for a regular check up. If we could even get free health care we would probably reduce the dying rate and diseases by 50%. I think that there is no right answer to the word poverty because some people are not exposed to much worse conditions than some others and I think that they could think their lifestyle is the worst. I feel that everyone's answer is right according to what you know and where and how you were brought up. The definitions that I recently discussed should and are the proper way of describing what poverty is.

Blog on C.C.H.

Stephine and Jose are both very strong people that wanted to do better for themselves. I want to specifically focus on Stephine's story. Stephine started off telling us that she was in an abusive home with her daughter and could not take it any more and wanted out. I gave her props for realizing that she was not in a good situation. She continued to struggle and and became an addict in the mean time. Traveled from home to home sometimes without her daughter. With all the stress going on in her life she did not know how to deal with it and started drinking and "it" became her best friend. In the end she decided that this was not going to be her life anymore and decided to change after 8 long years of torture and struggles. Many people like Stephine who was homeless do change and can make the world a better place little by little. She said a comment about how she would get spare change from people and go get booze to last her the day and not really worry about her daughter. I was really upset hearing that she said that but when someone is addicted to a substance , that becomes your priority. I did not realize that until later how difficult it is. On a better note Stephine had contributed a lot of her time with Bailey and Jose to help more homeless off the streets. The three of them as well as many others are continuing to change laws and policys so that they have more funds to continue to rescue. I think its a continous struggle but even harder to make the house bill 174 get passed unless you really educate your surrounds. This means higher income tax but the money we pay for that tax will help fund people in need. It can happen if they talk to the people that want to make change.