Helping Welfare Recipients Take Care of Their Own Part 5: Give Them Their Own Victory Gardens

Back in the 1940’s there was a lot going on that was beyond anyone’s control. With transportation and other issues during that time, fresh fruits and vegetables weren’t able to be shipped like they had been. Because of this, people were not eating as well as they should have been.

The government decided to ask people to grow victory gardens, which people agreed to. These gardens would provide them with much needed fruits and vegetables.

I believe that, today, low-income families (particularly apartment dwellers) have a hard time financially for two major reasons:

1. They aren’t allowed to really have much of anything that would be truly helpful to them on the financial front: Washers and dryers, gardens, etc.
2. Many were never taught the important basic skills that our grand and great-grandparents had: Canning, drying foods, gardening, sewing, quilting, etc.

This, it seems, has caused many issues for low-income families.

Now, I am aware that some low-income individuals do have such skills and opportunities. That is great, but the majority probably do not.

I believe that allowing low-income families to have their own garden spaces, designed in their own way, would help these families out immensely. They should also be allowed to compost in one way or another. And, they should be able to grow what they choose, what their families will eat.

These gardens could be in the form of community gardens, or they could have garden space in front of their homes. Gardens are certainly better than grass for many reasons.

All gardens should be organic, using only heirloom and open-pollinated varieties of seeds and plants. This will allow the families to learn and practice seed saving, providing them with not only a way to save money, but also a way to feed their family healthy foods without any chemicals.

Allowing low-income families to have their own gardens, requiring this of them, would help them out so much, providing them with their own victories each harvest season. They could be growing their own, healthier fruits, vegetables, herbs and flowers, rather than wasting much needed money on these items.

I also believe that each landlord should already be provide a well-managed, completely organic, well-balanced soil plot for such a purpose. this plot would be to the specifications of the tenent, and each subsequent tenent would have less work ahead of them.

Shannon

P.S. Here are some resources that you may find helpful:

Organizing Your Community Garden

Creating a Three Sisters Garden

Square Foot Gardening

Lasagna Gardening

Seed Saving

 

Maine Seed Saving Network

PO Box 126
Penobscot, ME 04476
(207)326-0751
No web address.Devoted to preserving and sharing heirlooms, this organization hosts an annual seed swap each spring, and serves gardeners and organic farmers in Maine and the Northeast.

Helping Welfare Recipients Take Care of Their Own Part 4: A Community School

I do believe that each low-income community should have its own school. Now, I am not talking about a public school funded by any government. As a matter-of-fact, it government should be kept out of schools all together. Any entity that presumes to tell parents how their children should be taught should be kept right out of the school.

 

The school, as well as all of the community buildings, would use alternative energies for lights, computers, cooking, etc., as well as alternative heating sources other than petroleum or electricity based sources. This would, in the long run, save a huge amount of money.

 

The school would not need a lot of employees, because there would not be a large number of students. Only the children from the community. Therefore, you would need only a few teachers, and only a few classrooms. A library would be essential. And a computer for each student, at least in the higher grades. No take-home laptops/computers. Parents, particularly low-income parents, cannot afford that kind of responsibility.

 

A regular, every day kitchen, possibly with two of each appliance, would suffice, as well as a real dining area. More homey than a cafeteria, with real dining room tables. An office would not be necessary, but an answering machine and telephone in each class would so that parents could call the school when children would be absent.

 

No secretary, principal, guidance councilor, nurse, etc. Just teachers and students. Some teachers may need to be part time. Fir instance, a science teacher once a week for a full day class, or twice a week for two half day classes, when at the high school level.

 

Each classroom would have a table rather than desks, a sitting area,  a small office area for the teacher, a coat rack…

 

Any funding that didn’t come from an entity wishing to dictate what or how something had to be taught, or anything else for that matter, would be fine. But the school would be the communities school. Things would be run accordingly. 

 

Parent involvement a necessity. Each day, week or month a different student/group of students would have to stay after to help their teacher clean. On the same schedule, each teacher and her chosen students would be required to clean the hall and bathroom. This is part of their life skills lessons.

 

Middle/high school age students would be expected to help one cook with meal preparation and clean up, as part of their life skills lessons. The entire school would grow their own food, and local farmers could donate some meat and dairy products.

 

The teachers and the cook would be from within the community when someone was available. They would also allow parent involvement at any time, and they would allow a student teacher to volunteer to work along with them.

 

Respect would always be key within the school, and older students would be available to help and mentor younger students.

 

The community would raise the money needed for the school garden, composting efforts, etc., and playground. As a matter-of-fact, the school and students may be responsible for the communities recycling efforts.

 

***

 

Fundraising would not be about people ordering things from catalogs and such. There would be craft bazaars, where both the students and their families would make things to sell during community celebrations, inviting the families and friends of the community members.

 

Bake sales and roadside vegetable stands would also be helpful. As would making and canning food to sell in the grocery store that the community owns.

 

Dinner theater events would bring in some much needed money, when advertising outside of the community.

 

Yard sales put on by students would also benefit the school, as well as composting for profit.

 

***

 

Adult and teen ed classes in the evenings and on Saturdays would also be necessary. These would be free to anyone, and some would be mandatory. Any class can be taught one-on-one when necessary, but community classes would also work.

 

• Sometimes, but not always, in the form of parenting and anger management courses.
• Mandatory: Cooking on a budget. Maybe students could leave with a coupon organizer and store coupons from businesses inside and outside of the community. At least one adult from each family.
• Cooking classes. Students bring home what they make.
• Mandatory: Pressure canner cooking. Each family must have one adult in the classes each time a new class is offered. Each family would receive a pressure canner and accessories, as well as can 1 case of food to bring home, being allowed to also keep the jars and rings. They would receive the pressure canner and accessories only once, being required to bring them back with them for each class. They need not bring back the jars and rings, as new ones will be given out with each class. Also, during the first class, each family will receive a manual and the classes recipe. Each subsequent class will offer a new recipe, depending on what you are learning to can.
• Mandatory: Water bath canner classes. Same as above, but using the water bath. Take homes are the same as well, but with water bath unit and accessories.
• Mandatory: How to dry foods. Drying fruits, vegetables, herbs, edible flowers, etc., are all topics that will be covered one at a time, students getting to keep the food dryers, etc., and leaving with printed instructions and recipes.
• Mandatory: How to freeze foods. One class. Students putting this art into action as well. Taking home freezing guidelines, as well as foods prepared for the freezer, food safety tips, and a few necessities: Plastic wrap, freezer paper, freezer containers, masking tape and a permanent marker. Also a cookbook of freezer recipes.
• Mandatory: Basic sewing for at least one adult in the household.

The possibilities are endless, and will greatly increase each families future success.

 

Shannon

 

Helping Welfare Recipients Take Care of Their Own Part 3: The Low-Income Community

The low-income community that I am thinking about is not your typical apartment complex. It is an actual community. Yes, we would still use the apartments in existence, expanding on those to form communities, but the new communities may be houses rather than apartments. I do not believe in wastefulness, and I do not believe in cutting down bunches of trees to build all of the necessary communities. We all need to learn to live with what we have, improving on them.

 

These are the ideas that I have for low-income communities:

 

• I like the idea of people having houses, and that their houses are not connected to their neighbors. I do not think that huge houses are necessary, and each house should have a good amount of space on all four sides. Cramming houses to closely together, like on Main Street, is not the answer. The houses should provide enough space. These houses are rented with subsidies, until the family moves on. Each should have a dry basement or a cellar. Both would be fine.
• Each home should be energy efficient, incorporating solar/wind/water energy, with some sort of back-up. Petroleum based fuels, etc., should be avoided. Wireless access should be encouraged. Wood or pellet stoves would be accessible.
• Each home should have their own washer/dryer hook-ups, as well a good (not umbrella) clothesline. These machines should be in a laundry area, not in the basement.
• A lot of closet space is essential.
• Home businesses should be allowed.
• The community is a ‘family’. There are celebrations, classes, etc.
• Everyone knows what is expected of them and their families. Good families are necessary for a successful community. Drugs can be banned. Drinking can be banned. Both for the safety of the community. No loud parties. Respect of neighbors, their property and families, their quiet time and rest, is essential. These items should be in the lease, and real action taken when necessary.
• Kiddie pools and trampolines are fine, as long as their is a fence so that small children cannot wander in. The families must have renters insurance that cover accidents.
• Children will not be allowed to run amuck causing trouble. This should be in the lease as well. This stems from young to old. Live and let live. Be respectful.
• Children are expected to show responsibility at a young age. They will be more likely to stay out of trouble this way. They should be able to work alongside their parents, in the community, apprentice, etc., depending upon their ages. This will also make it possible for parents to work even though school is called off. Children will be expected to behave properly.

There are other ideas, but I think that you get the picture.  With the lease worded correctly, you can prevent your community from becoming a haven for troubled people. Expect them to parent well, and to be mature and responsible, and your community will be very successful.

 

Shannon

Helping Welfare Recipients Take Care of Their Own Part 2: The Job Situation

Maine’s economy is not doing so well. Unfortunately, I am not seeing how welfare recipients are receivng breaks because there are not enough jobs to go around. They can still get sanctioned for not meeting the programs guidelines – not finding a job. That is a sad truth here in Maine.

I would have liked to have believed that Maine was a more community based state. Indeed, many have stepped up to the plate, donating money for fuel assistance, donating food and clothing, etc., in this downed economy. This is great. It is what should be happening.

But what about those who are receiving welfare benefits but cannot meet the requirements? The biggest requirement failure being that they cannot, after months of searching and disappointments, find a job? What is to be done? They lose benefits, leaving them unable to pay rent and utilities, purchase food, and pay their childcare providers.

Now, I am not saying that their isn’t the occasional recipient who does not do what they are supposed to do. Don’t get me wrong here. I am referring to those who are doing everything that they can to comply with the requirements set forth by the DHHS. Many don’t believe that a person would lose benefits just because they couldn’t find a job, but it is a hard reality for a lot of Maine families.

I feel bad for those who are just finishing up college. They should be able to find jobs, but are having it rough. Let’s not forget that there are not enough jobs to go around, and that those with the most experience will likely get the jobs first.

(The following is in regard to welfare recipients. I am fully aware that more people than just welfare recipients are looking for work, but that is not the aim of this article series. If you have the time, perhaps you would like to write an article geared toward non-welfare recipients and jobs. I am willing to post articles from others here, providing that they are well thought out and intelligent. See the guidelines on this blog.)

So, how can we ensure that welfare recipients have access to jobs here in Maine, and that these jobs are a means to helping the recipients to ‘get off the state’? A good question, indeed. I do not pretend to know the answers here, but I can offer up some ideas on the subject.

First of all, everyone deserves to make a decent wage, and the minimum wage does not really cut it. Not when prices on everything keep going up. Are we all really convinced that gas prices will continue to drop? Or do some believe that they will begin to rise again? Either way, there are other prices to factor in to our daily living expenses.

So, we first have to decide that we will start people out at minimum wage for training time, but then give them an automatic raise as soon as training is over. Then they need to continue to receive raises at the same rate as everyone else. And, their should not be caps placed on the amount that anyone (not solely welfare recipients) can make. It is a sad thing when a newly hired, not even trained, individual makes almost as much as a person who has worked at the same place for five or more years.

We also need to remember that welfare recipients are not stupid. They are perfectly capable of working. They are just down on their luck. What gives anyone the right to bring them down any further?

***

Now, onto my ideas for jobs for welfare recipients. The ‘professionals’ who would have some of these jobs will not miss on opportunities completely, and giving these jobs to welfare recipients will help to even things out a bit.

I will start with the jobs that have already been available for someone to do. I believe that these jobs would bring in much needed income to welfare families.

First, there will have to be some people to train recipients in both this section and the next. You could leave this up to professionals, I suppose – and, indeed, some training would have to be done by someone who has already been trained and is a professional. But, once one welfare recipient is trained, you can eliminate the need for that professional further down the road. The recipient would be certified and could train others.

• I have an idea that it would be great if each welfare community had at least one qualified mechanic. Sometimes, this would even prevent a welfare recipient from losing work. There are vouchers for mechanic services. The recipient could simply talk to their case worker to be sure that there is money available. The mechanic could do the work, confident that their pay will be on its way in a day or two.
• Home healthcare workers would be a great addition to any community.
• Daycare centers for children of welfare recipients. Each welfare community should have one of these, as well as a couple of babysitters in case families do not want their children in a daycare setting. This is very important. It is also very important that these babysitters are paid at the same rate as the providers at any daycare center. One ‘apartment’ can be dedicated to the daycare center. With a three bedroom daycare center, there would be plenty of room for an office, and for nap time. The person running the show, as well as the people working under him or her, should all be welfare recipients/former welfare recipients.
• Lawn maintenance and other yard care. Yep. Here is an easy one for welfare recipients. While living in low-income housing, I noticed that there were usually three people working this once a week for the eight available apartments. There is no reason why welfare recipients cannot do this job, even if they use the low-income communities machinery.
• Painting, inside and out. I believe that I made my views on this clear in the last article.
• Snow removal can be done by those who do the lawn care, therefore providing them with winter work. They would also be responsible for winter and spring preparations: Getting homes, gardens, etc., ready for the seasonal changes. This would extend to shoveling for those who cannot.
• Cleaning when someone moves out. Why would we hire a professional for this. There is no reason why each community cannot have one welfare recipient who can do this. And yes, she/he can clean the carpets as well.
• Maintenance workers. This may require professional training. I am not sure.
• The same thing applies to plumbers and electricians.

***

Here are some other ideas for jobs that welfare recipients could do in their low-income communities:

 

• Seasonal decorating. We all like for our homes and communities to look nice for all of the different holidays and seasons. Keeping in mind the holidays and sabbats of all of the people in residence, someone, or a few people, could be decorating the community.
• Each community should have one person who composts. This compost would be available to the community members, and the community members would be required to donate their compostable materials. To go along with this, it wouldn’t hurt anything if this person also had rabbits, and possibly hens, to help the compost bins along. They would obviously have to read up on everything on composting, and understand when to add animal droppings to the compost.
• Someone with a pick-up truck could make it possible for the community to recycle everything possible, by delivering the recyclables to the closest recycling center.

***

Every low-income community should have a way to earn money. This would, again, provide jobs to welfare recipients. There are many ideas out there for businesses for such a purpose. As a matter-of-fact, it would do each community good to incorporate as many of these (or their own) ideas into their communities as possible.

 

Here are the ideas that I have come up with:

 

• Tax preparation. Each community may only need one, and this person can go to school for the position.
• Thrift and/or consignment shop – not just for clothing and toys.
• Used book store.
• A general store/small grocery store.
• Farmers.
• A diner.

***

Landlords would live nearby, so the main office would be within or right outside of the community. Here again, the employees would be hired from inside the community.

 

Think about how much experience these people would be getting. Experience that would be helpful in getting jobs outside of the community. It would give them each a leg up. They would have the opportunity to prove that they are mature, responsible adults, who will take any job that they have seriously.

 

Another option for jobs is a small community based school which I will discuss in a future article.

 

Shannon

Helping Welfare Recipients To Take Care of Their Own

I was sitting here this morning trying to decide on what topic I feel is the most important to discuss in today’s Mainely Thoughts blog. At first, I couldn’t think of anything that may be of interest. Then, a memory of something that occurred during the recent presidential election came back to me.

My sisters friend had e-mailed her some information on both McCain and Obama. Her friend, wanting McCain to win, gave some very harsh opinions of welfare recipients.

She said that she would rather support the disabled people because there are too many welfare recipients who take unfair advantage of the ’system’.

This brought back to me the number of welfare recipients that Maine’s Department of Health and Human Services has taken unfair advantage of. How many people have almost lost their homes, myself included, and everything that they had because of something that was beyond their control?

It also made me think of something else. I have known a lot of welfare recipients, as well as many disability recipients. As far as I can tell, there are more disability recipients taking advantage of the ’system’ than there are welfare recipients  doing the same. That, of course, is just an opinion on my part, and I know plenty of disability and welfare recipients who truly do need the help.

This all, by the way, made me wonder about how welfare recipients can truly begin helping their own. Our ’system’ has not worked for a long time, if it ever did (which I would have no idea about). I receive partial benefits ($93.00 Foodstamps a month, as MaineCare), though I used to receive full benefits. I also remember almost losing everything because of the’system’.

I’m not really sure if my ideas would work, though I did run them by an ASPIRE worker years ago who thought that at least some of them would be helpful.

At any rate, this series of articles is going to be about more of a plan to help welfare recipients, instead of pushing them out before they are ready. After all, how can you truly help someone if they aren’t really given a fair chance.

Just over the last few years, there has been a real need for a truly helpful welfare system. One that concentrates on helping the families and not pushing them out as fast as they can. Look at all of the added people out of work. There are already more people out there looking for jobs than there are jobs to be had.

How can the Department of Health and Human Services take away the benefits of welfare recipients when a lot, if not most, of them do not even stand a real chance of getting a job that will support them and their children?

Not only this, but the ‘transitioning’ phase is unfair to the recipient as well, not to mention the childcare provider. As a childcare provider myself, why should I have to wait one to three months to get paid for my work. They already do not pay me enough. How am I supposed to pay my bills. For that matter, if I were getting paid a fair on a regular basis, I may not even need the Foodstamps at all, and I could make bigger co-payments for my prescriptions and medical appointments, therefore saving others money. I could be more self-sufficient,

It seems as though I am being punished for having a kind heart and wanting to help out other welfare recipients. Hmmm…something is amiss here.

I am not afraid of work, after all. I quite enjoy it. And I would even work outside the home, for someone else, if I could catch a break when I needed it – instead of after I have already agreed to babysit for a couple of families. I would certainly make a lot more money.

Let me put it this way. It is not uncommon for me to work anywhere from 30 to 63 hours a week babysitting. If I were being paid minimum wage, I would be making more than I am now, though even that is not a fair wage for someone who has been providing childcare for as many years as I have been. So, I bring in from $100.00 to $155.00 per week. This puts me at:

30 hours for $100.00 = $3.33 an hour

63 hours for $155.00 = $2.46 an hour

Those are the averages. Why? Because I cannot be paid the ‘going rate’ through Penquis or ASPIRE. (By the way, these are the totals after the required parent fees are paid). I also can only be paid for so many hours of work.

By the way, I do make more money when I can, bringing in more children. Without a license, you can only provide care for two children not related to you at a time (and how many of your realtives children that you want),  so you are still not making much an hour, and have to work a lot of extra hours to be paid a half-decent wage. Unfortunately, it is not really a half-decent wage for the number of hours you are working.

To be clear, I have worked outside of the home in the past: Housekeeping, blueberry factory work, Labree’s, Dunkin’ Donuts…Childcare is a harder job than all of those jobs were. By those standards alone, I should be getting paid much more.

Most of the welfare recipients that I know would like to be working. Many have been looking for a job for months and have been unable to find one. It is not that they are not qualified, it is just that there are not enough jobs to be had. Too many places of business are closing down. It is no ones fault.

Some things interest me. Especially with low-income housing. Why is it that they will only pay ‘professionals’ to do the jobs that need to be done? For instance, apartments get painted after so many years. Why not pay a welfare recipient to do this rather than hiring a professional? I promise, we can do just as good as they can.

As a matter of fact, when my apartment needed painting I had to go through the hassle of moving and packing things up in all of the rooms. My little girls and I had to stay outside all day long, and leave all of the windows open that night in order for them to paint. And, when they were done (these ‘professionals’) we walked through the apartment expecting this great paint job, only to be sadly disappointed. It was not a very good job done.

Later on, I purchased a trailer. We painted the rooms ourselves and, with no prior experience, did a better job than those professional painters had done. Makes one wonder.

So, my second article in this series will deal with welfare recipients and work opportunities.

Have a nice day.

Shannon