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 Rick Worboys and his wife Victoria live in Rochester. Rick is active in EMPOWER,
a local welfare rights
group. This is a story about one person’s
life on welfare, written by Bob Ingram
of EMPOWER.
When I got to Rick’s
place, there were
clothes draped on the
porch rails. Inside
clothes hang from various
lamps, furniture,
and curtain rods. He
hasn’t got a washer or
a dryer and has no
money for a
Laundromat. He and
his wife wash their
clothes in the bath tub
and hang them to dry any place they
can. One dilemma is that, with the temperature
at 6 degrees outside, the clothes outside are not going to dry.
They are going to freeze.
The other problem with washing clothes
in the bath tub is that there is about
$50.00 left to put toward the G&E (gas
and electric) bill. The current bill is
$170.00. Rick and Victoria try to make
up the difference by canning. They collect
cans and bottles from other people’s
garbage. They have a regular route.
People put out their garbage the night
before collection. Rick and Victoria
make their rounds once the garbage is
out. They get five cents a can and make
about $20.00 a month. They have a
score card on their living room wall with
the current can and bottle total.
The total G&E bill is $370.00. Within
a few weeks Rochester G&E will
threaten to shut off their service. Monroe
County DSS will pay their back
bill and recoup the amount from Rick
and Victoria’s grant. The maximum recoupment
is 15%.
They have no car.If they did there would
be no money for insurance, registration,
gas, or repairs. They have no bus fare.
Rick relies on a bus pass.
As a condition of getting welfare, Rick
has to attend substance abuse therapy
sessions three times a week. Rick gets
a daily bus pass to get to his therapy
sessions. He telephones the welfare
mandated insurance company to request
the bus pass. They verify the appointment
by phone with the care provider.
Then they mail Rick the bus pass.
Rick schedules his outside activities to
coincide with the bus pass days. If the
system fails and he has no way to get to
the therapy appointment, the therapist
notifies welfare of the missed appointment. Rick is sanctioned (i.e., cut off
welfare).
Benefits are restored once the welfare
worker straightens this out. Except that
it is impossible to reach welfare workers
by phone. Rick has been trying for
months to reach his worker to get his
G&E on voucher (paid direct from welfare
to G&E) with no success.
I wondered why welfare does not simply
issue him a monthly bus pass. What
price harassment? Rick and Victoria’s
story is all too typical of the challenge
of living on welfare.
Past
"Faces"
Craig Murphey, Community Organizer for Cathedral Community Cares (CCC) and West Harlem Action Network Against Poverty (WHANP)
Kathy Goldman, the founding director of Community Food Resource Center (now FoodChange)
Bill Ayres of World Hunger Year
Betsy Gotbaum NYC Public Advocate read >
Mark Quandt & the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York
Sr. Teresa Fitzgerald, Executive Director of Hour Children
Chelsea
Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)
Berenice
Katzen Cohen, Hunger Action NYS
University
Settlement
Jan
Jamroz, Catholic Charities of Long Island
Ed
Fowler, Neighbors Together (Brooklyn)
Jon
Greenbaum, Metro Justice (Rochester)
Br. Michael Harlan, Siena College-Franciscan
Center for Service & Advocacy (Albany)
WELFARE
MADE A DIFFERENCE- INVESTING IN PEOPLE TO END POVERTY
These
are the stories of real people from across New York State who have
struggled to move out of poverty with the help of welfare. Many
of these individuals are Hunger Action Network members, including
Board members. Their experiences, told in their own words, provide
evidence of what really helps families and individuals. The Welfare
Made A Difference National Campaign seeks to educate the
public on the virtues of a fair, supportive social welfare system
and the harmful impacts of punitive welfare policies.
Investing
in people can make a difference in their lives.
Investing
in people is money well spent.
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here for stories >>
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