Emilio's Blog Critique

The second blog I chose to critique was titled "Hunger and Homelessness" by Emilio B on March 18, 2010. The first thing I noticed was the black background which made everything on the page stick out. Also, I loved the quote he had put on the top of the page by Mother Theresa as it greatly relates to the topic of homelessness. His YouTube video titled "A Day in the Life of the Homeless" seemed to portray what homelessness and poverty is really like. It felt so real. There was a part in the video where a homeless man who lives under a bridge was saying he was scared of the guy who was taping the video. This was interesting because one would think it would have been the man taping the video who would be scared considering he was not in his own territory and that the homeless man would have felt more comfortable because he was in his familiar surroundings. The video showed men, women and children with real people telling their difficult stories as to how they got to where they are. It was an emotional video and at the end it was said that one of the homeless men who told their story was arrested for salvaging scrap metal that was found on the street. This shows reality which in this case is that the homeless are treated extremely unfair. There are many more pressing issues in which the police should be arresting people for instead of for collecting scrap metal. Additionally, Emilio had pictures of homeless people on his blog which really adds to the topic of homelessness. His page is not just filled with posts but also with pictures and videos which made it more interesting.

Lastly, Emilio's post on Seccombe ch.2 on Individualism is what I also chose to discuss on my blog. I had a different opinion on the discussion of Individualism in the text. I feel I more agreed with Seccombe than he did. He said motivation is extremely important when trying to get out of poverty and that the individual should be the first to act in finding means of improving their situation. He also said that unfortunately many lack this motivation and become accepting of their living conditions no matter how poor they are. I disagree with this. It's not about how motivated they are or aren't nor do I feel they become accepting of their situation. They are stuck in between a rock and a hard place because many times there is nothing they can do to get themselves out of poverty. It is because of the way our society is socially and economically structured which is why the poor become more poor and the rich become more rich. We treat the homeless as a burden when they should be a priority. Given their situation, I feel motivation has little to do with improving their problem.

Claudia's Blog Critique

The first blog I chose to Critique was titled "Hunger and Homelessness in America 2010" by Claudia C on March 18, 2010. The first thing that caught my eye when viewing Claudia's blog was her color combination. The title's of the posts are in a pastel green on top of a dark blue background with the posts being in white. Everything sticks out and is easy to read. The next thing that caught my attention is that she writes really well and gives thorough detail to each post she writes. I had no questions after reading what she wrote, as I feel she covered all the important points in regards to her topics. When she critiqued two of her classmate's blogs, she was honest and it was apparent she entirely read each one. She gave good advice and offered opinions in which I would agree with. For example, when she critiqued Clarence's blog she stated, "The minority population often lack quality education which leads to becoming socially and economically disadvantaged resulting in poverty." I could not agree with this comment more as I feel a quality education is one of the most vital necessities in life.
Claudia and her city group also had a great idea for their action project which is to observe and volunteer at the San Jose Obrero Mission Shelter which is a place that provides shelter to the homeless. Claudia seems to be very dedicated to volunteering for this shelter as she said she was going to visit homes in her neighborhood and ask for clothing donations. This is very thoughtful and shows she's willing to take that extra step to help out the homeless which is above and beyond what the action project asks for. Lastly, when explaining the poverty issues in St. Paul, Minnesota she states that there are 9,200 people without a home and that there is an 18.90% of unmet needs. This caught my attention because for the city of Boston (my city) I found that there were about 6,000 people without a home and that the percentage of unmet needs was about 20%. Although Boston had a higher percentage of unmet needs, it has a much lower number of people who are homeless. It was interesting to see how prevalent homelessness is in other cities, besides Boston. I thought 6,000 homeless people was a high number; however, I now see that poverty affects each city in its own way and some are worse off than others. It is of importance, in my opinion, to understand that homelessness occurs in all cities throughout our country.

Seccombe Ch.3- My Position on the Issue of Denial

I agree that all the forms of denial that Seccombe discusses exists upon welfare recipients. Not all recipients manage the stigma in the same way when using the denial strategy. Some women deny encounters of negative attidues towards them, some women suggest that people had been especially nice to them, some women seemed unaware of the stigma attached to welfare recipients, and other women avoided the stigma by avoiding people or places where stigma is likely to be encountered. Each woman manages the stigma in their own way which works best for them. They don't want to make themselves appear to be a victim of poverty to others. They just want to be treated in the same manner everyone else is treated. They don't want people staring and talking about them as they see them paying for groceries with food stamps. Due to all of this, they figure out the ways, which was already discussed, to prevent the stigma from further affecting their lives. The denial strategy entails that the women avoid and/or ignore the truth, which is the stigma attached to welfare. If this strategy helps them to feel more at ease with their given situation, then so be it. Although denial has to do with not facing reality, most of these women know the truth and reality about the stigma attached to welfare. Being in denial is a strategy that helps them cope with the problem.

Seccombe Ch. 3- One of Her Contentions

In Chapter 3 there is a section titled 'Managing Stigma' where Seccombe explains that many welfare recipients try to hide from others that they are receiving welfare because of the stigma that is attached to it. It is said that it is easy to hide it in some contexts, such as with friends or family; however, it's difficult in other contexts, such as in grocery stores when using food stamps. Seccombe states that there are four primary strategies for coping with the stigma attached to using welfare: denial, distancing themselves from other women who used welfare, blaming external forces and denying that using welfare was their fault, and extolling the importance of motherhood. This post is going to discuss more thoroughly the first strategy of denial.
It is stated that some women who receive welfare denied that they had encountered negative attitudes against them. Seccombe explains that denying that negative attitudes have occured prevents these women from feeling bad, guilty or embarassed. Seccombe also states that several women suggested that people had been especially kind to them when they revealed they were on welfare; however, this is not the case for everyone. In another important form of denial a few women seemed genuinely unaware of the stigma attached to welfare recipients. This is because they rarely interacted with people who weren't receiveing welfare (pg. 65). "These women likely lived in one of the several large housing projects, they associated primarily with other women who recieve welfare, and they shopped at the neighborhood store which is considered "user friendly" to welfare recipients...." (pg. 65). Also discussed was that a few women successfully avoided the stigma associated with welfare by avoiding people and/or places where they would be likely to encounter the stigma. Seccombe explains that welfare use may be viewed as something that is common to a small number of women. This is said to give the "general public the exaggerated and false notion, a racialized one, that the majority of welfare recipients live within a seperate subculture, with values that are at odds with those of hardworking Americans" (pg.65).

Seccombe Ch.2- My position on the issue of Individualism

I agree with Seccombe in everything she was saying on Individualism as it relates to gender, poverty and welfare. The concept of Individualism, as Seccombe mentioned, is an excuse for our country as to why the poor stay poor. It is claimed that we all have equal opportunity but that is far from the truth. The way our society is structured advantages some people at the expense of disadvantaging the rest. I agree that gender plays an important part in the whole notion of Individualism. It is not fair/right to say that a woman who is on welfare with two children is in that position because they are lazy and unmotivated, because the truth has nothing to do with laziness and motivation, it has to do with the fact that the woman's first priority is to care for her children which is in itself a full-time job. I say this because it is known and Seccombe mentions it as well, that woman with dependent children make up the vast majority of those who are on welfare. These women do not have the time to work a paying full-time job or the ability to go to school full-time because taking care of the children is of the upmost importance. Anyone who would say that taking care of a child does not require that much time or that taking care of a child should take back seat to attend school and/or work, does not understand what it is like to be a single parent trying to take care of their children as successfully as possible. Childrearing is a full-time job and that needs to be understood by more people.

Seccombe Ch.2- One of Her Contentions

Seccombe's section on 'Explanations of Poverty and Welfare Use" as it relates to the notion of Individualism, is what this post is going to focus on. Four explanations were discussed in this section: Individualism, Social Structuralism, Culture of Poverty and Fatalism. Seccombe's contention in this section is to provide a "fresh perspective by acknowledging the ways in which gender interacts with our explanations of social inequality, poverty, and welfare use" (pg.44). Although gender plays a role in each of the four explanations, I am going to thoroughly discuss the explanation of Individualism. Seccombe explains that Individualism suggests that individuals are responsible for their economic position in society and that opportunities are available to all of us who are willing to work hard and are motivated (pg. 45). It is thought from this perspective that all individuals have an equal opportunity to acquire the necessary skills and traits to move up the economic ladder, and that for the people who are in poverty or on welfare, it is their fault because they are too lazy and unmotivated. As Seccombe states, this perspective is reflected in our country's response to the poor. It's their scapegoat and their excuse as to why the poor stay poor. At the end of this section Seccombe explains how Individualism and gender are inter-related. She says that we are ignoring the critical social fact that the vast majority of welfare recipients are unmarried women with dependent children. "Given their daily parental responsibilities, tasks, and time constraints, they do not have the same opportunities to pull themselves up by their bootstraps as do other adults who are without children" (pg. 46). Seccombe says that to ignore the emotional and time commitment involved in taking care of dependent children, and to fail to recognize the ways in which caretaking can inhibit women's ability for social mobility, is to ignore the reality of many women's existence (pg. 46). In short, gender interacts with the idea of Individualism because many people fail to recognize that many people who are on welfare are women with children who need to be taken care of.

Action Project Details

I am in group #1 with Miguel, Franca and Clarence. For our action project we are going to be volunteering with Grace House which is a program that provides housing, emotional/spiritual support and professional counseling to women who are exiting the Illinois correction system. The women of Grace House have chosen to support the SOS Children's Village of Haiti by putting together a fundraiser which will take place on March 19, 2010 and will offer the public the option to order meals for lunch, dinner or both. The money the people spend on the food is what is going to be donated to the children's village. The SOS Children's Village is an independent non-governmental social development organization in which people work in countries and communities to help contribute to their development. This organization is active in 132 countries and territories worldwide. We are going to distribute a brochure to people explaining this fundraiser in great detail, which will hopefully encourage them to want to participate so Grace House can raise as much money as possible to help the children in Haiti.

Boston's Comprehensive Services- Poverty in the City Presentation- Part II

Because Boston did not provide enough/better/more comprehensive services in the city to help homelessness, the number of people experiencing homelessness increased four percent over the last year. Also, many families have lost their owned or rented housing through foreclosure. It seems as if the city allowed the homelessness problem to get as bad as it did before action started to take place. If action to prevent homelessness was in place from the beginning, Boston's homelessness problem may have not been as bad as it has been in recent times.
In response to Boston's increasing homelessness problem, the city launched a ten year plan to end homelessness, called 'Leading the Way Home', in early 2009. According to the Mayor's report, to reduce homelessness, city officials cite the need for more permanent supportive housing for persons with disabilities, more mainstream subsidized housing, and an increase in the number of high paying employment opportunities. It is also stated that city officials continue to seek new means for preventing homelessness; however, it is important to note that it still exists in high numbers and there are still many people who are living on the streets with nowhere to go.

BOSTON- Poverty in the city presentation- Part 1

The Mayor's Report for Boston, MA reported that the 2001 census counted 6,000 homeless people, including about 2,000 families. The report additionally explained that the number of people experiencing homelessness in Boston increased four percent over the last year, but with a decrease in street homelessness resulting from targeting housing efforts.
According to the www.mahomeless.org website, there are thirteen different individual shelters in the Boston, MA area. Some of the shelters cater only to men, some cater only to women and some to both men and women. Out of the thirteen shelters reported, there are 323 beds available for either men or women, 258 beds available for women only and 1,209 beds available for men only.
The Mayor's Report noted that 20.40% of people live below the poverty line meaning that their income does not cover their necessities.