Working Poor...or Hardly Working? (DRAFT #2)

Mazen Hassan

Introduction to Journalism

Food Stamp/Welfare Collaboration Project

4/20/2011

Working Poor…Or Hardly Working?

Struggling with finances to live in this expensive city is nothing new to most New Yorkers. Although, having to worry daily about where to obtain your sustenance just to survive is not something most people are forced to think about. For those living off of food stamps and public assistance however, it is not only a day-to-day concern – it is a way of life.

“’Working poor?’ That sounds like name calling, and it is very insulting. It is basically saying that no matter how hard I work to get myself out of my current situation, I will always be looked at as ‘one of them’ – those poor, pathetic bums. I may not be wealthy…but I am rich in spirit– and no one can take that from me.”

Ariashley Pichardo 24, temp employee, has been on the welfare, food stamp, and public assistance program for over three years now, and is one of over two million people in New York City whose very lives depend on the diminutive amount of money they receive each month to survive.

“Do I feel that food stamps actually help me out and benefit my situation? It’s a really hard tossup. I had to go through so much red tape and an overwhelming amount of paper work just to be able to receive the minimal amount of money I collect.”

Many get confused as to the process of obtaining food stamps, as not every person is eligible regardless of how desperate their situation may be. On the Social Security government website (ssa.gov), it does state that anyone can apply for food stamps, but you must meet very specific criteria to actually obtain aid. It is a combined factor of various components - residency, age and birth date, refugee and parolee standing, any allegations of domestic abuse on women and children, immigration status, and financial amount of positions and resources within the home. These are only the first issues prospective applicants have with food stamps, as many of these individuals in need do not know how to go about applying and actually receiving the aid, and it seems that going to the food stamp counselors doesn’t always quell those concerns.

“It’s already an embarrassing enough situation for me to be in, and when they make you jump through so many obstacles, it makes you just want to give up because it is so mentally draining,” Pichardo said. “I feel like I am constantly being judged and looked down upon just to get groceries to feed myself, a basic human necessity…it’s really sad.”

“I would be lying if I said that the measly $180 I receive every month did not help me out, as its $180 I didn’t have before,” Pichardo said, agreeing that although it may be emotionally taxing, it is obviously financially beneficial. “It also allows me to budget myself better to get by for the month. I just wonder how many more years this is going to continue on for…I’m scared every day.”

According to the New York City Center for Economic Opportunity, applicants for food stamps have been rapidly growing over the past few years. In 2008 it was estimated that 773,634 people were on food stamps; in 2009 the number ballooned to 875,458.

Though it may be difficult to fathom that the program is actually working, considering the number of people in need of help has severely increased instead of decreased over the years, so it must mean that the program must be doing something right - right? According to Christine D’Onofrio, senior researcher at The Center for Economic Opportunity, who helped write the report – yes.

“Food stamps serve two purposes from all perspectives,” D’Onofrio said. “The first, very obviously, is combating hunger. The other is that if there are people who are near the poverty line, something like food stamps can make the difference between them not being considered poor because they do have that extra asset in their household.”

D’onofrio detailed what requirements one must meet in order to be deemed “poor.” “The official poverty measure put forth by the Federal Government basically says ‘let’s look at the cost of the most basic meal plan we can define (that provides minimum nutritional support) and we will assume that the cost of that plan is a third of the income needed to survive.’ That basic ‘basket’ of food (bread, water, cheese, meat, fruit, vegetable) is what you would need. If you have less than that you are ‘poor,’ if you have more than that you’re ‘not poor.’” Though D’onofrio admits the system is faulty, and most definitely out of date as to what the current lifestyle and median necessity to live in New York City is.

“The problem is that that measure was developed in the 1960 when most of people’s income would go towards food. Now that’s nowhere near the truth. Now only 8-10% of your income goes to food. So to say that you’re “not poor” just because you have three times what you need for food is not a very useful measure [in 2011].”

D’onofrio points out that although food is obviously a primary concern when it comes to the poor, there are various other factors of living and expenses in general that people often fail to recall. “We need to take into account what people would need to pay for housing, food, utilities, clothing, and things like that. Our ‘what people need’ is a very different poverty line than what the official poverty measure is.”

She ties in the actual meaning of the “working poor”, saying that “that term actually has a very specific meaning...It implies the fact that a person is working, earning a wage that could even be full time. But the amount of money that the person earns does not put him or her above the poverty line. You might work more than one job at minimum wage and you will still be below the official poverty line. So the working poor are people who are working for a living but statistically are classified as “poor”.

Though not everybody agrees with this viewpoint. “To me, the term ‘working poor’ is essentially trying to create a caste system within poverty lines, which is the opposite of what we strive to do here,” said Chantall Ellison, program coordinator at America Works, (a non-for-profit organization that helps to aid people struck by poverty with job positions, food and clothing drives and shelters, etc.). “We believe that the best way to actually aid somebody out of poverty is to educate them, to facilitate positive programs and safe environments for them to come to, and to get them real actual “private sector” jobs.”

And she’s 100% right about the effectiveness of that approach and of the company’s mission, as The New York State Department of Labor concluded in a study that 88% of people placed in job positions by America Works have remained off of welfare three years later.

Ellison herself has seen firsthand what a difference the program makes with her clientele. “I have seen my clients come in here with nothing – no money, clothes, shelter, family/friends, no goals/dreams, no desire, no promise, not even a drive or willingness to change because they have just been beat down so many times.”

Though after a few months within the program, not only receiving food stamps and metro cards, but intensive seminars on building your resume, proper etiquette in a work place, and fundamental counseling, Ellison says “I have seen them change 360 degrees – landing good paying jobs, finding decent apartments. I have seen the growth within themselves, as they come back confident, radiant, and brimming with hope and a new found sense of self.” Still, she feels there is room for improvement to better serve the system and the people. “For example, we only take certain types of clients (I.E. court-mandated, children who get turned away from foster care, people released from prison, etc.,), so I think it would be amazing to open up more, larger facilities to accommodate everyone and anyone who needs help.”

So we now know food stamps do help people, but the system is defective and needs vast and drastic changes and improvements to better serve the public.

Pichardo, who has been on the food stamp program for over three years, believes that more options (i.e. different organizations, requirements, etc.) is a part of it, and also believes that the people she must work and deal with daily to obtain their help is an imperative factor as well. “Hiring better, more professional, and kinder staff is important, as it is obviously a very emotionally charged and sad situation, it would help to work with someone who understands what I’m going through and someone who actually wants to help people in need.”

Ellison, who has been working with a public assistance program for five years, believes more variety (instead of making the requirements so rigid) of programs and better accessibility (in finding and procuring aid) is the key. “I feel that implementing more programs like America Works to not only give people food stamps, but teach them to be self-sufficient, find jobs and create their own destiny will change lives. Also opening up more safe soup kitchens, food banks, and shelters/living accommodations would help a lot.”

She tears up when speaking about her clients, “these are people – human beings. They have nothing to eat, nowhere to live, and no one to turn to. What if that was you? Or someone close to you in that position – wouldn’t you want someone to reach out and help them? It takes such a small effort (and it doesn’t have to be financial) on one person’s behalf that could entirely change another person’s entire life.”

Pichardo, who has been on the food stamp and public assistance program “way longer than I ever expected or wanted to be,” couldn’t agree more. “I don’t want to be seen as another typical NYC statistic of a Dominican girl from the hood on welfare. I don’t have any children, I don’t do drugs, I’m intelligent, educated, and am filled with so many hopes and dreams...but it’s been 3 years since I’ve started being on food stamps, and not much has changed. I don’t think people realize how much this issue of food, hunger, and poverty eats away at you every day, and surrounds your life with a death-hold grip.”

Yet again, a cycle is put into play, as the median is divided between food stamps helping citizens…but not helping out enough. If all of these thoughts, accounts, and ideas from various people involved in the program are heard and implemented, a drastic, positive overhaul and revision could potentially be the cure to end poverty once and for all in New York City.

Until then, participants will just have to eagerly (and humbly) anticipate their checks to survive. “I just have to wait on the $180 every month to get by…and I am grateful for that for the time being,” Pichardo said with a glimmer of hope in her eye. “Hopefully one day, I won’t need it whatsoever…and that amount will seem like chump change to me. God…I can’t wait for that day.”