Live United

I've found a common theme among several of the VISTAs I know. At the end of the day, we have a hard time "turning off" our brains. We go over and over our work in our minds, trying to come up with innovative solutions for challenging problems. And today has been no exception.

Today I attended the Impact Council Summit put on by the Butler County United Way. The summit was designed to provide a place for professionals in a variety of social service agencies to come together and address major issues concerning poverty in our community. Because this was my first summit, I wasn't sure what to expect. I'm new to this scene, so I anticipated doing a lot of listening and note-taking, with mild participation on my part.

But that wasn't the case.

Instead, the summit was set up in the "World Cafe" model, in which every person is expected to contribute to small discussions held at tables around the room. No passive listening here. In 30 minute allotments, the tables were to generate all of their concerns for each topic provided, which were recorded by a scribe. From that list, the group was to then reach a consensus on their top two concerns, which were later compiled into a master list from all of the tables' responses. Participants then moved to a new table with new people and continued on to the next topic, repeating the process.

The topics up for discussion were as follows: Income and Social Services, Housing, Education, Family Expenses, and Senior Citizens. Not being a particularly quiet or shy person, I had no problems contributing to these discussions. In fact, I wonder now if I talked too much! As the group analyzed charts and data surrounding each topic, I found myself not only contributing general facts about the issues, but also sharing quite a bit about my personal experiences as an AmeriCorps*VISTA in poverty. And people listened! It was great to be included in this summit, and I never expected my voice to be valued quite so much among top leaders in the community.

At the end of the day, the top two concerns generated by each table on each topic were then handed over to United Way staff and posted on large sheets around the room. We all received ballots and were asked to individually vote on what we considered our top two concerns from each of the five master lists. Once we voted, we were free to leave and learn the results later, but Tina and I (and a few others) decided to stick around and wait for the final tally. About 20 minutes later, the votes were in.

Regarding housing, the concerns were primarily:

1. A lack of affordable housing, and
2. That families must sacrifice basic needs to meet the rising costs of housing.

Regarding education, participants were concerned about:

1. A general unavailability of early intervention services, and

2. A low reading proficiency among students.

Regarding both Family Expenses AND Income & Social Services, the concerns were the same:

1. A lack of jobs that pay a living wage, as well as

2. A lack of public transportation.

And when it comes to Senior Citizens, the concerns were:

1. An increase in demand for services, and

2. A lack of public [accessible] transportation.

It seems that the concerns are fairly clear, so now I suppose the question is, what do we do about it? Where do we go from here? How can we actually impact these very issues?

I don't have all of the answers but I was struck by a few important points made throughout the day for county agencies to effectively address these concerns. First, the very agencies that came together today to talk about the issues must continue to come together to act on the issues. Each social service agency does great work, don't get me wrong. But I have noticed some disconnect among agencies meeting similar needs. At a time when resources are limited and demand is higher than ever, communication and collaboration are essential to efficiently serve the community. Today's summit was a great opportunity to form a central, core mission among agencies in the county.

Secondly--and I suppose this is something I have known for a while, but could only put words to after today's exercises--many social service agencies serve their clients from a middle-class mindset, expecting them to play by foreign middle-class rules to secure benefits and assistance. For example, many agencies expect their clients to arrive early or on time to appointments at their agencies, despite what may be a lack of reliable transportation to get there. Or caseworkers schedule appointments for their clients during business hours, but get frustrated that he/she is unsuccessful in holding down a job when fired for missing work for this very appointment (see my post "A field trip to JFS" for more on this issue).

People today seemed to agree that these fragmented practices contribute to many people in poverty falling through the cracks and remaining in poverty. Our agencies must address this reality, which might mean a shift in how we work with people in poverty. We need to meet people where they are, and that requires a genuine understanding of their priorities and way of life. It might take non-traditional measures, such as evening hours, home visits, and policy changes, to name a few, to fully meet the needs of clients in poverty. I believe that if social services professionals can internalize this discrepancy and respond accordingly, we will see a tremendous change in the quality of service we provide to people in poverty, resulting in a significant, lasting impact on the community as a whole.