Seccombe, Chapter #2

In Chapter 2 Seccombe looked at the explanations of poverty and welfare use. She argues the individual perspective focuses on the achievement of the individual. Suggesting that they are responsible to be successful or put themselves in a bad economic position. However, she says that the inequalities are found in social structure like the labor market, families and government which can affect out economic position. And worst they are not gender neutral but present in the male experience. I agree with Seccombe when she says that individualism is not gender neutral and gender interacts with social inequality, poverty and welfare .The reality of life is that we are destine to born into a social class or status, some people are lucky and some are not. Depending of the class, family, color r race and race one is, will determine the ore chances to be successful or bad economic position. (Not everyone).

Seccombe, chapter #3

In this chapter Seccombe talks about many reason that the welfare is stigmatized is because is associate primary by African Americans. One of this reason is that Welfare has become racial because wrongfully whites believe this is only been used by African American. Welfare is primary serving African American mothers who have never married. I believe the reason why the welfare is stigmatized is not because of how many black, Hispanic or perhaps whites uses the service instead is because is being abused. It can be anyone from any race. I have never been in welfare but I assume is not too hard to get into. So I guess for those that want to take advantage f welfare is very easy to do it. On the other hand, America tries to say that all races are treated equally, but in reality is that inequality still prevalence in America society and that why whites may not be pat of the welfare system as much as minorities. They are not victims of inequalities but they feel they are victimize by policies of “reverse discrimination”

Entry 3 Students Review

REVIEW 1
I read Franca F. bolg http://gooch-franca.blogspot.com/ on March 17. I found her blog very interesting and the picture she has as introduction is very dramatic; little girl opening the fridge in deplorable conditions. I like the lay out of the blog very clean, neat and it flows. I also notice she has very good points and suggestion on the chapters of Seccombe. Suggesting that people shouldn’t abuse the welfare system and people without GED should get free classes so they can at least find a decent job. I like the idea of volunteering with a charity called Grace House. I think this is a great idea of Franca and her colleagues to focus on the women who have been dismissed from corrections. Overall I think Franca’s blog is great, clear, concise and colorful.

REVIEW 2
The second blog I decided to comment on was Zlatan F. http://bhfman.blogspot.com/ I read it on March 17. I though my blog was good but this guy blog is awesome. Very well put together , a lot of visuals, good statistics information and he took the time to put the cover of the book ‘So you thin you I drive a Cadillac?’ I this is awesome tool for the chapter responses. I also think his action project is good, his group wants to get involve in many thinks like register the clients and front desk, answering phones, servicng food, etc. I think is necessary to be involve in things liked this group is going to do so we can understand poverty. in general, Zlatan’s blog is excellent.

ENTRY 4 Action project Details

There are four members in my group including me; their names are Adam, Kenneth, and Scott. Our action project is going to be with West Suburban Pads. West Suburban Pads is located in 1851 South 9th Avenue Maywood, IL 60153. This organization offers support in these areas: Emergency Shelter, Supportive Services, Supportive Housing, Homeless Prevention. Programs range from basic food and shelter, to support services, case management, temporary housing for working families, couples, and single adults, permanent housing for persons disabled by mental illness, and the prevention of homelessness. The reason we picked this organization is because we thought is a excellent learning experience for our group. We will be able to see firsthand the homelessness and hunger issues and learn what people do to help. We will also ask the staff why they chose this profession. Finally we will help PADS at there support center by assisting clients with various services like serving food and directing them to the computer labs and other areas. We will be volunteering at west suburban pads for two days 5 hours each day. The first day will consist of us getting to know the staff and observing what they do. Also, we will be asking the staff why they do what they do. The second day will be more hands on with the clients by assisting the clients with the everyday task that west suburban pads support center accomplishes. Also taking into account how the organization is run and its effectiveness. Our plans of documentation will be writing our experience in our paper and through a letter from the Shelter coordinator and support center manager. I also plan to video record a decent amount of this experience as well as take some pictures. I think by doing this we can show the class how we work interact with people suffering from poverty, the environment they live in a daily basis and how the organization helps them overcome hunger and poverty. I believe by picture and video documenting this can give our audience of what we did, rather than just write it down in a paper.

ENTRY 5 City presentation

 My city presentation was on Cleveland, Ohio we focused on unemployment, homeless, drug and substance abuse. According to a report on MSNBC on sep 2006. Cleveland was crushed by the loss of steel and other manufacturing jobs. Cleveland has ranked high for poverty before but never #1. A report from the U.S Census Bureau recently rated it has the nation’s poorest big city, putting it ahead of Detroit, Miami and Newark, N.J.

The mayor’s repot states that;
• 26,000 homeless in the Cleveland area

• 4,000 live in the street

• 29.50% of Cleveland population lives below poverty line.

• Unemployment is 12%

Another astounding statistic is drug-related deaths in Ohio soared 304 percent from 1999 to 2007, a trend attributed mostly to abuse of prescription pain medications called opioids. Only in recent years have federal health authorities realized that a rise in overdose deaths was due to prescription painkillers rather than street drugs. However the total number of drug users in Ohio is 42,000.


• Alcohol only 9,238
• Alcohol with secondary drug 8,494
• Cocaine (smoke) 6,270
• Cocaine (other root) 884
• Marijuana 3,070
• Heroin 3,070
• Meth 122


So as we can notice the city of Cleveland faces serious social problems of poverty and drug addiction. I think the reason Cleveland does not have a better service for homeless is because other cities have huge programs where they have a social worker visit the apartment or house of everyone who is being evicted and then work with that household to prevent them from going into the shelter system. They usually have a pool of funds available to help with security deposit or moving if necessary. The few hundred dollars spent on homelessness prevention does not even compare to the thousands of dollars it costs to house a family in an Emergency Shelter. If programs like the one I mentioned is implemented in Cleveland, can make the difference and reduce the number of homeless in the city and the streets.

Extra credit: A reflection paper

I decided to visit a social service since I was absent for Kimberly states visit. The place I visit was Inspiration Corporation also known as “Inspiration Café” located On Wilson and Broadway 4554 North Broadway (just around my job Truman College). I interviewed the director of Development and external relations Diane Pascal. She was very nice woman who has been working with the corporation for about 5 years. Her job is to coordinate housing, employment training, meal preparation and catering. I asked her how many people they provide service in any given day but I dint get an accurate number because she said they don’t keep track on that. However she share to me that they see al least 3,000 people a year. I thought that was a low number but I didn’t argue. I know there are a lot of homeless people in there because I work around the corner. She mentioned that Cafe guests are required to attend all meals, which provide daily structure in their lives. Through regular case management meetings, guests receive individualized counseling and support in identifying, monitoring, and achieving personal goals. She seemed to do a great job and I know mane people benefit form these services. My interview with Diane concluded with a hand shaking and we both returned to our great jobs to help succeed people and encourage them to keep on going in this hard society.