I have a friend who works at a homeless shelter for families with children. The current waiting list at this shelter is over 50 families. Now, think about that for a minute. I did not say homeless men, nor did I say homeless women. I said homeless families. That means men, women and children. These are good people that have hit hard times. Since the beginning of the Great Recession the demographic of the homeless has changed. It is no longer the high school drop out, substance abuser or someone born into deep poverty. Today, people with solid jobs and college degrees have joined the ranks of the homeless.
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To be proactive to the times, the agency she works at has expanded housing programs to help more families move into housing. Their success rate is over 90% with families obtaining and maintaining stable housing. They currently turn away around five hundred families per year due to lack of capacity…that's over fifteen hundred people here in Madison, Wisconsin every year.
What follows are the words of Cyndi Wood, a development director at a local Madison, Wisconsin homeless shelter, a friend of mine and fellow Madison East High School Alumni. I am editing a bit as this was a Facebook status and series of comments, but the content is mostly as she wrote it. This is not an official statement of any organization, just the words of a very frustrated person who works with the homeless. This is reprinted with her permission.
At this time there are over six hundred homeless children enrolled the Madison Metropolitan School District. If these children are lucky enough to have parents that own a car, they are unlucky enough to be sleeping in it tonight (Editors note: keep in mind, this is Wisconsin, it is not warm at night here from late September until sometime in late May). Children are going to bed hungry tonight, and yes, they will wake up hungry too. School-age children, if they are even enrolled in school, will get breakfast tomorrow morning, the younger children probably won’t.
The cuts that are in Scott Walker’s "budget repair bill" are going to be devastating for families in housing and trying to get into housing. People are trying to get back on their feet and become self-sufficient. Between cutting W2, Badgercare and Earned Income Credit, a few major targets in this bill, I anticipate return customers and a whole new demographic of homeless. In 5 years I have never seen any of our families return back to our shelter other than to volunteer and help other families.
The decisions being made by the current Republican Majority is, simply put, irresponsible, will perpetuate poverty and with that comes a whole new set of issues. I am quite certain that Scott Walker, the Fitzgerald brothers or any of the other Republicans in our legislature have never had to make hard choices between diapers for their baby or food on the table. Paying rent/mortgage or repairing a car so they can get to work. They have never had to tell their child they do not know what is going to be for dinner, let alone tell them they do not know where they will sleep tonight.
I am quite certain that while Scott Walker, the Fitzgerald brothers and the rest of the Republicans in the Wisconsin legislature are asleep in their warm comfy beds, dreaming up their next attack on the poor and how to save a buck for their next latte. I will be looking for ways to fund our programs to help more families with children.
This shows that Scott Walker’s budget is not about Wisconsin’s fiscal health. It is about the twisted Republican logic that seems to think that if you are homeless or in poverty it is your fault. Instead of “shared sacrifice” Scott Walker and his Republican colleagues are giving away billions of dollars to corporations by taking away from the middle class and those most vulnerable in our society, the poor. I hope that Scott Walker and the Republican party realize at some point that a society is judged not on its wealth, but in how that wealth is used to care for the most vulnerable in that society.
A note to Cyndi, Mr. McPike would be proud to know that a Purgolder is making such a difference in our community.
I will be around for awhile to comment, but will be leaving to attend a fundraiser for this organization around 6ish.
I hate to do this is a diary like this...but, please, if you have not already, vote for me so that I can win a Netroots Nation Scholarship.