Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Daja Hearn Blog Post #3



The first section I chose to discuss was titled big, hairy, audacious goals. This section of the book discussed three different people JoAnne Page, David Onek, and Martha Sanchez who discussed their views on how to reduce poverty. JoAnne was one who wanted to break the cycle of poverty involving individuals who were addicts, ones with mental illnesses, individuals with disabilities like HIV/ AIDS, and with host of dysfunctions. She is one of New York City’s advocates for the poor, the addicted and the incarcerated. She at first would set up transitional housing centers for men and woman returning to the community that had been in prison. These centers made a huge difference in these individual’s lives. Examples on how this impacted these individuals in a positive way include helping them find jobs, keeping them off of drugs, and helping them move into their own apartments. No matter your struggle or if you had a contagious disease she would not hesitate to hug or shake your hand. To these individuals having JoAnne showed them they could trust someone and also could talk to her about anything they might be enduring. Castle transitional housing center is a center that JoAnne’s organization build for ex- prisoners, many of which had an addiction to some kind of narcotic. Within this section about JoAnne it talks about a man by the name of Francisco who used this Castle center to get back on his feet, because he said he was tired of being tired. This facility made him get back on his feet, provided him with a job, place to live, and be able to purchase items with his extra money that he could not before due to his spending his extra on drugs. David Onek’s approach to reduce poverty was about expanding specialized courts.  For example if you were to get in trouble with the law for an addiction then you would go to a drug court. He discussed how expensive it was to incarcerate someone for a yearly period when the money used to do so could go towards places to help these individuals with their specific situations. Martha Sanchez was the third person who discussed her issues with poverty. She was an activist in L.A. She fought for the right of for children who were classified as poor to get the same education as the more affluent peers did. The example given from her was that she fought for a metal plant company to be relocated and torn down, because the chemicals were harming the children, causing them to miss more school than attending because of nose bleeds and getting sick. Martha got this passed and in her efforts there was a grant given to convert the old factory into an ambitious affordable housing complex.. Also out of this a better environment around the school was improved causing a healthier environment for the children with cleaner air. I feel this section of the book was within the text to bring awareness on all the possibilities that can help people in poverty. Also not only help them, but reduce the poverty line. Providing stable environments like the Castel help get individuals back on their feet, look at Mr. Ortega.
Putting the Brakes on Homelessness was the second section of the book I chose to discuss. This section discussed how it is more likely for children in the foster care system to be a individual of homelessness because their resources are cut off starting at age 18. The section suggested that if states could provide these individuals in the foster care system some support once they reach the age of 18 and no longer in the foster system then there is a more than likely chance they would be able to make it on their own. Another part of this section discussed ways to help the prevention of foreclosure. David Grossman and his students from Harvard school created this legal aid program. This is where these students and the professor contact foreclosure victims, give them legal advice and sometimes represent them in court during hearings to determine if they would be able to stay in their homes. Another program was discussed about how the government can take over the payments so you do not have to go through a private agency. This would allow you to save and pay on the house you are currently living in. This is a five year program and as the example in the book gives that a person who owes 100,000 on their home the government would allow them to 1,000 each month for rent which only 500 would go towards rent and the other 500 would go towards a savings. After this five year time span the individual will have 30,000 saved up which will then be able to be put towards their house and lowering their monthly house payments so instead of paying 100,000 loan they would be paying only a 70,000 loan. I feel this is included within this text because it shows multiple ways to help assist people with the ability to own their own homes. It also brings awareness that something more concrete needs to be done about the foster care population after they reach the age of 18 and losing all of the resources they once had. If we were to look at the development of adolescents it would show that 18 years of age these young adolescents are still developing and need the extra assistance they were given within their foster homes.

The third section I chose to blog about was titled better schools, better communities. This sections discussed different parts of the United States that implement different school programs for the disadvantaged children. It stated within this section that you have the individuals that participate in the 100 meter race and sprint down open lanes and then you have the other individuals who jump a series of hurdles.  This is the main focus of this section there are many families out there who are able to sprint the open lane, but then you have other families that have to jump many hurdles just to get their children to school, provide proper clothing, and all of the other basics they need. In some places it take a major star like Agassi or Johnson in order for a charter school to open. It talked about how not only do the teachers need to go that extra mile, but there also needs to be external support as well outside of the home. A few examples include a supportive community, and family/friends to use a resources. This section gives example on how to reduce the differences between the ones who can afford schools and the disadvantaged children. In Milwaukee they came up with an anti-truancy program. They enforced this by threaten the parents with fines, in extreme cases facing jail time. This worked because the rate was nearly cut by 20%. This brings awareness to how the schools who face the more disadvantaged problems get treated and looked at. It shows that parents of these communities are not a involved in their children’s life and how the teachers, and materials they are given are the bare minimum. When looking at the schools of a more advantages community it is the opposite they are provided with teachers who care about students and the success they make, and also are provided with more materials that are useful. This sections was in here to bring awareness about his subject as well as to show that there is a big difference that should be, and the ones who are suffering are the disadvantaged children who in the end would help them achieve better in society.

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