It is easy to despair over the persistence of black poverty. The social problem that just won't go away has resisted even the election of our first black president. The depth and complexity of its causes leads, understandably, to indifference born of frustration. That makes what's going on under the aegis of the Atlanta Housing Authority (AHA) and its reformist leader, Renee Glover, so unusual - and so hopeful. Not only has Ms. Glover demolished virtually all of the city's poverty- and crime-ridden public-housing projects, but she also has initiated large-scale individual interventions in the lives of the black poor that hold the promise of actually reducing the ranks of the underclass. The immodest but appropriate name for her work: "human transformation."
The context is this. Since taking over the AHA in 1994, Ms. Glover has transformed the authority, whose nearly 50,000 tenants are more than 98 percent black. To remain a public-housing tenant - either in a new mixed-income development or in a private apartment paid for by a housing voucher - one must agree to a work requirement. It is in helping tenants fulfill that requirement that the story of human transformation has unfolded.
The troops in this war on dependency are employees of the Integral Youth and Family Project, a for-profit subsidiary of the leading private developer of complexes to replace Atlanta's projects. The employees of this sort of Peace Corps for the underclass are called "family support coordinators" (FSCs) and they are virtually all blacks in their 20s and early 30s. Some have made the journey out of public housing themselves. Kenya Tyson went from Atlanta's Harris Homes to Morehouse College and counsels families who lived in the now-demolished Harris. Teaera Raines was raised by her grandparents in Macon, Ga., after her parents succumbed to drug abuse; she went on to get a master's degree in management from Troy University.
One senses in the group the same spirit of pragmatic idealism that characterizes Teach for America and the KIPP Schools: the belief that people whom others have written off can be reached. Every day, the FSCs fan out in their own cars to visit three or four households relocated from the demolished projects. They give their cell-phone numbers to their "clients" and understand themselves to be on call at all times - including when the call concerns an angry boyfriend, domestic violence or where to find shelter with the kids at midnight. Read the rest>>
DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
7 comments:
Great to see a story that highlights the tough work on the ground that most blacks are out here doing day to day. Another example of what happens when we drop the hyperbole from both sides (evil whitey vs. lazy black moocher) and get down to the nuts and bolts of the problem.
The plight of poor blacks in this country will not improve until the hard reality is addressed--that social welfare handouts creates a form of slavery in itself. Over and over and over again it has played out that hard work, accountabiity and a feeling of accomplishment in a free market system is what lifts people out of poverty.Not Affirmative Action and all of the other programs that reward substandard performance. How long has the social welfare handouts been going on? Any improvement in black poverty? Take a good hard look at Detroit, and Chicago to see the results of Liberal Union owned Democrat owned cities and think before you vote.
12:43, actually there has been major improvements in black poverty from levels seen during the mid 1900's. And the black middle and upper class are larger than ever before.
It's easy to oversimplify the problem. While there are abuses of the system by people of all races, most people have either used these programs to get by during their time of need (like during this recession) or have used other programs as a stepping stone into the middle and upper class (such as many current black home owners). Don't confuse the entrenched poverty seen in some black communities with the story of the majority of black americans.
"...most people have...used these programs to get by during their time of need..." what??? really??? define "most"...and why do many urban areas have GENERATIONS of families (I'm talking about MILLIONS of people) that have been in public housing, if "most" just used them to "get by"....sounds like rationalization to me to justify some "feel good" reasoning about welfare and housing. Even Obama's aunt was (and still is) on the public dole for 10 YEARS. The waiting list for public housing in just about every city you can name is years long. Why? You KNOW why....being on public assistance (like being single and pregnant) USED to be something one was ashamed of...now, like so many other moral failures, its something to be proud of....people whip out the "independence card" (LOL!!) like its a platinum Master Card. And have no problem saying "I gots 4 kids" (and no job or husband)...I'm glad to see SOME kind of effort to change this mindset, but there is a LONG LONG road to travel here. I wish this lady the very best of luck, but my feeling is she's lucky not to have been murdered yet.
Her efforts are noble,but what about the thousands of hard working people in this country who have no homes due to foreclosure or other housing issues,those who SHOULD be benefitting from assistance but cannot get it because they work and/or because the waiting lists for affordable housing are clogged by 3rd and 4th generations of habitual "non-workers"? Give them some help.
Imclaim, you always come with overarching rants that lack any hard facts. Only perception.
7:54 it is not "perception"....how many people actually move OUT of free or almost free housing?Really?How many of these projects have 3 or 4 generations under the same roof?You are either very naive or very liberal.
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