A Volunteer in Service to America...or so they call me. I've committed 1 year of my life to the Americorps mission of "antipoverty". I tend to wonder if it wouldn't be more a service to America to be "propoverty" since our country seems to thrive so much on the the exploitation of others. But , being the positive person I am (right hanso?), I will abandon my cynicism here and simply share my VISTA experience.
It all started with CASA- Court Appointed Special Advocates for neglected and abused children. A well organized national association with quite a bit of money...unfortunately, the majority of volunteers happen to be upperclass KY white folk (simply because they are the only ones with 30 extra hours of time on their hands every month) many of whom spend more time expressing their disgust rather than learning the causes and complications of abuse and neglect within the home. The parent is the enemy, ripping the children out of the home is the only solution, and the CASA volunteer is the hero. Even in cases of mild neglect, Im concerned that prejudice against the "poor" family on behalf of the CASA may more harm for the child than a situation of non-intervention. So, in this instance, "antipoverty" is the word if one means "down with the poor"-don't get me wrong...some homes are not safe environments , but one should think twice before assuming foster care is in the best interests of a child. In any case, CASA felt that publications, grantwriting, speaking and fundraising were not in the best interests of the organization...leaving me with jack squat to do...and a meaningless existence.
Since November, THANK GOD (literally), I have been working up in Lexington at the East Seventh Street Center Kid's Cafe. We serve warm meals to children through an afterschool program in a low-income community. We are largely supported by a Lexington Church, but now exist under an umbrella non-profit with a free legal clinic and pharmacy. The Center is a good mission...in this case, "antipoverty" is "anti-illiteracy"....but it really comes down to working 40 hours a week trying to chase a child down and get them to take interest in a book for 5 min...heck, i'd even feel like i was battling literacy at this point if they took interest in the picture on the cover. My position is "TUTORING PROGRAM COORDINATOR", but i think the people we serve see me more as "The 'sweet' little white female who seems to have a preoccupation with children's homework"...basically, a joke. But somedays a smile, a comment, even a nasty look from a child who knows no other gesture of love make it seem worth it.
But i have a cool coworker, Aaron, who invests immense amounts of energy, time and thought into the center. I most enjoy conversations between he, Russell (our fun computer volunteer expert genius technology guy), and I in the middle of the day over a bowl of popcorn.
Well im off to a long weekend of tutor and volunteer training...and taking some kids to payless for free shoes followed by a free evening at the Lexington Children's Theater. Im sure there will be more to come about my VISTA experiences....despite Bush's HUGE cuts to the Americorps programs, i will still employed by and at the mercy of the federal govt until july.
1 comment:
I love that you are much happier in your new placement. But I have more to say about your old placement because, well, it's my profession.
In my work as a domestic violence advocate and a child victim advocate, I see a lot of what Eve is talking about.
I don't want to take the space to completely debunk this mentality of "ripping the children out of the home" but, well, it's flat out wrong in most situations. There are plenty of children who are being abused and neglected and in some situations the proper action is to remove the child. But in most situations, the child is better off left with the parent with whom they're attached and on whom base their sense of security (see: Child Development 101). This can be hard for us to believe but well, tough. It's true because most of the time abuse and neglect especially happen in the context of other extenuating circumstances. Alleviating or addressing these circumstances is paramount to really making the situation better or child and mother and, often times, will lead to improved conditions for the child.
Don't misunderstand, I'll be the first to say that people have to take responsiblity for their actions, including consequences. But removing children shouldn't be thought of as a penalty; not only does this treat children as property or rewards to be given and taken away but it ignores (1) the bond and benefit to parent-child relationships and (2) the possibilties of revictimizing parents who were victims of conditional poverty, family violence, etc.
If we as people and a society really want to help solve this problem, we have to look at the basic questions.
Families are largely closed-off, private units, full of tradition and relationship. It is often a blessing but what about when it becomes unhealthy and abusive?
Who is responsible for monitoring the well-being of our children? Just parents? Schools? Volunteers? Courts? Police? Churches?
These are just thoughts, not really solutions. I have some ideas for those, but I'll post them on my own blog.
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