Day one of a week in the life of KWRU. Day two of a week in the life of KWRU. Day three of a week in the life of KWRU. Day five of a week in the life of KWRU.   Read more about the Kensington Welfare Rights Union. Take a Tour of Kensington online. Read more about our organizing model.

A Week in the Life With the Kensington Welfare Rights Union Search for Affordable Housing in Philadelphia Campaign - Day 4: Thursday, July 24, 1997 Day four of the search began again in the community. The group met at the Girard welfare office. Upon walking into the office, we encountered a room full of people of all races - mostly mothers and children - waiting to meet with their caseworker or to pick up their measly welfare check that is expected to sustain their family for two weeks. We were also greeted by security guards who tried to stop us from talking to people and who told us we could not be there even though it is a public building. We had to wonder why the welfare department and their security guards were so concerned about a group of poor and homeless advocates and students coming in to talk to people about their welfare, housing, utilities and food concerns. Are they afraid of what our surveys will uncover? Obviously they do not want people to be informed of what their rights are. KWRU explains that they always have trouble with guards and welfare office supervisors who tell them they can't do organizing in the offices and often forcefully kick them out. As we encountered resistance to our attempts to organize and unionize welfare recipients and poor people, we are reminded of the struggles of other unions to win the right to organize. The situation begs the question: what does the welfare department have to hide and why are they afraid of people knowing and advocating for their rights? Throughout the day, we continue our trek from one welfare office to another. We start at Girard and Center districts in lower North Philly, move on to Jefferson and Kent districts close to Center City and end up at Franklin in South Philly. At Kent we learn that mostly Spanish speaking recipients must travel all the way from the far ends of Northern Kensington almost to Center City for every meeting with their caseworker or every time they must turn in a document. We are told of a KWRU member with serious foot problems who makes this trip several times a month on foot with three children in tow. She cannot spare any of her welfare check on tokens. She is not alone. Welfare grants make sure to keep families living well below the poverty line. At every office we encounter similar circumstances - people waiting long hours with their children in crowded offices being treated in a demoralized manner, often to find out that either they have been cut from welfare or that they have to come back the next day with more documents. We are told story after story of people cut off because they missed appointments they did not know about, because caseworkers made mistakes with their welfare cases or because of the new welfare laws neither they nor their caseworkers understand. It is shocking to see how little people know of their rights or about the new laws which are having major effects on their families. As we talk to people, hear their stories, see their children and feel their fear, we are forced to remember what a welfare cut-off of any kind means. It is not just a bureaucratic mistake or one name less on the welfare rolls - it means a mother won't be able to feed her children that night. "Welfare reform" takes on a whole new meaning when you meet a mother or father who has just found out that the money they counted on to keep their family from becoming homeless or having their heat shut off will not be coming. Everywhere we go, the people we meet defy the stereotypes - they're people of all races who have recently lost their jobs and just want to go to school or find work that will keep their family off the streets. Most people we met had been trying everyday to figure out how to get off of welfare and while on it spend everyday trying to make a few hundred dollars a month to pay the rent, keep the gas and electricity on, feed their kids and accommodate needs such as clothes for their families. We are struck by how isolated and alone people feel- and what a difference it makes to people when we come in and listen to what is happening to them, offer them some dignity and respect, and show them they are not alone. Poor and homeless people have rights and can protest the conditions they are living in and the way they are treated. This organization is not about pity, but rather power and building a movement in this country to end poverty. day five