A Week
in the Life With the Kensington Welfare Rights Union
Search
for Affordable Housing in Philadelphia Campaign - Day One: Monday,
July 21, 1997
Reflections from the
Field: A Social Worker's Participant Observation of the Kensington
Welfare Rights Union - Liz Thul, BSW Temple University
6:30 a.m. - Monday
Morning:
The phone at the office
of the Kensington Welfare Rights Union (KWRU) begins to ring at
6:30 a.m. today. This "agency" run by poor and homeless
people does not keep normal 9 to 5 hours, but rather takes calls
24 hours a day -- mostly from people at the end of their line with
nowhere else to turn. The 6:30 a.m. call is an emergency from a
KWRU member whose grandchild was just taken away from her by the
Department of Human Services (DHS). "They said the house was
not deemed fit for living". This grandmother lost her house
to a fire and is currently living with her sister. She will soon
join the ranks of the homeless in the streets of Philadelphia and
now has the added stress of trying to get her grandchild back from
DHS. Cheri Honkala, the Director of the KWRU, immediately gets on
the phone with the organization's attorney to get the child back.
While she talks on the phone she is also typing and begins to fax
a press release that states:
In Search of Affordable
Housing Campaign to Begin Today! Dressed in fatigues members
of the Kensington Welfare Rights Union will begin their search
for affordable housing in Philadelphia. This campaign was sparked
off when a member's child was taken from the grandparent for living
in a house that was deemed unfit. Members are outraged and are
asking for a moratorium on evictions and the removal of children
from their parents unless the City, State or Federal government
can show us where the affordable housing is! The KWRU will begin
its search at 10am this morning by going to every office and agency
responsible for providing affordable housing and ask them where
it is. Members will meet in Love Park at 10 a.m. this morning,
a park where homeless people can no longer eat or sleep. A press
conference will take place at 1:00 p.m.
8:30 a.m. The
phone rings continuously while she faxes and I sit in horror listening
to the phone calls. This call is from a member who is living in
a house where the floor has fallen in - she has three small children.
A home visit is immediately scheduled for 5:00 p.m. This makeshift
office consists of one phone and one fax machine where the bills
for both lay with overdue notices and threat of shut off. I asked
where there funding comes from and she states "we have none,
the organization runs on a budget of 0". We are picked up at
9:30 and I run to keep up with her -- tape recorder in hand.
10:00 a.m. We
reach Love Park at 10:00 a.m where there are 25 members of the Kensington
Welfare Rights Union dressed in fatigues and KWRU "March for
Our Lives" T-shirts. The group has just come off of a historic
10-day march to the United Nations in New York City. They have been
collecting documentation from all over the United States which shows
the human rights violations caused by welfare reform laws in this
country. They marched to the UN to present their findings to the
world court. The educational has already begun as members huddled
in a circle armed with clipboards of surveys that read "KWRU
Human Rights Violation Survey - Part I: Where's the Affordable Housing?".
An explanation of four members' emergencies and the strategy for
today begins. The group was reminded that not only were they fighting
for current members but in order for every family to have affordable
housing in Philadelphia.
Among the group is a
homeless husband and wife who is also pregnant and their child.
Their apartment burnt down the weekend before Memorial Day at which
point the Red Cross took them to the Travel Lodge hotel for four
days. They were then dropped off at the Office of Emergency Shelter
and Services (OESS) where they began a 21-day nightmare introduction
into Philadelphia's shelter system. They would sleep at Mary Jane
Enrichment Center shelter on Ridge Avenue where they were forced
to leave each morning by 7:30 a.m. then back over to OESS where
they would wait for some kind of answer until 6:30 p.m. and begin
the process again. They could no longer take the situation and called
the KWRU for help. The organization "took over" an abandoned
HUD house where they have now been living for two weeks. There is
no running water or electricity but they said "it's better
than staying at the shelter". This mom sat with tired eyes
as she held her baby and said a neighbor has threatened to call
DHS because there are no utilities in the house. Another member
with two children has been on the Section 8 waiting list for 6 years.
She had her last appointment on June 30 where she was put back on
the list. Finally, the last member has 5 children and one grandchild
living with her in a home where she pays $500 a month rent. She
has been waiting for a section 8 certificate since 1983. Two years
ago she was given "Tier One" (emergency) status. At her
last appointment on July 2 she was told that she would have to wait
another 9 months to a year. She said there is no way she can pay
her rent and lives in fear of becoming homeless everyday.
11:00 a.m. The
group holds hands in a circle and begins their search for affordable
housing with a prayer. They march across the street carrying signs
that read "Philly House Your People" and "Show Me
the Affordable Housing" to the Municipal Services Building.
They call on the new Deputy Managing Director for Special Needs
Housing in the City of Philadelphia -- Michael Nardone -- who has
been in office for 8 weeks. Security tried to stop them at the door
but they made their way through. To the surprise of the group, Mr.
Nardone came down to the lobby after about 10 minutes to speak to
them. The group explained the housing emergencies of its members
and asked where the Affordable Housing is for all people in Philadelphia.
When asked where families can go for affordable housing in Philadelphia,
Mr. Nardone said "I don't know". He recommended a visit
to OESS and the Philadelphia Housing Authority (PHA). He did say
he would look into their questions and fax their office tomorrow.
12:00 p.m. Taking
Mr. Nardone up on his advice, KWRU headed to the offices of OESS
to meet with the acting director Richard Schaeffer. He did meet
with the group and said that the only way to get affordable housing
in Philadelphia is to go through the shelter system. He also stated
that the shelter system is full for families now and there is a
waiting list of approximately 50 families. He also said that from
the time a family enters the shelter system there is over a year
and a half wait (if they are classified as Tier One priority-which
seems almost impossible to get) before they are placed into "permanent"
affordable housing through Section 8 or other programs. Mr. Schaeffer
stated that he has no idea where the affordable housing is in Philadelphia.
He recommended that the group visit the Office of Housing and Community
Development (OHCD) and the Philadelphia Housing Development Corporation
(PHDC).
12:30 p.m. The
group then marched to the Wanamaker Building to visit the Office
of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and call on the Regional
HUD Director, Karen Miller. The HUD staff refused to meet with the
entire group and after a short protest in the second floor lobby,
the group left to return again later in the campaign. This group
will not split up to conduct negotiations.
1:00 p.m. KWRU
returned to LOVE Park for a press conference on the search for affordable
housing and present their findings. Though all the major newspapers,
radio and TV stations had been faxed and called no press appeared
and the morning's events will unfortunately be blacked out in the
media. One gentleman who knew the work of KWRU approached the group
and said he was willing to donate a house that was behind in taxes.
After scraping together enough change for pretzels and hot dogs
for the group, they broke for a quick lunch.
2:00 p.m. The
group then marched to 8th and Arch Streets to the Section 8 Office
within Philadelphia Housing Authority (PHA). The Director of Section
8, Manuela Costa, refused to meet with the group but sent her Administrative
Assistant Jerome Baker to speak with them. While they were waiting,
KWRU members interviewed all of the clients waiting for help with
Section 8. All of the Section 8 applicants were eager to fill out
the affordable housing survey which consisted of ten questions.
One family had been on the waiting list for affordable housing for
over 12 years. Ms. Costa's assistant proceeded to answer the group's
questions and notified them that one of their members who is currently
pregnant and had previously been classified as "Tier One"
(first eligible for Section 8 vouchers) two years ago was no longer
classified as "Tier One" and would have to begin the process
with OESS again and go through the shelter system. He also said
that the Section 8 Office was not able to give out information on
where affordable housing is available in Philadelphia.
3:00 p.m. After
a quick march and escort out of the Gallery shopping cetner chanting
"What do we want? Affordable Housing! When do we want it? Now!,"
the group marched to the Office of Housing and Community Development
(OHCD) to see the director, John Kromer. The group was told that
Mr. Kromer was out of the building. They waited in his office for
approximately 30 minutes while his secretary attempted to reach
him. Seeing a meeting as unlikely, the group vowed to return tomorrow
and left the building. They were greeted outside by officers from
the Civil Affairs Department. Cheri explained that these were the
"political police" and that it was likely that Kromer
was actually upstairs in his office and had called Civil Affairs
to deal with the group.
4:00 p.m. The
group returned to LOVE Park and disbanded for the afternoon. Several
members left to go to work.
5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Cheri Honkala
meets with family in dilapidated house where the floor has fallen
through. These members will join the group tomorrow as they continue
their search for affordable housing. Other members of KWRU hold
an emergency fund raising meeting to deal with current threats of
eviction and begin to strategize on rehabbing burned out houses.
7:00 - 9:00 p.m. Members
of the organization convened at Temple University School of Social
Work where their meetings are held on a weekly basis to update working
members, new members and members who could not join the search today
because of lack of childcare or transportation on the day's events.
They further strategized about the housing crisis, how to proceed
with more housing takeovers and the campaign for the rest of the
week. During this meeting, members of the KWRU took over a HUD house.
10:00 - 12:00 a.m.
Students and
KWRU members conduct a study group to review the OHCD 1996 Annual
Report (500 pages) and identify target agencies and follow up for
tomorrow's search. Voice mail from the office is picked up which
consists of over 40 calls and they listen to the audio tape recording
of each office visited today. They also begin the planning for the
Human Rights USA conference in Washington, DC this weekend where
they have been asked to speak on a panel that discusses the human
rights violations being caused by welfare reform in this country.
My day ends at 1:00 a.m.
with typing up this reflection and preparation of a letter to the
editor of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Because of the media blackout
today, I feel it is urgent to get this story out. As we marched
down Market Street, a gentleman yelled to "get a job".
I wish he knew that not one member of this organization is paid,
no one is refused help or put on a waiting list, they are just asked
to join the struggle and help others. These folks start their day
around 6:00 a.m. and work into all hours of the night. Throughout
the day I've seen no other agency working this hard or asking the
hard questions to meet the needs of all people in
Philadelphia. This organization is not about "me and mine"
but they are advocating on everybody's behalf in this and all of
their other campaigns. They also continue their human rights campaign
that exposes the death, misery and third world conditions caused
by welfare reform and poverty in this country. I cannot help but
be impressed that they do all of this on top of raising their children,
holding their families together and dealing with their own survival
needs.
day
two
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