I wrote the following as a comment to Leftrev's diary about his church member Andrea. I decided to make it a diary and hopefully improve it a little because it cannot be said enough to everyone in the Kos community and beyond, that poverty is an institution, it is not a personal choice.
Letter below the squiggles
Dear Pastor leftrev:
I am not trying to hand Andrea come sort of fake hope or anything, but I do think she will gain strength from what I have to offer.
I am also chronically poor in spite of having worked for a wage all my adult life. I spent the majority of that time blaming myself for somehow "not working hard enough" and "making all the wrong choices" while trying to raise my children and deal with the issues of poverty that were not my fault.
I became an activist for people like Andrea because of my own struggles and through the years about the best thing I have learned is that of my subject title because it told me that my poverty was not my failure, I worked my ass off. It was the failure of society. This did not mean I did not own my own mistakes, but the consequences from choices all depend on what class you are in. If you marry, have children and you are rich when you encounter a roadblock such as illness, unemployment or lack of affordable housing, it is far different for the upper classes than it is for the poor. Institutional poverty also needs to be shown to the upper classes in this country because collectively we blame the poor for making the "choice" of poverty instead of accepting the fact that poverty is an institution.
Institutions are kept in place for a reason: they benefit people. In the case of poverty, this institution does quite a bit for the upper classes ~ while blaming the poor for being a "burden". I am not trying to toot my horn so much as pass on the information of institutional poverty and help educate others as to how and why it is perpetuated in one of many of my diaries here: http://www.dailykos.com/...
I will warn you in case you try to write a sermon about it, that my minister told me once that my message is too radical for the upper classes to handle, lol. He did not say this as a critique as he is one who has dedicated his life to housing for all and poverty, so he is as radical as I am. He said this because while the message is the truth, most people would be made uncomfortable to hear it.
Still for the poor like me, when we see how institutional poverty is and how it influenced our family's life and indeed our future, it helps to empower us. Now, whenever I face anyone in power or a "gate keeper", I know better I am facing a lot of ignorance whether it is a legislator, a DSHS worker or ~ yes a doctor, few who understand the institutional conditions of poverty embedded in my life ~ and theirs. This knowledge of the institution we are caught in can give Andrea the inner strength to stand up with a sense of empowerment because we realize these professionals are ignorant to the very good reasons of her and other's situations.
Please do your best to convey to Andrea her issues are not her fault. It will help especially when you point out to her how her poverty has actually enriched others. It might also make her mad, but this is only the beginning of finding her own empowerment that will help her frustrations.
Then tell Andrea if she has the strength to find a poverty group in her area, one of the oldest, fiercest and most amazing low income advocacy groups in this nation is in WI. It is the Mother Warriors in Milwaukee, and ask for Pat Gowens who is the long time director: http://www.welfarewarriors.org/.... Tell Pat that Cat from POWER referred Andrea.
POWER stands for People Organizing for Welfare and Economic Rights: http://www.oly-wa.us/.... Pat will know of us even though we are in WA state. If anything Andrea will find others who understand her plight and stand with her, who will give her inside DSHS and non-profit information she may not know that may help her with advocating for herself and her kids.
My message to you Dear Pastor is that until we can address the institution of poverty, this is like trying to blame a person for not protecting their house well enough after a dam breaks upriver and floods it. Unfortunately, many if not most agencies do just that and it only exacerbates this destructive institution instead of eradicating it...
Hope this helps. I am praying for this woman with all my heart!
Love,
Cat in Seattle