I sit on a few different boards and sometimes as a result I visit different facilities. I've been to electrical generation plants and golf courses, dams and prisons, and more factories than I can count.
Today I visited a domestic abuse shelter. There were six of us and we met with the executive director and some of the staff, toured the place, and heard about the hard way she makes her living. At one point she said, "I used to hope I'd work myself out of a job, but now I know that won't ever happen."
Amidst the sadness and anger that fills a place like this there was some good news. Law enforcement treats abuse like the crime it is, which wasn't always the case not so many years ago. A high school football team, of all things, adopted the shelter when the coach became convinced he and his players needed to be leaders, needed to set an example. There are decent people working hard to help.
There's not so good news too, however. Much of it because funding has dried up. There's not much money at the federal level, there's not much at the state level either, and while the county I live in isn't poor, it's not rich either, and most of the cities in it are struggling to maintain infrastructure and education and public safety. Foundations aren't able to fill the gap and most of them aren't very interested in paying for ongoing operations anyway. Places like the United Way and religious institutions have done what they can, but there's only so much they can do.
I grew up in a place that valued community. It wasn't perfect, not by a long shot, but there was an underlying sense that we were in this together, that we had obligations outside our own homes, that there but for grace. That's not so true anymore. There's been a meanness in our policies, in our collective heart, a feeling that you get what you deserve.
The people at this shelter, the women and children, they've been beaten bloody. They've been hit and kicked, some of them scalded and stabbed. There are women who will come here who will end up dead for their trouble. They didn't deserve it. God help us if we think otherwise.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Give A Little Bit
Posted by Snag at 10:48 PM
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14 comments:
there was an underlying sense that we were in this together
Now it's all a zero-sum game.
Yes, we need to get back to helping others. I think we've become so egotistical, thinking our good lot is all our own doing or because we're just better. Little do people realize how close they might be to needing help one day. It should be there when that day comes. It should be there for everyone.
I get this post more than you will ever know.
I save up our shampoos, soaps, etc. from our travels and donate to Rosie's Place in Boston. It is the easiest way to do something for such a special shelter without much effort. I tell everyone I know this because there are ways to help without money, if you are unable to afford a monetary donation.
I'd give them UC's used CDs, but even the abused don't want to hear Journey and Nelson. UC!!!
Thanks for reminding me of how important social causes are today. Thanks for not being a Bush supporting cobag.
It is one thing I find rewarding about the work I do. Much of it involves moderate income housing in the central city, and is run by non-profits. I run into hundreds of folks who feel this way about their neighborhoods and the city at large. Many times the State politicians use the City as a political pawn, using the 'brown people scary oogah boogah!" meme to advance the corporatist agenda; but in real terms the highest density area of the State also drives 2/3 of the economy, so that crap can be minimized.
I'd give them UC's used CDs, but even the abused don't want to hear Journey and Nelson. UC!!!
AG is right There's only so much abuse one human should have to take.
This post strikes right at the nerve that has been bugging me for a long time. I have no idea how we can turn a blind eye to those desperate in our own borders and those we kill and maim abroad, but we do. It feels like the simple idea that we are all in this together is under constant attack.
Can't wait till I save enough money for a new iPhone though!
Fish is the neocon kind of scum we are talking about. Over priviledged jerk face cornhole.
CORNHOLE.
Billy, your place or mine tonight?
It's the same reason I hate gated communities. When people start thinking they can buy their way out of society, with private security, private education, and what have you, it undercuts their sense that we are, in fish's words, all in this together. There's nothing good that comes from that.
Gated communities are the logical spawn of suburbs in general.
Many people move to the suburbs with the idea that they can leave 'those people' behind. New transit in the 19th century allowed people to move out of the cities, which were admittedly foul with coal smoke and horsecrap.
But moving away is useless as a solution. It merely delays the need to resolve the underlying issues. You always need to move further out, and now that transit is dominated by private autos, it merely accelerates the pollution.
In reality, 'those people' often move right along with them. right into those communities of gates and alarm systems.
europe has demonstrated how to develop dense, livable cities and maintain community feeling. Of course, we need to foster a society of greed and competition to support our economy, so that probably won't work for us....
You should rename your blog "liberalsrus".
and add cute cat pictures on Thursdays.
it's the over-use and expansion of 'Evil'. If "they" are Evil, they are not us, they are Other. Sometimes people do evil things, but to make a person 'Evil', it's a cop-out and it's lazy. It means that we don't have to understand or try to help or prevent future problems. And it's been so successful.
Caring for others is socialist, and cannot be tolerated in a fascist society...
Wait, I thought socialism was fascism!
Liberal Fascism.
Now you all went and got Jonah stink on the blog. Talk about befouled.
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