Random Monday

Incoming Freshman: It's not too late to sign up for the 14th annual Day of Service! (you may also fill out page 57 of the Big Book of Forms).

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Welcome freshman and Baby Bonners!

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Today is Random Monday, because I am not quite coherent enough for a blog post with a beginning, middle, and end. (Idea stolen from YarnHarlot.ca)

1. I spent several days tabling for the Benefit Bank at the Lorain County Fair. I had a lot of fun talking to my fellow tabelers about such things as pig farms, tattoos, the history of Elyria, and the Bee Barn. We handed out a lot of literature encouraging people to check their eligibility, but didn't do so many quick checks or applications.

2. I went to the Cleveland meeting of Voices for Ohio's Children. Hopefully I'll be able to make that another post, because I'd really like to share what I learned.

3. But first I should clean my car and find all the hand-outs they gave us.

4. I went to my first Second Harvest Farmer's Market. Or rather, I learned the difference between the two Oberlin Roads that run parallel to each other but end in radically difference places in the county. I showed up embarrassingly late and frustrated, only to be completely charmed by the Ohio Benefit Bank van crew, Russell and Erin.

5. I seriously need to investigate a GPS.

6. Welcome Baby Bonners!!! And welcome freshman! The possibilities are endless. :)

7. I forget what 7 was supposed to be.

8. The LEADS Economic Challenge happened on Friday. I was thrilled to see the game come to life, and I can't wait to add in the suggestions I got to the rules for when the Baby Bonners play it.

9. Tomorrow Sam (Second Harvest North Central VISTA) and I leave for Columbus for the big Benefit Bank conference.

10. I'm hoping that as my thoughts about this whole poverty thing coalesce, my blog posts will become more coherent. I can't help but feel the reflections and discussions I am leading are scattered because my own thoughts are so scattered.

Hello from Canton

Incoming Freshman: It's not too late to sign up for the 14th annual Day of Service! (you may also fill out page 57 of the Big Book of Forms).

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Hello from a Kent State University in Canton where I'm leading my first Benefit Bank training (my other two first trainings got canceled). All is going well so far. I even managed to get through the traffic jam and arrive early to the training location. Later I will be in Wellington at the Lorain County Fair promoting the Benefit Bank. It is a Benefit Bank filled day!

Also, a big thanks to fellow VISTA Travis for setting up the training, making sure I found the library, and giving me the last of his business cards to fill out. :) Thanks to Greer too (my regional coordinator) for answering the questions I could not.

Swimming in statistics

Incoming Freshman: It's not too late to sign up for the 14th annual Day of Service! (you may also fill out page 57 of the Big Book of Forms).
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Welcome, LEADS students!  :)
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This weekend I sifted through all the wonderful research and articles Claudine left behind for me on poverty in Ohio, Lorain County, and Oberlin.  I'm trying to put together some informational sheets to hand out this week at LEADS.   What I'm discovering is poverty is such a complicated issue with so many aspects that it is hard to boil it down to simple statistics. 
 
The argument over how to measure the number of people in poverty is the best example to begin the conversation.  Currently the U.S. government looks at how  much it costs to eat cheaply and nutritiously for a year (as determined by the USDA standards).  This number is then multiplied by three to calculate the income below which people are considered to be in poverty.  The total number has been readjusted each year to account ONLY for inflation.

Cost of food in the 1960's      x    3    =    Federal poverty level

When this measure was established in the 1960s, it was estimated a family spent 1/3 of its income on food.  Do you spend 1/3 of your income on food?  I don't.   I spend more on rent and my cell phone and my car insurance.  There are many costs we pay today that I doubt were as significant in the 60s.  If I can get people to think deeply about how poverty is calculated, I think I can make them understand how many things poverty affects and hopefully get a glimpse of how many facets poverty has.  The more an issue is understood, the better and more nuanced the solutions are...in summary:

This logo belongs to NBC

Gearing Up

Incoming Freshman: It's not too late to sign up for the 14th annual Day of Service! (you may also fill out page 57 of the Big Book of Forms).
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Things are starting to get crazy at the BCSL. As school approaches, the majority of the staff is hurrying to get things done, be it recruitment or reports or public relations or last minute details. We also welcomed Avi (Policy Options Intern) and Sarah Ho (Civic Engagement Intern) back to after their summer travels. Yay! Tuesday's staff meeting had a full table and a high laugh volume.

As a student, I am used to the craziness starting on the first day of school, so it is interesting to see the craziness from the flip-side. First year students don't arrive for two weeks, but Avi thought he spotted one out the window yesterday. Here's what the pre-student organized chaos looks like:

Day of Service: Christina, DOS Coordinator, is reporting 370 freshmen are signed up, which breaks last years records! (And you can still sign up!) She has the site leader t-shirts coming and is getting ready for a last wave of recruitment.

LEADS: Brenda, LEADS and CSWSP Coordinator, is working out the last minute details on the LEADS schedule, looking for paint, and trying to come up with menu items. The LEADS opening dinner is this Sunday!

Bonner Scholars: Donna, Director of the Bonners, is working on the fine details for the Baby Bonner orientation and looking for one last 2014 candidate.

BCSL, general: Beth, Director of the BCSL, is disappearing to undisclosed locations for stretches of time so she won't be bothered while putting the final touches on a major report that is due really soon.

Education Outreach: Andy Frantz, who directs programs related to education, is handing out schedules for Education Discussion Lunches and America reads tutoring orientations as well as organizing the launch of the Oberlin-wide book reading of Farenheight 451.

Events: Sarah Ho, Civic Engagement Intern, jumped right back into the thick of it by planning madly for the BCSL Open House during orientation and ordering tasty food for the Baby Bonners.

Food Policy: Avi (Policy Options Intern) is getting back into the swing of things and organizing lots of big meetings to talk about Policy Options to get the ball rolling.

Data/PR/Benefit Bank: My Benefit Bank training on Saturday was canceled, so maybe I'll have time to get some of this stuff done: I'm putting finishing touches on graphics for a BCSL Banner, the annual report, doing massive updates to the new BCSL website that will hopefully go live before students get back, aiming to have a Science Center Display done before classes start, gathering statistics for the poverty simulation, and trying to help the Benefit Bank clients trickling from OCS. And next week I'm hanging out at the Lorain County fair, promoting the Benefit Bank with Community Action. Phew.

Happy weekend!

VISTA Blogs

Incoming Freshman: It's not too late to sign up for the 14th annual Day of Service! (you may also fill out page 57 of the Big Book of Forms).
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As part of my self-guided orientation, I've been surfing blogs of other VISTAs in my area. The blogs I have read tend to be a bit more...philosophical than mine, for lack of a better work. I tend towards posts that are "here is what I did today" rather than "here is the issue I pondered today." But these VISTAs that I've been browsing? They think deep thoughts. They ponder the VISTA experience, the struggle of poverty, the meaning of it all. They are blogging lots of thoughts that didn't occur to me and some thoughts that did.

http://makingsocialchange.blogspot.com/

http://mylifeasavista.blogspot.com/

http://myyearinthetrenches.blogspot.com/

http://activehope.blogspot.com/

http://measuringayearasavista.blogspot.com/

I love learning about people's experiences and applying their lessons to my own life; sadly, VISTA is not the position best suited towards this passing on of knowledge, yet it is a position that could use it because VISTAs deal with some heavy stuff. But so it goes that one experienced VISTA leaves and another comes in the next day, fresh from Pre-Service Orientation . There is only so much that one can pass down in official documents or insert into the infrastructure of the position. I can leave instructions on how to meet with a client and sign them up for benefits, yes, but how do I convey the emotional component of asking personal questions, listening to their story, and the frustrations that come from only being able to offer limited help? How do I help the VISTA who follows me deal with all the heavy questions of poverty and access and need? I was lucky to have Claudine with me for a month to guide me through some of the knotty-ness stuff. Most VISTAs don't get overlap--they have to start from scratch.

And so I am grateful for the blogs that give me a window into the past when yesteryear's VISTAs were struggling with the issues I confront today. Intentional or not, it's an of emotionl infrastructure I was delighted to find (and I am sure there is more out there). I'm not entirely sure how this blog will contribute to the infrastructure since it is oriented to the BCSL instead of my personal VISTA experiences, but maybe once I sort out these things I've been thinking I'll be able to contect it all together and contribute too.

It's given me a lot to think about, to say the least.

Google Alerts

To educate myself, I've recently signed myself up for Google Alerts set to receive notifications of articles and blogs including the keywords "poverty" and "ohio poverty."  I've just finished reading my alerts for this past weekend, and here are my favorites from the lot:

Principal's War on Poverty Helping Test Scores
An uplifting tale of a town pulling together to help those who need it

Measuring Poverty (10): Multidimensional Poverty
An article describing a proposed solution to the debate of how to best measure poverty with statistics and numbers

They're known as 'the 99ers,' and their numbers are growing in Ohio and nationwide
Stories of elderly people and their social security payments

Roots of World Poverty Misunderstood
An investigation of poverty worldwide

Friday Hoorays

Incoming Freshman: It's not too late to sign up for the 14th annual Day of Service!  (you may also fill out page 57 of the Big Book of Forms).

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1.  I am going to spend today at the graphics computer making flyers and pamphlets for the BCSL.  Hooray graphics!
2.  I got a SS card and it didn't take ages.  Hooray efficiency!
3.  I am eating peanut butter and pretzels for breakfast.  Hooray comfort foods!
4.  Yesterday I found a bunch of data files I needed and hadn't been able to locate previously.  Hooray discovery!
5.  I got my to-do list done yesterday and got a head start on today's so it is more manageable.  Hooray productivity!
6.  My office is located such that everybody who comes into the BCSL says hello to me.  Hooray BCSL staff!
7.  I am learning a lot by reading other VISTA blogs (hopefully more blog posts to come on this later).  Hooray social media!
8. I got all the information I needed off of Claudine's computer before it froze.  Hooray luck!
9.  I am slightly nervous about the upcoming weeks before school because I have a lot to get done before the students get back, and I have to give my first training as a Benefit Bank counselor...but I've got a plan and a low meeting concentration next week to get things done.  Hooray optimism!
10.  I have a list of ten things to say Hooray! about.  Hooray hoorays!

(Now I've typed hooray so much it looks misspelled...)

PIPP Plus

Incoming Freshman: It's not too late to sign up for the 14th annual Day of Service!  (you may also fill out page 57 of the Big Book of Forms).  We're up to 342 registered students and 24 sites!  Keep the forms coming in!

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On Monday, the regional Benefit Bank VISTAs and I piled into a big, big van and carpooled down to Columbus to the Ohio Department of Transportation to learn about PIPP Plus.

PIPP Plus replaces the PIPP program on November 1st.  Each program is designed to help income eligible Ohio households pay their gas and electric bills.  Here are the bare bones:

The old PIPP program allowed participants in the program to pay a fraction of their bill and still keep their service on.  The rest of the bill was then added to their debt.  If a payment was missed, service was cut.  Helpful, but not super helpful.  This is why I think the revisions are pretty neat.

In the new PIPP Plus program, the income eligible participants still only pay a fraction of their bill, but the rest of the bill is credited to their account--NOT added onto their utility debt (this debt is called arrears in all the bureaucratic language of the program).  In addition, if the payment is payed on time and in full a fraction of the debt is removed.  If a payment is missed there is a reduction of the rate the utility debt that is paid off, but the service is not cut off immediately.

Though the program has a lot of cool new things, there are also a lot of ways it can be improved.  The registration and re-verification process are not very user-friendly for the people who will need it the most.  The system is designed to change people's behavior, which is a debatable motive (I could, and should, devote an entire blog post to this).  The program transition will not be easy on the Community Action agencies who administer it.  Calling it the same thing in conjunction with the significant amount of program alterations will probably confuse people. 

Probably the best learning experience of the day was hearing all my fellow VISTAs debate the ins-and-outs of what they'd heard on the ride back (hooray for carpooling to break up the monotony of the long drive!).  I'd picked up on a few of the criticisms listed above, but I certainly wasn't able to articulate them so well or have so many ideas for improvements.  I learned a lot, even though the PIPP program (whatever version) isn't something the Benefit Bank deals with a lot. I know I've said this before, but I enjoy the people I work with and the job I do.  :)  I am looking forward to the next Carpooling adventure, when we might get to stop at Grandpa's Cheese Barn.

Dear Sandman

Incoming Freshman: It's not too late to sign up for the 14th annual Day of Service!  (you may also fill out page 57 of the Big Book of Forms)

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One of my current projects this week has been updating, organizing, and refining a poverty simulation.  The goal is to have it ready so that LEADS participants can play it at the end of the month.  The simulation gives each player a family financial scenario, and the goal is for the player to create a budget to find out how much money they have for food, and then travel around to stores, food pantries, and social services to obtain 2000 calories of the most nutritious food they can find.

The first thing I noticed about the simulation when Claudine and I started organizing it from the last time it was played was that it has a lot of little, tiny paper parts.

The simulation barely fit on the conference room table.

I am rewriting all the instructions and descriptions to make the simulation specific to Oberlin.  I've revamped the transportation system, and I'm excited about the new cars I've added to the game.  Here is the description I enjoy the most:

It's got a Grim Reaper graphic!

Though I still want to tweak the car rules a little bit, I think I might be done with all my re-writing and am ready to move on to crafting the discussion that will follow the simulation.  I'm hoping that since I read all the background information yesterday and today, when I wake up tomorrow all the information will have coalesced while I slept and I will have a brilliant idea for what stats to include on my Lorain County/Ohio poverty and hunger information sheet.  This will probably translate into reality as waking from a cold sweat at 3 AM from a dream where I walked into the room with all the LEADS participants waiting expectantly only to realize:

• I've forgotten all the materials at the office
• I've forgotten I was supposed to give it that day
• I'm naked
• I forgot to put the little Grim Reapers on the old car transportation card and put a Miss Piggy image instead

But I can always hope!

How to Apply for a Social Security Card

Incoming Freshman: It's not too late to sign up for the 14th annual Day of Service!  (you may also fill out page 57 of the Big Book of Forms)

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STEPS COMPLETED:
1.  Procastinate
2.  Get busy with other things
3.  Finally decide you really, really need to apply for food stamps
4.  Spend a long time navigating the phones trying to get in contact with a SS representative to ask them a question.
5.  Find SF5 application online at www.socialsecurity.gov
6.  Fill out application
7.  Hunt down the social security numbers of parents to finish the application

TO DO:
8.  Find car to drive down to SS office
9.  Drive down to SS office not during lunch time.
10. Wait to get the card in the mail

Day of Service!

Incoming Freshman: It's not too late to sign up for the 14th annual Day of Service!  (you may also fill out page 57 of the Big Book of Forms)

The registration tables at Day of Service 2009, outside of Finney Chapel.

What is Day of Service, you ask?  AWESOME, says I.

Day of Service is a day designated during the Oberlin College freshman orientation for newly-minted freshman to explore the greater Oberlin community by completing a day long community service project at various community partners.   It's a great chance to meet other freshman, learn about Oberlin, and get involved and make a difference.  (Facebook group for 2010)

Make new friends!  Icebreakers from Day of Service 2009

I went upstairs to visit the Day of Service Coordinator, the delightful Christina Pope, an Oberlin alum who majored in Comparative Literature and participated in Day of Service twice--once as a freshman and once as a site leader.

"What I think is so great about Day of Service," Christina told me, "is that it gets first years out into the community the first week and gives them opportunities to meet community members."  Last year a record 371 students registered; the BCSL is hoping to get more this year. (for more stats, visit the OberlinServes Wiki)

Increasing student participants isn't the only thing Christina is working on; she's also been forging new relationships with Day of Service community partners: "I'm really excited about the new sites we're working with this year--Eden Vision and the Lorain County Community College community garden."  She also has a few more intriguing partnerships in the work that I promise I wouldn't reveal.

Day of Service 2009 participants discussing their project over lunch

Some past projects have included:

• Paint rooms at Big Brothers Big Sisters of Lorain County in Lorain.
• Stain and seal benches and weed at Common Ground, a nature center.
• Deep cleaning at Family Promise of Lorain County house in Elyria.
• Weed and mulch for Firelands Division of the Western Reserve Land Conservancy.
• Clear brush on a trail in Collins, Ohio, with Firelands Rails to Trails.
• Learn about biofuels and help with projects at Full Circle Fuels.
• Weed and harvest organically grown food at George Jones Farm/New Agrarian Center.
• Help Lorain’s Harrison Cultural Community Center clean and organize.
• Clean kitchen for Hot Meals Program at Christ Episcopal Church.
• Accompany retired residents of Kendal at Oberlin to an art exhibit in Cleveland.
• Help clean Lorain Metro Parks’ newest site in Avon Lake and learn about the construction process from concept to completion.
• Work in rose garden at Metro Parks-Lakeview in Lorain.
• Weed, trim rose bushes, clean, and organize at the Lorain County Tropical Greenhouse and Museum Association near Amherst.
• Assist Main St. Oberlin in sweeping, scraping, weeding downtown district.
• Visit residents at two Murray Ridge group homes.
• Paint Oberlin Early Childhood Center classrooms.
• Paint, landscape, weed at Oberlin Public Library.
• Landscaping work at Oberlin city schools (Eastwood, Prospect, Langston, and Oberlin High School).
• Prep’ work for a new garden at Oberlin Senior Center, wash front porch, and take looming lessons.
• Landscaping work at Martin Luther King, Jr. Park with Rotary Club.
• Help Save our Children in Elyria clean and organize the Center.
• Repackage food at Second Harvest Food Bank of North Central Ohio
• Clean and help maintain the Frank Lloyd Wright designed Weltzheimer/Johnson House.
• Pass out flyers and inform local businesses about Planned Parenthood program at YWCA Women’s Center of Lorain. 
• Landscaping work at Mt. Zion Community Garden.
• Weeding and harvesting from the community garden at Oberlin Community Services.
• Landscaping at Plumb Creek Bridge.

I can't express enough that it really is a great opportunity to become involved.  A lot of the projects are weeding and landscaping; this might seem dull, but it's important.

Weeding! Day of Service 2009

Many times the sites don't have the manpower or resources to complete the landscaping/gardening themselves, and having a tidy yard goes a long way towards enhancing the community.  Besides, with 10-15 people working on the project it's simply astonishing what can be accomplished in a few short hours.  I served as a site leader for 3 of my 4 years at Oberlin (Lorain County Tropical Greenhouse, Oberlin Senior Center, Oberlin Head Start) and I loved it every time.

Now stop reading and go forth to the BCSL website--register now! (or fill out page 57 in the Big Book of Forms!)

Registration, Day of Service 2009

Realizations

I was incredibly lucky to snag a VISTA position with so much support. I overlaped with Claudine, the previous VISTA who established the whole position, by a whole glorious month so she can show me the ropes, tell me her visions for data collection, and answer all my nagging questions (apparently the scissors were right behind me...who knew). My supervisor, Beth, has a good memory of what Claudine did and what needs to be done so I don't have to float in some vague, goal-less void. As for the rest of the BCSL staff...they're just fun co-workers.

Mine is a unique position among Benefit Bank VISTAs (and potentially all other VISTAs). I'm working primarily with two organizations--the Benefit Bank and Oberlin College--to build connections and partnerships between the two. I do this by training Oberlin College student volunteers to navigate the Benefit Bank software for clients at Oberlin Community Services. So really, I'm responsible for trying to tighten these relationships:

• Benefit Bank/VISTA
• Benefit Bank/Oberlin College
• Benefit Bank/Oberlin Community Services
• Benefit Bank/clients
• Oberlin College/Oberlin Community Services
• Oberlin College/greater Oberlin community

That's a lot and I probably missed a few; I hadn't even realized how much that was until I typed it out. And that's not even counting the outreach work to LCCC and the other random Benefit Bank sites.

It's a long-winded partnership to explain since I am paid, supported, and housed by at least 3 or 4 different organizations --only one or two of which your average relative at a wedding probably hasn't heard of. I tried out several elevator speeches on new acquaintances this weekend and I'm still not sure which version is best.

Headed off to build relationships,
Ondrea
Americorps*VISTA, BCSL Enthusiast