The Inquistion #2 or.... The Organization on Welfare

by Lisa Gray-Garcia and Connie Lu

"What will the very low-income participants do without their wages?"

"They'll be ok - they're still on welfare...?"

I didn't respond...I just looked up.. too tired to fight..to tired to resist this newest barage of accusations, assumptions, and requirements, "NO, I wanted to say "they " will not be ok, "they", like "us", are in fact trying to get off of welfare through POOR Magazine's innovative job creation program which pays folks a living wage to learn how to be journalists and multi-media artists, and due to the wages "they" have gotten so far "They" are no longer eligible for their cash grants and "we" are unable to pay "them" any more wages. But I said nothing. I just looked up and sighed, a new kind of weary entering my bones, a new kind of loss and confusion about our non-profit organizations' dilemma of recieving funding from the very system which continues to de-value everything we and our participants are attempting to do.

Today's meeting heretofore known as The Inquisition #2 began earlier that day with me and Scott, zen-admin volunteer at POOR, compiling and collating a massive set of documents which followed a memo from the Private Industry Council. Most of these documents were things we had already reviewed and submitted to PIC/DHS in The inquisition #1, a four hour meeting after which PIC/DHS reneged on their agreement to reimburse wages already paid by POOR for folks in the JOBS in the Media welfare to work internship and training program at POOR, we were aware that this whole process was probably futile and PIC would manage to find another excuse not to reimburse us or the interns, but nonethless we complied and collated.

At 2:20 a small crew of POOR staffers transported a one foot pile of paper to the offices of PIC and DHS, we were accompanied by Osha Neuman, civil rights attorney from Community Defense INC on behalf of POOR Magazine.

The meeting room was small, bursting at its stucco seams with the human overload of 7 people- San Francisco Deputy City Attorney, two representatives from The Private Industry Council (PIC) and one from the Department of Human Services (DHS) . We began right away after a cursory attempt at polite introductions. This Inquisition wasn't nearly as long as #1 and there were a few less redundant moments. We went over the "pile" and tried to re-explain a few of the same issues. We presented all of the proper documents, and then the perennial "outside of the box" question was brought up by PIC, "So what exactly do your interns do, we are questioning whether they were really working?"

I began to explain for the 20th time that the interns all did a creative variation of journalism, multi-media and creative writing production, but that wasn't enough, "if they don't come in to an office, sign in, and sit at a desk - how do we know if they are they really working?" They pressed on.

Dee Gray from POOR began to explain the different nature of the internships themselves, how POOR tried to tailor the internships and their work duties to the specific abilities and interests of the interns. Osha added that the duties are in fact "outside of the box" I continued that in the case of the journalism interns, the whole nature of journalism itself is not about sitting at a desk but in fact is done mostly out on the field, at the event, or at a computer finishing a story, ending with my statement, "let's define Staff Writer,(the job that is listed on PICS contract with POOR)

This kind of futile re-explaining continued for another hour until it was 5:00. After the blase' statement by PIC/DHS about how the very low-income participants were "all ok" cause they were on welfare, we asked them the same question we have been asking for the last three weeks, " This is an extreme hardship for our small organization and the participants in the program, " When will you reimburse us for the wages we already paid?"

"I can't say for sure.."

As of this publishing POOR
Magazine has still not received reimbursement from DHS and PIC for the
wages paid to the students in POOR's JOBS in the Media Welfare to Work
program, and yet, they will continue to speak, write and educate about
issues of poverty and racism as long as there is breath left in their
collective lungs...If you want to urge PIC/DHS to reimburse POOR's wages please call Pamela Calloway at PIC (415) 431-8700

Youth Commission Supports POOR

By Connie Lu/PoorNewsNetwork Media Intern

I am a few blocks from the San Francisco Youth
Commission at City Hall, but its colossal dome shaped
roof adorned with gold trim can already be seen from a
distance, as it sparkles against the fresh blue sky.
As I enter the commission hearing room I notice that
there are several lights hanging from the ceiling's outer edge that look
like delicately illuminated white tulips. The
ethnically diverse representatives of the Youth
Commission are seated in the front of the room in a
semi-circle, as they address the various issues of todays
agenda.

After several topics are discussed, the resolution
urging the Department of Human Services (DHS) and the
Private Industry Council (PIC) to maintain and
continue the funding of the JOBS in the Media Program
at POOR Magazine is introduced. The Youth Commission
is given information about the situation that POOR is
facing. The JOBS Program is a paid internship that
gives houseless and low-income people the opportunity
to gain writing and multi-media skills. DHS and PIC
are currently withholding desperately needed funding
from POOR due to trivial discrepancies in the
difference between class time and work hours completed
by the interns in the JOBS Program.

The Youth Commission then opens this topic to public
comment. The members of POOR Magazine approach the
microphone. As I rise out of my seat, I take a deep
breath in an attempt to somehow release the fluttering
anxiety in my beating heart. I had not planned on
speaking before the Youth Commission, but Isabel
Estrada, a Youth in the Media Intern at POOR, was
there to encourage me to represent POOR Magazine,
despite my fear of public speaking.

I move up to a seat in the front row and wait for my
turn at the podium. As I look over my notes, I am
unable to sit still. Suddenly, I realize that I am
next. Before I begin, I swallow the tight knot in my
throat. I feel like a nervous bottle of shaken
champagne with a cork that was inhibiting the use of
my vocal chords. As my mouth opens to speak, I could
hear and feel my voice wavering with the first few
sentences that were rushed through. However, I remind
myself to slow down. I force my eyes to look up from
my notes to the faces that were no longer intimidating
to me, as I finished speaking.

After the last public comment is made, several of the
representatives of the Youth Commission raise their
hands in favor of the resolution to urge DHS and PIC
to fund POOR Magazine, which will result in DHS and
PIC receiving a copy of the resolution. This matter
will also be brought to the attention of the Mayor of
San Francisco and the Board of Supervisors because the
Youth Commission are their advisors.

As I leave City Hall, I take another deep breath, only
this time it was a breath of relief. But at the same
time, I was also relieved that I was able to defeat
and break the tenacious grip of fear upon voicing my
support for POOR. I know that my brief comment to the
Youth Commission will not solve this entire difficult
matter, but I feel that through this experience I am
learning to strengthen voice.

Connie is a student in the New Journalism/Media Studies Program at POOR where she is learning how to speak her voice.