Des projets de lutte contre la misère non adaptés aux besoins des personnes. Colloque international « La misère est violence, rompre le silence, chercher la paix » Maison de l’UNESCO 26 Janvier 2012.

After Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, I worked as a case manager. I was responsible for « partnering » with people to develop plans for recovery that included balancing their budgets before they could receive any grant funding. Their expenses could not be higher than their income. I could not promise financial assistance but would help people find available resources to meet their needs.

The application, which took one hour to complete, included balancing a monthy budget. Most people did not have a balanced budget ; neither did I. But I knew I could not get a penny for them until the budget was balanced, so I helped them develop a plan which included job seeking,looking for another job, applying for social security, child care, food stamps, and free school uniforms where applicable. It included reducing costs for medical insurance, prescriptions, transportation, telephone and cable television. It meant discussing ways to reduce utility bills.

A follow-up meeting was scheduled to help with applications for resources and to review progress. It would mean their spending their lunch time in my office or taking time off or paying someone for a ride or to sit with a loved one. The person was required to bring in documentation of emergency funding received from the federal government or from insurance claims. They were to bring in bank statements, as well as receipts documenting money they had spent or contractor agreements. If they had not received any emergency funds, they had to apply as part of their case management. If more than one hundred dollars was unaccounted for, they had to submit receipts or documents.

In the meantime, people hoped for rental or mortgage assistance, building materials, funds for clothing. Months went by as people struggled to follow their case plans in hopes for a little help. Many people gave up immediqtely, some later, because it was impossible to balance their budgets ; there just wasn’t any income to budget. Some people could no longer afford to take time off from work for assistance that was not promised. Others were indignant at the amount of time they had to invest in seeking out resources without the promise of financial help. Some people were accustomed to doing odd jobs all their lives and had no prospects of getting or could conceive applying for a full-time job. At the same time ,there were those who had followed their case plan but received so little or were hurt for their efforts.

One woman had followed her case plan and even opened a bank account. The agreement was that such individuals could be helpd more than once. Yet when she ran into a little trouble, I had to beg the director before she was finally granted the help. An indignant elderly man said to me, »After all I had to show you, I was brought a used mattress, and it is stained. » I felt humiliated and disgusted at the same time. When I told my supervisor, one of the administrators responded that « Beggars can’t be choosers. »