Summit on Food Security

I participated in Montgomery County's Summit on Food Security today and it was one of the best meeting I've gone to through the Benefit Bank. It was truly inspirational. Maybe as I become more involved in the Foodbank, I start to really sync with the speakers. I imagined that it was going to be a typical tabling event where I perform Quick Checks and share information about the Benefit Bank. I had no idea who the speakers were.One of the speakers was former congressman Tony Hall. I had no idea that he did the PeaceCorps! He was very inspirational and it was great to see someone in Washington addressing food insecurities issues. He talked about the duplication amongst hunger groups and how organizations need to collaborate. When talking about the impact of helping the hungry, Mother Teresa once told him, "Do the thing that's in front of you." I took a lot away out of that message. Sometimes, when I think about my role, I question how many people I am actually helping. What he said helped me realize that it's important for me to help the members of my community because that's the first place where I see a need. A lot of people spoke favorable of the Oho Benefit Bank and expressed an interest in becoming a site. Over all, it was a great summit and I was glad that I went!

Tax Training and Re-Entry Conference

My first tax training was definitely felt like I was deluged with information. I certainly learned a lot from it! I gained a genuine, heartfelt appreciation for the Benefit Bank software, once I had to complete the tax forms by hand. The tax forms confusing because they lacked clarity in some areas.
This was my first experience with taxes in every sense; I did not know the difference between a credit and a deduction when I started. I commend the OASHF staff for de-tangling the complexity of taxes and teaching me about the motley of forms one by one.
Even with my unfamiliarity with taxes, I am excited to help people get their earned income tax credits. Specifically, I like the aspect of instant gratification- the number they see is the number they will receive (assuming all information is correct)!

This past Saturday, I performed Quick Checks at a Re-Entry Conference. The population of the attendees was very dynamic. There were inmates up for release, people from recovery programs, and members of church-based programs. Basically, there were people looking to give help and get help in the same conference. It was pretty incredible! Some of the sessions they had also seemed interesting; one of them focused on trying to get the inmates talk about their emotions. I know that this may sound a little bit too effusive, but I thought it was it was very thoughtful aspect of recovery. There were various organizations present ranging from public health clinics, to church services, to re-entry organizations. Many people were very interested in the OBB and surprised by what it had to offer.

DYS event

Yesterday Meliva and I traveled to the Ohio Valley Correctional Facility in Franklin Furnace, Ohio. The journey to Scioto County was a winded country road that seemed to never end. I had never been inside a prison before and did not know what to expect. When we got the facility, we realized that we didn't have a contact person and no one at the facility was expecting us. After repairing up their miscommunication issues, they allowed us to enter. I was pretty surprised at how nice the facility was. They had their own high school, cafeteria, basketball courts, and medical center. It reminded me a little bit of a campus.

The youth that we helped were due to be released. I was surprised by how respectful they were. Their demeanor definitely helped relieve my anxiety about interacting with them. It was sort of difficult to do their application for public benefits because they didn't really have any information about members of their household. Helping them learn how to apply before they are released will hopefully provide them with an agenda after they are released. We made sure that we wrote out directions to update information of their application upon their release. Some of them seemed unlikely to follow through with it, while others were excited to embark on a better journey!

In-service Training

I found out VISTA in-service training to be quite insightful. In particular, the poverty simulation was beneficial in helping create a greater awareness for the stresses that those in poverty undergo. I confirmed that "getting by" is definitely a challenge and that improving one's socioeconomic status sometimes depends on luck. In the poverty simulation, my family ended up better off than we had started; this was the result of luck and a few good choices. Even though our house was temporarily evicted, we had food three out of four weeks, and had jobs. I think this was possible because my group was more familiar with public benefits than other groups and we had knowledge of where to go. Ultimately, in every sense, knowledge is power. Importantly, I learned to distinguish minimum wage from living wage, why it is important. In the end, I felt good that I am working to help power people to access resources that are available to them. I still feel discombobulated with the challenges the those in poverty face and I know there is much more to do.

Shared Harvest Agency meeting

This past Friday I attended the Shared Harvest Agency meeting. The meeting started off with a poignant slide show with quotes about Hunger. One I particularly connected with was "Hunger also changes the world - when eating can't be a habit, then neither can seeing." Maxine Hong Kingston. This is from my belief that many diseases can be prevented/ treated by maintaining a healthy diet and participating in healthful behavior. It is shocking that in America, the land of abundance, that hunger is such a prevalent issue. While the food stamps is called supplemental nutrition assistance, it is mostly the case that it is the only sole source of nutrition.
The meeting also had many interesting presenters. I learned that 36 cents of every tax dollar goes to education and 39 cents of every dollar go to medicaid, while a marginally amount is allocated for food assistance. For a person living on a low-income, that makes very little sense. They aren't able to get the proper nutrition in the first place, which ensues in poor health. Then the government ends up spending more for their medical expenses. This is especially applicable to the cause of chronic diseases like diabetes and high blood pressure.
I went to an interesting workshop about nutrition from OSU extension. I was surprised that there were only four people attended. This attendance influences my view that nutrition is not a exactly a priority. I learned that the cost of vegetables and fruit have gone up 120% in the past 15 years, while the cost of sugary junk food has gone up only 20% as a result of corn syrup. I also gained insight as to why food insecurities are linked to obesity, and people on food stamps are increasingly less healthier than low-income individuals not receiving food stamps. A common trend for people on food stamps is to eat in surplus at the beginning of the month when they have money, and then go into starvation at the end of the month. These binge-starvation cycles are linked to the increase in obesity and diabetes on food assistance recipients. The body acclimates to hold more energy during the starvation period, and results in weight gain during the surplus period. I am fascinated by the body's ability to adapt to circumstances created by environmental sources.
Further, I appreciated that the extension was working to help families create healthful meals using the foods that were available to them through the food pantry. It was a creative idea to have samples out of the families and then provide recipe cards.

All in a Day's Work

Last week, I participated in two community service opportunities in remembrance of September 11th. Last Friday, a few other VISTAs and I went helped clean up a school that Hamilton Living Waters would use to make a community center for elementary and teenage children. It was a nice change to do direct service! Capacity building is important, but it's also good to see a direct impact from your actions. We organized the chairs throughout the building, and carried over a 130 chairs up the stairs ( no elevators!) Yes, we all had our work-out for the day! In addition, we swept up all the shards of glass and the inches deep dust and dirt of the the floor. We were all coughing, sneezing, and wheezing when we were done. In the area, there was a problem of young teenage males, throwing left behind bricks and large rocks into windows of the school. I was really impressed with the staff at Living Waters' ability to empathize with the males, opposed to expressing their anger. They realized that the boys did not have soccer teams or baseball teams where they could constructively utilize their energy. Thus, they turned to throwing rocks into glass windows, burning picnic tables, and sneaking into the building to huff paint. To help, we picked up large rocks and bricks throughout the area; however, the rocks did not end! Whenever we pick up one, we found five more! Oh well, I hope our efforts deterred the teenagers from throwing glass in windows.
In addition, we picked up trash around the building and playground. It was also interesting to read some of the graffiti of the playground before we removed it! In the end there was a noticeable difference in the appearance of the building and the organization inside.
At the end of our day, we sat down and reflected about September 11th. We learned what each one of us was doing when we found out about 9/11, and our thoughts about its impact today. It was a really a meaningful day; I learned about issues effecting in local community in remembrance of an event that impacted the nation.
On Saturday, September 11th, I tabled a booth at the Evangel Church of God’s Community Day Event. It was amazing to see the sense of solidarity in their community. They began the event by having the Boy Scouts raise the flag at half mass, raise it high again and was followed by the singing of the National Anthem. The event was very coordinated and had something for every age. There were inflatable games, face painting, a bike parade, a petting zoo, and desirable door prizes. In addition, they had a live band perform. It was hard to compete with that! There was an insurance company and another non-profit at the event that also seemed to have trouble getting too many people who were interested. While the MC’s mentioned OBB throughout the event and why it’s important, it was difficult to get a big flow of people to come into my room for Quick Checks. It also didn’t help that I internet was very on and off. It would decide to work for a Quick Check for one person, but not the next person. The church requested that I leave literature so that they can pass it out in their food pantry. One woman, who had said she was not interested in public benefits last year, said her circumstances have changed drastically and is very interested in public benefits. The more and more outreach events that I do, I realize the impact of the recession. People are working hard for their families, but there is simply not enough available work do to.

OBB Conference!

I spend the last two days in Columbus at the OBB conference. It was a really insightful learning experience! All of Wednesday was devoted to public benefits and Thursday was spend on learning about tax clinics. So much fine print! I learned new things about public benefits and will be able to explain certain benefits to my clients in greater detail. Sometimes the information sessions about VITA and other tax-related topics were a bit over my head, but its was good to familiarize myself with the jargon. I found the tax clinic stimulation to be particularly helpful because it helped me understand the flow of various tax clinic sessions.
In addition, I watched a really sad documentary about three struggling families living in Southeast Ohio. I was really struck by the documentary, and was really glad that I am positioned at a Foodbank. The documentary helped me realize the impact that a Foodbank has in the community.I think providing for people's basic needs is the foundation upon which a society can grow. It is something that is often overlooked. In the country of abundance and where obesity is on the rise, it is hard to believe that communities are struggling to find nourishment. I am interested in getting Shared Harvest involved with the paper plate campaign that was featured in the documentary. I thought it was a thoughtful way to send the message to politicians in Washington. As a side note, I thought it was interesting to see one of the people who did not have enough money for food, smoking a cigarette. It made me realize how addicting cigarettes are, and think about the lack of education, or anti-smoking campaigns in the area.
Furthey, the conference was a great way to catch up with my fellow VISTAs. It was great to be able to reconnect with them.