Changes

I'm not one who typically deals well with change, specifically in my relationships. I'm an incredibly driven person who functions best when I'm in a committed relationship; however, my past relationships haven't been the most healthy.

Most recently, my husband and I separated and he is asking for a divorce. It's been a month and I'm doing ok, not great but ok. I realized that our relationship had been suffering for years and although, I'm sad at the loss, I know it's the best thing for both of us.

Despite knowing that, it's still really hard. We have two children and a mound of debt. So it means there's no "clean" break. I want to be happy again and I know it's a process to get to that point. I just wish the process was at its end.

I've been thinking more about what I want in a partner and in my life. Everyone says "you'll be fine", "you'll meet someone amazing who is everything you want". What if they aren't right? What if I'm not ok or I don't find someone amazing? What if I end up alone for the rest of my life?

Testimony

So for my policy II course, we had to create a testimony towards our topic of interest. Here's mine. Feedback is welcome!

Testimony

            Thank you, Chairman Corman, Vice Chairman Tomlinson, and Councilmen and Councilwomen of the Senate Appropriations Committee of the Pennsylvania General Assembly for allowing me to speak today.

            My name is Beth Gaul and I work as a Mental Health Resource Coordinator within Dauphin County. Regarding House Bill No. 1485 as sponsored by Adolph & Turzai (2001), I am requesting the committee consider appropriating more funds to two areas: 1) Emergency Shelter for the Homeless and 2) Homeless Assistance.

            My first experience dealing with the homeless and mentally ill in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, was at the age of 17. I was in the downtown area of Harrisburg City when a man approached me. He stated that he was going to be admitted to the “psych ward” on Front Street, but they could not take him yet and he was told to go get lunch. The man was homeless and stated that he had no money. My companions and I took him to the deli and bought him a lunch. This experience contributed to my desire to work within the Human Services field. I have now worked within the mental health field for eight years in various roles. Through that time, a common life stressor would be disclosed by the individuals I worked with: “I’m homeless”.

            I currently work as a case manager with adults diagnosed with major mental illnesses. My role includes assessing their service needs, linking with appropriate community resources, and monitoring their service delivery. I assist these individuals through their mental health recovery by identifying their personal goals and teaching them how to access services to support these goals. Many individuals I work with experience homelessness in varying degrees, including living on the street or staying on families’ couches.  

            During the January 2010 Point-in-time survey of the Mid-Atlantic Region, which is a survey used to identify the homeless population, Pennsylvania identified 13,470 individuals experience homelessness within any given night (Mid-Atlantic Regional Homeless Management Information System, 2011). The U.S. Housing and Urban Development department or HUD defines homelessness as residing on the streets, in inhabitable areas, shelters, or transitional housing programs. This does not account for those who were residing on the streets and could not be located. It does not account for the hidden homeless within Pennsylvania who double up in the homes of family members or friends.

            I would like to share a story of a man I work with who had been residing in the outdoor community in Harrisburg City referred to as Tent City. This individual had worked for years in a local small business until the business’s closure. After losing his job, he struggled to find work and developed depressive symptoms, as well as alcohol dependency. He accessed the supports he could, including the shelter systems in Dauphin County and Adams County. After utilizing the maximum days in the shelters, he found himself on the streets. He discovered Tent City and “resided” there for three to four months before social service agencies became involved in his case. During the five years of homelessness he experienced, he received little medical treatment and no mental health or substance abuse services due to an inability to connect with these supports.

            Once case management services became involved, he was able to access funding for housing through a Federal grant identified as the Homelessness Prevention/Rapid Re-Housing Program (HPRP). He was able to move into an apartment and received assistance for rent and utilities. With the program meeting his basic needs of shelter and food, he has been able to access support for his mental illness and has begun working towards sobriety. Unfortunately, the HPRP funds are finite and quickly reaching a point of exhaustion. He is again facing homelessness due to limited resources.

            There are resources in Pennsylvania for assistance with homelessness. Each program carries specific eligibility requirements and due to limited funding, they can be difficult to access. Agencies, like the HELP office, offer assistance with accessing emergency shelter, rental assistance programs, and other assistance to those living in poverty. Funding for the HELP Ministries comes from various sources, including church organizations, government funding, and private donors (Christian Churches United, 2011). The Capital Area Coalition on Homelessness was created to assist with developing and accessing supports within the community for those experiencing homelessness (Capital Area Coalition on Homelessness, 2011).  The YMCA and the YWCA often offer programs for emergency and transitional housing options to many homeless individuals. These agencies make great efforts towards eliminating homelessness; however, they are restricted by the amount of funds they receive. There are never enough funds to assist all the people who need the support.

            I have worked with a number of individuals and families who have utilized the shelter system and the transitional housing options that are available currently in Pennsylvania. Specifically related to Dauphin County, emergency shelter options are extremely limited. For example, within a year, men in Dauphin County are limited to 10 days of emergency shelter and women are limited to 30 days. During the winter months, often running from November to March, churches have united to offer overnight shelter for the homeless. This is limited to the number of individuals that can be housed for the night based on space and volunteers available. Men and women are turned away due to a limited capacity, forced to face the elements and hope they make it through the night. Men in Dauphin County have one shelter to go to; women have three available shelters. Often, when reaching out to the HELP office for emergency shelter, there are no beds available.

            Those who are identified as mentally ill often have limited income, typically cash assistance benefits, and are waiting for Social Security determinations. When experiencing severe episodes of mood instability or psychosis, they are often unable to work. They cannot afford their own apartments or even to rent a room in a boarding house. Residential programming that is available to the mental health community is also limited. Therefore, accessing these supports is difficult with spaces limited to the most chronic cases. With all these barriers, frequently, individuals find themselves facing choices like living on the street or living with family members in homes that are too small to support more than one family.

            From the prospective of a Mental Health Resource Coordinator, there are very few resources to offer to support these individuals. Often with their basic need for shelter not being met, these individuals begin to decompensate. They experience more mood instability and, at times, begin to self-medicate with street drugs and alcohol. Completely engaging in treatment becomes a challenge due to the constant worry of where they will go for the month, the week, or the night. The mentally ill homeless do not have adequate income to pay for their co-pays on medications or to get bus fare to get to appointments. Some look to the community mental health facilities for inpatient services. Others continue to live on the streets with no treatment at all. Those who have not been able to engage in mental health services, such as case management, may not be aware of the support that is available, even if that support is limited in funding.

            I encourage the Committee to consider allocating more funds toward the budget area for Emergency Shelter for the Homeless and for Homeless Assistance. As House Bill No. 1485 is currently proposed to the Appropriations Committee, the Federal Appropriation for Emergency Shelter is $75,000 and the appropriation for Homeless Assistance is $3,426,000. There are currently no appropriations listed from the State of Pennsylvania. Please consider designating a portion of the appropriations currently established for the Small Communities Block grants, Community Services block grants, and the Mental Health block grants to these two specific areas. To do so would invest in the future of Pennsylvania and work towards eliminating homelessness.
            Again, thank you for your time and consideration on this matter.

Elizabeth Gaul

Adult Resource Coordinator

Harrisburg, PA 17104

References

Adolph & Turzai (2011). House Bill No. 1485. www.legis.state.us/cfdocs/cteeInfo/cteeInfo.cfm?cde=3&body=S

Capital Area Coalition on Homelessness (2011). Housing. http://cachpa.org/housing.asp

Christian Churches United (2011). HELP Ministries.www.ccuhbg.org/HELP%20MINISTRIES%20NEW.HTML

Mid-Atlantic Regional Homeless Management Information System. (2011). 2010 Point-in-time    count report. http://monarchhousing.org/wordpress/up-content/uploads/2011/05/MARHSMISPIT2010DataReport.pdf

crazy crazy crazy

I've been without internet for a minute and have been going through serious withdraw. We recently got it hooked back up and I'm really excited.


This one will be more of a journaling session, so forgive me. I am planning on posting my testimony for my Policy course once it's finalized. So hopefully, within the next couple days, I'll have something with more content.


The past few weeks have been eventful. On the Union front, I've been officially elected as the Chief Shop Steward for our shop. We've already been able to do some actions, specifically an informational picketing regarding the lack of contract we've had for the last year. It's been a long road and I'm hopeful we'll be able to come to a resolution some time soon.

Negotiations were negotiations. I was happy we stayed as long as we did and were able to at least get all the arguments and most of the options on the table. I'm becoming more comfortable with the new role and am hopeful we'll be able to make some positive changes.


I was finally able to meet up with my friend who attended a Leadership conference in California with me in March. Between my recovery from surgery and hectic schedules, it took a bit to meet; but I've got the information to be able to move forward as a T.E.A.M. member with the SEIU and further the Fight for a Fair Economy. I'm excited for the opportunity.


Work has been stressful to say the least. Coming back after two weeks off is always difficult. I'm feeling like after sometime back at work, I'm finally getting things caught up. I'm a bit frustrated with the productivity requirement to catch up from my leave; but, fortunately, I have been able to discuss these concerns with management. Although, it won't change my situation, it'll hopefully make things easier from everyone in the future.


School is overwhelming with summer sessions. I've never taken a summer course before and it's very intensive. However, I'm feeling like I have a handle on things. One cool assignment was to attend a public hearing at the State General Assembly. If you've never had the opportunity, I would strongly encourage you to do so. I attended a hearing on a bill that would make it illegal for tanning salons to allow minors to tan indoors without parental consent. It was a very interesting heaing in many ways. I enjoyed seeing the process of a public hearing, including discussion of the committees. I definitely see myself become more involved.

I plan to initial do that with organizing letter writing campaigns and speaking with representatives; however, I could see myself moving towards a possible lobbying role. I've just recently become more interested in the political process and the role people can play. I'm excited to learn more things.


On the home front, things are well. My children are doing well and it's amazing to see the changes they make every day. We'll begin transitional planning for my daughter soon with the school district. I'm nervous about this process, but we have a great support system to help us through it. I'm hopeful we can separate her day between mainstream and life skills, but we'll see what the school district thinks. Our son has an amazing imagination on him and is doing very well. I'm going to begin looking at pre-school options for him in the fall.

Well, I guess that's the majority of the updating. Keep an eye out for the testimony I'll post in a few days.

Call to Action

It's taken time for me to determine what is important to me and the direction that I want my life and career to go. I've always felt passionately about advocating for others and working within the human services in some capacity. It wasn't until I began working in an agency that was organized that I began to feel a real passion for a specific type of advocacy work.

In the course of the last three and a half years, I've learned a great deal about the Labor movement and have become more and more involved in actions and shop organization. I went from being someone who didn't have a strong knowledge base of the Labor movement to a rank and file member to a shop steward and may now be transitioning into a Chief shop steward position. Every day, I've been developing more and more ideas and action plans for mobilizing our unit and cannot wait to continue to work on this cause and within this movement.

There are frequent misconceptions about union workers and the purpose behind unions. I often hear people refer to union workers as lazy people who want too much compensation and benefits and don't want to work their fair share. A common argument is non-Union workers do not make that much and do not have pensions, so why should Union workers? There is ever increase Right to Work legislation in almost every state in the union trying to limit the bargaining rights of union workers.

Union workers are not lazy; they don't want an exorbenant amount of compensation; and they certainly do their fair share of work. Right to Work legislation is actually Right to Work for Less. The question shouldn't be: why should Union workers get paid at the rate they do or have pensions? The question should be: why don't ALL workers get paid fair wages, have better benefit packages, and appropriate work conditions.

Unions are advocating for not only the benefits union workers deserve, but the compensation, benefits, and work conditions that every worker in the United States deserves. Current legislative proposals are not only an attack on union members, but on the middle class itself. If one evaluates the economic seperations within the United States, it is clear that the majority of the nation's wealth is within the upper 20%. Not only that, but if we break it down further, the upper 1% holds the majority of the wealth. Those not in the upper class are left with 30% of the nation's wealth. What we do is fight among each other for that 30% rather than fighting for our fair portion of the 70%.

I encourage everyone to question why the middle class is diminishing? Why are the tax burdens put on the middle class and the working poor? Why are corporations not paying their fair share of taxes? Why are tax credits still given when it is clear the "trickle down" system has not and will not work to improve our current economic climate?

This is a time for people to work together to change a flawed system. I encourage everyone to look not only at the federal system and legislation, but to evaluate proposals at the State system as well. In the state of Pennsylvania, the governor released his budget proposal that would cause significant cuts to human services and education. In education alone, he has proposed a 54% reduction in funding to higher eduction and a 50% reduction to funding for public education. He has proposed a school voucher program that could be the first step towards attempting to privitize the public education system. He continues to fight against taxing the corporations who are extracting natural gas from the Marcellus Shale. Closing the Delaware loophole, a method used by corporations to avoid paying taxes to Pennslvania, isn't even considered.

Often what often occurs when the economic status of the United States and individual states is in jeopardy is social services funding and programs are cut. Times when more people are experiencing personal economic hardship and increased unemployment are times when these services are needed even more, but are required to figure out how to do more with less. Yes, a spending cut should be considered; however, methods to generate revenue are equally important. The amount of revenue that could be generated in the state of Pennsylvania by taxing the corporations appropriately in the Marcellus Shale region, closing the Delaware loophole, and taxing smokeless tobacco products would fill the current budget deficit and place Pennsylvania in a better economic position.

The issues are not Union and non-Union. It's not Democrat vs Republican. It's about the direction our states and county will be going. I want a better quality of life for my children and for all the generations of the future. We need to begin to critically think about resolutions to the budget and the national and state deficits. I encourage everyone to write to their representatives, attend rallies and lobby days, and vote in every election, including the primaries. Primaries will be on Tuesday May 17th!!! Please get out there and use your voice!!!!

The first

Well, this is a first. I've never done anything like this before and I'm not sure how it will be but I'll give it a go. I'm having a bit of trouble sleeping tonight. My mind keeps going. I'm currently on leave from work due to a minor surgery, so I have a lot of time on my hands. I'm not used to this and have been struggling a bit with what to do with myself. The first few days were a blur of pain meds and sleep. I couldn't focus, so I didn't get much accomplished except for sleep. Now I'm feeling a bit better, although I'm still restricted from work and normal activity.


So today, I felt like I needed to do something. I've downloaded my textbook for my first summer course, but am not feeling much motivation. There's only a two week break, so I'd rather not spend that reading up for my summer course. I did some research and created some forms for my Union shop, but lost focus rather quickly. So I decided to start reading The Five Minds of the Future by Howard Gardner.


I've read Gardner's Multiple Intelligences years ago and enjoy his theory and writing style. His discussion in the Five Minds of the Future is focused on the minds that he feels people and societies need to develop and encourag in order for people to function in the society of the future. Although I haven't gotten far, he focuses on including cultural competance, citing an increased ease in connecting with others from across the globe (blogging is a perfect example). I've very interested to get further into the meat, so to speak, of his discussion.


Regardless, his writing style includes using relative examples to further illustrate his points. One of his examples in regards to his proposed "disciplined mind" revolved around a member of a work force moving into a management position and attempting to maintain his previous friendships with workers in the company. Ultimately, the new manager realizes he cannot maintain these friendships in the same regards and moves away from those friends.


This is where we get to why my mind won't stop going tonight. This example struck a chord in me because it recently occurred at my work. I had a friend I cared about deeply recently move from being a co-worker to a member of middle mangement. Without going into the dirty details of everything that has happened in the two months since this move occurred, I'll say that he has turned his back on people who have supported him through life and career challenges, people who had his back no matter what. These people he has turned from are some of the most intelligent, supportive and loyal friends someone could ask for. I know because they are my friends as well. Our group cares not only about ourselves and each other, but about people and the world in general.


Despite reading Gardner's example and explanation on discipline, I'm struggling to understand how someone can do that to people they at one time had called friends. This is what has kept my mind spinning tonight when I should be sleeping. How can someone turn their back on others who have been there for them and care about them? How can someone choose to turn their back on a cause they defended to argue from the other side? Why do I care when others seem to be able to quickly abandon people and things they at one time identified as important? And why does moving along on your career path need to change other areas of your life?


I've thought about a number of ways of approaching this person. I could go into his office, shut his door, and scream at him, like I promised him I would do if he sold out. I could confront him appropriately and talk with him about it. I could do nothing and move forward seeing this as a learning opportunity.

Where I'm at now, I believe I will not waste my time and energy confronting him, but use this opportunity to develop a better understanding of people and relationship dynamics. I will use this opportunity to learn to develop better boundaries and to trust my instincts. I will use this opportunity to not become jaded and guarded, but to motivate and encourage loyalty and change within myself and others.


I find myself asking what is my definition of success? To me, success is remembering who I am regardless of where my life takes me and continuing to support, encourage, and challenge those I care about and remind them to do the same for me.