"The reality tour really helped me open my eyes"

I attended the reality tour in November of 2008. This tour was an eye opening experience. It is sponsored by grants and volunteers from the community and was run by the Social Welfare Action Alliance (SWAA). It was a lens into the poverty the people face in the Rochester community and encourages people to “Learn about the daily problems faced by the poor, and the true impact of welfare reform and county budget cuts on the poor as well as the entire community.”(SWAA, 2008) It pointed out the fact that we can drive around Rochester and go all these places and never acknowledge the problems that surround us. When you stop and look at the way some people have to live it is hard to ignore afterwards.

One of the first things we did on the tour was to practice filling out an application for the welfare assistance program. The first thing we noticed was that this application was that it was 12 pages long. Bob Ingram explained to us that in order to even be considered for welfare help you have to be broke. When calling the welfare office it can be difficult to talk to someone. There are a number of other obstacles that one may encounter when applying whether it be not having enough documents to prove identification or having scheduling conflicts and being unable to reschedule. I think that learning about this application process is a very important activity. One of the biggest political debates revolves around helping the poor. Whenever I hear people arguing about welfare one of the things they say is that welfare is to easy to get and that people want to be on it. If they really understood how difficult it is to obtain welfare they might change their minds.

Another thing that we discussed on the tour was that no body wants to be on welfare. Dr. Larkin from the Martin Luther King School in the city talked about kids and how they get caught up in this system of poverty. A lot of the time people are socialized to believe that they can’t do better. They aren’t given the resources in school to have an alternative. He says that getting good teachers in the schools is what will help these kids move up in life.

Going to St Joes was really great. I think that people always want to help but they either don’t know how or they feel that they don’t have the time. I sometimes hear that people are afraid to help because they think it might make them feel upset. St. Joes is a great place because they tell you exactly how you can help. They have an ongoing wish list and they have a variety of different things you can do whether it be answering phones, donating medicine samples, or even shoveling snow. I think whatever some ones comfort level is there is something for them to do.

The House of Mercy was the last stop we made and I think it was one of the most powerful. It is run by Sister Grace, Charles Earsly, and Vince Shelton. We learned that the house of mercy is the only homeless shelter that does not turn any body away. It is open 24 hours and it does much more than provide shelter for people in need. Sister Grace explained that she often works with the people who come to stay at the house and helps them sign up for government assistance and other services that they might qualify for but don’t know how to go about getting it.

Going on the reality tour really helped me open my eyes to the hardships that people who live very close to me endure. One thing I noticed was that the two main groups struggling with making ends meat consisted of minorities, women and children. The speakers on the tour helped us understand that these oppressed groups are going to be stuck in an endless cycle until changes are made. The sticky floor concept best describes why these people can’t move forward. Going to places like The MLK school and the subsidized apartments by the river helped me imagine a life very different from my own.

"Visiting the House of Mercy Was Pretty Emotional"

This was my first time attending the Reality Tour and I had no idea I would feel as strongly as I did while on the tour. I was somewhat informed about the various stops the tour makes, but I had not really considered how I would experience each of those places. The first bit of information we received was about the welfare system here in the county and what people go through to get assistance. I felt defeated just looking at the ten plus page application which looked confusing to me. If a Bachelor’s level educated person is overwhelmed by the application for DSS I wonder how a person with little or no education must feel.

I complain about money on a fairly regular basis because my money situation is tight and has been for most of my adult life. Listening to the gentleman who spoke to us in the subway made me feel like the most ungrateful person on the Earth. I may not have a lot of extra cash, but I go to Dunkin Donuts to buy coffee on a regular basis, I go out to eat several times a week. I was facing a man who used to be homeless, living in the cold, dark, abandoned subway tunnel. I cannot even imagine what it must be like to have nowhere to go, nothing to call your own. It was a humbling experience for me because I also realized that I am only one or two paychecks away from being homeless. I grew up in the middle class, but since our economy has taken a complete nose-dive I feel more and more vulnerable all of the time.

The formerly homeless man in the subway explained that he had been employed and living okay and then little by little the rug was pulled from underneath him. I think many white people are under the impression that the poor, black people they see in Rochester are that way because of something they have done. I know I used to think that. I am not proud of that, but before I was educated about the systemic causes for the poverty we see in Rochester, it was easier to think it was their own fault.

Visiting the House of Mercy was pretty emotional for me because I felt so responsible. I felt like I should be doing something to help these people. Or that when they look at me they think I should do something or that they wish they were in my shoes. That thought process is so disturbing to me now because I am not personally responsible for anyone’s poverty, but I don’t believe it absolves me of any responsibility to help people in community. I realized that the people who work and/or volunteer at the shelter are there because they want to not only change the lives of the people who stay there; they want to improve life circumstances for everyone. I felt sorry for the people staying in the shelter because I would not want to be in that situation, but then I thought about it and realized it could be me too. Not only that, but I see pity as a useless emotion and a waste of energy. Pitying people does nothing to help them move out of the space they are in. If you constantly feel sorry for a person’s situation or lot in life, you will not be in a position to help that person up and out of that place. To me pity also means you see yourself as more privileged than the person you feel sorry for and I find that demeaning.

"The speakers really made it real for me."

The Reality Tour of Rochester truly helped me to understand the harsh realities surrounding the everyday lives of the poor. I found it to be very informative and I felt as if I learned more in those three hours than I did an entire semester in college. The speakers really made it real for me. Individual stories heard was a great opportunity for all people who want to help make a difference in the lives of others. Listening to all the different perspectives on issues dealing with poverty was amazing. I learned a lot and began to understand the difficulties people have to go through to get the basic necessities of life including benefits and shelter. I further realized the many things wrong in our current systems.

Things that were not as clear to me in the classroom became clear on the tour as this has become information I will continue to use throughout each day of my life. I will try to pass on the information I learned to others in a small attempt to make a difference in this city. The root cause of poverty branches off to so many different things and the speakers all had great contributions for the tour.

Thank you everyone that made this possible.

Tour Was Awesome

Thanks, Barbara. The tour was awesome. Our 27 Just Faith members from the Church of the Assumption will forever be moved to change the world by your speakers and profound witness.

"You Are The Greatest Tour Guide"

I began writing this not Saturday night, and never finished it! Just want to again thank the three of you for organizing a very effective and powerful Reality Tour. Colleen and Yvonne - can't imagine the work you both put into it. Melissa - You are the greatest tour guide! The enormity of information at your command and your ability to articulate it are quite impressive, indeed. So...will see you on the 21st, but wanted to say before that - thank you so much. Blessings to each of you!

Super Reality Tour

I've waited to thank you for Saturday's super Reality Tour until our JustFaith group had met to "process it," because I wanted to give you their responses. I wish you could've been a fly on the wall. They were SO moved by everything: especially the dignity of the folks living in poverty, and the grace of those serving them. People mentioned as especially touching them: the smell & dampness of inside the subway; the photos covering sr. Grace's walls; CW's testimony; the guys cozily hanging out in the living room there; the frustrated passion of the social worker who had just resigned because she couldn't do her job properly; inside the PPU hyporthermia bus... Even during the rest of our JustFaith meeting, they kept referring back to examples from their Reality Tour experience; and I'm sure they'll continue to do so.

I'm aware of how incredibly much work goes into organizing the Tour and making it run so smoothly. And you are my all-time favorite MC: I love your unique combination of passion, knowledge, and humor.