Civic Participation and Community Action Sourcebook

Section Four

Project Hope Students Teach Others about Welfare Reform

by Lorna Rivera

Project Hope is a shelter for homeless women and their children located in the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston. Soon approaching its 50th anniversary, Project Hope provides shelter for families in crisis, housing advocacy, a Children’s Center, an Adult Education Center and a food pantry for community residents. All of our programs share a common commitment to economic justice and leadership development.

In 1994, a group of formerly homeless women met to discuss strategies for challenging the negative stereotypes of welfare mothers in the media. Almost 80% of Project Hope’s staff are former clients, and we knew from our experiences that the depictions of lazy welfare mothers were simply not true. After much discussion and strategizing about what to do, we decided to raise funds to make a video.

The resulting 20-minute documentary video, “Women of Strength: Four Stories From the Welfare Debate,” highlights the injustices individual women are facing in this new era of “reform.” The documentary addresses misconceptions that shaped the welfare debate, challenges stereotypes with facts, and humanizes the debate with stories of real people.

During the year that the video was being produced, the New England Leadership Conference of Religious Women invited Project Hope women for a discussion about the state’s welfare reform policies. To prepare for that conference, and also to begin developing ideas for a video viewer’s guide, the women studied and discussed the welfare system in all of their classes. In history class, they studied about the Great Depression and the New Deal. They read about the history of human services, related to changes in the U.S. economy, unemployment, homelessness, and welfare reform. Some of the materials they used included the PBS series, the “War on Poverty,” and The War on the Poor: A Defense Manual by Albeda, Folbre, and the Center for Popular Economics.

In political science classes, they studied the electoral process, examined political cartoons, and created their own political cartoons.

They also studied the federal and state legislative processes, with a special focus on how a bill becomes a law. In particular, they studied a bill drafted by Greater Boston Legal Services called “Education and Job Training.” The bill stipulated that enrollment in education or job training could substitute for the 20 hours of unpaid community service that is required by the new law.

They then organized a field trip to the Massachusetts State House on “Lobby Day” to demonstrate support for the bill. Students spoke to legislative aides and visited the Senate and House chambers. They felt they were making a difference in the political process. They later wrote letters to senators and representatives stating their concerns about cuts in welfare. Unfortunately, the governor vetoed the bill.

The women, however, wanted to continue their work. Their Leadership Conference presentations had been a great success, and they were looking forward to doing community education workshops with the newly completed video. With a small grant to support their work, they developed workshops that were informative, engaging, and very powerful.

The workshops typically began with an exercise about myths and facts regarding welfare, a short role-play about two sisters (one who is a welfare recipient and one who expresses stereotypical views about women on welfare), and a “Welfare I.Q. Test.” These initial activities were interactive, and designed to help audiences reconsider their assumptions and beliefs about welfare and poverty. Then “Women of Strength” was shown, and the women told their own stories. Finally, there were guided group discussions (using the political cartoons) to get at the challenges and possiblities for change. Interns from Legal Services were present at most workshops to offer help and advice.

The workshops were a success at many levels. By conducting the workshops for religious congregations and college students, Project Hope’s adult learners developed important skills, such as public speaking. Some adult learners expressed a desire to go to a community college and major in human services in order to continue working with people in their community. And their efforts inspired several congregations to develop concrete strategies (such as establishing a scholarship fund for low-income mothers who want to attend college) to address issues of poverty.

For information on how to obtain a copy of Women of Strength: Four Stories From the Welfare Debate, please contact Lorna Rivera, Adult Education Coordinator at (617) 442-1880.

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