Category Archives: Thought Pieces

Response to Julia: How do you create hospitality at the ECWT office?

By David | Published: April 13, 2010

 

Julia:

Your question of how we create a hospitable space at the ECWT office has been rolling around in my head.  Knowing whether or not people felt welcome is always tricky, and if they did, what helped them feel welcome is maybe even trickier! 

My reflections start with this assumption: The basic need for people who come to the ECWT office in Goshen or Elkhart is to have their experience taken seriously. 

That starts with asking the question, “How are you doing?”  It involves meeting people at the door, and offering something to drink.  That sends a message – “We are not all about processing your request and signing you up for help.  We are about you.  We want to learn to know you.  We have time.  This is a place where you can come and relax.”

Offering hospitality means being willing to ask hard questions.  As you learn to know people without jobs, you learn to ask questions that aren’t usually asked in “polite” society.  Where did you work last?  When did you lose your job?  Are you signed up for unemployment benefits?  How are you holding up?  What are you finding most difficult about this experience?  How are your children reacting to this?  Does your spouse work?  How are things with you and your spouse?  What’s your financial situation like?  Are you keeping up with your mortgage?

These are not questions that are asked in the first 15 minutes, nor are they questions everyone would get asked in a particular sequence, or in one setting.  Maybe the important part is to say that hospitality involves creating a place where people know they can “go anywhere they want” in terms of sharing their experience, and sometimes part of creating that place involves asking the right question at the right time.

I think the brag board was important, and it was important having everyone sign it.  That made it something for everyone to think about – identifying their gifts and strengths and being affirmed as an important part of the community, not just unemployed people.

I think it has been important that everyone connected with ECWT here is signed up in the Skills Bank.  The hospitality offered here is between members of the same community.  Yes, some of us are unemployed  and some of us are under-employed, and we have different skill levels and wealth levels.  So I’m not claiming some false equality.  But being in the Skills Bank has been invaluable in terms of knowing how it works and being able to tell people you’re in there and finding your own page.  It does get at the “us – them” dichotomy to some extent.

It’s important to enjoy people.  If someone is “working” at the ECWT space and a “client” comes in, it’s a business transaction.  If someone is “hanging out” at the ECWT space and someone else comes in to hang out, it’s a personal interaction (even if “work” gets done at some point and a person is signed up or gets information about gardens, etc.)  It’s about an attitude.  Unemployed people need a beautiful, safe, relaxing place to hang out.

Plus, Fair Trade coffee and tea, by donation if you can, no donation needed.

I’m anxious to visit your office when it gets up and running, and see all the ways you put your stamp on the space you create. 

Yours in peace,

David

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“I’m afraid to hope for hope”

By David | Published: December 15, 2009

Life at ECWT has a weekly rhythm.  Each coordinator who is unemployed applies for three jobs a week.  Most job applications are never acknowledged.  Every once in awhile, someone is called for an interview.  On rare occasions, they are called for a second interview.

Last week one of our coordinators was called for the second interview, and it was looking very good.  The job wasn’t close to perfect.  It didn’t use the full range of professional skills the coordinator possesses.  It was more than an hour and 15 minutes commute one way.  But after a year of unemployment, this was looking pretty good. Then the prospective employer said the  coordinator could work from home two days a week.  The employer called for professional references. He spoke highly of the coordinator.

We were excited, or rather, we would have been excited if we had let ourselves be.  But we have schooled ourselves not to get excited about a prospect of a job. 

Click to continue reading ““I’m afraid to hope for hope””

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Warning: Strong language ahead

By David | Published: October 9, 2009

Not that I want to scare anybody – there’s no profanity here. However, I’ve been struck by some of the extremes of language I’ve heard used by unemployed people in the last few weeks.

ECWT is built on a foundation of affirmation, and claiming self-worth. Our tag line uses strong language to make a bold claim: We are strong. We are creative. We are an asset to our community.

Click to continue reading “Warning: Strong language ahead”

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“Not so well, thanks, how about you?”

By David | Published: September 7, 2009

No one person can speak for the thousands of unemployed and under-employed* workers in Elkhart County this Labor Day. My personal experience of being under-employed, and of leading Elkhart County Works Together for the last half year, leads me to offer a few personal reflections this Labor Day, and to be so bold as to use the pronoun “we” to reflect that experience.

A good place to start is by quoting Amy Hapner, featured on the front page of the Elkhart Truth this morning, who tells those who are currently employed, “Be very, very thankful you have a job.” Being without a job for a prolonged period makes us more aware than ever of the blessings and benefits of working.

Click to continue reading ““Not so well, thanks, how about you?””

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Does it all depend on “the government”?

By David | Published: August 22, 2009

A month ago, our family went East to Virginia for a family vacation.  A week later, we went to Michigan.  Today, I’m writing from Hesston, KS, pretty close to the heartland of America.

Everywhere we went we encountered travel delays because of road work.  Bridges, passing lanes, shoulder repair, new exchanges – the jack hammers and dump trucks and people were out in force.

It wasn’t until we drove past Kansas City yesterday and saw workers re-building a mall that I realized we had seen almost no construction activity during those travels through 9 of the 50 states.  No new houses.  No other new office buildings.

What we saw was people working because of the massive government investment in infrastructure.  And as we drove along those roads, we heard the radio discussion of the ending of the Cash for Clunkers program because it had been so successful, and moved almost 500,000 cars off dealers’ showrooms.

And I remembered the news in Elkhart County during this time.  New jobs coming to Monaco Coach – Navistar because of a Federal government grant.  The possibility of new jobs manufacturing energy efficiency equipment that is dependent on Elkhart County tax abatements.

Many of us in Elkhart County have traditionally been critical of government spending, or government involvement in the economy.  Now, we seem to be not only appreciative of government spending, we are heavily dependent on it.  Our sense of possible recovery in Elkhart County is heavily based on Federal grants for new manufacturing, State programs to re-train workers, and County tax abatements to attract new businesses.

Maybe our circumstances are calling us to move beyond the mantra that ”government involvement in the economy is bad” to the question, “How can we best use our collective resources (government money) and individual resources (private capital) to work for the public good?” 

What do you think?

Also posted in Latest News | 4 Comments

Free lunch? Is. Isn’t. Is. Isn’t.

By David | Published: August 8, 2009

Being a bear of small brain, I approach complicated subjects through what some call conventional wisdom.

One basic economic truth is expressed in the saying, “There is no such thing as a free lunch.”  You don’t get anything for nothing.  Someone always pays.  If it seems too good to be true, it probably is:  bah humbug on your free lunch!

But what about the other saying, the one that comes more from philosophy than economics, ”The best things in life are free.”   Things like . . . the unconditional love a parent offers a child.  The beauty of the world we inhabit. A cooked meal offered when we’re recovering from an illness.   A friend who listens . . . and listens . . . and listens, without asking anything in return.

Or the sidewalk feast last night in front of the ECWT office. 

Earlier this summer, generous residents of Elkhart County responded to the economic needs of our county, and donated land, seeds, time, gasoline for the tillers and tractors, and money to coordinate the efforts.   A community garden program was born. (And it happened all over – not just with ECWT.)

Resources in hand, we put the call out for people who wanted to garden – and they responded.  People who needed to grow food got land and seeds and help – and they got it free.   Now those gardens are bearing fruit – lots of it – in some cases more than the people who grow the garden can eat!  We have an abundance of food.

So last night we hauled a grill out, and boiled some potatoes, and made cucumber salad, and washed and snapped the green beans – and gave it away to people who were enjoying First Friday in downtown Goshen.  (Okay, there was a donation basket on the table, but that was back a bit out of sight – you had to want to donate in order to do so.)

When people tasting the zuchini steaks or enjoying Mom Schrock’s cucumber salad asked,  “What’s this all about?” we said, “We’re just completing the circle.  The community provided the resources this spring so that unemployed people could raise food, and here’s the food, and we’re giving some back.”

That’s the feel good part of the story - and “the best things in life are free” side of the argument.

But while the larger community donated the land and the seeds -  the people who raised the food had to add their time and energy – even sweat and sore muscles – before the gardens appeared. It’s true that the people who grew the food donated their vegetables – but ECWT volunteers and staff scrubbed and pared and cooked and carried dishes up and down the steps.   The food was kind of free – but it kind of wasn’t! 

Is.  Isn’t.

Having an initiative called Elkhart County Works Together isn’t free.  The website design was donated, but there is a monthly cost to host the ECWT website.  The Brew donates food for ECWT volunteers when they have extra, but the refrigerator we store it in runs on NIPSCO electricity – and there’s a meter outside that generates a monthly bill.  ECWT volunteers have donated hundreds – yea thousands - of hours of their time, but we have family obligations, and bills, and worries about the future.  Core ECWT coordinators have  each received a $250 stipend for their work – since May – which is not really sustainable over the long haul. 

Is there such a thing as a free lunch?  Is there such a thing as a free county wide initiative to respond to to our ongoing economic crisis?  What’s the right mix of donated hours and donated dollars? 

Sometimes we use the story of “stone soup” to explain the concept of ECWT.  (Google it if you need to, or call me in the morning!)  A couple of onions, some potatoes, maybe even a scraggly chicken.  Everyone throws what they have in the pot – and eventually everyone eats the stone soup.  

What can you throw in the pot?  What can you do to help Elkhart County work together? 

It’s not just a rhetorical question.

Also posted in Community Heros, Gardening | 2 Comments

Being good ants in the summer

By David | Published: July 22, 2009

Many of us heard the story about the grasshoppers and the ants from our parents, as they tried to teach us about being industrious and planning ahead. 

The grasshoppers were jumping all over the yard, enjoying the summer day, and their ability to move and play.

The grasshoppers looked down at the ants, toiling away in the hot summer sun, dragging bits of food down into their underground nests.  “What are you doing down there?” the grasshoppers called derisively.  “Come play with us.”

But the ants said nothing, toiling away without a word.

Of course, the ants had the last laugh in the winter time, when the cold winds came and killed the grass, and the fresh food, and probably the grasshoppers as well, while the ants were warm and well fed in their underground houses.

The moral of the story is clear.  But does it have any application to us here in Elkhart County?

I’ve heard two separate themes this last month as I talk with social service agencies, bankers, unemployed workers, and government officials. 

First, the good news.  Requests for help with utility bills are down.  It’s summer time, and while you have to run the heat in the winter, you don’t have to run the airconditioner in the summer.  People are growing food, and visiting food pantries less often.  Our unemployment rate dropped a bit, and every bit helps. 

Next, the bad news.   We just passed the one year anniversary of Monaco Coach’s announcement of their closing.  People who lost their jobs last year are running out of benefits.  Extended unemployement, and the special extensions, are running out.  Job re-training isn’t finished, or the jobs people trained for aren’t there.  Family savings are exhausted.  An unemployment rate of 16% or 17%, while lower, is not sustainable.

The potential for another wave of foreclosures, bankruptcies, businesses going under, families leaving the area, depression, and other results of an extended period of joblessness and economic stress is great – and growing.

We can see the winter coming.  We know we need to be good ants.  But what does it mean to be an ant in Elkhart County this summer?

We hear of churches offering canning and freezing classes for people who want to preserve food for the winter.  That’s a great idea.  I wish there were more.  I wish we had people at ECWT to spearhead efforts like that.

We are developing a web-based Skills Bank that will allow unemployed people anywhere in Elkhart County to list work they are able to do, so that people who needs work done around the house can give them work.  That’s one small piece.

But I’m left with the feeling that there is more that needs to be done – much more – to avoid further pain and devastation in our community. 

Are you being an ant this summer?  What are you doing?

How could our community work together this summer in ways that allow us all to eat this winter?

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We’re not at our best

By David | Published: July 1, 2009

Talk around the tables at the ECWT office often turns to our relationship with our spouses.  Yes, un- and under-employed people think about more than where the next job is coming from.  We are also concerned about minding our intimate relationships!

It’s probably best to say at the outset that all of the ECWT coordinators who are married have supportive spouses.  That’s not just a protective comment, it has the added merit of being true.  While unemployment adds a strain to a family, and to a marriage relationship, having a partner who is employed eases the financial strain on a family.  The partner’s income can provide an unemployed person a cushion of time in which to explore other options. 

Indeed, were it not for employed spouses of the core of ECWT coordinators, this effort would not exist.  (Big thanks to them.)

The flip side of the coin is that being unemployed can hinder our ability to be the kind of partner we would like to be.   Being unemployed adds stress on us.  We worry not just about whether our family will survive the current economic hardship, we feel bad about not being an equal participant in providing for our families.

In theory, we can contribute to family life by doing some extra home projects, and preparing and having special meals ready for our spouse / children when they come home.  We can tend our social networks by helping neighbors with projects and volunteering in the community. We can even contribute by taking care of ourselves – getting back on that bicyle, working out at the gym, doing other “self-improvement” efforts.

In some ways this seems like the perfect time to being doing those things.  We have time.  We’re not tied to a work schedule.  We’re home, and can start making a special meal at 2:00 in the afternoon instead of boiling water for boxed macaroni 15 minutes before dinner.

But all those things take energy, not just physical energy, but emotional energy.  And, oddly enough, those of us who are un- and under-employed don’t always have a lot of extra energy.

Being unemployed isn’t a fulltime job, but it takes a lot of energy! It takes time and energy to review our lives, and think about what we want to do next.  It takes a lot of energy to fight off depression and self-pity.  It takes a lot of energy to get out of the house when we’re worried about what the neighbors think of us, and when we’re not sure what to say when people ask, “How are you doing?”  It takes sustained effort to feel good about ourselves, and to revise our sense of identity now that it’s no longer tied to a job.  It takes energy to create and sustain a schedule in the absence of the rhythm of a job.  It takes a lot of intestinal fortitude to mail out that next resume when the last 100 did no good, and it’s pretty clear that the company we’re contacting has no jobs available.

Our ECWT motto is, “We are strong.  We are creative.   We are an asset to our community.”  That’s true.  It’s especially true when we’re at our best.   Right now, however, it’s hard to be at our best.  In fact, we’re rarely at our best.

But we continue.  We support each other.  We cry when we must, and laugh when we can.  We thank our spouses for what they give us, when that’s not too painful to do.

And, we do what we can to help Elkhart County Works Together.

What can you do to help Elkhart County work together?

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“I just want my normal life back”

By David | Published: June 20, 2009

A friend, call him Andy, acted unusual when I stopped by Friday night.  “I guess your weekends feel different now that you’re not looking forward to a break from working working hard all week,” I said.

Andy works in a local factory making parts for the auto industry.  After 19 years, seniority has not spared him from  the rotating layoffs that have reduced him from working five or six days a week to maybe two or three. 

Rather than the optomistic, jovial, or bantering response Andy usually gives, there was confusion and bitterness.

“I don’t want to talk,” he said.  “I don’t like it when other people bring me down, and I have nothing to say that won’t bring you down.”

” Andy, I do want to hear what you have to say,” I told him.  “We’re friends, and when I ask how you’re doing, I want to know.”

What followed was an outpouring of confusion and anger and bitterness.  Rolling layoffs seemed to be doled out according to the whims of a capricious supervisor  rather than following seniority, or even an equal distribution of the pain among all workers.  The national news about Chrysler and General Motors did nothing to inspire hope.   After bringing dedication and skills to his job for a large part of his adult years, there seems to be no light for him at the end of this particular tunnel.

“I just want my normal life back,” Andy said.

The thought immediately came to my mind that  “normal life” isn’t coming back.  There are new realities of stock market and globalization, the disappearance of industries, and retirement funds that have been decimated.   I was about to say that no one’s life is normal when Andy said one more thing.

“It feels like life is going on for other people and I’m not part of it anymore.”

Andy’s financial challenge is compounded by the emotional isolation he feels. 

Elkhart County is divided roughly in thirds.  One third of our community is severely impacted by unemployment, under-employment, or the uncertainty of working in a company that is teetering on the edge of failure.  Two thirds of our community is employed, and continues to shop, go out to eat, plan vacations, and maybe even contribute to a retirement plan!

Part of the normal life Andy wants back is a normal work week and a normal paycheck.  Part of what he wants back is the feeling that he is a normal member of the community. 

ECWT is built on the assumption that the economic crisis we are experiencing is a community problem  that requires a community response.  That certainly involves extra giving to the local food pantry, finding ways to give unemployed people work, or  donating to a sharing fund at church.  It also involves maintaining, and building, meaningful individual relationships between people in the “one third” community and the “two thirds” community.

Everyone one of us in Elkhart County can do something to address this crisis.  We can give, and receive, financial resources with grace.  We can ask, and respond to, the question, “How are you doing?” with an open heart.

What can you do to help Elkhart County work together?

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Just like the Philippines

By David | Published: June 17, 2009

We had overnight guests this weekend.  When I read the welcome note Carolyn left in their room, I discovered that she used a handmade card we had bought in the Philippines when we lived there more than 20 years ago.

The card brought back a flood of memories.  The homemade cards were often made by political detainees, who needed to earn money to pay for food and medicine while in prison.  Sometimes they were made by organized groups in the slums, who sold them to earn money for their daily essentials.

I used to experience an overwhelming sense of the futility of using handmade cards to support a family – even while we were buying the cards!  Making a card for .05 cents  just didn’t seem like a way to work one’s way out of poverty!  It didn’t seem as though it could lay the foundation for social change.

What I realized this weekend is how similar Elkhart County Works Together is to the cardmakers in the Philippines!  Planting a garden isn’t going to support a family.  Listing your name in the (soon to be unveiled) Skills Bank won’t generate the money a job in the RV factory used to.  Making a small financial contribution won’t put thousands of people back to work.  These activities can seem merely symbolic rather than likely to make a real change in peoples’  lives.

The economic problems facing Elkhart County can seem overwhelming.   In truth, there is nothing that any single person can do to solve our problems.

Yet I believe that if every one of us did something for those among us who need help, we would be able to come through this crisis as a unified and strengthened community.

Perhaps the lesson I absorbed in the Philippines, without even knowing it, is the value of doing something rather than doing nothing.

What can you do to help Elkhart County work together?

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