Let’s Work Together To Create Helpful Welfare

Welfare reform. It’s been written about and discussed to death. Still, we’ve heard few helpful suggestions.

Becoming a welfare recipient can easily happen to you. How can I possibly know? I’ve been there. Nine years ago, my husband left me and my daughter. I lost my well-paying job due to a prolonged illness. In the divorce settlement, he won our 2,400-square-foot home in Scottsdale, Ariz. Within six months, I was homeless, jobless and suffering from clinical depression. Finally, I lost custody of my daughter.

Due to government bureaucracy, I didn’t qualify for food stamps, cash assistance, medical coverage or subsidized housing. At my lowest point, I slept in an open field under a rain poncho.

Now, my 24-year-old daughter lives with me again. She’s a single mother and supports two children by herself. She works full time and is in her second year of college. Her employer doesn’t provide insurance. The day-care assistance she received when she started school lasted only 12 months. The only other assistance she receives is medical coverage and day-care payments for her children while she works. I take care of my grandchildren so she can keep her job and continue going to school.

Last year, the father of one of her children disappeared. The state took almost five months to look for him.

So I’ve seen what the current welfare system does to people. It deprives them of humanity. If this country is going to create a system that works, we cannot strip people of pride and self-worth.

I think the new welfare system should make people work for their checks, subsidizing their employers. It should be comprised of drug and alcohol rehabilitation, coupled with job training. Businesses need to provide on-site day care for single parents. That should be subsidized with tax credits.

Now that the states are charged with creating a new welfare system, communities must work together to find solutions. For reform to work, we must establish a viable, helpful program that benefits recipients, local businesses and the community. Politicians must stop passing the buck. Big business must become more actively involved in the solution. All of us must work together.

One politician told me recently that people will not make the changes necessary for successful welfare reform. I don’t think that’s true. Until now, we just haven’t had a reason to try.

MEMO: “Your turn” is a feature of the Wednesday and Saturday Opinion pages. To submit a “Your turn” column for consideration, contact Rebecca Nappi at 459-5496 or Doug Floyd at 459-5466 or write “Your turn,” The Spokesman-Review, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane 99210-1615.