Civic Engagement = Economic Survival and Success

Blog Feature: Yesenia Rojas

Civic richness directly affects economic stasis. Communities that encourage civic responsibility and engagement have achieved higher employment rates and a boost in economic performance overall.

In 2011, a study on economic resilience and civic engagement showed how different aspects of a community, including communal morale, infrastructure, and job opportunities were heavily affected by healthy civic involvement. After close examination, the NCoC (National Conference on Citizenship) discovered that simple measures, such as attending town/city meetings, registering to vote, voting, and volunteering contribute to solid social solidity in any community.

A new study found that areas with a stronger non-profit presence resulted in an environment where civic participation is weaved into the community fabric. These areas proved to be more resilient during some of the most frightening economic periods in American history, like the Great Depression.

“Volunteering as a Pathway to Employment”, a report from the Corporation for National and Community Service released in June 2013, provided strong evidence regarding the correlation between volunteering and employment. The remarkable truth is volunteering directly impacted the job opportunities of various applicants. A person’s age, ethnicity, gender, specific job market conditions or geographical area were not limiting or negatively associated with the increased employment rate.

Civic engagement develops skills that employers seek: desirable worth ethic, a genuine interest in assigned tasks and good teambuilding skills. With experience in the non-profit sector, people are more encouraged to seek employment and are more likely to get the jobs they want.

·       The Unemployed: Volunteer while looking for work to strengthen interpersonal skills, build your resume and gain experience working with different organizations. To find volunteer opportunities in your area visit Serve.gov or apply to our Connect for Good Program.

·       The Employers (Non-Profits): Recruiting should be ideally reserved for those who will benefit the most from volunteering– out of work individuals, specifically those who hold only a high school degree or who live in unpopulated rural areas. To connect with volunteers, join our Connect for Good program as a partner.

Volunteering has also proven to increase individual confidence and awareness; civic participation in turn increases trust in other people. This year, the CNCS report showed that innovations in business and economies were directly related to trustworthy employees. And so investments (financial, time) and community promotions grew exponentially because of the engagement in community programs. Recruitment in civic organizations will most definitely serve two purposeful outcomes: numerous improvements to communities and improved employment outcomes for its members.

The economic stability and social longevity of our communities are a direct result of their civic involvement—these are the answers to a thriving, profitable and cohesive future. 

Daniella Levine, the Catalyst

By Kyle Swenson Thursday, Nov 28 2013    

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                
Daniella Levine has a joke for you. It's a zinger, but it also nicely packages the philosophy that powers her life's work.

"How many social workers does it take to change a light bulb?"

How many?

  
"It doesn't matter how many," she says. "The light bulb has to really want to change."

Since throwing open the doors to Catalyst Miami (then known as the Human Services Coalition) in 1996, Levine has tried to kindle that will to change.

Today, the 30-employee nonprofit offers a smorgasbord of services in areas such as financial assistance — from how-tos on taxes and home ownership to health care. It's a one-stop shop for people looking to pull up to the middle class, or just hang in there.

But what separates Catalyst's founder, president, and CEO's effort from other members of the "helping professions" is that she aims to get her clients to a point where they don't need her anymore. Levine doesn't tiptoe around the sad truth of charitable impulses: Too often, an uncharitable power dynamic exists between the helper and the helped.

"People in the helping professions often are themselves disempowered," Levine says matter-of-factly.
"Very often, their self worth is based on their ability to take charge of someone else's life and make that person dependent."

According to her, the key is to remind her clients about their own self-sufficiency.

Part of Levine's effectiveness as a community organ­izer is anchored in her past. Born in New York City, she comes from a family that always stressed giving back and working for a more just society. "I was blessed with a happy home life. I never suffered for anything. My family believed in me. So that makes you more confident about being able to make a difference."

Levine received her bachelor's degree in psychology from Yale and a law degree and graduate degree in social work from Columbia. Before starting Catalyst, she was in the trenches with local aid organizations such as Legal Services of Greater Miami and the Department of Children and Families. But only by striking out on her own was she able to throw everything into the blender — her background, her degrees, and her mantra of self-empowerment.

"Catalyst is an emanation of my soul," she says. "And I believe in pulling people in the right direction instead of pushing them."

Ten States Have Banned Cities And Counties From Passing Paid Sick Days

By Bryce Covert on November 6, 2013

 

Ten states — Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Wisconsin — have passed preemption laws that ban all cities and counties from enacting paid sick days bills, according to an analysis from the Economic Policy Institute.

As can be seen from the chart, momentum has picked up recently, with seven of those laws passed this year alone. They have also been introduced in at least 14 state legislatures, and Pennsylvania is currently considering one that was introduced in October.

Big business has been helping to fuel this tide of legislation. As the report notes, “In each of the ten states, the bills’ sponsors included members of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). And in each case, the bills were adopted following vigorous advocacy by corporate lobbies such as the Chamber of Commerce, National Federation of Independent Business, and Restaurant Association.”

Yet even though these business opponents claim that paid sick days would create unbearable costs, the evidence from those places that do have paid sick leave shows that they can be beneficial. Business growth and job growth have been strong under Seattle’s law. Job growth has also been strong in San Francisco and its law enjoys strong business support. The policies in Washington, DC and Connecticut have come at little cost for businesses. In fact, expanding DC’s current law would net employers $2 million in savings even with potential costs factored in. On the other hand, the average employer loses $225 per worker each year thanks to lost productivity when they get sick and can’t take paid leave.

And as the momentum grows for preemption bills, so too does the push for paid sick days. Six cities and Connecticut have them on the books, and fights are underway in Newark, NJ; Tacoma, WA; Massachusetts; New Jersey; and Vermont.

Follow: #GetWellFL

Miami Herald Story On City’s Worsening Coastal Flooding Never Mentions Global Warming Or Sea Level Rise

By: Joe Romm, Think Progress

 

It seems nobody talks about climate change, but everybody wants to do something about it. Consider this head-in-the-wet-sand piece from the Miami Herald, “Rain or no rain, beachfront streets flood due to ‘spring tide’.” 

You probably think it would be impossible for an entire news article on worsening street flooding in Miami to omit any mention whatsoever of global warming or even sea level rise. Think again.

“It gets super flooded from the tide every couple of months,” said [Moses] Schwartz who lived on the island for more than 20 years before moving to the Brickell area on the mainland. “It’s getting worse and worse as the years go by.”

Hmm. Why is it getting worse? The Miami Herald offers no explanation. This is all it has to say about the cause of the flooding:

The current levels of high tide are caused by an astronomical event known as “spring tide,” according to Chuck Caracozza, a meteorologist from the National Weather Service.

See, nothing to worry about. It’s just high tides. Except the article runs with this quote from Schwartz:

“It’ll be interesting to see what happens to Miami Beach in 10 to 20 years,” he said.

Why? Why? Why? Why will it be interesting to see? Why does he think it’s going to get worse? Why did the reporter include that quote? No explanation is given.
Indeed, while the article fails to mention climate change or sea level rise, it does quote one “Nanette Rodriguez, a spokeswoman for the city,” explaining that Miami is studying how to deal with this apparently inexplicable plague of street flooding.

Rodriguez said the city is thinking of short-term fixes to deal with the issue.
“We’re looking at improving our sea walls and raising some of them,” she said.
In search of a long-term solution, a delegation recently returned from the Netherlands, Rodriguez said, and the city will determine which of that country’s strategies to hold back high tides can be used here.
“Some of their ideas we can do, others we can’t as we are in different geographic areas,” Rodriguez said.

That last quote from Rodriguez is quite the euphemism given the reality of the region’s topology and geology. As the must-read June Rolling Stone piece, “Goodbye, Miami,” explains:

Even worse, South Florida sits above a vast and porous limestone plateau. “Imagine Swiss cheese, and you’ll have a pretty good idea what the rock under southern Florida looks like,” says Glenn Landers, a senior engineer at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. This means water moves around easily – it seeps into yards at high tide, bubbles up on golf courses, flows through underground caverns, corrodes building foundations from below. “Conventional sea walls and barriers are not effective here,” says Robert Daoust, an ecologist at ARCADIS, a Dutch firm that specializes in engineering solutions to rising seas.

D’oh.
But, undaunted, Rodriguez and the Miami Herald end with this reassuring line:

Rodriguez said the tide should be back to normal by early next week.

#FAIL
For a dose of reality, let’s end instead with the Rolling Stone piece:

But the unavoidable truth is that sea levels are rising and Miami is on its way to becoming an American Atlantis. It may be another century before the city is completely underwater (though some more-pessimistic­ scientists predict it could be much sooner), but life in the vibrant metropolis of 5.5 million people will begin to dissolve much quicker, most likely within a few decades. The rising waters will destroy Miami slowly, by seeping into wiring, roads, building foundations and drinking-water supplies – and quickly, by increasing the destructive power of hurricanes. “Miami, as we know it today, is doomed,” says Harold Wanless, the chairman of the department of geological sciences at the University of Miami. “It’s not a question of if. It’s a question of when.”
… “If you live in South Florida and you’re not building a boat, you’re not facing reality.”

Government shutdown hinders Florida recovery

BY: DANIELLA LEVINE 
daniellal@catalystmiami.org

Noah Musser / KRT

MCT

Millions of us remain worse off today than we were in 2008, the first year of the recession. Last month the Census Bureau released new data that confirms what too many Florida residents already know from hard personal experience: • In 2012, more than 20.1 percent of Floridians lived in poverty (under $23,492 for a family of four) compared with just 13.2 percent in 2008.
• The poor are getting poorer and the middle class is disappearing. Many more Florida residents are making less than $35,000 annually, and many fewer are making $75,000 or more. Florida already had higher income inequality than most states.
• More than 3.8 million Floridians were uninsured in 2012.

What’s going on is hardly a mystery — there simply are not enough jobs. The national unemployment rate, 5.8 percent in 2008, today is 7.3 percent nationally and 7 percent in Florida. The underemployment rate in Florida, which also counts those who can’t get as many work hours as they want, or have given up looking for jobs altogether, is 15 percent.

Florida’s people are experiencing real hardship. Nearly one in four Florida households receives Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits (formerly food stamps), more than double the share of Floridians in 2008.

Despite this, people still struggle to put food on the table. A Gallup poll shows that between 2008 and 2012 nearly 29 percent of Florida families with children faced food hardship — fourth worst in the nation. More than a million Floridians pay more than 30 percent of their income for housing, putting them at risk of homelessness.

Simple policy choices can protect people from the worst consequences of poverty and create future prosperity. The new Census data reveals that millions of people were kept out of poverty by SNAP benefits, unemployment insurance, and tax credits such as the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). Food stamps protect young children from hospitalization, anemia, and problems with cognitive, social and behavioral development. Young children from families that receive the EITC do better in school and earn more as adults.
Unfortunately, Congress is jeopardizing the already slow recovery. Domestic appropriations from education to infrastructure have been cut by 15.7 percent since 2010. Now a small fraction of one party is pushing us towards economic crisis. Government shutdown and possible default pose unprecedented threats.

In Florida, cuts are already harming our most vulnerable. This year, Florida’s Head Start programs will serve 1,205 fewer children; seniors who need Meals on Wheels are put on waiting lists. Cutting these programs costs us more in the long run. Children who benefit from high quality preschool like Head Start are more successful in school and have better employment and earnings as adults. Meals on Wheels helps seniors stay at home rather than move to far more expensive nursing homes.

Florida is also ground zero in the fight over affordable healthcare. One in five Floridians has no insurance, among the worst records in the nation. Yet Florida has not enacted its own health exchange, refuses to expand Medicaid even though the cost would be borne by the federal government for years, and won’t allow navigators (who help people choose the best insurance for them) at state offices. Florida’s policies combined with battles in Congress are harming our future.

We know what it takes to rebuild the economy and help families: provide unemployment benefits for those who can’t find jobs, maintain nutrition assistance to help people make ends meet, and invest in education from the earliest years to college so workers are trained to meet the needs of a 21st century economy.

We also know how to afford these essential investments: make sure everyone, including the wealthy and big corporations, pays their fair share. Instead, a small group in Congress hopes to force another round of shortsighted cuts to programs like Head Start and Meals on Wheels, slash SNAP benefits, and eliminate the Affordable Care Act.

Nearly four years after the recession officially ended, millions of Americans are worse off than before; wealth is more concentrated at the top; the middle class is declining. We need to change that course. We at Catalyst will continue to monitor and advocate. To get to common ground we need to go to higher ground: a community that takes care of the vulnerable and gives people a hand up in times of need. Our Congress needs to lead, not defeat the public desire to keep our democracy strong and preserve shared prosperity.

Daniella Levine is the founder, President and CEO of Catalyst Miami, a nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing prosperity and reducing poverty in Miami-Dade.

Editor’s Note: This column has been updated with accurate information about the number of uninsured in Florida.

Affordable Care: How to Get It and How to Share It

This past Friday, Catalyst Miami partnered with Florida Blue Foundation to host "Affordable Care: How to Get It and How to Share It." Initially, we expected a maximum of 100 attendees. Surprisingly, we were joined by more than 220 guests on the day of the event! Needless to say, we had an amazing morning learning from healthcare professionals and community activists about ways we can collaborate and support the Affordable Care Act in South Florida. Thank you to all of you who joined, we hope to continue partnering in this effort. Want to see some of the highlights? Click here.

Health insurance marketplace key to reform opens Tuesday

BY DANIEL CHANG dchang@MiamiHerald.com

The (Affordable Care Act's) online exchanges — also known as marketplaces — are the centerpiece of healthcare reform, and they will give consumers unprecedented power to examine an extensive menu of health plans and to compare prices and benefits side by side.

For Florida, where an estimated 3.8 million people live without health insurance, the exchanges could make an especially big impact. The state ranks near the top of the nation in terms of plan choices, with an average of 102 health plans to choose from on the state’s federally run exchange.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/09/30/3661825/health-insurance-marketplace-key.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/09/30/3661825/health-insurance-marketplace-key.html#storylink=cpy

Nonprofits Coordinating for Obamacare

By: John Dorschner
      With less than two weeks to go before the exchanges open, Miami-Dade's nonprofit entities are talking about working together to get word out about Obamacare and the opportunities for the uninsured to obtain  coverage.

    "I'm feeling encouraged," Daniella Levine, head of the action group Catalyst Miami. Last month, Levine had complained "we are all  up in arms" because South Florida had lost out on a major federal funding effort to pay for navigators, persons trained to help the uninsured get coverage under measures that take effect Jan. 1.

    Levine said a key development was a coordination meeting Thursday in a Florida Blue conference room. The meeting was convened by the Health Council of South Florida, bringing together groups willing to work on the project.

    "All the groups in town were talking about what they are going to do," Levine said. "Most are doing it without getting paid -- a volunteer mobilization effort."

    That meeting occurred after Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of Health and Human Services, visited Miami and trumpeted how much the federal government is doing here to raise awareness in Miami-Dade, which has more than 700,000 uninsured according to the latest estimates.

    Sebelius brought along Karen Egozi, president of the Epilepsy Foundation of Florida, which has received a $637,000 federal grant to train navigators statewide. She told reporters that 50 of the navigators are slated to work in Miami-Dade.

    Levine said the volunteer effort wouldn't be as good as having more paid navigators, but some will become certified application counselors, meaning they can help people sign up through the exchange process.

    Federally funded  health clinics, universities and others are training staff to inform people about the opportunities of getting health insurance through the exchanges, where people cannot be denied coverage because of preexisting conditions. 

    Santiago Leon, a Miami health insurance broker and board member of the activist group Florida CHAIN, agreed with Levine that the county's efforts are at last stepping up. "Between Enroll America, the safety-net providers, the libraries, the schools, and whatever resources we get from the official navigators, I think we will be fine.  It would be way better if we had Medicaid expansion because, as it is, people could be turned down for being too poor (!) and then tell their friends not to waste their time."

    Insurers say the exchanges will work if both healthy and unhealthy persons sign up.  Some critics are skeptical that the healthy -- particularly the young -- will sign up, meaning the insurers will be stuck with a pool of expensive patients.

    HIALEAH A KEY
 
    One key test will be in Hialeah, where the majority of adults 18-64 do not have coverage. Most residents work for small companies that don't offer coverage, and most don't seek policies on the individual market. Daniel Shoer Roth, former El Nuevo columnist, once wrote that many in Hialeah believe they don't need health insurance because if they get sick, "Voy a Jackson."

    Miami's one bidder for navigator funds, the Health Council of South Florida, didn't get a contract. Last month, the group's chief executive, Marisel Losa, said she had "no clue" why the bid was rejected when the Center for American Progress had ranked Miami-Dade as No. 1 nationwide as the community that can benefit the most from the Affordable Care act.

    Asked in an email last week whether she felt better after the Sebelius visit, Losa didn't respond. 

    For persons willing to volunteer to help in the enrollment process, Catalyst Miami is sponsoring a training session on Oct. 4 at Temple Israel. Levine said about 70 have signed up for the training so far.  Register at http://bit.ly/18dGId7. For more details go to catalystmiami.org.

More Poverty After Three Years of Recovery Than During the Great Recession

Congress Should Stop Making the Great Unshared Recovery Worse

Statement by Deborah Weinstein, Executive Director, Coalition on Human Needs

WASHINGTON, D.C.—There were nearly 6.7 million more poor people in 2012 than in 2008, a year deep in the Great Recession. Three years into the Great Unshared Recovery, poverty is worse than in 2008, median income is down, and people are slipping out of the middle class. More than one-third of our nation is near poor—106 million people live below twice the poverty line, one lay-off or crisis away from poverty.

Some programs are working to reduce poverty. Nearly 4 million people rose out of poverty because of food stamps in 2012, of whom 1.67 million were children. But will Congress slash at food stamps despite their effective role in reducing hardship?  This week the House is expected to take up an extreme and damaging bill that would deny food stamps to four to six million people, cutting $40 billion over ten years. Other programs are reducing hardship: the number of uninsured people has declined to 47,951, largely because of the beginning help of the Affordable Care Act and enrollment in Medicaid. House members are intent on undoing that help, too. Unemployment benefits also keep people out of poverty; if there were no unemployment benefits, 1.7 million more people would have been poor. Unfortunately Congress has already cut back both the benefit level and the time these benefits can be collected on the mistaken theory that since the recession is over unemployment is no longer a problem.

More than 16 million children are poor—they are still the age group suffering the most poverty. And there are more than 7.1 million children living in extreme poverty—below $9,142 for a three-person family. Yet 57,000 fewer children will receive Head Start this fall than the year before, with more cuts scheduled in the new fiscal year if Congress does not stop them.  That is just one example of the way Congress keeps low-income people from making gains. Education, housing, job training, unemployment insurance and other cuts combined with ongoing tax breaks for those at the top keep this the Great Unshared Recovery.

The Great Recession may be over for people and corporations at the top. According to a recent analysis, income for the top 1 percent rose 31.4 percent over the past three years. But for everyone else, progress is painfully slow. For the remaining 99 percent, incomes grew by a fraction of a percent (0.4 percent). And 15 percent of our people are poor for the second year in a row – up from 13.2 percent in the Great Recession year of 2008. 

Congress must protect the programs that provide opportunities and prevent harm to young and old alike. Today’s data show the cuts we have made are blocking millions from making progress. Threats of harsh new cuts are exactly what the nation doesn’t need.

First Look:  a table summarizing poverty and health insurance findings.  

Join the tweetchat!

          Check our CHN poverty data page as we keep adding more analyses and state tables

The Arrival of the New Health Insurance Marketplace

  By: Shannon Charles, guest blogger

For millions of Americans today, the idea of acquiring adequate healthcare coverage seems farfetched. With the uninsured rate gradually increasing for adults between the ages of 26-64, does this really provide much hope for the future? Next month, the new Health Insurance Marketplace  will be introduced as a solution to help the uninsured, but before we address this topic, let us examine the past. In March 2010, President Barack Obama signed the health reform, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), into law. The main goals of the ACA were to increase the quality and affordability of health insurance, lower the uninsured rate by expanding public and private insurance coverage, and reduce the costs of health care for individuals and the government. The ACA has come under some harsh criticism from those who believe that it will lead to higher healthcare costs, slower job growth, and rising numbers of part-time workers.

October 1, 2013 marks the beginning of open enrollment in the new Health Insurance Marketplace. The Marketplace is a new way to find affordable health coverage that meets your needs. Our main goal as health advocates is to provide assistance to help people select the right health coverage option for themselves and their families. The ACA has outlined three opportunities for consumer assistance which include the following:

·      Patient Navigators

·      Certified Application Counselors (CACs)

·      General education and outreach

Patient navigators educate consumers on health coverage options and assist with eligibility, enrollment, and health plan selection. The navigators are put in place to focus on our low-income, disadvantaged, and hard-to-reach populations. In Florida alone, 2.7 million individuals remain uninsured. In regards to our CACs, these individuals are required to provide information about a full range of Qualified Health Plan (QHP) options. Additionally, they help facilitate enrollment in QHP, Medicaid or Children’s Health Insurance Programs (CHIP). They are also expected to comply with privacy and security standards and disclose conflicts of interest. Although both group’s roles are similar, the two groups differ when considering the fact that the work done by CACs is strictly on a voluntary basis. Patient navigators are compensated through funds provided by the federal government. As of August 15, 2013, the federal government decided which organizations would receive funding to work in the community as navigators.

            The creation of the new Health Insurance Marketplace addresses many important issues that Americans have faced for several years. For instance, most Medicare Prescription Drug Plans have a coverage gap commonly referred to as the “donut hole.” This means there's a temporary limit on what the drug plan will cover for drugs. The coverage gap begins after you and your drug plan have spent a certain amount for covered drugs. The new Health Insurance Marketplace has worked to eliminate the “donut hole” to allow seniors to purchase name brand medications at lower costs. Another issue tackled is the idea of pre-existing conditions. In the past, health plans were able to deny individuals access to health coverage or raise costs because of a pre-existing health condition. Starting in 2014, health insurance plans are no longer allowed to discriminate against these individuals. The new Health Insurance Marketplace has even made strides to eliminate the gender bias; women are no longer being charged more for health coverage than men. These are only some of the issues addressed in the new Health Insurance Marketplace. Last week I had the pleasure of attending an insightful forum on the ACA, hosted by United Way, that shed some light on several topics. The challenges we currently face include: few people understand ACA, there are limited resources for one-on-one assistance, and general education and outreach. As consumers we must make efforts to become more knowledgeable about the marketplace to help inform others.

            One of the particularly fascinating additions to the Health Insurance Marketplace is the Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP), which is a new program that simplifies the process of buying health insurance for small businesses. For 2014, the SHOP Marketplace is open to employers with 50 or fewer full-time equivalent employees (FTEs). The advantages of this program include:

·      You control the coverage you offer and how much you pay toward employee premiums.

·      You can compare health plans online on an apples-to-apples basis, which helps you make a decision that's right for your business.

·      You may qualify for a small business health care tax credit worth up to 50% of your premium costs. You can still deduct from your taxes the rest of your premium costs not covered by the tax credit.

The SHOP will be very important to businesses as we near the arrival of the new Health Insurance Marketplace. It is very encouraging to see steps being made to solve the healthcare crisis in the United States. Many individuals have been affected by inflated healthcare costs because of a variety of issues that I mentioned earlier, such as: pre-existing conditions, gender bias, and the coverage gap. As the unemployment rate continues to decrease, we will see more individuals being able to join the workforce and select health coverage through their employers. For those individuals who are uninsured due to their unemployed status, it becomes extremely difficult to maintain monthly payments for even the most minimal health plans. It is imperative that we monitor the unemployment rates in the United States because it goes hand-in-hand with access to adequate health coverage, since most individuals acquire insurance through their employers. Hopefully we will see some significant change in the years to come. 

              Considering how much there is still to learn, Catalyst Miami will be hosting a forum in partnership with Florida Blue Foundation on October 4, 2013 from 8am-12pm. The event is titled: Affordable Care: How to get it and how to share it. Stay tuned as we send out more information on this event. If you have any questions, please reach out.

A Collection of Stories in Support of Saving Miami-Dade Libraries

Story #1: A Teacher

Concerned residents of Miami-Dade County are engaged in a fight to save nearly half of its libraries, which are at risk of closure under the County's proposed budget. Should the closures proceed, it would be the largest cut to a public library system in US history. On a rainy Saturday, nearly 300 residents of all ages gathered to support the library system and express their displeasure in the proposed cuts. Given that Mayor Carlos Gimenez has told local media that the "age of the library is probably ending," we have an uphill battle ahead of us.

To support our cause, please sign the online petition, join the #SaveOurLibrary hashtag on Facebook or contribute to the larger #SaveOurLibrary hashtag on Twitter. For more information, visit www.FriendsofMDPL.org

Story #2: A Librarian

In the summer of 2011, the Arcola Branch Library, 49th in the network of 49 neighborhood libraries, opened on the site of  an abandoned drive-in movie theater.  Forty years of blight was finally replaced with county government's $4.525 million investment in the future of Liberty City.  The story below was one of the repercussions of $7.4 million drained from the library system 's 2009-10 budget the year before. The library's money was granted to a list of organizations that provide high end art exhibits  and concert series.  Taxpayers had no say in the decision that library hours and library programs such as free tutoring were being cut.  The 250  library staff affected went quietly.  The public, for the most part, only thought that the library system had hours reduced. Here's how it felt for one of the survivors as he prepares to be a victim of the next tidal wave of 169 layoffs. He will be one of our finest who will be told to leave for good. This is his story:
 

A pat on the back and a kick in the teeth seldom come on the same day.  Although the library staff knew they’d be coming close together. We were waiting for them both.  But not on the same day.  It was supposed to be our day of triumph.  We were opening the new library for Arcola Lakes. We had given one of the poorest neighborhoods a state of the art library that would be envy of the richest.  They loved it.

The people swarmed this palace of self-improvement filled with brand new books, brand new computers, brand new furniture, brand new everything.  In one month we had gone from bare walls and bare floors to this.  Soon, we were helping everyone, from hard-working immigrants trying to keep up with USCIS paperwork to young mothers needing advice on helping their child stop struggling with reading.  And today was the grand opening.

There was the mayor, the county commissioner, our library director and half dozen other VIPS. Several classes of children from Arcola Lake Elementary came with their teachers. Even my old high school teacher, now a school librarian herself, was there to see it.  The speeches were said. The applause, but not the glow from the achievement, faded away.  The mayor shook my hand. He shook all of our hands.  The VIPs left. Everyone relaxed.

And then they came.  They came with the layoff letters:

·      A demotion for my manager

·      A demotion for me. 

·      A termination for my new Trainee. 

·      Transfers for some of the rest.

We were honored for our effort, then scattered to the four winds. All on the same day.

It hurt but until this July I counted myself lucky and felt my fate was hard but someone had thought it necessary to keep the library intact.

The library would go on and I would still able to serve. We would still get the job done.  Mine must’ve been the easiest letter to hand out that day. I could live with this.  But I was sad for my manager.  We had all worked with dogged dedication when things were grim, and with great enthusiasm when they were not.  But more than all the rest, she had poured her heart into that library.  It was not just a building or a collection. It was seen as an opportunity to affect the future course of the community.  She was a great manager.  She deserved better. They all deserved better.

So, we took the severe layoffs two years ago with barely a murmur and little public action.  And this year, we just cannot. We cannot be silent or silenced.

Because then, as bad as it was, only our own jobs were at stake, and not the library herself.  Self-interest is not enough to get a librarian to rally in the streets.  This year is different, like night and day. This time they’re gutting the library and stuffing her carcass with empty promises.  On the outside the library will look almost the same.

But when people go inside to order a book or ask for computer help they will find that little remains but rags and bones.  All too often they will walk up and the doors will simply be closed.

Our county mayor wants to save the “footprint of the library”. A footprint is good to look at but not much else. A footprint is a memory, nothing more.

~Employee 169

Story # 3: A Senior

There are NO words to describe my gratitude for being able to READ books via the Miami Dade Library System.  The “Connections” service has been and continues being a “life saver” for me!  I would probably go crazy were it not for Linda, who usually selects books that are mailed to me regularly!  (She has been super wonderful to me!)

I am a senior citizen, living alone and partially disabled.  Relying on a computer is NOT comfortable for me.  Therefore, reading occupies 99% of my free time, which involves hours, hours and more hours daily!!!

When weather permits, I try to leave my home & using of my walker (a must), I literally push myself to get to the Miami Beach branch library.  Once in a while I read so much that I have to go there because I get ahead of reading the books sent to me! 

I’m 100% positive that there are hundreds (if not thousands) of seniors who depend upon the library system for reading and relaxation.  Not all of these folks are “addicted” to computers. It’s important for us seniors to read in order to keep our brains working

PLEASE, PLEASE do everything possible to insure that our library system remains intact.  There are many other ways for this government to save money than to penalize those of us who are in NEED of libraries.  Government waste is an issue that is not to be discussed at this writing.

Thank you for your time.

Ms. Natalie S. Greenfield, 

tovaemmet@bellsouth.net

Story #4: A Student

Hi, my name is Kevionna Boswell and here is what I have to say about the proposal to defund the public libraries. Please do not close our libraries, even if technology has taken over the world and how we absorb knowledge. We need to think about the kids who don't have technology and whose only resource is to go to the library. There are so many individuals that rely on the public library system to access knowledge and learning experiences. For these reasons, I, Kevionna Boswell, am asking that you keep from defunding the Miami-Dade County libraries.

The Footprint of the Library: A Reflection by Employee 169

In the summer of 2011, the Arcola Branch Library, 49th in the network of 49 neighborhood libraries, opened on the site of  an abandoned drive-in movie theater. Forty years of blight was finally replaced with county government's $4.525 million investment in the future of Liberty City.

The story below was one of the repercussions of $7.4 million drained from the library system 's 2009-10 budget the year before. The library's money was granted to a list of organizations that provide high end art exhibits  and concert series.Taxpayers had no say in the decision that library hours and library programs such as free tutoring were being cut. The 250  library staff affected went quietly. The public, for the most part, only thought that the library system had hours reduced. 

Here's how it felt for one of the survivors as he prepares to be a victim of the next tidal wave of 169 layoffs. 

He will be one of our finest who will be told to leave for good. This is his story:

 

A pat on the back and a kick in the teeth seldom come on the same day.

 

Although the library staff  knew they’d be coming close together. We were waiting for them both.

But not on the same day.

It was supposed to be our day of triumph.

 

We were opening the new library for Arcola Lakes.

We had given one of the poorest neighborhoods a state of the art library that would be envy of the richest.

They loved it.

The people swarmed this palace of self-improvement filled with brand new books, brand new computers, brand new furniture, brand new everything.

In one month we had gone from bare walls and bare floors to this.

Soon, we were helping everyone, from hard-working immigrants trying to keep up with USCIS paperwork to young mothers needing advice on helping their child stop struggling with reading.

And today was the grand opening.

There was the mayor, the county commissioner, our library director and half dozen other VIPS. Several classes of children from Arcola Lake Elementary came with their teachers. Even my old high school teacher, now a school librarian herself, was there to see it.

The speeches were said. The applause, but not the glow from the achievement, faded away.

The mayor shook my hand. He shook all of our hands.

The VIPs left. Everyone relaxed.

And then they came.

They came with the layoff letters.

A demotion for my manager.

A demotion for me. 

A termination for my new Trainee. 

Transfers for some of the rest.

We were honored for our effort, then scattered to the four winds. All on the same day.

 

It hurt but until this July I counted myself lucky and felt my fate was hard but someone had thought it necessary to keep the library intact.

The library would go on and I would still able to serve. We would still get the job done.

Mine must’ve been the easiest letter to hand out that day. I could live with this.

But I was sad for my manager.

We had all worked with dogged dedication when things were grim,and with great enthusiasm when they were not.

But more than all the rest, she had poured her heart into that library.  It was not just a building or a collection. It was seen as an opportunity to affect the future course of the community  She was a great manager.

She deserved better. They all deserved better.

So, we took the severe layoffs two years ago with barely a murmur and little public action.

And this year,  we just cannot. We cannot be silent or silenced.

Because then, as bad as it was, only our own jobs were at stake, and not the library herself.

Self-interest is not enough to get a librarian to rally in the streets.

This year is different, like night and day.

This time they’re gutting the library and stuffing her carcass with empty promises.

On the outside the library will look almost the same.

But when people go inside to order a book or ask for computer help they will find that little remains but rags and bones.

All too often they will walk up and the doors will simply be closed.

Our county mayor wants to save the “footprint of the library”. A footprint is good to look at but not much else. A footprint is a memory, nothing more.

~Employee 169