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Struggling Minnesotans Standing Up Despite Being Shut Down

by: BlueCollar Daughter

Mon Jul 11, 2011 at 16:07:28 PM CDT

As a political person passionate about social justice, it's hard enough to take that Minnesota GOP legislators want to solve our state's budget deficit by making Draconian cuts that will slash programs for the poorest and most vulnerable of populations here.

It's harder still to swallow that an impasse can come over Gov. Dayton's proposal for a tax increase on only 7700 of the wealthiest Minnesota millionaires instead, leading to a now record-breaking government shutdown.

In my personal/political world, hardest of all has been that the shutdown has meant frozen state-funded grants and waivers which provide therapy and medical equipment for children with developmental disabilities--like my autistic 4 and 6 year-old, and a shutdown on the developmental strides my sons could have reached this summer. It means a hospital calling to cancel my son's essential surgery because the person to verify his medical coverage for such surgery has been furloughed and hasn't responded to insurance inquiries.

Once again, in a Republican team effort to protect personal wealth and turn a blind eye to the damage left in the wake of such greed, many of those Minnesotans most fragile and dependent on state services for survival are bearing the brunt of this shutdown's negative effects.

BlueCollar Daughter :: Struggling Minnesotans Standing Up Despite Being Shut Down

These are real effects of the shutdown, and even these are small compared to what some are suffering while the Party of No play King of the Hill with our state budgetary needs.
And if you've been led by the media to believe the shutdown is a mere inconvenience of shuttered traffic cameras, closed racetracks, gated state parks and a lack of lottery, take a look at how CNN reports it:

For Cherise Payton, the shutdown could have been much worse. The single mother who was recently homeless feared that she would not receive state aid to pay her rent. She learned Friday that she would get her check over the weekend, but she's still on edge because she cannot reach her state caseworkers.
"If a crisis comes up, who do I call?" said Payton, who lives in Duluth with her three teenagers.
Homeless prevention agencies are among those scrambling to continue providing for their clients. Simpson Housing Services will lose state funding for a variety of programs if a judge does not approve its appeal to be deemed essential.
Without the state grants, the Minneapolis agency will have to scale back the support services it provides its clients, said Julie Manworren, Simpson's executive director. Since they have to focus mainly on basic needs, the staff will not be able to assist clients with job searches and mental health issues. If the standoff continues into August, 12 families in transitional housing will find themselves back on the streets.
"Families who saw that they were turning the corner and ready to have stability are now thrust back into terror," Manworren said. "Everything they've been working for is about to crumble."
The shutdown shuttered many state agencies and non-profit organizations that cater to the needy, though some social service programs kept their funding.

One volunteer, grassroots group attempting to fill in the service gaps left by the shutdown --and rally community members to stand in those service gaps for each other-- is Shut Down, Rise Up!. The group has been holding community assemblies every day of the shutdown to brain-storm survival strategies and share a free meal with anyone who needs it.

Despite the GOP rhetoric about fiscal responsibility and the need for austerity, in the end it's unabahed greed that's winning as we wait, and the least among Minnesotans who are suffering in this shutdown. Including little boys with autism.

Tags: MN shutdown, Shut Down Rise Up, MN budget, disability services, autism, children with disabilities, mental health services, (All Tags)

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Struggling Minnesotans Standing Up Despite Being Shut Down | 1 comments

coping with the crisis becomes normal (0.00 / 0)

The scary thing about taking some extraordinary measure to cope with a crisis is that becomes the new normal. It's just human nature. Workers work in an evening to cope with an extra workload, and employers assume evening work is just part of the job rather than hiring. An organization has a chronic cash flow shortage and members dig deep to find enough cash to get by, that becomes how they fund themselves. Not every time obviously, but that's a human tendency we've probably all observed at some point.

So as soon as I read, "One volunteer, grassroots group attempting to fill in the service gaps left by the shutdown -" my first thought is this is how it will always be assumed such problems are solved and indeed, when I looked at the comments on that Pioneer Press article, the first comment was about how this proves we don't need the government. Yet should people who are vulnerable and not to blame for the shutdown be left to suffer? Another natural tendency is try to to cope with the emergency out of sympathy. I hate in way to see grassroots groups or charities do the coping because I know they're taking extraordinary measures and can't keep it up, but the alternative is to let the crisis cause its effects.

Maybe, when those harmed aren't innocent of causing the crisis and unable to cope on their own, we have to let the worst happen. Maybe that's the only way conservatives will learn what the government does for them.

by: ericf @ Mon Jul 11, 2011 at 22:03:06 PM UTC