Mr. R's Hearing

These next couple months have become quite full of Social Security work for me. For the past few months, I have been researching medical records and Social Security law for my SSI/SSDI clients. These clients are waiting to find out whether they are approved for disability benefits, some waiting since July 2007. They have applied and have been denied twice due to ambiguity in their applications. Often, Social Security has failed to obtain their medical records; at other times, SSA has not read their application right when in reality, there is sufficient evidence to deem them disabled. One example of this is Mr. Q., whose application was approved in the “Pre-Hearing Review” stage, meaning Mr. Q. and I didn’t have to go to hearing; the judge felt the file had sufficient evidence, despite two previous denials.

My first hearing was this past week for Mr. R. Mr. R. suffers from severe depression, Hepatitis C, HIV, asthma, knee problems, a thumb problem, and diabetes. He came into Bread for the City in September, and since then, we had been working together to get his case ready for hearing. Through many conversations with Mr. R., I found my own heart being touched by his experience. SSI was no longer just a public benefit, but rather, SSI became a real concept, a reality and a need for Mr. R. As we sat in the Legal Clinic, talking about his case, listening to his story helped me realize that this hearing is not just about a “win” for me; rather, it is about Mr. R., and guaranteeing that he will have an income for the rest of his life. The more we sat together, the more I realized how much Mr. R. was depending on a Fully Favorable Decision, prompting me to give more and become more invested in his case.

I am grateful to be able to say I am confident we were able to get him a Fully Favorable Decision. As we wait for the judge’s written decision, I have turned my attention to two other cases whose hearings are in March. I will always remember Mr. R.’s case as my first SSI case, and I am grateful and thankful for the many conversations we had in the Legal Clinic.

Charity and Service vs. Justice and Advocacy

I have been discerning doing a second year of JVC, staying at Bread for the City, and living the values for another year. In my recent JVC interview for a second year, I was asked an interesting question:

"In terms of Social Justice, what have you learned about structural inequality this year?"

Reflecting on social justice this year has not been something new for me – it is something I have thought about throughout my college experience. Both Sociology and Economics were disciplines aimed at addressing issues of social justice, while my leadership program helped give me insights into being a servant for others, with a special emphasis on those who are most vulnerable. I responded to the question posed to me explaining that the concept of structural inequality is not new for me, but something I have been reflecting on for quite some time. Instead, I think I have learned about the balance between charity and justice, service and advocacy.

At the end of college, some of the programs I participated in such as the East LA immersion to the Dolores Mission and Homeboy Industries helped facilitate discussion on these two aspects of making change. Charity and Service are needed at the first level – to provide for the immediate needs of individuals, needs such as food, clothing, shelter... Our system is set up with programs like Food Stamps, food pantries, soup kitchens, and homeless shelters to fill the immediate needs people face. It is important to respond to these urgent needs, so that people have adequate food and shelter. However, when society does ONLY this, there is no room to escape the current conditions and structural inequality remains rampant. In addition to filling these basic needs, it is also important to work for structural change, that is, to advocate for social justice changes.

I first returned to the charity and justice discussion this year at the Bread for the City Staff Retreat in the fall. During the retreat, we reflected on our mission trip, specifically, what it means to “alleviate the suffering caused by poverty [charity/service] and to rectify the conditions that perpetuate it [justice/advocacy].” This discussion continued into our community, and was especially present in our faith discussion at the winter JVC retreat. Present to me was a personal call to live “faith-justice,” to live in a way that always promotes social justice in what I do, in how I lead, and in the choices I make.

I continue to be inspired by my coworkers who are working for both charity and justice. In our Legal Clinic, our attorneys are working to provide the services our clients need, alleviating immediate suffering. They are also active in advocacy, whether that is through ensuring child support calculators are correctly adjusted, advocating for changes in landlord tenant court, work with other attorneys to prevent gentrification and tenant displacement in the poorest section of DC, testifying at the city council on behalf of TANF and food stamp clients, and collaborating with other advocates in organizations such as the Language Access Coalition, the Fair Budget Coalition, and the Access to Justice Commission.

From the example set by my coworkers, I have learned that it is possible to
make changes to structural inequality. It requires faith, dedication, and commitment – knowing that the work is great, that structures of injustice are pervasive throughout the minds and systems currently existing, and that to really make change is to accept that one might not see the change one is working for. It is to have faith and confidence that injustice can be changed, and to keep working for that change.

Perhaps the lesson I have learned so far returns me to East LA actually, to the words of Fr. Greg Boyle of Homeboy Industries: “Measure not in success, but in faithfulness.” I believe my co-workers are living examples of what it means to be faithful to alleviating the suffering of their clients and to rectifying the conditions that perpetuate it.

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

JVC is founded on four core values - community, social justice, spirituality, and simple living. This fourth value, also known as simplicity, has in many ways been the most challenging for me. Sure, in some ways I have mastered financial simplicity, and now even find myself saving some of my $85 stipend each month for future months when I anticipate increased costs.

So there is financial simplicity, something that most think of when hearing about my experience. I too wonder what it means to live a simple lifestyle in more ways than material wealth... Questions originating in my Human Ecology course my senior year return. Does simple lifestyle mean buying locally grown organic produce or shopping at the Farmer Market instead of conventional standard grocery stores? Does it mean lowering one's impact on society? How is it linked with faith?

In Human Ecology, we read an excerpt from Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, and I must admit there was a heightened level of frustration that emerged, especially as both an economist and sociologist. For example, Kingsolver (and arguably, many of the authors we read) were not offering suggestions or solutions low income clients could financially adopt. Does it make sense for my SSI clients, receiving $661 in SSI, to spend an extra $1.00 so that they are certain a product is organic?

I must say, however, after reading a book review in the Global Citizen, an annual journal published by the Krista Foundation for Global Citizenship, I decided that perhaps I could give Kingsolver's book another try. I was surprised to find many of Kingsolver's ideas on simple living to be similar (if not the same) to the way I was raised. Just to name a few, I have included the following:

1. Eating Produce that is Locally in Season: Though California strawberries fill the produce section at Safeway, I distinctly remember my mother never buying strawberries outside the two-three week period our local Spooners Strawberry farm would have their ripe berries. Every summer, my mom would go to Spooners, sometimes daily during that entire season, to ensure we'd have more than our fill. Flat after flat, the brightest most vibrant red, most ripe, most juicy and flavorful strawberries would disappear hours after entering the Sharma family house. Spooner strawberries continue to be something our family (and city) look forward to with anticipation each year. I have to say, I agree with Kingsolver - as sad as it is to abstain from strawberries 11 months of the year, those few weeks of locally grown in-season Spooner berries are a highlight of each year.

2. Organic Farming: The term organic is a buzz-word in modern society - certified organic must be better, right? Even before it was popular, I was raised on our own home-grown organic produce from the Sharma family garden. And what's more, our summer meals were dictated by what was fresh that day, week, or month. Even today, when I come home during the summer, our meals focus around what is fresh and ready in the garden. If spinach is ready, we're having a spinach salad. if green beans are ready, that day's vegetable is green beans...

Which brings me to winter months...

3. Canning and planning for the winter: I remember summer day trips to Eastern Washington where we'd pick our tomatoes in the hot, scorching sun. Over the next few days, my mother would slave away in the kitchen washing, slicing, and canning hundreds of jars of tomatoes so that we'd have our own version of "canned tomatoes" all winter. The same was for vegetables, such as mixed vegetables, for fruits like peaches and pears, and even tuna fish. To plan for those months when blackberries would be a treat, my mother would pick blackberries during the summer, make multiple pies, and freeze them before baking them, so that come January, we could pull one out of the freezer and enjoy a taste of summer. Simple ideas such as these made us enjoy the blessings of summer all through the winter.

So perhaps Animal, Vegetable, Miracle doesn't address my low income clients, providing them a practical alternative exactly considering their income, but it isn't as revolutionary as I thought it would be when I picked up the book. In fact, in many ways, Kingsolver's experiment looks a lot like growing up at the Sharma family home.

Safety Nets and Choices - Two Lessons of the Fall

I attended a New Attorneys Orientation training held at the DC Bar in the fall - the training focused on learning about the District of Columbia government and court system, as well as giving new attorneys insights into the clients they will be working with. While I am not an attorney, the training was both enlightening and practical for my work at Bread for the City.

Patty Mullahy Fugere, executive director of Washington Legal Clinic for the Homless, gave a presentation on Safety Nets. By asking us a series of questions about our personal lives, she invited us to reflect on what our own safety nets look like. Then, we did the same exercise with a hypothetical client of the Legal Clinic. While our net was full and would catch us should we fall, the hypothetical client's net had such wide gaps in it that she would probably fall through in a situation of trouble. Reflecting on both the given aspects of our lives, as well as the choices we have some control over, it is clear that we are often more blessed than that hypothetical client.

Later in the training, Rebecca Lindhurst, one of our Landlord/Tenant attorneys at Bread for the City, spoke about insights she has learned through her own client relationships. Standing clear in my mind is her message about judging clients: Sometimes, we tend to judge the decisions our clients make without thinking about their safety nets - often they are coming from a poorly built safety net, and their choices make sense given their prediciments. Yet - we must let our clients make their own choices. I as a middle class college graduate am able to make the choices to move to DC, the choices to have the friends I like, the choices to work where I'd like, and the choice to make a mistake. If we are to really see our clients as on the same page as us, we need to let our clients make their own mistakes, and be there as part of their safety net instead of another member of society to judge them.

This incident makes me think of the article, Staying for Tea*, one that was a staple of my college service experiences. Staying for Tea discusses what it means to accompany others, to walk with them and be present in their lives. Author Aaron Ausland describes this process as becoming "mutually indebted" - recognizing that when we serve others, we are interdepedent. We both grow because of the service, and this growth ties us together.

Reading this article and reflecting on it through college helped me grow into a more mature servant. However, I believe my time at the Bread for the City has helped me deepen my understanding of what it means to stay for tea, especially in terms of safety nets and client choices. My clients have made choices I wouldn't make but also have safety nets with holes larger than I can imagine. Rebecca's comment has stuck with me and helped me understand my clients, especially as I understand their past and who they are as individuals. While I think that I might make different choices if given the opportunity, I know that I must allow my clients to make their own choices, and accept the choices they make.

Coming from a middle class background with a thick full safety net, I think this is something I'll continue to reflect on this year. Hopefully this reflection and action will help me better accompany my clients, housemates, co-workers, family, and friends this year...

Initial Thoughts

There have been many times that I have actually thought about recording my experience this year working at Bread for the City and living as a Jesuit Volunteer. The times when I sit down for a disability interview with one of my Social Security Disability clients... the times when I find myself hearing words of wisdom from my coworkers - shaping the way I look at serving others... the times my community members help shape me into being a better man... the times when I see passion in the eyes of advocates across the city, striving to make some sort of positive social change... the times when I hear the appalling stories of people who call searching for help... the times when my Social Security clients win their hearings and are thus guaranteed an income for the rest of their lives... the times when I feel helpless because I cannot give someone an answer besides "I am sorry to hear your story..."

In many ways that are still not tangible, I am being shaped by these moments. I am shaped by Monday intake, when 30 individuals walk in for legal services at Bread for the City, hoping that perhaps our attorneys will take on their case. I am shaped by the chaos and by the conversations that result when I go out to speak with a client. I am shaped by the expressions of utter joy and pain, and am reminded of my common humanity when I intentionally listen.

Experiences like Monday intakes, and the relationships with my Social Security clients help me enter the lives of the people who come to Bread for the City each day, and who live in my neighborhood. They help take my macro-oriented mind, focusing on policy level issues, and connect a real face and real emotions with the choices of society.

As I am beginning this new calendar year, and prayerfully considering a second year of Jesuit Volunteer Corps, I believe writing about my experience, my reflections, and the insights I am learning might help me develop as a young man. Perhaps through these writings, I can begin to make sense of this experience and discern how best God wants me to make an impact in the world we live in.