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Civic Participation & Citizenship Collection

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Exploring Decision Making and Power
Michelle Faith Brown, Read/Write/Now, Springfield, MA

Connection to Civic Participation and Community Action Sourcebook:
» Section Two: Holding Decision Makers Accountable
» "Pushed Too Far: Poor Women Defend Their Food Stamps", pp. 39-44.

Overall Objective and Connection to Civic Participation:
In order to make informed decisions and to participate in the legislative process, it is necessary to understand who decision-makers are, how they can be held accountable, and how as an individual or group one can make a difference. This activity aims to examine some of these topics through reading and discussing a story about the process of receiving food stamps and relating it to similar situations that the learners face. It is a building block to help learners eventually participate in the voting process in their communities.

Brief Description of Activity or Project:
Learners will read the article a few paragraphs at a time and make predictions and suggestions as to how the situation could be resolved. In the process, they will identify decision-makers, determine how they can be made accountable, and discuss how they, the learners, can make a difference.

Learner Profile: Four female learners of diverse ages and races, as well as levels.

Materials Needed: The "Pushed Too Far: Poor Women Defend Their Food Stamps" article with the "stops" in it.

Time required: 1 hour 30 minutes

Process:
1. Introduce lesson.

2. Ask the group, who decision makers are; write answers on the board. What does it mean to make these people accountable?

3. Instruct the group to read the case and stop at the first stopping point. Ask the group what they think can be done. Write their answers on the board.

4. Continue reading until the next stop. Ask what they think of Ann's actions.

5. Read the next two paragraphs, stopping before the sentence, "Ann wrote her story…"Ask that now we know why the Department of Social Services (DSS) stopped delivering the food stamps, what do they think of that decision?

6. Finish reading the story.

7. After everyone has finished the reading hold a discussion including the following: What do you think about this? Could it happen here? Can the "little guy" really make a difference? Why did Ann feel it was important to register to vote?

8. Write a short piece about what you would have done in this situation.

9. Share writing pieces.

Teacher Reflections:
The learners were very sophisticated in their answer about who decision-makers are and how some can be held accountable. Having readers pause during the text aided in their ability to problem solve and make predictions, and kept them very involved with the story. They made direct and personal connections to their own experiences - so much so that we had to keep reminding one person that her situation was not exactly the same. It was clear that this story really meant something to her. The students had a lot to say about this situation and about what they would have done. As a result, I did not have them do the writing piece, as I believed they had really covered it in the discussion. The learners noted that this was a good introductory lesson for talking about voting and how one's vote is important.

PUSHED TOO FAR:
Poor Women Defend Their Food Stamps
by Beth Bingman, based on the writings of Sharon Kimberlin

Ann is a student in a community-based adult education program in St. Charles, Virginia. She is also the mother of three children, two in school and one still at home. Going back to school has not always been easy, but she wanted to make a change in her life. She took the opportunity to attend an Even Start program that had a pre-school program as well as adult education.

St. Charles is a small coal-mining community with many of the problems typical of Appalachian communities - high unemployment, poor housing, isolation from the decision-makers in the county seat. But St. Charles is an active community, and people have come together to establish a community clinic, a community center, and to rebuild the town. Ann was aware of some of these efforts, but with three small children, she had not really been involved. She did try to help her neighbors, especially the older couple next door. At Christmas she took her children to the party at the community center and volunteered to help out.

When she started back to school Ann's goals were to pass the GED test, and to get out of the house. She also hoped the daycare program might help her youngest get ready for school. Ann thought of herself as shy, and going back to school was a big step. But she soon found herself taking bigger steps than she ever imagined. In October, Ann came to class and found the other women talking about a notice several of them had received in the mail telling them to come to the county seat to pick up their food stamps in person. Stamps would no longer be mailed.
[STOP]

The teacher asked the class what they might do about this situation. They made a list of what they wanted to know. They decided to invite an attorney from legal services to the class, but they also began to find answers themselves. Several class members called the Department of Social Services. One class member called her Board of Supervisors member. Ann did not call anyone except to ask when to come pick up her stamps. She was afraid she might lose her stamps altogether if she made trouble. But she did decide she could help get information. She visited everyone who lived on her road and asked if they had a way to get their stamps. She wrote down what people told her and took this information back to class.
[STOP]

The next week when she had an appointment to pick up her stamps, Ann got a ride to the DSS office. When she arrived, there were dozens of people in line. And there was one of her classmates interviewing people. Ann was amazed. She would never have the courage to do something like that! But she admired her friend and was anxious to talk to her to find out what she had learned.

When the class met the next day they put together the information they had gathered. They learned that the local DSS office had decided to stop mailing stamps to two communities because too many people in those areas had reported their stamps stolen. More than seven hundred people were affected, and many people had a difficult time picking up their stamps, due to no transportation, poor health, and lack of information about what they needed to do. The class members wrote essays telling about their situations and what they had learned.
[STOP]

Ann wrote her story, telling about her bad back and the pain she had standing in line. She did not mention the embarrassment, but she felt that, too. The next month she went back to pick up stamps on a cold, wet November day. As she took her place in line, she realized that just ahead of her was an older woman leaning on a cane and wheeling a portable oxygen tank. All the embarrassment Ann felt was replaced by anger. How could they treat anyone that way?! The woman made it through the line, and so did Ann. When she went to class the next day, Ann told what she had seen. She got the telephone number of the Board of Supervisors and called. She called the local welfare board. And she called the DSS office. Later, she registered to vote.

A few weeks later, two days before Christmas, the local paper carried an article saying that the Department of Social Services had reversed their decision because it "had created a hardship on many families." The stamps would be mailed again. The St. Charles class did not receive any official notification of the change, but they knew that they had made a difference. They had written, called, collected information, and taken action. They now knew the welfare board members who had supported the decision to require people to pick up their stamps. And they knew who had appointed them and when the next election would be. Ann has registered to vote.

From: Civic participation and Community Action Sourcebook, pp. 39-40.

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