Hating on the poor still in fashion

Well, my article on the state’s CalWORKs program came out today in the Sacramento News & Review, and judging by the online comments we’ve already received, hating on the poor is still alive and well and still very much in fashion.

The story, about the governor’s proposal to scrap the state’s welfare-to-work program, was designed to put a human face on the issue, and featured Jennifer Taylor, a married woman with three children, who lost her job last November in the banking industry — a victim of the recession. Taylor, 37, has worked full-time all her adult life, and welfare was new to her, and a humbling experience.

My reporting showed that more than 86,000 Sacramentans participate in the CalWORKs program — 64,000 of whom are children.

We went to great lengths to show the work mandates required of Taylor and others to receive their cash grants, food stamps, and Medi-Cal.

Still, the comments were angry, and mean. “Give your children to foster care,” if you can’t afford to take care of them, wrote one reader. Others were upset that the state was asked to be a “parent” and suggested that churches, neighbors and comunities step up with a helping hand instead.

Although there was one, I expected more letters to lambast the governor for proposing to turn away $3.7 billion in federal matching funds by eliminating a program that would save only $1 billion in general fund revenue, while plunging more than 1 million children into further homelessness and destitution.

Where’s the outrage about that?

And where’s the kudos for Jennifer Taylor who’s both working and going to school, thanks to the CalWORKs program, to better her life, and her family’s?

When I set out to report this story, I thought I would be able to show readers, through Taylor’s story, just how vulnerable we all are in this economy, and how easy it would be for any of us to end up in her shoes.

Perhaps, at least for the people who have commented, that is too harsh a reality to contemplate. Perhaps, it is easier to blame, than to empathize, for to empathize would make it all too real.

Until next time.

Keep the faith.

–AY