Why Human Services are Vital to the Community Pt I

Within the past few years, there has been discussion of the role that human services play in the lives of people and whether such services are actually healthy for individuals and families. As a result, many human services such as school and community health centers, after-school programs, and early childhood care and educations centers get targeted for budget cuts and even ridiculed for helping the less fortunate. And while there are people who will leech, other disadvantaged residents, such as children, the homeless, those living in or near poverty, and those with disabilities use the services as a vital lifeline.

An important fact about human services that is often overlooked is that they are extremely wise investments. According to the Social Impact Research Center at Heartland Alliance in Chicago, human services stave off future costs to the community if many of the issues in the community were left unchecked. Here are a few examples of those costs:

• Child poverty costs the US economy $500 billion per year when considering lost earnings, crime, and health care costs.
• The costs of low education attainment come in the form of lost productivity and earnings potential. The median annual income of someone with less than a high school diploma is 2.6 times less than someone with a bachelor's degree. This translates into lost taxable income and purchasing power.
• The cost of retaining students who are not promoted to the next grade costs $18 billion annually
• The potential economic value to be gained in better health outcomes if all Americans had health coverage is estimated to be between $65 and 130 billion each year
• The annual net burden of crime, including costs of incarceration and the legal system, lost wages, costs to victims, crime prevention organizations, lost opportunity costs, fear of being victimized, and cost of private deterrence, is estimated at over $1 trillion
• The monetary value of saving a single high-risk youth from turning to criminal activity is $1.7 to $2.3 million.

There is no question that human services help people mitigate many of the hardships in life, but they can also mitigate the economic impact of simply ignoring them. How so?  The next post will answer that.

Resident Spotlight: Matthew Odom

Recently, Promise Neighborhoods had the opportunity to sit down and chat briefly with a resident many inside of the MPN may not know of. However, the rest of the city, the state and cities like Chicago, Illinois know him very well. Matthew Odom is a successful local photographer that is pushing the limits of professional photography in the Macon and Middle Georgia area. His work has gotten so much attention that a piece of his work is on display at an art exhibition in Atlanta, Ga. What many don't know about Matthew is that he not only grew up in the Unionville neighborhood but he in fact still lives in the neighborhood.

Matthew holds the piece that will get exhibited at the Peachtree Photography Roots Studio Exhibition

MPN: "So tell us about your neighborhood."

Matt: "Well I grew up in Unionville and still stay there. There are good people in the neighborhood but right now, its just stagnant. It's hard to put a finger on it sometimes. And although its better than it was when I was growing up, the mindset of many who live in the neighborhood isn't one that can push the neighborhood forward. Or better yet push THEMSELVES forward."

MPN: "Well speak on growing up a little. What sort of things did you have to overcome to become as successful as you are. (Matthew owns a VERY successful photography business along with an successful internet based smooth jazz radio station)."

Matt: "Well I lost my mother when I was a young boy so my grandparents raised me and after my grandfather died, it was just my grandma and myself. There was a point when the neighborhood got pretty rough with a rise in gang activity and violence but I never took heed to the peer pressure that the gangs brought with them. I was also very involved in sports and I loved video games; still do! *laughs* But with a strong family along with effective mentors and positive friends, I kept everything on the straight and narrow."

MPN: *laughing* "I can definitely understand where you're coming from with video games and sports. Can you talk about some ways you think that residents in Univionville can, sort of, help themselves get out of many of the situations they are in. You know, change the "culture" that is in place in the neighborhood." 

Matt: Well to me its simple. The key is to educate themselves AND to make sure that their children take their education seriously. Knowledge is the new currency and many people who do well are the ones with the knowledge and know-how to get things done. The neighborhood simply has to educate itself.

Wise words.

See some of Matthew's work at Matt Odom Photography

Teaching computer programming to children: could this really work?

Recently, there has been a lot of buzz around the education and tech communities regarding a recent video released by code.org.  In the video, various people ranging from Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates to NBA star Chris Bosh and pop star Will.I.Am all promote the idea of teaching computer programming to everyone. And I dont mean people interested in computers.

Everyone.

This includes young children and there may be a number of useful nuggets that come out of it in regards to education. However, the one essential nugget that everyone should understand is this:
we should not teach our children how to code for coding's sake. We shouldn't teach our children how to code because computer programming is the most demanded profession in the country. We should teach our children how to code for the cognitive development of their minds. We don't teach children math or how to read just so that they know how to crunch numbers; we teach them these skills with the end result of creating better thinkers in mind. Computer programming can do just that. It can help develop computational skills in young children. It can teach the basics of logic and algorithms. It can develop better problem solving skills. The list goes on and on.

In addition to developing their minds, teaching code will force children to learn how much of the amazing technology of our day truly works. Many of our children can pick up how to use the Internet, video conference with friends, and operate an iPhone fairly quickly (for example, before my daughter turned 3, she knew how to unlock my iPhone, find the games folder, choose a game and play it. If I moved the game, she would still find it and play it). However, many of our children do not understand how this technology actually works, and this is entirely more important than knowing how to use it itself. It's akin to not only knowing how to use a toilet, but fixing one (this skill in itself can save a person a world of trouble).

Teaching children to learn how to code has the potential to create an army of powerful and efficient thinkers in our society. However, lets be careful to not make the end result of this initiative simply more programmers or more code. Lets make the end result more efficient problem solvers.

Chatting with a resident.

Every now and again, the Neighborhood Advocates speak with the residents of the MPN to not only meet new people, but to get a sense of what’s going on in the neighborhood. Many times the conversations are short and sweet. However, more often than not, some can shed light on what its like to live in the Promise Neighborhood. Take a recent chat that one of our Neighborhood Advocates had with a resident in the MPN.

One of the residents, who we will call “Shannon”, is a 28 year old who lives with her husband and two children in the Houston Ave. area of the MPN. She works as a caregiver at Headstart while her husband is a driver for a pizza chain. What started out as a light chat about the weather turned into a discussion on living in general. Here is a portion of our chat:

MPN: So what is the biggest concern that you have as far living? What makes you lose sleep at night?


Shannon: Trying to pay bills and make ends meet; it's from paycheck to paycheck.


MPN: Are you on any government assistance or anything like that?


Shannon: Yea, food stamps and Medicaid


MPN: Do the food stamps help much?


Shannon: No its not very many, but it helps a little bit.


MPN: So are food stamps essential to living? Would it hurt that much if you didn’t have them?


Shannon: Well not really, I [didn't have them] before and treated it as another bill but after I had my second child, they gave them back to me.


MPN: What makes it so hard to make ends meet, then? What are some of the barriers that keep you from doing that?


Shannon: Well sometimes I have to put off paying one bill to pay another


MPN: Both of you work full time, but you still have to put off some bills to pay others. You ever thought about going into another field or back to school....


Shannon: Well I'm going back to Central Ga Tech this summer for early childhood education.


MPN: What do you plan on doing afterwards?


Shannon: I want to be a teacher.


MPN: So what exactly caused you to stop going in the past?


Shannon: I had to put it off for my family. Its kind of hectic to go back to school with them. I’m trying to work it out with their schedule, my work schedule, and my husbands schedule.


MPN: Yea I can imagine. Did you have transportation then?


Shannon: No.


MPN: How’d you get around?


Shannon: At the time I was staying with my Grandmother and she would take me back and forth to school. But we have one car so that will help a lot.

Mpn: No bus?

Shannon: *Laughing* I'd take it if it ain't take so long to get to campus.
Shannon is typical of many of the residents in the MPN. She is a hard-working, married, mother of two. She cooks meals for her family, helps her daughter with her homework, and tries to help others in her neighborhood in anyway she can. The work in the MPN can have a huge impact on the lives of residents like Shannon and that’s why the work continues.

Look out for more interviews with residents in the coming weeks.

Infographic: Poverty by the Numbers

As the economy continues to try to pick up some steam, there are still those who will never come out of it. Below is poverty by the numbers taken from NPR's series on poverty in America (click the NPR link for a larger image).

What our partners are up to

Yesterday evening, we had a great and informative Partners Council meeting. The meeting cleared up some of the confusion surrounding Macon Promise Neighborhood recently, but more importantly featured the impact that a few of our pilot solutions have experienced. Two of the partners gave their experiences along with one of our neighborhood advocates explaining what the neighborhood advocates have been up to.

Katherine McCleod, executive director of First Choice Primary Care, a health care center in downtown Macon, described how the $500,000 received for the construction of a school based health center will be used. "There is a pediatrician on staff but they don't see a lot of action because not many children use our facility." Part of this is due to children and their families not being able to come downtown due to lack of adequate transportation. Unfortunately, this is a reality for many families across the nation. A school based health center at Ingram-Pye Elementary School will make healthcare more accessible to the residents of the MPN due to it being located within the MPN. In turn, this will help make the neighborhood a much healthier place.

Taryn Collinsword, the executive director of Communities in Schools of Middle Ga, spoke about the work done inside of the target schools by Communities in Schools. Last year, 70 Mercer students worked in after-school programs in the target schools of the MPN. All but one student that received this tutoring were promoted to the next grade. Also, site coordinators have been placed at Ingram-Pye Elementary and Ballard Hudson Middle to provide services to about 350 children that have been determined to be in the most need.

Lastly, Joel Chambliss, a neighborhood advocate, described the impact that the neighborhood advocates have had so far on the neighborhood. Because the people in the neighborhood don't have clear connections with each other, neighborhood advocates often hold living room chats inside of resident's homes. The purpose of these chats aren't only to keep an ear to the neighborhood but also to develop and facilitate relationships between neighbors. This has allowed the dynamic of the neighborhood to begin to change and many relationships in the neighborhood are being cultivated and made stronger.

The above examples are only a tip of the iceberg of the work that has MPN has been doing inside of the neighborhood. The work is gaining momentum and with continued support from the community, partners, and Macon, tangible progress in the neighborhood and target schools will be seen.

*picture courtesy of 13 WMAZ

MPN Pilot Solutions

During the previous planning period, Macon Promise Neighborhood and its partners piloted several new strategies in the zone that not only continues the mission of supporting the children of the Unionville and Tindal Heights communities, but also integrate services and share accountability for results. The strategies include the following:

• Big Brothers Big sisters of the Heart of Georgia is utilizing Mercer's Office of Leadership and Volunteerism to train and place 60 Mercer students as mentors for neighborhood children.
• Mercer University has partnered with Communities in Schools to provide 78 tutors in reading and math and Ingram-Pye Elementary School, Monday-Friday. Last school year, 96% of the students were promoted to the next grade.
• Communities in Schools has placed site coordinators at two of the four MPN schools (Ingram-Pye and Ballard Hudson Middle School) to coordinate intensive support services for the 10% of students identified by the schools as the highest need population
• The BCSD Gear Up program has partnered with Mercer professors to train and engage 106 Mercer students as tutors in AVID programs at 4 middle schools, including Ballard Hudson and Bloomfield.
• In partnership with the Workforce Investment Board, Southwest High School counselors, and the local business community, MPN partners have implemented a year-long internship and mentor program for 21 11th grade students at Southwest High School.
• Central Georgia Technical College has partnered with Communities in Schools to offer adult learning opportunities to the parents or older siblings of at-risk children identified and served by Communities in Schools site coordinators in elementary and middle schools.
• The Macon-Bibb County Economic Opportunity Council and Tift College of Education are working together to organize and resource a neighborhood childcare network focused on early learning.
• Tift College of Education and Ingram-Pye teachers are beginning the first steps towards developing the MPN target schools as Professional Development sites.

These pilot programs are only the first steps in improving children's achievement in school and ending generational poverty in the Macon Promise Neighborhood.