Ok, someone remind me again why I moved to Chillcago? When I left for work this morning it was -2 WITHOUT windchill and this is the "Windy city"! I had everything but my eyeballs covered, most with two or three layers and it was still cold! Last week our highs were in the upper 60s. Today they are hoping we'll reach 16. Gotta love the midwest.
We had a community meeting and decided to change the way we do chores (i.e. to find a way that we will actually do them). Instead of assigning chores we are just going to have a "cleaning day". I hope it works. Kevin's birthday is tonight, so we will be celebrating :)
At work I am continuing to get a few odd jobs here and there. I get so frustrated because I feel like I am learning a lot but giving so little back - i.e. I have a lot of time to sit around doing nothing. Last night I went home and complained to Kevin and in the process realized I actually have done a lot of stuff. I just wish it felt like it when I am here at work waiting for the next assignment. The coolest thing I worked on in the last couple of days was helping Laird (our "prevention department") put together a presentation. The Centers for Disease Control changed how they will be approving HIV prevention grants. AFC decided our role in the change would be to help Chicago area agencies meet the new guidelines, thereby bringing more prevention money to Chicago. One step in that process is a workshop hosted by AFC and the Chicago Department of Health. Laird's presentation is basically an overview of the interventions that CDC will approve for funding. It was cool to put his slides together since I got to learn about the programs but also had some creativity in deciding what would be put on there. The new funding method is designed to make community based organizations use prevention programs that have been proven "scientifically" effective. I guess several programs were funded at a test stage, and those that worked are to be used as a model for future programs. All of them focus very heavily on peer involvement and cultural sensitivity.
They've been keeping me busy here at work, woohoo! Yesterday I went to the advocacy forum, which is a monthly meeting of people working to change policies. The topic was insurance. It was very cool to see the side of AFC that fights to change some of the policies that urk the program department (and people living with HIV so much). Rather than just accepting that the Medicaid system doesn't always make sense, they try to change it in little ways. For example, in order to qualify for Medicaid someone with HIV has to be disabled and VERY low income. The problem is that for people living with HIV, you become disabled when you can not get medication to control the HIV, i.e. when you have no insurance. Once you get insurance and medication, you become healthy (more or less, I still wouldn't want some of the stuff they have to live with while "healthy"). So, the current system basically forces a whole bunch of people that could live productive lives and WORK (hmmm, I think that is a politician's goal right?) to become disabled before they can get the medicine that would allow them to continue working! Then, to make matters worse, when they do get better, they are no longer qualified for the insurance that provides the meds they need to stay non-disabled! CRAZY
So, HIV/AIDS advocates are working to change the definition of who can get Medicaid. They have several options they are working on from asking the state to obtain a waiver allowing them to reduce some of the requirements (something Massachusetts has done successfully, to asking for a change to federal requirements (the Early Treatment for HIV Act, which is already proposed in the Senate). They also have several other plans in the works to eek in as many people as possible even if the two big ones above don't get through the red tape. Really exciting to see people trying to do something about problems rather than just admitting defeat and complaining about it.
Well, enough talking about work, I better go do it...
Last week was really busy. At AFC the short-term housing assistance program was changed and we were conducting trainings for case managers. The trainings seem to have gone over pretty well, and there was less resistance than expected from the case managers. In mid-February we�ll be presenting the new program to clients. I have a feeling those will be much tougher. The current program is much easier for clients than the new program will be. Some clients will actually do better since they will have greater responsibilities, but many will risk loosing their housing. It will probably not be an easy transition.
This weekend was the LVC Midwest winter retreat. We drove back out to Ferryville, WI. It was a very relaxing weekend, although missing Saturday chores has me feeling a little behind now. This retreat was a little different than our last one since we volunteers led a lot of it. Everyone in my house (except Kevin, who we are majorly razzing about being a slacker) led a session. Leah talked about her experiences at protests against the School of Americas (it has a new name now, but don�t remember it) and the Free Trade Area of the Americas, as well as her trip to a Guatemalan refugee resettlement village. Melissa teamed up with a gal from another Chicago house to discuss homelessness. Jason teamed up with a gal from a Twin Cities house to discuss immigration and refugees. I did a skill sharing session on quilting. We also had a skill session on cleaning supplies, and a discussion on food and justice. Also had a good discussion with my housemates that made me feel a lot better about the little nagging things that always come up when you have to survive as a group. I�m excited to see if we follow up on our discussions.
I watched President Bush�s speech on Tuesday with Jason and Melissa. I think I drove them nuts. To give you an idea, I was hoarse by the end of the speech. I couldn�t believe that a whole half hour was spent on war. The way Bush talks you would think it is still September 12th 2001. I don�t know if he just misses the glory of the Cold War, or what. I know I don�t want to go through the �red scares� that I learned about in history class and yet it sure seems like Bush wants us to keep an eye on our neighbors in case they are terrorists. I am really worried he will try to invade yet another country. What I find really amazing is that his wars are in the name �freedom�, yet it is this freedom he seeks to limit here at home. I feel very lucky that I can complain about my government right now, but I honestly don�t know if I will still be able to say that if Bush does win the up coming elections. In his speech he made so many thinly veiled threats to those that oppose him, I am really worried. While he distracts us with war for others �freedom� he is trying to create a religious dictatorship at home (yes, this is an exaggeration � at least right now).
When he finally switched to domestic issues I just grew angrier. If I had just listened to his speech without knowing how he plans to implement some of the policies there might have been some good parts. As it is, I am not ignorant enough. I worry about an economy based on tax cuts to encourage frivolous spending while reducing a family�s ability to save. I worry about an economy that seeks to weaken the labor market and focus on high technology that requires even less labor. I worry about tax cuts that provide little benefit to those dependent on programs that are cut to give the tax break. I worry about a program that seeks to leave no child behind by cutting funding to schools that most need resources and basing the value of education on testing numbers. I worry about a policy to make us less dependent on foreign energy sources, but fails to make us less dependent on non-renewable energy. I worry about a healthcare plan that depends on the healthcare industry to bring its own prices down. I worry about a plan that will test children for drugs but doesn�t mention what we will do with them after that. I worry about a plan to protect youth from sexually transmitted diseases by funding programs of silence that have been proven ineffective in teaching youth anything about sexual responsibility. I worry about a plan that would discriminate against people because of their sexual orientation (no marriage for homosexuals, yet so much of the benefits sought after by this administration is tied to being married). I worry about an administration that is not just content to run the government but also wants to break down church-state barriers and run the church too. I�m worried. I�m scared. It is not terrorists that should be raising our �code red� but this administration that is trying to make us live in fear all in the name of eliminating fear.
Just had to share that the radio said our high temperature today was going to be a whopping 1 degree. When I passed the bank sign our temperature was already a boiling 4 degrees, so the radio missed our heat wave. Amazingly, despite the extreme heat the Chicago river had a coating of ice on it when I passed over on the el train.
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