Testimony
Submitted to the
Alaska Natives Commission
Task Force on Economics
in connection with a hearing on
Economic Issues and Solutions
at
Anchorage,
Alaska
October 16,
1992
9:53 a.m.
ALASKA NATIVES COMMISSION
JOINT FEDERAL-STATE COMMISSION
ON
POLICIES AND PROGRAMS AFFECTING
ALASKA NATIVES
4000 Old Seward Highway, Suite 100
Anchorage,
Alaska 99503
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Witness List | PDF
Version
COMMISSIONER THOMPSON: That completes the witness list, unless there's others in the audience that would like to testify? That's right. Please come forward.
(Pause.)
Kim, we've asked the witnesses to give
their name and their community;
and then you' re welcome to proceed as you like.
MS. SIMON: Okay. My name
is Kim Simon, and I'm
from Fairbanks; and my topic is the programs that are
available to people like me in the community. I started
working about eight months ago; and previous to that, I was
receiving public assistance for two years. During that two
years, I had every available program accessible to me, whether
it be housing assistance, I mean, I lived in a great
apartment. I'm a single parent; I'm also a foster parent.
When I did foster parenting, it wasn't counted towards my
income on AFDC. When I got a job, within a month of getting
a job, I found out that I would lose my housing assistance.
That meant that my apartment rent would go up $700 a month,
which is ridiculous. I moved into a one-bedroom apartment;
which was fine. I said:
"Well, this is okay. I can still
do what I want to do. I can work, and be a parent, and try
to be a
productive member of my community."
Where foster parenting was concerned, that was now -- the
money I got for being a foster parent was counted towards my
income; which means the only program that I got was day care
assistance; and that counted against me. So day care
assistance only would pay 50 percent of my day care bill,
which I thought was just terrible. I mean, that was a service that I was providing to -- I mean, I really felt good about it; and -- or -- for them to say:
"Well, sorry, but, you know, that's the way it
goes."
I said:
"Well, I see that the government's trying to encourage
people to get off Welfare and become self-sufficient; but I don't see that
there's any programs " --
I mean, everything was dropped within a month of me getting a job. Everything. I mean, all of a sudden, I was out there and, okay, all you get is transitional child care benefits. You got to just wing it. I thought to myself:
"Well, am I doing this for selfish reasons? Do
I want to work so that my -- you know, I could feel good about myself?''
I mean, it seemed like my quality of life was better before. I'm also a part-time student. I'm going to the University of Alaska Fairbanks; and I see the plight that, you know, the students have up there; and this whole eight months has just been filled with frustration over -- I've been calling. I tried to get on the list for an Indian HUD home; and they said:
"Well, you can fill out all the paperwork and
see if you qualify, but could be eight years."
And I was like:
"Well, gees, (laughing), I might not be around
in eight years."
And it's just -- I just find that it's really hard to just go on, I mean, and get a job. I mean, I'm one of the lucky ones. I have a good job. I see a lot of -- two of my friends are also going through the same thing. They each have a child, and they're working; and they've lost the programs. I mean, it doesn't seem to be counted by your income, how as before, I mean, life was good. Sure, you were getting -- you knew you were getting your $800 check at the first of the month; but all you had to pay was $200 for rent. I mean -- and I see a lot of the women go to bingo and stuff, and I can't afford to do that now. You know, I don't do anything. I mean, I pick at every cent; and it seemed that they encourage people to stay on Welfare; that -- it's not a transitional thing for the Welf -- a Welfare system; it's a way of life for a lot of people. They don't see anything. They don't see beyond that. A lot of people see me now as:
"Gees, Kim's h -- Kim has a job, but she has nothing
else, you know. I see her struggling with wondering how she's going to pay
her $550 a month rent and her little dinky apartment; but I have a two-bedroom
apartment; I get to stay home with my kids; I don't have to worry about a
day care bill, or, you know, who's going to give me a loan to get a car so
that I can get to work."
They don't see that --
REPORTER: Off record.
(Tape changed to Tape #2.)
MS. SIMON: -- you know, and I think that some programs need to be developed, not to just cut you off cold turkey; give you so -- a couple of months, you know, before you -- I mean, because the transition from Welfare to being - - to working it -- that's a struggle right there. And I know I struggled with it. I struggled with it for a year. I worked part time whenever I could for that year, and then I said:
"I got to break away. I have to go, and I have
to work full time."
But it's really hard; and I think they need to, you know, look at those programs that are available to people making that transition, and develop something-I mean, I hate to s -- use the word incentive, because it makes -- you know, it makes it sound like, you know, if you go to work, we'll do, you know, something for you. But they really -- I think they really need to take a careful look and try to develop something. I mean, because the social services -- I mean, they just -- every program:
"Sorry, you don' t qualify."
You know, I mean, why? Because I get 600 more dollars a month
than I did living on Welfare. I mean, that doesn't sound right
(laughing).
COMMISSIONER THOMPSON: Thank you,
Kim. Any comments or questions, before I
have a few, from the Commission members?
COMMISSIONER SEBESTA: No, not --
COMMISSIONER THOMPSON: John?
MR. SHIVELY: So what you're talking about is, rather than,
you know, the moment that you've got a job and that your economic circumstances
have changed and they cut everything off, there’s some transition, where
maybe you don' t get $200 a month rent; --
MS. SIMON: Yeah.
MR. SHIVELY: -- but instead of going to seven, it goes to --
MS. SIMON: Yeah.
MR. SHIVELY: -- like five or something.
MS. SIMON: Maybe instead of qualifying for those prop -- programs, you move on to a different set, you know; and then maybe after six months, you know, when you proved that you can work, because for the first five months, I - - that was struggling with myself, I mean, it looked better before; but I said:
"No."
You know, I'm doing this for my daughter. I want her to know a better life. I didn't want her to -- I didn't want her to grow up in that mode, you know, that they could be dependent on that. If all else fails, you know, you can -- I wanted her to know that, you know, she can stand on her own two feet and work, and it's going to be rewarding, and not just in your own self, but just as a whole in -- I still feel very strongly about that.
COMMISSIONER THOMPSON: It really wasn't an upward transition; it was a downward transition.
MS. SIMON: Yeah, that's what it seemed like for awhile. It really did. And now I've kind of put that behind me, in saying:
"Well, Kim, the reason you went to work -- the
money wasn't really the important thing, was it? The important thing was
that you feel good."
And I'm thinking:
"No, that sounds really selfish, you know."
But it was. I got to stay home with my baby, and, you know, vegetate my life away; but that's not what I want. But I want it to be -- I know they really try to stress that: be self-sufficient. I mean, job training. Realistically, I mean, I'm the fluke in the system; I mean, because what woman that's living on AFDC is going to go out and three months later be, you know, making what I do. That's a fluke. And I tell you, if I was making eight bucks an hour, I would never survive. I'd be getting less than I would living on AFDC; but I'm doing good, and I -- it's just it's a hard struggle. But I think there's -- there should be a program out there targeted at making it a little easier, 'cause not everybody's this tough.
(Laughter.)
COMMISSIONER THOMPSON: Let me say that Kim is a member of the Doyon Foundation; and she's one of the newest employees there and is doing an outstanding job; and we're very proud of her.
MS. SIMON: Thank you,
COMMISSIONER THOMPSON: She's a young lady.
MR. SHIVELY: Sounds to me like you're lucky to have her.
COMMISSIONER THOMPSON: We are, and we know it. Thank you, Kim.
(Pause.)
This document was ocr scanned. We have made every
attempt to keep the online document the same as the original,
including the recorder's original misspellings or typos.
|
