Here’s a thought exercise you can use to test yourself for the dreaded Nonprofit Inferiority Complex, the internalized idea that nonprofit work is inherently less valuable than other forms of wage labor. How do you feel about the following statements with respect to community-based nonprofits? 1 = strongly disagree; 2 = disagree; 3 = maybe; […]
Classism in social services
Thank You for Being on Time
A few months ago, I made an appointment at the low-income clinic to see their therapist. I was hoping to find someone to listen to me – so I could hear my own voice better. The nurse practitioner suggested this as an option since I don’t make much money teaching part time. When I arrived, […]
Malnourishment: A Case Study on U.S. Food Insecurity
The final report of the 1996 World Food Summit states that food security “exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.” The U.S. Department of Agriculture agrees – at least in theory. […]
Homeless Shelters as Band-Aids: Housing Is a Human Right
From the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Article 25: (1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, […]
White People with Money: Class, Free Markets & Race in Medicine
Medical ethics state that everyone be treated equally, but the pressures of the free market and individual prejudices often bend that ethic. [gdlr_quote align=”right” ]The medical students and physicians in training quickly noted the majority of patients are white and wealthy and nicknamed it the “Center for Caucasians and Donors”[/gdlr_quote] Part of the problem is […]
Privatizing Driver’s Ed: a Lesson in Disenfranchisement
When I went to high school in Wisconsin, Driver’s Ed was a required course, first in the classroom where we learned in-depth about rules and safety, and then behind-the-wheel in a room of simulators which offered the physical experience of turning a key, and locating the brake, gas pedal, blinkers, and gear shift. Finally, we […]
Spare Some Change? Institutional Change Must Be Guided By Leadership Who Listen
Many years ago, I worked in a shelter that served chronically homeless women. My organization focused on supporting the rights and self-determination of our clients as we kept the peace and built trusting relationships. Unfortunately, the agencies charged with serving people who are vulnerable and in need of great service are often led by people […]
How the non-homeless talk about homeless people
I knew it was bad, but I didn’t know it was this bad! I had a chance to ask over 500 people to write down the most classist comment they had ever heard. Because the host was Real Change, Seattle’s wonderful street paper, which is sold by homeless and formerly homeless vendors, lots of the […]
“Tell me more about your social class”
It was a long time ago. The first time that I strongly expressed my opinion about how human behavior varies depending on social class was in a job interview at a car manufacturer in the marketing department. I vividly recall suggesting that the company’s advertisements reflect upper-middle class father figure stereotypes. You know the type, […]
As mental health resources dwindle, where’s a low-income person to go?
When I went through training to be a counseling psychologist is the late 1980’s, we covered every diversity dimension except for class and disability. While I had been concerned about class issues my whole life, I became acutely aware of how this played out in therapy work when I worked at the counseling center at Iowa […]
Working Class Counseling: An Uncensored Conversation
I hadn’t seen my cousin Earl in 30 years, but I knew right away that he was a straight-shooter like the rest of my family. “No offense,” he told me as I visited with him and his wife, Brenda, at a Smitty’s Restaurant near his home in Alberta, Canada. “But I think your whole profession, […]
WANTED: Hospitals That Fully Serve Their Communities
What happens to a poor, working class rural community when its hospital closes — with three days notice? That’s what residents of North Adams, Massachusetts and surrounding towns have been trying to figure out since the North Adams Regional Hospital closed its doors on March 28th. While local and state politicians scurried to at least […]
Groveling for the Greater Good
I’ve been fundraising for nonprofits for 15 years now, mostly for homeless youth and families. When I started fundraising, my bible was the now classic “Fundraising for Social Change” by Kim Klein. Klein taught grassroots fundraising strategies that were developed during the 1970’s, the peak of middle-class prosperity in the U.S. These strategies are ethical […]
Who Is Stressed Out?
I regularly facilitate a Stressed Out! workshop for Job Seekers in a non-profit organization serving a wide range of customers and clients in search of meaningful and self-sustaining work. The clients I typically present to are college educated adults who have had some work experience, and are accustomed to the everyday stressors one experiences in […]
Shame, School Lunch, and Passing
When I was in sixth grade, my family was eligible for free school lunches. I attended a small country school, without much class diversity, mostly farmers, some without indoor toilets in their homes. Even so, when I gave my lunch ticket to the student appointed to collect them, I noticed and she noticed that there […]
Anatomy of a cross-class breakdown at a youth shelter
Last spring my friend J got a job at a shelter for homeless young adults. She has an associate’s degree in Social and Human Services and is working on completing her B.A. She is smart, hardworking, compassionate, and skillful. She has great recommendations from other nonprofits. Additionally, she spent time at this same shelter back […]
“Is This for a Rental?”
Ever gone to a hardware store to buy a toilet, sink, or door and have the salesperson ask, “Is this for yourself, or for a rental?”? We all know that if it’s for ourselves, the owners of property, we’ll be wanting something nicer, better-made, more durable, more functional and often more efficient. If it’s for […]
The Class Nightmare of Disability
Seeking instant invisibility? Displacement from society? Separation from the shared life expectations of friends, family and colleagues? If so, become disabled. Visible or invisible, commonly recognized or incomprehensible, causing odd tics or socially-unacceptable behaviors, your disability will likely make you actively ignored by others or looked at like a circus freak. (“Mommy, why is that […]
Speaking of human rights, how many violations have I encountered in my life?
We never had enough food for all five children in our house and I don`t remember ever having an orange. My earliest memories are of a drunken father beating my mother and then in turn my mother yelling at me that I was ugly and I had the ugliest disposition she ever saw. After my […]
