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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Details, page 2
Published since 1889 by the students of the University of Kansas
Monday
February 16, 1987
Vol. 97, No. 96
(USPS 650-640)
Hays applauds Seib when he returns home
By JOSEPH REBELLO
Staff writer
HAYS — On the same basketball court he had played on as a schoolboy more than 13 years ago. Wall Street Journal reporter Gerald Seib heard his hometown mayor proclaim Saturday as "Gerald Seib Day."
Red and white balloons, Valentine's Day hearts, a large U.S. flag, and posters saying, "Jerry, We're Glad You're Home" and "God Bless You" adorned the at Hays' Thomas More Prep-Marian school, where about 400 city leaders, former classmates, teachers and friends gathered to welcome Seib honors.
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the courage with which Seib endured his ordeal in Iran made him a world hero.
"But you were a hero to us before all this happened," he said.
before the public reception, Seib said that for one fleeting moment during his detention in Iran, his mind went back to his days as Kansan editor in fall 1977.
At that time, Iranian students demonstrated several times on campus against U.S. policies and the Shah of Iran.
Seib said that those events were not covered enough by the Kanan then, and said that the newspaper should have paid closer attention
DILEMMA Bitter cold forces poor to make hard choices
Story by Paul Schrag
January and February are the cruelest months.
Some hardships the poor endure are subject to the whims of fate. Others are as predictable as the bitter cold of winter.
A single mother who can barely feed her children has no money left to heat her house. An elderly woman pays her gas bill but goes without food. A homeless man risks frostbite sleeping in his usual corner under a bridge.
For people living in poverty in Lawrence, social service agencies make the difference between disaster and hope. And the transition between these extremes sometimes is unexpected and dramatic, said Sue Beers, director of social services at the Salvation Army Church, 946 New Hampshire St.
"He had been drinking a lot." Beers said, describing a transient man who came to the Salvation Army overnight shelter on Christmas Eve.
The volunteers in charge of the shelter sent him away because he was drunk and disruptive, she said. But in his hands they placed a gift in a beautifully wrapped package.
When he returned to the shelter the next night, he excitedly told the volunteers, "I never believed in Santa Claus as a kid, but I believe in him now. He visited me at my shack and left me a present."
Such incidents show the desperate physical and emotional needs of poverty-stricken people in Lawrence, Beers said. She and other social service workers said recently that though the needs of the poor were increasing, shrinking financial resources made it more difficult to alleviate their suffering.
The man spent the night in a shack by the railroad tracks. When he awoke, he saw the package but didn't remember going to the shelter. He opened the box and found a pair of fur-lined gloves.
"It's hard to explain what it's like to sit across from somebody who has no hope whatsoever and tell them, 'I can
give you some canned food, but that's about it," Beers said.
Federal budget cuts have hurt the most, said Sherri Cannon, executive director of Ballard Community Center, 708 Elm St.
"It's sad to see all the needs that are out there and not have funds to meet those needs." she said.
The shortage of funds has forced Lawrence agencies to develop alternative ways to help low-income people so
It's sad to see all the needs that are out there and not have funds to meet those needs.
— Sherri Cannon
Executive director of Ballard
Community Center
Agency workers try to give handouts when they are needed, while promoting self-sufficiency and discouraging dependence, Cannon said.
that food and money remain available for daily emergency assistance.
Rules that limit emergency assistance insure against people becoming dependent on handouts, Cannon said. A person can get food once a month for no more than three consecutive months. But people rarely try to stretch this restriction, Cannon said.
Suggesting income sources, checking on job search progress and referring people to mental health agencies for long-term counseling are ways of accomplishing this.
"They know that our sacks of groceries won't feed them for the rest of their lives," she said. Because few people are content to be dependent on charity, she said, few attempts are made to take advantage of emergency assistance.
"Contrary to the myth," Beers said,
"people want to work. They don't want to ask for help."
Cannon said, "It takes courage to come in. We try to preserve their self-respect, and they are grateful for that."
A program intended to promote psychological stability and thereby enable low-income people to deal with crises will begin this month at Penn House, 1035 Pennsylvania St. Families will form support groups in which they will meet to talk about their problems.
Linda Lown, a Penn House worker who will lead one of the groups, said the program wasn't limited to low-income people, although most people who had signed up so far were in that category.
Dealing with the problems of poverty, both emotional and physical, is a never-ending struggle. Beers said. Every day, about 20 disillusioned, downtown people wait outside her door at 1 p.m., she said.
Lown said that people experiencing stress because of financial problems could benefit from talking with others about how they deal with similar crises in their families.
'C contrary to the myth people want to work They don't want to ask for help.'
Director at the Salvation Army Church
— Sue Beers
In addition to the usual requests for food and personal crisis counseling, winter brings pleas for financial help. Beers said. Without such assistance, many low-income people would have to choose between heating their houses and buying food for their families.
Warm Hearts, a program administered by an independent committee of Lawrence community members,
spares low-income people from making that choice. Warm Hearts makes up to $500 available each winter to people who are unable to pay their heating bills.
Warm Hearts provided about $63,000 to such people last winter. That depleted the fund, so this year's fund drive goal was set at $65,000. But when the drive ended Jan. 31, donations totaled only about $44,000.
If the weather remains mild, Cannon said, the donations might be enough to meet this winter's need. If it doesn't, Warm Hearts will appeal for more donations.
Other programs also contribute. For example, the Lawrence Interdenominational Nutritional Kitchen serves meals three days a week to anyone who is unable to provide his own food. LINK currently is in the First Christian Church, 1000 Kentucky St.
Programs such as Warm Hearts supplements the year-round assistance provided by Lawrence Emergency Service Council, the cooperative network of local social welfare agencies.
LINK is beginning its third year on operation. It serves about 70 people at a typical meal, said Donna McCall, chairperson of the LINK steering committee. Volunteers from Lawrence churches operate the program.
Working with low-income people often is a struggle, Beers said, but it's also vital and rewarding.
"When you see 20 to 30 people a day who are at the end of their rope, who are destitute, without hope, you have to carry their burdens," she said.
Sharing the weight of the burden can be the key to helping.
"Human nature is amazing." Beers said. "Once a person realizes that someone has sympathy for their problems, their ability to bounce back is extremely great."
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