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II,mr..,I1Mn-,IMII,{ REPOR TRESUMES E) 018 195 UD 004 954 VISTA VOLUNTEER, VOLUME 31 NUMBER 111 NOVEMBER 1967. OFFICE or ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY, WASHINGTON, D.C. PUB DATE NOV 67 EDRS PRICE MF-$0.25 HC-$1.32 31P. DESCRIPTORS- *VOLUNTEERS, *DISADVANTAGED GROUPS, *COMMUNITY PROGRAMS, GHETTOS, JUVENILE GANGS, HOUSING DEFICIENCIES, LEGAL AID PROJECTS, MIGRANT WORKERS, MIAMI,' FLORIDA, NEW YORK CITY, SAN JON, NEW MEXICO, VISTA PUBLISHED BY VOLUNTEERS IN SERVICE TO AMERICA (VISTA) , THIS JOURNAL ISSUE CONSISTS OF FOUR ARTICLES WHICH DESCRIBE LIFE AMONG THE URBAN AND RURAL POOR. THE ARTICLES DISCUSS (1) A SLUM AREA IN MIAMI, FLORIDA,(2) GHETTO GANGS,(3) AN ORGANIZATION OF ARCHITECTS AND LAWYERS COMMITTED TO IMPROVING SLUM HOUSING CONDITIONS IN NEW YORK CITY AND TO ADVISING TENANTS OF THEIR LEGAL RIGHTS, AND (4) INADEQUATE HOUSING CONDITIONS PROVIDED FOR A NAVAJO MIGRANT FARM WORKER IN SAN JON, NEW MEXICO. (LB) R E P O R T RE SUME S ED 018 95 UD 004 954 VISTA VOLUNTEER, VOLUME 31 NUMBER 111 NOVEMBER 196/. OFFICE Or ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY, WASHINGTON, D.C. PUB DATE NOV 67 ERRS PRICE MF-$0.25 HC-31.32 31P. DESCRIPTORS- *VOLUNTEERS, *DISADVANTAGED GROUPS, *COMMUNITY PROGRAMS, GHETTOS, JUVENILE GANGS, HOUSING DEFICIENCIES, LEGAL AID PROJECTS, MIGRANT WORKERS, MIAMII.FLORIDA, NEW YORK CITY, SAN JON, NEW MEXICO, VISTA PUBLISHED BY VOLUNTEERS IN SERVICE TO AMERICA (VISTA), THIS JOURNAL ISSUE CONSISTS OF FOUR ARTICLES WHICH DESCRIBE LIFE AMONG THE URBAN AND RURAL POOR. THE ARTICLES DISCUSS (1) A SLUM AREA IN MIAMI, FLORIDA,(2) GHETTO GANGS,(3) AN ORGANIZATION OF ARCHITECTS AND LAWYERS COMMITTED TO IMPROVING SLUM HOUSING CONDITIONS IN NEW YORK CITY AND TO ADVISING TENANTS OF THEIR LEGAL RIGHTS, AND(4) INADEQUATE HOUSING CONDITIONS PROVIDED FOR A NAVAJO MIGRANT FARM WORKER IN SAN JON, NEW MEXICO. (LB) 1111111111.1 HEALTH, EDUCATION &WELFARE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF 4*. OFFICE Of EDUCATION )44. N. EXACTLY AS RECEIVEDFROM THE THIS DOCUMENT HASBEEN REPRODUCED OR OPINIONS ORIGINATING IT.POINTS Of VIEW PERSON OR ORGANIZATION OFFICIAL OFFICE OFEDUCATION STATED DO NOTNECESSARILY REPRESENT POSITION OR POLICY. Cover photo and photos accompanying the story on page 10 were taken by VISTA Paul Sentner in the Southeast Bonx and on the Lower East Side of Ne York. VOLU R Published Monthly by Volunteers In Service ToAmerica Office of Economic Opportunity. 1111 18th St., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20506 Susan Dooley, Editor Use of funds for printing this publication approved by the Directorof theBureauof theBudget,July11,1967. CONTENTS FOR NOVEMBER, 1967, VOL. 3, NO. 11 Where People Go Lack 3 The glitter of Miami provides a bitter contrast to the city's slums Gangs 10 Ghetto teenagers, rejected by society, form Are You Moving? a sub-society that providesdiscipline If you are, please let us know your new address so that you'll continue to receive the and security VISTA Volunteer. Print your name and old address here and mail to VISTA, Washing- 18 ton, D.C. 20506 ARTICLE 7A: A Weapon For Tenants In New York City tenants are using the legal Name means available to improvehousing Address Condemned 2 _ State Zip Code A migrant farm worker describes the boxcar where he lives Print new address here: Address City State Zip Code 2 The VISTA Volunteer November, 1967 t )0, 4 O *VW . 111 * , 4* 40 * .11 70. 1 AYSey - Wig lot aller, Owl0.0.. nY ..* law '90 0 S Miami, likean3.large city, has its of deprived and ghettos, its enclaves % depressed 'people.In this 'city ofglitter there is a sharpc9ntrait betweenthe lei'sure sovietfat play andthplaces. hre, eople ri Story byEllen Urvant PhotographedThy Bob.East, jr. CONTINUED Thp VISTA Volu'eteer November ,1967 3 I I The sun, and magic aura of the ocean make Miami, Fla., a year-round , vacation land, attracting vacationers and tourists whose money and credit There is a certainty that cards support the city's economy. The same things attract the poor, who come looking for better luck things will always be this for a bit of the magic. People from harsher climates to the north con. tinuously come to Miami, thinking way-that there life will be easier. Ow the years there has been a steady migration of Negroes from places like Bermuda and is nothingone can do Georgia, many of whom are unskilled and ill-equipped to live in a competi- tive urban environment or to take ad- 4 Thu VISTA Ve funfair Ncsvembor, IMEIWAL. .001.41kipt .1111 vo.-411, .t" to keep them from sittingaround unbelievingthroughthein vantage of the jobopportunities that jumbo of asking for a job, unf are beginning to openfor Negroes in idle.. .They need to be in a group and to learnthe need of fled by confidence or ability;shacks the area tenements where warm Migration from Cuba and Puerto culturing themselves. or apartment intimacy can't make up for the rats, population "If the mother seems to be care- Rico has swelled the city's the leaks and the lack of a place to with thousands of Spanish-speaking less in the way she does, the think; young girls who jump on people who, trained or untrained, edu- children will catch the same habit Miami's and the home will just go lack. other's stomachs to stop the babios cated or illiterate, vie with from coming; and a certainty that and housing. But the home can become a place own poor for jobs things will always be this waythat The words of a neighborhoodwork- where the individual will want to beor a place that is not even there is nothing one can do. er forEconomic Opportunity Program, The poor's attitude of defeat Is organiza- appetizing..." Inc., (EOPI), an umbrella understandable to anyone who have tion that covers the 25 0E0 programs The problems touched on by the ever encounteredthe too prevalent in Dade County, point to someof theEOPI worker are those common to the feeling that a generous welfare pro- problems of the area: poor in most large cities.In addition, "The teenagers need something there are the young people who go CONT MUSD The VISTA Volontio Novslaborr, 1,67 Where People Go LackCONTINUED gram encouragesidlenessandde- pendency. The aged, the permanently disabled, the blind, the motherswith dependent children, the people who comprise the majority of welfare re- cipients are overlooked in aneffort to find welfare cheaters. Dade County, which includes Miami, has a limited emergencyfund which is used to supplement the regu- lar state welfare payments. Even so, $120 a month is the maximum com- bined welfare sum any family can be paid. And to qualify, the family must have lived in the state for a year. Once a month, poor families get free surplusfoodsuppliesflour,corn meal,peanutbutter,canned meat. What they get varies according to what happens to be surplus that month and the supplies must be picked up in one trip. Beggars cannot be choosers, and for people who have been taught that their role is the equivalent of beggar, the choices are not many. "People see no use in contacting public officials, such as the police or health department," said VISTA Terry Klaf t, assigned to EOPI. "Sometimes, when they call for a serviceto have accumulated garbage removed from the streetnothing happens. So they get the idea these services are not for them." An abrupt dismissal is enough, in many cases, to get the poor person to VISTA Terry Klaft withdraw his complaintto live with the problem instead of asking help in "Everything is takenin solvingit. And an angry, accusing landlord is enough to make a slum . ..eviction, serious dweller draw back and accept, if bit- stride terly, his environment. physical injury,loss The slum dweller will look with curiosity and tolerance at hisfriend of the breadwinner . .." and neighbor, the young VISTA, who is outraged at the ratsat the lack of official action. 6 The VISTA Volunteer November, 1967 J fence along aout-of-town real estate corporations. "If we call about garbagepick up,tioning the city for a children. VISTA Ralph Hergeat,who lives in we get courteousattention,ifnot canal that was a hazard to Getting a thing like a fence canstimu- a Negroghetto apartment building immediate action," said MissKlaf t. City area, said, insults. late a desire to pressfor additionalin Miami's Liberty "The poor person often gets "Mention the word blockclub and It is as much in the toneof voice ofimprovements. But while the poor are encotvaged by middle-incomepeoplenobody here will talk to you or come the authority they aretalking to as One tenant to improve theircondition, they arearound. They are afraid." what they say. It is a toneof dis- getting at the same timediscouraged by thoseorganization was successful in respect." the landlord to make repairs on ade- calling inwith whom they dealdirectlysuch as When a VISTA does the teriorating building but alongwith the in need, thea landlord. the presence of the person repairs came a raise inthe rent. Un- person issometimes able to identify NALhough the housing code in Miami be tightlyable to get people to organizearound with the aggressive, confidentVISTA is a rigid oneroofs must secured because ofhurricanesthethe need for housingimprovements, and put the sound ofself-confidence Hergeat now plans to try tobring he does thatDepartment of Code Enforcementand in his own voice. Once people together to create afood co- and gets results, he is neverthe sameRehabilitation has neither the money with the two- operative. again. If he seems a little over-aggres-nor the staff to cope shacks (if you shoot a VISTAs Suzanne Chopot andVir- sive about hisnew-found strength androom, shotgun bullet through the front doorit willginia Bradley found that asmall day- urreness ofhis rights, it is to be under- the back door)that housecare center soappealed to a slum land- stood.