Resource List for SIG: Big Read Evicted
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Resource List for SIG: Big Read Evicted Books Recommended by Osher Members: The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson The Selma of the North by Patrick Jones Books Recommended by Daniel Goldin, Boswell Books, in his Osher talk Fall session: Janesville: An American Story, by Amy Goldstein The Long Haul: A Trucker’s Tales of Life on the Road, by Finn Murphy Nomadland: Surviving America in the 21st Century, by Jessica Bruder Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis, by J.D. Vance Dream Hoarders: How the American Upper Middle Class is Leaving Everyone Else in the Dust, Why That is a Problem, and What to Do About It, by Richard Reeves $2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America, by Kathryn J. Edin and H. Luke Shaefer Live and Let Live: Diversity, Conflict, and Community in an Integrated Neighborhood, by Evelyn M. Perry The South Side: A Portrait of Chicago and American Segregation, by Natalie Y. Moore The Death and Life of the Great Lakes, by Dan Egan The New Urban Crisis: How Our Cities Are Increasing Inequality, Deepening Segregation, and Failing the Middle Class—And What We Can Do About It, by Richard Florida Not a Crime to Be Poor: The Criminalization of Poverty in America, by Peter Edelman College in Prison, by Daniel Karpowitz Getting Tough, by Juilly Kohler-Hausmann Blood in the Water, by Heather Ann Thompson Some additional books were listed in the MJS article by Jim Higgins, which was an interview with Daniel Goldin titled 10 Books to Read After You’ve Read Evicted. https://www.jsonline.com/story/entertainment/books/2017/11/28/10-books-read-after-youve-read- evicted/890017001/ Organizations and Website Address: Organizations Recommended by Osher Members: Organizations Website The Dominican Center/Auer School http://www.dominican-center.org/ Housing First Milwaukee www.housingfirstmilwaukee.com Local 212 Believe in Students Fast Fund for Michael Rosen 739 W. Juneau Ave, Milwaukee, WI 53233 MATC Students Milwaukee Rising http://www.milwaukeerising.org/ Pathfinders Milwaukee http://pathfindersmke.org/ Tenant Resource Center http://www.tenantresourcecenter.org/ United Way https://www.unitedwaygmwc.org/ Urban Milwaukee https://urbanmilwaukee.com/2017/12/20/new-campaign- targeting-child-poverty-launched/ December 2017 Page 1 Resource List for SIG: Big Read Evicted Organizations participating in the Big Read Osher Talks, Potpourris, and Go Explores in our Osher catalogs for Fall and Spring: Organizations Website Benedict Center https://www.stbensmilwaukee.org/ Casa Maria Catholic Worker Community http://casamariacatholicworker.weebly.com/ Cathedral Center https://cathedral-center.org/ Children’s Hospital https://www.chw.org/ Community Advocates http://communityadvocates.net/ Eviction Defense Project http://www.legalaction.org/services/eviction-defense-project- milwaukee Guest House of Milwaukee http://www.guesthouseofmilwaukee.org/ Hope House http://www.hopehousemke.org/ The House of Peace http://www.capuchincommunityservices.org/ Human Trafficking Task Force of Greater http://city.milwaukee.gov/health/staysafe/HTTFGM#.Wjmkht- Milwaukee nHIU Hunger Task Force https://www.hungertaskforce.org/ Lutheran Social Services of Wisconsin and https://www.lsswis.org/LSS.htm Upper Michigan Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity http://milwaukeehabitat.org/ Milwaukee Public Schools http://mps.milwaukee.k12.wi.us/en/Community/Get- Involved/Volunteer.htm Milwaukee Rescue Mission https://www.milmission.org/ Project RETURN http://www.projectreturnmilwaukee.org/ St. Ben’s Community Meal http://www.capuchincommunityservices.org/ St. Ben’s Clinic http://www.stbensclinicmilwaukee.org/ Salvation Army Emergency Lodge http://www.samilwaukee.org/milwaukee/emergency_lodge Sixteenth Street Community Health Centers http://sschc.org/ The Sojourner Family Peace Center https://familypeacecenter.org/ WISDOM http://wisdomwisconsin.org/ Articles/Websites: Articles Website UWM Center for Economic Development: https://www4.uwm.edu/ced/publications/53206_revised.pdf Zipcode 53206 by Dr. Marc Levine WUWM Project Milwaukee http://wuwm.com/topic/project-milwaukee#stream/0 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Landlord Games https://projects.jsonline.com/topics/landlord- Series games/index.html Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: A Time to Heal https://projects.jsonline.com/news/2017/3/23/epidemic-of- Series on Childhood Trauma childhood-trauma-haunts-milwaukee.html December 2017 Page 2 Resource List for SIG: Big Read Evicted Other Discussion Group Member Contributions: From Julie Peck: The reality of the situation described in Evicted is in direct conflict with some fundamental elements of our American identity. Americans identify ourselves as adhering to Judeo Christian values. Permitting this level of hopelessness among "the least of us" obliterates that moral claim. Americans also believe our country is a land of opportunity for everyone. When families spend 80 percent of their income on housing, they simply retain inadequate resources to accomplish anything else, whether that be access to work, healthcare, or education. We have abandoned the philosophical principle which makes our country unique. The rungs of the ladder of opportunity are gone. Americans believe the free-market is the best way to address problems. Allowing the free-market to disqualify individuals from decent housing inherently leads to exploitation by owners of indecent housing. The problem of evicted truly does tear at the core of who we are, in terms of morality, opportunity, and economics. It can't be allowed to continue. From Gretchen Lindstrom: Matthew Desmond, the author of Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City, studied in depth the problem of eviction in Milwaukee and how it is caused by inadequate housing assistance for the poor, combined with rising rents and stagnant income. Evictions contribute to a myriad of social problems as well as the unnecessary suffering of poor families. These are some useful facts and conclusions to consider. In 2013, 1 percent of poor renters lived in rent-controlled units; 15 percent lived in public housing; and 17 percent received a government subsidy, mainly in the form of a rent-reducing voucher. The remaining 67 percent—2 or every 3 poor renting families—received no federal assistance. This drastic shortfall in government support, coupled with rising rent and utility costs alongside stagnant incomes, is the reason why most poor families today spend most of their income on housing. (Note: the federal voucher program is referred to as Section 8). The majority of public housing residents are disabled or elderly. The majority of poor renting families spend over half their income on housing. 1 in 4 families spend over 70% on rent and utilities. (Note: The federal Section 8 voucher program rent to 30% of the family’s income.) The median rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Milwaukee was $575 in Milwaukee’s most dangerous neighborhoods (those at or above the 75th percentile in violent crime rate) and $600 in its least dangerous (those at or below the 25th percentile in violent crime rate.) December 2017 Page 3 Resource List for SIG: Big Read Evicted Millions of Americans are evicted every year because they can’t pay the rent. In Milwaukee landlords evict 16,000 families each year on an average of 16 per day in the court system. (Note: these are the formal evictions which go through the court system). In a typical month in Milwaukee eviction court, three in four people are black. Of those, three in four are women. There are also “informal evictions” which use different methods to get people to move out. Desmond estimates that nearly half of all evictions are informal. Between 2009 and 2011, 1 in 8 Milwaukee renters experienced a forced move. Numbers are similar in other major cities. “Losing a home sends families to shelters, abandoned houses, and the street. It invites depression and illness, compels families to move into degrading housing in dangerous neighborhoods, uproots communities, and harms children.” This is an “urgent and pressing problem.” “For decades, we’ve focused mainly on jobs, public assistance, parenting, and mass incarceration. No one can deny the importance of these issues, but something fundamental is missing. We have failed to fully appreciate how deeply housing is implicated in the creation of poverty.” December 2017 Page 4 .