Looking for Peace.....can you find Peace in this?

Today marks the end of Jane Addams Hull House Association (HH) after 123 years of providing services to the needy in the Chicagoland area.

I have had some interesting exchanges with people and it has confirmed to me that our society just doesn’t get it sometimes. 

The issue has been about funding for HH and they are claiming that they owe millions and when you look over the list of the Board of Trustees you see that most people have a title of “Partner” or “Vice President” and one of them is even the “Chair” of an investment group.  So with these people as part of the Board, how is it that they did not see this problem coming a lot sooner?  Did the millions that are owed suddenly come up missing?  Did they just find out that the checks from funders bounced all of last year?

Just like any other company I am sure that the issue has been one that has been brewing for some time and I’ll be honest I know for a fact that it’s been at least for the last two years.  So why didn’t they do something about it?  I had one person say that they admire how the management has fought these past few weeks in trying their best to keep things going.  When I read this I thought to myself ‘why would you admire a last ditch effort if they have known about it this whole time?  They should have been fighting the whole time!’  Now, some will say that they did but let’s not kid ourselves here there’s doing the best you can then there’s FIGHTING for what is right!

As I read what people write on Face Book and how they are sorry to hear about what is going on and hope the best for the staff. I do not hear nor do I read any outrage at what the clients might be going through and how they will find their needs met.  We see ONE child in a foreign country without food on TV and we are DEMANDING the United Nations to do something and contacting movie stars to draw some attention to the issue.  Hull House closing down and all we can say is “oh wow, well that sucks!  Hope you can find a job in this market!  I’ll keep my eyes open and let you know if I hear of anything!”  Really?  Why is America NOT as outraged and worried when it comes to the poor within our OWN society?  Is it because we expect someone else to worry about it?  Or do we say “hey there are better opportunities here than somewhere else so if you can’t get yourself moving it’s not my problem!”  I’ve heard that one many times and that comes from a privileged point of view.  I do not mean it in a sense of “White privilege” or Kennedy family type of privilege I mean it in the sense that you made it and you are now selfish to help others get there in fear that you might end up where they are at again. 

When you truly fight for something you really do all that you can and the management team at Hull House could have stood together at a news conference and expressed their disappointment of the board to close the agency (this comes from within the management that it is the fault of the board HH is closing and not theirs) and that they needed the help of Chicagoans to help them keep the doors open.  I would have been one of the first people lining up asking what I could do to help and I know that there would have been a long line of people doing the same thing.

It didn’t occur to someone at the main office to reach out to the Mayor and ask him for help?  or to jump on a news broadcast and plead with Chicago for funds to keep the doors open?  You can’t say you tried everything when the first time you bring it out to the public that you are having problems is to let them know you are closing your doors.  ANYONE that is from Chicago knows that we are 100% loyal and we will stand strong with our people to make sure we get things done.

The simple fact is that there may have been a lack of funding but the lack of WILL was much greater and that is the true demise of Jane Addams Hull House Association.

The poor will always remain poor as long as there’s an executive making money off of their poverty.

How can anyone find Peace in all of this when their lives are being disregarded as a failed company?

Peace/AMOR

Gerardo