PSU Magazine Winter 1997

PHOTO BY BRIAN WHITE Denise Gour MSW '96 pauses in her GEARS office, headquartered at M.S. Lane Middle School in southeast Portland. succeeding," says Gour. "We let people in the neighborhoods tell us what their needs are. We don't impose. "Half the people I meet in these neighborhoods are working, but their wages aren't high enough to meet family needs, and they can't qualify for assistance," Gour continues. "There are gaps that need filling, and that' where GEARS can help. Sometimes people simply need transportation to a job, or transportation for their children to go to school." For traditional welfare recipients bewildered by government agency regu– lations and restrictions, GEARS is a breath of fresh air-and is in line with federal and state welfare reform efforts aimed at making welfare recipients more accountable for their benefits. "For example, some people might get food stamps, but if they don't know how to cook from scratch or shop resourcefully, they may run out of food stamps in a hurry," Gour says. GEARS utilizes the talent of those who can teach frugal cooking or shopping tech– niques so the food stamps go farther. Also, residents in need are encour– aged to barter for services rather than pay a fee. Last summer, one woman wanted rent assistance, but learned that the only way she could qualify for the assistance was by receiving an eviction notice. She had no desire to leave her rental unit where her land– lord was a longtime family friend. "She simply felt she should be giving her landlord more money to show her appreciation, but didn't have the money," Gour recalls. "We were frustrated because we couldn't find any formal agency that could support these needs." A solution? GEARS was organizing a back-to-school clothing swap, where families could exchange children's clothing items. "We needed someone to organize the swap, and it turned out that this woman had tremendous organizing skills. She did an excellent job. Some businesses chipped in money, and GEARS matched it. There was some leftover money that we gave to her to help her rental needs. This woman was tremendously validated for her strengths. Now she'd like to start a small business of local crafters for another clothing wap this pring." The one-day clothing swap helped some 150 local families with clothing needs. But it's just one of the dozens of projects that collectively touch thou– sands of families and individuals in the Lents and Brentwood/Darlington neighborhoods. GEARS is funded through an $88,000 grant from United Way of the Columbia-Willamette. Additional fund– ing of GEARS and an as ociation of seven other southeast Portland organiza– tions has come from part of a federal payback or "welfare reinvestment grant" to the Oregon Department of Human Resources for reducing the number of people on the state's welfare roll . "A trend nationally is to have social service groups work more colla– boratively, and we're already doing that," says Gour. "This is really a support system– neighbor helping neighbor," says GEARS coach Peggy Schultz. "When you get hit by poverty, sometimes you feel as if you don't have much to offer others. But GEARS helps all people realize they have something to give." Susan Damewood, who was born and raised in Brentwood-Darlington, adds emphatically, "The people in the neighborhood know what need to be changed. Instead of people telling you to do this or that, this is about putting people together every day, making ome powerful, major changes." "We're not into 'fixing' people. The ( ocial ervice) agency-type approach often comes from the belief that 'You're broke and need to be fixed.' We instead look at people's strengths to see where they can help others," says Trisha Hunter-Howard, another GEARS coach. Already, says Gour, GEARS and the aspect of community group colla– boration is being viewed by other Portland neighborhoods as a model approach to filling the gaps that conventional social welfare programs fail to address. (Brian White is a staff writer in PSU's Office of Public Relations.) WINTER 1997 PSU MAGAZINE 19