Enis Ragland is looking at the impact of poverty in Madison
Tracking poverty

Part 1 of 2
      Driving around the city of Madison, one could almost come to the conclusion that poverty does not exist in the city. There
are no blocks of boarded up windows or burned out remnants of apartment buildings. Yet, the poverty is there and becomes very
visible from time to time as some neighborhoods such as Vera Court and Allied Drive have become concentrated areas of
poverty followed by problems with drugs and violence.
      It is the time when poverty is invisible to policy makers and the general electorate that problems associated with poverty
fester and grow. And without assistance from the government, many can become trapped in poverty for generations to come.
Pockets of poverty are always festering in the city and as the economy worsens, there is a danger that poverty could grow and
the pockets of poverty expand as jobs become unavailable.
      Enis Ragland, an assistant to Mayor Dave Cieslewicz, has had a lot of experience with economically challenged
neighborhoods. He has served under three mayors and often times, he was the mayor’s liaison to many of Madison’s poverty hot
spots. Whereas some people might look upon poor people has defective people who are totally responsible for the situation they
find themselves in, Ragland looks upon them as potentially self-sufficient, participating members of the community.
      “We tend to — in this community and across the country — blame the poor people for being poor,” Ragland said during an
interview with The Capital City Hues. “‘You made bad decisions. It’s your fault that you are where you are.’ But when you look at
it, the vast majority of us had help to get where we are. That support came through family or mentors or entitlements like the GI
Bill. We all had some type of assistance. And in many cases, poor people didn’t have that. They didn’t have family to turn to for
support. Or they didn’t have the opportunity to get a good education or training to get that family-supporting job.”
      “I’m putting together all of the things we currently do that impact poverty in a positive way,” Ragland said. “I’m interviewing
or talking with a lot of folks. I’ve extended an invitation to every city council member and I’ve already talked to more than half of
them in order to get their impression of poverty in the city of Madison and what they are seeing in their districts and maybe on
their jobs or in their personal lives. I’m meeting with city staff including the Office of Community Services, CDBG, the police,
health, and housing to get their perspective on what they are seeing in the city from the standpoint of how poverty is affecting
the residents of Madison. And I will be going externally meeting with the homeless shelter folks, United Way, Madison-area Urban
Ministry, Urban League, NAACP and any organizations that are out there that work with low-income people or people in poverty
to hear what they are seeing and the negative impact of poverty in the city.”
      So far, Ragland has been hearing the same refrain for many of the people he has spoken with. “Poverty is such a complex
issue,” Ragland emphasized. “There are a lot of things that impact people, from transportation to affordable housing, affordable,
quality child care, access to health care, employment and training and learning opportunities, mental health and alcohol and
drug abuse programs all have an impact on people. Isolation is a big part of keeping people in poverty. We should have
programs to make sure people have access to mainstream programs that you and I have access to so they can move forward
economically and as residents, contribute more to society and move themselves out of poverty into more stable situations.”
Ragland noted that poverty will always be with us. Yet the notion of poverty is very dynamic with people and families moving in
and out of poverty depending on the circumstances they encounter. It is important that people don’t get stuck in poverty once
hey land there.
      “We need to think about poverty in the same way that we think about dealing with homelessness,” Ragland emphasized. “We
move people into emergency shelters. Then we move them into transitional housing and then hopefully into permanent housing
so that more people can use the emergency shelter system. In my mind, I think of poverty in terms of how do we get people the
benefits and resources they need initially and then move them into that next step so they are moving toward self-sufficiency.
      They are relying less on the safety net programs. That means we need programs to help people build assets. The only way
you are going to stay out of poverty is if you are going to build assets. That’s the difference between poor people and people
facing a loss of a job because of the economy. Most of the middle class people have resources they can turn to. They have
either family, they can cash in their 401(k) or sometimes they will get severance pay. Or they get payouts from their employer
that helps them through the tough period.
      Poor people don’t have that. They don’t have the family with resources to help tide them over. They don’t have the 401(k) or
savings. And when they do start moving forward out of poverty, one crisis such as a medical bill or a huge car repair bill, could
put them back into poverty. People live from pay check to pay check. We want programs that help them move beyond that. It’s
important that the city have a role in that. ”
Next issue: Dealing with poverty