Enis Ragland is looking at the impact of poverty in Madison
Tracking poverty
Tracking poverty
for people with money to live. If you have few skills and education and a low-paying job, it’s very difficult and stressful to live in this community.”
Working poor families may cycle in and out of the city because they aren’t able to find family-supporting jobs. “You can get housing — maybe not of the
same quality — with utilities included much cheaper in Milwaukee or Chicago than you can in Madison,” Ragland said. “And if you get an efficiency for $500,
you’re still usually paying utilities. I personally know people who have lived in Broadway-Simpson. There was this one woman who could not find a family-
supporting job that she needed to raise her kids as a single parent. She moved back to Chicago and got a job as a cook for the Chicago school district. She did it
for 10 years. Now she is thinking on moving back to Madison because her kids are grown and the calmer life style and better quality of life here is attractive to
her. But she needed to leave Madison to get a job to support her family.”
This recycling of working poor families can have a detrimental impact on low-income neighborhoods as individuals and families who form the solid fiber of
the neighborhood move away, leaving the neighborhood with a greater proportion of low-income families experiencing a complexity of social and economic
problems.
Indeed for the long-term growth and vitality of an urban area, a balance has to be struck between rich and poor because each needs the other in order for a
high quality of life like Madison’s to exist. “A healthy, viable, competitive city keeps the gap between the haves and the have nots as narrow as possible,” Ragland
said. “You don’t have that huge dichotomy between rich and poor. You’re going to have it, but you try to narrow it as much as possible. That’s why it’s important
to have neighborhood centers in low-income areas that provide after-school programs for kids and child care for low-income families and education and training
programs for people to improve their lot in life. If you get to the point where there is that huge gap between rich and poor, there is more demand for the safety
net programs and services for the poor and people with money tend to begin to move outside the city. You want to keep people with money, the middle class
and the upper middle class, in the city to help provide for and pay the taxes that are needed to help take care of the poor.”
And while the city of Madison has always had a progressive view of utilizing city services to assist the economically challenged, that is not why the poor
move to Madison. Just like their well-educated, professional counterparts from areas like Chicago, the poor move to Madison for economic opportunity, excellent
schools for their children and the high quality of life. “I’ve never heard anyone say that is why they moved here,” Ragland said about the city’s services. “I’ve never
heard anyone who works closely with low-income and poor people that they ever heard anyone say that. People move here for better quality housing, safer
community, better job opportunities, all the things that most Americans want. I’ve heard people say ‘Well, people are moving here because we are a welfare
magnet.’ But that’s not the case. People move here for the better quality of life.”
Ragland admits that there are poor people who may always be dependent on some level of city and county services such as some individuals with mental
health, alcohol and drug issues, some people with disabilities and some seniors. But there is also a large group of the poor who have the potential to be
contributing, self-supporting members of the community, but for a myriad of problems, find themselves stuck at the bottom.
“It’s important for the health of our city to focus on strategies that help people move forward and out of poverty, especially deep poverty and that would be
people below 50% of the poverty line,” Ragland said. “If we don’t, then we all pay for it. We pay for it down the road with higher costs for special programs in the
schools, higher criminal justice costs and higher social service costs. You can determine by age five whether or not a child will graduate from high school or not
based on the nurturing or the support they get during early childhood. And that’s a scary thought. And if the child isn’t likely to graduate from high school, we
know that more than half of the people in our prisons are people who dropped out of high school. So if we are thinking about the long-term health of our
community, thinking about the benefits to our people and to keep people from falling into the deep poverty, we need to make the investments up front.”
Ragland is proud of the way that the city in conjunction with its public and private partners deals with its low-income neighborhoods. The fact that it deals
with the myriad and interlocking problems is an accomplishment in itself. “One of the things I like about the city is that we don’t say ‘This neighborhood is going
to be our ghetto or drug-infested or violent,’” Ragland emphasized. “We invested in Vera Court and turned that neighborhood around. We invested in Wexford
Ridge. We’ve made a big investment in Allied Drive. Look at Broadway-Simpson. We’ve made the investments to raise the quality of life for people and not just
accept that this is the way it is always going to be like some cities have done in the past. ’There’s always going to be the ghetto and as long as we keep the issues
over there, it’s okay.’”
When looking at the current array of services that the city currently provides, Ragland gives the city pretty high marks. “I think the dollars that we do have are
being spent well,” Ragland said. “We invest in after school programs for low-income children who need a place to go. Seniors who are on fixed incomes are
probably another group that needs activities. That’s why we need the Warner Parks, the senior coalitions that work with the elderly and make sure they get the
services that they need. Also the child care programs are important. We make sure they attend programs that are accredited and providing quality child care and
nurturing the children whom they serve. We give grants to low-income families to help keep them working and help them over some of the barriers to having a
quality life here in Madison. CDBG has a five-year plan and goals for improving the housing stock and helping people economically. Those are all good things
that we are doing.”
Yet the overall array of city and county services can work at cross purposes, creating a glass ceiling that allows the poor to advance only so far before they
are kept in place, vulnerable to the next personal crisis like health care costs or missed pay check that will drag them back down into the depths of poverty. “I
knew a woman who was on a job for five years,” Ragland recalled. “She was about to get a promotion with a $1 per hour raise. She was going to not take the
promotion because the promotion would have increased her co-pay for her child care and affected her housing subsidy. And she couldn’t afford to do that.
Fortunately, we were able to help her out with the co-pay. When co-pays get over $20-$25 per week for families, it gets hard for them to afford that. We need
flexibility with the programs that are offered so people aren’t penalized and they can move out of poverty.”
Ragland retired from city service after devoting 17 years of his life to helping make the city a better place to live for all of Madison’s residents. If he would
have one recommendation for the city, it would be to create the capacity through an office or an individual who could constantly track the status and movement
of poverty in the city and to act as an ombudsman to ensure that the voices of the poor are being heard in city hall.
Although he is leaving city service, Ragland will not forget the needs of the poor in the Madison area. “These neighborhoods are my community and I want
to support events in my city and community and do what I can to make my corner of the world a better place,” Ragland said. Service is a lifetime commitment.
Working poor families may cycle in and out of the city because they aren’t able to find family-supporting jobs. “You can get housing — maybe not of the
same quality — with utilities included much cheaper in Milwaukee or Chicago than you can in Madison,” Ragland said. “And if you get an efficiency for $500,
you’re still usually paying utilities. I personally know people who have lived in Broadway-Simpson. There was this one woman who could not find a family-
supporting job that she needed to raise her kids as a single parent. She moved back to Chicago and got a job as a cook for the Chicago school district. She did it
for 10 years. Now she is thinking on moving back to Madison because her kids are grown and the calmer life style and better quality of life here is attractive to
her. But she needed to leave Madison to get a job to support her family.”
This recycling of working poor families can have a detrimental impact on low-income neighborhoods as individuals and families who form the solid fiber of
the neighborhood move away, leaving the neighborhood with a greater proportion of low-income families experiencing a complexity of social and economic
problems.
Indeed for the long-term growth and vitality of an urban area, a balance has to be struck between rich and poor because each needs the other in order for a
high quality of life like Madison’s to exist. “A healthy, viable, competitive city keeps the gap between the haves and the have nots as narrow as possible,” Ragland
said. “You don’t have that huge dichotomy between rich and poor. You’re going to have it, but you try to narrow it as much as possible. That’s why it’s important
to have neighborhood centers in low-income areas that provide after-school programs for kids and child care for low-income families and education and training
programs for people to improve their lot in life. If you get to the point where there is that huge gap between rich and poor, there is more demand for the safety
net programs and services for the poor and people with money tend to begin to move outside the city. You want to keep people with money, the middle class
and the upper middle class, in the city to help provide for and pay the taxes that are needed to help take care of the poor.”
And while the city of Madison has always had a progressive view of utilizing city services to assist the economically challenged, that is not why the poor
move to Madison. Just like their well-educated, professional counterparts from areas like Chicago, the poor move to Madison for economic opportunity, excellent
schools for their children and the high quality of life. “I’ve never heard anyone say that is why they moved here,” Ragland said about the city’s services. “I’ve never
heard anyone who works closely with low-income and poor people that they ever heard anyone say that. People move here for better quality housing, safer
community, better job opportunities, all the things that most Americans want. I’ve heard people say ‘Well, people are moving here because we are a welfare
magnet.’ But that’s not the case. People move here for the better quality of life.”
Ragland admits that there are poor people who may always be dependent on some level of city and county services such as some individuals with mental
health, alcohol and drug issues, some people with disabilities and some seniors. But there is also a large group of the poor who have the potential to be
contributing, self-supporting members of the community, but for a myriad of problems, find themselves stuck at the bottom.
“It’s important for the health of our city to focus on strategies that help people move forward and out of poverty, especially deep poverty and that would be
people below 50% of the poverty line,” Ragland said. “If we don’t, then we all pay for it. We pay for it down the road with higher costs for special programs in the
schools, higher criminal justice costs and higher social service costs. You can determine by age five whether or not a child will graduate from high school or not
based on the nurturing or the support they get during early childhood. And that’s a scary thought. And if the child isn’t likely to graduate from high school, we
know that more than half of the people in our prisons are people who dropped out of high school. So if we are thinking about the long-term health of our
community, thinking about the benefits to our people and to keep people from falling into the deep poverty, we need to make the investments up front.”
Ragland is proud of the way that the city in conjunction with its public and private partners deals with its low-income neighborhoods. The fact that it deals
with the myriad and interlocking problems is an accomplishment in itself. “One of the things I like about the city is that we don’t say ‘This neighborhood is going
to be our ghetto or drug-infested or violent,’” Ragland emphasized. “We invested in Vera Court and turned that neighborhood around. We invested in Wexford
Ridge. We’ve made a big investment in Allied Drive. Look at Broadway-Simpson. We’ve made the investments to raise the quality of life for people and not just
accept that this is the way it is always going to be like some cities have done in the past. ’There’s always going to be the ghetto and as long as we keep the issues
over there, it’s okay.’”
When looking at the current array of services that the city currently provides, Ragland gives the city pretty high marks. “I think the dollars that we do have are
being spent well,” Ragland said. “We invest in after school programs for low-income children who need a place to go. Seniors who are on fixed incomes are
probably another group that needs activities. That’s why we need the Warner Parks, the senior coalitions that work with the elderly and make sure they get the
services that they need. Also the child care programs are important. We make sure they attend programs that are accredited and providing quality child care and
nurturing the children whom they serve. We give grants to low-income families to help keep them working and help them over some of the barriers to having a
quality life here in Madison. CDBG has a five-year plan and goals for improving the housing stock and helping people economically. Those are all good things
that we are doing.”
Yet the overall array of city and county services can work at cross purposes, creating a glass ceiling that allows the poor to advance only so far before they
are kept in place, vulnerable to the next personal crisis like health care costs or missed pay check that will drag them back down into the depths of poverty. “I
knew a woman who was on a job for five years,” Ragland recalled. “She was about to get a promotion with a $1 per hour raise. She was going to not take the
promotion because the promotion would have increased her co-pay for her child care and affected her housing subsidy. And she couldn’t afford to do that.
Fortunately, we were able to help her out with the co-pay. When co-pays get over $20-$25 per week for families, it gets hard for them to afford that. We need
flexibility with the programs that are offered so people aren’t penalized and they can move out of poverty.”
Ragland retired from city service after devoting 17 years of his life to helping make the city a better place to live for all of Madison’s residents. If he would
have one recommendation for the city, it would be to create the capacity through an office or an individual who could constantly track the status and movement
of poverty in the city and to act as an ombudsman to ensure that the voices of the poor are being heard in city hall.
Although he is leaving city service, Ragland will not forget the needs of the poor in the Madison area. “These neighborhoods are my community and I want
to support events in my city and community and do what I can to make my corner of the world a better place,” Ragland said. Service is a lifetime commitment.
By Jonathan Gramling
Part 2 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.
Often times, there isn’t a lot of space between the working poor and those who are trapped within the vicious cycle of
poverty. Living in a college town dominated by state government has its advantages because Madison traditionally has the
lowest unemployment rate in the state. But it also has its disadvantages.
“A number of people can’t find family-supporting jobs,” emphasized former mayoral assistant Enis Ragland who left city
service on March 31. “Not only is this a highly-educated community, people are also competing with 40,000 college students for
entry-level jobs or the jobs that in other cities, low-income people with few skills could get. And Madison is an expensive place
Part 2 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.
Often times, there isn’t a lot of space between the working poor and those who are trapped within the vicious cycle of
poverty. Living in a college town dominated by state government has its advantages because Madison traditionally has the
lowest unemployment rate in the state. But it also has its disadvantages.
“A number of people can’t find family-supporting jobs,” emphasized former mayoral assistant Enis Ragland who left city
service on March 31. “Not only is this a highly-educated community, people are also competing with 40,000 college students for
entry-level jobs or the jobs that in other cities, low-income people with few skills could get. And Madison is an expensive place
Former mayoral assistant
Enis Ragland retired from
city service on March 31,
2009.
Enis Ragland retired from
city service on March 31,
2009.