Homeless & Poverty In Racine: Part 2

My last blog addressed how high the homeless issue is, and how some of the things seemed backward, and how some programs are able to find people shelter, which is good, but, preventing homelessness isn’t something that is being pursued enough, if you ask me.

Here is a recap:

HALO, which is the permanent homeless shelter, needs to be choosy on who they take into the shelter. Those with substance issues, severe enough health problems, and sex offenders cannot be accepted, except for an emergency stunt for 72 hours, and they must live in the dining room overnight, on a thin mat with a sheet and a blanket. Some people end up there up to a month, and people who are in the dining room must be out at 7am, and those in rooms must be out at 9am. These people are not allowed back until 2pm, and are supposed to look for jobs during this time. They say that they serve lunch, but they don’t. The in-house programming leave a lot to be desired, and usually is a lecture about common sense, and not much more. HALO pressured their residents to give up their foodshare cards, but, 95-99% of the food they get fed come from donations, with the most common breakfast being 4 day old bakery items. I’ve heard this from SEVERAL people, not just one or two.

HOST is the temporary overnight shelter that takes in those who do not qualify for HALO. They were open from November 1, to March 31, and the hours of operation are from 7pm - 7am the next morning. A van is available to transport them out at 7am. They help with providing some items to do laundry, shower, etc. but, I do not know what kind of facilities are available, nor what kind of meals are given, because they did not get back to me on what these services include and how they are delivered.

The Hospitality Center is an awesome thing. You don’t have to be homeless to take part in their program. Those who just need socialization can come, too. They are open Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays from 7:30am-1pm, and have a clothing bank on Thursday mornings from 10-noon. A mid day meal is served all 4 days, and on Monday and Thursday evenings, a community meal is also offered. This is the largest meal program in the county, maybe even the state. They also offer laundry services, also. It’s an awesome place. But, what do people do on Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays? The library isn’t open on Sundays. Plus, it’s a long time from 1pm to 7pm on those cold and frigid evenings in winter.

The Vine Ministries offers job programs for those with various issues. RVM offers job programs for those with records, including felonies, among other services as well. The HOPES Center has counseling and other programs for those who want to get their high school education and other services such as getting the government phones and more. The Workforce Solution Center has mini-courses and in-services on a broad range of courses, and also has programs for higher education programs to look into. Workforce Development also has some networking programs, also. ResCare also is a jobs program, that offers different programs that can go with but may be different from the other work programs. This program is out at the RKCAA.  

There are funds available for things like the Rapid ReHousing, where those with chronic homeless issues can get into a motel or apartment. But, these usually goes to the people who don’t qualify for HALO, and if I understand correctly, they can be on this program for up to 2 years, where they can get help paying rent and utility bills. But, this is in hopes that they will be employed by the end of 2 years. Mind you, these people are the ones who have substance abuse issues or recent criminal records that make them ineligible for HALO.

Now, here are some more links to show how much of a problem this is. Wisconsin is sitting low for job creation. Even if people are employed, many are either underemployed or are at low paying jobs that can’t make the bills. So many do not get employer health coverage.

Here are some statistics from the Department of Labor. It shows where the stats are coming from, with various locations reporting their numbers. While the percentages may look good, they aren’t telling the whole story. If you dig around here, you will find that there are more potential employees than there are jobs available. And, for those who say that we have so many “new jobs” that have been created, this is the Economic Innovation Group which takes a close look at how there have been more jobs that have been closed out, than the new ones that were made, still, for a net loss of the number of jobs. There are people who are still underemployed or underpaid and this doesn’t reflect those numbers.

Here are my suggestions, as much as what they may be worth, and I’m not saying that I’m an expert, but, I do have tons of experience going through so many of these programs to try to better my situation. Some helped more than others, so, I’m going to share my observations.

1) HALO, the homeless shelter is a HUGE space. I highly doubt the space is being fully utilized. The upper levels, which could get self contained by floor, could be used by these other groups of people. So, say the 1st floor is made up of common areas, and the 2nd as the main living areas. The 3rd floor could be for those who have AODA issues. The 4th floor, or the other half of the 3rd, could be for those with recent criminal records and sex offenders who don’t belong being mixed with the rest of the population. This would ensure that all homeless people would be serviced, and those not on the general population would be in self contained floors, so that they would have to be allowed out by staff. This would not only make it less expensive to get all people into a shelter, because the same building is being purposed for a broader spectrum, and would also create more permanent and secure jobs, especially for those going into Social Work. This way, Segue/HOST can still do their ministry for those who have substance abuse, in the convenience of a building that has the means to support that mission. And, we wouldn’t have those who have various issues out loose during the warmer months, when crimes are likely to rise, because they are inside the building and have a structured schedule, and not mingling with everybody else. This would reduce the amount of energy needed, also. I just think that smarter work habits are better for the people.

2) This could be another outlet for job training, so that Social Workers going through Gateway could have an in-house clinical to go through, to create an environment where on the job training would be a part of the program for all those involved. This would be better for not just the regular staff who are there to work, but, for the students and those going through addictions, too. It would be a win-win situation all the way around. Some of this plan could utilize taking people down to the Hospitality Center, Library, etc.

3) Speaking of work experience, one theme seemed to come up with every single one of my experiences, whether we are talking about ResCare, RVM, Workforce Development, or the Dress for Success program, that networking is the key to finding that job. The numbers vary a little bit, but paint the same picture. Only 10-25% of all available jobs are listed online. The rest, is through word of mouth, on who knows who. So, while you only have a 10-25% chance of finding a job searching online, this also means that you have 75-90% chance of finding a job through networking. So, HALO could use the main level, in the dining room, to host a weekly networking session there. Temp agencies, job developers, farmers, and other places that always are looking for people could be coming in, to offer their services and/or hiring events there at HALO, around the meal preps.

4) Many of the people do not know how to cook, especially with the limited supply of food that is available to the residents of HALO. Which, gives the idea of not only hosting the food service students from Gateway to actually come in, to offer some tips and hints on how to cook, or maybe get some experience in food service before they go out into the real world. Another idea? How about a Chopped or Iron Chef contests, courtesy of people around Racine, or a new cooking concept of “Pauper’s Kitchen”? I’m sure the residents wouldn’t mind being judges on who did the better job. It could be a community project, to better help those in need. With the sense of community, maybe those with substance abuse as well as those with criminal backgrounds could feel more in tune to not go back to old ways.

5) Because of the fact that those who are not fresh out from incarceration, and those with AODA issues are in need of detox, therapy, group, or other type of treatment, rather than putting these people up into apartments just to fall back into their old habits would need a longer stay at a permanent shelter, therefore, better able to do extended treatment, the rapid rehousing project would be better used for those who are homeless w/o other issues, who are much closer to be able to be employable than doing it the opposite way of putting up alcoholics who aren’t done with their recovery journey in, which is backwards to put them up, first. This would be a much more efficient way, w/o wasting money on those who are not ready for a real life yet.

6) With these in place, get one of those huge mansions that are up for sale as a permanent site, and use it as a halfway house for those who may be too independent for HALO, but not ready to be on their own yet, to ease into the daily grind by being in a home setting with stable staff available to coach them into what is the proper way to run a household. Again, win all the way, because higher jobs are being created for those who work at these shelters, as opposed to minimum wage jobs that could go to those who are exiting the homeless situation.

That is MY assessment, and take it for what it’s worth, it makes logical sense to me, and practical, as opposed to running around like chickens with their heads cut off just to spin tires into the ground. This would be a better program set up that would create permanent jobs that will move into the future, in hopes that this will prevent more homelessness because the need for maintenance, administrative, social work, living skills, etc positions would be created to help alleviate the situation of replacing homeless people with those becoming homeless due to lack of jobs. With these in place, we can keep creating jobs, to give more to prevent homelessness. With these people in a permanent situation, the focus can be on real job creation and homeless prevention, rather than to start helping at the bottom w/o the safety net of those on the margin to just become homeless and keep repeating the cycle.

*For those of you who are listening, I am in need of a permanent job as an administrative assistant, secretary, office worker, etc. My skills include professional writing, multicultural communication, office equipment, Microsoft office, filing, and I am currently in an internship at the Racine County Courthouse, in the Victim-Witness Office, an extension of the District Attorney’s Office. I enjoy my work there. I’d prefer full time, but, part time is good too, if it has the potential to move into full time. Thank you in advance!*

#LikasLawForWisconsin - #YouthVoiceInitiative

 

Here is my cross-posted Homeless Part 1 blogs:

 

Blogger: http://likaslaments.blogspot.com/2017/03/homelessness-in-racine-serious-problem.html

 

Wordpress: https://likamarie.wordpress.com/2017/03/02/homelessness-in-racine-a-serious-problem/

 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/notes/lika...

 

Homelessness in Racine: A Serious Problem

As we all know, seriously, the economy around here in Racine, and around Wisconsin, is pretty piss poor around here. There are probably 300 people who are unemployed for every job that is available. When adding the underemployed to this mix, with jobs that either pay more or have more hours, it’s probably more like 450 people per available job. This is not a statistic to be proud of.

 

 

I really don’t care what numbers that our elected officials are bragging about. All of these stats about all of these jobs being made here in Wisconsin don’t seem to be helping anybody I know. Very few, if any, are in a better situation now than what they were 2-3 years ago. My family is actually in a worse situation, and that is even considering that I’ve applied to 3500 jobs in the last 3 years, and, out of the 6 I was interviewed for, only 2 hired me, and both ended up being short term or temporary. This is a very piss poor situation.

 

http://fox6now.com/2015/03/24/homel...

 

 

While sure, there are a lot of things going on, that look good on paper or in theory, and makes people feel warm and fuzzy, but, I tell you, it is NOT a bed of rose petals. It’s more like a bed of rose bush thorns. Seriously. While some of this may be better than nothing, it doesn’t mean anything when human dignity is meaningless in these situations. These programs still leave a bad taste in my mouth, and leaves way too much to be desired. Please read through to understand what I’m saying, before commenting, because even though I’m not the one who is becoming homeless right now, I’ve learned a lot, as well as the fact that our housemate is the one getting into this situation, right now.

 

 

As an advocate and a resource for those who don’t have higher connections, I get asked a lot of questions, and I’ve had to make tons of calls, to the point that I had to delegate some of those calls to Mike, so we could tag team on gathering information. Thing is, it’s a long and frustrating process to get the help that is truly needed.

 

 

So, 1st step: Homeless Assistance Leadership Organization (HALO) - the homeless shelter here in Racine, WI. There is a men’s side, and a women & children side. Here are the qualifications:

• No alcohol or drug issues, with a 0 tolerance for substance usage. No exceptions.
• No sex offenders allowed, period. They do not distinguish between Romeo & Juliet vs. the classic pedophile.
• No disability or other special needs that requires too much attention. So, if you have Cerebral Palsy or something that you need help getting dressed, you don’t get an aid to come help you.
• New (and returning) people must sleep on the floor in the dining room for anywhere between a few days up to a week, maybe more.
• If you are a dining room resident, you are required to be out of the shelter from 7am to 7pm, regardless of how long your stay in the dining room is. It also means it doesn’t matter of the rooms, which can accommodate 7-10 beds, is less than half full, you still start your stay on a thin rubber mat on the hard floor in the dining room.
• Other residents in the rooms are required to be out from 9am to 2pm. No exceptions, period!
• You are not allowed to bring your own pillows, bedding, or food into the shelter. These items risk being confiscated temporarily or permanently, and could potentially get one kicked out of the shelter.
• You bust be in by 4:30pm if you want dinner at 5. If you’re lucky enough to get dinner out at a friend’s, then, back by 8pm to keep your bed overnight (or something ridiculously early like that.
• Children are NOT allowed on the men’s side, so, a single dad with his son(s) must stay on the women’s side, and while the child(ren) are allowed to communicate with others, the father must not engage with any of the residents on the women’s side, at all. If a family, which consists of a husband, wife and child(ren), the husband must go to the men’s side, and the wife must take the minor children to the women’s side, thus breaking up a family.
• The men and women are not allowed to communicate back and forth while on the opposite sides, even if they are married. So, while on one hand, they say that sex offenders are not allowed, yet possibly assume that only men are sex offenders? I’m not sure, the family thing makes no sense.

 

Mind you, they DO NOT provide lunch. Only breakfast, dinner, and maybe a bedtime snack, which is pending what is available. If you work 3rd shift, guess what? It doesn’t matter. You’re still required to leave the shelter for the day time hours as outlined in the rules. There is also no van to take anyone to the various places such as the Hospitality Center or where ever else that could be a good resource for people.

 

 

Homeless Overnight Sanctuary (HOST), is a seasonal overnight warming shelter that runs from November 1st through March 31st, and opens its doors at 7pm, and the participants need to be out at 7am. The purpose is, no one is turned away, so those who don’t qualify for HALO can come and get a place to sleep here, but, here again, no sex offenders and those with special accommodations may not get the help they need to get dressed/undressed. But, good news for those with substance abuse issues, this shelter will take them in, and there is a van to take people in at 7am to get to other places, though, it is not an all day service. It only picks you up in the morning to take you to a certain check point, and maybe will pick people up in the evening to get into the shelter.

 

 

Workforce Solutions Center/Workforce Development Center - they have their crash courses going on all of the time, so, you can get their services and a certificates for various things like interviewing, job search, etc. But, the courses are offered on certain days at certain times, and the open resume workshop is not always available. Also, the computers for public use to find jobs have a 2 hour time limit.

 

 

The library is another place that people can go, but, other patrons of the library sometimes complain, and, the computers there, also have time limits, so, if people want to spend full time looking for jobs, they are shit-out-of-luck. Most businesses you go to, will tell you to fill out an application online, and, they don’t all have a computer for public use to apply for their jobs. It is not exactly an easy thing to accomplish in this case.

 

 

There are programs such as Department of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR), Racine Vocational Ministries (RVM), F-Set, and the Vine Ministries which help people find employment, and they can all have lengthy processes. While these services are great, you’re not always a good fit for everyone, especially if you have transportation issues. Yes, there is the public bus system, but, if you have no money, you can’t get on the bus. That is the way it works.

 

 

Even with the rental assistance places, there are issues, there, too. So, while you may get help on an emergency basis, through agencies such as Legal Action, Salvation Army, St. Vincent DePaul, Section 8 Housing vouchers, Racine Housing Authority, and Racine/Kenosha Community Action Agency (RKCAA), not only do you need an official eviction notice or other official thing stating your current state of homelessness, you also have to have the means that once they give you your 1 month rent, that you will be able to pay your rent on your own, and it’s a once a year thing that you can do this. So, with no employment, these services do not do you any good, what so ever.

 

 

The HOPES Center works with many of the agencies listed above, and has the Rapid Rehousing program, which helps those in dire need with rent and utilities for up to 2 years, but, you have to meet certain criteria.

• One must be homeless. Not just evicted, outright homeless.
• One must be rejected by HALO. So, now, your shelter is under a park bench, and your worldly possessions fit into a backpack, and not much more, because if you can afford a storage unit, you probably can afford rent (their logic, not mine).
• One must also be homeless for a period of time, I forget how long, before one gets this help. They have counseling for those who need it.

 

So, why does this stink? An alcoholic with no source of income is able to get the rapid rehousing into an apartment, without knowing if they will permanently get sober, or a drug user who has various disabilities with no guarantee to get social security can get their housing and electric paid for up to 2 years, but, a guy who is just trying to find a job to help pay toward rent can’t really get any of these things.

 

 

Why am I mad and upset? Our housemate has to leave our house. Sure, he sometimes gets under my skin. He also annoys me often. There have been times that I just wanted to choke him. Because of our financial situation, I really can’t afford to support my own family, much less other people. But. He is not a bad guy. He and Chad seemed to connect and my cats have gotten attached to him. He’s been a part of our household for almost 2 years. He likes the same food we do. Foodies, food science experiments, action movies, cats... It was something like February or March of 2015 when he first came to us, where his mother went elsewhere to live, which made him homeless to start. We helped him get into HALO then. During the week, when he had to be out, he would come over during the day to use his computer and found a perfect job for a single guy as a delivery van driver, over the road. That was in about September of 2015 when he got hired. When he got his driving job, he was pushed out of HALO since his work schedule would make it so he was not there enough to hold his bed, so, we took him in. Middle of March 2016, he was downsized, and like so many others here in Racine, he’d had a difficult time finding other employment. So, now, to have to bring him back to HALO again, damn it. I’m so mad, angry and upset, I’m about ready to cry.

 

 

For myself, personally, life has been difficult since the get go. I don’t know anything else, except for doing my damnedest to get past hurdles. That has been the story of my life. What ever things that are social issues that ought to be fixed, I have probably experienced it. This, is what makes me an advocate who can stand and fight for other people. If I ended up anything, even while still impoverished, I am a strong woman who is a true problem solver by thinking unconventionally. Remember the 90’s buzz about thinking out of the box? Well. I had 25 years experience being outside of the box. As an advocate, I am one of the stronger ones who exist, and sure, while I deserve to get paid, how do you charge someone who has less than me? I cannot do it. It would be wrong to take advantage of someone’s misfortune. The fact that I can’t do anything to change it, is what gets to me.

 

 

So many things... I started my internship, which I seriously am liking. I’m also trying to find permanent work that can support my family. Then there is my cause, Youth Voice Initiative (YVI), to fight for abused children to be better protected in court. YVI is also starting very important new campaigns. I’m also helping with other very important groups. My son is at a point in his education to think about college, and where he might want to go. But, to have this homeless thing in my face, knowing that it’s not just my housemate, but there are other friends of mine, as well as my own family who are just one paycheck away from being in the same fate, and struggling to find a job. I’m also looking into trying to turn hobbies into something that pays. But, this is me. Because of my health, I cannot work factories, stocking positions, standing in one place for hours on end, or other physically demanding jobs. It’s office work, or else.

 

 

It just looks and seems as if there is nothing... Nothing for those of us who are busting butt to find employment to prevent us from becoming homeless, and puts even more obstacles in front of people to get anything worthy. I’ve gone to different events to push for the help needed, wrote to various places whether it’s my legislators or some agency... What do I have? More talks. More public input. But where are these jobs? We. Need. Jobs. Not just any jobs. Family. Supporting. Jobs. Employ people, and the abuse issues will slow down. But, to give those who have addiction issues more help than those of us who have real potential to get out there just seems as if we are punished for being honest. Is anybody out there? Does anybody care? What’s being done about this? Anything? Nothing? Why do good people have to get all of this bullshit?

February 2017 Meeting Minutes:

YVI February 2017

Call to Order: 3:10pm

Present: Karen, Barb, Jonathan, Shawn, Mike, Lika

Old Business:

1) Tabled for further discussion at a later time:

Intervention & Prevention of children not in school dying or seriously compromised in health - DSH is not always efficient, and is too small to come up with a uniform plan to take proper action.

2) Study for the purpose of making educational curriculum

A) Trauma Informed Care – in process for use within prison system

B) Childhood abuse trauma causing brain disorder

Both are available to be studied, though the Trauma Informed Care may take someone going to prison system to see if we can get a hold of what they have, to modify it for the court system to be able to teach the attorneys and judges to learn about how childhood trauma is what brought them into the court system, as opposed to being a common or cold criminal.

The childhood trauma causing brain disorders has several resources online to study, and to bring to therapists, school counselors, shelters, etc. for better education on how to deal with these issues.

If we have people in DHS, DFC, teachers, etc. please get a hold of me, so we can set up a meeting to ensure that we have a wide enough group to be able to study and make the educational curriculum. Barb has offered to volunteer to be the editor of this curriculum, when it is up for availability.

3) Petition (state level) to ensure stiffer punishments and in-house therapy for 1st time offenders to have to take AND to be deemed low risk by the group leader before being released back into the community. Special accommodations include victims of female perpetrators.

Please see the current wording in a separate document, and give your ideas to better wording to make it worthy of making into a petition, ASAP.

New Business:

1) International Women’s Day will not be a YVI event.

Adjournment: 4:25pm

Issue 1: Need Volunteers for Study:

Trauma Informed Care – A packet for therapists, counselors, & general public:

Studies show that childhood trauma leads to brain anomalies, where proper development is hindered, altered, etc. and how therapists and group leaders can assess if a person has had abuse issues. It is used in prisons, to determine the root of prisoner behaviors.

Trauma informed care is grounded in and directed by a thorough understanding of the neurological, biological, psychological, and social effects of trauma and the prevalence of these experiences in persons who seek and receive mental health services.

Here is an article from a psychologist about how trauma affects behavior, trust issues, and how human relationships are also negatively affected into adulthood, so, the thing of being told, “You’re an adult, now”, is of absolutely no use, what so ever. It can take years to overcome a single trauma, depending on how bad the PTSD sets in.

We need to assign people to a group, to look more into this, to come up with an education packet to give to the legal system before incarceration, as we can learn from the Menendez brothers who killed their father for beating their mother, and threatening to kill her. They were tried as cold hearted killers, when it was trauma from domestic violence. Since the prison system already is putting this into place, and the lawyers, especially DA’s and Public Defenders, judges, and civilian therapy places that need to learn this process. 

If anyone knows any teachers who can help develop this, it would be great, but, we can put this together by brainstorming, but, everyone needs to be willing to do their part to learn about how this relates and how it will affect people. This needs attention.

Petition Needs Edits:

We, the undersigned citizens of Wisconsin, understands that sexual abuse by a teacher is damaging, and is just as if not more damaging to teenage boys, since the maturity and understanding of this type of relationship has negative consequences since it is assumed that all boys want sex from teachers. There are also few supports in place for the male children to get support, therapy, and long term help to get through the situation.

Even at that, those who perpetrate female children already do not get stiff enough sentencing, as described by those of us who work with sexual assault survivors, where a man was charged with a sexual assault on a child back in 2005, and in 2013, sexually assaulted his 4 year old son. He served 1.5 years, went to live with a friend in 2015, and sexually assaulted his friend’s 5 and 6 year old children. These children were threatened, forced to use sex toys on themselves and each other, then forced perform sex acts with him and with each other He was set to serve a life sentence, and only served 2 years, and his most recent victim is a 16 year old girl, who he strangled her during the rape, and is looking at 9 counts of felony charges. Although he was ordered to stay away from all minor children, since he took both male and female victims, he violated this grossly.

This is why we demand that upon the first arrest for sexual assaults on children must go through a 2-3 year in house therapy action for sex offenders to be let out into the public, upon being deemed low risk (not safe) by those in charge of the programs. If they do not complete this program in house, there is a great probability that they will not do it on their own, just to assault more child victims. This is NOT acceptable!

Chinese New Year - International Style

So, today is the Chinese New Year, I didn't have the crisis line, so, here is what I made to celebrate, international style, and vegetarian friendly. Of course, again, I do not have a kitchen, I have a science lab that brings out good things to eat.  It's all about celebration here, in Racine, WI.

1st (appetizer?) course: Lettuce salad with celery, dried cranberries, raisins, and walnuts, with an Asian sesame dressing.

 

 

 

2nd (main) course: Baked 4 cheese ravioli with diced tomatoes seasoned with mild red pepper, minced green bell pepper, garlic, salt, pepper, parsley and fresh basil; topped with Malicki brand mozzarella cheese. It was delicious.

 

 

 

3rd (dessert) course: Anasazi beans, from Adobe Milling, which I cooked low and slow until a soup type consistency with sugar, and mochi added to give it a meaty type texture. In Japan, it would be made from dry red beans, but, I figured if this one is good for the ancient Native Americans, it's good for me, too.

 

 

 

We have enough to have lunch for all of us tomorrow, so, that makes me happy. I love my home made inventions...  And to think we eat from around the world, on a regular basis at my house.

Restaurant Inspired; Homemade Goodness

I ended up with a little over 9 pounds of fresh oranges. And, I went to the Asian store, Ahn Chau’s in Milwaukee. So, even though I’m looking at more Japanese foods, I ended up thinking about Chinese food on the way home from the store.

 

I start with all fresh ingredients, or, at least as much as I can. Everyone seems to love Beef with Broccoli, but I like the spicier Orange Beef, so, I kind of merged them. I’ll call it Orange Beef with Broccoli, inspired from the traditional Chinese restaurant dishes, but healthier in my home made dish.

 

 

Plated Orange Beef w/ Broccoli

 

 

2# beef roast. I cut it into 1” cubes, coat each piece in flour

1 large onion, cubed in 1/2’ squares

2 pounds of cut broccoli (fresh or frozen)

In a large wok, heat 3 TBS peanut oil, 1 tsp sesame oil

Put the floured beef into the wok, and let brown. When all sides are fairly brown, add the onion and broccoli, and let beef get nice and caramelized.

 

 

Nice dark brown, caramelized meat, with the nutty smell of the flour getting cooked.

Grate the zest of 1 orange, cut in half, and hand juice the orange in a bowl, and set aside.

The finer grate allows for easier eating, with a stronger orange flavor in the dish.

In a small mixing bowl, mix 1/3-1/2 cup of soy sauce, 2-3 TBS Sriracha sauce, 1-2 TBS raw honey, blend together, black pepper to taste, and thicken with 4 TBS cornstarch.

When the meat is nice and dark, add the orange zest & juice, then gradually pour the sauce all over, while stirring for even coating over the whole pan. Sprinkle black sesame seeds as a finisher, quickly stir, cut the heat, and sauce will thicken as it sets. Serve with steamed rice. Enjoy.

Final product, before you put it over a bed of freshly steaming rice.

Food & Life: What to Eat, What to Cut

I’d been thinking a lot about various things, and how a common theme with just about every culture, in every country, life revolves around food. Whether it’s celebrating a wedding, birthday, graduation, birth, holiday, or how about ‘just because’, and even mourning a loss, we use food to bring people together. And, lets face it... We all have our favorite “go to” food, that we look for at any gathering, and it differs depending on the cultural foods we’ve all grown up on. It’s fun to go to these, because we all have our special foods, and we like to try other people’s. Even if we bring what we love, we also like to have other cultural foods.

 

 

With rising obesity and Type 2 diabetes on the rise, so many of us are trying to be better about eating healthier, and, sometimes, we fall short, and could use the help of a Registered Dietician or a Nutritionist. I remember so many times, that, these people are so happy to give out good tips of what is better than others, but, my problem? It revolves too much around your standard Middle America type foods. Even when you go to these offices, it seems as if 99% of the people are Caucasian, middle class, and very plain in what they offer... From my own experiences, even the ones that are Hispanic or African American, they are usually the receptionist, not the nutritionist. Not much help.

So, this prompted me to write to these places, and I’ll be sending these letters off when the weather is good enough to make that trip, or, when I’m going out on errands, anyway. Here are the places I’m writing to:

 

This is an agency where dieticians and nutritionists go to become members of their profession, or might be registered through this place. So, sending here is targeting the very people who are taught how to educate us, as the general public about health and nutrition:

National Agricultural Library; Food and Nutrition Information Center; 10301 Baltimore Avenue; Beltsville, MD 20705-2351.

 

 

The other agency I wrote to is the USDA, with their FNS office, since these are the people in charge of the farming practices and whatnot, in hopes that they will help coordinate the types of foods that are pushed for healthy eating.

United States Department of Agriculture; Food and Nutrition National Office; 3101 Park Center Drive; Alexandra, VA 22302

 

 

Here is my letter, and if you want to send one, just correct the spacing issues to make sure that it flows better. I really think that these agencies need to remember that we come from so many different cultures, that they need to incorporate ethnic foods. Those of you who know me know that I’m just as passionate about serving tasty food that is also good for your health, as I am about child advocacy. I hope that this helps, because aside from making my cause successful, I’d love to work with these people. In the mean time, please write them and let them know that you want them to incorporate healthier and authentic versions of ethnic foods, so we can enjoy our tacos, sesame chicken, and more, not just poached fish & chicken with mild flavorings. You may want to add soul food and Cajun food to your list of must haves, too, since those are popular foods, too, along with southern recipes.

 

January 9, 2017

My Full Name

My Full Address

My City, State Zip

My Phone Number

Agency Name

Specific Office

Full Sending Address

City, State Zip

Dear Food Information Manager;

I am writing in regard to my experiences and concerns with the various people I have seen over the course of years, regarding the advice and teaching that I have received from various Registered Dieticians and Nutritionists.  I’ve had several, not only for myself but for my son as well as accompanying others to their appointments as well.

With the growing concern with childhood obesity, the consumptions of highly processed “easy” food, and the lack of physical activity, it is good to push programs that help people find ways to eat healthier, to consume foods that are nutritious and delicious.  Nutrition rich food that tastes good starts with fresh ingredients.  I think we can all agree on that.  My son and I both have a chromosome animally called 16p11.2 micro deletion, which increases our appetites higher than the normal person, while slowing down our metabolism lower than the average “couch potato”.  This makes it very difficult to keep up with the average expectations of those who are actively losing weight under the supervision of our doctors, in conjunction with staff who guide us in our weight loss journey by helping to teach people how to make better decisions with their food choices, for better health in the long run.

While I find these to be helpful, here is my problem.  Every single nutritionist and dietician that I’ve been to, has been the typical Caucasian person, most likely from a middle America background, whose expertise is in the usual, run of the mill white picket house meals.  While this may be good for those who eat this way, it does not help those of us who come from a multicultural background.  The part that is a bit disturbing to me is that statistics show that the African American and Latino communities seem to have the most severe cases of obesity and the related consequences of their weight such as various cardio-vascular and respiratory issues.  Add in the Asian population from S.E. Asia, and all three cultural groups are at high risk of type 2 diabetes, many who come here as 1^st generation immigrants, may be unfamiliar to American foods, and because they are poor, may not be able to afford certain types of food.  This also affects the following generations, if they are also unable to learn “American cooking”.  So, in a nutshell, we are asking them to give up all of their home foods, which are also comfort foods, which rarely produce positive results.

We can see in various statistics, that, minorities, especially those who are the poorest and meekest, are usually the ones with the highest failure rates of being able to eat a healthier diet.  When we look at what the restaurants serve, it is true, that the meals can be carb/sugar heavy.  This is typically not the way these foods are home cooked.  I found this especially true with not only my own heritage of Japanese cooking, where what we see in Japanese restaurants is rarely what is consumed daily in people’s own homes, but, Chinese foods as well, as I’ve experienced at a friend’s, whose family came here to the U.S. back in 1983.  What you see at “traditional restaurants” in these Asian style meals is not the traditional meal at home, yet, this is what I hear dieticians and nutritionists caution against, with eating many different types of ethnic foods.  Comparing any ethnic meal, whether it’s Japanese, Chinese, Mexican, or other, is like saying that Perkin’s or Denny’s is the same as what is eaten in every middle class, Caucasian homes.  We know this is not true, when we consider foods such as homemade chicken noodle soup vs. what you get at these restaurants, and the fact that Denny’s adds bacon to about 60% of their foods.  It’s this same logic that applies to ethnic foods, as well.

Here is another frustration in dealing with dieticians and nutritionists; while they are happy to let you know how to cook healthier, they are absolutely clueless as to how to adapt authentic ethnic foods to make them a better healthy choice.  One told me to “just add a tablespoon of salsa”, when I asked how I could make Spanish rice be healthier.  When I inquired as to when to add it, she looked confused, and just suggested that I add it to plain steamed rice on the table, after the meal was dished out.  I tried explaining that this defeats the purpose of having hot, steaming rice, because if the salsa came from an open jar, it would have come out of the refrigerator, and this would make the rice on the plates, cold.  She then got quite snippy, and said, “Then just add it to the pot”.  So, I asked about how to adjust the recipe, since the amount of water to rice has an impact on the texture, and one tablespoon isn’t enough to make a pot of rice for everyone, and she got quite a bit more annoyed, in a demanding question, “How am I supposed to know”?  Well, I would expect that when dealing with a multicultural society, and you’re trained and registered to give advice about healthy eating, that answers like this are important to answer, rather than telling people to not to eat their own food, and to eat Middle American poached chicken for white families who have lived here for the last 10 generations or more.

This makes it look as if the medical authority is discriminatory against ethnic people, because often, other family members are not willing to stop eating their cultural foods, and expect that working mothers have time to make 2 separate meals while also taking care of a whole family, often while also caring for elderly relatives as well.  This, on top of the fact that discrimination is all over, from quality healthcare in general that is accessible, quality education, and how our black and Hispanic populations are arrested at higher rates and longer incarceration rates than our white population for similar/equivalent crimes, just comes across as if other people aren’t as important than the average white American.  We must remember that we all came from immigrants, and each of our ancestors brought over a part of their heritage, which includes the types of foods that are eaten.  As people, each culture shares that common theme of meals to celebrate family, mourn at funerals, time with friends, and more.

It is my hope to be able to work with different agencies to take authentic recipes and make them healthier, without compromising the integrity of the flavors.  It’s issues like these that I chose International Relations as a major, even though I did get into healthcare for a while.  My passion is food, and my dream is to feed the planet. 

Thank you for your time in reading this, and I hope to hear from someone soon, in hopes that we can make an impact on celebrating the cultural diversity in our fine country by making healthy eating for everyone, to which I’m sure that many people would enjoy, since so many of us love Italian, Mexican, Asian, and a wide diversity of foods.  So, let us embrace that, rather than generically water down ethnic foods to Betty Crocker or Hamburger Helper standards.

Sincerely,

Lika Saliscente-Phipps

Founder of Youth Voice Initiative

Healthy Food vs. Ethnic Food: Match Not Met!

So, okay, I was lucky enough to be able to try some new (well, new for me) TV dinners thanks to some free coupons. I know it’s not like I’m buying frozen dinners made by Dragon’s Wok or whomever... but, you know, being American, and also being that I grew up in a multiethnic place, I love my various ethnic foods. I also realize that there are many times that these ethnic foods may or may not be the healthiest, if you need a low sodium, low carb, high fiber, high protein diet is not exactly attainable. But, it would be nice if these flavors were more authentic.

I was eager to try these new TV dinners, because it’s a grade or two up from their original & standard line. So, I figured that since they advertise it as a Market Place item, that it should be at least slightly more premium. One of the items I got was the Sesame Stir Fry with Chicken. Well. I was disappointed. Mike heated it up for me, eager for my opinion on this particular dinner, as it’s the perfect size for a light lunch. The veggies were steamed, and the chicken was probably also steam cooked, and the nice browning on the chicken like you see in the picture was just plain not there. The noodles were also chopped in 1/4” pieces, not long like the picture, and all of the stir fried sesame sauce was in the noodles. So, you have to mix it up, and mix it up good to even attempt to get the flavor spread out. At least the veggies were still a bit crisp, so the texture was good.

So, being that I grew up on authentic Asian food, since I did live in Japan the 1st 8 years of my life, as well as the fact that one of my best friends, Earnping and her family are Chinese, and have experience via owning a Chinese restaurant as well as the fact that they lived in other Asian countries and brought the recipes with them, the actual flavor of this TV dinner is so middle-white-America, it is so not authentic in flavor... NOT authentic flavor. I can remember that much from my childhood as well as from when I took the trip to visit Japan this past summer. My uncle, Masaki, is an awesome cook, and everything he makes is to delicious, I wish I could keep him and my aunt with me... I also don’t like instant rice, real Asian food starts with real rice and real noodles. 

Thing is, there are so many of us who are wanting to eat healthier, but want to keep the authentic flavors, it’s not easy finding those options, if you don’t know how to cook the original. This is very disheartening, because I’ve tried the other ethnic type foods as well, such as the ravioli or lasagna, and those are so tamed down and put in a different direction, that the ravioli and lasagna is not authentically Italian anymore... My son Chad has loved Italian food since he was old enough to eat it, and at the ripe age of 8 months old (yes, months, not years), wanted that spaghetti sauce with tyke sized pasta, just right for a baby to eat. By the time he was 2, he was accustomed to homemade sauce, and refused any form of canned or jarred pasta sauce, insisting that he, “can’t want to like that”. My experience with Italian food is that my son’s dad, David is half Sicilian, whose grandfather came over from there, and Dave’s father grew up learning Italian before English, and learned how to cook from his family. I also learned how to cook this authentically Sicilian style spaghetti sauce with meatballs, lasagna, etc, and it was father-in-law approved, which made me very happy. On the same note as above, no instant noodles. Pasta starts with authentic semolina noodles.

At our house, it doesn’t stop with Asian & Italian food. We love Mexican food, as well, and I’d spent literally hours upon hours over the course of a couple of years to perfect my tacos, fajitas, guacamole, and Mike’s flautas. We all love food that is bursting with flavor, and Mike’s granddaughter, Selena, has a Mexican & Puerto Rican background as her dad knew how to cook excellent Mexican food, and her adopted dad knows how to make Puerto Rican food. I was happy as a homemade apple pie to hear from Mike that my Mexican food is in line with the food he learned how to make from his former sons-in-law. On another note, our housemate, another David, is Puerto Rican, and also has given us tips on how to blend flavors to make it match fuller to either custom way of making things.

I also learned how to make a lot of different Eastern European foods from a Serbian client, where I was taught how to make a fillo dough layered cheese mix, similar to lasagna layers, but has a cheese and sour cream base to the stuffing, from the Russian influences in that region. I also learned how to make Serbian stuffed cabbage rolls, which are different from what we are used to here, as well as the nuances that make the difference between Hungarian vs. Serbian goulashes, and paprikash, which is Serbian goulash with sour cream added. Fortunately, these Eastern European foods tend to be healthier in the first place, from the long standing farming industry. My maternal grandfather was the son of a 1st generation Hungarian American mother, and a Hungarian immigrant father. While I was much too young to appreciate it properly, that is where I picked up the flavors of Hungarian meals.

Thing is, I’m also wanting to learn about cooking American ethnic foods as well, along the line of Soul Food, to expand my horizons, and some creole foods as well. But, I am not experienced in eating these foods, much less knowing how to make them, and even if I google the recipes, I’d have no idea if they are authentic or not. Especially considering my inexperience, I could use some help, here. Another area of authenticity is Western European recipes, as well as the diverse foods of African cuisines.

So, I guess I am in a dilemma. I do not have the original or ethnic recipes for a lot of these types of food, such as Korean sweet & spicy beef, Thai ginger beef, Mexican style refried beans, Spanish rice, or some of these other delicious ethnic foods, I do not know how to make the authentic meal and then find a way to keep the integrity of the flavors while making it a healthier meal. Anyone have any advice, a recipe, or know anyone who could give me suggestions?