Community Spring Insights
What Stats On Affordable Housing Won’t Tell You: Another Look at the Same Truth
If I told you the truth would you believe me? If by some chance you were to believe me, what would you be willing to do with that truth? Well, I’ve heard the truth and I believe it. Millions of people around the world, including myself, are living this truth everyday. One of the many things I'm doing is sharing my inside out perspective of this truth with the hope of opening eyes, ears, and minds to a truer telling of…
Shining A Light On Affordable Housing
Air, water, food, sleep, clothing, and shelter are all basic physiological needs. However, for many people, unaffordable rent means that they must prioritize shelter at the expense of their other needs. Food, health, safety--these are all things that we as Community Spring fellows have had to sacrifice to have a place to stay. Because of our backgrounds and our knowledge of other affected people, we decided that…
The Pain of “Othering”
“Othering” is being placed in a category by systems and society that deem you unworthy to be a part of the community. As a Black person, the foundation of “othering” is white supremacy that permeates throughout the social and justice system. Mass incarceration arose as part of the New Jim Crow to repress Black people. It is now so large and corrupt that…
Coming Home: A Narrative Poem of Community Voices
The following poem is a collection of community stories gathered in order to end the stigma around incarceration and re-entry. Our hope is that by highlighting the personal experiences of these individuals we may open hearts, minds and eyes to see people who have been incarcerated for what they are…people!
Barriers to Employment Hurt the Entire Community
Coming home from prison I got a job pretty easily at first. I was hired at a restaurant and put on the manager training course. Even though my first paychecks were barely enough to pay rent and utilities, I was hopeful because the pay would increase after training ended. But that would not be the case for me. After 3 months…
Surviving and Thriving: Universal Basic Income Explained
When temperatures dropped last week, I felt my heart rate go up. Whenever it’s above 80 degrees or below 65 degrees, I’m plagued by anxiety that I won’t be able to afford the utility bills. This constant fear is not unique to me. Poverty crushed 34 million Americans even before COVID hit, and we have about…
Mask On, Mask Off: The True Face of Incarceration
I have a cyst on my brain and suffer debilitating migraines at times. When I was in prison it took months and months of leaping hurdles and red tape just to simply get some over-the-counter Excedrin. That was the best they would offer, and I had to fight like hell for just that.
Others weren’t even that lucky. There was a man, Ted…
COVID-19 Exposes Food Accessibility Deficits In Alachua County
COVID-19 has shined a light on problems that our community has struggled with for a long time. For example, the survey Community Spring conducted as part of the Grassroots COVID-19 Recovery Campaign revealed that 27% of responding Alachua County low-income households did not have consistent access to food in May and April. This suggests…
My only right is the right to remain silent
Americans like to point to the Declaration of Independence as providing the basic promise of our country: “that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” But when I look around my community, these words ring hollow. I can’t see the meaningful promises of life…
Access to Fair Credit is a Pathway out of Poverty
My financial hardship pretty much started at birth. I was born to a mother who was only 15 years old, and who was sent to prison by the time I was three. I also became a mother at 15, and I started working full-time to care for myself and my baby while still in high school (which, might I add, I graduated from on time - no small feat!). At the age of 16, I was already on baby number…