Charting A New Course

It becomes quite frustrating to learn that so many people can’t get on the same page these days; even with the growing mountain of issues facing those living in Urban America… you can’t miss any of them.  Beside the need for affordable housing, there is gun violence, high unemployment, health care, quality education, health insurance, crime, equal treatment and poverty.  And these are just some of the top vote getters.

It is also hard to believe that people can grow up in the same neighborhoods; attended similar schools; work in the community and yet be so different in terms of what they know is needed to make the community and schools better.  How can it be, that even with so much in common, backgrounds, religious beliefs, best in education and upbringing, things continue to turn out the same way?    

The portrait of urban America all across our great nation is not a good picture.  More cities are facing a steady decline in the quality of services, resources, jobs, safety, and reinvestments.  Each day the task is becoming more and more challenging to keep things up and going…as the way thing were.   It is especially difficult, when most people are expecting different results while doing the same things over and over again.  Of course there are some pockets of success in every city, but there are the other sides of the city no one wants to really talk about.   

All of us have heard the saying… “you don’t have to reinvent the wheel…” in order to make a change.  That may be true, but perhaps the wheel just needs some more air in it, or realignment.  May be…just maybe… what is needed is that we need to chart a new course for urban America…to boldly go into uncharted territory, a new frontier, a new direction and perhaps to envision something greater.   So, I suggest that we stop assuming what our urban communities needs and start with the people who live in those neighborhoods and get their view of what is needed… and thereby assume nothing.   Let’s see where that take us!

A Time of Honor

“Why do you want this so bad?”

This was the question Jo (Anujanue Ellis) asked her husband Chief Carl Brashear (Cuba Gooding Jr.) in the movie “Men of Honor.”  His answer to his wife was…“Because they said I couldn’t have it.”  His wife asked this question of him to find out the real reason why he wanted to return to full active duty in the Navy as a deep water savage diver after an accident cause him to lose one of his legs.  In his quest to return to active duty, he had to go before a Naval review board to demonstrate that he was ready for active duty.   After demonstrating that he was physically fit; he was re-certified and when on to serve 10 more years in the Navy as a master diver.     

Similarly and with the same sediment, focus and determination, people also should believe in the turnaround of Urban America, especially in Milwaukee.  Even when it seems that the very foundations that once sustained neighborhoods over the years, now stand in disarray.  Many inner city residents who live in tough neighborhoods need a chance to demonstrate that they deserve a chance, investment and re-certification.   

All across America, there is a lot of great work occurring in the inner city to make them a better place to live, work and play.  Is it enough? And what else can be done? ...are the critical questions that need to be answered.  Most people would agree that a lot is at stake in terms of the health, safety, education and personal property in urban America.  With each passing day, the cost continues to rise if the issues and challenges of residents are not addressed.        

Today, the inner city needs men and women who for no other reason want to help bring urban neighborhoods back to life.  It needs people who are in it for the right reasons and are working as hard as possible to make things happen.  Of course there is a lot to do, roads to cross, hills to climb, fences to mend and bridges to build.  But it is all possible, for all it takes are good people to do the right thing.   

When It Matters Most

“I have never felt that anything really mattered but the satisfaction of knowing that you stood for the things in which you believed and had done the very best you could”

 

These were the word spoken by Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of President Franklin D. Roosevelt during the height of World War II (8 Nov. 1944).  Mrs. Roosevelt became a catalyst for change and played a pivotal role in civil and human rights.  As the longest serving First Lady, (3 terms) she made it a habit to improve the social conditions of all Americans, regardless of race, religion and socioeconomic status.   This was not done along political lines, but rather as matters of the heart and to what we call being decent and in order.  She stood to make America better, to live up to its creed and to ensure that all Americans get a fair chance. 

 

Over the past decade or two, it appears that much of what she stood for has been lost.  It has also been lost due to the fact that so many people today are only concerned about what is in it for them and not for “good” of the greater society.  At the heart of what is really being lost is that so much of what happens in Washington, DC affects all Americans.  In so many ways, nearly every aspect of our society depends on our national government to work and to work well.  This is especially true for the most vulnerable of our society, who depends and need access to medical care, education, food and shelter. 

 

The ongoing diversions and miscues of our elected officials in the federal government over the past five years has been something truly for the record books and you just wonder how in the world some of them were elected in the first place.  It is just astonishing to see and hear about all the political games, maneuvers and the disregard for fair treatment of those locked in poverty, the disable, returning Veterans, seniors, children and the working poor.  The essence of America and our way of life continues to not be forged through one’s political afflation, wealth and influence, but rather through the blood and sweat of the average American who is invested in the pursue of  living a better life for themselves and their family.   So,... it time to get back to work!

An Affordable Care Act

“Life is not the amount of breaths you take, it's the moments that take your breath away”

This is one of the notable quotes the leading character, played by Will Smith makes in the movie “Hitch.”  Just such a moment occurred on October 1, 2013, when it became official that over 43 million uninsured Americans could begin to sign up for health insurance, even with preexisting medical conditions.  This new law is better known as ObamaCare. 

As you are aware, maintaining a good health insurance plan for yourself and your family is essential to improving and extending one’s quality of life.  Those with a great insurance plan are truly blessed, while those who are struggling to make ends meet find it quite difficult to afford any health insurance at all.  However, even those with good health plans, there are financial limits within those plans and not covered by the standard insurance premiums. 

Over the years, health insurance companies have always set risk limits on various medical conditions and what would be covered for those who become ill.  And if and when those coverage limits were reached the ongoing costs to cover those future medical bills would have to be paid by the individual or family.  In many cases those with high risk medical conditions would be dropped from future policies with the same company, face restrictions or much higher future premiums.   

If and when a family finds themselves dropped from a policy, then the task of finding another health insurance carrier is nearly impossible.  All health insurance companies do not want to take on the risk and the cost of providing a level of care for an individual or family that have preexisting medical health issues. The preexisting medical condition occurred before a program of health benefits when into effect.  In most of these situations, families have been left high and dry, saddle with enormous debt, unpaid medical bills, losing their homes, wiping out their life savings and reducing the ability to enjoy any quality of life.   

Offering a great health insurance package and other family benefits was once the hallmark of major companies.  They prided themselves on maintaining a quality workforce, longevity, loyalty and good working conditions.  However, today many of those kinds of companies, both private and public, have reduce those kinds of benefits and more.  Today, it is more about the bottom line and not the workers that keep the company profitable.    

It been a long time coming, numerous US Presidents have tried and failed to get something like this in place, but now it is official… Health Care for the most vulnerable individuals and those families that have experienced a health care crisis that has left them without any coverage at all… it is now available and Affordable.