Sheila Edwards Lange…
“I don’t think it should be eliminated nor expanded it should be transformed to better support people who are going through transitions in their lives. My own mother went on welfare as a single mom after divorcing my father and got access to education, housing, childcare and that changed our lives putting us on a trajectory to be self sufficient. That is what the welfare system is supposed to be about, if you eliminate it who’s going to help those people?”
Chukundi Salisbury…
“I believe the welfare system should be expanded to include more resources so the folks that work within it can actually do the oversight that needs to happen to have a well maintained program. The current political climate is tearing the welfare system down and does not allow for the proper staffing, people who really work the analytics, the data and get down to the people who really need it and also look at the people who might have been abusing it. But that can only come through expansion and so the people that say fix system while simultaneously talking about reducing resourcing that’s just not going to happen. I’m in favor of increasing welfare on the resource side to aid staffing to have a well maintained program.”
Denise Ransom…
“There should be parameters, criteria, how long, a time frame, not just opened ended to stay on forever. All of us need help but really give caseworkers help, better structure to help people get to a place where they don’t need it. I think the system is totally broken the way it is currently, but there’s a lot of benefits, we are a wonderful country with great benefits but it’s been abused and we have to have more.”
Tiffany Wilson…
“No, I don’t think it should be expanded I do agree that people need help at times, however, I think if you just eradicate a system that holds back a particular demographic , we don’t need your help, stop bombing us from the sky and let us build. I believe we will come together, stop intentionally separating us. We’ll come together and build, the system is not necessary.”
Marlon Turner…
“Not being completely familiar with how the welfare system works and the intricacies of it, I do believe that anyone who needs help should be able to get help. Putting some safeguards in place that would make sure people are not abusing that system and then providing training and preparing people to get off the system and move forward, I think it is something that is greatly needed.”
Lakema Bell…
“I believe that the current welfare system in the United States should be improved upon. So there are some different things that are innately structured in the welfare system to better one community than the other, so if we were to continue to have the welfare system we would look at gutting that system now so that it is equitable in regards to the delivery of the needed resources.”
Photos by Aaron Allen
