We met Ann in a Bagel shop in Beloit, Wisconsin. The Farmer’s Market was just outside the front door, so the place was packed. Each diner apparently felt an obligation to talk louder than anyone else to be heard. The situation was not ideal for a recorded interview. Ann’s story made it worthwhile.Role in Janesville...the book
She had an important role to play in the Janesville employment meltdown when GM Closed the assembly plant in 2008, and is featured in the book Janesville (see "Resources Books" 10/4 blog post). Ann was a school counselor working with homeless students before the plant closed. The plant closure made her job harder and more critical. She operated the “Secret Closet” where high school students who were in need were able to visit anonymously and pick up food, clothing and school supplies without charge. This was an emotional, and often physical, lifeline for the students. Since then, Ann has started a similar closet at the High School where she currently works. |
| Farmer's Market - Rainy Saturday, Beloit |
Peter asked about Amy Goldstein, the author of Janesville and about the book itself. Ann responded, and she said that “it was very well researched, very accurate, and very respectful to all of the people she covered.” Amy is coming back to Janesville in November and we asked Ann to say “hi” for us; she agreed. “It was obvious that Amy was a reporter,” she recalled, “but I had had no idea she was a Pulitzer Prize winning one.”
Ann’s Background
Ann was born in the U.P., initials that stand for the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, a remote and rural area. She went to college at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, a severe culture shock, coming from a “small town,” as she describes it. She met her husband there. He is a writer and works in the video gaming business. Right now he is working on a novel that is a tie-in for the video game Halo. He is writing in the genre, a few years ago in 2012 he went “‘12 for 12’ writing four trilogies in a year.”
Ann’s dad was raised Catholic, her mother Lutheran, but she received no particular religious education. Now she and her family attend a UCC (United Church of Christ) church in Janesville. Her husband grew up in a Catholic school and will have nothing to do with organized religion. They tried a Unitarian Fellowship across the border in Illinois, but it was too small and too informal to serve their needs.
She worked as a part time counselor, but in about 2004 helped write a grant to study youth homelessness. As a result of the grant Ann became full time. The first couple of years the number of homeless children remained about the same, but then the plant closed, and the number went way up. In recent years, even as unemployment has dropped, the number of homeless youth has gone up even more. The problem is that it never seems to be “just a lack of money” there are other problems in the family dynamic: alcohol, drugs, medical issues and abuse predominate.
We asked about a “typical” homeless family in Janesville. Ann explained, “They do have emergency shelters, but space availability is 60 to 90 days out and winter is coming. Families double up with other families, adding to the stress of both groups of people. Families who are in poverty know a lot of other families in poverty and those are the ones who double up, to the emotional detriment of both.”
Ann went through an extremely hard time with her own family with the 2008 recession. Her husband works on freelance jobs and they dried up. Then ACT 10 happened; this was the Scott Walker decision to freeze teachers’ salaries. They had bought a house large enough for themselves and their five children (she gave birth to quadruplets after her first son was born). So they had to struggle with house payments, heating bills, car expenses, and would often have to balance out the purchase of food against other things. She still only buys clothes at Goodwill. This was not nearly as bad as her students suffered through, “but it was really difficult.”
She does not feel that the government crashed the economy, but thinks that it was the fault of the government that they did not regulate Wall Street, so that the bankers could crash the economy. She was “really angry with the government.”
She was not a member of the Teachers’ Union. As a social worker she was not allowed to join. She and other social workers in the schools were petitioning the Administration to join the Union, but with ACT 10 it became impossible. So her salary was frozen at a lower level. To the credit of her district, Ann adds, “with improved District finances they have now made salaries more equitable.”
We discussed the issues raised in “The Politics of Resentment” (see "Resource Books" 10/4 blog post) with, for example, loggers resenting teachers because teachers had better benefits. Ann said that this is exactly how the powerful people work, by pitting working class people against each other, so that they could get away with taking things from both groups. She feels “we DO need middle class people in our society and that starts with them being able to earn enough to become middle class.”
When ACT 10 came she joined others and went up to Madison to protest. “It was a powerful experience, particularly with people coming from other states to support us;” she was deeply gratified. She took her children too, and feels that it was a valuable direct lesson in democracy.
Ann’s dad was raised Catholic, her mother Lutheran, but she received no particular religious education. Now she and her family attend a UCC (United Church of Christ) church in Janesville. Her husband grew up in a Catholic school and will have nothing to do with organized religion. They tried a Unitarian Fellowship across the border in Illinois, but it was too small and too informal to serve their needs.
She worked as a part time counselor, but in about 2004 helped write a grant to study youth homelessness. As a result of the grant Ann became full time. The first couple of years the number of homeless children remained about the same, but then the plant closed, and the number went way up. In recent years, even as unemployment has dropped, the number of homeless youth has gone up even more. The problem is that it never seems to be “just a lack of money” there are other problems in the family dynamic: alcohol, drugs, medical issues and abuse predominate.
We asked about a “typical” homeless family in Janesville. Ann explained, “They do have emergency shelters, but space availability is 60 to 90 days out and winter is coming. Families double up with other families, adding to the stress of both groups of people. Families who are in poverty know a lot of other families in poverty and those are the ones who double up, to the emotional detriment of both.”
Ann went through an extremely hard time with her own family with the 2008 recession. Her husband works on freelance jobs and they dried up. Then ACT 10 happened; this was the Scott Walker decision to freeze teachers’ salaries. They had bought a house large enough for themselves and their five children (she gave birth to quadruplets after her first son was born). So they had to struggle with house payments, heating bills, car expenses, and would often have to balance out the purchase of food against other things. She still only buys clothes at Goodwill. This was not nearly as bad as her students suffered through, “but it was really difficult.”
She does not feel that the government crashed the economy, but thinks that it was the fault of the government that they did not regulate Wall Street, so that the bankers could crash the economy. She was “really angry with the government.”
She was not a member of the Teachers’ Union. As a social worker she was not allowed to join. She and other social workers in the schools were petitioning the Administration to join the Union, but with ACT 10 it became impossible. So her salary was frozen at a lower level. To the credit of her district, Ann adds, “with improved District finances they have now made salaries more equitable.”
We discussed the issues raised in “The Politics of Resentment” (see "Resource Books" 10/4 blog post) with, for example, loggers resenting teachers because teachers had better benefits. Ann said that this is exactly how the powerful people work, by pitting working class people against each other, so that they could get away with taking things from both groups. She feels “we DO need middle class people in our society and that starts with them being able to earn enough to become middle class.”
When ACT 10 came she joined others and went up to Madison to protest. “It was a powerful experience, particularly with people coming from other states to support us;” she was deeply gratified. She took her children too, and feels that it was a valuable direct lesson in democracy.
Janesville Poor
“When the plant closed Janesville’s downtown turned from a “regular” downtown with stores and restaurants into one with second hand stores and boarded up buildings.” Ann adds, “It is now 9 years later and things are better, but Amy’s book is still relevant because the jobs that high school graduates can get now are not 'family supporting' ones, even though the unemployment rate is down.” |
| Janesville GM Plant - overgrown, scheduled for demolition next year |
Her brother in Michigan told her that the new rules for homeless assistance in the State is that people have to be homeless and on the street for 12 months, and need to be able to document it. This is not only an impossible documentation requirement for a homeless person but a death sentence on the U.P. Then they can congratulate themselves for “getting rid of homelessness.”
Ann related that homelessness involved working with rules that kept people from being efficient. For example, in order to get help with heating costs. “To get help you have to let the bill run up, face having the utilities being shut off and only then, apply for “one time” help, taking your chances that the agency will even have the money to help.”
Ann on Youth
One of our regrets for this visit to Wisconsin, is that we have not had time to try to schedule interviews with young people. Ann is only one step removed so we ask about the feelings of the young people that she meets. She asks each what they plan on doing after high school. “They are generally hopeful that they will be able to make something out of their lives. There is a little bit of a disconnect between what they expect and what they can likely achieve.”
When Ann was younger, she and others she knew were often bored. “Kids today are never bored; they have their phones and devices, so they aren’t talking with the person next to them in the classroom. “Many are working part time jobs while in high school, but none of these are likely to lead to a career, though they do teach the importance of showing up on time, and working hard to meet expectations.” She describes how the school is trying hard to connect with the world of work so that young people will understand, for example, what it would look like to be a nurse, or a civil engineer.
Ann told us that when the GM Plant was still open kids would decline education because “why do I need that, I will just be working for GM.” Ann has problems with "looking forward to higher education" for her students, she spends most of her day just trying to get kids to come to school.
When Ann was younger, she and others she knew were often bored. “Kids today are never bored; they have their phones and devices, so they aren’t talking with the person next to them in the classroom. “Many are working part time jobs while in high school, but none of these are likely to lead to a career, though they do teach the importance of showing up on time, and working hard to meet expectations.” She describes how the school is trying hard to connect with the world of work so that young people will understand, for example, what it would look like to be a nurse, or a civil engineer.
Ann told us that when the GM Plant was still open kids would decline education because “why do I need that, I will just be working for GM.” Ann has problems with "looking forward to higher education" for her students, she spends most of her day just trying to get kids to come to school.
Youth on the Environment
She feels that generally most kids are interested in local pollution control issues, but not as interested in climate change problems. Her own son is very interested in global warming and science, and is exploring careers in the field. But most people in the Midwest are more interested in local issues because they feel that they do not have the ability to engage in national problems. “I mean, you can talk to Paul Ryan, but what good will that do you?” she adds.
Gerrymandering and Trump
At this point Ann raises the issue of redistricting and gerrymandering. She mentions the Supreme Court case and the fact that things are so polarized that people just can’t have a say. One of the thing that they deal with in, her household, is that “it is not OK to demonize the other side.” For example there was a poll on the internet about “Would you punch a White Supremacist?” Ann says that her strong instruction to her children is “NO.” "This is a human being, and it is Not OK. We must be able to respect and listen to people with different views.”Ann cannot figure out why anyone would vote for Trump. To her this is unforgivable. She felt just “shredded” by the outcome of the election, both because she cares for her country and feels that her values were just disregarded.
Values and Religion in the High School
Peter asked how religion plays out in the Janesville High School. Ann does not think that the Christian Club is still active. She is concerned about the crude language that high school students are using and the misogyny. At the same time “that’s so Gay” seems to have gone away, but crude comments and misogyny have increased.
When we asked about how things can be brought back together she goes back to gerrymandering. She says. “politicians should not be picking their voters, the people should be picking the politicians!”
When we asked about how things can be brought back together she goes back to gerrymandering. She says. “politicians should not be picking their voters, the people should be picking the politicians!”
Janesville V. Beloit
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| Refurbished Iron Works industrial buildings thanks to Hedricks |
Probing a theme of the book, we talked about the competition between Janesville and Beloit, and the generosity of Diane Hendricks, owner of ABC Supply, toward Beloit. She said that while the Beloit downtown and riverfront look good, and while unemployment is really down, the Beloit schools still have 75% free and reduced lunch qualification and that Janesville is down to 50%. One of the areas of tension between the two communities is that Beloit has a diverse racial makeup (that Ann speaks of approvingly) and that Janesville is almost all white.
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| Hedricks Career TEK - Iron Works Tenant |
Ann told us that one of the things that really annoys her is that the Republicans give tax cuts with the hope that companies will create jobs. “If the purpose is to create jobs why not just give them tax credits WHEN they create jobs? It would mean that they actually create jobs as a result of the tax cuts!”
Poverty in the Schools and Undocumented Students
We asked about the “Closet” again. She said that it is still going. She had a guy who fixed bikes for her so that she can give bikes to kids and, at least until it gets cold, they can ride to school. Then she will give out bus tokens.
She does see undocumented children. They are different because their very strong family ties help them survive without assistance, but she had one who really wanted to become a doctor. Her family came to the U.S. in order to obtain medical treatment for a sibling. Now the girl who wanted to become a doctor probably won’t be able to make it, with the 'new administration' deporting so many. She sees this as hypocritical, “the rest of society benefits more from immigrants, documented or not, than the immigrants do.”
She does see undocumented children. They are different because their very strong family ties help them survive without assistance, but she had one who really wanted to become a doctor. Her family came to the U.S. in order to obtain medical treatment for a sibling. Now the girl who wanted to become a doctor probably won’t be able to make it, with the 'new administration' deporting so many. She sees this as hypocritical, “the rest of society benefits more from immigrants, documented or not, than the immigrants do.”
Eliminate Abusive Childhoods
We then gave her a magic wand; one wish for a change anywhere. Ann would use it to end childhood abuse and neglect. The problems she sees every day are caused by abusive childhoods that prevent them from becoming fully formed adults. She has a friend who works at the jail and he says that “every one of the people he meets were abused as children. Every one. It is a much bigger deal and much more widespread than people realize. If we could end childhood abuse and neglect we would end at least half of the problems of the rest of the world.”
--David
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