I first began planning an event for the National Week of Action about a month in advance. I set my sights high, planning for two events—one on the main campus and one at the Downtown Campus of Binghamton University. I wanted each to be about an hour or two long with various activities and raffles. I also wanted to involve the community in some way. I didn’t realize at the time, but I set a very unrealistic goal for myself.
As the National Week of Action drew closer, I met with Citizen Action to organize these events. I figured with their help I could easily pull off two events. Upon meeting with them, we talked it over and decided on pooling all our resources for one event at the
So, with the help of Citizen Action and my group members, we designed an event that would be a sort of information session/press conference regarding Clean Money. I went to the
After this initial step, I moved on to organizing the food, fliers, and materials for the tables. I coordinated with Citizen Action to split up some of the planning tasks. I would be in charge of spreading the word to students and getting them to attend and Citizen Action would work on creating interest within the community, the media and with local politicians.
To publicize the event on campus, I felt it important to pass out fliers and put an ad in the school newspaper. The ad ran on the Tuesday two days before the event, and the day before the event my group and I passed out over 250 fliers around campus. It was hard not to get discouraged by the mass apathy of the student body. However, it was encouraging to think that if even five out of the hundreds of people we talked to came to this event it was a success. I set my goal low. I decided I would be happy with 20 people total at my event. The room was sort of small and could look decently filled up with 20 people. I also envisioned people continuously coming and going.
On Wednesday, the day before the event, I went to take care of the food preparations. Food would be my biggest draw with the students, and I knew it had to be done right. With funding from Democracy Matters and Citizen Action, I was able to get subs and pizza. Citizen Action enlisted the help of a local politician, Barbara Abbott King, and had local news channels agree to cover the event.
On the day of the event, I arrived at the Downtown Campus two hours early to make sure everything went smoothly. I was concerned that students would not come from the main campus, which is kind of far from the Downtown Campus. It was also raining, and I thought that might keep some people away. My fears were never realized. The event went great. I’m not too sure how many students actually came from the main campus all the way to the Downtown Campus, but I did see a few students come in holding the fliers I passed out the day before. It also worked out perfectly because we planned on starting the event just as classes let out at the Downtown Campus and many people got out of class hungry and eager to have some free food.
The media covered the event, interviewed me and covered our press release.
http://www.wicz.com/fox40/
Barbara Abbott King really helped out with speaking on the issue of Clean Money and how it shaped her experiences running for office. Most of the food was eaten and everyone seemed to have a great time talking about Clean Money. I spoke to a few students about Clean Money as well and saw tons of people taking handouts, signing petitions, signing letters to politicians, and supporting our cause.
Dave Ugelow
Campus Coordinator
SUNY Binghamton
4 comments:
Gail Gottesman
12 Lawton Ave.
Binghamton, NY
January 9, 2008
Art Johnson
Commissioner of the Broome County Department of Social Services
Dear Art,
After four and a half years working for the Broome County Department of Social Services, in the Family Services Division, I was forced to walk out of the Department in protest of the Department’s neglect and abuse of Rhapsody Benson.
The Department gained custody of Rhapsody in October and placed her in the DSS foster home of Mirtie and Nelson Sessler. Rhapsody was one of five babies between the ages of newborn and 2 years old, when I visited her at Mirtie’s house. The children were lined up in the living room: baby in a playpen, another baby in a playpen, baby in a jumper seat, the newborn was in a bassinette and Rhapsody was in an infant carrier. The three oldest of the five, who were able to hold their own bottles, looked like they weighed enough but Rhapsody looked extremely malnourished, she is 7 months old and only 9 pounds. All of the children looked like they were starving for attention. Mirtie told me that the prior weekend, she had an additional three babies; that is a total of eight babies. I asked Mirtie how she can help but get attached to the children and want to keep them and she replied that she had her own grandchildren, these were “just boarders”.
Mirtie had requested special rate for Rhapsody and claimed that she has cerebral palsy. Mirtie claimed that Rhapsody arched her back in spasm when she was picked up. Mirite let me hold Rhapsody, she looked extremely frightened. For the first minute or two , she was doing all kinds of spasms, but I was able to calm her down and held her for another hour and she didn’t spasm at all, in fact she smiled, and tweaked my nose and pulled my lip. When I finally set her back down in her carrier she held on to my finger and looked at me with a look that can only be described as a plea for help. Mirtie had said that Rhapsody didn’t reach for anything. Maybe she just doesn’t reach for Mirite. Special rate brings in over $1,000/mo., tax free. A foster parent is supposed to receive special rate because they spend an extra amount of time and energy caring for the child. Nelson told me that Rhapsody is a “very sick baby“. Mirtie told me that Rhapsody has a “grim prognosis”. I have had other cases before this one, where I felt the foster parents were working on attaining a diagnosis for the child, either medical or mental health, in order to collect special rate. I begged my supervisor, Carolyn Scoville, to let me move Rhapsody out of Mirtie’s and to a home where she could be held and loved and fed, but my pleas fell on death ears.
This past Friday, Mirtie took Rhapsody to Wilson Hospital to have an NG feeding tube (which goes up her nose, through her nasal passages and down her throat and into her stomach), without the parents’ consent or consultation and without my consultation; I was Rhapsody’s DSS caseworker at that time. Rhapsody was in the custody of the Department; Mirtie Sessler did not have the legal authority to have that done to her. I visited Rhapsody, at Wilson Hospital on Friday afternoon, when I walked into her room she was being held by one of the speech ladies who was feeding Rhapsody from a bottle; she said that she had gotten her to take 4 ozs. already and was going to try some apple sauce with her after the bottle. This was in spite of having that tube up her nose and down her throat. I can’t imagine how hard it would be to try to eat or drink or even breathe with that tube stuck in me. One of the nurse’s at Wilson told me that the foster mother told her that Rhapsody hadn’t been given any whole food other then cereal. A seven month old baby should have been tasting all kinds of food already. Another of the nurses told me that it really doesn’t take that long to feed her. The cleaning woman, who told me that she has been working Wilson’s Pediatrics Unit for eight years, told me that Mirtie was in a hurry to leave the baby and didn’t stay with Rhapsody after she admitted her. She told me that Mirtie was mad that the hosital wouldn’t send Rhapsody home with the feeding tube right away; then she commented, “Some people are only in it for the money.”
I went to Wilson Hospital on Saturday to see Rhapsody; when I walked up to the nurses station, one of the nurses had Rhapsody drinking from a bottle. I spent a couple of hours with Rhapsody, just holding her and feeling badly about the way she has been treated. She is a precious little sweetheart.
I went to Wilson on Sunday with my fifteen year old daughter who had Rhapsody holding her Zune with both hands. The Zune is an MP3 player with a video screen; Rhapsody was fascinated by it and seemed to appreciate my daughter‘s taste in music. The same nurse who had her drinking from the bottle at the nurses station the day before, told me that she had gotten her to take another 4 ozs. that morning. By this time Rhapsody was becoming congested and her breathing was becoming labored. I’ve cared for patients with NG tubes before, they are very prone to infection around that tube. At that point, I was panicking. I could not let Rhapsody go home the following day with Mirtie. I went home and made phone calls and made arrangements through the Children’s Home of Wyoming Conference to get Rhapsody placed with one of their foster homes, Glenda Lown. My impression of Glenda was that she was a kind and loving person. I didn’t get a kind or loving feeling from Mirtie or Nelson. Glenda is home all day by herself , so she would be able to give Rhapsody that individual time and attention that she so desperately needs. Glenda was willing to go to the hospital the following morning and get whatever equipment or instructions she would need in order to take Rhapsody home with the feeding tube; because Dr. Nigudkar had ordered it. Mirtie let me know that she has brought Dr. Nigudkar a lot of business.
First thing Monday morning I went to Nancy Guy, the Supervisor of DSS’ Home Finding Unit and Gina White, Mirtie’s home finder, and told them that I wanted to move Rhapsody out of Mirtie’s and in with Glenda. They were ok with it; Gina told me not to worry about Mirtie. I then went to Don Bowersox and told him the same. He told me that he “Didn’t want to pull the rug out from under Mirtie” and refused to discuss it with me any further. I tried to tell him about my experience with the child but he wouldn’t allow me to speak. Four hours went by while Don Bowersox, Marnie Coyle and Carolyn Scoville had meetings behind closed doors. At one point, I passed Nancy Guy’s office and heard Don and Carolyn talking about Rhapsody. I went in and Don yelled at me to get out of the room. I don’t understand why Don chose to consult Marnie Coyle, who did not have this case or has ever seen or would care to meet Rhapsody and Carolyn Scoville, who has never met Rhapsody, over the child’s caseworker, who’s come to know and love Rhapsody.
At noon, after four hours of refusing to include me in any meeting regarding Rhapsody, Don and Carolyn called me into Don’s office. Don told me that he had made a decision and it was final. Rhapsody would be going home with Mirtie, he said he is going “to give Mirite a chance“. I pleaded with him that Mirite has already had Rhapsody for three months and that the child is starving to death. Don told me that if I don’t agree to work with Mirtie, he will take Rhapsody’s case from me. I told him that I can’t “work” with Mirtie and that the Dept is neglecting Rhapsody. Don told me that I was not to make any more phone calls or have anything to do with Rhapsody. I got up and left, never to return to the Dept. as long as the likes of Marnie Coyle, Carolyn Scoville and Don Bowersox are being entrusted to protect the poor innocents, like precious little Rhapsody. How they can sacrifice Rhapsody, in their attempt to put me in my place, is just plain evil.
The thought of Rhapsody languishing at Mirtie’s foster home is horrifying to me. Mirite has already told me that she plans to get a direct G tube after this. How perversely ironic that the tax payers, the People, will pay Mirtie extra money for not feeding Rhapsody at all.
Can any one, with more power than I, advocate for Rhapsody?
Sincerely,
Gail Gottesman
Cc: Beckie Benson, mother
Fred Mellem, father
Christopher Benson, maternal uncle
Attorney for Beckie Benson
Attorney for Fred Mellem
Honorable Judge Connerton
Honorable Judge Charnetsky
Honorable Judge Pines
Margaret Fries
Martha Lyons
Ken Craig
Daniel Seiden
Norbert Higgins
Ray Recchia
Howard Shultz
Kuredin Eytina
Philomena Stamato
Tom Coulson
Barbara Fiala
Matt Ryan
Al Aaron
Dan Casella
Scott Anglehart
John Cadore
James Mack
Scott Nadel
Mike Sullivan
John Artman
Bridgett O’Connor
Peter Fee
Joe Esworthy
Gladys Butler
Glenda Lown
.
I recently read your artical about the Forster Home that has children of young ages, living in the home that are in poor health. From my uderstaning these chilren are being confind in certain areas of the home as if they have committed some kind of crime.What kind of crime could these chilren possibly have committed to deserve this kind of treatment.I was going to keep my comments to myself ,but then I realized that I had speak out for the children,because I to had my run in with "Child Protective Services".I too had asked them for help and they turned a deaf ear to me as well. And I called them on numerous times to let them know that my son Anthony Doel Borgos was in danger ,But even then they would not listen.In fact a Child Portective services women by the name of Catherine McCormick called my home and told me to stop calling them or I would be arrested if I called them again about my child. As a result my child was sent to the hospital about two weeks afterwards,two days later he was prounced dead at Syracuse hospital I had to bury my son ,because my calls for the portection of my son went unanswered. I couldn't help to notice that this particular child is about the same age as my son when he passed away. It breaks my heart to know that the system has yet to correct the same mistakes they made with my son. Which is pay attention to your surroundings. I cant help to wonder if Child Protective Service case managers have to go to any training or schooling, and if they do what have they learned there. It is so sad the thoughts of who's in charge of these children who cannot help themselves. I will keep these children in my prayers in hopes that they get the help they need.
Melvin Borgos
For any other questions regarding my comment you e-mail me @ ahaggerty_2001@yahoo.com
Andre Massena
Feb, 2, 2008
As a social work student at Binghamton University, I can testify to a number of these horrifying and inhumane practices from my experience assisting clients with DSS related issues. I am currently working as an intern at Opportunities for Broome. Most of the clients my supervisor and I assist have various issues and complaints against Broome County Department of Social Services.
The discrimination and disregard for human life at the Department of Social Services is hard for me to understand. Why do they treat people so poorly? Many times it seems like personal hatred against people who are suffering and in need. During my internship, I have had the chance to sit in on a number of fair hearings with my supervisor. The judges are terrible, they have no sympathy, and most of the time they could care less about an individual's unfortunate life circumstances. I myself want to file a complaint against them, so my experience can be made public. My intern duties include calling DSS on behalf of clients. There have been a times, when DSS staff treated me very rude and scolded me for my interest in advocating on a client's behalf. Some DSS personnel appear to be racist and discriminatory in their dealings with clients. As a young black male social worker in this community, I aspire to make a difference and improve conditions within our community for everyone. I frequently find myself extremely disappointed; quite frankly scared and shameful of the practices that not only take place at DSS, but in Binghamton as a whole.
In the prior two years or so, I was also involved with the Jail Project whcih was looking into health care concerns and discrimination in the Broome County Jail. I was shocked and appalled to see the number of people of color that were incarcerated there. The conditions at the jail appeared inhumane. Many of the Jail staff and correctional officers attitudes appeared no different then street thugs. Inmates complained of being physically abused, having to eat inadequate meals, having to wear recycled underwear (with very visible stains, etc), denied medications they needed, and did not receive proper medical check-ups. Some inmates even had no idea as to who their public defender was. Many of the public defenders did not seem interested either. Some inmates had to wait in their cold cell at times as much as 4-7 months before their charges were addressed. The system is so backed up that it's ridiculous. But after all, who really cares right?
The fact that we were at the jail investigating and trying to help these people, drove the Jail staff to constrict our efforts. Through harassment and newly adopted rules, it was nearly impossible to continue our work there. I knew many of the inmates there. One inmate, in particular, attended the same Church as me and I was aware that he had mental health issues. Others inmates were mostly young men I knew from this community that the system had simply failed. Many people end up in jail to benefit the growing economic industry we call prisons. Jail personnel eventually succeeded in driving us out. However, many inmates continue to just linger there and conditions are not any better.
I also had been working at Catholic Charities for over 4 years and I had only encountered one none white client. The client was Middle Eastern and the rest of the clients were all white!!
When we people of color have mental health issues, or are in need of social services, we are frequently labeled criminals and social deviants, but on the other hand, when white people have mental health issues they more often tend to receive the services and necessary treatment to better their lives on a disproportionate basis.
You can't tell me nothing is wrong with our system. When you look at the facts and statistics, people of color, especially black people are generally ranked in every one of the highest risk categories. Many times people are deceived into thinking people of color are the vast recipients (sucking the system) taking advantage of services but that is far from the truth.
This ideology of blaming people of color, especially blacks, is one of the GREATEST myths Americans buy in to. White people often make people of color and poor people look bad which helps perpetuate the vicious cycle of scapegoating and racism that thrives in our society.
I know my statements are strong and incriminating. As a member of this community for many years; as an immigrant from Haiti; as a black man in Binghamton; as a social worker, these types of situations have been the sum of my experience over and over again.
I am not surprised at all by your experience. Something has to be done and it needs to be done fast! Sadly to say, the very people who are elected and put in power to make a difference maintain the status quo. Unfortunately, the very same hands that perpetuate and promote these injustices are the ones we have to make pleas to and ask for help. As a person of color and a social worker in this community, I would say this is one of my greatest frustrations.We must keep fighting and expose these practices as often as we can.
We need more people like you doing the right thing. You are not alone. Keep fighting the good fight!!
Any question/comments, contact: andremassena2003@yahoo.com
I am an old time activist replanted from Michigan to NY, Norwich, NY and I am looking for action to close this bitchin country down. There are lots of things happening this spring in NYC and DC and thousands are attending. I want to be part of it but I need transportation, I won't drive to those places. Do you know of any groups in the Binghamton, NY area that are mounting a bus trip for any event? email me please; rlneva@live.com
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