For Immediate Release:

What Does Employable Mean When There is No Employment?

Thousands in Alameda County face starvation, criminalization and houselessness due to proposed cuts to General Assistance.

What: Press Conference and Rally

When: Monday, June 8th @ 9:30 am

Where: 1221 Oak Street, Oakland, CA

"I will starve for the other nine months of the year," said Roger Lincoln, unemployed worker and resident of Oakland in response to the proposal by the Alameda County Board of Supervisors to cut General Assistance to only three months of every year to thousands of unemployed workers living in poverty.

In addition to leaving recipients without aid for nine months out of the year, the proposal also includes reducing all GA grants by $40.00 every month for people without MediCal and further reducing grants by up to 25% for people who share housing. These severe cuts would affect over 7,000 Alameda County community members who are currently facing unemployment in one of the nation's worst recessions.

In 1997, the last time Alameda County imposed a time limit on General Assistance, the county saw an increase in hunger, crime, homelessness and housing instability. According to a study prepared for the Alameda County Social Services Agency on the impact of time limits on GA, 29% of recipients surveyed were forced to move after losing aid and 20% became homeless. 53% reported that they went hungry for at least one day a week and only 8% reported finding full-time employment after losing their benefits.

"In the biggest recession since World War II it doesn't make sense to cut people off without a dime for nine months of the year," said Ed Barnes, attorney at the East Bay Community Law Center. "These cuts are going to cost us a lot more in the long run, in public protection, health care and safety net services," he added.

"What does employable mean when there is no employment? said Lisa Gray-Garcia, former Alameda County welfare recipient, executive director of POOR Magazine, and author of Criminal of Poverty: Growing Up Homeless in America. "In light of economic downturn there when there are no jobs, the idea of employable can only mean one thing, starve-able," she said. 

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