The biggest problem I see with this is that I would be leery of leaving my children in the care of someone on welfare. Is that biased? Yes. I,
however, reserve the right to be biased when I feel it is detrimental to my family to not be biased.
The assumption that welfare recipients want to better themselves is, IMHO, a far stretch. I have (unfortunately) known many welfare families. The vast
majority have no drive to better themselves. They may have the desire, but desire without drive is about as useful as nipples on a male hog.
Quite a few don't even have the desire.
Many years ago I was one of those people who felt sorry for the homeless, for the guys holding out the "Will work for food" signs, the people living
in poverty. But after I tried many times to help these people, I finally realized that they have no desire to do or be anything more than they are at
present.
I have picked up people who wanted to 'work for food', and taken them home to mow a yard for a meal. A small yard, for a fine meal, all tools
provided, and we went all out on that meal. What I got was complaints about how the mower wouldn't start (it started fine when I pulled the cord),
how they couldn't get it to cut right (even though it cut fine when I pushed it), and how they needed a break after watching
me mow the yard.
And of course, once I finished mowing my yard and we all got finished eating, I got to take time out to drive them back to their intersection. I would
have been better off giving them $20 for a restaurant and mowing the yard myself... I would have taken far less time and I could have actually gotten
more done!
I have offered jobs to people who were on welfare. Paid under the table so their benefits wouldn't be cut, easy work, just something to help them
out. What I got was no work done, had some stuff stolen, and if something did get done, it was at the expense of a lot more being torn up.
I once befriended a guy who was living under a bridge. I did everything in my power to help him. His response was to try to get me in trouble with the
law (by blaming his drugs on me; I was able to avoid trouble thanks to my reputation vs. his), to steal from me, and to finally, after I personally
managed to get some past behavior problems smoothed out with the local charity for the homeless, to storm out on those who were giving him a place to
live because he wanted a drink!
No, the homeless for the most part are homeless for a reason: they want to be homeless. Those on welfare are on welfare for the most part because they
want to be on welfare. I realize that a small percentage are the exception to this rule, but how do you sort through hundreds in order to locate those
precious few you can help?
I know people who are not homeless, just of lower income. Most of them have children who will follow in their footsteps, because their attitude toward
them is "soon as they hit 18, they're moving out and getting a job". They have no intention of their children going to college or even training for
a trade career. They throw a fit if their child needs paper and pencils for school. Now, if they exhibit an attitude that I find repulsive toward
their own children, how much more would someone of even lower status have a similar or worse attitude towards someone else's children?
IF you could find that one person out of hundreds who is just down on their luck, your idea would be wonderful. Unfortunately, I don't think
you'll find them. And even if you do, you can only help people who want help... and that leaves out the vast majority of welfare recipients.
At least I can give you kudos for trying though.
TheRedneck