Speaking of Dignity

Dylan Schwaegel has been working with Our Lady of the Road on emergency rental services during the pandemic. In partnership with the county they use federal funds to help those who are at risk of not being able to afford their rent or utilities, they also assist people experiencing homelessness with affordable housing. Dylan shares that many of the people that come to them for assistance were already living in precarious situations and the pandemic pushed them over the edge. For a lot of people just missing one or two paychecks can quickly take them down the road towards destitution. "There's an inherent dignity in all of us that cannot be abridged, cannot be ignored. When we see people fall into a situation where they don't even have their basic needs met, that should be seen as a breech of basic human dignity," states Dylan.

In October, Leah Coming came on as a staff member with Motels4Now, a new model of a low barrier shelter for those experiencing homelessness. Low barrier shelters welcome those experiencing homelessness regardless of whether or not they are clean from drugs and alcohol, however with the traditional set up of multiple beds in a row and congregate living they became potential super spreaders for COVID-19. Motels4Now converts motels into shelter offering therapy, treatment, and separate rooms for guests, reducing the spread of COVID-19. The program has been relying on county funding from the CARES Act which will keep them open for the next few months, but in the unstable context of the pandemic the long term situation is uncertain.

Since retiring from her career as a librarian, Cheryl Ashe has devoted herself to helping ex-offenders re-enter the community following their release from prison. Cheryl began this work by volunteering with her church's prison ministry, when that group dissolved she continued the work herself. Cheryl leans on the financial support and donations from her fellow parishioners to gather supplies that are needed for ex-offenders to re-enter society, but says that this work has become much harder since the pandemic began. With less attendance at church she has difficulty gathering supplies and raising funds, at a time when COVID-19 is hitting the prison system the hardest.

Stacy Odom is self employed as the director of Odom Community Development Corporation, Vice President of Monroe Park Neighborhood Association, and the primary caretaker for her mother. This past election cycle Stacy worked hard, alongside her mother, to organize people to vote by registering first time voters and getting people to the polls. We discuss how the right to vote and the responsibility to vote is connected to our understanding of the human dignity and the dignity expressed in each person's work in our society. Stacy describes how she finds a way to talk to elected officials or people in power to make her voice heard and the importance of investing in your neighborhood and local community. Through Odom Community Developers she leads a team to repair and build homes in the neighborhood she grew up in and shares the challenges the pandemic presents in continuing this work.

Dan Graff and Margie Pfeil, co-founders of the Speaking of Dignity podcast and regular hosts, review the past ten episodes and what they have learned from this project. We heard how workers needs are outpacing the protections that they need through stories from nurses needing to advocate for N95 masks and grocery store workers who meet active hostility from people averse to wearing masks. It has become clear that peoples labor is deemed essential but their lives are seen as expendable when you look at the lack of these basic protections. A common thread throughout all of the interviews is that everyone has a really unique story to tell from this pandemic. We're currently on the front end of a recent surge and in light of this share how we think the podcast will look moving forward. Listeners can continue to expect stories from the frontlines, lifting up the particular lens of each person and the dignity of their lives and their struggles.

Cecilia Stanton-Verduzco is a high school Spanish teacher of 14 years at John Adams High School in South Bend, IN. Cecilia shares that the best part about her job is working with the kids, she has a clear passion for teaching and for spending time with her students. Dan and Cecilia discuss the many challenges that teachers have confronted since the start of the pandemic. They have had to completely reinvent their curriculum to support online learning and Cecilia shares that as a language teacher in particular the loss of in-person communication has been challenging. In April and May there was a lot of applause for teachers but a shift started at the beginning of the school year with a lack of patience and empathy towards teachers who are instructing through e-learning. "You do the best you can do," says Cecilia, "everyone is trying their hardest."

Amanda Paul is a nurse at St. Luke's Hospital in New Bedford, Massachusetts. A nurse for 11 years, she works at the hospital as a bedside nurse on a medical surgical floor caring for respiratory patients. Amanda describes what a typical day in her job looks like, a fast-paced environment working closely with her patients along with a supportive team of other healthcare professionals. She shares how this has been upended since the start of the pandemic, the fear she faced going to work everyday, and paints a picture of what it looks like to be at the front of the frontlines fighting this virus.

Robyn Klingerman runs a one woman entrepreneurial catering company called A Bite with Mee out of South Bend, IN and has navigated a few ups and downs throughout the course of the pandemic. A Bite with Mee specializes in healthy food with a mission "to create educational awareness one bite at a time by providing and encouraging healthy, local, organic, eco-conscious, sustainable practices, as well as build community and connections." She's found it difficult to juggle her business with the loss of childcare and addition of e-learning at home for her children, but ultimately has viewed the pandemic as a blessing in disguise as she finds creative ways to sustain a small business during these challenging times.

Leonel Lopez is the Outreach Coordinator with the Worker Rights and Protections Project of Indiana Legal Services. Indiana Legal Services, Inc. (ILS) is a nonprofit law firm that provides free civil legal assistance to eligible low-income residents throughout the state of Indiana. On a typical day Leo spends 5-6 hours visiting different housing units, meeting with workers throughout the state, passing out pamphlets, conversing with them, and ensuring they know their rights and are not being exploited. Due to the pandemic, many of his efforts have moved online but he still occasionally meets in person, taking careful precautions. Leo's work focuses on Fair Standard Labor Act (FSLA) claims, labor trafficking and human trafficking, and making sure low income individuals have legal representation, which is ever more important during COVID-19.

Peter Smith is the Director of the soup kitchen at St. Augustine Catholic Church in South Bend, IN. Peter has volunteered with the soup kitchen for over 30 years and directed the operations for over 20. At the start of the pandemic they struggled to figure out how to remain open and serve the local community, particularly because many of the volunteers were in a high-risk population. However, they quickly pivoted with high school and college students stepping in to volunteer and switching to carry-out food distributed outdoors. Dan and Peter discuss the challenges of trying to keep people safe but also provide an essential service and lament the lack of community- building due to social distancing guidelines and the impact this could have on culture long term.