60 policymakers in eight states pair up with low-income constituents for one month
The Walk a Mile Program- Making Politics Personal
Seattle, WA -- 60 policymakers and low-income constituents in California, Colorado, Iowa, Maryland, Minnesota, Ohio, Washington, and West Virginia will spend the month of November "walking a mile" in each other's shoes and learning from one another about poverty, public policies and politics.
The pairs will participate in the national Walk a Mile (WAM) project based in Seattle which aims to make politics more personal by creating a mutually educational opportunity through direct interpersonal experience.
During November, WAM pairs will share life experiences through weekly telephone calls and spend time sharing one in person activity from the low-income constituent's life, as well as one activity from the policymaker's life. Policymakers are also asked to participate in a food budget exercise where policymakers are asked to try feeding their family on the amount of money they would receive in food stamps for their family size.
The month long experience will also be beneficial for low-income constituents by bringing them face-to-face with the political process and those who represent them.
Most WAM projects represent a region that is either a city, county, or several counties combined. The largest project, coordinated by the Upper Des Moines OpportunityAgency in upper north Iowa, covers a 12 county region. All eight projects are linked with the National Walk a Mile Program which in ten years has joined 1300 pairs of policymakers and low-income families together in 30 states.
Two projects, the Ohio and Washington state projects are pilot projects and will pair youth who have aged out of the foster care system together with policymakers. Concerns for the nationally growing foster care population prompted the WAM project to invite former foster youth to participate this year. The youth and officials will spend time educating one another by talking about the obstacles the youth face in finding jobs, education, and services, and sharing close-up what situations both participants face in their daily work and personal lives. Policymakers will be asked to live on the same estimated minimum wage budget their youth partner lives on each month.
Walk a Mile is a program of Northwest Institute for Children & Families at the University of Washington's School of Social Work. To become a Walk a Mile coordinator, contact National Program Director Natasha Grossman at 206-543-3027 or visit www.walkamile.org.
