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Welfare Rights Organization, New Orleans, Louisiana

WRO is a 15-year-old grassroots community organization of "have and have-nots"--while some members are welfare recipients and low income individuals, the membership spans the economic spectrum. The group helps ensure that citizens receive the government financial assistance they are legally allowed and works to help individuals become economically self-sufficient. WRO strives for these goals using both political action and individual level services. In 1989 WRO's Executive Director, a former welfare recipient, served on the Louisiana governor's task force on welfare reform, which reviewed and commented on the 1988 Family Support Act. WRO has been active on numerous other task forces across the state and recently created its own task force to study Louisiana's latest reform proposal. They plan to recommend to the state legislature implementation of reforms based on the needs of women and their children.

WRO focuses much of its individual-level work on "hard-to-serve" AFDC recipients and has been recognized for that work. The organization serves as a reference point to help recipients locate services such as assistance with utility bills and legal advice. They also operate a job-readiness program called And Still I Rise which helps prepare recipients for entry/re-entry into the labor force. In addition to providing practical guidance on resume writing and interview skills, they deal with issues such as self-esteem and combating certain stereotypes of welfare recipients (for example, they discuss that growing up on welfare does not inevitably lead to welfare receipt as an adult). Many graduates of the program have found employment.

This report was prepared by Sue Scrivener, M.S.W., a volunteer policy analyst for the Center.

-- from the April 2nd 1996 issue of Welfare News