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story and photos
by Chris Hodges
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le Haves
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Below, from center top, counter-clockwise:
Ravonna Van Lear, 633 S. 17th St., apt.
B-6 worries about taking care of her chil
dren, Penny, 7, and Kyle, 4, on a tight
budget
The alley behind the City Mission pro
vides a gloomy scene of crumbling brick
walls.
Chico, an unemployed youth, gives a
"power salute' in defiance of the working
world.
Richard Duncan sits in a doorway near
the City Mission with nowhere to go. He
seeks the necessities of life on a day-today
basis.
Burdell King moved into the City Mis
sion when he could no longer afford to
pay rent because his Social Security pay
ments did not come through.
i U L
i
K I
Lincoln boasted the lowest
unemployment rate of any metro
politan area in the nation at the
beginning cf this year. The stat
istics would lead one to believe
that unemployment is not a prob
lem in Lincoln.
But jobs are not as easy to find
as the statistics would indicate.
People who come to Lincoln in
search of a good job will probably
be disappointed, according to the
Nebraska Job Service Office.
Competition between people
applying for jobs can be tough.
Overqualified job hunters, such as
college graduates, often take any
jobs they can find.
Lack of money can cause des
peration, even violence. The re
sults can be seen even in the
streets of Lincoln.
Chico, an unemployed youth,
was spending his afternoon on a
park bench on O Street, heckling
passers-by.
"Reagan s cutting food
stamps," he shouted. "He ain't
doing nothing for the poor people.
How you gonna get money?" he
asked.
"Knock people on the head!"
he said and laughed, "Hit up
churches. Panhandle."
He pointed to a small tree, city
property, that was planted along
side the sidewalk. "See that tree?"
he asked. "I'd cut that tree down
if I could sell it. I'd sell it to Rea
gan." Then he paused and added,
"I'd take off all the branches and
beat him with it."
Other unemployed people are
not so hostile. They seemed only
worried about keeping their fami
lies together. A mother of two
young children, Ravonna Van
Lear, said she was afraid she
would be unable to take care of
her children if her welfare was cut
off.
"I get ADC (Aid to Dependent
Children)," she said. "If they cut
off my ADC, I'd be in bad shape."
Van Lear explained that a back
injury and partial loss-of-hearing
has kept her from finding a good
job.
"I couldn't get a job," she said.
"If they cut my ADC off, they
might as well bury me."
Some needy people seem lost in
hopelessness. They neither look
for jobs nor seek government aid.
"I been going from place to
place," said Ricardo Duncan, a
young man who was staying at
the City Mission on Ninth and 0
streets.
"They'll give you clothes at the
Salvation Army," he muttered, al
most to himself, as he sat in the
doorway of a store. "I was just at
the Mission last night . . . Yeah,
they'll give you food here," he
said, looking down at the side
walk. "And friends," he said. "You
meet friends."
Other needy people, such as 65
year old Burdell King, say they
feel cheated by the government.
King said he was forced to give up
his home and move into the City
Mission because his Social Secu
rity payments had not come
through.
"I went to take out Social Se
curity, For 27 years, I worked and
put money into the Social Secu
rity Program. Five months ago, I
put in my application, I still have
n't got a penny of all that money
back," he said.
The system seemed baffling to
King. He said he never expected
to get this far in life and then lose
everything.
"What's the world coming to?"
he asked, "It's dog-eat-dog. They
don't care if they rob you to give
to someone else. Twenty-seven
years, and I haven't got a penny
of it back."