I
PageA10-The Chronicle, Thursd
Experiment In Self-R(
After 20 y<
By ROBIN ADAMS
Chronicle Assistant Editor
Louise Wilson was slightly irritated
by an article she read in
Monday morning's newspaper.
The article quoted Charles
Murray, a senior research fellow
at the Manhattan Institute for
Policy Research, as saying that
the War on Poverty has hurt and
not helped poor people.
"I'm conna write him a nice
little note and tell him to shove
it," said Wilson.
Wilson said she knows better
than that because, for the past 19
years, she has been a general on
the front lines in the War on
Poverty. And although the war
continues, said the executive
* *
director of Experiment in SelfReliance
Inc., many a battle has
been won.
"I like a good fight," said
Wilson. *Tm in the War on
Poverty. We win some. We lose
? some. But we~are gonna win (in
the end). Winston-Salem and
Forsyth County cannot afford to
lose."
This week, ESR will celebrate
its 20th anniversary with a weeklong
open house that culminates
in a banquet on Friday. Because
Wilson has been with ESR for
almost as long as there has been
an ESR, one of the best ways to
find out about the organization
that Wilson said helps 15,000 to
20,000 people a year, is to ask the
person she calls "The Chief HellCatcher:"
her.
"We (ESR) have been a
catalyst and a thorn in some peo
pie's sides," said Wilson. "We
have made our true number of
L. enemies by pointing out, in the beginning,
that certain things
should be done by certain agencies.
If you are blazing a trail,
you're not going to blaze a trail
without making some mistakes
making some enemies. It's not
possible. Some people ? very
conservative and good Christians
? feel that we don't do anything
but give to the poor and lazy."
Rut F.SR "cprvpc the nwrfv."
Wilson said, "not the greedy."
ESR's services include:
a weatherization program to
help senior citizens insulate their
homes at no charge.
a nutritional program that
feeds more than 400 senior
citizens a day.
a senior opportunities program
that places homemakers in
the homes of other seniors who
can't clean their own homes.
a Service Hot Line that locates
rni
Th<
NCNB's prime rate is t
percentage
AV. October 18, 1984
eliance
ears, compasi
iM
ESR Executive Director Louis
ought to shove it (photo by Ji
temporary employment.
a shelter for people who have
been evicted from their homes
and don't have anyplace else to
go.
a Learn to Earn Program that
helps people get their GED
diplomas and teaches them a skill
and how to locate a job.
a Home Improvement Program
that renovates housing for
senior citizens.
a Positive Mental Attitude
Training program that teaches
ESR clients how to feel good
about themselves.
- Jslf-you are blazing a trail\,
without making some mist
It's not possible. "
and a Problem Center tha
A _ _ _ _
meeis emergency neeas ana pro
vides counseling, budget infor
mation and follow-up services.
ESR has been credited witl
giving birth to the Gladiator
Boxing Club and the local Lega
Aid Society, has served as th
delegate agency for the Iocs
Headstart program and the Eas
Winston Crime Task Force
developed the first TransAid sei
vice for the city, administered
work program that later becam
CETA and is now the Job Pari
he rate announced by NCNB from i
rate was 14.0% for a balance ofSh
sionate and spi
g%. _ ,;
Bar
BU '
\e Wilson: He who says the War o
imes Parker).
nership Training Act, funded the
first public service proposal for
the police department and helped
write the first grant for the Model
Cities Program.
Although Wilson will admit
1 that's quite a lot of work, she'll
also be the first to say that all that
needs to be done hasn't.
"We don't have the money to
really to do some of the programs
we feel are necessary," said
Wilson. "But we coordinate with
every other agency that provides
services for people."
Althnuoh FQR hac a Irtno lict
i
you're not going to blaze a trail
akes or making some enemies.
? Louise Wilson
t of proud accomplishments now,
it hasn't always been that way.
When the center opened in 1964
under the auspices of the North
h Carolina Fund, an anti-poverty
s, group, it was chastised by local
tl newspapers for "moving too
e slowly." According to a 1968 aril
tide in the Winston-Salem Jourit
nal, "an evaluation suggested
5, that the Experiment's attack on
poverty was uncoordinated and
a that the agency had no distinct
e goals and priorities."
t- The article further said that the
um*(
> jgH
- '.i
EL
n
time to time as its prime rate AI though
0,000 or more and 15.5% for a balana
. ...... - -- - inky
as ever
fff00 *M ^r
n Poverty has hurt poor people
N
agency failed to understand
poverty, failed to involve the
poor and practiced racial
discrimination. The agency only
survived during that bumpy
period, said the article, because
of "Mrs. Wilson's work."
"When I took over as
director," said Wilson, "I called
the newspaper and said, Tell our
good side.' But first, we had to
have a good side to tell."
Wilson made that vow almost
18 years ago and today, as she sat
at a small table in her office,
.1 t_: L _ U!_'
iiiuiuuiug uiruugn a Dig scrapbook
filled with newspaper clippings
about ESR, its programs and
the people it has helped, she said
she believes the good side is being
told.
"If 1 could, I would do what
I've done for the past 19 years the
rest'of my life," said Wilson.
"But I will turn 65 next year and
I plan to come out. But I don't
plan to stop work.
"I've enjoyed every day I have
spent at ESR. We have made people
feel that they are somebody!*
"This job has given me insight
into what it means to be poor, ...
and (insight) to create some programs
or some type of
philosophy that lets people know
that somebody cares."
Please see page B15
Of!
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COMSTRUCTM
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27thAnnual
Ebony Fashion Fair
? PresentslF^/^ ^Ofi/o^U
Presented by
. Winston-Salem
Urban Lea0ue
^ llK><Jfl fc. FrM?'
November 2, 1984
pm
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Confer
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ft $18.00
j|Bwf Call 725-5614 for
]\ more information
vJp)
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