[nfbwatlk] SUB MINIMUM WAGE

[debby phillips]

Mary Ellen, I was wondering about folks who do not have a lot of 
cognitive ability.  Certainly some of the people that I met while 
living and working in the L'Arche community were capable of 
working in a non-sheltered place of employment.  In fact, one of 
the men in my house made a decision to leave L'Arche, and he was 
one of the founding members of the community in Tacoma.  I was 
never quite sure whether he left because he wanted to or because 
his caseworker thought he should be in a more "independent" 
setting.  And what is independence, anyway?  I'm not trying to 
rationalize, but truly some people are truly happy where they 
are, even if, for us it seems that they are being dependent.  
There is a young woman I know who has worked at the Lighthouse 
four or five years now.  She loves it there.  Could she work 
elsewhere?  It's quite possible she could, and maybe some day she 
will want to.  But I wouldn't take away her happiness and 
contentment for anything.  I've seen her blossom from a shy, 
young girl to a responsible young woman who is committed to her 
job and has a good life.  Would it not be a disservice to her to 
tell her that she is not independent because she works at the 
Lighthouse?  I know that in my younger years I would have put her 
down because of where she worked.  But who am I, or any of us to 
judge what independence means for someone?  I don't know.  I do 
know that people should be paid at least minimum wage.  But I'm 
not convinced yet that there isn't a place, or aren't places 
where some people should work, whether they are "sheltered 
workshops" or not.  But of course there are lots of provisios 
with that statement.    Peace,    Debby