The Transcript

The Women’s City Club of Delaware, Ohio will be giving a garden tour of 8 Delaware gardens this weekend in an attempt to raise money for housing renovations, including those for its dining room’s recently collapsed ceiling.

The nonprofit organization dedicates itself to providing women in need with low cost housing. The group consistently fundraises in order to provide the residents with low rents, which are about $60 a week per resident and include utilities. In addition to constantly fundraising to keep rents low, the WCC has to raise additional funds for the home’s many necessary repairs. The 135 N. Franklin St. home was once an Ohio Wesleyan University fraternity house and has been in business since 1954, so renovations are not an uncommon need for the historic home.

One of the club’s more recent fundraisers took place on Friday, April 14, 2014, when the volunteers of the WCC collected donated items for a rummage sale to be held the next day. The rummage sale was inspired by a need to make about $4,000 for renovations, but raised $900. April’s rummage sale could not have predicted a need for funding beyond their goal of $4000, but in early June, the home’s dining room ceiling collapsed. The ceiling continues to be the primary concern for the renovations and safety of the women living there. Even with insurance coverage, the WCC expects to spend a significant amount of money on the repair.

There are eight women who reside in the rooms on the second and third floor of the four-story home. Only single women are eligible to live at WCC, but women of all ages, from 20 to 90 and above, are welcome.

OWU alumna Emily Amburgey, ’13, is one of those eight women, but her reasons for occupancy are different than most. Amburgey is the house monitor as well as an intern coach for the Varsity Track team at Ohio Wesleyan.

“I needed a place to live in Delaware that was cheap,” she said. “I kind of intern coach, follow my head coaches around and do what they do. I don’t get paid anything.”

A former Women and Gender Studies/Sociology double major, Amburgey is applying to graduate school next year and plans to become a social worker. She said her position at the WCC helps her prepare for a future of helping others.

“(WCC) is right up my alley,” she said. “It’s interesting seeing the different mix of people that come through this house, and it’s just neat to be able to talk to and eclectic group of women and be able to help them out on their little journeys.”

As the monitor, Amburgey also acts as the house’s resident mediator, putting out any emotional fires that may arise within the residents.

“Anything like someone gets locked out of their room or if there’s any sort of question or dispute, that’s what I’m here for,” she said. “I mean it’s a house full of women, it can be difficult at times but for the most part it’s totally fine,” she said.

 

Kelly Abel, 21, who graduated from Rutherford B. Hayes High School in 2011, moved in about two weeks before the rummage sale.

“I was in Bowling Green, Ohio for a few months, couch hopping because things got really bad with my parents,” she said. “They were emotionally abusive, that’s why I left.”

Although Amburgey and Abel are both in their 20’s, most of the other residents vary in age. The WCC provides housing for single women of all ages, from 20-90 and above.

“I’m thinking that down the road I definitely want to not live here because I want to be married and have children of my own,” Abel said.

Abel said she is happy to call the WCC her temporary home, she said that she has many aspirations for her future and is currently looking for a job in Delaware.

“I’m trying to find work right now, anything that pays,” she said. “I heard possibly United Dairy Farmers.”

Like Abel, housemate Rebekah Nussbum, 32, from Orville, Ohio found the WCC after moving out of her childhood residence.

“I was ready to move out of my parents house, I heard about (WCC) and finally decided I might as well try it,” said Nussbum.

Nussbum has been living at the WCC for about 16 months. Currently unemployed, Nessbum had worked at the Columbus Zoo in season since 2003. Unlike Abel, she said she’s not sure what she wants to do in the future.

Treasurer for the WCC, Sue Capretta, intends on raising enough money so residents like Nussbum and Abel have a safe and inexpensive place to live for as long as they wish. She said the board for the WCC is bonded by this idea.

“I think it was just the concept of what the group does, being able to allow women to be here, you know for reduced price and helping them work through their struggles,” Capretta said.

Greta Bemiller, the current Vice President of the WCC, has been a member of the board for over 10 years.

“I came in and met everyone having dinner and liked the people and got involved,” she said of her start at the WCC. “It’s a fun group we work very hard but have fun as well.”

Zuilla Way founded the WCC 60 years ago, and Bemiller said that they frequently hold events to raise awareness and funds in an effort to honor her mission: providing safe and affordable housing for women below the poverty line.

“Board meeting is the first Tuesday of every month, and we have a dinner meetings, sometimes we go to restaurants. We usually have a potluck and we do some fun silly things,” Bemiller said. “We’ll have a chili cook off and give awards- they’re major awards,” she added in April as she was holding up decorations for the rummage sale.

Employment gaps between men and women are widening nationally, and Delaware County is no exception.

The official definition used by the U.S. Census reads, “If a family’s total income is less than the family’s threshold, then that family and every individual in it is considered in poverty.”

In Delaware County there are 8,885 people living below the poverty line, with 1,818,886 of all of Ohio’s residents fall below the poverty line. Delaware holds approximately one-half of a percent of the underprivileged rate in Ohio. According to the 2014 Ohio Poverty Report, “…poverty rates are higher for families with children, families without a full-time, year-round worker, and single-parent households- especially those with a female head.”

Ohio Wesleyan women’s and gender studies instructor Rita Trimble, said she defines underprivileged people as those who are  economically disadvantaged. Trimble said she believes it “falls disproportionally on certain groups of women.”

“People who don’t totally fit the white, middle-class, feminine norm are at risk to be more economically disadvantaged,” she said.

According to the census data for 2011, 13.6 percent of males are under the poverty line, while 16.3 percent of females are impoverished.

In another census report from 2012, the poverty rates are displayed by age and gender. For ages 65 and over, 11 percent of women are suspected to be living in poverty, while 6.6 percent of men are believed to be living under the poverty line. From ages 18 to 64, 15.4 percent of women are underprivileged, compared to 11.9 percent of men. Ages under 18 show that 22.3 percent of women and 21.3 percent of men are living below the poverty line.

Children

Trimble said that “a big factor” of why more women than men are consider underprivileged is the fact that “unpaid labor that goes on is done by women.”

“We have an idea of how people should be able to pull their own weight and one difficulty for a single mother is that that unpaid labor doesn’t get recognized as labor,” she said.  “So it’s hard to be recognized as pulling your own weight.”

Various organizations throughout Delaware County provide multiple services to those who fall below the poverty line, with some focusing strictly on women.

OWU senior Tasha Cruz volunteers at Family Promise, a nonprofit organization in Delaware committed to helping those below the poverty line.

“We provide them with housing and food basically for a minimum duration of four weeks with a possible extension up to three months,” Cruz said.

Cruz said she believes a reason more women are underprivileged could be because they stay with their children.

Assistant professor of English Constance Richards defines an underprivileged person as “someone who doesn’t have access to basic needs: education, job, adequate food, safe home.”

Richards said women living in poverty often have children, which makes escaping hardship much more difficult. She also said it can be easier for men to be absent in the parent role than it is for mothers.

“Because we don’t have a subsidized child care system in this country, women are always going to have an extra job,” Richards said. “If we had subsidized child care — so safe, affordable child care — moms could put kids in child care then they might be better able to compete in the marketplace.”

Pay Inequalities

Trimble said there is a blaming stigma that occurs when a person is disadvantaged. Many people living below the poverty line work multiple jobs, but more often than not these workers earn minimum wage, making it difficult to achieve economic security. For women responsible for children, a minimum wage job makes earning a decent living especially difficult.  Despite their work at one or several jobs, people below the poverty line are frequently generalized as lazy.

Trimble said there is a sense of shame that the unprivileged face, as they can conform to society’s view of their situation.

According to the Insecure and Unequal Poverty and Income Among Women and Families Report for 2010 and 2011 by the National Women’s Law Center, “Poverty rates for all groups of women were higher than for their male counterparts.”

“The gender wage gap persisted, undermining women’s ability to support themselves and their families,” the report said.

It continued to show the discrepancies between men and women. Women on average make 77 cents to every man’s dollar, which for the year 2011 there was “an annual difference of $11,084 in median earnings.” African-American and Hispanic women earned 64 and 55 cents to every white man’s dollar, respectively.

Although there continues to be poverty, the report stated that poverty has stabilized between 2010 and 2011 after it had been increasing in the prior years.

In another report by The National Women’s Law Center, the center focuses on inequality of pay in Ohio.According to census data, women in Ohio earned $35,284 full-time to men’s $45,859 earnings in 2010. Additionally, 15.2 percent of Ohio women were in poverty to Ohio men’s 11.6 percent.

Local Organizations

Located in the middle of the Delaware community are three organizations that aimed to help those in need: Family Promise, he Andrews House and the Women’s City Club.

Family Promise volunteer Cruz said Family Promise works to take in and provide for low-income families. There is an on-staff social worker to help the families find work and housing for when they leave the organization.

Andrews House, located at the corner of North Franklin and West Winter Street, is a community center with offices that provide assistance to the underprivileged and works on programs to better lives.

The center includes offices for legal, financial, child care, health and food services. There is a full kitchen for the bi-monthly community dinners. Director Mel Corroto said about 40 to 90 people show up for each dinner.

Andrews House also works with other food programs like the Mobile Food Market with Mid-Ohio Foodbank and the Summer Lunch Program for children under 18 when they are not in school.

Every Wednesday the Andrews House offers free Medical services with its Grace Medical Clinic, and once a month the Delaware Bar Association offers free legal advice through a clinic.

Corroto said she does not necessarily see more women than men come in for the services offered at the Andrews House. However, the Andrews House is beginning to work with the program Support Through Empowerment and Partnerships (STEP), and she said she has seen more women through this program than men. Corroto said that last year the STEP class had eight students, seven of whom were women. Corroto said this year’s class is all women.

The Women’s City Club of Delaware focuses its attention specifically on women. Greta Bemiller, the club’s vice president, said the club offers housing for underprivileged women with a small rooming fee. All of the house’s nine rooms are currently occupied, and more women are on a waiting list to move into the club.

Bemiller said she believes there are more women in need than men because of “the glass ceiling” that prevents women from achieving the same successes of working men. She said it’s common for women to have less access to education, which can result in fewer job opportunities.

The Women City’s Club works as a transition place for the women to get them back on their feet. The club is able to stay afloat with government grants and fundraising events. The 37 members of the club are all volunteers.

Both Corroto and Bemiller said they have had Ohio Wesleyan students come and volunteer. Cruz said she hopes students can become aware of what is going on around Ohio Wesleyan.

“It would be so easy for a student to step outside off campus a little bit,” Cruz said. “They would be able to see that these are people.”

“When an oxycodone cost $80 and 30 milligrams of Percocet is $30 you can’t afford to sustain that habit for long. I told my dealer I couldn’t keep spending $120 a day, so he suggested I try his pure white heroin. Like that, I was hooked,” said 35-year-old Delaware native and recovering addict, Danielle Adkins.

Heroin originally became popular in the 1960s, but after four decades, it is now back funneling through U.S. streets at a high rate. According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, from 2007 to 2012 the number of Americans using heroin increased from 373,000 to 669,000.

Steve Hedge, executive-director of Delaware Morrow Mental Health and Recovery Services, said heroin is their No.1 problem.

“Heroin and opioids are some of the most addictive drugs you can take. You’ll hear former abusers say I got hooked the first time I injected it,” he said.

The narcotic analgesic directly depresses the central nervous system causing an intense high. Heroin can be naturally derived from the opium poppy or formulated synthetically in a lab.

Adkins said she had to learn how to hide her addiction from her husband, child and friends.

“While I was slamming (injecting through the veins), I shot up in my lower extremities, in between my toes, and in the veins on my breasts,” she said. “I always made sure the lights were off when I made love to my husband so he would not know my secret.”

The country-wide epidemic has severely affected. Ohio In 2011, there were 1,765 unintentional drug overdoses, according to the Ohio Department of Health. That means nearly five Ohioans died every day from unintentional drug overdose that year.

Judge David Sunderman of the Delaware County Municipal Court said heroin addicts are not worried about overdosing.

“I had a guy in court recently that was on probation, and he was a heroin user. His best friend and girlfriend had both died from an overdose. I mentioned to the court that he had tested dirty even after that occurred,” said Sunderman. “I said, ‘A logical person would conclude that once you see someone close to you die, you’re just not going to use again.’ He responded, ‘Judge to be honest, there’s no logic involved in this. I know that is how I should think, but when you’re a heroin addict you don’t care about that. There are times I’d be happy dead anyways.”

Adkins, a former registered nurse at Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center, said the addiction is extremely strong.

“I would go to work high, inject myself while I was at work, and then get high when I got home. I still feel very guilty for taking an oath as a nurse to care for the sick, not to hurt them,” she said.

According to the Ohio Department of Health, from 1997 to 2011 the amount of unintentional drug overdose death rates and distribution rates of prescription opioids showed a strong relationship as both are currently at all-time highs.

Prescription opioid pills such as OxyContin and Percocet are the gateways to heroin. These prescription pills can be obtained from a pharmacy with a valid prescription or from “pill mills” where patient’s leftover prescription medication is distributed illegally.

Delaware Police Chief Bruce Pijanowski said the source of addiction is doctors over-prescribing opiate pain medication to some of their patients.

“My daughter just had very minor knee surgery, and she got a 30-day supply of Percocet when she only needed a one-day supply. Part of the problem is the left-over pain pills are just sitting there and they get diverted,” he said.

Dr. Andy Lee of the Smith Clinic said heroin addicts are solely worried about where the cheapest fix is coming from.

“As the supply of prescription opiates has dried up, they’ve become more and more expensive and more difficult to get. Simple economics dictates that I’m going to buy whatever is cheapest,” he said.

Addicts often resort to burglaries, shoplifting and home invasions, selling or pawning their stolen goods for their next cheap fix. Judge Sunderman said desperate addicts will do anything for a balloon of heroin.

“Since we are the municipal court, we see a tremendous amount of shoplifting cases,” he said. “Big shopping areas such as Polaris, all the stores down on Route 23 and stores in town are unfortunately convenient places for people to go get items. Their plan is they steal merchandise worth $300, to go get enough money out if it for their next fix.”

After months of being consistently using heroin, Adkins had a scare and decided to finally admit her addiction to her husband. He immediately took her to inpatient rehabilitation where she endured withdrawal.

Adkins then was admitted to outpatient rehabilitation at Maryhaven, a rehabilitation and addiction recovery care center in Delaware. Adkins has been clean for almost two years, and she said the road to recovery is rewarding.

“When I was high, my body was there, but I wasn’t,” she said. “Maryhaven saved my life, and I am now a more attentive mother to my child and better wife to my husband.”

Adkins said she is now pursuing her bachelor’s degree online to become a social worker to help other addicts and get her story out. Adkins explained she has learned one major lesson through her journey.

“I had a great family, nice house and a good paying job, but I still became addicted,” she said. “If it can happen to me, it can happen to anyone.”