Community Social Intelligence

Dear Neighbor:

The Brick House Foundation advocates on the behalf of women, children, men, prisoners, students, tenants, gays, welfare clients and Aid to families with dependent children.

We, most of us live on the edge of poverty. Some of you own a home but can’t afford Oil to heat it; others mortgage their property in order to pay a car note, only to find that they may be evicted. Many more are homeless and live on the streets; and stand on the corner in front of bodegas; package stores and the library then they get arrested for loitering.

A great majority of people living in Hartford don’t have enough to eat. There are a limited number of organizations that hand out blankets or hot meals. None of these charities ( at least none that I know of) are revolutionary. They don’t organize the people to demand what is their rightful inheritance. They enable the poor to survive one day at a time until they fall.

During election time “Political Prostitutes” pass around the tin cups and begin to door knock. Between the Governor, mayor and State representative we have been lulled into accepting poverty disease homelessness, illiteracy, substance abuse, and the loss of our claim to dignity. We are encouraged not to question the basic lies of our elected officials. We are told many things, some of them are true, and many are not.

In such instances, The Governor, Mayor and State Representatives have told the citizens of Hartford not to become dependent on the Department of Social services, or organizations to provide resources to their families. There is a gap between civil rights and social benefits; there is an inconsistency when it comes to protecting the rights of the impoverished citizen living in Hartford.

  The social status and social value of the average voter has been degraded by the “Political Prostitute” who door knocks for candidates who seek to gain power and status. Every citizen has the “right to have rights”, there is a citizenship contradiction facing the impoverished communities of Hartford, Connecticut.

  I am calling a “War on Poverty”!  The revolution I am recommending does not call for bloodshed or physical violence of any kind.  Instead of marching in the streets, I encourage you to march to the voting polls. A common cause of homicide and crime in Hartford, Connecticut is Poverty, economic, insecurity and the lack of democracy.

A Federal program, also known as welfare or financial assistance to needy American families, was created in 1935 as part of the Social Security Act: abolished in Hartford, Connecticut by former Governor John Rowland in 1996. City leaders have since failed to protect to the impoverished citizens of Connecticut; so the mission of  Brick House Foundation is to encourage the residents living within the City of Hartford to demand economic development in the Second Chance Promise Zone. 

 State representatives need to expand their sound bites and accept the responsibility for public health, welfare and education. Political corruption is rife in Hartford, Connecticut on Federal and state levels; “The galleries and lobbies of every legislature, are thronged with men and women seeking to procure an advantage for one corporation or another.

Some people are wealthy, others poor; but we are all individuals.  My approach is simple. What we intend to do is explore the ways in which systems and institutions of Hartford, Connecticut created contagious housing and hidden mental addictions on our bodies and minds at the earliest age possible, and then expect the impoverished citizens to bear the weight of poverty until they die.

Martha Hood PhD