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Concept Cue
Concept Cue
Does Charity Do More Harm Than Good?
Philanthropy is the desire to help promote the welfare of others. At its core, it is a generous and noble ideal. However, as discussed in the TedTalk, “Does Charity Do More Harm Than Good?” by Allan Brown, people’s giving is often misguided and misapplied and can actually cause harm to those they intended to help. While he was referring to people in developing nations, there is a strong tie-in to charity given to the Deaf community.
A desire to give and help those around us is a good desire. Allan Brown says that giving is good to “get out of our consumption mindset”. This sentiment rings very true to me, personally. I know that a day of work (I’m a real estate agent and home stager and those are industries where you are steeped in comparison and acquisition of the latest and greatest material possessions), rounded off with a trip to the grocery store, and an evening watching a show full of advertising breaks can have my head absolutely swimming with all the things I “need” and discontent about the things I do have. Western culture is all about consumption. In that respect, giving and philanthropy can be powerful antidotes to greed, dissatisfaction, and self-centeredness.
However, Brown cautions us to be wise about how and what we give - or in other words to avoid “bad charity”. Much of the giving that is done has an unintended impact on local industry. One example of this is giving people food or constructing a building for someone rather than allowing the local market to meet that need and small businesspeople to make money to support their families and put back into the local economy. This reinforces the notion that people are helpless and hurts people’s ability to help themselves. Brown also mentions that people are quick to give “stuff” (which often isn’t needed), but slow to give what is really needed - money, time, and skills.
He implores us to be “good donors”. This is done by being very generous AND looking into what you are contributing to (much as you would look into insurance companies, the car you want to buy, which doctor to see, which restaurant to eat at on your vacation, etc.). We should try to support programs that help people to help themselves and avoid programs that create continued dependence on us. Examples of this could be supporting educational programs, clean water programs, programs that provide wheelchairs, or that provide job training. In emergencies, we could look to support programs that send first responders when additional “boots on the ground” are needed beyond what a country can supply. Additionally, money is an ongoing (though often less glamorous) need by many good charities.
These concepts can be applied to the Deaf community, as well. There are times when “stuff” is helpful (perhaps at Christmas time when there is an abundance of need) or after an acute disaster like a fire. However, there are also many more times when the help that is needed is more big picture and long term - the kind of work that helps lift and empower people and provides support to the efforts they are already making. Philanthropy in the Deaf community could look like supporting existing Deaf identified needs and Deaf foundations or establishments. This could be donating money to Gallaudet summer camps for Deaf families, supporting a fundraising event held by a Deaf owned business, or volunteering time at the local Deaf school.
By supporting the right kind of charity, we can be philanthropists in the truest sense of the word. We will actually be promoting the welfare of others as we support their efforts to provide for and help themselves. They will be able to fare well for decades and perhaps even generations. This helps promote dignity for all and creates a more level playing field rather than contributing to a system of dependency that necessarily keeps one party down.
Community Organization Report
For the Philanthropy module, the community partner that I decided to revisit and learn more about was The Sego Lily Center for the Abused Deaf (SLCAD). SLCAD is located in the Avenues in Salt Lake City, near the Family Justice Center, Utah Coalition Against Sexual Assault, Matheson Courthouse, Capitol, Salt Lake Police Department, and the Utah Domestic Violence Coalition. I had learned about SLCAD in the past through my classes, volunteering for the SLCAD Gala, and previous research I had done to learn about SLCAD from their website. This assignment gave me a chance to learn more about them using an informative article about the history of Sego Lily Center for the Abused Deaf from UtahDeafHistory.com.
Sego Lily Center for the Abused Deaf’s mission is focused on helping abused members of the Deaf, Deaf-Blind, and Hard of Hearing communities. They do this by providing resources, training, advocacy, and support for abused individuals. According to their website: “Sego Lily aims to foster a secure and empowered environment for individuals who are Deaf, Hard of Hearing, Deaf-Blind through culturally accessible services, advocacy, and education, promoting community safety and empowerment”.
In researching Sego Lily Center for the Abused Deaf for this module, I decided to see what other information I could find out about them from other sources beyond SLCAD’s website and Facebook page. I found an interesting article about the history of SLCAD on the website UtahDeafHistory.com which is the home of the Utah Deaf History Project by Jodi Christel Becker. This article went more in depth about the history, founding, and early days of the Sego Lily Center for the Abused Deaf and I learned things I hadn’t known before. SLCAD was set up as a direct result of the murder of Penny Williams, a member of Utah’s Deaf community, in 1999 at the hands of her husband. This domestic violence event within Utah’s Deaf community brought the issue of domestic violence close to home in a way it hadn’t before for the collective group. A few months later, Marilyn Smith, the Executive Director of Abused Deaf Woman’s Advocacy Services (ADWAS) in Seattle, Washington, contacted Annette Stewart at the Utah Deaf Center and offered her assistance. ADWAS had received a grant to implement the ADWAS model in fifteen different locations nationwide. Given recent events, Utah seemed like a good candidate to be one of these locations. Five Deaf women from Utah were selected to go to Seattle and receive training on how to advocate against domestic violence and launch their organization. This is how SLCAD was born. It took many years of volunteering, selfless service, and persistence, but eventually more federal funding was acquired, along with private donations and the Sego Lily Center we know today came to pass. I had not realized that Utah’s Sego Lily Center was part of a nationwide network of advocacy and support centers for Deaf survivors of abuse and domestic violence.
Sego Lily Center for the Abused Deaf provides resources for abuse and domestic violence in three main ways: Service, Training, and Education. SLCAD is an organization run by members of the local Deaf community with various specialities- mental health, advocacy, etc. This allows them to provide services in linguistically and culturally appropriate ways. Some of their services to members of the Deaf community include: advocacy services, medical advocacy, legal advocacy, support groups, counseling, and a 24/7 hotline. SLCAD provides Training to members and friends of the Deaf community about what abuse looks like in the Deaf community, ADA law, interpreting practices in cases of abuse and the interpreter’s roles and responsibilities. They provide Education through workshops and classes for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Individuals on a wide range of topics like self-esteem, what abuse looks like, healthy relationships, parenting, dating violence, stalking, and teen groups.
Sego Lily Center for the Abused Deaf demonstrates the civic engagement concept of Philanthropy as an organization that uses donated and private funds to contribute to the public good. Sego Lily is the recipient of contributions from their fundraising efforts (such as the Sego Lily Gala), from corporate sponsorships, and from private donors. SLCAD then uses that money to provide immediate assistance to Deaf individuals in crisis, training for medical providers and interpreters, to advocate for Deaf survivors of abuse and domestic violence, and so on. Addressing the needs of an underserved population greatly contributes to the public good by ensuring that traditionally marginalized groups receive the support they need and have access to resources similar to those of the majority group. I can support SLCAD’s philanthropic efforts by donating, encouraging others to donate (such as at Christmas time when people are often looking for good causes to support), and by giving my time to volunteer to support SLCAD’s fundraising efforts like the Gala. Learning more about SLCAD has renewed my desire to support the worthy efforts of this organization.
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