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Welfare Warriors, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

In the Spring of 1986, a group of mothers living in poverty came together because the stereotypes, social stigma, and silencing that they and their children had to endure were destroying their families and dividing their communities. They named themselves the Welfare Warriors because they are "fighting for the lives of mothers and children, struggling to survive in a system not working for [them]." The goal of the Welfare Warriors is to create a voice for mothers in poverty, and to educate mothers so that they can advocate on behalf of themselves and organize for social change in their communities.

Welfare Warriors has several projects designed to achieve their mission. First, they publish Welfare Mothers Voice, a 24-page bilingual quarterly newspaper written by and about mothers in poverty. With a circulation of over 16,000, Welfare Mothers Voice educates mothers about the systemic problems that cause poverty, provides support and a much-needed forum so voices of the poor community can be heard, and inspires moms to create their own organizations to fight for social justice.

Recently, the Welfare Warriors have been fighting against W-2, the bill signed by Governor Tommy Thompson which would eliminate AFDC in Wisconsin and replace it with a work program under which needy families would be required to work full-time for less than minimum wage in exchange for assistance. The main focus of the Welfare Warriors in the fight against W-2 is a petition that asks the U.S. Department of Health and Social Services to deny the waivers of federal law that Wisconsin needs to implement W-2. While they continue to circulate this petition nationwide, their newspaper, Welfare Mothers Voice, is educating moms about the legislation. The Welfare Warriors also continue to hold public actions to protest these harmful welfare reform proposals. At a local graduation ceremony, they bestowed their own "honorary" degree on Governor Thompson. They gave the Governor, who is the main force behind W-2, the "Highest Degree in Community Destruction."

Welfare Warriors also started the MOMS' Line, a daily help line staffed by mothers in poverty to teach women how to advocate for themselves and their children in difficult and hostile bureaucracies. The MOMS' Line provides counseling, validation, and support networks. Another project is the MaGod Project (Mothers and Grandmothers of the Disappeared Children). The MaGod group provides support and legal advocacy to moms whose children have been wrongfully removed by Social Services.

Welfare Warriors' newest project is the Mothers and Youth Volunteers (MAY), which brings together moms and their children to work for social justice while strengthening family bonds, and developing their organizing, office, newspaper and computers skills. Through this project, they are building the larger community by increasing the amount of outreach, advocacy, networking, direct actions, and phone and letter campaigns they can accomplish.

This profile was prepared by Nicole Brown, a law student at the Center.

-- from the June 3rd 1996 issue of Welfare News