Willow Brook Christian Communities

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Reflections is published quarterly by Willow Brook Christian Communities
Editor: Teri Ryan

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Contact the editor, Teri Ryan.
Phone: (740) 201-5640
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Inside the Autumn 2011 issue:

• Voted number one again!
  
• Who Speaks for the Poor? by Larry Harris, CEO
  
• Willow Brook Extravaganza
  
• The Chef's Table
  
• Janet Yoder brings International Perspective
  
• To Honor and Remember - Memorial Contributions- August 22, 2011
  
• The Music is now Over the Mezzanine
  
• Raise High the Roof Beams
  

Who Speaks for the Poor?
by Larry Harris, CEO

     Warren Buffett is my favorite obscenely-rich American. With a net worth of $50 billion, he rarely steps in front of a television camera without blabbing the uncomfortable truth that his federal tax rate is a small fraction of his secretary’s, his housekeeper’s,and probably yours.
     This summer he wrote an opinion piece for the New York Times where he flat-out declared that Congress coddles the rich. How, he asks, can our elected representatives in clear conscience cut his taxes while pulling funds from food banks and free clinics?
     I thought the talking heads on Fox were going to explode as they jumped into overdrive in their attempts to discredit the benevolent billionaire. After all, this guy’s an insider who’s blowing the cover on the game. Thank you, Mr. Buffett, for stepping forward to proclaim a truth.
    
     Tax cuts or not, ministries for the poor are under assault across this nation. For proof, look no further than right here at Willow Brook. Ohio’s budget for the next two years kicked in this summer, and the news is not good for the poor we are striving to serve. We anticipate losing half a million dollars Medicaid payments in our two nursing homes for the care we give 38 people who are out of money.
     In addition, we are braced to lose several hundred thousand more from anticipated cuts in Medicare that will take effect this fall. Other nursing homes also are suffering big hits, and I fear that some may close.
     Others likely will stop serving destitute patients altogether, in effect cutting the oldest and poorest among us “out of the system.”How tragic! Where will they go? What will they do? We’ve always run our nursing homes above state standards, even with the knowledge that Medicaid would not cover 100 percent of the costs. Our buildings are nicer than Medicaid pays for. We hire more housekeepers than the minimum – that’s why our nursing homes don’t stink. In our culinary and nursing departments, we have always delivered above baseline standards, knowing that some of the costs would not be covered. Those were conscious choices we were happy to make.
     But the cuts imposed now are beyond any shortfall we have ever experienced. This is serious business.
     Yet these cuts are no surprise. Our Statehouse politicians are simply delivering what Ohioans voted for. And given the miserly mood that is sweeping both The Statehouse and Congress, I fear that these cuts are only a down payment on additional pain to come.
     Things don’t have to be this way. Budgets are about choices. They are moral documents that reflect values, so let’s listen to what they are telling us: Millionaires and billionaires are dished phenomenal tax cuts; rich corporations legally move operations offshore to a post office box in Bermuda or the Caymans to dodge billions in U.S. taxes; our wretched wars have run up a tab now tallied in the multi-trillions (to say nothing of the precious lives lost – American, Afghan, and Iraqi).
     Yet ministries for our most vulnerable citizens are being de-funded willy-nilly. There, my friend, is the Cliffs Notes version of our values.

     So who speaks for the poor? Who will tell their stories? Who will rise up to champion their cause, cry with them in their hour of need, and see that basic human dignity is preserved for them? And, taking cues from the Wall Street crowd and military contractors, who will amass the millions of dirty dollars on behalf of our poor to curry favor with politicians?
     I fear that dark days lie ahead for America’s down and out. I can speak with authority and conviction about the cuts imposed upon nursing homes. It is bad, bad news, which leads me to offer you a simple word of advice: Don’t allow yourself to become old, sick, and poor at the same time. You may be less than pleased with your options.