people." * "I overheard numerous comments like, 'I never knew that before."" * "He was tremendously effective. Audience members posed many questions and were reluctant to let him get away." With audiences numbering as large as 300, I'm hard-pressed, both as chair of OHC's finance committee and as one whose profession is in finance, to come up with another example of continuously rich returns on so modest an investment. I want to leave you with the impression that the Ohio Humanities Council, like the other state councils, is an agency uniquely positioned to bring diverse individuals and groups together--to discover an almost lost heritage, to examine the important challenges of the present through the lenses of the humanities, to plan thoughtfully, hopefully, and with a sense of renewal for a community of the future in which we all want to live. Let me cite another example of OHC's work that is both cost effective and reaches out to a special audience--Ohio's senior citizens. In describing programming targeting our older Ohioans, I note the Council's firm commitment to carry out its mission: "to support public programs that have the power to enhance the quality of our lives by helping us to interpret our own experience, to strengthen our sense of community, and to connect us to a wider world." The relevance of this mission to the conditions in Stark County is evident, for over 33,000 of households in the 65-plus age group live in poverty. Not surprisingly, members of this isolated population lack access to programs such as those offered by the Ohio Humanities Council. Thanks to the ability of the Council to forge partnerships with those who would support its work, two of the county's foundations--the Stark County Community Foundation and the Hoover Foundation-have joined with us to underwrite the cost of these humanities programs. In 1995, ten senior citizen centers are the venues for a year-long series of humanities programs. Like the pilot project--"Discovery at the Center"--on which it is based, the Stark County project provides educational and entertaining programs that engage the mind, enliven the spirit, and provide opportunities for fellowship among the generations. Live theatre, followed by post-performance discussions, poetry workshops, programs on Ohio's early settlers, a "tour" through nineteenth-century America, using diaries, journals, music of the period--these are some of the rich, engaging programs that our state's senior citizens are fortunate to be receiving. Again, the voices of the participants speak for themselves: * "It's the best thing that's happened to this center ever. The whole community is starting to come in. I don't know what we'll do when this program ends. After each performance, the senior want to know when the next one is going to be." * "Aside from the aspect of entertainment and socialization, the educational contributions have been invaluable." * "I never realized how important the Ohio River was in the journey from slavery to freedom." * "I liked learning how current events helped in the music and song writing." * "I could listen for hours. Let's have more programs like these, more often." * "This was a plus for our community, something we need and appreciate." In Cincinnati, Sister Joan Leonard has used Humanities Council funds to leverage support from a host of other sources to sponsor a project entitled "The Victory Was Ours, Too," commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of the end of World War II. As director of the Arts and Humanities Resource Center for the Elderly, Sister Joan uses OHC's support to provide model programs at 75 nursing homes, senior centers, and retirement communities in a five-county area surrounding Cincinnati. The World War II "Victory" project included an exhibit (viewed by 9,000 Cincinnatians of all ages) highlighting the contributions of the older people involved in that war, a concert of World War II music, literature discussions, radio interviews, and the sharing of their war experiences by the elderly with area school children. Geof Giglierano of the Cincinnati Historical Society expresses the project's unique contribution: "It put a human face on this essential part of the war effort. In all the memorial celebrations no one else had thought to interview this important segment of the population." The sons and daughters of Ohio's Perry County's coal miners, proud of their history, have used federal funds entrusted to the Ohio Humanities Council for programs that effectively help them reclaim their past and hand it down to their children. Living in one of the poorest counties in Ohio, Perry County residents have always found ways to make federal dollars go a long way. This seems routine among people who solicited donations door to door for construction of the modern library building in New Lexington. In that building, small grants from OHC support book discussion programs, engaging participants in lively exchange. Funds in support of the "Little Cities of Black Diamonds" project sponsored by Sunday Creek Associates, a grassroots agency promoting the cultural, social, and physical regeneration of the New Straitsville community, brought together scholars and local citizens for extended discussions leading to a larger appreciation of traditions of independence and self-sufficiency, the lasting value of the hard work, thrift, and discipline the local residents learned from their parents in hard times. Most Americans do not know who Januarius McGahan was, but Bulgarians certainly do, and federal dollars help local groups develop programs that keep alive among Perry County school children the remarkable story of McGahan, the liberator of Bulgaria, one of their own. In an area without corporations or foundations, the federal funds invested for culture provide support and encouragement for the community building efforts of people who are not afraid of hard work. Describing the value of the "Little Cities of Black Diamonds" project, historian Thomas Stevenson writes that the citizens "have been reminded that while many things have changed, the same strong will, pride and determination that characterized their past are intact." As the project demonstrates, these same qualities can be brought to life again in the interest of creating a better future for the children of Perry County. Stevenson cites the local history discussions, the support for building Millcreek School, the local history calendar projects and the opening of the Southern Perry County Museum as evidence that the focus on the rich heritage of the region "has been a successful avenue for mobilizing people." Stevenson concludes by calling for the channeling of efforts into "new programs that draw on this past [and] build for the future." Native American groups have also become partners with OHC in their efforts to draw upon the legacy of the past to define a future, which now includes ties with Ohio as the home of their ancestors. Traveling from Canada, Oklahoma, and other states, representatives from the Delaware, Shawnee, Miami, and Wyandots returned to the Ohio's Tuscarawas Valley in 1994 to meet with historians of early Ohio history to share stories about their ancestors, their encounters with European settlers in the Northwest Territory, and their subsequent forced removal from Ohio by the mid-nineteenth century. Linda Poolaw, Grand Chief of the Delaware, viewed the 1994 forum, the third funded by OHC, as "an opportunity to become reacquainted, to exchange memories, and most of all to honor and to celebrate our elders." In speaking about the role of the scholars, who attended the meeting, Chief Poolaw noted, "It is the academic community which has...given us the keys to our past." Barbara Heckart, evaluator for the project, commented, "I felt as if I were part of history because this was the first meeting of these tribes in Ohio in over two hundred years." The groundbreaking work in this series of projects has made many Ohioans more aware of Native American history and Ohio's special connection to Woodland people living outside of the state today. The broad reach of OHC's work is visible in its Teachers Institutes, which affect literally thousands of school children as their teachers, having completed humanities-based summer workshops, return to their classrooms. Like many other state councils, OHC has worked with urban public schools to create summer institutes that offer elementary school teachers intensive courses of study in the humanities. Elementary school teachers, as interpreters of the humanities, have a critical role to play, introducing children to stories that reveal how people deal with different ideas and customs. From 1993 to 1995, the Ohio Humanities Council held summer institutes in Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati, supported by local foundations, the public school systems, and NEH. The three-week long "Narrating Our Lives" institutes examined the role of myth and folklore in shaping communities and traditions. One teacher noted that "Often, we get overwhelmed by our teaching duties and do not have the leisure time to think and talk about great ideas. This was a wonderful 'think tank' in which I, too, could be a scholar again." All of the participants were grateful for the opportunity of working with instructors who were knowledgeable and accessible. Institutes of this kind bring teachers back to the classroom better able to broaden children's understanding about what is universal in experience and develop their appreciation and respect for cultural differences-an essential preparation for citizens in contemporary America and the world of the twenty-first century. As a teacher commented at the end of the institute, "I learned that we all have stories to justify or explain our existence, we need to appreciate and understand not only our own stories but those of others; we all are in the midst of a changing story." In partnership with public schools, state government, and foundations, the state councils have opened up new opportunities for learning, improving the quality of public school education through rigorous and rewarding humanities institutes. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, although it is the work of the Ohio Humanities Council that I have highlighted, these success stories are echoed from state to state. With the support of the Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities, the state councils have been able to help sustain viable communities through enriched cultural experiences, educational opportunities, and fuller citizen participation in civic life. Many of the councils contribute to the quality of their state's humanities education by providing for teachers institutes that improve the skills of hundred of teachers and affect the quality of teaching for tens of thousands of students. The councils help build the cultural infrastructure of their states, working with community-based organizations to create partnerships and programs those organizations could not build themselves. And significantly, with the public funds entrusted to them, the states are able to leverage private funding, so essential to the continuation of their mission. Mr. Chairman, we endorse the budget proposed by the President for the NEH of $136 million. At a time when the survival of strong communities is a high priority in this country, the state councils have shown an entrepreneurial spirit in developing the resources, human and financial, to bring the power of the humanities to the task of improving the quality of life for all citizens. As venture capitalists, the state councils have produced impressive dividends. Now it is time to look to the future. Recalling the words of Ezekiel, who cautioned us that "without vision, the people perish," I thank the Congress for the vision it displayed in creating the National Endowment for the Humanities. I hope I have succeeded in demonstrating to you some of the many ways in which the state councils are making that vision real. Please allow the state councils to continue their work, building on their successes and moving toward a strong and vibrant tomorrow. You will find the energy and commitment necessary for the task expressed in the theme adopted by the Ohio Humanities Council for the next triennial period: "Reflection and Renewal: Creating Community for the Next Century." Thank you. THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 1996. DOE WITNESS LINDA LEBOLD, CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT COORDINATOR, AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF RETIRED PERSONS Mr. REGULA. The American Association of Retired Persons, Linda LeBold. Thank you for coming. Ms. LEBOLD. Good morning. I am Linda LeBold from North Canton, Ohio, and I am the Congressional District coordinator for AARP Voter Education Program. Thank you for this opportunity that I can come and testify regarding appropriations next year for the Weatherization Assistance Program. This initiative has helped weatherize homes of more than 4.5 million families since the program first began 20 years ago. Before commenting on funding for next year, Mr. Chairman, the association would like to express its concern about reductions made in weatherization activities this year due to the impact of the stop gap funding bills. In addition, the $114 million provided in the regular Fiscal Year 1996 appropriations bill that was vetoed by the President represents a 47 percent cut below Fiscal Year 1995. We strongly urge Congress to reconsider the reduction previously adopted for this program in the regular appropriations bill and to restore these appropriations funds if at all possible. When action occurs on a final spending vehicle for the rest of the current fiscal year, we further urge-strongly urge, excuse me--that next year's appropriation be set at the 1995 level of $214.8 million. Weatherization assistance makes a real difference in the quality of life for many older Americans who are more likely to live in older poorly insulated homes. In our own State of Ohio, Mr. Chairman, I am an RN who has worked in the passport program—which I am sure you are familiar with-which has given home health care aid to the elderly. I have been in many homes of low income elderly where the windows were stuffed with rags and I sat with my wool coat on the whole time. The weatherization program could make a difference. They have worked hard all their lives in very low income jobs. It's not their own fault. They have no pensions or extra benefits. They're living on social security alone. And most of them are widows. Most have small savings which were saved to bury them, and that is a direct quote. I used to hear that all the time. Their homes were built in the 1920's and 1930's and some are crumbling around them. There is no money left for weatherization repairs. In our cost cutting efforts, we must keep in mind this group of elderly and the consequences of deep cuts in this program, how it would negatively affect the quality of their lives such as it is. Roughly one-third of all dwellings weatherized under the Weatherization Assistance Program are occupied by the older persons. Energy costs can be a burden for low income families often forcing difficult choices among basic necessities. This is especially dangerous for elderly households given their vulnerabilities to weather related illnesses such as hypothermia and heat stroke. |