THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Saturday, February 22, 1997           TAG: 9702220267
SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B7   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY MIKE KNEPLER, STAFF WRITER 
DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   83 lines

RELIGIOUS LEADERS WORRY ABOUT HELPING AREA RESIDENTS AFFECTED BY WELFARE CUTS THE FIRST STEP IS TO HELP PEOPLE BECOME MORE SELF-SUFFICIENT, CLERGY LEADERS SAID.

The Rev. Frank Drake knows the religious community will play a greater role in helping poor people after welfare reform goes into full force later this year.

But he doesn't know what that role will be, especially when churches like his already cannot keep up with current requests for help from needy people.

``We don't have the resources to handle a tenth of what we're asked for,'' said Drake, whose Willowwood Presbyterian Church receives about a dozen queries a week for help paying rent, utilities and medical bills.

Even so, Drake believes that congregations must step up assistance to the poor, particularly families coming off of welfare.

That's why Drake met Friday with 27 other clergy and lay leaders to discuss the implications of welfare reform for Norfolk's religious community. The luncheon, at the YWCA on West Freemason Street, drew representatives from 15 local churches.

The purpose was to start educating the religious community about welfare issues and to spark ideas for making people more self-sufficient, said meeting organizer Patrice Schwermer, social ministry director of St. Pius X Church.

Unfurling a flip chart at the head of the room, Schwermer asked for ideas. Brainstorms started flashing:

Monitor needs and resources at the grass-roots level. Organize inexpensive child-care programs for single parents who work at night. Help with transportation to work.

Appoint liaisons between congregations and Norfolk's Social Services Division. Create mentoring programs to guide people coming off welfare. Canvass congregants who own businesses to provide jobs.

The group also suggested holding more educational programs so broader audiences could hear the ins and outs of welfare reform from those on the front line, such as Norfolk's Human Services Director Suzanne Puryear, the guest speaker at Friday's meeting.

``Welfare reform is going to continue to be a subject of much emotional-based dialogue,'' Puryear said. ``I'm just struck that there's these clashes of American values. There's that time-honored American impulse of helping one another and reaching out to help the less fortunate. This bumps up against this ongoing resentment about people who don't pull their own weight.

``How all that plays out in social policy is going to continue to confront all of us.''

Virginia's welfare reform will take full effect in October, meaning that able-bodied recipients then will have 90 days to find jobs or be placed in community service, Puryear said.

But many people, besides welfare recipients, may be affected.

Currently, welfare and food stamps put $50 million a year into Norfolk's economy, including rent to landlords, grocery purchases and other household necessities, Puryear said.

``That's not a reason to keep people on welfare. Don't misunderstand me,'' Puryear said. ``But if that income doesn't get replaced with some other income certainly drives our sense of urgency around what we need to do to get people to work.''

Puryear also said welfare recipients will need jobs that pay more than minimum wage and include health benefits. ``You're not going to be self-sufficient on minimum wage. It's not going to happen,'' she warned.

The flood of people seeking work could depress wages, especially among low-income people already with jobs, Puryear added.

Welfare rolls in Norfolk already have declined, as in many communities across the country, Puryear noted. In Norfolk, there's been a 17.6 percent drop to 4,821 cases in January, from 5,852 a year ago.

But she acknowledged that a growing economy has been an important factor, maybe more so than welfare reform. Yet that raises the question about what might happen if the economy goes into a tailspin and businesses start laying off more people, she said.

The Rev. Drake noted that the religious community may have become too accustomed to government intervention in social welfare while letting its own capacities wither.

``I don't think we have gotten used to thinking about how we can partner,'' Drake said. ``Now, when all of a sudden that's an opportunity, we have to scramble and readjust our thinking and check on our theology to see if it's possible.

``Not only do I think it's possible, but it's exactly what I think we should be doing.'' MEMO: For more information, call Patrice Schwermer, St. Pius X Church,

583-0291.