DATE: Tuesday, November 4, 1997             TAG: 9711040280

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SERIES: From Welfare to Work

        The New Social Contract

SOURCE: BY LIZ SZABO, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE                        LENGTH:   91 lines

DIRECTOR DRAWS ON LIFE STRUGGLES TO HELP, INSPIRE WELFARE CLIENTS

Doris ``Cookie'' Roberts got her first job at age 7, ironing clothes for a family of eight who liked their pillowcases starched and ironed.

By high school, she had graduated to house maid. While her friends went to parties, Roberts donned a pink uniform and white apron, answering whenever her employer rang a bell.

Roberts, who as director of human services is overseeing welfare reform in Chesapeake, knows what it's like to work one's way up in life. She knows the strength it takes to leave an abusive husband and to raise a child alone.

And she knows that if she can do it, so can those struggling to move off welfare.

Roberts marked her first anniversary on the job in September. She left a job at the housing authority in Dayton, Ohio, to fill a new, consolidated position in Chesapeake, overseeing both the Tidewater Detention Home and the Division of Social Services.

``We never knew we were poor,'' said Roberts, 51. As one of six children, she often cared for her younger siblings while her parents worked two jobs. ``We were blessed to always have a loving mother and father. So many families today don't have that.''

It was her parents who taught Roberts that she owed something to those less fortunate.

Her father, a laborer in a steel mill and for construction companies, helped organize the Construction Laborers Union in the 1940s. Her grandfather was active organizing fellow coal miners.

``We were raised as children to understand that but for the grace of God, we could be in a mental health setting, we could be crippled,'' Roberts said. ``We knew we owed . . . .Becoming a social worker was a professional, formalized way of helping people.''

While welfare reform is one of the greatest challenges to face her department, Roberts said it's also invigorating. Her staff feels differently about their jobs. Before, they felt like cops. Today, they are coaches.

``What burned us out was not that social workers were idealistic people who wanted to help, but that the system got in the way,'' Roberts said. ``The system was designed to make people get on their knees and beg for everything they got. It made sure people wouldn't get one penny more than they were allowed. The old system said, `We don't want to help you.' Now, we say, `You are an adult, and your life is in your hands.' ''

To help clients make that transition, Roberts has hired additional, temporary staff in employment services, increasing the number of employment counselors from seven to 16.

If Roberts' experience has taught her the value of compassion, it also has taught her the value of discipline. Roberts' presentations to welfare reform participants - held before welfare reform began Oct. 1 - were equal parts information session and motivational speech. Roberts wrapped a supportive arm around self-conscious speakers, who shared stories of working off welfare.

During these sessions, Roberts and her staff also freely shared their personal experiences with audiences of hundreds of people. Sharing her own troubles, she said, shows that she's not so different from those on welfare.

``You only have a short time on this earth,'' Roberts said in an interview. ``You can sit on the couch and eat popcorn, or you can learn to paint or fix a car or do anything. You can't use the hard times as an excuse, because other people who've been through hard times have achieved . . . .What I would have given when I was taking care of a 2-year-old child by myself, to have help with transportation, with child care, with job training.''

Roberts tries to help in personal ways, as well.

She donated her office furniture to Chesapeake's new Jobs Work! Center, an employment office for former welfare recipients that opened last week. Roberts' large office is now decorated with brown-striped, velour armchairs that have seen better days.

``We wanted the jobs center to have a professional, businesslike look,'' Robert said. ``We were sitting around this office wishing we had nicer furniture, and I said, `Hey, I have a couch and two chairs.' It's really more important that our customers have something professional and businesslike than for me to have a nice office. I'm past the age where I care about those trappings.''

Such simple changes are important to her. She has redecorated the building's main waiting room, as well.

``When I first came here, there was nothing in that lobby but chairs,'' Roberts said. ``When you came in, there was nothing but all these faces facing the door. Parents were there trying to make their kids sit still and sit so straight.

``We wanted to make it look like less of an institution,'' she said. ``Now we have a kids' play area. We have posters and flags and plants. We have toys. And if we see a kid holding onto a stuffed animal, and they just have to have it, they go home with it.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

CHARLIE MEADS/The Virginian-Pilot

Doris Roberts marked her first anniversary as director of human

services, overseeing welfare reform in Chesapeake. KEYWORDS: CHESAPEAKE DIVISION OF SOCIAL SERVICES

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu