In ponse to a campaign
pled by P id nt Clinton to
• nd welfare kno it," th
past y r n filled with
early' ions and planning
ftbrts that may I d to a sari
of elfare reform proposals dur
ing 1994.
The Clinton administration's
welfare reform plan presumably
will be rooted in the four basic
principl it released last June:
ma e work pay; dramatically
improve child support enforce
men '; provide education, train
ing and other servioee to help
people get off and stay off el
fare, and create a time-limited
tramitional support system , fol
lowed by work
While details of the Clinton
welfare reform plan have not
been released, its broad outlines
have emerged. Early reports
suggest that the administration
will propose major new invest-
m n in child h lp for bo h
AFDC nd .orking poor fami
li , nd that ne funds '11
b d vot d to ducation nd
t . ning programs for pa n
'ving elfare.
Child upport nforc m nt
'11 trengthened, with par-
ticular emp . on p t mity
e t bli hment when children
re born ou ide of marria .
N e ervi or requiremen
for noncustodial paren (typi
cally fathe ) and te n preg
nancy prevention efforts also
are under di ion. Finally,
wor will be required for parents
who have received elm for
two y , although it remains
unclear whether this ork will
be in the form of paid (most
likely minimum wa ) jo or
unpaid work assignments.
YET, THE WELFARE re
form d bate also could poet new
threats to the health and well
being of poor children as well,
particularly if proposed reforms
seek to drop AFDC parents from
the welfare rolls, even whenjobs
or alternative means of support
for the children are not avail
able. Even the new initiatives
described above may be financed
by offsetting cuts in other enti
tlement programs, many of
which are designed to meet the
needs of poor families with chil
dren. Lack of funds for welfare
reform also may force the ad-
OBITU
t'Mary
Anna Allen
Mary Anna Allen was bom De
cember 30, 1911 In Montrose, Arkan
sas to the late Ena Bell and Alonzo
Essex. She attended grade school In
Arkansas. She confess Chrtst at an
early age and attended the FJrst Bap
tist Church of Montrose. Mary Anna
met and married the late Sle Thomas
Allen on February 4, 1930, they later
moved to MerRouge, Louisiana
She was a devoted wife for fIfty
seven years. They shere-cropped In
Loulsana for twenty years prior to
movtng to Detroit In 1950 to make a
Mtter life for their famJIy. Due to her
mother's ear1y death In 1931, Mary
Anna and Sle had the respon,slbliity
of raJsJng her youngest brother and
sister. James and Sammie Lee. After
seventeen years of marriage the Lord,
then blessed them with three bfologl
cal children.
Shortly after arrtvlng In Detroit,
Mary Anna Joined the First Union Bap
tist Church, under the leadership of Its
founder, the late Rev. E.J. Mayes.
She served many years on the Nurses
G�11d and 'lter Joined the Mothers
Board. M�ry Anna served her Church
faithfully for forty-three years. even
when she was physically unable to
attend services, her Church and Its
members were always In her heart.
She was also very active In the com
munity. She served for many years as
the Block Club President. In addition,
she was a member of the Buttel Sen
Ior Citizen Gospel Chorus.
Mary Anna died peacefully at home
on Wednesday afternoon, February 9,
1994.
Sho leaves to treasure her mem
ory. All her children, Rev. James O.
Essex of Cleveland, OH; Sammie Lee
Alford, James Thomas Allen, Patrtcla
Hammond and Shlrtey B. Allen; three
grandchildren: Kelly Hammond
Franklin, William Allen and Yvone
Hammond; a devotod caretak r 81 er
Vlanna Jones (Sister, Jessie Mae and
brother Rev. Howard W. Barks who
preceded her In death); two slster-ln-
: Mary E x of Cleveland, OH:
Barks of Detroit. MI: one son-In
,Jimmy Hammond; a great-son-In
IfIN John Franklin; two aunts: Louise
Nelson and louisa Chatman; two un
cles: John Smith of Monroe Loulsana,
MO and Albert Smith of Detroit, MI;
nieces: Gwen, Terri, Shlrtey, Georgia.
Dorothy, Willie Mae, o eloise, Uncia
Faye and Cheryl; nephews: Howard
Jr. and Daryl; great-nieces, great
nephews, and a host of coeslns, fam
Ily, church family and neighbors.
The funeral was held February 16,
1994 at First Union Missionary Baptist
Church In Detroit, MI. Arrangements
were entrusted to Swanson Funeral
Home, Detroit, MI and Interment was
held at Trtnlty Cemetery also In De
troit, MI.
MildredL.
Suggs Burton
Mildred L Suggs Burton was born
May 21, 19481n Russellville, Alabama
to the parents of Hattie and Marshall
Suggs, Sr. Her family moved to De
troit Michigan In 1952. She attended
Detroit Public Schools, graduating
from Northeastern High School.
Mildred was united In marriage to
Ellis Burton, Sr. To this union they
were blessed with two children, Ellis
Jr. and Sheronda
Mildred departed this life February
9, 1994 at· 12:45 am. In Saratoga
Hospital In Detroit, Michigan.
She leaves to chertsh her memory
and reflect upon her life; her husband,
Ellis Burton, Sr.; two children, Ellis Jr.
and Sheronda of Detroit, Michigan; a
loving mother, Hattie Suggs of Detroit,
MI' five sisters: Barbara Smith of
Farmington Fills, MI, Rachel Jackson,
Phenna Johnson, Janice Taylor and
Anita Mickens all of Detroit, MI; two
brothers, Harold Suggs of Russellville,
Alabama and Marshall Suggs, Jr. of
Detroit, MI; five brothers-In-law: Irving
Smith of Farmington Hills, MI, Curtis
Jackson, Sr., Levi Johnson, John Tay
lor, Sr. and Oaesar Mickens all of De-
ministration to P
10 lyo tim.
Ev n lfa form ef-
fo go n und y t
the federal I 1, number of
t te h e ought approv I
from h U.S. D p rtm nt of
He lth nd Human S rvi
(HHS) for dramatic changes in
the current elfare ystem.
Perhap the mo t r dical
tate plan, submitted by W1.8OOn
in and approved by HHS
, ould eliminate the basic
fety net beneath poor children
W here parents cannot
find job nd have receiv d
AFDC for more than two ,
� rdle of hether or not
t parentaarewillingto or
and participate in education,
training or other activities.
Other waiver proposal
more mod t in scope: some
to withhold additional benefits
when a child is born to a family
already receiving AFDC; others
focus on pecific welfare rul
that may hamper parents' ef
forts to work and move toward
economic self-sufficiency.
Taken as a whole, these state
waiver requests reflect great dis ..
satisfaction with the current
welfare system, but do not com
prise a coherent strategy for na
tional welfare reform. The
'Clinton 'plan may give states
even broader latitude to experi
ment with welfare requirements
that seek to promote responsible
y
tro , MI; two rs- n-t ,Deborah
Suggs Of Detroit, MI and Sen n '
Suggs; a de companion, C.M.;
and a host of nieces, nephews and
faithful friends.
Final arrangements w&re en
trusted to James H. Cole Home for
Funerals, Inc. and Cremation took
place at Evergreen Crematory on
Woodward Ave.
Margaret
Regina Clark
. On Aprtl 17, 1938, God blessed
Margaret and Frances Clowes wfth a
precious baby girt, Margaret Regina.
our "Gina".
Gina passed ENlay on February 4,
1994.
She is survived by: her loving son,
Herman; daughter-In-law, Jill; three
loving grandchildren, Tony, Aerlel and
Evan of Nashville, TN; also to mourn
her passing are: her sister, Judy of
Inkster, MI; her sister Rose and her
husband William, of Ellwood City, PA;
six brothers, Jerry, David, Richard,
Frances, Jimmy and Bobby and a host
of nieces and nephews.
Margaret left this world to Join God
and her family In Heaven. Margaret
attended the Trt City Church In Can
ton, MI. She was a very devoted
wor1<er for the handicapped and un
derprlveledged. She was a graduate
of Wayne County Community College
with a degree In child care. All the
words in the world will never express
what a great mother, grandm her,
sis er, aunt and riend Margare has
been to so many people We love you
and we will miss you MargareVGlna.
God Bless you. Rest In Peace.
The funeral was h Id February 8,
1994 at UHT cuneral Home Chapel In
Westlan� MI. Interment was held at
the Cadillac Memortal Gardens - West
In We land, MI.
I
DE contin-
dmini tration
t gy for tiona!
lfare form, e m t all do
our It to that this effort
will bring our nation cl er to
our go: ending child pov-
tty in Am ri . Welfa reform
can do a great d of good for
poor children, famili and th
nation. To realize this potential,
however, e mu t begin to
tackle th root ca of child
nd family poverty in America
and do our t to that th
proper resou are committed
to welfare reform.
This effort to reform our na-
-tion' welfare ystem hould re
fleet our most basic values: th
importance ofwor ; the respon
sibility of parents to care and
provide for their children; th
nurturing of hope for a better life
among children and parent
alike, and compassion and
helping hand to t who face
personal cri , or insurmount
able harriers to employment.
These values - work, respon
sibility, hope, opportunity and
compassion - must provide the
basis for a new social contract
between government and low
income parents, one that chal
lenges all of us to lift our sights
and rescue our children from the
dangers of sustained poverty. It
is shameful that children are the
poorest citizens in the richest
nation on earth, and our failure
to act to end their continuing
impoverishment now costs us
ill t
Fund, a �
fo
c
• •
can
u
By ROBBIE CRU P McCOY
S".c,., to tM Mlchlfl.n Chlz.n
ployed nd remained so until he
becarn ill.
He died F b. 8th at his home
and w funeralized at the War
renAv nu Bapf tchurch. Rev.
Lee Swain, pastor at Euphrates,
delivered the main eulogy and
Rev. Bernard Smith, tor of
Warren Avenue was oloist ..
Barksdale funeral directors
were in charge with interment
at For t Lawn cemetery.
Marcu Eu n Mill r, 30,
w Sunday chool tud nt of
Robbie Crump-McCoys' 20 years
ago at th WaIT n Avenue Bap
tis Church, where he w
member for 36 y ars.
Marcu Eugene's d th two
weeks ago touched many friends
and hi d voted family.
From th time he was ix
yea -old he tried to play the
pi no, thu ming one of the
not hur h musici ns in the
city.
Born in Charl ton, S.C., at
N v 1 B Hospital wher his
f th r w tationed, Marcus'
f mily mov toD troi wh n he
fiv mon hs old.
H was baptized into Warren
Av nu by the late Rev. Wm. R.
Matthew Sr., pastor, and later
joined h Euphrates Baptist
Chur h where he was musician
and choir dir or.
M r us graduated from Cody
High School and was Iter em-
Atlanta University was
founded in 1869 by a church or
ganization and was located on
the grounds of a former .Confed
erate fort. Along with uch other
pion r institutions as Berea,
Talladega, Shaw and Spelman it
reflected the growing interest of
African-Americans to obtain a
higher education.
Thurgood Marshall served
24 years as Chief Counsel of the
NAACP (National Association
for th Advancement of Colored
People.
I I
, I