"We are not asking for a lot, just a little bit to advance forward."
That is what University of California San Diego Senior Custodian Maria Moreno told the Facing Poverty at UC camera as she stood in front of UCSD Medical Center CEO Richard Liekweg’s house - a house that Maria thought was a palace.
It was clear that Maria would view Liekweg’s sprawling ranch house on a hill in La Jolla as a palace when just a few hours earlier Facing Poverty at UC joined Maria and CA State Senator Christine Kehoe at Maria’s home - one bedroom and a small kitchen and bathroom on the back of her landlord’s house in San Diego’s Barrio Logan neighborhood. Maria, her son and granddaughter share one bedroom - sleeping on bunk beds - because that is all that she can afford after working at UCSD for ten years.
As Maria told us,"The University should see the salaries that they are paying [UC service workers] and if they think it is fair... could they live on the salaries they are paying?"
Facing Poverty at UC is a virtual tour of University of California created poverty. Throughout August, our documentary film crew is joining California elected officials and religious leaders as they visit with UC workers and their families. Our goal is to give you a glimpse into the daily struggle that UC workers and their families face because of poverty wages at UC.
Senator Kehoe, who sat to talk with Maria in her cramped bedroom, supported Maria and her co-workers at UCSD, "I very strongly believe that the University of California should be a good employer - from the people who clean the campuses all the way up to the professors and the President of the University."
On the Facing Poverty at UC website you can see a video of Maria’s visit with Senator Kehoe and the visit that Maria and her UCSD co-workers paid to Richard Liekweg. There are also clips from local TV news stations documenting Senator Kehoe's visit. There is also a blog!
In the coming weeks, keep your eyes peeled for more diaries about workers who are facing poverty at UC.