It is hard to stay on one topic with Sue Berkowitz of the SC Appleseed Legal Justice Center. Berkowitz has been the director of the center since 1989, and to say her experience and expertise are wide ranging is a serious understatement.
While her expansive knowledge is impressive, what truly makes Berkowitz so remarkable is that despite her 34 years as the leader of the organization (and an additional three years as a staff attorney), she remains fired up, not burned out.
In a discussion about the history of SNAP and the ABAWD (Able-bodied Adults Without Dependents) rule, Berkowitz recalls the cessation of exemptions which resulted in many South Carolinians being put into a position of hunger. As she hits the next beat in her story, she says, “Well, there are these big national organizations that hate poor people,” then pauses to chuckle before adding, “you can tell I am not one to hold back, which really freaks a lot of people out.” It may freak some people out, but her blunt assessments are also refreshing in a world that too often beats around the bush.
Berkowitz’s direct language also speaks to her passion to improve the lives of the most vulnerable in our state. A licensed lobbyist, Berkowitz and her team advocate on the issues of health care, immigration, reentry issues, housing, education, hunger, public benefits, domestic violence, and consumer issues. SC Appleseed’s mission is to positively impact systems, through the courts, legislature, and administrative agencies. There is also a certain fluidity to the organization, and Berkowitz cites the importance of being able to pivot. They may begin by tackling an issue from a certain angle, only to find a better approach and change tactics mid-effort. “When the younger people in the office say, ‘But you just changed up the effort’ I say, ‘Yes, because things have changed.’”
Although SC Appleseed generally doesn’t advocate for individuals, during the pandemic Berkowitz found herself doing exactly that as people attempted to navigate the then-disastrous SC DEW unemployment website. This writer was one of those individuals struggling to figure out how to navigate the confusing interface, broken links, and inaccessible language. Berkowitz assures me, “You were one of thousands.” After steady pressure from SC Appleseed and others, significant improvements were made in assisting struggling South Carolinians.
The SC Medicaid website has been in a similar situation, with many individuals expressing their frustration at nonfunctional aspects of the site. Once again, advocacy has resulted in improvements. Although SC Appleseed works on systemic issues, it does appreciate hearing from individuals, as it helps the center understand where they are needed. For those people who call in, SC Appleseed then tries to direct them to the right resource. “The kindest soul in the world,” is how Berkowitz describes the organization’s staff member who helps those looking for assistance.
For a specific example of the work Berkowitz does, she describes her work to fight nine bills backed by the Koch Brothers’ funded group Government Accountability (FGA). No other organization went to battle against the bills, although Berkowitz did find good help from some elected officials. “But then,” she says, “in the middle of the night, they got a proviso passed that South Carolina can’t file for exemptions anymore.” The exemptions had been in place for out of work individuals who lived in counties with a labor surplus, allowing them to receive unemployment because their work opportunities were minimal. “I am still trying to get that proviso removed,” she says, “because that’s how you help thousands of people.”
When it comes to the big picture, Berkowitz says:
“I always said I would gauge my success by my ability to work myself out of a job and I am the most unsuccessful person I know. It gets really, really hard to understand why people don’t want to help others. That’s very hard for me to accept. I hope I never understand that, because if I do then it’s time for me to leave. We have gotten really good things done, and we’ve kept a lot of really bad things from happening. There is never going to be a beginning and an end to this. Our job is to continue to build community to make sure we are on top of all the policy, to make sure that we know everything implicitly, because we have to be two steps ahead and that much smarter than the folks who are trying to hurt the communities that we care about. At the same time, we cannot think that we are smarter than the communities that we are helping, because if we do, we have no business doing it. We have to listen, and when needed, pivot to do things right. And we also have to be willing to talk to anybody. There are a lot of really big successes we have had that would not have happened if we weren’t willing to talk to ‘the other side.’ By talking and educating and helping people understand, you can make progress. But it’s not about us, it’s not about our success or our failure, it’s about helping the work continue to improve peoples’ lives as best we can.“
Friends, that is a verbatim quote of a single comment stated extemporaneously. Clearly, Sue Berkowitz understands the assignment.