FANCY PAPERCUT BUTTERFLY

JOHN LENNON and YOKO ONO GIVE PEACE A CHANCE

CHRISTMAS FEEDS - THE ONE DAY YOU ARE SURE TO HAVE A MEAL

It's CHRISTMAS DAY... The one day when just about any homeless can find a place to have a good hot meal, because the missions and Churches see to it that Jesus' birth is celebrated. It's a feel good day for the volunteers and the photos of rows of unshaven "bums" sitting at long tables and eating like there is no tomorrow will grace next years solicitation for funds.

We don't have anything against feeding people. We know a lot of housed people go hungry because all the money in the household goes to paying the rent. But we think that food is easier to obtain than the proper clothing for a job interview, or a free hair cut and color, or many of the other things we need to smell good, be neat and clean, well groomed and fashionable enough to pass as an employee until we are hired and can actually afford a work wardrobe, and so on.

The word HOMELESS applied to anyone makes them unemployable, a MERCY HIRE!

What we need are JOBS!

BUTTERFLY WITH A TOUCH OF RED

DON'T DONATE TO ORGANIZATIONS THAT FORCE RELIGION ALONG WITH FEED

DO NOT DONATE TO ANY ORGANIZATION that expects religious participation, conversion, belief, or attendance, in order to give poor and homeless people, food, clothing, shelter, or anything else.

WE ARE NOT POOR BECAUSE WE ARE SINFUL.

Some of us greased our own downfalls, that is true.

BUT POVERTY IN AMERICA is simply about VALUES and there is no reason to insinuate that it's the result of SIN! It's the result of the HAVES being very satisfied that there are others who HAVE NOT!

Where there are resources, DISTRIBUTION is the problem.

NATIONAL DAY OF MOURNING FOR THE HOMELESS WHO DIED IN 2009 TODAY

Winter Soltice, the longest night of the year, marks the Annual MOURNING DAY FOR THE HOMELESS WHO HAVE PASSED IN THE PREVIOUS YEAR. THAT'S TODAY!

This year locals lost a friend who became homeless after a war with the Los Angeles MTA. A bus accident victim who was strung along for years until he lost his apartment, and a long ordeal to get SSDI, this man did overdose on his pain killer.

Currently another man is in the hospital after being the victim of a hit and run accident, and is in critical condition.

WHATEVER YOUR RELIGIOUS OR SPIRITUAL BELIEFS, take a pause and remember your friends.

SHELTER COUGH isn't just for KENNELS

HUMAN BEINGS GET IT TOO... If you get shelter cough, you may also have Bronchitis or even Tuberculosis.

We're linking here to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
1600 Clifton Rd. Atlanta, GA 30333,
USA
800-CDC-INFO (800-232-4636)
TTY: (888) 232-6348,
24 Hours/Every Day -

cdcinfo@cdc.gov

CLICK HERE FOR THE ABC LOCAL NEWS ON WOMEN'S CARE COTTAGE

closing December 15th unless there is a miracle... they only need $300,000. Leslie Sykes is reporting....


GRACE COMES FROM GOD.... MIRACLES FROM OTHER HUMAN BEINGS!

We at BY THE HOMELESS FOR THE HOMELESS SEND OUR HEARTS OUT TO THE WOMEN AND CHILDREN WHO ARE DREADING THAT DECEMBER 15th DEADLINE... tomorrow!

WOMENS CARE COTTAGE OVER AND OUT

The link here is to WOMEN'S CARE COTTAGE which has been in the local news because after 23 years, due to funding problems, it is DONE. Can emergency funding help? Well, there are still many multibillionaires out there who could use a tax deduction...

BUTTERFLIES TO COLOR

REMEMBER OUR HOMELESS CHILDREN!

HEY SANTA ! HERE'S OUR LIST OF WHAT TO DONATE TO A HOMELESS SHELTER

We almost always have personal care supplies such as shampoos and deodorant.

We can use:
TOILET PAPER
TAMPONS and SANITARY NAPKINS
UNDERWEAR AND BRAS (new please!)
SOCKS (ditto!)
LAUNDRY MONEY (a few dollars in quarters)
WHEELED SUITCASES and KNAPSACKS
LIGHTWEIGHT RAIN PROOF ZIPPERED carry bags.
SHOES (We do not want your foot fungus! If the shoes cannot be washed in hot water before donation they need to be NEW!)
RAIN GEAR
TOWELS
GIFT CARDS from stores where we can buy these things.

PICTURE THE HOMELESS.ORG out of NEW YORK CITY

Here is a blog of note out of New York City. It has been cold, windy, and wet in Los Angeles, and snow is visible in the mountains north of the city, where the National Forest meets the desert. We headed for the thrift stores yesterday to buy two of our newly homeless - just out of prison - brothers warm coats. There were no gloves or men's hats on sale there.

THIS IS TO YOU COLDWEATHER PEOPLE!

BUTTERFLY TO COLOR

REMEMBER OUR HOMELESS CHILDREN!

SHOES ALWAYS NEEDED but NOT YOUR TOE FUNGUS!

Homeless people, especially those who have to keep walking, desperately need shoes. Many buy used shoes at thrift stores. Unfortunately because of cold and damp and wet and sweat, toe nail and skin fungus is common and it can be transmitted through used shoes. If possible, always wear clean and dry socks in used shoes.

The treatment for toe fungus is not easy. It takes about 6 months and requires a patient to be on a strong dose of medicine, one month on, and then one month off. Monthly blood tests are required because this medicine is hard on the liver and kidneys. As a result of the long course of medications and the risks, a lot of people decide to live with ugly yellow, hard, and brittle nails. Removal of the nail and treatment is sometimes an option but it takes a couple years to grow back a big toe nail!

UK POETS ON FIRE

Here's a great idea, should you be a poet and know it!

STEREOTYPE OF THE HOMELESS - WOMEN

"THE WOMEN ARE ALL WHORES!"

We're not stupid. We know that many homeless do engage in prostitution at some point. Is it really a choice? Male and Female. All ages. Children. Many but not all.

Homeless women desperately need safe places to go where they do not have to prostitute in order to earn money for themselves or their families or their men. Drugs and alcohol are usually involved. Addiction. Abuse.

WHAT CAME FIRST? POVERTY and DESPERATION or HOMELESSNESS?

TRUE WEALTH = CHOICE

THEY SAY GENTRIFY WE SAY OCCUPY BLOG

HOMELESS CHANGE. Org is being added to our blog list...

THANKSGIVING DAY YOU ARE SURE TO EAT

Turkey, turkey, and more turkey...

This is to those of you who are holing up in coffee houses today, on your laptops, making that tea bag last three refills. The libraries are closed for the day, or two, and the parks may offer a feed here and there.

BLOG FROM THE EXECUTIVES POINT OF VIEW

LA's Homeless Blog is now inforUm Online Journal
An Inside Perspective on HomelessnessProduced by Joel John Roberts, CEO of PATH Partners

WE'RE LETTING OUT READERS KNOW ABOUT THIS CHANGE and LINKING TO THIS BLOG. However, let it be understood that this blog is BY THE HOMELESS FOR THE HOMELESS, and we do not endorse the opinions of executives who run organizations we may also have criticisms of.

JULIE CRUENBAUM FAX, The JEWISH JOURNAL, on SOVA

In the November 20-26, 2009 Jewish Journal of Los Angeles

"About 1.2 million people in Los Angeles County are food insecure..."

ONE PERSON IN 8 in Los Angeles faces hunger.

"According to the 2003 UCLA Health Policy Research study that analyzed data from California Health Interview Survey. The study DID NOT COUNT CHILDREN, HOMELESS, and THOSE WITHOUT PHONES, estimated at around 400,000."


SOVA link above. SOVA is a Jewish word that means eat to be satisfied.

CHRISTMAS CHARITIES and THANKSGIVING FEEDS to the HOMELESS forget us the REST OF THE YEAR!

CHRISTMAS and THANKSGIVING!

Two days out of 365 that you are pretty much guaranteed to have a hot meal when your homeless, as long as you don't mind listening to a heavy dose of preaching along with your dessert.

"Missions" capitalize on images of raggedy street people hunkering down at a common table for some turkey, when they do their solitications for funds. HEY it's TAX DEDUCTIBLE so pull out your wallet!

In some cities the homeless spend their days on public buses and on foot, circulating to HOMELESS FEEDS, set up in parks, churches, and shelters, and if they have a Food Stamp card too, they will not likely feel the pangs of hunger ever.

For many homeless, churches also offer clothing give outs, and personal product giveaways. But you may have to stand being prayed over before you can leave with your loot.

Stores that provide for food banks must also be getting huge TAX DEDUCTIONS for all those stale loaves of bread and old pies they donate.

FOR THE HOMELESS FOOD IS THE EASY PART... It's SHELTER THAT'S DIFFICULT!

LA HOMELESS BLOG has new address

Click on the title to go there...
I noted a blog about years of words... tired of words...

Written Words Communicate and on the Internet that is AROUND THE WORLD!

CENTRAL ARIZONA SHELTER SERVICES link

Link here to the Phoenix and outlying areas.

WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD

SECTION 8 HOUSING STALL MAKES SHELTERS VICIOUS

VICIOUS SHELTER CASE MANAGERS are finding ways to get rid of residents who may have qualified for Section 8, but who they can get rid of anyway, in order to keep their numbers up.

Shelters are playing a game of getting rid of residents to open beds for other homeless people. We can understand that no one wants to live at a shelter forever, but if you were taken in with the promise of housing and they can no longer provide, whose fault is that? The shelter case managers are throwing people who have proven themselves thus far back into the same circumstances they came from - or worse.

The gamble is that some of these residents will after all be able to go live with family or friends or find a room for rent somewhere, when they were saving money to get into a discounted apartment.

WE SUSPECT THESE PEOPLE WILL BE BACK TO STREET STATUS SOON. THAT'S BECAUSE IF THE RELATIONSHIP WITH FAMILY OR FRIENDS WAS GOOD THEY PROBABLY WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN ON THE STREET IN THE FIRST PLACE!

Section 8 housing that is paid for by the Federal government, such as for Veterans, is still funded. State Section 8 is in as much trouble as the state it's in.

WORD ON THE STREET : PATH GLENDALE IS DOING TOO MANY INTAKES, MAKING TOO MANY FALSE STATEMENTS TO GET HOMELESS PEOPLE TO INTAKE WITH THEM !

Since we have heard this from at least three separate women who say their experiences encompass between 2 years and a couple months ago, we are posting a complaint from the street about PATH-Glendale.

According to our sources on the street PATH's GLENDALE location will intake you any time, and they allude to being able to provide you shelter on the phone. THEY CANNOT SERVE NEAR AS MANY PEOPLE AS THEY HAVE TRAVELING ALL THE WAY OVER THERE!

According to M, who was interviewed in Sun Valley Park, "That receptionist has the same rap. She's a liar. I'm not the only one who has used their last 5 bucks to get all the way over there, thinking they were going to shelter me, and nothing."

We think the receptionist is giving the same assuring rap to all callers, just to get them in there for the intake, and management has to know, they cannot offer help to the majority of applicants.

We hear it's because they get money every time they intake, even if they do not serve you. (Anyone at Path want to say yes or no to that?)

Once you have done their paperwork it's in the computer and NOW YOU ARE A PART OF A COUNTY-WIDE SYSTEM that recognizes you as homeless. PART OF A PUBLIC DATABASE! Go find a job!

Six months of the year the only shelter they can send you to is their own, which serves under 50 men, women, and children with an emphasis on people who are working. As soon as the Glendale Armory opens, which will be November 1st, that's where you are likely to go and where they will swarm looking for people who are working. After that they will have you come in or their "outreach" will even drive over and get you and your bags, saying "worst case scenario you'll be at the Armory."

THAT'S EXACTLY WHERE THE MAJORITY END UP!

INFORUM USA A DISCUSSION OF HOMELESSNESS

JOIN THE DISCUSSION NOW ?

THE BLOGGERS POSTED THUS FAR, on their site as linked to above, ARE ALL "EXPERTS" but we want to know if any of them have ever experienced homelessness themselves?

Or are they all educated suited up types who look at us a statistics, "Professi0nally Concerned" for the poor?

BOMBARD THEIR SITE NOW AND SPEAK YOUR PIECE!

HOMELESS NOT TOOTHLESS ORG

Dr. Jay Grossman addresses the needs for dental care in Los Angeles area, with A SMILE FOR EVERY CHILD campaign.

FANCY PAPERCUT BUTTERFLY TWO

DO YOU FAKE BUS PASSES SO YOU CAN AFFORD TO TRAVEL ?

Using a fake bus pass is stealing but many homeless find no other way to afford traveling on buses in their communities.

Some homeless fake mental illness to qualify for the lowest discount "Disabled" bus pass.

SOVA COMMUNITY FOOD AND RESOURCE PROGRAM

818-988-7682 is the number to call if you are a HAVE instead of a HAVE NOT.
One in 8 people in LA worry about having enough to eat. One dollar donated buys $5 worth of food. This is a Jewish Organization.

Call also to find out how to get the food you need.

HOMELESS ACTION NETWORK OF DETROIT

Detroit is added to our list of cold American cities with some sort of plan for the homeless. Don't let us freeze to death while you're all planning!

THREE BROWN BUTTERFLIES

DENVERS ROAD HOME - 10 YEAR HOMELESS PLAN

As the weather turns to rain and cold in Southern California, we hear the weather forcasts for colder - much colder - parts of the country. Here's a link to Denver's 10 year homeless plan. 60 percent of the homeless in Denver are FAMILIES!

LEFT TO THEMSELVES

In the September 11-17, 2009 edition of the LA Weekly, the still free newspaper, author Daniel Heimpel writes LEFT TO THEMSELVES (Nobody can undo the damage to kids like John, raised from infancy by foster-care profiteers) a story about what happens to kids in the foster care system who are freed from it at 18, and become homeless.

LINK TO THE STORY ABOVE...

Contact the writer at s@dheimpel.com

ELTON JOHN SOMEONE SAVED MY LIFE TONIGHT

The meaning of these lyrics have been debated, but let them lay on you they will.

BOB MARLEY DON'T WORRY BE HAPPY

ACLU OPEN FORUM Vol. 85 No.3 REPORTS VICTORY AGAINST CITY OF SANTA MONICA

"This summer the ACLU of Southern California continued its effort to end the criminalization of chronically homeless people with a lawsuit in July against the city of Santa Monica. The lawsuit came on the heels of a similar lawsuit against Santa Barbara and a victory in a third lawsuit against Laguna Beach. All three suits target city policies of harassing, citing, and arresting chronically homeless people with mental and physical disabilities, while failing to provide any reasonable alternative to sleeping on the streets....

"It's not only illegal but callous and inhumane for any city to have its police officers cite, arrest and harass mentally ill or physically disabled homeless persons,.... said ACLU/SC Legal Director Mark Rosenbaum...

LINK ABOVE TO ACLU of Southern California

2.5 MILLION HOMELESS IN INDIA TODAY AFTER FLOODING

2.5 million newly homeless in India due to another natural disaster. 5 million in government shelters.

And in America, a lot of people - Christian people - think a natural disaster is God ridding the earth of the unwanted - a punishment for evil doing or being a member of a wrong relition.

So many of American homeless can only say a prayer to our Indian brothers and sisters.

Rumors of General Relief Increases For Nothing

Rumors fly around the homeless community and most of them seem to come to nothing.

Recently a rumor that a well known homeless man in the park had died while waiting in the emergency room at a local hospital made the rounds. Most of us believed it, especially when someone surfaced who said the police had called her and she had gone to the morgue to identify the body. Still there is one special friend to this man who outright refuses to believe he is dead, even though the weeks pass and he has not shown up at their usual meeting spot.

The LOYALTY!

However, there seems to be no merit in the wild rumors going around that the amount of General Relief will rise to $300 or $500 next month. No one has received an announcement that this is true from General Relief itself and that is what they do, send you a letter, telling you your benefits are over, starting, cut, increased, or decreased.

We think the confusion may be with a grant that started a couple years ago for people in the GROW program who are presently housed. The amount was enough to help someone pay a friend for the privilege of staying a a small room or on the sofa, using the shower and so on.

LEO BUSCAGLIA QUOTE

"Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around."

Leo Buscaglia

NATIONAL COALITION FOR THE HOMELESS VOTING RIGHTS HERE

Click on the title above to get to a site that is all about preserving your right to vote, though you have no permanent address.

RALPH WALDO EMERSON

Quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson

"It is one of the most beautiful compensations in life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself"

SEOUL TIMES ARTICLE WRITER EXPOSES LOS ANGELES FAMILY HOUSING

We hear things haven't changed much: Thomas Emmon Pisano an ex resident exposes life at a shelter that just got a $10 million dollar grant from HUD.

LOS ANGELES FAMILY HOUSING and OTHERS GET MILLIONS IN HUD GRANTS

Link to this Daily News Article by Dana Bartholomew, Staff Writer NOW... Will the shelters that receive the millions use them wisely and fairly?

(thanks K for the tip on this news!)

BARBARA EHRENREICH's BLOG ON POVERTY

LINK TO THIS COURAGEOUS AUTHORS ON LINE WORK TO EXPOSE POVERTY FOR WHAT IT IS!

Barbara Ehrenreich comments on working in America - and remaining poor even when you work three part time jobs...

BLUE AND BROWN BUTTERFLY

STEREOTYPE OF THE HOMELESS - DRUNKS

"THEY'RE ALL DRUNKS!"

HOMELESS CHILDREN GO BACK TO SCHOOLS

Every once in a while you hear about an exceptional homeless or temporarily sheltered child who manages to get into a prestigious college or has the benefit of a scholarship. We are lead to believe that it just takes willingness, rather than the right environment.

UNFORTUNATELY, these exceptions are NEWS, when the NEWS ought to be just how difficult it is for a homeless child to participate and compete in the classroom where his or her peers are children who go home every evening to a real bed, a heated or air conditioned room, regular nutritious meals, and so on. Their teachers may or may not know they are homeless, may or may not be able to compensate, may or may not care. Teaching too can be "just a job."

Homeless children also tend to go to many schools and to drop out early.

Today in some cities it is teacher's themselves who are on wait lists for LOW INCOME HOUSING!

Homeless children may have parents who love them, but they may not have money for books and school supplies, or money for clothing and shoes that doesn't come out of a rag bag, and they suffer for not having comfortable chairs and tables, light, and the quietude necessary to study. THE ONLY SOLUTION IS HOUSING.

BUTTERFLY FUN - FOR OUR HOMELESS CHILDREN

MARTHA BECK MAKES HOMELESS SCREAM !

The famous OPRAH magazine article author and book author, MARTHA BECK, is making some of us scream with her references to homeless people she works with to find their "right life - no matter what".

In her book STEERING BY STARLIGHT, she mentions in particular HOMELESS HEROIN ADDICTS, who she claims illustrate her point because although they cannot afford rent or food, they come up with close to about $200,000 a year for their heroin habit, evidence that (even if you have to prostitute yourself) if there is something you really want, you will focus on it and get it.


BECK SEEMS TO HAVE CONFUSED WITH THE DESPERATION OF ADDICTION with the New Age Hocus Pocus of STAYING FOCUSED, which is damn hard to do when you can't even get regular SLEEP ! Addiction causes heroin addicts to RISK ARREST and TIME IN PRISON. WITH A CRIMINAL RECORD it becomes ever more difficult to find any kind of work that supports you and the temptation is to return to selling the substance you use.

Is she saying that you should be willing to do that much to get what else you want?

BECK may not understand that there are many different ways to become homeless. Some of us are homeless and broke BECAUSE WE REFUSE TO BREAK THE LAW. For instance some of us refuse to sell our food stamps or to fake a psychiatric condition, even though there i s a lot of pressure to do these things when we stay in shelters or go to programs that expect us to get a steady income coming in one way or another so that they can house us somewhere that requires rent.

HOMELESS PROGRAMS are generally horribly inadequate to address the needs of the homeless, all sorts of homeless, from the street alcohlic to the family living in a RV.

ILLINOIS DEFINES WHAT IS HOMELESS

We think this list is partial because it describes street homeless and homeless in shelters...

It does not describe those who are on friends floors but have to stay out of an apartment all day and can only be there when the friend is there...

It does not describe people who had homes or apartments but fled violence, taking their children and suitcases with them, who live here there and everywhere...

It does not RV's and long term resident campgrounds where fees are paid.

BUTTERFLY TO COLOR

REMEMBER OUR HOMELESS CHILDREN !

SAN BERNARDINO CALIFORNIA HOMELESS LINK

Here's what the COMMUNITY ACTION PARTNERSHIP OF SAN BERNARDINO has to say.

BEATLES I'M LOOKING THROUGH YOU

CITY OF ATLANTA BEING SUED FOR INTERFERING IN SHELTER OPERATION

"The Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless announces its lawsuit filed on July 29, 2009, against the City of Atlanta for interfering with the organization’s ability to raise funds and operate its emergency services for homeless men, women and children in the city."

“The harrassment and interference began seriously in 1994 and has gotten progressively worse, taking its toll on our funding,” reports Executive Director Anita Beaty. “

”The Task Force works daily to serve over 600 homeless people with deep support services that included housing 1,500 people in permanent housing last year alone. On average the agency shelters 574 people each night, many of whom need only a job or cheaper housing to get on with their lives. Those people with deeper needs are offered services from assistance with identification to addiction treament and medical help.

The case will be heard on September 21 in Fulton County Superior Court.

Contact:Anita Beaty, Executive Director: 404-729-5366
Bob Cramer, Board Chairman: 404-259-7527
Steve Hall, Attorney: 404-808-1050

CRASH COURSE IN HOMELESSNESS - DARE TO TAKE IT !

Here is the crash course, should you dare to take it!

FOR ONE MONTH:

You are cut off from just about everyone you used to know, including your friends, co-workers, and family. They won't speak to you. They are ashamed of you. They will not help you. You've been abandoned. In most cases, if you had a loving family you would not be on the street.

You have no cell phone, no land line. You can make out calls at a phone booth but can get no incoming calls. Forget job hunting.

You go to a Foodbank twice a week and they give you bags of uncooked rice and dried beans and even meat from Trader Joes - which you cannot cook. So you eat a lot of canned goods - peaches, pears, green beans, tuna. Also day old bread and reject cakes and pies from Ralphs... You rapidly gain a gut - too much sugar,salt, fat.

Afraid to sleep at night? You can sleep sitting up in a chair at the downtown branch of the Los Angeles Public library.

Keep moving - you are a transient after all - that or you're loitering - and you can be arrested for that!You decide a shelter is the way to go. At the shelter someone who does not own a can opener or a sleeping bag steals yours!

Tough! Your lover wants to be with you tonight! But she must sleep in the woman's section of the shelter. No sex! Guess what? Your children and wife to be ex are there too - across the room. You can hear them whimpering but you can't go to their side.

Don't think sleeping in your car, van, RV, or any vehicle is the solution. IT'S ILLEGAL to live out of or sleep in a vehicle. Never mind that the waiting list for Section 8 housing is years long or that no one would rent to you jobless!

You're caught smoking 19 feet from a public building. We can't inhale that second hand smoke, you know. So LAPD officers use this to demand your driver's liscence and wouldn't you know, you have an UNPAID PARKING TICKET!

You're arrested, thrown in jail, released on your promise that you'll show up in court, but you skip out of that too, since you have no money to pay the ticket and are afraid of what might happen to you in jail. You wear clothes from a church donation bag, but that's not why passerbys think you're a BUM.

It's cause you are unshaven and you stink.

You might be able to sink bath sneaking it in a public rest room, but we mean SNEAK! If you are tired, hungry,frightened or depressed, too damn bad!

Maybe you can try to get on SSDI without a lawyer or get yourself to a public hospital where you'll find a doctor who thinks you ought to be medicated for anxiety or depression!

ARE YOU A MEMBER OF A GYM SO THAT YOU CAN SHOWER ?

Many homeless are members of gyms such as the YMCA where taking a class means also being able to use the showers. Our local Y's charge too much of a monthly fee for a locker. Some YMCA's allow people they know to be homeless to use their showers for a daily fee of about $2.50, not expecting membership. Most YMCA's in our area require a person to have a bank account since we must pay a membership or monthly fee though direct transfer of funds. No address = no bank account.

PAGE OF BUTTERFLIES

CALIFORNIA LOST

California's Depression has resulted in thousands more jobs lost despite other states showing recovery. This is a key reason that so many people have been evicted from apartments, have bad credit, and are homeless.

Did you know that if you are staying on a friend's sofa you are homeless? One step after that is living out of your car or van. One step after that (after being harassed by the police perhaps) is being out on the actual street.

Link to the news article here by clicking on the title.

HOMELESS MARATHON RADIO PROGRAM

A 14 hour programming marathon featuring the voices and experience of homeless people.

THE HOMELESS GUY BLOG

ONLY ONE IN 400 PEOPLE IS HOMELESS... ONLY ??? THAT'S A CRISIS!

PAPILIONIDAE

VAN MORRISON - COMFORTABLY NUMB

SEATTLE COALITION ON HOMELESSNESS

Link here to Seattle Homeless Coalition. Remember we are open to posting your opinions and experiences.

A quote about Housing by ABRAHAM LINCOLN

"Let not him who is houseless pull down the house of another, but let him work diligently and build one for himself, thus by example assuring that his own shall be safe from violence when built." --- Abraham Lincoln

10 BUTTERFLIES RED AND BLUE

IS SECTION 8 HOUSING ON HOLD FOREVER ?

Due to the economic crisis SECTION 8 HOUSING is on hold. This means that vouchers for those on the top of the list are not coming any time soon. Some say 6 months, some say a year...

WHEN THE PROBLEM is THE OVERPRICE of APARTMENT RENTS and HOUSING as THE BIGGEST FACTOR IN THE COST OF LIVING, many people who are working but cannot afford to rent are homeless.

HOMELESS HOUSING ASSISTANCE HUD

Link now to see what the U.S. Government has in mind!

COLORADO COALITION FOR THE HOMELESS

Colorado is a cold state, mountains and snow, and we suspect that a lot of people are living off the land there, in harsh conditions. But in cities like Denver, there is likely a homeless population that needs help. Here's the link to the Colorado Coalition For the Homeless!

STEREOTYPE OF THE HOMELESS - SMELLY!

THEY LIKE BEING FILTY, DIRTY, STINKY !

COOTIES ANYONE? DO POOR PEOPLE HAVE COOTIES?

COOTIES ANYONE?

Do poor people have cooties? 
 
Are people adverse to associating with someone who is having bad luck, or simply dumb luck?

Have you been dumped by "friends" just when you needed them?

We are curious about your personal cooties experience!

MTA LA's list of CHARITIES and WHAT THE HOMELESS NEED

HOW ABOUT HOMELESS BUS PASSES without going through SENIOR DISCOUNT or officially disabled (which requires you to be psycho or almost crippled to get a reduced fair?) That's NOT on this list! So the MTA is NOT talking about what it can do, just looking good referring people elsewhere!

Homeless people are often living on food stamps and General Relief and are still expected to LOOK FOR WORK, even though they have no sure place to shower and groom, or anywhere to keep any interview clothing or shoes they may actually acquire. YOU TRY THRIFT STORES, but interviewers can tell...

WANT TO REALLY HELP THE HOMELESS GET BACK ON THEIR FEET AND CONTRIBUTE TO SOCIETY ???

BUTTERFLIES ARE FREE

SIR JOHN LUBBOCK - A Quote

"Do not be afraid of showing your affection. Be warm and tender, thoughtful and affectionate. Men are more helped by sympathy than by service, love is more than money, and a kind word will give more pleasure than a present." by Sir John Lubbock

FOOD and the HOMELESS - LOOSING CONTROL OF OUR DIET !

One of the worst things about being homeless is that we loose control of our diet. Food kitchens and FEEDS in the park, pantries and donations, homeless shelters and churches,and so many other programs provide food. But we often feel that we must eat while the food is there, and we over eat.

Some of us have starved. We've felt the pangs of hunger and the deprivation makes us over eat, especially if we get into a shelter with three meals a day. Since when have we had three meals at the same time every day, cooked foods, pies and cakes?

We may have weight on us, but be nutritionally starved. We usually cannot afford vitamins, herbs, or holistic supplements.

WHEN WE HAVE NO COOKING FACILITIES AT ALL, especially when we are living in a van or car rather than a tent, we are really stuck. Then we may have a diet of sandwiches, or cold soup, chili, or pasta out of can. WAY TOO MUCH SALT, which, along with all the stress we suffer, leads to HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE.

We have our EBT if we are lucky, but even with a homeless hot food supplement, it's an expensive way to eat. In our own kitchens we can make the money last a month, but not when we have to eat chips instead of baked potatoes, canned goods that are sometimes 40% salt and 50% fat...

APRIL 2014 : CHECK OUT OUR NEW PAGE on our sidebar ABOUT TAKING CONTROL OF Y OUR DIET.

ALLMAN BROTHERS - MIDNIGHT RIDER

JOE ANYBODY's HOMELESS BLOGSPOT

Link!

STREET NEWS - A NEWSPAPER SOLD BY HOMELESS IN NEW YORK CITY

Can we take inspiration here? Many homeless make a little cash giving out flyers... Why not sell a newspaper?

BUTTERFLY BLACK AND WHITE (2)

Quote from ELI KHAMAROV

"Poverty is like punishment for a crime you didn't commit."

- Eli Khamarov"

DOCTORS TREATING THE HOMELESS MALINGER and TALK DOWN

We know how it is! You are usually subject to county or other public health facilities that are broke or billing a governmental agency. These clinics make their money by malingering, by having you come back again and again instead of giving you refills on your prescriptions - taking months to get around to referring you out for what you really need. Each time you show up someone gets billed for their incompetence - the tax payer - while your health is allowed to erode.

And many of the personnel, knowing you are poor - especially if you are "homeless" - figure you must have done something wrong to be where you are and must be stupid - and deserve what they are giving you - which can be THE OLD RUN AROUND...

We want to hear about the clinics you go to begging for health care!

How are you treated?

NYMPHALIDAE Plate 6

TOM WAITS BUDDY CAN YOU SPARE A DIME?

TWO BUTTERFLIES RED AND BLUE

SEVEN GOLDEN BUTTERFLIES

RECENT HOMELESS DON'T FIT STEREOTYPE

To the recent June 2009 ABC article about how easy it is to fit into our category... Dual paychecks and families... ONE PAYCHECK AWAY FROM HOMELESSNESS!

HOMELESS IN LA UNITED WAY

40% of Los Angeles residents surveyed by Gallup in a recent poll expressed worry that the high cost of housing could leave them homeless. Link to article and website by clicking the title above.

BUTTERFLIES TO COLOR

REMEBER OUR HOMELESS CHILDREN

REMEMBER OUR HOMELESS CHILDREN !

POPULATION CENSUS OF THE HOMELESS ?! WHY YOU MAY NOT COUNT US !

Some homeless who have cars and are a bit more recently homeless are going to work for the 2010 U.S. Census. But it may be difficult to count most homeless people, since visiting a residence is key to getting a count of the people living inside and census workers are NOT going to risk going to homeless camps.

GRIDSKIPPER HOMELESSNESS IN WASHINGTON D.C.

15,000 homeless in Washington, DC?

HOMELESS SLEEP AT CAPITOL BUILDING IN WISCONSIN

Breaking News from Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal Sentinal

"These are the things that happen when you have all these desperate people in desperate circumstances, forced to live their life in public when most people who emit those behaviors do it in private," Culhane said, adding that 24-hour facilities would better serve homeless people than overnight shelters.

- Stacey Forster reporting.

LA COUNTY RAID OF HOMELESS CAMP

Breaking News from THE LOS ANGELES TIMES ... link here to the story about the homeless camp that LA County is blocking off.

A USC Journalism student researching homelessness found the entrance. Yes it is filthy and dirty but did our cave man and woman ancestors have as much? And, what social and economic forces allow ANYONE in the United States to be homeless...

IT CAN HAPPEN TO ANYONE!

CHICAGO ALLIANCE TO END HOMELESSNESS

CHICAGO ALLIANCE has a plan.... Chicago Homeless let's hear from you!

WAR ON POVERTY DAVOS ANNUAL 2007

This is a long video presentation, probably beyond any free time at the local public library computer terminal. Flows of aid, ladies and gentleman, need to be at home first. Taking corporate profits and personal profits to fix other countries before our own is almost a form of treason.

STOP calling FEMALES BITCHES and WHORES

A Los Angeles resident of skid row told me that for three months he stayed at a place where women were never referred to as females, women, or ladies, but only "Bitches" and "Ho's."

We gotta stop that!

First of all, it's hard to be homeless, but even more so for females; we can't pee under a tree. We have periods and may not be able to shower every day. If we don't have a protector on the street or at a shelter somewhere, we are vulnerable to harassment and sex crimes.

Homeless people must do everything in their power to refrain from insulting each other and diminishing each others chances for success. When one of us succeeds we SHOW THEM!

This blog stands to inspire - if at all possible - and to UNITE homeless people. We cannot do that if homeless are busy sabotaging the self esteem of other homeless. So be you male or female, TODAY PLEDGE TO STOP CALLING females, women, and ladies, ugly names that reduce them and prevent them from being heard !

And remember. We are NOT members of any church. This is NOT coming from a Christian religious bias. We are not trying to stuff Bibles up your you know what!

This is coming from the heart. And to love and be loved, we must UPHOLD. We must stand together.

Instead of insulting today find it in your heart to give someone you meet up with a sincere compliment!

FLYING BUTTERFLY

BUTTERFLY FUN - FOR OUR HOMELESS CHILDREN

Remember our HOMELESS CHILDREN! They need help to excel at school! We know there are exceptions - movies made about people who get into IVY LEAGUE COLLEGES THROUGH SHEER DETERMINATION AND BRILLIANCE.

THEY ARE THE MINORITY!

Being in and out of schools hurts a child's education. A permanent residence and constancy (yes that's a college word!) at school is what's important!

BOB DYLAN SHELTER FROM THE STORM

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY TO HOMELESS MOTHERS

Some homeless mothers are homeless WITH CHILDREN. Others are women who have had children but for one reason or another - fair or unfair - have little to no contact with their children.

Have you lost contact but WANT contact? Please let us know!

I WILL SURVIVE - GLORIA GAYNOR

I WILL SURVIVE ! Is this to your ex spouse or your ex landlord Marge?

CHILDREN OF THE NIGHT RESCUES TEENS WHO ARE PROSTITUTES

Some of our homeless are runaways who have left abuse at home, only to learn that the street is meaner. We've met you and we know that you got into the life for food, shelter, clothing, and companionship. You're still young, though inside you feel old - like you've seen it all. But maybe it's time to take another road and go for the help that's offered. Check out Children of the Night. We hear they care, that they do good things...

WARSAW POLAND BY THE HOMELESS FOR THE HOMELESS

Though this blog focuses on the United States of America, it was interesting to read - in translation - this article from a newspaper The Warsaw Voice.

CITY OF SAN DIEGO HOMELESS SERVICES

You know what to do... click click click!

BRITISH HOMELESS FILM FEATURES HOMELESS NOT ACTING ?!

QUOTE:

Publicis Blueprint unveils homeless title "The Real Picture"
LONDON – Publicis Blueprint, the customer publishing arm of Publicis Groupe, has launched The Real Picture, a new quarterly magazine written by the homeless for the homeless aged 16 to 25 living in London.The Real Picture's aim is to get young homeless people into work by offering them the opportunities they need to turn their lives around.

MARVIN GAYE WHAT'S GOING ON ?

PROJECT HOME PHILADEPHIA PENNSYLVANIA

The original city of American liberty... Here's information on Project Home!

SAN DIEGO COALITION FOR THE HOMELESS

QUOTE "San Diego is a beautiful place in which we live, but on some the beauty is lost. Many San Diegans sleep without shelter, go without adequate food or clothing, and live without hope. Homelessness in the United States has become a problem of epic proportions. Hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children live without shelter, security, or dignity and have nowhere to run."

PASSOVER and HUNGER - JEWISH FAMILY SERVICE OF LOS ANGELES

Recently in the JEWISH JOURNAL, a shiny paper ad WHERE HUNGER IS A QUESTION WE MUST BE THE ANSWER" printed on a square matzo cracker. ALL WHO ARE HUNGRY, LET THEM ENTER AND EAT (From the Passover Liturgy)



A PRAYER FOR THE SEDER TABLE

Your world is full of beauty yet scarred with pain
You have given us plenty and still the world is wracked with hunger
You have directed us to help although we so rarely reach out.
For our blessings, help us to be grateful
For our abundance, help us to be generous
For the love in our lives, help us to share warmth with others
We celebrate the freedom of Passover
Freedom is the power to respond to the anguish of your world
Let all who are hungry come and eat.
Let all who are full come and give
Let us all, no matter our condition, or culture or faith, give thanks for the connection that binds each of us to the other, and all of us to you.


Rabbi David Wolpe

JEWISH FAMILY SERVICE OF LOS ANGELES
Attn: Sherri Kadovitz
6505 Wilshire Blvd. Suite 500
Los Angeles, CA 90048

CHANGE. ORG HOMELESS NOT PHONELESS

Here is another site that is BY THE HOMELESS FOR THE HOMELESS... check it out! CHANGE.ORG

FRAGILE SWALLOWTAIL

WHY ARE PEOPLE HOMELESS ?

The National Cooalition For the Homeless, linked above, has all the latest information. Number one reason? Poverty and cut back on social services.

BEATLES HELP !

Help me get my feet back on the ground !

BOB MARLEY- IS THIS LOVE?

HOUSING WORKS AIDS ISSUE UPDATE

AIDS is a disease that frequently means job loss and economic spiral down. Here's a housing Works Aids Issue Update site.

UNION RESCUE MISSION BLOG

Union Rescue Miss on, Los Angeles, has operated the Burbank Armory Cold Weather Shelter, and this is a UNION RESCUE MISSION BLOG where you can read about the false accusations of neighbors about the 400 PLUS people who have stayed at this shelter the winter of 2008-2009.

Quote" Our operations in West LA, Culver City, and at our downtown facility have been praised by their communities. Each of these shelters has received an A+ rating! Our Burbank shelter has had incredible support from most of the community; hundreds of volunteers, including a member of the Academy and her friends have not only volunteered at the shelter several nights a week, but brought tremendous movies for our guests to watch each night. A number of Burbank area churches and agencies enhanced our hospitality by bringing special meals and gifts that had a huge positive impact on our homeless guests. We served several hundred Burbank residents who found themselves without a place to lay their heads from December 1st until this coming March 15th. Included in these several hundred people were 23 Burbank area families with children who arrived at the Burbank Armory with nowhere to turn for shelter."

SIX YELLOW BUTTERFLIES

CITY OF LOS ANGELES and THE MAYOR want POOR to USE BANK ACCOUNTS

Instead of expensive check cashing companies...

Seems to me there is more to this than it seems. It sounds like they want people to save money. But maybe what they really want is to trace every dollar you spend... One thing about Money Orders is that they tend to be more private... WHAT DO YOU THINK ?

click on the title above to get to the DAILY NEWS article...

Los Angeles Family Housing News Breaking.... ARE HOMELESS RESIDENTS SLAVES ?

We've heard that Los Angeles Family Housing will be making it mandatory for residents to work twice a week around the place or be kicked out. While we are all for volunteering to show your appreciation when you want to, we're learning that many of the residents have the Veteran's or a Mental Health Facility paying for their beds.

We can only say this. When people are forced to work under threat of the streets, for no pay, that is slavery. Slavery went out in the mid 19th century.

Stipends anyone? This isn't prison is it?

If any residents are reading this, please, we need more information!

Breaking YAHOO NEWS - ATLANTA AIRPORT HOMELESS REFUSE TO BUDGE !

"Clusters of homeless have long settled in terminals from Philadelphia to Chicago, ideal round-the-clock shelters for men and women displaced by cities trying to clean up their downtowns."

BRONX HOMELESS SPOKEN WORD !

Check out this site! POETRY to SUPPORT THE HOMELESS ! Spoken Wordz is helping the homeless !

CHARITY NAVIGATOR

CHARITY NAVIGATOR IS A SITE THAT IS SUPPOSED TO HELP YOU DECIDE WHAT CHARITIES ARE WORTH GIVING MONEY TO!

Click on the title above to get there. Let us know what charities you think do a great job and use most of the money they get for helping people...

YELLOW SWALLOWTAIL

AMMA HOSTS FEED IN SANTA MONICA CALIFORNIA

Amma is a Hindu and her devotees have created a Homeless Feed in Santa Monica California. Click on the title above to learn more about Amma, the Hugging Saint.

UPDATE Nov 2015 http://amma.org/meeting-amma/north-america

BLACK AND GREY BUTTERFLY

ARTFUL SOLUTIONS: PATHWAYS FROM HOMELESSNESS at the (Pasadena California) ARMORY

The Armory Center for the Arts is located at 145 North Raymond Avenue in Old Pasadena. Isn't it a bit ironic that so many National Armorys are used as cold weather shelters for the homeless?

Here is what the official brochure for December 2008 Through December 31, 2009 says.

"The culmination of a series of art workshops for men, women, and children coordinated in partnership with the Pasadena Police Department's HOMELESS OUTREACH/PSYCHIATRIC EVALUATION (HOPE) Team, the Armory, and Union Station Homeless Services. Much of the art is for sale, with all proceeds going to the artists."



Click on the title above for more information.

HERE'S AN ADVICE ARTICLE FROM A FAMILY WITH 8 CHILDREN THAT WENT HOMELESS

Called, HOW TO SURVIVE BEING HOMELESS, by By harleyangelbrat, eHOW writer. Now as you are reading about the potted meats, beans, and peanut butter, think about all that cholestrol and think about how those kids are going to be a success in school sleeping in the outdoors or in a crime ridden shelter....

MONARCH BUTTERFLY

SHELTER LOVE ? IS HOMELESS LOVE POSSIBLE?

CAN HOMELESS PEOPLE FALL IN LOVE WHILE LIVING AT OR SLEEPING IN A SHELTER AT NIGHT? WHAT ABOUT WHILE LIVING IN CARS AND VANS, TENT CITIES, OR IN THE PARK OR ON THE CITY STREET?

SO LONG AS THERE ARE HUMAN BEINGS THERE WILL BE THE WILL TO LOVE. AND LIFE IS A BIT EASIER WITH A PARTNER TO SHARE IN OUR LIVES.

SOME OF US HAVE SERIOUS PROBLEMS THAT DON'T CHALLENGE COMMONERS. SOME OF US DO HAVE DRUG PROBLEMS OR MENTAL ILLNESS. THESE ISSUES CAN FEEL OVERWHELMING AT TIMES THOUGH SOMETIMES THERE IS HELP. SOME OF US HAD IT TOGETHER FOR MANY YEARS BUT JUST LOST OUR HOMES.

WE MAY HAVE TO GO WITHOUT RINGS. WE MAY NEVER BE ABLE TO AFFORD FLOWERS OR TAKING EACH OTHER OUT ON DATES TO DINNER AND THE MOVIES. BUT LOVE DOES NOT REQUIRE A LARGE POCKETBOOK, ONLY A BIG HEART!

DIDO - THANK YOU!

Dido's video of an eviction set to such hopeful music... How many of us started out in homelessness due to eviction?

NATIONAL COALITION FOR THE HOMELESS

NEW LINK! LOT'S TO READ from the NATIONAL COALITION FOR THE HOMELESS !

HANNA TURNER's SOCKS FOR THE HOMELESS - www.hannasocks.org

People Magazine is reporting in it's February 9th, 2009 issue, that Hanna Turner, an 8 year old African-American young lady from Perrysburgh, Ohio, has started a campaign to put new socks on the homeless.

CLICK ON THE TITLE ABOVE TO GET TO HER CHARITY.

In an article written by Sharon Cotliar, we learned that on Thansgiving 2004, Hannah as a 4 year old wanted to give her own socks to a homeless person. Her mom Doris bought 100 pairs of socks to help her start her give away.

Says Hannah "Their faces," she says, "look happy," when a new pair of socks changes a person's day.

HURRAY HANNAH TURNER !!!

TONY HILLERMAN quote from his memoir

From TONY HILLERMAN's SELDOM DISAPPOINTED a Memoir
C 2001 by the author
HarperCollinsPublishers

page 66-67

"The Depression had made it socially acceptable to be out on the road without bus ticket money. With the unemployment rate about 30 percent, those fortune enough to be driving certainly had friends or relatives uprooted and homeless drifting around in the hope that they'd find work over the horizon. Then came the war, further uprooting, gasoline rationing, jam-packed public transportation, and millions of men trying to get home or back to camp. Failing to pick up someone with his thumb out was antisocial. Passing up one in uniform was akin to treason. For servicemen hitchhiking became so common that a protocol was developed. if others were seeking rides on your stretch of highway you moved down the line past them. They we4re expected to suggest to the driver who picked them up that you, too, would appreciate a ride. The point to the above being that hitchhiking was easy, orthodox, sometimes exciting....."

FINCA - an IDEA FOR THE UNITED STATES

If You'll click on the title above you'll get to the site for FINCA "Small Loans Big Changes" a non profit that is truly inspirational.

NOW CAN SOME AMERICAN START A SMALL LOANS PROGRAM FOR THE HOMELESS and OTHERS IN POVERTY HERE IN THE USA! Because I was "out of business" over a $200 computer repair at one time!

TWO PASTEL BUTTERFLIES

SOMETHING IN THE AIR - THUNDERCLAP NEWMAN

ANOTHER HOMELESS BLOG TO LOOK AT - CEO OF PATH - LA

Click on the link below to check out this blog, supposed to be owned by a CEO of a Los Angeles homeless program called PATH

OASIS - WONDERWALL

NATIONAL HOMELESS UNDERGROUND - BLOG

Click on the title above to get to this blog!

Here are some blurbs from it:

"In Greater Los Angeles, the number of homeless families receiving welfare benefits from the Department of Public Social Services (DPSS) increased 20 percent to almost 7,100 from June to August (2008), according to the paper."

"Similarly, the number of indigent adults, many of whom are homeless, receiving 221 dollars monthly general relief checks, has risen from about 61,500 at the beginning of the year to just over 70,000 in August, the paper said."

FIVE BUTTERFLIES

HOMELESS IN TEXAS - LIVING IN THE WOODS

HAVE A BETTER 2009!

The other day a woman who had spent some time downtown on skidrow before she became clean and sober told me that the first thing she wants to do when she's on her feet financially again is to go out and buy tennis shoes, jeans, and shirts, and cook up some soul food, and take it back downtown to give away!

What ever little you have, if you have enough to share, please do!