SAN DIEGO HOMELESS

San Diego has one of the largest populations of homeless in the nation. In "Small Acts of Kindness" we see a day in the life of San Diego homeless through the eyes of Dave "The Water Man" Ross and Congressman Bob Filner, Chair of the VA Committee. Rachel Jensen, founder of Girls Think Tank, also appears. This puts a human face on this problem that is a challenge to society.

HAVE YOU BEEN ARRESTED FOR PANHANDLING?

Panhandling is the activity some homeless (and some not homeless) do that is closest to the begging that poor in many other 3rd world countries do here in the United States of America.

Many homeless depend on the money they are given on the street to buy the little extra they need. Others use the money they get to buy alcohol or drugs.

We know people who use panhandled money for sanitary napkins and tampons, socks, and thrift store shoes.

HAVE YOU BEEN ARRESTED FOR PANHANDLING?

CRIMINALIZATION OF PANDHANDLING - GRAND JUNCTION EXPOSED

READ ALL ABOUT IT!


Let's face it: THEY MAKE IT ILLEGAL TO BE POOR IN AMERICA!

A WHOLE PAGE OF BUTTERFLIES

LIKE US, transient and capable of metamorphosis.

WHAT IS YOUR WISH FOR YOUR CHILDREN?

So many children are living in motels, shelters, in vehicles... Sometimes this is because they have been abandoned by one parent...

THE ABANDONED.ORG PASADENA CALIFORNIA

adopting 23 families (40 children total) for Christmas who are living in Transitional Living. This charity says they give 100% of what they get from contributors. This site has information beyond this Youtube video.

VIDEO REMOVED

HOMELESS LOS ANGELES 2010 LATEST NEWS

EVERYBODY'S TALKING HARRY NEILSON

COMMENTS UNSTUCK

Go ahead and leave comments. We have unstuck the function! We are sorry if your comment was not published.

ONCE HOMELESS NOW HEROINE KAREN TRILEVSKY

May 17 2010 PEOPLE magazine had a one page article on Karen Trilevsky, a once homeless but now heroine, woman, who is responsible for putting 67 people through college.

We're linking to her business here that has a copy of the article by Kristen Harmel.

It says that at 17 Karen fled her dysfunctional home to Denver, and in her 30's was working in restaurants in San Francisco. With $5000 she decided to start a cookie and scones baking company which - well - bloomed. But the $5000 ran out and Karen slept for a year on flour sacks in the storage room of a restaurant. Persistence paid off and now FullBloom employees 340 people with $47 in annual sales... With 2 million Karen began her scholarships.

This is very inspirational for us.

SALVATION ARMY MISSING PERSONS

The Salvation army boasts the worlds largest missing persons bureau. There are some restrictions. The person must be lost at least 6 months. They do not get involved when it's a legal issue or when it's a birth parent or adopted child trying to find each other.

This is your chance to find or be found!

LAHSA LOS ANGELES HOUSING SERVICES AUTHORITY LINK HERE

"The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) is a Joint Powers Authority established in 1993 as an independent agency by the County and the City of Los Angeles. LAHSA is the lead agency in the Los Angeles Continuum of Care, and coordinates and manages over $70 million dollars annually in Federal, State, County and City funds for programs providing shelter, housing and services to homeless persons in Los Angeles City and County. "

NEIL YOUNG LONG MAY YOU RUN

HOMELESS WOMEN MAKE OVER at PATH

Does having a makeover improve your self esteem?

We think so - if you can continue to stay clean, dress well in clothes that fit and are appropriate for say, job hunting (Where to hang the clothes? Where to iron them or have them dry cleaned?) and can afford cosmetics and hair cuts and color. Otherwise the makeover lasts a few days.

Link here to news article on PATH and makeovers by a generous stylist.

BURBANK CALIFORNIA TURNS RV DWELLERS INTO GYPSIES

From S.

"In June 2010 the City of Burbank enacted an ordinance restricting where and how long these vehicles may be parked on City Streets. Municipal Code Section 6-1-1010.1 "LARGE NON-COMMERCIAL VEHICLE PARKING," is complicated. YOU MAY NOT PARK AT ALL WITHIN 80 (EIGHTY) FEET OF ANY INTERSECTION, or on any right of way, UNLESS YOU HAVE A PERMIT...

OBVIOUSLY Burbank California, home of DISNEY and many other rich entertainment companies does not want families who must live in these vehicles parking on their streets paved in gold.

TO GET A PERMIT you will need to call 818 238-3915 to "discuss your situation in more detail."

CITY OF BURBANK DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS
150 North Third Street
Burbank, California 91510
818 238-3915

SACRAMENTO 10 YEAR PLAN - SALVATION ARMY

Here's the link to the Sacramento Steps Forward 10 year plan to end homelessness in California's governmental capital.
Benefits of Homeless Connect:

Connects homeless individuals to important services all in one place, reducing frustration and increasing awareness about possible sources of assistance

Inspires community members to help end homelessness

Businesses, faith‐based groups, and colleges have the opportunity to make personal connections with people in need

Helps debunk common myths and stereotypes about people who are homeless

MOTEL KIDS OF ORANGE COUNTY

The New York Daily News article on Alexandra Pelossi's documentary HOMELESS KIDS OF ORANGE COUNTY link here.

"There she spent a summer with kids living in motels within walking distance of Disneyland.

"I was surprised and how unapologetic and sincere they were," she says.

"They weren't bitter; they weren't unhappy."

Yet, the stuff that comes out of the mouths of the kids is likely to make viewers feel both emotions, and more. Kids talk about having lice, about bedbugs and violence. They go to a special one-room school for kids like them. At one point, Pelosi asks the kids what their future holds.

The answers are heartbreaking."

Richard Huff DAILY NEWS TV EDITOR

WHY I CHOSE STREET OVER SHELTER

SLUM JACK says on END HOMELESSNESS BLOG...

Here are my reasons for choosing to remain "outdoors" rather than go to the shelters (which I initially tried):

1. Shelters usually require that you enter early in the eve and then remain there until early the next morn when you must leave. This can totally waste HOURs of otherwise possibly productive time, just sitting around in unpleasant to worse circumstances -- and a time when EVERY resource, including time, must be marshalled.

2. The shelters I've been to are designed to try to keep alcoholics, drug addicts and criminals from being able to do those things. I don't do those things, so the preventative measures simply needlessly and oppressively impose upon my own adult freedoms. Like going around the corner for a coffee in a cafe and looking for work or some other way to earn money using the wifi.

3. Literally "imprisonment" with some of the worst people. This is a lousy way to spend evenings and is COUNTERproductive. Or worse.

4. Property Impracticalities - I have a bicycle with a trailer attached. This is a GOOD solution to having to constantly carry around one's belongings. It's a LOT more useful, and less "unattractive" than the stereotypical shopping cart, etc. However, shelters typically do NOT offer any kind of secure options for one's belongings, usually severely limiting how much one can even carry in. This forces people to a ridiculous minimum of belongings... one of the factors that actually contributes to perpetuating a person's homeless predicament.

Also, you DON'T want other people at shelters to see what you DO own and have. There are many thieves that will then know what you're carrying around with you, many of whom you WILL run across later... at night, alone, etc.

5. The "solution" IS the "problem" - Shelters are often euphemized as "emergency shelter"... but the emergency is that you have nowhere else to just be and operate, so being AT a "shelter" is the emergency. And being in that predicament, even with the "help" of merely having a lousy place to sleep indoors, a disgusting bathroom and a gesture of a "meal" - AT BEST - just perpetuates your true problem.

While "outdoors" you can spend up until midnight or so at comfortable cafe's, with options to interact with intelligent and, possibly, helpful people. You can work on things that may actually afford a chance to get out of the jam. Use wifi. Etc. The "price" is that of some modest purchases, but then also having to find a place to sleep outdoors. This is becoming harder and harder to do, as cities virtually outlaw being homeless like that.

ARE YOU TREATING FOR CANCER WHILE LIVING IN A VEHICLE ?

Sadly, we know several people who are treating for CANCER or AIDS while living in a vehicle.

IS BAD CREDIT KEEPING YOU ON THE STREET?

We know people who are somehow working at jobs while sleeping in cars or in sleeping bags in the park... they have some money set aside but due to bad credit (especially evictions) they cannot seem to get anyone to rent to them, even in this GREAT DEPRESSION!

INVISIBLE PEOPLE HOMELESS PROJECT ON YOUTUBE

We are really excited by this project... A TV YOUTUBE channel just for us. THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP!

HOMELESS IN VEGAS 2010 ANOTHER DAY IN PARADISE?

WE TAKE CARE OF OUR OWN - www.gaycenter.org GAY HOMELESS YOUTH

THEN
HIGH ON DRUGS
SEX FOR MONEY
EMPTY STOMACH
DROP OUT
LOST

NOW
HIGH ON LIFE
SEX FOR LOVE
FULL STOMACH
GRADUATE
FOUND

L.A. GAY AND LESBIAN CENTER PROGRAMS FOR HOMELESS GAY, LESBIAN, BISEXUAL, and TRANSGENDER YOUTH....

In VANGUARD NEWSLETTER

NATIONAL HOMELESS DAY 10/10/2010

NATIONAL HOMELESS DAY!

CONGRESS TO ADD HOMELESS TO HATE CRIME PROTECTIONS

"Right now that data is collected by the National Coalition for the Homeless. A report issued by the organization in August showed that violence against the homeless in 2009 was the highest it's been in 10 years. Last year 43 homeless people were killed. In 2008, that number was 27. Cardin said he was "shocked and horrified" by reports of the killings."
URGE YOUR SENATORS TO JOIN CARDIN TO PASS THE BILL AND PROTECT HOMELESS CONSTITUENTS!

SISTERS SLEDGE WE ARE FAMILY

HAS YOUR CAR, RV, TRUCK, or OTHER VEHICLE BEEN LOST BECAUSE YOU

COULD NOT AFFORD THE REGISTRATION OR OTHER DMV FEES?

Did you go from on wheels to on foot?

CHICAGO HOMELESS BLOG ADDED TODAY

"The Chicago Homeless Blog is a place for the news and trends of the homeless community in Chicago and the organizations working to end homelessness in Chicago.

The blog will feature the success and failures of individuals experiencing homelessness, individuals and organizations working on behalf of the homeless and trends in national homelessness initiatives and how they affect Chicago."

PINK MOD BUTTERFLY DESIGN

Now that you're here, please read our blog.  We have some great resources,
a list of active Homeless and Poverty Action bloggers, and so much more for you to read!

Go to our sidebar for a link to the top of the blog!

LOS ANGELES FAMILY HOUSING BREAKS GROUND ON MENTAL HEALTH HOUSING INSTITUTION

Los Angeles Family Housing plans to break ground on September 30, 2010 for GLENOAKS GARDENS, intended to house mentally ill homeless, at 8925 Glenoaks Blvd, Sun Valley, California.

Thanks to M. for this tip. The Daily News article we found with a picture of the place and other information - like how they got the money for it - is linked!

BLOGGERS UNITED LINK TO NATIONAL HOMELESS DAY

"Each year since 1990, on or near the first day of winter and the longest night of the year, National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH) has sponsored National Homeless Persons' Memorial Day to bring attention to the tragedy of homelessness and to remember our homeless friends who have paid the ultimate price for our nation's failure to end homelessness. This year, the National Health Care for the Homeless Council (NHCHC) has joined us in co-sponsoring this event.

In an effort to maximize the impact of the day, NCH and the NHCHC have encouraged local and statewide organizations to hold memorials of their own. Last year, over 100 cities across the nation, from Detroit to Seattle to Washington, DC, sponsored events to honor those who had died and to recommit to the task of ending homelessness."

BLOGGERS UNITED LINK ABOVE

THREE DOG NIGHT - EASY TO BE HARD

new video Jan 2015  - a favorite of ours!

CALIFORNIA FOOD BANKS TO SUPPLY FRESH VEGGIES

Marketwire breaking news: YOU MAY BE ABLE TO GET ENOUGH VEGGIES IN YOUR DIET AFTERALL!

"Thanks to participation from international logistics service provider IFCO SYSTEMS, CAFB is now providing fresh produce to food banks and people in need throughout California and beyond through its Farm to Family program. IFCO is subsidizing the use of its reusable plastic containers (RPCs) to growers for the transport of fresh produce to local food banks. The pilot program was launched with Ocean Mist Farms and Pacific International Marketing (Pacific).

"The California Association of Food Banks' 43 member food banks provide over 5,000 non-profit agencies with food. These agencies in turn distribute food directly to over 2 million hungry families and individuals. More than 25,000 volunteers support the food bank network. The mission of California Association of Food Banks is to provide a unified voice among food banks to maximize their ability to build a well nourished California.

A 10 YEAR PLAN TO END HOMELESSNESSE in DENVER

This is about a 10 year plan - started in 09 to end all Homelessness in Denver.

WE THINK THE NUMBER ONE WAY TO END HOMELESSNESS is to HAVE MORE LIVEABLE GOVERNMENT HOUSING, or for builders to be given MORE INCENTIVES to build LOW INCOME HOUSING.

HAS THE RECESSION/DEPRESSION LOWERED THE COST OF APARTMENTS IN YOUR CITY? WE DOUBT IT. Landlords can deduct the "business loss" they take from leaving an apartment vacant.

CHILD ABUSE UP 10% in LOS ANGELES COUNTY

"Calls to the Child Abuse Hotline jumped from 39,611 in the first half of last year to 43,693 in the same period this year.

Department of Children and Family Services Director Trish Ploehn said she believes the increase in calls is a combination of two factors: the economic stress on families being taken out on children and greater awareness of abuse from news coverage of child deaths.

"I believe the recession and the stress caused by poverty, unemployment, homelessness and two or three families having to move into one home are all starting to take their toll," Ploehn said.

LINK TO FULL ARTICLE above (click on the title of this post.)

ARE YOU BEING PRESSURED BY YOUR PROGRAM TO FAKE AN SSI OR SSDI CLAIM?

so that you can have income that will be used for housing?

Are you being referred to doctors or psychologists who cooperate in fraud?

Are your case manager(s) telling you it's income or move out?

JENNETTE MC CURDY - HOMELESS HEART

HOUSELESS OR HOMELESS ? REBECCA's COMMUNITY HAS PLENTY OF LINKS !

This site attempts to address the problem of ISOLATION. According to this group, plenty of people who are homeless get housing but still spend most of their time with homeless people because HAVING KEYS TO AN APARTMENT is not the same as HAVING A COMMUNITY TO BELONG TO!

Link now to REBECCA's COMMUNITY - Plenty of homeless voices to hear!

HAVE YOU BEEN RAPED ON THE STREET?

Homeless women seem to be targeted for rape more than women who are housed. This is one of the reasons homeless women seem to seek programs and shelters more than homeless men. Sometimes it's linked to prostitution, often not.

There are a number of reasons that homeless women are attacked. Mostly they are more vulnerable. Unfortunately, some homeless people are unable to check their impulses due to drug use or mental illness. HOMELESS ON HOMELESS STREET CRIME is a terrible reality, although some homeless, by carefully selecting their street buddies, do avoid it.

NORTH EAST VALLEY HEALTH CORPORATION -WALMARTIZATION OF HEALTH CARE

Call Keani Christianson at 213- 276-7153 for activism

NORTH EAST VALLEY HEALTH CORPORATION has opened two new location in recent times in our base neighborhood but CANNOT PROVIDE ITS OWN EMPLOYEES health care?

This is to us the Walmartisation of HEALTH CARE!

From a flyer handed out in March 2010:

"Northeast Valley Health Corporation (NEVHC) is one of the nation's largest community health centers. However, due to wages that haven't kept up with the cost of living, combined with unaffordable health insurance, many frontline caregivers at NEVHC are facing the same economic hardships as NEVHC patients and participants.CURRENTLY ONE IN THREE NEVHC employees qualifies for Medi-Cal and Healthy Families.

NEVHC management's proposal includes 10% increase in health care costs annually over the next three years. This increase in costs combined with minimal wage increases, is like asking employees to choose between putting food on the table and paying for family health care. It's putting families last."

BUTTERFLY

COMMON GROUND - "PROJECT 50"

In 2009, Common Ground will open our 3,000th unit of permanent and transitional housing in New York City, Connecticut, and upstate New York. With the goal of creating 4,000 additional units of housing for the homeless by 2015.

Founded by MacArthur and Ashoka Fellow Rosanne Haggerty in 1990, Common Ground is a pioneer in the development of supportive housing and other research-based practices that end homelessness. Common Ground’s network of well designed, affordable apartments — linked to the services people need to maintain their housing, restore their health, and regain their economic independence — has enabled more than 4,000 individuals to overcome homelessness.

LOS ANGELES TIME "PROJECT 50" ARTICLES - 4 FRONT PAGES 2010

We're posting the links as we found them on the LOS ANGELES TIMES DATABASE. PROJECT 50 was followed by a journalist and photojournalist for a couple years. The idea was to give 50 "hardcore homeless" FOUR WALLS and A BED, and not force them to have psychiatric help or anything else:

We've added four enclosure links to this post
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0801-homeless-20100801,0,4294177.story
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0803-homeless-20100803,0,6915621.story
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-homeless-20100805,0,2743180.story
http://www.latimes.com/la-me-0807-homeless-20100807,0,1678240.story

BUTTERFLY ON LAZY SUSAN

We've UPDATED our list of HOMELESS BLOGS

When we redesigned this blog, we lost some of our links and blogs... We've updated them. One or two have changed names or gone private...

Many of these blogs have MANY contributors or writers: Don't feel all alone! Read what others have to say!

ARETHA FRANKLIN - R E S P E C T ! ! !

MALIBU HOUSE OF HOPE

MALIBU HOUSE OF HOPE directs money towards helping homeless children and youth, many who come out of the Foster Care system.

Yes this wealthy beach community does have some homeless adults, some who are camping out on the beach, many traveling north from Santa Monica, California.

DO YOUR CHILDREN HAVE ACCESS TO A LIBRARY THAT WILL ALLOW TUTORS and STUDY AREAS?

Are your homeless children allowed to go to your local library after school for tutoring and do they have a study area? (Some libraries are not happy with talking or don't have special areas for children.)

CHARITY JEWISH STYLE BOB ESHMAN, JEWISH JOURNAL

CHARITY JEWISH STYLE
Rob Eshman, the Editor in Chief at the Jewish Journal wrote a story in the July 27th 2007 edition about the Jewish notions of PHILANTHROPY.
I would like to share his list here which he called "abbreviated."

LEVELS
8) One gives donations grudgingly.

7) One gives less than he should, but does so cheerfully.

6) One gives directly to the poor upon being asked.

5) One gives directly to the poor without being asked.

4) The recipient is aware of the donor's identity but the donor does not know the identity of the recipient.

3) The donor is aware of the recipient's identity, but the recipient is unaware of the source.

2) The donor and recipient are unknown to each other.

1) The highest form of charity is to help sustain a person before they become impoverished by offering a substantial gift in a dignities manner, by extending a suitable loan or by helping them find employment or establish themselves in business so as to make it unnecessary for them to become dependent on others....


(We thank a reader for forwarding this to us!)

BUTTERFLY ON LAZY SUSANS

REMEMBER OUR HOMELESS CHILDREN.

COUNTY UCLA OLIVE VIEW - AVERAGE 12 HOUR WAIT

Here in Los Angeles County there are several "free clinics" many who offer a sliding scale or who take Medicare, but most of them cannot take more patients or are too booked to help you if you are having a sort of emergency.

If you are having problems breathing, having pain in the abdomen, think you may be miscarrying, you are told to go to Olive View, or one of the other county hospitals that are operating on no money somehow...

Olive View in particular has a 12 hour wait on the average in the emergency room. Of course patients ambulanced in go first. But have you ever sat that long next to someone who was pretty sure they were going to need surgery on a gallbladder or an appendix? We have.

Some people say they get excellent care for all their waiting, others remain unable to work waiting...

And YES there is a small homeless population sleeping sitting up in the lights and uncomfortable chairs of the Olive View waiting room...

EBONY AND IVORY PAUL MCCARTNEY and STEVIE WONDER

What we need to survive...

OREGON HAS THE HIGHEST CONCENTRATION of HOMELESS POPULATION IN THE NATION

"For example, according to one study, Los Angeles was spending $6 million a year to pay for 50 extra police officers as part of a crackdown on crime in the Skid Row area at a time when the city budgeted only $5.7 million for homeless services.

The growth in homelessness fuels the debate. In Multnomah County, a count in January found 1,591 people sleeping outside, 820 in emergency shelters and 27 staying in motels with vouchers. That was 13 percent higher than in 2007. The deterioration in the economy since January means there are probably more homeless on Portland streets now, officials said.

A recent study by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development found that Oregon has the highest concentration of homeless people of any state in the nation, .54 percent of the population.

Portland tried to work out a solution in 2007 by providing benches, public bathrooms and the promise of a new center for homeless people where they could hang out during the day and access services such as permanent housing."


****

2015 note.  As of last year FLORIDA has the highest percentage of HOMELESS FAMILIES.

HOMELESS VOICE - UPDATED 2015!

THIS BLOG is right in line with us... so check them out!http://www.homelessvoice.org/

VENTURA COUNTY HOMELESS and HOUSING COALITION

VENTURA COUNTY, semi rural, lots of farm land and farm workers bending over in the fields...

We encourage you also to do a little research into what resources are available for those who become homeless in your area. WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOU HAD NO ONE TO TURN TO, HAD LOST YOUR JOB and NOW YOUR HOME? Here is a link to one organization in Ventura County that says it will help...

Here is what CC said:
I was criticized by the neighbors who had known me for years. They were nowhere for me, did not lift a box to help me get things into storage. One practically spit on me as I left my home (an apartment) of a decade... I WILL NEVER FORGET THE MEANESS... And I hate being a charity case..."

WEALTHY SANTA BARBARA PARKING LOT IS HOME

This is an old news article from 2007 but it's about all the homeless who are living in vehicles in parking lots in Santa Barbara...other articles have appeared saying the same in 2008, 2009... Apparently there is work in mansions as a servant, but who trusts a homeless person to work in a mansion?

"We've lived in the homeless shelter, and it's full of people that are drunk and on drugs," said Carlos Cortez.

Working but too poor to afford rent in this expensive city, Cortez and his wife, Naomi, scraped together enough money to buy an old recreational vehicle they can live in.

It's a phenomenon that is happening all over the country as people are priced out of local housing and have nowhere else to go where life might be better.

California alone has about 350,000 homeless people. Santa Barbara has 2,000, some still trying to make it in the working world."

STATUE OF LIBERTY FOUNDATION and FAMOUS POETRY

click on the title above to get to the poem and website or read it below!

THE NEW COLOSSUS by Emma Lazarus

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

ARE YOU WALKING AROUND WITHOUT EYEGLASSES YOU NEED TO SEE?

Have you been walking around without the eyeglasses you need to see clearly? Are there any organizations in your area that provide free or low cost vision care including eyeglasses?

LIONS CLUB?
LENSE CRAFTERS?

GAY HOMELESS YOUTH ARE TOO COMMON

Here's a link to some stats that are just rotten... 42% of homeless youth self-identify as gay/lesbian...


click on title to link to article

ARE YOU HOMELESS BECAUSE YOUR PARENTS DON'T LIKE YOUR SEXUALITY?

Did your parents beat you, verbally abuse you, withdrawal their financial support, force you to go to church, or in any way harm you, forcing you to run away from home because you are Gay, Bisexual, Transgendering, or QUESTIONING whether or not you are heterosexual?

BUTTERFLY

SALVATION ARMY NEW YORK LOOKING FOR FOSTER HOMES FOR HOMELESS YOUTH

IS FOSTER CARE THE ANSWER REALLY?
OVER THE AGE OF 21, background check, home ownership... and they will accept an application.

HOMELESS BOYCOTT OF 7/11 AT TUJUNGA and MAGNOLIA NORTH HOLLYWOOD CALIFORNIA

Because the owners of this 7/11 are "members" of the local SAFETY AMBASSADORS (harassers and spies on the homeless who are interfering with LAPD doing their job : call the North Hollywood police station and just ask!) WE ARE SUGGESTING YOU BOYCOTT THIS STORE.


This is one of the busiest 7/11 stores in Los Angeles, not far from the Red and Orange lines and other public transportation and the homeless have a presence in the surrounding area.
Recently, the people running the store called the SAFETY AMBASSADORS on a senior citizen, dressed clean and showered, who had been let out of a local hospital with a limb still wrapped up.

The man had called 211 hours before and was in the light of the 7/11 rather than in the dark of the park waiting for social services to come and take him to a shelter for the night.

CAN'T FIND MY WAY BACK HOME STEVIE WINWOOD

STOP ORLANDO LAWSUIT ACLU DEFENDING PARK FEEDS

Man's inhumanity to Man is displayed in city laws that prevent FEEDS in parks. The city of Orlando Florida, which lives around DISNEY WORLD and tourism, doesn't want any homeless people - or the poor but housed - to be fed in public parks. THE ACLU is taking them to court and MAY THE ACLU WIN FOR US!

Thank you "Jerry" for alerting us!

LINK TO AN ARTICLE ABOUT THIS ACTION above!

HOMELESS YOUTH SAN FRANCISCO

LGBT and HOMELESS

PARENTS WHO REJECT THEIR CHILDREN BECAUSE THEY ARE LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, or TRANSGENDER...

We know of several gay and transgender persons who are in this situation.

CAN YOU BE A GOOD FOSTER PARENT TO A GAY YOUTH BECAUSE YOU ARE GAY YOURSELF?

ARE YOU JUST OUT OF PRISON and CHALLENGED BY DRINKING OR DRUGS?

"THEY'RE ALL CRIMINALS!" ("SO THEY DESERVE WHAT THEY GET!") THAT'S WHAT A lOT OF NORMIES HAVE TO SAY ABOUT US.

Just out of prison, many people, especially men, are not welcomed back to their families. They return to the park nearest their old neighborhood, or they attempt to use a shelter as a parole address. NOT BEING ABLE TO GET A JOB WITH A CRIMINAL RECORD is part of this cycle of homelessness.

This is what we suggest to you!

#1 DO NOT GO RIGHT INTO A MENTAL HEALTH PROGRAM if you have your wits about you.

#2 DO GET INTO A SHELTER - AFTER REHAB IF NECESSARY.

#3 WHILE IN THE SHELTER GET A MENTAL HEALTH ASSESSMENT. START BY SIMPLY GOING TO A MFCC (TALK THERAPIST). IF YOU HAVE GONE THROUGH A REHAB PROGRAM get weekly MFCC therapy ONGOING. ALSO JOIN AA***, NA, Etc

#4 DO NOT GO BACK INTO YOUR OLD NEIGHBORHOOD IF THERE WAS DRUG DEALING or USE INVOLVED IN YOUR CASE. AVOID ANY ASSOCIATION WITH DRUGS! (We know it's difficult but see AA or NA!)

#5 STAY IN CONTACT WITH YOUR PAROLE OFFICER. KEEP TO THE TERMS OF YOUR PROBATION.

#6 EVERYONE IS LONELY BUT A JOB IS THE PRIORITY NOT HAVING A BOYFRIEND OR GIRLFRIEND! JUST KEEPING BUSY AT ANY HONEST JOB - EVEN FAST FOOD - IS A START!

FROM "KIMMY" and "KENNY"

SIX YELLOW BUTTERFLIES

HOMELESS SHELTERS via HUD in NEVADA

Here is a HOUSING and URBAN DEVELOPMENT list of NEVADA shelters!

SHAME ON VEGAS! HOMELESS NOT TO BE FED!

ETHNIC CLEANSING OF HOMELESS PEOPLE is worsening in Los Vegas where the mayor has said he will be gentle and legal but... It's OK if people eat, shit, sleep, and have sex and die on the street... just like in Calcutta India!

AMERICANS DO NOT WANT TO DEAL WITH PEOPLE WHO ARE POOR... HOMELESS...ESPECIALLY NOT WHEN THEY ARE ON VACATION AND WANT TO LOOSE A LOT OF MONEY GAMBLING...

WHERE ARE THE PUBLIC BATHROOMS ? In the casino's?

VEGAS BUSINESS CAN WELL AFFORD TO THROW SOME MONEY "AWAY" by opening decent homeless shelters. BUILD THEM - THEY WILL COME!

(Yes some homeless people prefer the street. But they are not in the majority!)

AMERICAN GIRL DOLLS HAVE HOMELESS MODEL

Andrea Peyser reporting - link above. AND WE SURE HOPE MATTEL the maker of these very expensive dolls purchased by mostly upper middle class and rich people are DONATING THE PROCEEDS TO HOMELESS CHILDREN CENTERS!

SHOPPING CARTS IN LA THREAT TO CHILDREN

DID YOU KNOW SHOPPING CARTS ARE A THREAT TO CHILDREN?

And suppose you and your children are PUSHING THE SHOPPING CART AWAY FROM THE APARTMENT YOU JUST GOT EVICTED FROM?

Once again our leaders are thinking in terms of ethnic cleansing. They want homeless to go around with nothing but what can be carried in pockets and a knapsack on the back. THEY DO NOT PROVIDE LOCAL MAIL SERVICE SPOTS, PARKING FOR PEOPLE SLEEPING IN CARS, or MINI STORAGE/LOCKERS.

If you click on the title you can go to the Los Angeles Times article and you can leave your comments here or there.

ELTON JOHN YOUR SONG

HOMELESS SHELTER DIRECTORY - NATIONAL BY STATE

This is a large, by city list of HOMELESS SHELTERS in the UNITED STATES including UTAH...

AMMA MOTHERS KITCHEN

AMMA is called "The Hugging Saint." She's a woman from India, a Hindu, who has many projects around the world that help people, including in the Unites States. The link above will tell you if a group in your city is providing food for the 3rd world poor in our nation.

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

DID YOU ASSOCIATE WITH HOMELESS PEOPLE BEFORE YOU BECAME HOMELESS YOURSELF?

Were you friendly with homeless people before you became homeless yourself?

HOMELESS LIBRARY PATRONS in LOS ANGELES

Many of you are using the computers at libraries to check e-mail, to SEARCH FOR WORK, and to read blogs like this one. LOS ANGELES PUBLIC LIBRARY IS IN TROUBLE. The city is near bankruptcy and the hours and services for the libraries in this system have been cut, meaning some of you don't even have an easy place to wash or go to the bathroom or stay inside when it is too hot, cold, or rainy out.

YOU CAN STILL SEND A POST CARD INTO THE MAYOR and be heard. ASK THE LIBRARIANS ABOUT IT! Their UNION will PUT THE STAMP ON FOR YOU!

Link to SAVE THE LIBRARY. ORG above!

LYNDON JOHNSON's WAR ON POVERTY 1964

"The Administration here and now declares unconditional war on poverty in America."
Lyndon B. Johnson

State of the Union Message 8 January 1964

NEW VIDEO AUGUST 2016

BUTTERFLIES ON FLOWERS

CLAY AIKEN - LOVER ALL ALONE

KILLER OF HOMELESS John Robert McGraham, SENTENCED TO LIFE

"I only wish Ben had some compassion for John," McGraham's younger sister Susanne McGraham-Paisley said through tears. "He must have seen him as a filthy heap of a bum who deserved not to live. (John) was good, kind and thoughtful. He never hurt anybody."

JOHN ROBERT McGRAHAM WAS SET ON FIRE!
May he Rest in Peace now!

THIS IS A HATE CRIME!
Link now to this KCAL on line report

We are looking for HOMELESS BLOGGERS TO HELP BUILD THIS SITE!

Our dream is to have vital links to every place there are homeless people. When we started this blog we hoped we could do it all from Southern California. Please contact us if you're interested!

CLAY WALKER : IT AINT PRETTY BUT ITS BEAUTIFUL

This Morning A HOMELESS MAN on the bus GAVE ME one of the BIGGEST ROSES I HAVE EVER SEEN !

I got into a conversation with this man, and it turns out he has a book... I promised him I would follow through and let you all know...

Meanwhile, we are restoring our list of HOMELESS BLOGGERS ....

EUGENE OREGAN HOMELESS LINKS

Eugene Oregon is the home of a university, and we hear there are many students who become homeless when their intention was to go to college.

This is not just EUGENE but because many students cannot afford the cost of housing around universities WHERE LANDLORDS (often home owners) ARE NOTORIOUS FOR STICKING IT TO STUDENTS!

Above is a list of shelters in EUGENE.

NEW HOMELESS BLOG - NATIONAL ALLIANCE TO END HOMELESSNESS

Link to this new blog for us!

PAPILIONDAE

THE CLASSES OF HOMELESSNESS! HOW HOMELESS ARE YOU?

THESE ARE THE CLASSES/ CASTES OF HOMELESSNESS! UNTOUCHABILITY !

WHERE ARE YOU ON THIS CHECKLIST?

YOU ARE LIVING WITH FRIENDS TEMPORARILY.

MAYBE ON THE FLOOR OR SOFA.

(YOU ARE NOT WITH YOUR FAMILY and YOUR NAME DOES NOT APPEAR ON ANY LEASE, RENTAL AGREEMENT, or MORTGAGE!)

YOU HAVE A MAILING ADDRESS !

YOU HAVE RESOURCES FOR PERSONAL CARE (showers) and OWN and CAN HANG UP SOME CLOTHING FOR INTERVIEWS.

or

YOU ARE LIVING IN A RECREATIONAL VEHICLE THAT HAS RUNNING WATER AND TOILET IN A CAMPGROUND or LEGAL PARKING AREA WITH HOOK UPS but

YOU HAVE NO OTHER DWELLING THAT IS HOME.

YOU HAVE A MAILING ADDRESS at a POSTAL BOX

opened BEFORE YOU BECAME HOMELESS!

or

YOU ARE LIVING IN A RECREATIONAL VEHICLE THAT DOES NOT HAVE RUNNING WATER or TOILET ON A STREET or OTHER AREA THAT does NOT have HOOK UPS and YOU HAVE NO OTHER DWELLING THAT IS HOME.

YOU PROBABLY ARE ABLE TO URINATE IN A CONTAINER INSIDE. YOU USE STORES or LIBRARY TOILETS TO MOVE YOUR BOWELS!

YOU MAY HAVE A GYM MEMBERSHIP IN ORDER TO SHOWER.

or

YOU LIVE IN A VEHICLE SUCH AS A CAR OR SUV.

IF YOU ARE MALE YOU MAY BE ABLE TO URINATE IN A BOTTLE. IF YOU ARE FEMALE YOU ARE IN MORE TROUBLE WHEN IT COMES TO USING THE TOILET, ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU GET YOUR PERIOD. YOU SPEND AS MUCH TIME AS POSSIBLE INDOORS in COFFEE SHOPS, LIBRARIES, GYMS, MALLS.

or

YOU ARE IN A SLEEPING BAG IN AN ENCAMPMENT OF HOMELESS.

YOU MAY BE ABLE TO PICK UP SOME MAIL AT GENERAL RELIEF. YOU MAY HAVE EBT or DISABILITY PAYMENTS and A BANK ACCOUNT. YOU MAY CAN (RECYCLE) for SPARE MONEY. YOUR SLEEP IS DISTURBED. YOU ARE THE VICTIM OF CRIME. YOU MAY or MAY NOT HAVE A DRUG OR ALCOHOL PROBLEM. YOU MAY COMMIT CRIME. IF YOU ARE A WOMAN YOU MAY HAVE A MAN WHO PROTECTS YOU or USES YOU TO PROSTITUTE.

or

YOU ARE STREET HOMELESS.

THIS MEANS THAT YOU ARE PROBABLY WALKING ALL NIGHT or SLEEPING BEHIND A DUMPSTER or OTHER AREA YOU THINK IS SAFE FOR THE NIGHT.

YOUR PERSONAL POSSESSIONS ARE WHAT YOU CAN CARRY, or PUSH IN A SHOPPING CART. YOU MAY FIND YOUR POSSESSIONS ARE STOLEN.

YOU MAY BE HARASSED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT.

YOU LIKELY DO HAVE A MENTAL ILLNESS (DEPRESSION, PSYCHOTIC BREAKS, etc.) WHICH IS OR ISN'T TREATED. THERE IS A GOOD CHANCE YOU HAVE LOST TEETH.

or

YOU ONCE LIVED ON A SOFA, ON A BEACH, IN A PARKING GARAGE, IN A CAR, IN AN RV, IN THE PARK, or IN THE STREET but NOW

YOU HAVE BEEN TAKEN IN BY a CHARITY, a SHELTER.

YOU MAY BE IN A NIGHT SHELTER. These are usually seasonal, also called "cold weather," where YOU SLEEP ON A COT YOU SET UP AND TAKE DOWN EVERY DAY and YOU GET ONE MEAL A DAY, a meal that MAYBE A CHURCH DONATES and SERVES.

YOU MAY BE IN A YEAR ROUND PROGRAM and ACTUALLY SLEEP ON A BED, THOUGH YOU HAVE A LOT OF ROOMMATES.

*********

ARE ANY OF THESE HOMELESS YOU?

STATISTICS - 1 MILLION AMERICANS ARE HOMELESS 30% are FAMILIES

Christine Cadena is reporting... click on the title and link to this EYE OPENING article about who is homeless..... 17 percent are SINGLE WOMEN.

"To be homeless in the United States, you may hold a job as nearly 20 percent of the homeless do. However, due to the costs and financial requirements for renting apartments and housing, as a homeless individual, you simply can not afford to live elsewhere."

ALCOHOLICS ANNONYMOUS - NATIONAL DIRECTORY LINK

Are you one of those many people WHO CANNOT HAVE EVEN ONE DRINK... because you are Alcoholic? If Alcohol is what took you down, it's time to self assess and present yourself to the closest AA meeting... Above is the information link for WORLD WIDE AA.

and here is the LINK to FIND an AA MEETING !
FIND A MEETING


P.S. DID YOU KNOW THAT AA is the BIGGEST BUSINESS NETWORKING group ever! That's what we are told so... i.e. clean up and GET A JOB!

HAVE YOU LOST YOUR BANK ACCOUNT BECAUSE YOU HAVE NO REAL ADDRESS?

HAVE YOU LOST YOUR BANK ACCOUNT BECAUSE YOU HAVE NO REAL ADDRESS?

SLO HOMELESS BLOG LINK HERE!

Another great blog by a homeless man.... We're so encouraged to see more homeless blogging! Great links on this one too!

AMPLE HARVEST FOOD BANK LISTS

Backyard gardeners who have MORE are sharing with the poor.

YOU CAN DONATE PRODUCE. HELP END HUNGER. OR HELP PEOPLE EAT BETTER!


YOU CAN ALSO LIST YOUR FOOD PANTRY HERE! OVER 1500 are listed! NEW LINK INSTALLED JANUARY 2011

"An estimated 100 billion pounds of food, enough to totally eliminate hunger, is thrown away annually in the United States."

STEREOTYPES OF THE HOMELESS (e-mailed to us and reprinted here!)

"The stereotype that holds the most about homeless people is that there is a lot of mental illness, physical illness, and/or drug use among us. I have to agree.

When I lost my job and my apartment and had to go to a cold weather shelter, I was in a state of shock. Eventually I got into a Transitional living place but the conditions are terrible. I can't get used to the other people living there, many who are mentally ill. My health continues to get worse because of stress. If I had a car, I think I would do better living in it."

"Randy Andy" - Orange County, California

ALANIS MORISSETTE PERFECT

WERE YOU USING FOOD BANKS BEFORE YOU BECAME HOMELESS

Were you using Foodbanks to suppliment your Foodstamps or other funds for food before you became homeless?

A Beautiful Blog By and For Homeless People !

Are you surprised to get to a blog by and for homeless people and see that it's PRETTY? When we planned this blog (actually we were thinking more in terms of a good old fashioned Underground Newspaper) we knew we wanted to portray the the transient but ever changing life of a homeless individual. Yes we do believe many of us will make it out of homelessness!

LA HUNGER SEDER 2010 at VALLEY BETH SHALOM

This is a benefit at $18 a plate for those of you who have it... so that those of us who don't can be fed. The event is announced in the Jewish Journal of Los Angeles, and there will be a live webcast at www.JEWISHJOURNAL.com.

EVENT DATE is MARCH 24th, 2010 at 7 PM. Benefits SOVA Food program.

"LA IS THE HUNGER CAPITAL OF THE US, what would it take to feed everyone?

e-mail lahungerseder@gmail.com

VALLEY BETH SHALOM is at
15730 Ventura Blvd. Encino, California 91436

"Arny" reported that though he has gotten housing through the Section 8 housing program while a resident at Los Angeles Family Housing, he has long used SOVA as a food resource when he cannot afford to buy enough of his own.

EAGLES HEART OF THE MATTER

DO YOU USE E-MAIL TO KEEP IN TOUCH WITH PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT HOMELESS

WITH PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT HOMELESS?

DO YOU LIE ABOUT WHERE YOU LIVE TO THEM ?

EUGENE OREGON has HOMELESS NEWS PAPER

Link now to the news article about this new Homeless Owned and Operated Newspaper!

"Now, Eugene has its very own 'street paper' called the Oregon Vagabond. Financed by volunteers, the first issue came out just this week (January 4, 2010) The writers, photographers and the vendors of the Vagabond are from the homeless community."

Great Going EUGENE OREGON!

SANTA MONICA COUNT SHOWS DROP IN HOMELESS

"The 2010 homeless count, conducted Jan. 27, indicated that 742 people were homeless: 264 living on the streets, 423 in shelters or institutions and 55 in cars or encampments."


Martha Groves in Santa Monica for the LA Times LINK TO FULL ARTICLE HERE

CADILLAC MAN'S BOOK : LAND OF THER LOST SOULS

Mark Jacobson writes about CADILLAC MAN, who has his book LAND OF THE LOST SOULS, out, and we read it! He is now living half in and half out with his girlfriend Carol.

"The journey takes about 25 minutes, from the apartment Cadillac now shares with his girlfriend, Carol, to the last stop on the N in Astoria, where he lived under the 33rd Street viaduct of the Hell Gate Bridge until recently. It was under the viaduct that the Cadillac Man, who got his unbeatable street name after being hit by three different Cadillacs in the mid-nineties, wrote his book, Land of the Lost Souls, which will be published this month by Bloomsbury."

OUR OPINION is that the scenes that Cadillac Man chooses to write about are probably some of the more important and telling events of his homelessness, and they are familiar to us!

WE WISH CADILLAC MAN and CAROL the best... and it goes to show... you can find love on the streets!

SO! ELLE ACTUALLY HIRED A "HOMELESS" WOMAN!

Link to this August article about ELLE fashion magazine and the fuss that they hired a homeloess woman writer....

"My name is Bri and I’m 24 years old. I learned on August 24 that I had been offered an internship with E. Jean Carroll, advice columnist at ELLE magazine and all-around kick-ass woman. This was simultaneously surprising, exhilarating, and terrifying, as I have been homeless and living in a beat-up old trailer for the past six months. My screaming, bouncing, and erratic flailing awoke my sleeping boyfriend in a panic. He was sure that something terrible had happened. In the previous two weeks, I had lost my employment, again, (I was laid off from my full-time job in July 2008 and have vacillated between temporary assignments and unemployment since then), my trailer had been towed with all my belongings inside of it (I’m currently living in a beat-up, non-running RV on a dusty back lot in Riverside, and my trailer is still in the impound yard where the storage fee is increasing $80 per day), and soon after my car had broken down. I poured the small cushion of accrued savings that was meant to help me re-stabilize into fixing the car. We were in dire straits and had drained our last financial resources. What else could possibly go wrong?" Brianna Karp

OK HERE IS OUR RESPONSE TO ALL THE Fuss !

A. PLENTY MORE CAN GO WRONG. Many of us went from car to street.
We are happy that Brianna got a job.
Brianna is young and hopefully homelessness was just a glitch and she will not spend the rest of her life being labled "homeless."
She was of the UPPER CLASS OF HOMELESSNESS living in a trailer or RV.

VALENTINES DAY can be LONELY for HOMELESS SINGLES

We want to wish all you homeless readers a decent Valentine's Day... We know... at some cold weather shelters you may be given a little heart shaped chocolate... something...

Homelessness is tough and it's especially tough when you're new at it and haven't made any street friends, or shelter friends, and you've been abandoned by family, old friends, your ex-husband or wife. 

What comes first? Abandonment or being on the street?

This winter has been really hard on people. Blizzards covering Washington and snow heading further South than it has in years. Keep warm. Stay indoors when you can peaceably.

FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT on POVERTY HIS INAUGURAL ADDRESS 1937

FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT on POVERTY Inaugural Address

I see one third of a nation ill-housed, ill-clad, and ill nourished." Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Inaugural Address, 20 January 1937

JOHNNY RIVERS - POSITIVELY 4th STREET

It's Valentine's Day and for many homeless a day of mourning. This song, written by Bob Dylan, and also recorded here by Johnny Rivers, has lyrics that a lot of us have felt like saying to people who have abandoned us when we lost everything.

BOMBYCES

LOS ANGELES FAMILY HOUSING

WHY NOT ASK HOMELESS PEOPLE WHO HAVE LIVED AT LAFH if your donations will really be well spent? This is an advertisement. It is meant to solicit funds from you? We are currently based in Southern California and we hear complaints about LAFH's shelter on the streets.

BOSTON GLOBE ARTICLE ON HOMELESS CENSUS

Here's an article on the Boston census of homeless, conducted in December 2009. We really wonder how any count of homeless can be accurate. Many homeless do not want to be known by the government.

Now that Senator Edward Kennedy has passed away and been replaced by a Republican, we wonder what life in Massachusetts will become for the poorest citizens of the United States.

DIRECTORY OF UNITED STATES GOVERNERS, REPRESENTATIVES, and SENATORS - BY STATE

Use this directory to get the names and addresses of those who represent YOU! If you are using a computer and have e-mail, you can contact many of these people without having paper and stamps or a post office box for mail!

CORNERSTONE MENTAL HEALTH - HEARTLESS or DO YOU HAVE INSURANCE?

WORD ON THE STREET

We're getting reports that CORNERSTONE MENTAL HEALTH, an agency that is supposed to be helping the mentally ill homeless, looses heart when it comes to those who should not be outpatients because they cannot supervise daily medications. They take in homeless, and they put them back out.

Cornerstone is paying Los Angeles Family Housing to house a few dozen of their out patients and there is no psychiatric nurse or staff to supervise. When the patient gets off their medication or their medication is not properly prescribed and they go crazy on the property, the security guards and staff at Los Angeles Family Housing are not trained to deal.

Some of these mentally ill homeless people are thrown out of LAFH and CORNERSTONE! It's a punishment because they cannot comply with taking drugs prescribed for them. Ah, are they mentally ill or aren't they?

We hope that CORNERSTONE MENTAL HEALTH and places like it, who like to bill the county and the state medical programs or a patient's own insurance, will ask themselves why they are in the HOMELESS BUSINESS?

UPDATE: Thanks Lucy for telling us that this post was not visible. WE ALSO HAVE AN UPDATE: WE'VE BEEN HEARING A LOT OF COMPLAINS ABOUT CORNERSTONE so we plan to post a new one soon about this place.

PATH in NEW YORK THE VICIOUS CYCLE

Yes we know - having to carry bags wherever you go... exhausting!

HOMELESS FAMILY (JACKSONVILLE FLORIDA) BLOG ADDED TODAY

Linking now to a blog by a homeless family in Jacksonville Florida. We see you are enduring a shelter to get housing!

GEORGE CARLIN (GOD BLESS HIM!) ON HOMELESSNESS NOT IN MY BACKYARD

DEVIL PAT ROBERTSON SAYS HAITI STRUCK BY QUAKE DUE TO PACT WITH THE DEVIL!

We at BY THE HOMELESS FOR THE HOMELESS send our hearts out to our homeless brothers and sisters in Haiti, probably the poorest country on this side of the earth! Many, hundreds of thousands, have died, and many others who have lived poor for a very long time are homeless. Even the American Embassy and the Presidential Palace are destroyed.

Now we are posting a link to the LA Times Article about Pat Robertson, Conservative Christian who thinks that God destroyed Haiti because Haitians have a pact with the devil!

It's just this kind of deplorable "you get what you deserve attitude" that also stops many people from having heart for us homeless on the continent of North America - the United States!

Tell you who ought to GO TO HELL!
Pat Robertson and his ilk!

DENVER HOMELESS BUILDING APARTMENTS FOR HOMELESS

Here's a news article from a few weeks back from THE DENVER POST, via Yahoo Internet news. Click on the title above to get to the article...

"The Uptown Lofts in Denver's Capitol Hill neighborhood will be a product of the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless' Renaissance Works jobs program, which provides street people with construction jobs.

"This is about constructing a building, but more importantly, it's about constructing hope," Ritter said."

BLOOD BANKS DISCRIMINATE AGAINST THOSE WITHOUT A PERMANENT ADDRESS

Healthy homeless people who are willing to donate blood for the going rate, which may be about $50 a visit, are often discriminated against, not because they show up dirty, or because they appear mentally ill or drunk, BUT SIMPLY BECAUSE POST OFFICE BOX's and DPS Boxes are NOT acceptable as addresses.

THIS DESPITE THE FACT THAT BLOOD MUST BE TESTED TO BE ACCEPTED and that there are thousands upon thousands of destitute people who remain healthy enough - HIV free - to donate blood.

It may be that there are so many already in homes and apartments that are willing to give blood, but funny, blood drives where no one is paid do seem to accept the blood of those who show.

IF YOU KNOW OF BLOOD BANKS that accept post office boxes as addresses, Please Let Us Know!

NYMPHALIDAE

THE DOORS - WHEN YOU'RE STRANGE