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."


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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?