Monday, September 30, 2013

SIXTY MINUTES - HOMELESS KIDS IN FLORIDA - ONE THIRD OF ALL FAMILIES WHO ARE HOMELESS ARE IN FLORIDA

 2013
2/3rds of homeless families in Florida are living in the street. This social worker has organized food banks, given out clothes, taken donations and government funds.  ONE THIRD OF ALL FAMILIES WHO ARE HOMELESS IN AMERICA ARE IN FLORIDA. Families stay in Wallmart and YMCA parking lots and in Hospital Parking Lots.

Saturday, September 28, 2013

FOOD STAMP TRAFFICKING? THE FBI WANTS YOU! (YOU'RE NOT WORKING AT A FAST FOOD RESTAURANT ARE YOU?)

NINE RETAILERS ARRESTED FOR MILLIONS IN FOOD STAMP FRAUD - TRAFFICKING - FBI BALTIMORE  link to article.   (Arrests are being made around the country.)

"A federal grand jury has indicted nine retail store owners or operators on federal charges of food stamp fraud and wire fraud in connection with schemes to illegally redeem food stamp benefits in exchange for cash. The indictments allege the retailers received almost $7 million in federal payments for transactions in which they did not provide any food, a fraud scheme commonly known as “food stamp trafficking.” Stores allegedly split the proceeds with food stamp recipients. The indictments were returned last week and unsealed today. Federal agents arrested the defendants and executed search warrants at the stores and related locations this morning..." FBI web site.

*****

Our DO YOU SELL YOUR EBT? post is very popular, but we're not telling anyone to sell their stamps.  We understand that some of you do because you need things that the cash will buy and that no, you're not all using that money for beer or drugs... you are desperate. 

You might not be tempted to sell your stamps for cash if you could find a better job or your GR was a higher amount or maybe if your case manager wasn't threatening to kick you out of a shelter if you don't put more money into your account there.

It's illegal to traffic food stamps and the people who the FBI investigates and arrests are usually the stores that are giving cash for the fake sale. EBT users go into these stores with say $50 worth of stamps and the store gives them maybe $25 dollars and out they go with no groceries.  (We hear that when regular folks are selling to other regular folks the take is about 20%.)  How does that work?  They go shopping together and go out the door with groceries.  Then one person takes the groceries and gives the other person the cash agreed on. The people who get caught selling their stamps may not be arrested, but they may never be able to get the benefit again. Over a lifetime that can really hurt you.  It might even contribute to your death.

EBT/Food Stamps/Cal Fresh benefits may soon be slashed.  The House says slash them.  The Senate may not allow it.

So let's go through some issues here.

First of all, you apply for these benefits when you are unemployed or working a low paying job.  For instance people who work at Fast Food places may qualify for EBT.  Every 3 months (in California it may soon be every 6 months) you report in.  You resign the paperwork and if you read the fine print you'll see there are penalties for selling the stamps.

To be realistic, EBT/Food Stamps/ Cal Fresh are considered SUPPLEMENTARY FOOD ASSISTANCE but many people make do with this amount every month.  Many EBT users are ALSO going to Food Banks to stay in budget.  Homeless who cannot cook such as people living in rooms with no kitchen, SRO's (Single Room Occupancy) and so on and cannot cook have a bad time trying to eat a variety of health foods and afford it.

So if you are HUNGRY and NEED THE STAMPS, where are you getting enough good food so that you can actually afford to sell the stamps?  Some people are eating at shelters or feeds. Some get some food from friends or family or eat real cheap, like lots of hot dogs!

Some people actually go a bit hungry so they can get that cash and pay their vehicle registration.

The basic problem is POVERTY, isn't it?




Thursday, September 26, 2013

HOMELESS VETS VERSUS THE VA - ACLU- SC SUES THE VA - THE NATION



ARTICLE by Jon Wiener on March 25, 2013 EXCERPTS : "Greg Valentini is a homeless vet in Los Angeles who took part in the initial invasion of Afghanistan and participated in the assault on Tora Bora that sought Osama bin Laden. He’s also a plaintiff in the class action suit brought by the ACLU of Southern California (ACLU-SC) arguing that the VA has “misused large portions of its West Los Angeles campus and failed to provide adequate housing and treatment for the people it was intended to serve...

THE NATION : ACLU CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT AGAINST LA VA


"Steve Lopez, the legendary Los Angeles Times columnist, has been following Valentini. When he came back from Afghanistan, Lopez wrote, Valentini “ended up in post-combat hell, living in a tent by the Long Beach Airport, bathing in a lake and eating out of garbage cans.”

"The problem is that the land, donated 125 years ago for housing disabled veterans, today houses nobody. That’s why the ACLU-SC is suing the VA. Veterans of the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, WWI and WWII lived there for decades. But since the 1970s, the dormitories have been empty, and the VA has rented parts of the site to a Rent-a-Car company and a hotel laundry, along with a neighboring private school and UCLA, which use the land for athletic fields. Meanwhile homeless veterans sleep on the street outside the locked gates."

Monday, September 23, 2013

FOOD IN NEED OF DISTRIBUTION INC ALWAYS NEEDS VOLUNTEERS

Food In Need Of Distribution, Inc.
Cathedral City, CA 92235

PHONE NUMBER: (760) 328-3663

America's Second Harvest Is The Nation's Largest Domestic Hunger-Relief Organization.

We Are A National Network Of Over 200 Food Banks And Food-Rescue Programs That Distribute Donated Food Through 50,000 Charitable Agencies To Hungry Americans. America's Second Harvest Distributes Food To 23.3 Million Hungry People Each Year.

FROM EXPOSE HOMELESSNESS : THIS IS NOT A LOCATION OF A FEED or FOOD BANK. However, they may know of places to go in the Indio area.  We are interested in hearing about any INDIO resources for homeless and poor people that the area has from people who have used them!

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

VEHICLE TO HOME PROGRAM MYSTERY?

VEHICLE TO HOME PROGRAM - an informational link

and another
ROADMAP TO HOUSING - OLD PATH CONTRACT

We know so many people that might find this program helpful but it doesn't seem to be well known. It appears that you contact LAHSA or PATH...

"The Vehicles to Homes RFP will target all vehicular dwelling homeless individuals and families currently in the CouncilDistrict11(CD11)area of Los Angeles . A comprehensive inventory of occupied vehicles in the community has been compiled as of July20,2010 and will be used to determine the' current living area 'eligibility for the program..."

Monday, September 16, 2013

SHAME ON COLUMBIA SOUTH CAROLINA! THERE'S A NEED FOR SIX TIMES MORE SHELTER BEDS THAN THEY HAVE!


From the article:.

Police officers will now be assigned to patrol the city center and keep homeless people out. They will also be instructed to strictly enforce the city’s “quality of life” laws, including bans on loitering, public urination, and other violations. And just to ensure that no one slips through, the city will set up a hotline so local businesses and residents can report the presence of a homeless person to police..


In order to accommodate all the homeless people who will now be banned from downtown, the city will partner with a local charity to keep an emergency shelter on the outskirts of town open 24 hours a day. However, it’s unlikely the shelter, which can handle 240 guests, will be enough to handle the local homeless population, which numbers more than six times the available beds..

THINK PROGRESS article on COLUMBIA SOUTH CAROLINA'S CRIMINALIZATION OF THE HOMELESS


COLUMBIA NEEDS TO DO MORE RESEARCH AND LOOK AT WHAT OTHER PLACES ARE DOING TO POSITIVELY INTEGRATE THE HOMELESS AND POOR INTO SOCIETY. Though the shelter may be at the edge of town and keep the homeless rounded up and ghettoized, what exactly do they expect people to do all day, sit around and wait for death? Columbia needs to look into providing showers, feeds, and places to lock up possessions, legal assigned parking (check out Santa Barbara's program), homeless RV parks, and think outside the box for temporary shelters.

Sunday, September 15, 2013

THE CONTRIBUTOR - NASHVILLE STREET NEWPAPER - NEEDS FINANCING

NASHVILLE STREET NEWSPAPER FINANCIAL CRISIS - ABC NEWS

"A Nashville street newspaper that rose from a shoestring operation helping the homeless to the biggest-circulation publication of its kind in North America now finds itself seeking a helping hand in hard times. And the staff of The Contributor hopes readers will pitch in with donations to help the paper survive.

Fundraising hasn't kept pace with growth at the paper, an institution of sorts in a city of landmarks like the Grand Ole Opry and Country Music Hall of Fame. Now the street paper that has morphed from an all-volunteer effort to a nonprofit with a paid staff helping to turn out 110,000 papers a month says it has just enough money for one more press run.
"Final Issue?" reads the latest headline of The Contributor, which has aided hundreds of poor and homeless since its 2007 start.
 
Co-founders Tom Wills and Tasha French Lemley hope the thousands who buy the newspaper each month will heed their wake-up call and donate to the nonprofit that produces The Contributor — not just buy a paper off the street.
 
"Most of our supporters consider buying a paper a donation," Wills said. But actually, most of the $1 price of a copy goes to the vendors, the homeless or formerly homeless who hawk the paper around Nashville and beyond.
 
Vendors receive 15 free papers the first time they sell and after that, they buy the papers at 25 cents each. The Contributor has a $1 cover price, but most people give vendors $2 and occasionally much more..."
 
Full article linked...

M IS FOR MONARCH BUTTERFLY BOUQUET COLORING PAGE FOR OUR HOMELESS CHILDREN

Saturday, September 14, 2013

MEND POVERTY BLOG ADDED TO OUR LIST - TAKE THE FOOD STAMP CHALLENGE!

MEND POVERTY BLOG - MEND NONPROFIT PACOIMA link to Newsletter.

MEND is a favorite non profit of the homeless.  WHY? because if you get there on Tuesday Morning early, you will get a shower, a simple breakfast, a hot lunch, bus tokens (as available - at least enough to get back there next Tuesday), clothing, groceries if you can carry them, and referrals, plus they have a dental and vision clinic on site.

AND THEY DO THIS ALL WITH PRIVATE FUNDING AND VOLUNTEERS WHO HAVE A HEART!

Our only worry is that we'll tell so many people about MEND that they'll get overwhelmed!

It's NOT just our experience or what we hear on the street!  In 2012 MEND was named the State of California's top non-profit!

DAILY NEWS : PACOIMA's MEND NAMED STATES TOP NONPROFIT link to full article.

For more than 40 years, MEND and its army of volunteers have given food, clothing, health care and jobs training to poor families in the northeast Valley. Its goal: to encourage the more than 30,000 residents it serves each month toward self-reliance. The Pacoima nonprofit gets no government grants. Instead, it is run by a small staff and 3,000 volunteers, who dole out hot meals, teach English language courses and give fresh clothing to the homeless. It has also doubled the number of partnerships with businesses, schools and community groups to 300 organizations to expand services.

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

ONE THIRD OF GREAT BRITAIN'S CITIZENS ARE TOO POOR TO PARTICIPATE IN SOCIETY

INDEPENDENT UK - ONE THIRD OF BRITONS CAN'T AFFORD TO PARTICIPATE IN SOCIETY

EXCERPT of article by Andrew Johnson.

"The report found that participation in society falls as income falls, as might be expected. But participation bottoms out for the 30 per cent of households with the lowest incomes, for whom additional income then makes no difference. In other words, there is a cut-off point for being a full member of society.

Below this “participation floor” incomes may vary wildly. But extra money is spent on replacing worn-out goods or upgrading services, rather than buying extra things.

“Those [within the 30 per cent] with higher incomes do not have measurably increased living standards, greater social participation or higher levels of trust,” the report says. “The 30 per cent of people with the lowest incomes are forced to choose between the basic necessities of modern life; they must decide which needs to neglect.”

Sunday, September 8, 2013

Friday, September 6, 2013

HOMELESS COURT - LA COUNTY - UPDATE

http://www.ladpss.org/dpss/grow/homeless_court.cfm  UPDATED FEB 2016

READ THIS AND FIND OUT IF YOU ARE ELIGIBLE. YOU WILL NEED A LETTER OF SUPPORT and THAT IS TO COME FROM A CASE MANAGER SO LIKELY YOU ARE IN A PROGRAM WHEN YOU CAN USE THIS OPPORTUNITY.

"The Homeless Court (HC) program was created by the Los Angeles County Superior Court, the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office, the Los Angeles Public Defender’s Office and advocates for the homeless including Public Counsel and the Los Angeles Homeless Service Authority (LAHSA).

This program helps impoverished individuals with a history of homelessness to clear tickets and warrants for minor offenses such as traffic tickets, infractions, and various minor misdemeanors including jaywalking, riding the metro without a fare, sleeping in public places, illegal use of shopping carts, possession of an open container of alcohol in public, obstructing traffic on the sidewalk, sleeping on a bus bench, as well as any warrants that arise for failure to resolve these offenses..."

Here is a blog by a law student at Loyola about HOMELESS COURT!


LOYOLA STUDENT BLOG on HOMELESS COURT

"The session I went to was hosted at People Assisting the Homeless (PATH), a non-profit organization that offers a wide variety of services to people without housing. Judge Tynan, a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge, was presiding. Individuals are invited to participate when they have met the program requirements and undergone the application approval process. By participating in Homeless Court, they have the chance of having some of their outstanding warrants and tickets recalled and quashed "in the interest of justice." The tickets and/or warrants can only be the result of the commission of an eligible minor and non-violent "quality of life" offense, traffic infraction or misdemeanor; felonies cannot be set aside. The "interest of justice" here is simply the ability to allow people to get their lives back on track by removing the impediments of quality-of-life tickets (urination in public, sleeping in public) or traffic tickets (traveling solo in a carpool lane) that they are unable to pay. I found the process to be a reasonable outgrowth of a simple idea: Whether you are still homeless or not, if you fit the criteria and are ready to move your life forward, you should not be prevented from doing so because of an unpaid loitering ticket. Some clients I talked to had been waiting for two years to address three traffic tickets that have prevented them from getting a job. Therefore, when they were invited to the Homeless Court session, they similarly jumped at the opportunity..."




Wednesday, September 4, 2013

taken down due to age and repeats April 2016 BURBANK TEMPORARY AID (BTAC) IN DESPERATE NEED OF REAL FOOD DONATIONS - MATCHING FUNDS THROUGH GLOBALGIVING ORG

BURBANK TEMPORARY AID CENTER link

BTAC is one of the few resources the destitute in Burbank have. Homeless can get a shower and a lunch or bag of groceries. Recently homeless have been given COAST GUARD RATIONS in Mylar wrappings, nutritious, but far from a real meal.

We're sure BTAC appreciates the donation from the Coast Guard, but we're hearing that people are getting a lot of pies, bread, sugary juices, pasta, but not much protein, other than these ration wafers.

What to give homeless who are hungry is confusing for some food banks and food pantries and shelters. Most rely on what grocers and bakeries are discarding. Anyone who has gone to food banks knows there is a lot of stale bread and bakery items, which may calm the hunger pangs but sugar and fat put weight on you and pretty soon you have diabetes.



UPDATE NOVEMBER 2013.  Just so you know, we've posted on BTAC several times now and will be removing old links soon.  THIS ONE WILL STAY UP for some time.

THERE IS A CHARITY THAT IS COLLECTING FUNDS FOR BTAC MOTEL VOUCHERS
The sad part is that they say that people need just a few days in a motel before they are taken into a program.  Actually it can be months on waiting lists.
http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/emergency-shelter-program/ is the program.  THEY HAVE MATCHING FUNDS