POLARIS PROJECT : NATIONAL HUMAN TRAFFICKING RESOURCE CENTER

National Human Trafficking Resource Center

 

                            

Call 1-888-373-7888 or text BeFree (233733). The National Human Trafficking Resource Center (NHTRC) is a national, toll-free hotline, available to answer calls and texts from anywhere in the country, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, every day of the year.

The NHTRC is a program of Polaris Project, a non-profit, non-governmental organization working exclusively on the issue of human trafficking. We are not a government entity, law enforcement or an immigration authority.

 

Call us at 1-888-373-7888 or text HELP or INFO to BeFree (233733).

 

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About Polaris Project

Polaris Project is a leading organization in the global fight against human trafficking and modern-day slavery.  Named after the North Star "Polaris" that guided slaves to freedom along the Underground Railroad, Polaris Project is transforming the way that individuals and communities respond to human trafficking, in the U.S. and globally.

YOU CAN SUBMIT A TIP ON LINE

THIS IS NOT A LAW ENFORCEMENT OR GOVERNMENTAL AGENCY

POLARIS PROJECT HOME PAGE - TO RESOURCES

SONIC YOUTH COVER NEW YORK DOLLS - PERSONALITY CRISIS

COLD WEATHER SHELTERS OPEN NOW? SHELTER ORG NATIONAL DATABASE

Our blog focuses on SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, otherwise known as SUNNY CALIFORNIA.  People from all over the country come here from places where the rain, snow, and ice make homelessness almost unlivable.  LOS ANGELES COUNTY HAS ONE OF THE LARGEST HOMELESS POPULATIONS IN THE UNITED STATES. 

Since late summer we've been looking for news of any COLD WEATHER SHELTERS that will or won't be open in Southern California and when.  Usually by October 15th to the 2nd of the month NATIONAL ARMORIES in SOME COMMUNITIES open.    COLD WEATHER SHELTERS ARE JUST THAT, shelters that open and close for the WINTER SEASON.  Depending on the part of the country you're in there may be variations.

We know that there are a lot of databases with lists of shelters on the Internet and you can run a Search through this GOOGLE BLOGGER also.  (The search block is on the left side bar.)

Here is a NATIONAL LIST SHELTER LISTINGS ORG

WE KNOW THAT IF YOU HAVE NEVER BEEN HOMELESS BEFORE YOU MAY ACTUALLY THINK THAT WHAT YOU DO IS LOCATE THE CLOSEST HOMELESS SHELTER and GO THERE AND YOU'RE IN.  Since there are thousands more homeless people than there are shelter beds this is simply not true.  There are months long waiting lists.   If you are healthy,  if you are single and childless, you may be left to fend for yourself.  This is really dangerous, especially for women who are not even in vehicles. 

If you are newly homeless or have never approached a shelter to get in, you may or may not have gotten information on the street from others.  COLD WEATHER SHELTERS usually mean sleeping on a cot that you put up and take down, getting up early, leaving for who knows where, and coming back at sundown.  You either haul your possessions all day or maybe rent a storage unit.  SOME COLD WEATHER SHELTERS HAVE SOCIAL WORKERS WHO MAY BE ABLE TO HELP YOU.  Their help may be limited to referrals to other organizations. 

We have two PAGES that provide you some information, things the newly homeless probably have never thought of.  ONE OF THEM IS CALLED QUESTIONS TO ASK THE SHELTER.  Another is called WHAT MAKES A GOOD CASE MANAGER.

TRANSGENDER FRIENDLY HOMELESS SHELTERS ?

PINK ESSENCE TRANSGENDER FRIENDLY HOMELESS SHELTERS link   (Please leave a comment if you know of more shelters.  This list includes only one in Southern California and it's for gay youth.)

We've met more than one person living in a van or in the park for years who are resistant to try getting into a shelter because they are transgender.  We also know of some people, in all these cases these were or are MEN, who are in mental health programs that lead them to shelters on the basis that transgender people are crazy!  We even know of someone whose case manager wants them to get SSI on the basis of sexual identity confusion.  (Are you crazy if you're transgender?)  But what then?  A life of living on disability just to get housing?  Sleeping behind a restaurant in West Hollywood can't last forever can it?

USUALLY IF A SHELTER TAKES A TRANSGENDERING PERSON IN, they will be put in with the people who have the same biological sex.  So if you're a man and you're on hormones and growing breasts you will still be put in with men if you are pre-surgery (on your penis) and after surgery (without penis) you'll be put in with women. 

Homeless transgender people have difficulty finding places they can wash.  They find that the gym doesn't want them in the men's locker room or the local swimming pool doesn't want them in the ladies because there are kids around.  A certain small percentage of people are born with sexual characteristics of both sexes and they have the same issue.  OFFERS TO DRESS AND UNDRESS BEHIND CURTAINS DOESN'T SEEM TO WORK.  There is also a concern that a transgender man pre-surgery may be a rapist in the ladies room.

At shelters transgender people are afraid of more than the usual problems with room mates.  Men are afraid the other men in the room will beat them up.

We think this is a true concern.

BRUCE HICKS -- DESIGNER BUILDER OF MOBILE HOMELESS SHELTER

HUFFINGTON POST : BRUCE HICKS MOBILE HOMELESS SHELTER

Bruce Hicks, owner of Food Truck Heaven in Davie, Fla., was inspired to construct the 8-foot by 5-foot aluminum shelter on wheels after learning of a formerly homeless man in Utah who had succeeded in doing something similar, the Sun Sentinel reported.

 

Photo is by and owned by Bruce Hicks.

After completing the prototype –- which cost him about $500 to produce –- he and his partner, businessman Jeff Norton, are going to take the pod to local shelters to see how they can be used.

HOMELESS IN ORANGE COUNTY DOCUMENTARY (2013) BY TOM GERSEN PLUS WELCOME INN - INTERFAITH NEEDS NETWORK

 Uploaded by Tom Gersen, we're not sure if Tom made this film but we think so and we're running it because of the myth that there is no poverty in Orange County!

Homeless in the OC: A short documentary film about the help needed in the affluent OC (Orange County) for the homeless. We can all be close to being homeless too... With the loss of job, business, illness, etc. when there I talked with 5 contractors/tradesmen that have fell on hard times and are now homeless.

Music credits: Todd Agnew - Unchanging One

WELCOME INN ORANGE COUNTY - INTERFAITH NEEDS NETWORK

UNION RESCUE MISSION - WOMEN AND CHILDREN OR SENIORS OVER 55 GET TO GO TO HOPE GARDENS

URM SERVICES link

UNION RESCUE MISSION - SKID ROW TESTIMONIALS

This is a Christian Organization.

Women can rest in their bunk all day and have foot lockers.  They can use the legal or mental health clinic.

You, man or woman, can have a hot meal even if you are not taken into the shelter.

You can get showers.

MISSION AND STATE - SANTA BARBARA HOMELESS BLOG ADDED TO OUR LIST

MISSION AND STATE - SANTA BARBARA HOMELESS BLOG link here

THIS APPEARS TO BE A UC - SANTA BARBARA CAMPUS publication with a link to homelessness and off campus issues. We're linking to the HOMELESS BLOG part.

There are 6000 homeless people in Santa Barbara... the blog profiles a number of these people including videos.   These are just two of them, from two homeless people with very different ideas about the people of Santa Barbara.




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VIDEOS ORIGINALLY POSTED NO LONGER AVAILABLE

SAN DIEGO RESCUE MISSION - WOMEN AND CHILDREN - NEED DAYCARE

SAN DIEGO RESCUE MISSION link

"Homelessness Doesn't Always Look Like a Man With a Cardboard Sign"

FOOD STAMPS - NOVEMBER 2013 CUT BACKS TO ALL FOOD STAMP USERS

SANTA BARBARA INDEPENDENT : FOOD STAMP CHOPPING BLOCK

"Beginning November 1, “food stamp” benefits will decrease country-wide when part of the federal government’s 2009 stimulus package reaches its scheduled end. These across-the-board cuts for what’s known as SNAP (Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program) will slash food assistance for nearly 47 million Americans.

However, House leadership seems interested in pushing even more extreme cuts to the program this fall ​— ​cuts that would reduce benefits for up to 300,000 California households and kick nearly 280,000 Californians out of the program altogether.”

Food stamp utilization by Californians has gone up significantly since the recession hit several years ago, but only about half of the eligible people in the state receive benefits from the entitlement program. The same is true for Santa Barbara County. There are currently 30,000 individuals on food stamps, but 60,000 people qualify."

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We looked at some charts and lots of articles on the Internet to try and figure out about how much to expect as a reduction.  You should be receiving some mail about this.  One article mentioned that while there were cuts, there was also now a higher income limit to receive SNAP.

If you have not been, try going to a Food Bank in your area, BEFORE, you run out of food or go shopping.  This way you won't buy what you're getting in a bag. 


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UPDATE DEC 2013.  We are now meeting people who have the RESTUARANT MEALS PORTION TURNED ON DUE TO DISABILITY WHO have seen an increase of about $10 a month.

ARE LIBRARIANS HAVING COMPASSION FATIGUE? PUBLIC LIBRARIES AND THE HOMELESS

When do the rights of the homeless really impinge upon the rights of other patrons? Are unsightliness and odor enough reason to bar homeless people from the library?  A number of articles on the net are saying that librarians are having "Compassion Fatigue."

Here is a blog called IN THE LIBRARY WITH A LEAD PIPE which is pretty interesting.
IN THE LIBRARY WITH A LEAD PIPE - Welcoming the Homeless in Libraries

WE DON'T UNDERSTAND ALL THOSE WHITE TUBE SOCKS! WHERE ARE THE POLKA DOTS?!

Other than they must be the cheapest 12 pack of socks anyone can buy.

They show dirt fast. 
They are worth one wear to the street homeless who can't do the laundry.

 We think POLKA DOT SOCKS FOR THE HOMELESS MAKE MORE SENSE!


YES WE WANT FUN SOCKS!  We want to roll up are jeans and show our sense of humor.  So buy us the polka dots and the Mickey Mouse!

ARE YOU HOMELESS BECAUSE YOU CARED FOR YOUR PARENTS?

We've met a number of people - mostly living in SUV's, RV's and vans fixed up to look like business vehicles - who were care givers of elderly or sick parents.  These people are often the child in a group of children - the ones who stayed in the family home, took care of sickly parents, who would have had to sell their long-term home and go into more expensive assisted living centers if they didn't.  Some of them inherited the house but but were unable to keep going.  We've met the caregivers whose own brothers and sisters let them make these sacrifices and then ripped them of their inheritances or refused to pitch in to help them keep their own apartment.

Is this you?

FREE CELL PHONES FOR THE HOMELESS - WHY THIS WORKS FOR US

Reading over many articles about the FREE LINELINE CELL PHONE for homeless and low income individuals,  we saw on several sites that not homeless people were pretty ignorant about why homeless people would even need cell phones!  We're also concerned that there may be high charges for going over your minutes having gotten by barely with about 300 minutes a month ourselves.  (One call easily takes 15 minutes, and if you're calling a busy number, the HOLD TIME can eat those minutes up fast!)

We can't recommend any particular cell phone provider but if you want to tell us about a good or bad experience with one, please leave a COMMENT!

So here is our list!

1) Because working phone booths are hard to find and you can't get a return phone call on them and you probably can't loiter near a phone booth.

2) Because free phone service lets people who've been paying for phones and service use that money for something else they need.

3) Because a homeless person with a cell phone can call 911 if they need help - police - ambulance - just like most people who are not homeless can.

4) Because you can communicate with places and people that may help you, such as Social Services, Shelters, and Employers. 

5) Overall with a phone you're less isolated and more connected as a human being.

6) Cell Phones allow you to connect with people who would be LONG DISTANCE calls otherwise, like your family or old friends, maybe people who can help you or take you in.

7) They work when it comes to passing as not homeless!

OBAMACARE DEBUTS IN CALIFORNIA use this site! COVERED CALIFORNIA

COVERED CALIFORNIA  link here. 

The site just opened and there are glitches due to demand.  There are other sites that say they will help you evaluate coverage but we think you should stick with the STATE OF CALIFORNIA's site.  Why?  Because these other sites may have more of an agenda, such as being sponsored secretly or openly by one or another health care plan!

WE ARE NOT SURE WHAT HAPPENS TO PEOPLE WHO ARE ON HEALTHY WAY LA, but we're trying to find out.  We haven't had a chance to use this site ourselves... Don't panic cause you don't have to enroll this year.  Just do your research for 2014.

YES THE US FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IS IN SHUT DOWN and HEALTH CARE IS THE PREVAILING ISSUE THAT'S GOT IT THERE. 

Possibly the whole thing will go up in smoke.

BUTTERFLIES YELLOW GOLD AND ORANGE