CALIFORNIA TO FIGHT HOMELESSNESS WITH 1 % TAX - IT'S ALL ABOUT MONEY - AN OPINION

An opinion -  have a one bedroom but no bed.  Have a roof and air conditioning and heat - but who will pay for the that?  SAVE MONEY TO "HOUSE THEM"  But don't some dogs have better accommodations?

hWWRT COM LA COUNTY MILLIONAIRE TAX
Excerpt
Los Angeles County has one of the highest homeless populations, but the County Board of Supervisors has a bold plan to fight it: an income tax of half of a percent on personal incomes exceeding $1 million, which would generate an estimated $243 million.

In an effort to address the growing homeless problem plaguing Los Angeles County, the county government is seeking approval from both Governor Jerry Brown and the state legislature to levy a tax on its millionaires. Seventy-six percent of LA County residents are in favor of the tax, according to a Los Angeles County Homelessness Survey.
THE GUARDIAN on San Francisco tax on TECH proposed
EXCERPT
San Francisco’s long, complex and often fraught relationship with the tech industry has come to a head with a proposal to levy a “tech tax” on the companies that have fueled the city’s transformation into a place that is increasingly uninhabitable for people on low or medium incomes.
Under the plan, large tech employers in the city, potentially including Google, Twitter, Uber, Airbnb and Salesforce, would be required to pay a 1.5% payroll tax. The estimated $120m in annual revenue would be used to fund affordable housing and services for the city’s large homeless population.
Local politicians are seeking to put the bill to a citywide vote in November, a move that would mark the culmination of years of boom that have rendered San Francisco one of the most unequal places in the U.
It is a city where 57.4% of homes are worth more than $1m, but hundreds of people sleep in tents on the street every night.

NAT KING COLE - ROUTE 66

PSYCHOLOGY FRAUD - SSI FRAUD - HINKY LAWYERS - and HOUSING FOR THE SANE!

SSA GOV - SSI FACTSWe've heard so much about these issues that we felt it was time to speak out about them.

It's popularly thought - AND PROMOTED - that homeless people are mentally ill people and that the mental illness came first and then the homelessness.  Being homeless is very stressful and it's not unusual for a person who wasn't mentally ill when they first became homeless to slowly go crazy.  However, the purpose of psychotherapy and psychiatrists is not to condemn people to being mentally ill for life.  It's to get them well.

Recently though we heard from an ex resident of a shelter that we have linked to here at the EXPOSE HOMELESSNESS  BLOGSPOT about a situation he encountered while a temporary resident there.
He says they arranged for a lawyer to come and talk to the residents and get them SSI.  That means that they favored this one lawyer who was doing their dirty work. SSI is more money than GR, more money than no money, but there are people out there with significant physical issues who cannot get SSI.

So the "solution" is to also claim to be mentally ill.  For those with fortitude or decent values, this is fraud and there are people on the streets for years because they refuse to let go the one thing they haven't lost and that's their principals.

There are lawyers willing to get you SSI all over.  We know that some shelters like to "refer" you to a lawyer or lawyers that they think or know will "help" you.  The term "help" does not mean help you get well, it means help you get housing because you have SSI.

The lawyers all take a percentage of the money you've been granted. 

This particular lawyer was supposedly having people sign that he would take a percentage of the money they would be granted for years.   We couldn't believe it.  But the person who told us this is one of those who refused and has a college degree, high intelligence, no history of criminal or drug activity, and has a resume with Fortune 500 companies on it.  And this was a "Christian" shelter too!

Shelters WANT you to BE SICK and STAY SICK.  That's our take.


Here are some stories from the street.  (All the names have been changed.)


Nancy - fifties - Burbank area. Screenwriter who left an abusive relationship.
"I'm getting GR and EBT.  I'm not ready for SSI.  I almost sold a script recently and that's what I do in the library is write.  Being on the EBT and keeping to a gluten free diet, I've lost more than 50 pounds and improved my health.  I was in a shelter program in another city.  I got a job and save a couple thousand dollars but they kicked me out when I lost that job in a mass layoff."


Ben - early sixties - Sun Valley area.  Computer Tech.
"I was cut off of GR Disabled Status because I couldn't prove that I have carpel tunnel.  I decided to try and make some income from computer upgrades. I do several odd jobs.  I get hot meals and showers. I'm not a candidate for SSI.  I was at a temporary shelter that pushed getting it."


Valerie - late forties -  Sherman Oaks area  Actress
"Yes I have an agent.  No he doesn't know I'm homeless.  I've been sofa surfing for a few years now.  I was into my drinking but I'm in A.A.   When I was drinking, I was probably a little crazy, but I'm not now.  I was pressured to get SSI back in the day when some outreach person figured me out and it sounded like I had to be on it to be taken into their shelter."

Melvin -  twenties.  Van Nuys area  "I'm a foster kid.  I bought a car before I turned 18 working fast food.  I live in it. I was diagnosed as mentally ill when I was about 16.  I took meds.  I got off the meds and you know what, I don't think I ever needed them.  A shelter program wanted to use that medical record from a couple years ago and have me go back on the meds and go mental so I could get SSI.

HAVE YOU BEEN RAPED AT YOUR SHELTER?

RAPE at shelters happens, and it's not only heterosexual rape.


Some shelters do not even have locks on the doors of the rooms that homeless live in,
At some the security is nonexistent or the guards have criminal backgrounds or are a joke.
ON THE STREETS RAPED HOMELESS FEAR MAKING POLICE REPORTS because they want to fly under the radar of the police.  But we think you should go to the hospital and make reports.


ON THE STREET WE HEAR ABOUT THE SEXUAL HARRASSMENT OF WOMEN AT SHELTERS by straight case managers.  We've heard about one who was finally fired but was telling women that they had to sleep with him if they wanted a Section 8 voucher.  We've heard about a homosexual case manager who threatened one man that if he didn't break up with his shelter girlfriend he would "bring him down."  The glances to his penis escalated into physical touching.


We recently heard about a homeless Christian woman who was threatened with rape by knifepoint on the streets in Burbank.  The homeless man who threatened her said he had already had all the other women in the camp.


If you want to tell us about your rape and don't want your comment to show after our approval, just write "Do Not Publish."

SAN DIEGO STREET HOMELESS GOTTA MOVE EVERY MONDAY

LA TIMES SAN DIEGO HOMELESS MONDAY MORNING MOVE
EXCERPT
José Ysea, a public information officer with the city of San Diego, said the sweeps remove about 3 tons of trash and debris from the public right of way each week.
With the downtown homeless population at about 1,000 and the number of tents and other temporary structures up 70% this year, he said, the city no longer waits for calls to clean up an area.
“We used to be reactive,” Ysea said. “Now we’re proactive.”
The sweeps by the city’s Environmental Services Department — charged with enforcing codes relating to waste, dumping and litter on public property — include the area around the St. Vincent de Paul Village, Petco Park and the San Diego Concourse.

On Monday morning this week, one woman walked down 17th Street with a twin-size mattress on her head. Another had managed to fit an entire couch inside a cart and was attempting to roll it to a place where she could wait out the sweep.

AUSTRALIA HOMELESS CRISIS - 100,000 and COUNTING

DAILY MAIL - AUSTRALIAN HOMELESS CRISIS POINT


HOMELESS IN AUSTRALIA, because so much of the country is RURAL are HIDDEN HOMELESS SLEEPING ROUGH.  The new count August 9th, will reveal a higher number of people with no place to call home in the country.


EXCERPT:

Couch surfers in rural areas made up 40 per cent, while 55 per cent of people sleeping in overcrowded dwellings were also in rural locations, the ABC reports.

Candice Morrell from homeless charity Mission Australia said that homeless people in regional Australia 'can be less visible' and said the shortage of affordable housing was a 'crisis', especially during the cold ski season when low-cost accommodation is booked up.

SPLASHY BUTTERFLIES #3

TESTIMONY OF "RONNIE" on the streets of GLENDALE in the 1980's - ON HELPING HOMELESS PEOPLE WHEN YOU AREN'T

I grew up on the east coast and came out to California.  I was on the streets in Glendale for about a year and a half in the 1980's.  Joblessness is what got me there.  I made real good money for a while and then nothing.  Today my life is stable.  I work full time and my health is good. I never forget what I learned, what it was like to have nothing. During that year and a half my health started to fail.  I started to loose teeth.  I was also talking to myself.  I was ready to crack up. 

I want to talk about people who aren't homeless helping homeless people.

While I was homeless there was this foster kid that I wanted to help.
He was making small amounts of money with his talent, I don't want to out him, but let's say he was being proactive and I admired that.  He also didn't seem to be mentally ill and seemed healthy to me.  So I hooked him up with some of the Christian churches that I was leaning on and they were going to get him work and get him some place to live, like a room in a house where he could live until he had his job a year and had saved up deposit money.  In the 1980's it was a whole lot less expensive to rent in Southern California.  So he did go with me to the church that wanted to help him but in the end he was unable to keep to a work schedule.  I gave up on him and just focused on my own recovery from homelessness.

When you see a homeless person in the library or the park, don't say or do anything to out them.  Usually there are people around who have figured it out or know the person is homeless.  If they are able to stay sheltered during the day like that and aren't causing issues, let them be.

If you want to help them with food or clothing or money, give it over without expecting to interview them or without getting a story from them.  Just pass things on.

It can be sensitive.

Sometimes a person's reasons for not trying to get into a shelter or going to a shelter may make no sense to you.  They may be rational or not about it.  They may think being homeless is their fate.  They may know they are near death.  It's their life.

"Ronnie"

WALL STREET TRADER SAM POLK QUIT TO START A NON PROFIT

DAILY MAIL ; WALL STREET TRADER QUIT and STARTED A NONPROFIT


He was once a money addict...He created Groceryships to give poor people access to healthy food.

EXCERPT:

came to the idea after watching the documentary, "A Place at the Table," which is about hunger in America — how, in the richest country in the world, millions of kids don't know where their next meal is coming from,' he told CNBC.

'I realized how much of my life had been spent trying to make it to the top — to be important, to matter — and how the consequence of all that striving is that many people are left behind. 

'I wanted to do something of value for the people who'd been left behind.' 

GROCERY SHIPS (THERE IS A LOS ANGELES CONTACT)

THE 12 STEPS OF THE ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS PROGRAM

1) Surrender
2) Hope
3) Commitment
4) Honesty
5) Truth
6) Willingness
7) Humility
8) Reflection
9) Amendment
10) Vigilance
11) Attunement
12) Service


On our side bar we have the national AA link so you can search for a meeting just about anywhere. But if you're in the San Fernando Valley go to www.sfvaa.org which is the CENTRAL OFFICE to find out about meetings, events, or to download a copy of RECOVERY TIMES.  The phone number for CENTRAL OFFICE is (818) 988-3001.  CENTRAL OFFICE also has a bookstore at 16132 Sherman Way, Van Nuys, at the corner of Sherman Way and Woodley) which is open every day.

If you are just out of rehab or living in a shelter, you may want to pair up with someone form the San Fernando Valley Hospitals and Institutions Committee (H and I).  These A.A. member volunteers will help you if you are leaving rehab, treatment, jail, hospital, and other institutions which usually includes homeless shelters.

If you know that alcohol is a problem for you, especially if it's the problem that lead you towards homelessness, please know that there are even psychologists and therapists who won't consider treating someone who isn't also in A.A.  A.A. has a decades long proven track record for helping people get off and stay off drink.  They are also a well attended and respected NETWORKING CLUB.

In Los Angeles there are meetings all over, at all hours, even specialty meetings for young people

SAINT JUDE'S ANGLICAN CHURCH and TEMPLE BETH EMET BURBANK JOIN TOGETHER TO HELP HOMELESS

SAINT JUDE'S CHURCH - BURBANK CALIFORNIA


111 SOUTH SIXTH STREET
BURBANK, CA 91501


818-842-7461


St Jude's is a relational church, proud to continue in the rich heritage of the Anglican Communion worldwide, Bible-believing and part of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles.


"We are blessed to share ministry with Temple Beth Emet; Rabbi Mark Sobel has generously given of his time to teach Hebrew to members of St Jude's and both congregations are currently working together with Family Promise of San Fernando Valley, jointly hosting homeless families at St Jude's parish hall."


Homeless or Hungry?  Check their schedule/calendar about meals for the homeless, which occur about every 3 weeks or so.


Feed the Hungry - cooking crew starts at 10:30 or 11 a.m. Serving between 1:15 and 2 p.m. Clean up crew until 3 p.m.

CHANGE LINKS is IN NEED OF A VOLUNTEER COORDINATOR and VOLUNTEERS!

CHANGE LINKS
Their web site is dynamic but they are still also printing and distributing NEWS PRINT copies all around town.  check it out...

SPLASHY BUTTERFLIES #2

LABOR DAY

PORTLANDS SAFE SLEEPING PROGRAM ENDS but OTHER PROGRESS CONTINUES

DAILY MAIL - SAFE SLEEPING POLICY IN PORTLAND ENDS
It allowed homeless people to unroll a sleeping bag or unfurl a tarp between 9pm and 7am on city sidewalks and also allowed camping in some specific areas of the city, but there was a backlash.  The mayor said they never made sleeping on the sidewalk legal.

The policy was supposed to be a temporary measure while the city worked to create more temporary housing and dovetailed with the city's declaration of a state of emergency for homelessness. 

Portland has about 1,800 homeless people and needs 1,000 shelter beds, Hales said... The city has created 450 new shelter beds, expanded its emergency housing capacity and earmarked $250 million for affordable housing, he added.

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LA FAMILY HOUSING SPECIAL VETERANS PROGRAM - ON THE VERGE OF HOMELESSNESS OR RECENTLY LOST HOUSING?

SUPPORTIVE SERVICES FOR VETERAN FAMILIES  (SSVF)


THE SSVF program is designed to rapidly re-house homeless Veteran families and prevent homelessness for those at imminent risk due to a housing crisis.  It also helps Veteran families who reside in or are transitioning to permanent housing to quickly regain stability.


SSVF providers offer a range of short-term service with a focus on case management, assistance in obtaining VA and other public benefits, and possible time-limited payments to third parties (landlords, licensed child care providers, etc. of these payments help Veterans families stay in housing.


ELIGIBILITY


VETERAN HOUSEHOLD: single person is a household, so is a family in which the head of the household, or the spouse of the head of household is a veteran.  The vet must have served in active duty and be discharged or released honorably.


VERY LOW INCOME
Based on the fact that the household income is half or less than the area MEDIAN INCOME or LOS ANGELES COUNTY per HUD.


For instance  for one person the income limit is $30, 400. under the 50% rule.  Check for details.


YOU MAY BE CURRENTLY RESIDING IN PERMANET HOUSING - but at risk,
YOU MAY BE HOMELESS but scheduled to move into permanent housing within the next 90 days.  (On a wait list perhaps._
YOU MAY HAVE EXITED PERMANENT HOUSING WITHIN THE LAST 90 DAYS.  (Lost your place.)


JOEL at 818-415-6035 is the outreach coordinator and intake person to contact at LAFH


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As always we would like to hear from any of you who have entered this program.