Monday, October 31, 2016
Saturday, October 29, 2016
MIRIAMS HOUSE - PROMISES FOUNDATION - SMALL NONPROFIT HELPS HOMELESS MOTHERS AND CHILDREN - 90% SUCCESS RATE
JEWISH JOURNAL - MIRIAMS HOUSE OPENS DOOR FOR STRUGGLING WOMEN AND THEIR CHILDREN
EXCERPT: The West Los Angeles house opened its doors in 2007 and focuses on women recovering from drug and alcohol addiction. It has 15 rooms and is currently hosting seven women with little to no income. Residents might just be regaining contact with their children, getting a degree and going to work.
It sits on a large property and has communal spaces for children to play in and women to gather. There also is a back garden where residents can sit outside and have time alone.
Miriam’s House is part of the Promises Foundation, started by Lisa Rogg, a holistic medicine expert, licensed acupuncturist and lifelong resident of Los Angeles, along with her husband Richard, who founded Promises Treatment Centers.
“When you are a homeless mother or a mother living below the poverty line, it’s difficult to find help for addiction,” Lisa Rogg said. “Often you are faced with the choice of giving up custody of your child or receiving the support you need. As a mother, it was my mission to help these women keep their families together.”
The home, which is funded by private donors, has a success rate of more than 90 percent for reuniting mothers with their children, according to executive director Brenda Valiente.
****
PROMISES FOUNDATION - LISA ROGG
EXCERPT: She believes that maintaining a home for low income families can help mothers retain custody of their children and stop the cycle of addiction which plagues our society.
EXCERPT: The West Los Angeles house opened its doors in 2007 and focuses on women recovering from drug and alcohol addiction. It has 15 rooms and is currently hosting seven women with little to no income. Residents might just be regaining contact with their children, getting a degree and going to work.
It sits on a large property and has communal spaces for children to play in and women to gather. There also is a back garden where residents can sit outside and have time alone.
Miriam’s House is part of the Promises Foundation, started by Lisa Rogg, a holistic medicine expert, licensed acupuncturist and lifelong resident of Los Angeles, along with her husband Richard, who founded Promises Treatment Centers.
“When you are a homeless mother or a mother living below the poverty line, it’s difficult to find help for addiction,” Lisa Rogg said. “Often you are faced with the choice of giving up custody of your child or receiving the support you need. As a mother, it was my mission to help these women keep their families together.”
The home, which is funded by private donors, has a success rate of more than 90 percent for reuniting mothers with their children, according to executive director Brenda Valiente.
****
PROMISES FOUNDATION - LISA ROGG
EXCERPT: She believes that maintaining a home for low income families can help mothers retain custody of their children and stop the cycle of addiction which plagues our society.
Thursday, October 27, 2016
Wednesday, October 26, 2016
LA TIMES - ONE HOMELESS PERSON IN THREE IN LOS ANGELES IS A WOMAN
One in three homeless people in Los Angeles County are women, according to government figures released this year. The total of more than 14,000 women is a 55% increase from 2013. The number of women camped out in RVs, tents and lean-tos doubled in the last three years.
Homeless women face staggering levels of violence, in shelters and homeless housing as well as on the streets. A survey released this week by the Downtown Women’s Action Coalition, a consortium of service providers and advocates, found that nearly half of skid row women had been attacked in the previous 12 months; more than a quarter of them were sexually assaulted.
LA TIMES - ONE IN THREE HOMELESS WOMEN - 25% SEXUALLY ASSAULTED IN ONE YEAR by Gale Holland
Homeless women face staggering levels of violence, in shelters and homeless housing as well as on the streets. A survey released this week by the Downtown Women’s Action Coalition, a consortium of service providers and advocates, found that nearly half of skid row women had been attacked in the previous 12 months; more than a quarter of them were sexually assaulted.
LA TIMES - ONE IN THREE HOMELESS WOMEN - 25% SEXUALLY ASSAULTED IN ONE YEAR by Gale Holland
Monday, October 24, 2016
COUNTY 211 - COLD WEATHER SHELTER INFORMATION FOR SEASON 2016-2017 ( WE ENCOURAGE YOU TO TRY IT IF YOU HAVEN'T)
211 PROGRAM SERVICES GO TO THIS LINK... Since it is LATE OCTOBER and we have not yet easily found information on where COLD WEATHER SHELTERS WILL BE LOCATED THIS SEASON and when they will open or close, and WE THINK THAT INFORMATION IS VITAL TO YOU, we're posting this link and will continue to browse through YEARS WORTH OF OLD NEWS and OLD POSTS on the Internet - junk that wastes time and should have been taken down long ago.
SEARCHING FOR "COLD WEATHER SHELTERS" LOS ANGELES 2016-2017 even governmental type sites seemed to be cluttered with old useless stuff.
***********
Over the last few weeks we've encountered a number of street homeless people over the age of 50 who have been on the ground sleeping rough, or who are being taken into vehicles by friends, using services for food and showers, hanging in the libraries, and we know these people aren't drinking, doing drugs, doing crime, or anything but EXISTING DAY TO DAY. That can really wear you out.
But when we suggest that they try a COLD WEATHER SHELTER as a possible in to SOCIAL WORKERS and HOUSING, they have their reasons or excuses for not doing so.
Elmer, about 55 years old, tells us he doesn't want to try it because other people who have told him their shoes and other things were stolen from them while they slept.
Jackie, about 60, tells us she is "fine" as is, and is waiting to move in with her boyfriend. Thing is maybe that's true but Jackie sure has been waiting a long time to move in with a boyfriend who is OK with her sleeping rough, and has been going through rape threats.
Shaun, in his late forties, just had the guy who was sharing his van for sleeping, wreck the van and end up in the hospital, and so we told him "Go to an armory shelter as soon as it opens." He's visiting the guy in the hospital hoping it won't be too long before they're back in the van.
We still think that it is safer for people to be sleeping in an armory with a security guard present and up all night than out there.
Whatever you decide...
SEARCHING FOR "COLD WEATHER SHELTERS" LOS ANGELES 2016-2017 even governmental type sites seemed to be cluttered with old useless stuff.
***********
Over the last few weeks we've encountered a number of street homeless people over the age of 50 who have been on the ground sleeping rough, or who are being taken into vehicles by friends, using services for food and showers, hanging in the libraries, and we know these people aren't drinking, doing drugs, doing crime, or anything but EXISTING DAY TO DAY. That can really wear you out.
But when we suggest that they try a COLD WEATHER SHELTER as a possible in to SOCIAL WORKERS and HOUSING, they have their reasons or excuses for not doing so.
Elmer, about 55 years old, tells us he doesn't want to try it because other people who have told him their shoes and other things were stolen from them while they slept.
Jackie, about 60, tells us she is "fine" as is, and is waiting to move in with her boyfriend. Thing is maybe that's true but Jackie sure has been waiting a long time to move in with a boyfriend who is OK with her sleeping rough, and has been going through rape threats.
Shaun, in his late forties, just had the guy who was sharing his van for sleeping, wreck the van and end up in the hospital, and so we told him "Go to an armory shelter as soon as it opens." He's visiting the guy in the hospital hoping it won't be too long before they're back in the van.
We still think that it is safer for people to be sleeping in an armory with a security guard present and up all night than out there.
Whatever you decide...
Sunday, October 23, 2016
Friday, October 21, 2016
A MIGRANT IMMIGRANT POPULATION in CALIFORNIA? OPINION by JUZ CUZ - TEACHERS in LIMBO
People in California are at the end of their rope. A whole class of people in trouble because they can't afford traffic ticket fees. People up and leaving for other states. In with families elsewhere?
Wednesday, October 19, 2016
Monday, October 17, 2016
Saturday, October 15, 2016
WHAT IS A "CASE MANAGER" ??? OFTEN NOTHING MORE THAN A PERSON WHO FILLS OUT and PROCESSES PAPERWORK WITHOUT SOCIAL WORKER EDU or SKILL IN DEALING WITH DISTRESSED PEOPLE
We've experienced it and we hear about it all the time...
"Case Managers" who hate the people they deal with, hate their jobs, are mean spirited, are out to trip you up, screw you out of the housing you waited years for. "Case Managers" who could be replaced by ROBOTS, since they long ago lost their hearts. "Case Managers" who are beyond burned out; they just don't give a crap about what happens to you.
NOT JUST AT SHELTERS. BUT AT SECTION 8, GR, and other so called DPSS AGENCIES.
Now they have the job, they hate it, it's near impossible to get them fired, and guess what, YOU CAN COMPLAIN and ASK THAT YOURS BE REPLACED!
WE WANT TO HEAR YOUR CASE MANAGER STORIES FOR PUBLICATION HERE AT EXPOSEHOMELESSNESS.BLOGSPOT.COM
Send us a comment. If you want to be published without being identified or linked to you, let us know at the top of the comment!
THANKS
"Case Managers" who hate the people they deal with, hate their jobs, are mean spirited, are out to trip you up, screw you out of the housing you waited years for. "Case Managers" who could be replaced by ROBOTS, since they long ago lost their hearts. "Case Managers" who are beyond burned out; they just don't give a crap about what happens to you.
NOT JUST AT SHELTERS. BUT AT SECTION 8, GR, and other so called DPSS AGENCIES.
Now they have the job, they hate it, it's near impossible to get them fired, and guess what, YOU CAN COMPLAIN and ASK THAT YOURS BE REPLACED!
WE WANT TO HEAR YOUR CASE MANAGER STORIES FOR PUBLICATION HERE AT EXPOSEHOMELESSNESS.BLOGSPOT.COM
Send us a comment. If you want to be published without being identified or linked to you, let us know at the top of the comment!
THANKS
Thursday, October 13, 2016
END HOMELESSNESS by ENDING GREED! SAYS RON TAYLOR
They once made a movie about this man, called Taylor's Campaign... and he once ran for City Council. Another senior citizen on the street. 800 in downtown in wheelchairs... They hide the children. He appreciates everyone who helps him.
Wednesday, October 12, 2016
HELLHOLE SHELTER DEMOLISHED - LA FAMILY HOUSING BUILDS NEW EXPANDED SHELTER
MYNEWSLA -CONSTRUCTION BEGINS ON HOMELESS SHELTER and HEALTH CLINIC
EXCERPT:
The Campus, at 7843 Lankershim Blvd., which will include 50 permanent supportive housing units for chronically homeless individuals, bridge housing for more than 450 homeless individuals and families, a health clinic and office space for service providers.
The project is slated for completion in the fall of 2017. It includes a south campus consisting of renovated facilities, and an entirely new north campus that replaces the Valley Shelter as a service center for the entire San Fernando Valley. The health clinic will be open to the surrounding community.
L.A. Family Housing President Stephanie Klasky-Gamer described the facility as a “regional hub that will provide coordinated services and help break the cycle of homelessness and poverty for thousands of people.”
Mayor Eric Garcetti, county officials and representatives of the developer, L.A. Family Housing were on hand today for a groundbreaking ceremony.
....
Of course neither Stephanie or Eric seem to know what has gone on in the shelter that's been torn down... The things they've gotten away with... We hope the clinic won't be North East Valley Health Corp. There are people out there who hope that by the time the place reopens there will be all new management and staff too. "Campus?" Please! The hellhole was never a college, just a school of hard knocks.
EXCERPT:
The Campus, at 7843 Lankershim Blvd., which will include 50 permanent supportive housing units for chronically homeless individuals, bridge housing for more than 450 homeless individuals and families, a health clinic and office space for service providers.
The project is slated for completion in the fall of 2017. It includes a south campus consisting of renovated facilities, and an entirely new north campus that replaces the Valley Shelter as a service center for the entire San Fernando Valley. The health clinic will be open to the surrounding community.
L.A. Family Housing President Stephanie Klasky-Gamer described the facility as a “regional hub that will provide coordinated services and help break the cycle of homelessness and poverty for thousands of people.”
Mayor Eric Garcetti, county officials and representatives of the developer, L.A. Family Housing were on hand today for a groundbreaking ceremony.
....
Of course neither Stephanie or Eric seem to know what has gone on in the shelter that's been torn down... The things they've gotten away with... We hope the clinic won't be North East Valley Health Corp. There are people out there who hope that by the time the place reopens there will be all new management and staff too. "Campus?" Please! The hellhole was never a college, just a school of hard knocks.
Tuesday, October 11, 2016
Monday, October 10, 2016
WE NEED LAND - HOMELESS ACTIVIST RICH's OPINION - CHULA VISTA and SAN DIEGO SHOWERS and a PARKING PROGRAM
The organizations Think Dignity and Dreams For Change are providing portable showers and space to park for those who live in their cars but while all this helps, the homeless could use some LAND!
THINK DIGNITY - SAN DIEGO and CHULA VISTA PORTABLE SHOWERS
DREAMS FOR CHANGE
Saturday, October 8, 2016
DANA GOODYEAR of the NEW YORKER on COLD WEATHER SHELTERS IN LOS ANGELES "THEY REPRESENT PANHANDLING AT THE LEVEL OF POLICY"
NEW YORKER - HOMELESS IN LOS ANGELES by Dana Goodyear
EXCERPTS: To the hardcore long-term unhoused, a flotilla of recruits has been added—some of them presumably locals forced from their dwellings by rising rents, others itinerant young “travellers.” You see the latter in the evening, moving in groups, with skateboards, dreads, and bedrolls, a pit bull or two among them, heading toward the setting sun and the “sandominiums” that spring up on the beachfront after dark. ... According to one social worker who does field work among the homeless in West Los Angeles, after the announcement people started turning up from as far away as Las Vegas: their cities had bought them one-way bus tickets to L.A. The result is a huge, often acutely vulnerable population in the path of a storm system already proving itself 'brash' nasty, cold, and fierce. ...Shelters, necessary though they still are, are like spare change: they represent panhandling at the level of policy. The only fix is to intensify the effort to build housing for the homeless and the poor. Opening extra shelters when it rains, with longer hours, is the emergency version of a plan that already doesn’t work. It’s better than nothing—unless it means that nothing changes when the rain stops. In the long term, the homeless don’t need another place to overnight, they need accommodation in the more expansive sense of the word.
EXCERPTS: To the hardcore long-term unhoused, a flotilla of recruits has been added—some of them presumably locals forced from their dwellings by rising rents, others itinerant young “travellers.” You see the latter in the evening, moving in groups, with skateboards, dreads, and bedrolls, a pit bull or two among them, heading toward the setting sun and the “sandominiums” that spring up on the beachfront after dark. ... According to one social worker who does field work among the homeless in West Los Angeles, after the announcement people started turning up from as far away as Las Vegas: their cities had bought them one-way bus tickets to L.A. The result is a huge, often acutely vulnerable population in the path of a storm system already proving itself 'brash' nasty, cold, and fierce. ...Shelters, necessary though they still are, are like spare change: they represent panhandling at the level of policy. The only fix is to intensify the effort to build housing for the homeless and the poor. Opening extra shelters when it rains, with longer hours, is the emergency version of a plan that already doesn’t work. It’s better than nothing—unless it means that nothing changes when the rain stops. In the long term, the homeless don’t need another place to overnight, they need accommodation in the more expansive sense of the word.
Thursday, October 6, 2016
EYE CARE FOR HEROES PROGRAM - ACTIVE DUTY or VETS GET FREE EXAMS and MORE - DOCTOR ZDENEK in RESEDA
ZDENEK EYE INSTITUTE
EXCERPT:
call 800 -957-3109
The complete eye exam includes testing for glaucoma, retina exam, eye glass prescription.
____
The Eye Care for Heroes Program bypasses the VA hospital. There are other doctors in other locations that also participate.
EXCERPT:
Eye Care for Heroes Program
Dr. Zdenek is offering to all US Military, Active or Veteran a Free Eye Exam. Are you still in the US Military or a Veteran? Do you know if your eyes are healthy? Dr. Zdenek would like to say "Thank You for your Service to our Country" by offering his services to you. Let his knowledge and expertise give you some answers. With all the political turmoil in the VA, we have heard it takes 3-6 months to get an appointment with the VA. Dr. Zdenek can see you for free with in just a few days. For more information, call our office or visit www.EyeCareForHeroes.comcall 800 -957-3109
The complete eye exam includes testing for glaucoma, retina exam, eye glass prescription.
____
The Eye Care for Heroes Program bypasses the VA hospital. There are other doctors in other locations that also participate.
Tuesday, October 4, 2016
LA TIMES on HOW THE HOMELESS CRISIS IN LA GOT SO BAD - THE STATE OF THE ART OF HOMELESSNESS,
LA TIMES HOW HOMELESS CRISIS GOT SO BAD
EXCERPTS
The number of tents, makeshift encampments and vehicles occupied by homeless people soared 85%, to 9,535, according to biennial figures from the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority...
Countywide, more than 44,000 homeless people were tallied in January, up from more than 39,000 in 2013, the report said. Well over half -- nearly 26,000 -- were in the city of Los Angeles.
Homelessness among veterans dropped 6% countywide, to about 4,400, but the report did not break out a comparable number for the city.
Why is this happening?
Experts blame soaring rents, low wages and stubbornly high unemployment.
They point to gentrification downtown and in Venice, where cheap hotel rooms, motels and single-room apartments -- once the last refuge of the poor -- are being eliminated....
Is there a cycle of homelessness among the working poor?
Yes. About 13,000 people on public assistance tumble into homelessness every month in Los Angeles County, according to a new study.
Although many quickly find work or rely on family to get off the streets, the number experiencing "continuous, unremitting, chronic homelessness" continues to grow, even after 10,000 people were housed over the last three years, according to the report being released Tuesday by the Economic Roundtable, a nonprofit research group in Los Angeles.
The report recommended that the welfare system intervene to help children and young adults who become homeless before their condition becomes chronic.
The group's analysis was based on records for 9 million county residents who received public assistance at any point between 2002 and 2010. The study said people from many systems, including those dealing with disability, mental health, foster care and criminal justice, fed into the homelessness pipeline. The Great Recession also drove many out of their homes, it said.
EXCERPTS
The number of tents, makeshift encampments and vehicles occupied by homeless people soared 85%, to 9,535, according to biennial figures from the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority...
Countywide, more than 44,000 homeless people were tallied in January, up from more than 39,000 in 2013, the report said. Well over half -- nearly 26,000 -- were in the city of Los Angeles.
Homelessness among veterans dropped 6% countywide, to about 4,400, but the report did not break out a comparable number for the city.
Why is this happening?
Experts blame soaring rents, low wages and stubbornly high unemployment.
They point to gentrification downtown and in Venice, where cheap hotel rooms, motels and single-room apartments -- once the last refuge of the poor -- are being eliminated....
Is there a cycle of homelessness among the working poor?
Yes. About 13,000 people on public assistance tumble into homelessness every month in Los Angeles County, according to a new study.
Although many quickly find work or rely on family to get off the streets, the number experiencing "continuous, unremitting, chronic homelessness" continues to grow, even after 10,000 people were housed over the last three years, according to the report being released Tuesday by the Economic Roundtable, a nonprofit research group in Los Angeles.
The report recommended that the welfare system intervene to help children and young adults who become homeless before their condition becomes chronic.
The group's analysis was based on records for 9 million county residents who received public assistance at any point between 2002 and 2010. The study said people from many systems, including those dealing with disability, mental health, foster care and criminal justice, fed into the homelessness pipeline. The Great Recession also drove many out of their homes, it said.
Sunday, October 2, 2016
ALL THESE RESOURCES and IT'S STILL NOT ENOUGH!
ALL THESE RESOURCES that we want you to KNOW ABOUT just in case some or all of them are OPTIONS for you. OPTIONS that you can make CHOICES about!
There are a lot of HOMELESS RESOURCE BUSINESSES (even though they are called non-profits, they usually take in enough money to pay staff, pay their rent or mortgage, and so on) and yet THE GREAT NUMBER OF HOMELESS people IN NEED OF HELP, temporary or long term, is OVERWHELMING these resources.
WHAT WOULD MAKE THE DIFFERENCE?
A CULTURE THAT ACTUALLY UPHOLDS THE VALUE OF EVERY HUMAN BEING. A CULTURE THAT STOPS PRETENDING IT'S "CHRISTIAN," or SPIRITUAL or RELIGIOUS and ACTUALLY IS!
THIS POST is DEDICATED to those who have TRIED SHELTERS and prefer THE STREET!
There are a lot of HOMELESS RESOURCE BUSINESSES (even though they are called non-profits, they usually take in enough money to pay staff, pay their rent or mortgage, and so on) and yet THE GREAT NUMBER OF HOMELESS people IN NEED OF HELP, temporary or long term, is OVERWHELMING these resources.
WHAT WOULD MAKE THE DIFFERENCE?
A CULTURE THAT ACTUALLY UPHOLDS THE VALUE OF EVERY HUMAN BEING. A CULTURE THAT STOPS PRETENDING IT'S "CHRISTIAN," or SPIRITUAL or RELIGIOUS and ACTUALLY IS!
THIS POST is DEDICATED to those who have TRIED SHELTERS and prefer THE STREET!
Saturday, October 1, 2016
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)