Stone Soup Station

Nashville & Homeless Encampments: Here We Go Again

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 14:32:00 +0000

Most folks around these parts will probably remember the protracted battle to first save the largest homeless encampment in Nashville, then to extend the closing deadline to try and provide services and resources to the 100+ residents living there, some for a decade or more.

Mother Nature did what police, city officials and the business community could not; the historic flood that occurred in May, 2010 put that camp some 20 feet under water, pushing out residents, who entered Red Cross emergency shelters as they waited for the flood waters to recede.

Those who could got out of Nashville, those who couldn't moved to where they believed they had the freedom from persecution and hassle by law enforcement.

Unfortunately, it didn't last, and now they are forced to move again. With each move, they are pushed further outward, into suburbs, away from services, and deeper into isolation.

There will be more to this story. Stay tuned...

PBS NewsHour: Wealth, Poverty and Politics Today

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:28:00 +0000

On the basis that a well-informed citizenry is critical to choosing the right leader, I submit the following material addressing "safety nets" for the poor to you for your analysis. Unfortunately, I long ago recognized that whatever your analysis might determine, it will most likely make absolutely no difference.

There's very little action beyond occasional lip service those of us on the lower rungs of the socioeconomic ladder can count on from any of the current crop of "leaders" governing our country. It has become increasingly clear to me that this is because we don't really operate under a democracy, or a republic, although many continue trying to tell us we do. We are governed by a bastardized version of both, a "representative democracy," which ultimately ends up allowing those with deep pockets to receive substantially more "representative" involvement than those of us with shallow or empty pockets receive.

American politics, like just about all politics, has always been controlled by those with the means to control it. "Control" here is really just a codeword for M O N E Y.

Granted, it wasn't always as terrible as it is now, but the pendulum of big crumbs versus small crumbs given to those on the bottom has definitely swung back and forth over the last couple hundred years here in the US.

But I can also clearly remember when I felt like I had a shot at entering "middle class." This "feeling" remained with me all the way up until around the mid 80s, when something odd happened. From that period forward, my weekly wage didn't increase much at all, but prices for things did like crazy. From candy bars to chicken legs, dishsoap to gasoline, everything I needed to survive began an inexorable price climb that continues to this day. Unfortunately, wages that used to climb in some relation to the cost of living ceased their increase.

Meanwhile, it was somewhere in the early 90s that I recall strange things beginning to occur with our public institutions. Schools began telling us how hard it was for them to keep textbooks in the classroom. Libraries began closing or dramatically curtailing their operating hours. Police, fire and emergency services began to tell us they were laying people off, or couldn't afford new equipment to operate effectively.

Roads, bridges and transportation in general began falling into real disrepair right about the same time that gas prices began going through the roof.

Jobs were disappearing everywhere. Entire cities were on the verge of collapse. Those who could move did, leaving those who couldn't to fend for themselves while cash-starved municipalities struggled even more as they lost the biggest contributors to their tax base.

Conversely, jails and prisons were enjoying a boom-time, remaining packed to overflowing, while local and state governments spent lavishly on building more to address demand.

What the hell happened to my country I wondered as I struggled to hold down two minimum wage jobs I had to beg to obtain?

I began paying more attention to politics, naively thinking that by understanding the issues and voting for the right person to represent me, I could help change the disastrous course our big ol ship was on. Didn't take me long to realize I wasn't alone and that there were hundreds of thousands, then millions, who, like me, was wondering what in the hell happened to make life so damned miserable for so many of us?

Then I began to realize that most of the "candidates" available to us weren't "for" us at all. Even those who claimed to be representing us were so far away from what we thought was needed that those of us who did vote began to hold our noses when we stepped into the booth, figuring that we'd choose the lesser of two evils, since things were so bad that maybe by choosing the less less-palatable candidate, things would at least stabilize and we wouldn't continue a further slide into the poverty abyss.

As things got worse in our communities, people became very scared. Fear has a strange way of manifesting itself, and folks began looking for scapegoats, to "God," to emotional ties to potential candidates who, although not always aligned with their best economic interests, helped vindicate or support a particular point of view, such as the "right to life," or allowing gays to marry. By using these "hot-button" issues to garner support, views and individuals previously considered "extreme" became more "mainstream," at least to some.

Then some crazy bastards flew a couple of planes into one of the "symbols of America" and full-on insanity within the national political theater became the norm.

Things once thought never possible here in the "land of the free" became law as people willingly gave up the very rights our Founding Fathers tried desperately to clad in stone in the Constitution.

Folks with frankly ridiculous assumptions about how to run a country squandered the wealth of our nation, led us into wars with countries that had never done anything more than curse at us from their canoes on the shores of a distant ocean or sea, and ended up pissing off more than a billion people, all who now look at our shores with missiles and hate in their eyes.

Our "leaders" capitalized upon this hate by fearmongering to us on a daily basis, causing many to quiver in their shoes as they gave up more and more of the Rights our Founding Fathers fought so damned hard to provide them. Those "Leaders" funneled more than half of our collective wealth into a military machine, arguing vociferously that it "protects" us, provides magical jobs, and now that military has become our nation's largest employer. Coincidentally, it also provides the most benefits to the people of our nation. Think this through and you'll understand the point I'm trying to make, if you don't already.

Did the 80's really initiate these things, or were they in place and fomenting long before, with the 80s just being the catalyst needed to set it all into motion?

Thom Hartmann offers some insight:

"David Stockman bragged, back during the Reagan administration, that the goal of Republicans was to rack up such a huge federal debt that Democrats would never be able to push forward the "socialist" programs that Americans want, like stable Social Security and single-payer national health care. He called it "starving the beast." Grover Norquist suggested it would force government to become so small it could be'"drowned in a bathtub,' leaving the corporations in charge. George W. Bush actually, finally, made it happen."

I don't mean to single Reagan out as the initiator of the "Evil Empire" he so eloquently argued he was fighting, Yes, the finger is pointed at a Republican as the tipping point, but that Republican could never have succeeded without direct complicity from the "opposing" Party standing at their side.

This is not a Republican or Democrat issue, it is a Republican and Democrat conspiracy to remain in power by appeasing those who can ensure the status quo.

Since most of us will never reach the level of wealth needed to insert ourselves into the power structure, the pathetic fists pounding on a closed iron door to the Halls of Power are barely noticeable inside those halls, and would fall on deaf ears anyway, since we have nothing to offer but cannon fodder for the next war.

Doesn't mean I'll give up the fight, but I long ago long lost my Locke-inspired belief in the "Moral Code of Government," exchanging it for the much more appropriate Hobbesian "Materialist View of Human Nature" and his understanding of "fear as the determining factor in human life."

For my critics and the cynics of this particular piece, I applaud you for keeping the dream of a moral and compassionate government and society alive. I would greatly enjoy being proven wrong, and I'm thrilled you continue to have faith in the human race. I just wish there were more of you.

Lots more.

Watch How Strong Is Safety Net for Poor Americans? on PBS. See more from PBS NewsHour.

Audio of debate

Transcript

JEFFREY BROWN: Now, wealth, poverty and politics today.
For several weeks, much of the Republican presidential campaign seemed to focus on the subject of wealth, specifically that of Mitt Romney and the taxes he did or didn't pay.
MITT ROMNEY (R): Will there will discussion? Sure. Will it be an article? Yeah. But is it entirely legal and fair? Absolutely. I'm proud of the fact that I pay a lot of taxes.
JEFFREY BROWN: The wealth focus came amid a national conversation prompted in part by the Occupy protest movement, which put a spotlight on economic inequality.
President Obama took up the theme in his State of the Union address last week.
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: We can either settle for a country where a shrinking number of people do really well, while a growing number of Americans barely get by, or we can restore an economy where everyone gets a fair shot, and everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
JEFFREY BROWN: Now the dialogue may be shifting from wealth to poverty.
Romney drew fire yesterday after he said this on CNN, explaining his focus on the middle class.
MITT ROMNEY: I'm not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there. If it needs repair, I'll fix it. I'm not concerned about the very rich. They're doing just fine. I'm concerned about the very heart of America, the 90, 95 percent of Americans who right now are struggling.
JEFFREY BROWN: In Las Vegas today, Romney's Republican rival, Newt Gingrich, accused him of dismissing the poor.
NEWT GINGRICH (R): I really believe that we should care about the very poor, unlike Gov. Romney.
(LAUGHTER)
NEWT GINGRICH: But I believe we should care differently than Barack Obama. Both Gov. Romney and Barack Obama seem to believe that a -- quote -- "safety net" is all the poor need. I don't believe that. What the poor need a trampoline, so they can spring up and quit being poor.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
JEFFREY BROWN: And the president worked the issue into remarks at the annual National Prayer Breakfast in Washington.
BARACK OBAMA: It's also about the biblical call to care for the least of these, for the poor, for those at the margins of our society, to answer the responsibility we're given in Proverbs to speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute.
JEFFREY BROWN: The issue may resonate this election year more than most, as poverty numbers rise and millions of Americans remain unemployed.
And we explore some of these issues now with Angela Glover Blackwell. She's the founder and CEO of the advocacy group PolicyLink. Lawrence Mead is professor of politics and public policy at New York University. And Barbara Perry, a senior fellow in the Presidential Oral History Program at the University of Virginia's Miller Center.
Angela Glover Blackwell, I will start with you. A general question first: How serious a problem is poverty in America today?
ANGELA GLOVER BLACKWELL, PolicyLink: Poverty is a huge problem. It's a problem for the people who are in it and it's a problem for the nation -- 15 percent of Americans live below the poverty level, highest number since 1993.
And 44 percent of those live below half of the poverty level. That means for a woman with two children, that's less than $9,000 a year. On top of that, we have millions and millions of Americans, 127 million, who in three months of no job would live in poverty.
Poverty is a huge issue, it's getting worse, and it should be very troubling to all of the American people, not just those who are living in poverty.
JEFFREY BROWN: All right, well, Lawrence Mead, you were an opponent of the welfare reform in the '90s. You don't hear much about poverty in our politics today. How would you frame the problem?
LAWRENCE MEAD, New York University: Well, poverty is a different problem from those that have gotten most of the attention. It's not primarily due to unemployment or inequality.
Those are concerns that affect the bulk of the population and they affect some poor people. Poverty has grown largely due to economic conditions, but it doesn't follow that most of poverty is due to the economy. That's really not true. Most poor adults are outside the economy.
They're simply detached. And they don't say that the fact that they're not working is due to the fact that they can't find a job. That's seldom the case. It's usually other factors in their private lives that make it difficult for them to work.
Now, I don't give up. I think we should take steps to make sure that they, in fact, go to work. And that's what we did in welfare reform. I think we should also do it for non-working men of low income. Most of them are not employed either, and we need to do something about that. And certainly the economy makes it harder to do, but it's still quite possible.
Jobs are usually available. The main problem is to mobilize people to actually get up and work regularly.
JEFFREY BROWN: All right, so, Barbara Perry, there was that remark from Gov. Romney yesterday starting to bubble up into the political conversation. As someone who studies presidential history here, what strikes you about this moment as we think about poverty and politics?
BARBARA PERRY, University of Virginia: Well, I think it's a moment that in many ways repeats a cycle in our country's history that goes back to our very founding.
And that is that the founding fathers were aware of economic inequalities even at that time. And it has followed through and has often been kicked off, these various cycles, by traumatic upheavals. And certainly 2008 was a traumatic upheaval in our economy. And so I think the disparities that people see -- and I think the hearts are in the right place of both Lawrence and Angela -- they may have different approaches to the problem or see different political issues related to it.
But I think that it's certainly bubbled up into the conversation of our politics because of the upheaval of 2008, for sure.
JEFFREY BROWN: Well, Angela Glover Blackwell, I want to ask you, because you started by giving some very large numbers of people.
Do most Americans -- when a Mitt Romney or a politician talks about the great middle, because that's what we hear most often -- do most Americans feel themselves to be in the middle and not in poverty?
ANGELA GLOVER BLACKWELL: Most Americans like to think of themselves as being in the middle.
Many Americans understand that they're in a very vulnerable place right now. The notion that people in poverty really have a safety net is just wrong. And it's smacks of a "let them eat cake" posture, not really understanding the depth of the problem, not understanding how to get out of it, but not understanding the impacts on society.
The people who are being left behind now, white people in rural communities, Latinos, African-Americans, will make up the future population. Almost half of all children now are children of color -- they will be half by the end of this decade.
With high levels of poverty -- 39 percent of all black children are poor -- with high levels of poverty, the future is not right for America if we don't deal with poverty and the people who are being left behind. The American people think of themselves as being middle class, but they know they're vulnerable and they certainly don't want to fall into a needy position, and have the leaders not understand that the safety net is not broad enough, it's not strong enough, and it's not thoughtful enough about how to get people get out of poverty and stay out of poverty.
JEFFREY BROWN: Lawrence Mead, what do you think of this question, of the great middle, of the question of the safety net, of how people, how American voters see themselves and therefore how our politicians talk about these things?
LAWRENCE MEAD: Most Americans don't think they're poor, and they don't think they're at risk of poverty, but they are concerned about the poor.
We do have the safety net. There are about 46 million people on food stamps currently. That's a huge number. We're doing a lot to help people who are low-income. And we should do that. That isn't where we're failing, really. It has to do more with making sure that employment levels rise.
We have to make sure poor adults are regularly involved in the economy. We did that substantially for welfare mothers in the '90s. We need to do it again today, particularly for low-working men. That's the main thing we need to add to the safety net that we have.
JEFFREY BROWN: Well, Barbara Perry, what do we know about what resonates with voters as we watch politicians talking about these issues, a lot of concern, a lot of resentfulness about -- towards the wealthy, or still aspirational about getting out of poverty and out of middle class?
BARBARA PERRY: Well, Jeffrey, I think you've hit the nail squarely on the head. And that is indeed people want to have aspirations.
And that, I think, has been the beauty of our system and of our capitalistic system in this country for all of its history. And that is the great American dream, that each generation thought it could do better than the last.
And I know -- here I sit at the University of Virginia , where I did a Ph.D., and my parents, because they came up in the Depression, the Great Depression, could not get beyond high school. And their parents in turn, who were very working-class, couldn't get beyond sixth- or seventh-grade education.
But I think that what we see now and what will resonate with people is that politicians talk to them about the fear of losing those aspirations of the great American dream and the possibility that it's turning into the great American nightmare.
JEFFREY BROWN: Well, Angela Glover Blackwell, do you think the subject is getting enough attention? What encourages or discourages you about what you're hearing now?
ANGELA GLOVER BLACKWELL: I am so encouraged that we are talking about inequality in America. I'm pleased that we're now talking about poverty.
We need to stay on this topic, because this mobility that we have been so proud of in this nation is in jeopardy -- 47 percent of daughters who are poor will remain there, 35 percent of sons -- 45 percent of African-American children born into the middle class will end up poor, 16 percent of white children.
We need to restore this notion that you can move up, that children can do better than their parents. We need to stay on topic. This is a serious problem. We need to come to some conclusions about how to move forward.
JEFFREY BROWN: Are you hopeful about hearing those conclusions among -- from the . . .
ANGELA GLOVER BLACKWELL: I am.
JEFFREY BROWN: Yes?
ANGELA GLOVER BLACKWELL: I am hopeful. I'm hopeful because the conversation has opened up.
When the president did the State of the Union and he emphasized early education, K-12, strong community colleges, infrastructure investments, those were the right things to talk about. We need to really make sure that everything we do, including infrastructure investments, really can benefit those who are poor, they can get the jobs, their communities can be improved.
I am hopeful because the conversation we need to have is finally on the table.
JEFFREY BROWN: Lawrence Mead, are you hopeful about what we may hear on this, and is it getting -- is the subject getting as much attention as it deserves?
LAWRENCE MEAD: I think it needs even more attention. I agree that improving opportunity is absolutely crucial. We need to make sure that people who are less well-off now will be able to improve their lot.
I see that as a joint enterprise. Government has to do things to help people, but people also have to help themselves. And that is what we should focus on. We need to have a situation where there's a safety net, but also people go to work and they stay working, and they do other steps to advance themselves.
The ability to do that is still there in America, and we need to make sure that that's the case in the future.
JEFFREY BROWN: Barbara Perry, I just think back to some periods in our history where poverty was an intensely felt part of the political conversation. It seemed to fall off the map for a while there. What do you think about now and going forward?
BARBARA PERRY: Well, I think it'd be great if, as we say, we carry on this conversation and we continue to talk about some of these disparities and we have people from all sides of the spectrum, experts in the field giving us different possibilities of how to address it.
But I think that I maintain that positive outlook that we can do this, but I do believe that the situation since 2008 has caused people to feel personally that they're in a downward spiral, and we don't want a situation where we have the different political parties just coming at each other and feeling -- making people feel like the parties are spiraling downward as well on this particular topic, and not offering constructive possibilities.
JEFFREY BROWN: All right, we'll leave it there.
Barbara Perry, Lawrence Mead, Angela Glover Blackwell, thank you, all three, very much.
ANGELA GLOVER BLACKWELL: Thank you.
BARBARA PERRY: Thank you.
LAWRENCE MEAD: Thank you.

Cross Point Community Church Workers Bring Hope & Help To South Raleigh Homeless

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:55:00 +0000

As soon as I saw the picture in the article below, my thoughts turned to days spent at Nashville's largest homeless encampment, Tent City, doing similar work on not just one or several but dozens of occasions. And it wasn't just me out there, Otter Creek Baptist Church Pastor Doug Sanders, students in droves from Lipscomb and Vanderbilt universities, concerned citizens who brought time, resources - including backhoes and dump trucks - with them, a whole community pitching in to help the "neighborhood" of Tent City clean up decades of dumping and trash in their little corner of the city.

Watching folks work for those who had nothing and were most of the time relegated to the "got nuthin comin" status by local officials and the community in general, I was - and continue to be, years later - struck by the amazing volunteer spirit of Nashville. I wrote about it back in 2009 and to this day remember how people rallied around the members of the camp, gave up their weekend to improve the living conditions of those less fortunate, and then returned periodically to help residents keep up with the maintenance and landscaping needs.

From PortaPotties to mulch for the trails, to gravel for the entryway into the camp, to customized "cottages" provided free of charge, people from as far away as Mena, Arkansas came to help, in whatever way they could.

That outpouring of selfless support changed how I saw my fellow man, changed how I viewed the world, and changed how I understood our responsibilities to the marginalized and ostracized within our communities. It was an incredible experience that made me feel part of something larger and something important. You could easily say that what folks did over that weekend not only made the ramshackle, hand-built "homes" for more than a hundred people tolerable, they almost certainly reduced the potential for disease, illness and even death by improving the conditions in that environment so markedly.

Finally, by coming into the encampment, many of the people who helped were able to humanize homelessness, understand the incredible diversity within a homeless camp, and smash stereotypes as they learned about the myriad ways in which an individual can end up experiencing homelessness.

Perhaps most importantly, however, those volunteers restored hope to the residents of the camp by showing that there were indeed people in the larger community that cared.

Sometimes, that means more to the residents than all other things combined.

Wheeler: Making friends of the homeless

Buy Photo

Burgetta Eplin Wheeler - bwheeler@newsobserver.com

Matt Sanderson, a senior at East Wake Academy in Zebulon, foreground, helps camp resident Nelson move an unwanted mattress from the camp.

By Burgetta Eplin Wheeler - STAFF WRITER

Tags: Raleigh | homeless | food

Feed the hungry, and help those in trouble. Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon.

Under a morning sky, these words from Isaiah 58 wash over a group of Cross Point Community Church workers as they hold hands during a departure prayer. Nearly 20 people have gathered at a Knightdale meeting spot bearing breakfast food and work gloves. A homeless camp in South Raleigh is the caravan's destination.
The plan is to feed the folks at the camp and to clean up the trash so that the property owner will be less likely to evict those who have built crude but elaborate living quarters amid a patch of trees off Tryon Road.

Bill Morris, founder of Community Outdoors Ministries, has forged relationships with many in Raleigh's homeless community and will guide the group.
"It's not for the government to fix this problem; it's for the churches to do," he says, explaining his nonprofit's motivation as I nod in agreement. "Too many people wear Christianity as a coat and don't live as if it's something inside of them."
On this day, what Morris hopes these Christians will do is make a friend of someone who has no home.
"It's easy to drop food or clothing and leave," he says to the group before the prayer. "These guys need someone to depend on."
Pulling up to a curb across from a business, it is surprising to see the campsite surrounded on all sides by development. The workers head off on a winding, overgrown trail and emerge, after traipsing over a manmade bridge, under an arch of intricately arranged sticks, some of which secure tarps.
Nelson, a homeless man from El Salvador, rises quickly from a picnic table to welcome his visitors. Other homeless people come and go here, but Nelson is the camp's constant resident. Under a tarp, his tent rests on a 4-inch slab of Styrofoam that has soaked up recent rain.
A huge, water-sodden mattress, bags and bags of discarded and soaked clothing, stained sofa cushions, shredded tarps, broken buckets, cooking utensils, pile upon pile of trash and, oddly, all manner of rusting, busted toys await the helping hands. Have children lived here?
"This is hard work" echoes several times through the mostly leafless trees as it becomes clear that no one really has thought past the picking-up part. The loaded trash bags are heavy, the mud is thick, and the trailers that will head to the dump later are parked on the road, at least 144 steps away.
Two boxes of heavy-duty trash bags are soon gone, and the church's youth pastor heads out to dump one load and to pick up more bags.
Fear of disclosure
In the interim, Melissa, a homeless woman who has come to visit Nelson from her own encampment, rocks in a recliner and talks of her love of animals, even snakes, with Missy Reilly, a Knightdale mother of a 2-year-old. On cold nights, Melissa's cats help keep her warm.
When Reilly asks Melissa - a South Carolina native who has been in Raleigh 35 years - where her camp is, Melissa runs fingers through gray-streaked, strawberry-blonde hair and won't say. Her fear of a homeless man who has burned all of her belongings in the past keeps her mute.
Soon after, Nelson, who has been helping with the cleaning, decides it's time to tackle the mattress. Matt Sanderson, a senior at East Wake Academy in Zebulon, heads over to help wrestle it over the bridge, up the path and out to the road.
"I love doing stuff where you can see happiness on people's faces," Matt said when asked earlier why he gave up a 65-degree winter day to help the homeless, "then having them go and pay it forward to other people, not pay you, but to help someone else later."
After two and a half hours of workers' bending, bagging and hauling, the remaining trash sits unreachable inside barriers of briers. Nelson, Melissa and Buddy, a formerly homeless man whom Morris helped into an apartment five months ago, join the group on the road for a departing prayer.
Before hands are joined, I see Reilly exchange phone numbers with Melissa.
She made a friend.

bwheeler@newsobserver.com or 919-829-4825

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/02/03/1826776/making-friends-of-the-homeless.html#storylink=cpy

UPDATE: Confirmed: Willie "the Mayor" Shoemaker Passed Away

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 19:40:00 +0000

2/2/12: After asking around quite a bit, friend and colleague Tasha French helped me confirm that the news about Mayor Willie's death is correct. Many thanks to Tasha, as well as Rachel Hester & Jeff Moles, from Room In The Inn, for their help in separating fact from fiction. Can't tell you how sad I am to hear this.
_________________________________________________________________
To add to today's bad news about the loss of Contributor Vendor Andrew Owens, I was informed, although I haven't confirmed it yet, that one of my old clients has passed away after succumbing to an illness that materialized after he fractured his hip and spent time in the hospital. Don't know if it was a nosicomial infection, but I have a sneaking suspicion it was, since my source told me he thought Willie died from a "staph" infection and MRSA is about the number one hospital-connected infection.

Willie "The Mayor" Shoemaker used to spend much of his time around the Church St library, and was known to damned near everyone. In fact, that's how he became known as "the Mayor;" he was downtown so much and was so well-known that folks just started calling him "mayor" whenever he was around.

Hoping to get confirmation on this soon, but if it's true, it's another big loss for those of us who work with the community of unhoused folks. Willie was a great and likeable guy with a LOT of friends. He'd had an apartment for quite a while now, ever since I worked with him to initiate his social security, but he still spent considerable time helping others still on the streets.

Sigh. Here today, gone tomorrow.

Life is short.

Tent City University: "Anyone can teach, everyone can learn"

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 13:19:00 +0000

"If you're under the impulse to find greater support for what you're doing, you listen more closely and you question more vigorously."

"If you want to take it to a more mystical, spiritual level they're dreaming another world awake. That's the way some of them see it."

I love this idea, because having experienced "education" in public school systems and state universities here in America, I recognize the need for a more informal venue, a "learning community" that adjusts to the needs and demands of students in a way that simply cannot happen within the structure of the traditional system.

Additionally, while I owe a large part of my current success in the world to my "formal" education and the credentials it brings with it, the truth of the matter is that the knowledge I bring to the table most often is the knowledge of lived experience, and none of that came from a formal classroom, to be sure.

Perhaps the most exciting aspect of this "school" is the potential for a cross pollination and transference of seemingly unrelated topics; the pygmy hunter-gatherers discussion is a prime example.

This concept brings to mind the meetings we have at The Contributor around vendor issues and potential writing topics. The move from "meeting" to knowledge transference seems pretty straightforward with just a couple of easy tweaks to a format like this.

Here's hoping that even if Occupy London's current "classrooms" are evacuated due to circumstances beyond their control, they regroup quickly and find new digs. The idea is such a good one that I'd love to see similar "colleges" spring up in every city in America.

Tent City University – one of the most remarkable aspects of Occupy London

The facilities are basic, but the guest lecturers are impressive and the students are engaged and ferociously well informed

Peter Walker
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 19 January 2012 17.32 EST

The Bank of Ideas – the Occupy London educational establishment in a disused office block in the City of London. Photograph: Martin Godwin for the Guardian

When, as now seems likely, the Occupy London protesters are forced to pack up their tents outside St Paul's Cathedral the capital will be losing more than one of its newer and less likely tourist attractions.

Also facing eviction, following this week's high court decision, is the camp's innovative and vigorous educational arm which, according to academics who have spoken there, can often be a more intellectually stimulating environment than the universities that provide their day jobs.

Within a few days of the main camp setting up by St Paul's Cathedral in October, the grandly named Tent City University – in reality a draughty marquee a few metres from a busy road with few amenities beyond a ramshackle sound system and a sprinkling of elderly sofas – set up for business, offering lectures not just to activists but to anyone who happened to be passing by.

Since then a host of leading university academics have offered talks on subjects as varied as international banking, philosophy, theology, the Arab spring and central Africa's (very egalitarian) pygmy hunter-gatherers.

The activists later expanded their educational operation, taking over another site, a disused office block near Liverpool Street station in the City of London financial district. This was transformed into the even more grandly titled Bank of Ideas, which faces separate eviction proceedings from UBS bank, which owns the site.

All camp members can book speakers at either venue by adding them to a communal web-based calendar, said James Sevitt from Occupy.

"The Tent City University, by virtue of its location, gets a lot of people coming past – tourists are there, and people from the City," he said. "For some people it's almost become a part of their daily routine."

Giving a lecture at the Tent City University was an eye-opener for Richard Werner, who has a day job at Southampton University.

The professor of international banking said: "It's different in the sense that the questions were much more informed than those I get from my students. That was a bit of a surprise. Clearly, these are people who have read into things and already have some recognition of some of the problems, and they have thought about potential solutions. So there were much more details questions, more engaged questions."
Those attending talks are "not without self-interest", said Ted Honderich, emeritus professor of mind and logic at University College London (UCL).

"But that is the condition of the human race. It makes them much more interested than certain university lecture audiences. If you're under the impulse to find greater support for what you're doing, you listen more closely and you question more vigorously.

"There's a lot of places you can lecture but there are few that are more comfortable than that tent, in the sense that it's comfortable to be lecturing to people who have a proper sense of moral dignity. You can't say that of a general introduction to philosophy lecture at 10am in University College."

The marquee is a far from ideal lecture theatre, said Tim Gorringe, professor of theology at Exeter University. "It's noisy. I spoke on a windy day – the tent flapped like hell," he said. "The noise of traffic is unremitting. St Paul's bells sound in your ear.

"I had a microphone but the battery packed up a third of the way through and it took another third to replace it. Obviously there's no classroom discipline. People drift in and out. You're not clear who you're talking to.

"But people are asking fundamental questions which they may not be asking at the universities.

"At my session there was a good range of questioners, people from both southern and eastern Europe as well as Brits, and a wider class range than one encounters in universities."

One of the more apparently unusual lecturers was Jerome Lewis, a social anthropologist at UCL, whose expertise is pygmy hunter-gatherers.

According to Lewis, the connection, is that these societies are perhaps the most egalitarian on Earth, with no gender or age hierarchies and a central tenet called "demand sharing" in which it is assumed people will not keep resources for themselves, something mirrored at the camp.

"They've developed their own version of demand sharing, in effect," he said. "If you want to take it to a more mystical, spiritual level they're dreaming another world awake. That's the way some of them see it.

"Physically it's quite challenging to speak there. It's cold, noisy, you've got to keep a good volume going for 45 minutes. But what is nice is the range of different people in the audience, which made for some interesting questions."

The fascination went both ways, Lewis added, for someone of his discipline.

"They're trying to live very differently. There's one man there who has deliberately limited himself to owning just 32 possessions – and that includes his underpants."

In the University of Ideas, a talk had begun inside one of its classrooms, a vast, chilly office space made as comfortable as possible despite a stained blue carpet and a shopping trolley full of placards in a corner. A newly arrived group of Occupy supporters from Finland, identifiable by their suspiciously pressed-looking clothes, were listening to a man from the New Democracy Foundation thinktank expound on modern protest.

The audience members – arranged in a circle rather than facing him in rows – made their own points.

"It's very interesting, this idea that there's not just one way – a single conduit for information and then you maybe get to ask a few questions," said one of the Finns, Erkki Perälä. "You could call it a more multi-dimensional way of learning, and I think you get a lot more from it."

What's on the syllabus

With a motto of "Anyone can teach, everyone can learn", the Tent City University has a broad curriculum, if understandably biased towards the concerns of protesters against the global finance system. Recent lectures have included:
• The fashion designer Vivienne Westwood on the links between ecological and economic crisis.
• Understanding the Arab uprisings from above and below, by an academic from the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies.
• Revolution and creativity in the artist William Blake, by author and the poet Jeremy Reed.
• The case against usury (accompanied by ukelele), by Tom Hodgkinson, editor of the Idler.
• How to find social meaning in your dreams, by experts from the Tavistock Institute, a leading centre for psychoanalysis.
• How to start your own credit union.
• Lessons from a football tour of Egypt, Palestine and Jordan.
• Workshops on knitting and clowning.

Contractor Mary Forristall: "When was America all about everyone being equal?”

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 03:20:00 +0000

Clearly, some folks have failed to understand what makes America the greatest place on earth, even with the passel of problems we face as a country today.

Come to think of it, it may very well be that ignorance like this is exactly why we have the problems in this country in the first place...

February 01, 2012 06:00 PM

The Great Debate: America and Equality

By Mike Lux

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal..." - Thomas Jefferson, July 4, 1776
"Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal." - Abraham Lincoln, Nov. 19, 1863
"When was America all about everyone being equal?” - Florida contractor and Gingrich fundraiser Mary Forristall, quoted in the Washington Post on Jan. 28, 2012
There you have it: America's great political debate summarized in three quotes. Forristall is not the first conservative, and definitely won't be the last, to dislike equality. Our history is littered with a surprising number of quotes just like it. Most of us think the ideas of Jefferson and Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr. firmly planted equality in American soil and made it as apple-pie all-American as you could imagine, but the debate goes on. From Alexander Hamilton to John C. Calhoun to the Social Darwinists of the 1880s to Ayn Rand, William Buckley, and Jesse Helms of the last century and the tea partiers of this, there has been a long line of conservatives who are appalled and terrified by the idea of equality. There are a lot of remarkably blunt quotes on how absurd the idea of equality is from all kinds of conservatives which I featured in my book, "The Progressive Revolution: How the Best of America Came To Be."
When conservatives want to be a little less overt about their disdain for the notion of equality, they will say that, of course they believe in equality of opportunity, they just oppose equality of results. Besides being a ridiculous straw man (no one I have ever met has argued for absolute "equality of results,” or the idea that it isn't fine for people to get rewarded when they build and sell great products), they almost always immediately undercut their own argument by proposing cuts in student grants and loans, public education, Head Start and child health programs that get kids off to a better start in life. They are all for equality, they say, but never want to extend equal protections under the law to new classes of people being discriminated against. They support equality but don’t care if people with illnesses or pre-existing conditions can’t get health care coverage. They are for equal rights under the law but support eliminating funding for legal services, and allowing bankers who commit financial fraud to skate by without ever being investigated. They think equality is wonderful, but are indignant that progressives ask that millionaires and billionaires pay at least as high a tax rate as their secretaries.
Conservatives are on the defensive on equality issues to a degree they haven’t been in at least four decades, and they are flailing around pretty badly trying to defend their patrons in the 1 percent. More straw men are being created than in the Land of Oz. The Washington Post has had two big pieces in their editorial pages the last two days with conservative writers desperately trying to defend wealthy people from having to pay a fair share of taxes.
First up, with the lead editorial on the front page of The Washington Post Sunday Outlook section, was a piece by James Q. Wilson with the monster-sized headline “Don’t Blame the Rich.” The Post’s sub-headline was “Scholar James Q. Wilson argues that taxing the wealthy won’t end poverty.” Straw man number one: I’d be hard pressed to ascertain what progressives were blaming “the rich” for. I, appropriately, blame a lot of the big Wall Street bankers for crashing the economy through financial fraud, forcing the rest of us to bail them out, and then whining because we don’t love them anymore. Likewise, I blame oil and coal companies for polluting the air and threatening the earth with catastrophic climate change. I blame health insurance companies for dropping millions of people out of coverage when they get sick. I blame big business execs who outsource jobs from America so they can pay slave wages in China and Third World countries. But I have nothing against rich people generally.
If you are a manufacturer who has created a great product and employs a lot of people to make it while paying them a decent wage and making sure they have health benefits, and gets rich as a result, I have nothing but love for you. If you are a small business owner that provides amazing service for your community and gets rich as a result, that is tremendous. If you are a community banker who gives small business and home and auto loans to the people in your community, and make great money, God bless you. If you run a website that produces great content with a huge audience, and you reap the rewards, wonderful. I blame entrepreneurs like that for nothing, and am thrilled for their success. But I still want to see them, and everyone with the ability to, pay their fair share of taxes.
Straw man number two: I have never heard anyone say that taxing the wealthy, all by itself, would end poverty. There are many different ways we can attack the poverty problem, and a lot of them do require money, some of it private and some of it public, but poverty is not going to end overnight or be solved by any one policy measure. But what could taxing the wealthy more do? Help reduce the federal deficit, pay for more schools, repair the schools we have in so many places that are falling apart, hire more and better teachers. It could rebuild our roads, highways, sewer systems, bridges, and the rest of our crumbling infrastructure. It could make sure the entire nation has access to high speed broadband internet service, pay for more research and development, invest in more prenatal care, early childhood programs, Head Start, and quality child care. There are many other needs this country has, and taxing the wealthy at a fairer rate would definitely help us pay for all those things. But you know what else? It is also a matter of simple fairness and justice: People with wealth got wealthy in part because of the blessings of this country, and they ought to pay their fair share to support it.
Straw man number three: Progressives want to tax the rich only to help the poor. Now I will admit something here: Being the lefty freak that I am, I do actually care about helping poor people. Although I don’t believe all the theological teachings of my childhood, I do still believe that the Jesus of the Gospels was right when he said we would ultimately be judged on how we treated “the least of these,” and in general those with less than us. And I think it is also just good public policy: When you help lift poor people up, give them opportunities for a better life, you make our country stronger as a whole. But the conservatives’ goal in saying the only point of taxing the rich is to help the poor is to divide poor people from the middle class. The fact is that while the safety net for the poorest among us is tattered and in need of repair, there is very little safety net at all for the middle class. It is the middle class that built this country, and when the gap between us and the wealthiest keeps growing exponentially, the middle class gets crushed. Poor people are in trouble in this country but the middle class is as hard-pressed as it has been since the 1930s.Their wages are stagnant, their homes have crashed in value, and they have groceries, energy, health care, and college tuition costs rising. Their kids’ schools have been falling apart and seeing teacher layoffs, fire and police services keep getting pared back, roads have big potholes that never seem to get fixed and bridges are in danger of collapse because the wealthiest in society aren’t paying their fair share in taxes. This issue of fundamental fairness and vast economic inequality is not just about helping the poor; it really is about helping the entire 99 percent.
Wilson’s opinion piece ignores a wide range of recent research showing social mobility slowing down dramatically in America and being far worse than most industrialized countries, and he is remarkably selective about the data he does use—using statistics more than once that mysteriously only go up to 2006, before the collapse of the last few years, and ignoring data from more recent years that shows how income inequality has gone up in most Western countries, but by far the most here. He makes a special point, of course, in noting that inequality has gone down in Greece, while never mentioning how much stronger than ours the economies have been of several European countries (including Germany, Denmark, and Sweden) who have far better income inequality numbers.
Then there is Robert Samuelson’s piece. He adds a fourth straw man to Wilson’s big three: that passing the Buffett Tax wouldn’t solve the deficit problem. Well, no, Mr. Samuelson, but it would help. No one who supports the Buffett tax has argued that if we just passed that and did nothing else, all our federal deficit problems (or the deficit in public investment for education, infrastructure, and all the rest for that matter) would magically go away. To solve all those problems, you would also need to end the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy, close all the unproductive corporate tax loopholes, end the deduction for million dollar-plus homes, stop subsidizing oil companies and big corporate agribusiness, impose a tax on Wall Street speculation, cut wasteful defense spending, create a robust public option in health care, negotiate with drug companies on Medicare Part D, and reform federal contracting policy. Oh, and start creating economic growth and new jobs at the rate Bill Clinton did in the 1990s. You do all that stuff and the deficit gets solved pretty easily, but I’m guessing a hard-line conservative like Samuelson would oppose almost all of those policies.
Samuelson concludes his article by saying this: “But recognize that the anti-wealthy populist rhetoric is mostly political expediency. It distracts from the serious issues the country faces—creating jobs and closing long term budget deficits. The anti-rich backlash is growing; a Pew poll finds 66 percent of Americans see strong conflicts between rich and poor, up from 47 percent in 2009. Pandering to this is easier than dealing with the future.” Not seeing that the richest 400 families in America have more wealth than the bottom 150 million Americans is a “serious issue” and one of the most tragic flaws of conservatism. This kind of imbalance creates a country that looks far more like the Third World than like America in her mid-20th Century glory years. And you will never create big numbers of jobs or curb long-term deficits without a prosperous and expanding middle class. To suggest that those of us who care about issues of economic equity are pandering, or—another one of my all-time favorite straw men—are envious of the rich—suggests a fundamental lack of understanding about either good economic policy or our nation’s history. I’m not envious of the rich; I’d just like the rest of us not to be crushed by their greed.
The truth that we are all created equal is indeed self-evident. America was in fact conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all of us are created equal. And if a certain small sector of our economy grows so much richer and more powerful than the rest of us, it strikes at the heart of the America we used to be, and are supposed to be.

Why Can't Nashville Establish Affordable Housing Opportunities Like This?

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 12:47:00 +0000

Anytime I see a story about someone or some organization who has been able to raise enough private money to establish a housing complex for the chronically homeless, replete with wraparound case management services, I am struck by the lack of Nashville's ability to do the same.

In fact, I find it heartbreaking that in a city priding itself on the belief that we come together in times of trouble cannot come together enough to help establish affordable housing for the hundreds of individuals living on our streets, in our woods, and even in our doghouses.

It's certainly not from a lack of available potential donors or folks who care enough to pitch in to help. We are a city filled with people who understand that some are less fortunate than others, and that but for the Grace of God, there go I. I've never met so many people willing to jump in and help others overcome the very worst the world throws at them.

Interestingly, we are a city built upon the vagaries of music, with artists, established and aspiring, who can speak to the incredible impediments facing those living in hard times. Some of them have spent time themselves struggling on the streets here, and were lucky enough to be able to parlay their love of music into success. Many however continue to struggle just to get by. Surely there are musicians and performers who would come together to help, fund, support, encourage, advocate and construct housing for our city's most vulnerable and disenfranchised.

This is also a city that knows a thing or two about fighting for equality, recognition of basic human rights, and the dignity of an individual, regardless of where they came from, the color of their skin, or the current condition of their life. It's hard for me to believe that these folks are simply wringing their hands or have their heads stuck in the sand as they watch people experiencing homelessness be relegated to "unimportant" status.

The People of Nashville are honest, hardworking and compassionate to a fault. Their faith is unshakable, their determination to overcome challenges that would send lesser men and women screaming into the night unquestionable. They will fight for as long as it takes, if that is what it takes.

They are friendly, willing to endure hardship for the betterment of their community as a whole, and fiercely dedicated to ensuring that everyone in the community gets a fair shake. In no other place I've lived have I ever had so many friends who will drop whatever they are doing at a moment's notice to come help me, or anyone else, for that matter, with little regard for how this will impact their own daily schedules or existence.

So why can't we seem to get our act together enough to create some affordable housing in order to end homelessness in our city?

We even have the political will, which is usually a key barrier in many of these kinds of situations. While we need to understand that government cannot and should not have to do it alone, the Key Alliance is there to help access that political will and ready to go to work for anyone who can step forward to help them get started with a housing project. We've got nationally known and recognized experts in the areas of homelessness and poverty standing by to lend their input, leadership and vision. We're even connected to other national experts by association with individuals who live in Nashville and work with the folks around the country on a daily basis.

The faith-based community, long the primary reason many persons experiencing homelessness in Nashville haven't died of starvation and exposure long ago, are poised and able to pitch in biblical levels of support around ending homelessness. What they do individually on a daily basis for those experiencing homelessness is nothing short of miraculous. Imagine what could be accomplished if we could collectively focus all those resources, dedication and commitment to one united effort to help end homelessness by providing affordable housing and supportive services!

We've got literally dozens of housing models to pick through as well, from John Parvensky's incredible Denver-based spectacular 90+ unit complex that rents its first floor out to local businesses to help defray mortgage costs (and those businesses hire people to work directly from the complex itself. One, Pizza Fusion, actually trains folks to return to work), to Bill Hobson's Seattle DESC Housing First Projects, to Becky Kanis' 100,000 Homes Campaign, to the Los Angeles Project 50 Skid Row effort, and these are just the tip of the housing iceberg.

I simply do not understand the inability for Nashville to come together to accomplish this something like providing housing to its poorest community members.

Frankly, it is antithetical to what I know and love about Nashville.

We are Nashville, and we can do this. There are lives depending on us to make it happen and I cannot, will not, accept that we have failed.

I don't think Nashvillians will accept failure on this issue, either.

Facility creates 'ordinary' for the homeless

By April Bethea
abethea@charlotteobserver.com

Posted: Monday, Jan. 30, 2012

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Moore Place, an apartment complex to serve the chronically homeless, will house 85 people and have a full-time nurse and part-time physician. ROBERT LAHSER - rlahser@charlotteobserver.com

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More than a year ago, William Pumphrey was part of a choir that celebrated the start of construction on an apartment building to serve the chronically homeless.
He didn't realize then that he was looking at his future home.
Early last week, Pumphrey learned he had earned a spot at the Moore Place apartments. Then he saw the second-floor apartment he'll move into early next month.
The news, the 53-year-old said, brought him to his knees.
On Sunday, Pumphrey and the Voices of Love choir were among hundreds of people marking the grand opening of Moore Place, an apartment building for 85 people off North Graham Street.
The $10 million facility was funded primarily with privately raised funds, including gifts from corporate and philanthropic foundations, the Charlotte Housing Authority, more than 50 local congregations and the John and Pat Moore family. The effort was led by Charlotte's Urban Ministry Center. The first eight residents will move in this week, and officials expect the complex to be full by the end of April.
Plans already are under way to add 35 more apartment units on the property, said Caroline Chambre, director of Urban Ministry Center's HousingWorks program.
In recent years, the Urban Ministry has piloted another housing program that offers people who have been homeless a permanent place to stay in sites scattered across Charlotte.
But Moore Place is considered a bigger shift in how the city has addressed the issue of people who are chronically homeless.
Residents will pay 30 percent of their income toward rent. The apartment facility will have on-site case management and 24-hour security.
Moore Place also will offer residents services such as job training, instruction on how to manage their money and counseling. A full-time nurse and part-time physician also will offer health care at the site.
Chambre said the goal is to help residents "go from a life of chaos to a life of normalcy." She described the effort as not being extraordinary; rather, a way to "create the ordinary" in residents' lives.
Pumphrey, who has been homeless on and off for the past 12 years, said Sunday he's not sure he'll ever be able to overcome all of the issues he's faced in recent years.
But he thinks the services provided by Moore Place will be immensely important for him and others.
"I feel taken care of, and I haven't even moved in yet," he said.
Charlotte has an estimated 6,500 people who are homeless. About 10 percent are considered chronic cases, meaning mental illness or addiction prevents them from finding housing through traditional programs such as shelters.
Advocates have said providing housing and other services for the homeless can save millions because it could cut down on those individuals going to "de-facto shelters" in jails or emergency rooms.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg leaders approved a "10-year Plan to End Homelessness" six years ago to create more permanent housing such as Moore Place.
Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx on Sunday praised efforts to complete Moore Place, noting challenges such as a fight over where to put the apartments. But he said even more housing facilities are needed.
He urged attendees at the grand opening event to pay attention to upcoming discussions among the City Council about housing bonds and a locational policy on where to put affordable housing.
Foxx said the community needs to find a way to create additional housing.
"We don't just need Moore Place," he said. "We need more places."

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/01/30/2970430/facility-creates-ordinary-for.html#storylink=cpy

Contributor Vendor Killed Crossing Street After Exiting Bus

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 22:02:00 +0000

My heart is broken today at this tremendous loss.

Below is the official statement from The Contributor:

Today, at The Contributor, we grieve the tragic loss of Andrew Owens, who, according to police, was struck and killed this morning while crossing the street after exiting a bus. Andrew was a vendor of The Contributor newspaper which is sold by homeless and formerly homeless newspaper vendors. His personable, artistic and earth-conscious spirit will be missed.

We ask for your thoughts and prayers for Andrew, those who loved him, the driver of the vehicle and all of the service professionals who attended to him today. And, we ask for your support for all that who experienced homelessness in Nashville.

Rest in peace, Andrew. You will be missed.

Contributor Salesman Dies After Being Hit By Car In Madison

Posted: Jan 31, 2012 6:31 AM CST Updated: Jan 31, 2012 2:41 PM CST

by Amanda Hara
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – A Contributor salesman died after being hit by a car in Madison on Tuesday morning.
It happened around 6:20 a.m. on North Gallatin Pike near Rivergate Mall. Police said 36-year-old Christian Owens had gotten off of a bus and was trying to cross the street to sell the paper when he was struck by a Mercury Villager minivan.
Police said Owens was taken to Vanderbilt Medical Center with critical injuries, but later died.
The driver of the minivan, 55-year-old Todd Duncan of Hendersonville, told police he did not see Owens in the roadway.
Police said there were no crosswalks on that part of the road, which makes it a tricky area for pedestrians to navigate.
"You've got bus stops on one side of the road folks need to get to the other side of the road, there's no real way for them to get over there. Even if they go up to the next intersection there's no cross walks no pedestrian walk signs," said Sgt. Bob Sheffield.
There was no evidence of alcohol or drug involvement in the crash, according to police.
The driver of that van, 55 year old Todd Duncan, told police he simply didn't see Owens.
Charges have not been filed in this case.
Owens worked as a vendor for at least six months.

27% Of Us "don't have enough money tucked away to cover basic expenses for three months in case of a layoff or other emergency"

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 12:22:00 +0000

My first thought when reading this was, "ya think?" Frankly, I'm surprised that number isn't higher, and I suspect that it is but have no way to prove it.

Something else that shouldn't get lost in the minutiae of this story is this disturbing news arising from a study out of the Consumer Federation of America, although if you're already poor, this will be old news to you:

A single man, 30, driving since age 16, owning a Ford Taurus, having a perfect driving record and commuting round trip 20 miles a day might pay $558 a year for insurance if he had a Master of Business Administration and lived in an affluent St. Louis suburb. If he were only a high school graduate, his rate rises by $71. If he were to become unemployed, his cost climbs another $84. If he moves to a poorer area, his rates rise by $347.

Yep, the poorer and lower educated you are, the more you pay for car insurance. Doesn't take long to connect those dots: can't afford insurance, can't drive. Can't drive, radius of work access decreases. Less opportunity = higher chance of poverty = even less opportunity.

What about public transportation, you say? Ah, yes, good old bus and train travel! If you think this is a viable option for most, you probably reside in a big city like Washington DC, or Boston, or New York, but in the "flyover" states between coasts, public transportation is often lacking, and in some places, can be prohibitively expensive.

In Nashville, TN, a 31-day unlimited access bus pass for an adult is $84, so most likely Ms. Pagan, in the story below, would be unable to afford it. Chances are good too that due to recent route closings, the route she would need to access her employment wouldn't be covered by the bus service anyway. This has been a real issue for many of the poorer folks in Nashville since service routes were cut.

But I digress. There are two main points I'd like to make concerning this insurance conundrum for the poor. First, it's likely that these rates aren't based on driving records but rather established by "risk managers" who have crunched enough statistics (and we all know that statistics can be utilized to support any point of view you'd like them to, with the right skew) to determine that uneducated and poor drivers are dumber than educated and wealthy drivers, otherwise the poor dummies wouldn't be...poor dummies?!? Duh!

So, c'mon, connect the dots with me: if you're poor and "uneducated" (risk managers will spell that d u m b), you are not nearly as intelligent as the educated wealthy, so you are more likely to make stupid driving mistakes, which of course will result in more accidents, which will of course hurt the bottom line in the insurance company's stockholder report. Raise the dummies' rates to offset the almost certain losses these morons will cause us, and viola, we're back in the black again!

Wouldn't you just like to put a foot where the sun don't shine on a risk manager's body?

The second point I'd like to make here is that earning profit off the back of the poor isn't a new plan or isolated to insurance companies. Banks charge higher interest to poor folk because their credit is usually not quite as good. Check-cashing "stores" are worse than loansharks when the poor can't afford to keep a bank account open, or have been denied a bank account at all.

Car companies in impoverished neighborhoods entice with a "buy here, pay here" or "we finance in-house" deal for folks who can't get traditional car loans, and the interest rates and techniques used by them for collections would make mafia enforcer Richard Kuklinski blush. "Rent to Own" ripoffs steal poor folks blind, stores often charge "check cashing fees" when the poor try to turn a paycheck or a disability check into something usable.

Even the grocery stores in impoverished neighborhoods take advantage of the poor; smaller selections of products, prices that aren't often aligned with stores in wealthier areas. If you're wondering why this is, it's because people can drive to other stores in these more affluent areas, and the competition forces stores to keep prices low lest shoppers head over to the store 10 blocks away with lower prices. If you've got a car, no big deal. On foot, or using a bus, it's a huge deal.

Everywhere the poor turn, someone is siphoning off precious pennies that the more affluent wouldn't tolerate.

The lesson here?

The less you have, the more they take.

Number of asset-poor Americans rising

27 percent of households do not have enough money tucked away to cover three months of basic expenses

Luz Pagan and her son, Marvin Robinson Jr., 12, sit in their small studio apartment. The two have been living there for more than two months, hoping to find a bigger apartment in the near future. (Abel Uribe, Chicago Tribune / January 27, 2012)

By Becky Yerak, Chicago Tribune reporter

12:02 a.m. CST, January 31, 2012

Luz Pagan, 45, has been working as a part-time cashier at a discount store in downtown Chicago for nearly three years, her requests to become a full-time employee with benefits having gone nowhere.

The single mom and her 12-year-old son, Marvin, have been living in a $575-a-month studio apartment on the North Side since November. But with a work schedule averaging 15 to 20 hours a week, in a job paying about $8.75 an hour, Pagan is struggling to cover living expenses and has to scrape together money from friends and family. Her last paycheck netted $64.

"I'm underemployed," said Pagan, who previously lived in a shelter for two months. She has an associate's degree and would love an office job. Marvin's dad helps with expenses, but she said she and her son — a mostly A and B student who wants to be a doctor — are living paycheck to paycheck, with no savings.

Pagan's plight is becoming more commonplace.

Nationwide, 27 percent of households are "asset poor," meaning they don't have enough money tucked away to cover basic expenses for three months in case of a layoff or other emergency that saps income, according to a study to be released Tuesday by the Washington-based Corporation for Enterprise Development. The nonprofit's mission is helping poor families and communities.

Since the nonprofit's 2009-10 survey, the number of asset-poor families has jumped to a little more than 1 in 4 from 1 in 5. Strip out a home, a business or a car — none of which can easily be converted to cash — and the measure of households who are "liquid asset poor" jumps to 43 percent.

In Illinois, 26.4 percent of households are asset poor and 39.8 percent are liquid asset poor.

If that weren't enough bad news for the working poor and for households barely getting by, the Consumer Federation of America on Monday released a report suggesting that the poorer the person is, the more she or he will pay for things like car insurance. Specifically, the report said, many low- and moderate-income drivers pay higher prices for automotive coverage even if they have spotless driving records and drive few miles.

Among the report's statistics: A single man, 30, driving since age 16, owning a Ford Taurus, having a perfect driving record and commuting round trip 20 miles a day might pay $558 a year for insurance if he had a Master of Business Administration and lived in an affluent St. Louis suburb. If he were only a high school graduate, his rate rises by $71. If he were to become unemployed, his cost climbs another $84. If he moves to a poorer area, his rates rise by $347.

"None are directly related to driving," but rather suggest a correlation with income, a Consumer Federation official said during a Monday conference call to discuss the results.

Pagan, who doesn't own a car, said she has begun working with Chicago-based Heartland Alliance — a nonprofit seeking to reduce poverty — to look for housing and secure full-time employment.

She doesn't have a credit card but has a debit card through a TCF Bank checking account that she has had for about six months. She previously banked with a megabank but switched when it curtailed its free checking options. Pagan, who has been on food stamps and who earned about $7,000 last year, said it has been about five years since she had to use payday lenders.

She said she'd like to see the state of Illinois offer additional ways to help needy residents, instead of giving more tax breaks to corporations.

Lucy Mullany, Heartland Alliance senior policy associate and coordinator of its Illinois Asset Building Group, said the study's findings mirror what she's seeing in Illinois — "continued erosion of individual wealth, especially among communities of color."

On her legislative wish list: Increasing what she says is a $2,000 limit on assets for participants in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program. TANF provides temporary financial assistance, including for food, shelter and utilities, for pregnant women and for families with dependent children. Pagan doesn't receive TANF funds.

The Corporation for Enterprise Development report found sizable differences between states, with asset poverty rates ranging from a high of more than 45 percent in Nevada to a low of 15.7 percent in Vermont. Liquid asset poverty rates range from 64.5 percent in Alabama to 22.8 percent in Hawaii.

Vermont had the overall No. 1 rank for residents' financial security. Illinois was at No. 32 overall, yet was ranked 17th for the policies it has in place, raising questions about the programs' effectiveness.

The study, however, said states' gaps between policies and outcome could be the result of factors such as high housing costs.

Asset poverty is a problem that requires local, state and federal policy responses, said Tom Feltner, vice president of the Woodstock Institute, a Chicago-based nonprofit research group focused on fair lending issues.

Many Illinoisans with low levels of assets have a large percentage of their assets tied up in their home, he said.

"We need to keep homeowners in their homes, return vacant properties to productive use and ensure the availability of sustainable, prime mortgage credit going forward," he said. "To do so, we need local, state and federal policy responses that restore confidence in the housing market, improve opportunities to save and get people back to work."

In the Chicago area, poorer communities often are hit first by a weakening economy — and hit hard.

Says Feltner: "High-cost lending and low credit scores lock people in low-wealth communities out of a future economic recovery."

As a general rule, saving enough money for three to six months of living expenses is recommended, said David Hinman, senior vice president of retail banking for Fifth Third Bank.

byerak@tribune.com

"Those still using hard drugs into their 50s are five times more likely to die earlier than those who do not"

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 01:37:00 +0000

Courtesy http://dyingforpills.com/

A few years ago, I received information that my older brother Benny had died on his 64th birthday from an overdose related to injecting cocaine. I hadn't seen Benny since 1996, when he came from Michigan to California right before my mom died of brain cancer to say goodbye to her.

He was still a hard-partying man at that time, but then again, so was I, and together we pushed the envelope on more occasions than I care to remember, both in the actual using of various substances and in some of the more...dangerous endeavors we found ourselves involved in. Ben was old scooter trash, having grown up in a "biker" environment and at the tender age of 18, had been shipped off to Viet Nam after he'd burned down a gas station in a gang fight with a rival bike club. The DA offered him a Nam tour or a Jackson State Prison tour. He probably should have taken the prison tour instead, given what Viet Nam did to him psychologically.

Besides, Ben eventually got his Jackson Prison tour as well, when he went in front of a judge for either his 7th or 8th DUI and was given a couple of years at one of the worst walled pens in the country as a result.

Given his flash temper, his proclivity for serious Jack Daniel's drinking and his fearless experimentation with anything he could stick into a syringe, I wasn't surprised to hear that he'd killed himself celebrating. Frankly I was more surprised he'd been able to avoid Mr. Reaper until he was 64.

I remember thinking then about what it would be like to try and "party" like I used to as I tried to push from my own mind the image of Ben's dead corpse - and the gruesome images of his almost certain convulsions, foaming mouth and blue death skin the paramedics got to see as they arrived to pick up his dumb ass and haul him away in the meat wagon.

With the words of Ben's death still echoing in my ears, I began recalling the countless dead bodies I've seen, both as a paramedic and as someone who has witnessed more than a couple of folks who've "fallen out" from too much heroin, crank, and/or other durg and alcohol combinations. My thoughts ricocheted back and forth between those images and the recollections of my own near-death inducing behavior; from week-long intravenous cocaine binges, to massive hits of crack smoke, held in the lungs until I was able to push a U100 full of black tar heroin into a vein, achieving a sort of pseudo speedball...a "crack-ball," for lack of a better term.

As the ringing in my ears and vibrating rush of the cocaine gave way to the heavy press of the heroin crawling up my spine and washing over the top of my head, shoving me down into a glazed, euphoric stupor, I must have asked myself not just dozens, but hundreds of times, "is this the one? The one that's finally going to kill me?"

No.

Unlike Ben, I got lucky.

Also unlike Ben, I realized my own creep into the danger zone of age, and put the last hard drug into my body long before I ever hit 50. Unlike thousands of others too, I was extremely lucky in that I did not pick up one (or more) of the killer diseases that lurk in the bottoms of dope-spoons, or the mouthpieces of various crack and speed pipes, either.

I don't know how I managed to dodge those bullets, although even my worst days chasing bags I carried a film container full of bleach everywhere I went, and was beyond meticulous with my "kits," never ever shooting dope after someone without first bleaching out my needles, using clean cotton from my own cigarettes and wiping the spoon with bleach as well.

I can tell you one thing that has probably saved my life though.

Even with all the damage to my brain I've done over the decades behind the coke, the acid, the weed, the heroin, and the wide variety of other substances I snorted, smoked and injected, I was still smart enough to realize as I got older that I'd gotten the message about drugs and drug use in general, and finally hung up the phone before it was too late.

RIP Ben.

For the rest of you my age who're still slamming, tweaking and staying gowed, take heed, you aren't 25 anymore.

'Dabbling' in Hard Drugs in Middle Age Linked to Increased Risk of Death

ScienceDaily (Jan. 27, 2012) — Young adults often experiment with hard drugs, such as cocaine, amphetamines and opiates, and all but about 10 percent stop as they assume adult roles and responsibilities. Those still using hard drugs into their 50s are five times more likely to die earlier than those who do not, according to a new study by University of Alabama at Birmingham researchers published online Jan. 27, 2012, in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.

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According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 9.4 percent of Americans ages 50-59 and 7 percent of adults ages 35-49 reported use of a drug other than marijuana sometime in the past year. The study’s lead author, Stefan Kertesz, M.D., associate professor in the UAB Division of Preventive Medicine. and colleagues attempted to discover if lifelong hard-drug use shortens lifespan to better enable primary-care doctors to advise patients who use drugs recreationally.
“While government guidelines have not endorsed screening for drugs in primary care, many doctors are challenged when they discover patients continue to dabble with them,” Kertesz says. “In primary-care practice, we often hear from stable patients who report using some cocaine, irregularly, perhaps on weekends. It’s an underappreciated but very common situation. The typical question physicians have to ask is ‘If this patient doesn’t have addiction, what advice can I give other than noting that it’s unwise to break the law?’ After all, we are supposed to be doctors, not law enforcement.”
Kertesz and a research team from other universities looked at data from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults Study for their analysis. CARDIA, funded by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, is a long-term research project involving more than 5,000 black and white men and women from Birmingham, Chicago, Minneapolis and Oakland, designed to examine the development and determinants of cardiovascular disease and its risk factors. Participants ages 18-30 were recruited and followed from 1985 to 2006.
The research team looked specifically at the reported use of “hard drugs” by 4,301 of the CARDIA participants. They compared people who stopped drug use early to those who continued and calculated the likelihood of premature death among these groups.
“Fourteen percent of the people in the study reported recent hard-drug use at least once, and of these, half continued using well into middle age,” Kertesz says. “But, most of the drug users in our study were not addicts. They were dabblers who used just a few days a month.”
Kertesz and his colleagues found that older hard-drug users were more likely to report being raised in economically challenged circumstances in a family that was unsupportive, abusive or neglectful. The team also found that those who were heavy drug users into young adulthood and continued at lower levels into middle age were roughly five times more likely to die than persons who didn’t use drugs.
“We can’t assume that drugs caused death, as in an overdose,” he says. “Rather what we found is that middle-age adults who continue to dabble in hard drugs represent a group that is at risk of bad outcomes — which could include death from trauma, heart disease or other causes that are not a direct result of their drug use — at a higher rate than people who stopped using drugs.”
Kertesz added that the team’s findings are a reminder that people who continue to use drugs are potentially quite vulnerable. They often have grown up under economic and psychosocial stress from childhood onward. They continue to smoke and drink and they remain at elevated risk of premature death.
“Based on the data we hope to offer better advice to primary-care doctors struggling with the rising tide of drug-taking by adults who have not left behind many of the bad habits they learned in young adulthood,” he says.
Study co-authors include Yulia Khodneva, M.D., Monika Safford, M.D., and Joseph Schumacher, Ph.D., UAB Division of Preventive Medicine; Jalie Tucker, Ph.D., UAB School of Public Health; Joshua Richman, M.D., Ph.D., UAB Department of Surgery; Bobby Jones, Ph. D., Department of Statistics, Carnegie Mellon University; and Mark J. Pletcher, M.D., departments of Epidemiology & Biostatistics and Medicine, University of California, San Francisco.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Alabama at Birmingham, via Newswise.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

Journal Reference:

Stefan G. Kertesz, Yulia Khodneva, Joshua Richman, Jalie A. Tucker, Monika M. Safford, Bobby Jones, Joseph Schumacher, Mark J. Pletcher. Trajectories of Drug Use and Mortality Outcomes Among Adults Followed Over 18 Years. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 2012; DOI: 10.1007/s11606-011-1975-3

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Reminding Myself Of My "Consumer" Status

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 11:57:00 +0000

Those of you who know me know it's no secret that I'm in a methadone maintenance program.


Currently at a 30mg daily dose

I started "Medication-Assisted Treatment" (MAT) for substance use conditions" in 2000 and have been a fierce advocate for the use of MAT for those of us who suffer from opiate addiction ever since.

In talks and presentations around the country, I have been sharing the fact that Methadone maintenance not only saved my life, it allowed me to take my recovery to a point that I could establish stability and predictability in my life. The associated counseling and clinic "case management" services, helped me as well, and I learned about the nature of addiction in general, along with healthy ways of managing the issues life brings you on a daily, sometimes hourly basis. I cannot tell you how important this has all been for me, and I think if you simply compare where I was at in my life when I first entered treatment to where I am at today, some 12 years later, you would agree that the benefits of the program were not lost on me.

When I first came into the program, I won't candy-coat it, I was skeptical of the potential for recovery through the use of another drug, especially one that was so closely related to the heroin I'd been using on the streets for decades. I'd been 12-stepping it via court order, and while there is research that points to the fact that coerced treatment is as effective as voluntary treatment, I didn't find the NA program either effective or palatable. This was primarily because I'd been forced into the program in a small California town and just about everyone in those meetings were lying about their length of sobriety. I knew that because I was out partying with them when we weren't sitting in the meeting rooms. It took me a while to "work my own program" instead of worrying about others, but those initial experiences soured me for a long time on the whole 12-step scene.

I also couldn't get into the "higher power" thing, what with my utter hatred and loathing of authority back then, not to mention the feelings of spiritual abandonment. It wasn't easy to "give up control" to anyone, let alone something I felt had let me down over the course of most of my life. Perhaps the biggest thing I took away from that program was that the only way to achieve "sobriety" was to abstain from all drugs.

This approach is all well and good for those who could choose to do so. But true addiction is a disease, not a choice, so while I could appreciate the 12 steps, I did not and was not able to maintain sobriety through "fellowship" and/or "working the program" with other 12-steppers.

Something I think is important to note here before I go further is that as I began to progress through MAT and into recovery as I understand and believe it to be, many of the steps themselves I ended up working over the last 12 years as a part of the recovery process in general. I didn't realize this until recently when, in researching something around the 12-step program, I re-read them and was struck by how many of the steps I'd actually worked since entering MAT.

But back at the beginning of the journey into sobriety, I could recognize that I was having a helluva time trying to navigate the world while strung out on heroin and having that nasty little monkey on my back pull my strings like a damned puppet master. I'd used street methadone during the course of my "runs" out on the street, and liked very much its ability to keep me "well" for an extended period ("well" here refers to the absence of withdrawal symptoms. It does NOT reference a "high," which in my circles, was known as being "gowed." This is a critical distinction because once we realized we were physically addicted to the crap, we realized that getting a buzz off the dope was really a luxury, since most Junkies, self included, often will "chip" at their dope, trying to stretch out the stash for as long as possible, unless of course, one has endless piles of money. Since the people I ran with were definitely not rock stars, movie stars or spoiled rotten rich children, chipping quickly became the norm and actually getting high off the drug occurred only when we were lucky enough to afford a bigger dose. Dealing and stealing provided that for most of the junkies I knew. In my own case, I traded cannabis I'd grown for the dope).

At the end of the day, that's what the heroin lifestyle is all about, once the thrill of coming face to face with the "Dragon" and stepping over the edge and into the saddle of the "baddest" drug on the planet. Like most practicing addicts who don't realize they're addicts yet, my desire to do the "best" the world's pharmacy had to offer led me straight into the clutches of the worst the world's pharmacy had to offer as well.

And anyone who has used drugs beyond cannabis for recreation can tell you that when the "partyers" were hanging out and the subject of heroin came up, there was a tacit understanding that "there wasn't anything stronger, scarier, badder" and more symbolic of the "hard drug" world than to be a user of heroin.

I have to say too - and my fellow policy makers take note, here - those early days of my experimentation with more powerful drugs arose directly as a result of the scare tactics and misinformation I'd been fed by TV and the propaganda campaigns.

I clearly remember some of the more atrocious ones in the late 60s and early 70s that tried to paint drugs as more dangerous than they actually were (in retrospect, I can say today that those commercials didn't come close to describing the misery of a long-term addiction, but they also were moronic in the sense that they attacked the drug itself, rather than the long-term impact, which I think would have been far more productive in the long run). Once I realized "they" had lied to me about the evil weed, I lost my inhibition.

In fact, when I heard of a new danger about a drug, I immediately sought it out because I figured if they were telling me how bad it was, it had to be very very good, indeed. Of course, after almost 40 years of heavy abuse and the trail of destruction left in its wake, I know differently, but the dangers of the use weren't realistically portrayed and until they are, there will be many more exactly like me who will throw away large portions of their lives figuring it out.

I make my living by raising awareness around this very issue, so in a bizarre twist of fate, the misery and agony of drug abuse paid off for me. Lest anyone at all think this is the way to "success" let me be crystal clear here, I'd rather be run over by a dump truck, twice, than to have to go through even half of that experience again, so don't fool yourself.

What often get's lost in the whole discussion around the issue of drug use is that people didn't start using with some expectation of collapsing into addiction and horror. They began using for a number of reasons, but the primary one is that "partying" is/was fun. Getting "high" was exciting, and for many of us it was also sometimes mind expanding, enjoyable, empowering to those who were shy, nervous, and/or ordinarily quiet types, and countless other reasons as well.

We use at the beginning to alter ourselves, escape boredom, get some kicks, have some fun, experiment with our consciousness. And we are definitely not alone in this endeavor. Drug use has been around for centuries, folks. It's not a new phenomenon.

With all that said, today I think the majority of folks, at least here in the US, are using drugs to cope as well as to entertain. It's a vicious circle, as well as a "chicken or the egg" argument to be sure, but regardless, once one has moved from the on-ramp and into the carpool lanes of drug use, the exits seem to be few and far between.

Not sure that the typical methadone clinic even realizes this about their users, since most clinics, like just about every other agency in behavioral health, is understaffed, with ridiculous patient/counselor caseloads.

And speaking of the clinic itself, let me connect this rambling post to the central point I wanted to make about reminding myself of my consumer status; it is when I must go to the clinic and deal with the stigma, the hidden skepticism when explaining why I miss diversion control because I've been traveling for work (diversion control is for those of us who have take home medication. Twice a week, the patient must contact the clinic at a special phone number. If the patient number is listed in a recording, that patient must bring in "all full and empty bottles. They must drink that morning's dose in front of the nurse." It's a way that clinics work to combat the diverting of the drug to others, whether it's friends, family or selling it to others), the standing in the dosing line, pissing in a cup for drug testing, etc. etc. etc., that I remember oh so clearly the treatment many of us receive at the hands of the behavioral health "professionals."

Enduring this experience regularly is humbling, enlightening, and motivating, let me tell you.

It reminds me continually of where I came from, how we're treated as we enter recovery, and how we're viewed, even after sometimes decades in piss-test verified sobriety. Perceptions die hard, and many in behavioral health continue to stigmatize those suffering from the disease of addiction, regardless of the length of sobriety and/or success in their lives that they have achieved.

Until those perceptions are reconfigured, I will remain motivated to change the paradigm around Medication Assisted Therapy because I know what MAT did for me, and I know I can't be the only one who's benefited in such significant ways from access to methadone and the counseling, groups and information about addiction and recovery available at the clinic.

But here's the deal with all of that; ya gotta be ready and willing to change your life in order to take advantage of the expertise and the tools available to you at these clinics, and for that matter, in any drug treatment environment, whether it's an in-patient facility or a 12-step program.

Unfortunately, folks use methadone clinics for a whole host of reasons, actual recovery being only one of them. How then to determine who should be eligible for the treatment protocol? I suppose if I knew that, my colleagues at SAMHSA would hire me to make it so.

But what I do know is that a medication assisted therapy program works for those who want it to, just like any 12-step, outpatient and/or inpatient rehab, faith-based recovery programs, and a host of other things developed to help a user stop using. Keep in mind here that this is a 'recovery tool" - one tool in a "recovery support" toolkit - and it should not be construed as the mechanism for recovery. While this seems axiomatic, it is often lost on everyone, including the person in recovery.

What I mean by this is that recovery is - and really must be - considered and achieved in a holistic sense, by understanding and adhering to the "Guiding Principles" of recovery. Most of us did not travel into addiction as the goal of our substance use. We ended up there as a result of the substance use.

This is another important distinction here, and it can be more clearly understood simply by asking the question "why is it that two different people can experiment with an addictive drug and one can wind up an addict, while the other gets the message and hangs up the phone, never to call again?"

Every time I enter the clinic to receive my methadone, I am confronted with my addiction, with the conditions of treatment, with the multiple personalities that arrive looking for help, and with the magnitude of the problem of addiction in America.

It keeps me grounded in the work I do, close to my roots, and true to my calling.

I am a person in recovery, as well as a consumer of services. Those services were fundamental in my recovery journey and every time I visit the clinic, I remember.

Carey Fuller Sounds Off: "If you can't guarantee me immediate permanent housing, why would I call you?"

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 12:40:00 +0000

My friend Mark Horvath (@hardlynormal, Invisible People TV)
turned me on to Carey some time ago and I quickly became a fan of her, both for her straightforward writing and her tenacity in dealing with homelessness as a mother with children in tow.

The other thing I appreciate about Carey Fuller (@careyfuller, http://www.facebook.com/people/Carey-Fuller/1632070933) is that she tells it as she sees it and that can often get tamped down in the discussions at the "professional" level because we're afraid to speak out too strongly, lest we end up offending a colleague, stepping on the toes of a funder, and/or coming across to others as "ignorant" or "angry" or "polarizing" or "divisive." None of these things keep you employed for very long, and one soon finds their advocacy voice and their 'straight-shooter" discourses tempered by the knowledge that to continue working in the field, one needs to learn to either "gentleize" their language or face the consequences.

We don't much admit to this, I'm afraid, but I believe it's true; the higher one goes in the world of helping others, the less they remain connected to those who need the help. When you no longer see the pain and misery etched into the faces, or hear the wavering voices as someone tells you how they braved a bitterly cold night over a heat grate while being hassled by cops and community members, or attend yet another funeral of someone you knew who was living on the street, I think you begin to lose a bit of the "edge" that brought you to this field in the first place.

As a result, folks like me are always looking for the voices with the passion, the rawness and the lack of fear that there is anything left to lose. This freedom of answering to no one but the self brings with it tremendous power in truth-telling without candy-coating, without fear of offending, without worrying what the consequences of speaking out may bring.

So I read Carey's writings with a secret envy, not to mention a lot of cheering. Her piece below on shelters and why some don't or won't use them illustrates both her depth of knowledge on the subject and her passion in telling the rest of us why we should care.

If you're smart, you'll find Carey on Twitter and "like" her Facebook page. You won't be sorry....

Carey Fuller

Homeless mother

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Homeless Shelter Systems and What They Don't Tell You

Posted: 10/27/11 04:42 PM ET
One of the most common preconceptions people have when someone says they're homeless or about to become homeless is that anyone can just show up at a shelter and be housed. Nothing could be further from the truth.
From my experience, service providers will gladly tell you all about their programs and what they have to offer and how many people they've helped but there's a side to them they all too often do not mention. For one thing, how many of them will openly admit that they feed a revolving door system?
In order to get funding, many shelters must fill quotas and in order to fill those quotas, shelters may have too many people in them or strict stay times to keep the flow of people coming and going in order to have the numbers required by funding programs. Overcrowding leads to safety issues you may not be aware of but the homeless people who have gone to shelters certainly do! If you want to know what goes on at some shelters, click on this link to get an idea.
One of the reasons I personally didn't just show up at a shelter is because I knew I couldn't do that. There is a "process" that you have to go through and even if you go through that "process," there is no guarantee of immediate permanent housing due to the indefinitely long waiting lists.
Many places expect you to keep calling them every day to let them "know" you still need help and they won't call back unless there's an opening and no one can tell you when that will be. Say you get through "processing" and by a stroke of luck, there's an opening. Guess what? You get to stay for maybe 90 days. Where do you go after that if you can't be moved into housing?
So my line of reasoning is "If you can't guarantee me immediate permanent housing, why would I call you?" For one thing, I'm wasting cell phone minutes to call when I should be saving them in case a possible employer calls.
Another issue I have with some shelter providers is if they are faith-based shelters that require conversion from its patrons. I'm going to call out the Union Gospel Mission on this one because when I first called them I was told that attending services was mandatory! What if you're a Muslim, a Buddhist or Jewish?
Even if they tell you that you don't have to be a Christian to get help, the expectation is very much one of conversion as I was told "I would still have to hear about Jesus". That's fine but how can you say you're helping ALL of the community when you obviously have an agenda? The idea that you won't help because someone does not choose to believe as you do is both ignorant and disrespectful to other cultures. If you don't believe me, talk to us natives about conversion....
And what's up with those homeless guys standing around downtown Seattle with signs screaming about God and for sinners to repent?
Every one of the ones I talked to said they came from the Union Gospel Mission's shelter system. The only thing this kind of behavior tells me is that you're a creepy organization!
Also, some shelters discriminate against LGBT youth and adults. I find that to be rather sad due the fact that from everything I've read about Christ, he didn't discriminate against anyone much to the dissatisfaction of the clergy during his time. From what I've read, Jesus served the very people everyone else looked down on as an example of compassion. Seems to me some folks pick and choose from their belief systems to justify their attitude towards other people.
A big reason I find myself on the outside of some programs is because I don't fit their eligibility requirements. For one thing, I've never had a problem with addictions or the law. I'm also not a domestic abuse victim so I can't go to those shelters or programs. What if I were a single dad with kids? If you think it's bad for a single mother trying to get help from programs, you ought to talk to these dads about how little help they get! Not many family shelters exist and if they do, it's women with children only. Dad gets sent to a men's shelter if he can get into one.
I have a question to service providers to answer honestly if they can: How can you offer help to get into housing when you already know that Section 8 has been closed to application for years and state funding has been slashed? In the case of Seattle, what shelter are you going to send folks to considering the fact that many are closing due to lack of financial support? How safe and clean are your shelters? How much of your budget is spent on "administrative costs" versus providing more housing?
How many of you know that there are no standards on health and safety in shelters? If you and your family were to suddenly become homeless, would you go to a shelter that was dirty or dangerous to be in? How many of you have seen the news bits about some shelters having problems with bed bugs? If you as a service provider wouldn't stay at the shelter you run, why on earth would you expect others to do so?
Now it's not my style to just bring up issues without thinking of ways to make better solutions to an obvious problem. I've been pondering about whether or not shelters should figure out a way to get corporate sponsorship to help with funding issues because I've noticed that many programs to help the homeless tank when government funding does. I've also noticed that programs and shelters not dependent solely on government aid stay in operation when others are closing. Many companies that are able to, often look for ways to give back to the community and I can't think of a better way for them to do that than to provide support to responsible local shelters or food banks.
Standardized health and safety policies in shelters are badly needed. You cannot just cram a bunch of different needs into a room and think there won't be problems. A prime example of this is putting families in the same shelter as severely mentally disabled homeless adults who might be prone to violence or individuals who could be undocumented predators. Also, how do you separate individuals with contagious diseases from everyone else?
Here's another suggestion: how about treating patrons with dignity? I spoke to a man who showed up at Nickelsville one night looking for a safe place to sleep for the night. The man told me that a shelter ran in the bottom of a church had just kicked everyone out because someone did not hold up their end of an agreement to help with housekeeping therefore EVERYONE was punished for what one person failed to do. I understand the need for rules but seriously, how does punishing people not responsible for the actions of another, help? Homeless people are people and do not appreciate other people looking down on them anymore than you do.
I could sit around talking about homelessness all I want to but the only way anything is going to actually change is if individuals get involved in their local communities. Writing blogs can help bring awareness but awareness doesn't mean a thing if there's no active involvement behind it to make real changes to end and prevent homelessness. The biggest loss in the homeless population today is hope. How can hope exist if nothing changes? The government isn't going to make new opportunities for change, WE DO!
So here's my challenge to all of the non homeless people out there. Pretend you're a homeless person or about to become homeless. Look up services for homeless people in your area and call them. See, this way you'll own the experience of what it feels like when you call "resources" looking for help. If you're a services provider, the same challenge applies only call your own facility or org so you can see what a homeless person hears when they call. You may be in for an eye opener.....
At the bottom of this blog is a list of links with helpful information on it regarding shelters and how they operate. Get educated.... get involved!
http://www.nyc.gov/html/dhs/html/home/mccainenglish.shtml
http://www.wlwt.com/r/26213912/detail.html
http://www.coalitionforthehomeless.org/pages/the-revolving-door-spins-faster
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/8/17/893974/-Homeless-LGBT-Youth,-Lost-in-the-Crowd

Follow Carey Fuller on Twitter: www.twitter.com/careyfuller

Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Wis: “The homeless people I see are not alcoholic, drunk men lying on a grate...They’re kids who live with grandma one weekend, the other grandma the next, auntie the next week, moving from school to school to school."

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 12:16:00 +0000

My friend and colleague Mark Horvath (@hardlynormal / http://invisiblepeople.tv/blog/) recently tweeted this story posted in the Fiscal Times, and it is just one more take on the coming "homeless surge" many of us believe is inevitable, and some of us believe has long been underway.

High Rents, Low Wages and the Coming Homeless Surge

By MICHELLE HIRSCH, ALIX PIANIN, The Fiscal Times January 20, 2012

Photo: Lucy Nicholson / Reuters

Get ready for the next big financial bubble—the growth of America’s homeless population.

The biggest boon for the homeless was President Obama’s 2009 stimulus package, that appropriated $1.5 billion to the Homeless Prevention and Rapid-Re-Housing Program that temporarily aided homeless and near-homeless households. According to a report issued Wednesday by the National Alliance to End Homelessness, the program has helped more than one million impoverished individuals find housing, but it is set to end this fall.
“The resources provided by [the program] have run out in many communities … and the debt and deficit at the federal level have already begun to shrink assistance available to the most vulnerable,” Nan Roman, president and CEO of NAEH, said at a news conference. “The failure to sustain this early recipe for success threatens to undermine progress now and in the future.” A separate report from the same organization released in September noted that the ranks of the nation’s homeless could swell by five percent over the next three years if no similar programs replace the program.

The View from the StreetVeda Simpson, a former methadone addict, was homeless for ten years, living in shelters, crack houses and what she dubbed “abandominiums” in public housing complexes. Then last year, thanks to a federal housing voucher, she moved into an apartment in Washington, D.C.’s North Capitol area.

“I used to go in the kitchen and fit my body up under the sink in the cabinet—you have to adjust your body to get up under there—and I used to have to sleep in there so security wouldn’t find me,” Simpson told the Fiscal Times. “I slept in there for about six months, and it was rough.”

Simpson, a vendor for StreetSense, a daily newspaper about the homeless, is one of thousands of people who managed to get off the streets and into housing in recent years, despite one of the worst recessions in modern history, according to experts and homeless advocates. Now she lives in subsidized housing with her eight cats, and says she is two months away from earning certification as a veterinary technician through an online program. “It’s really hard being homeless,” she said. “I don’t see nobody who wants to continue like that. They’re trying to better themselves.”

There are glimmers of good news about the homeless. The NAEH report found a slight decrease in the overall number of people living on the street between 2009 and 2011 -- the ranks of the nation’s homeless fell by one percent, or about 7,000 people.

Across the country, 636,017 people were identified as homeless in 2011 compared to 643,067 in 2009, according to the Departments of Housing and Urban Development, Justice, Labor, Commerce and Health and Human Services.

With the troubling spectacle of homeless people and panhandlers loitering on street corners of downtown areas in many cities, it’s hard to imagine that the problem of homelessness is actually waning. The NAEH study cautions that the plight of the homeless is likely to grow more acute because of low-paying jobs, high housing costs and the loss of emergency federal assistance.

Double-Up TroubleOne of the report’s chief findings is that the number of people “doubling up”—living with friends, family, or nonrelatives—rose by more than 50 percent between 2005 and 2010, and 13 percent between 2009 and 2010. Those arrangements are the most common gateway to homelessness, and the increases mean more people are getting to that “last stage” before they are forced onto the streets, Roman said.   “Doubled-up people have an elevated risk of homelessness….Thirty percent of all homeless shelter residents and 44 percent of adults in families who use homeless shelters were doubled-up prior to entering the shelter system,” the report said.

Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Wis., told reporters that children are bearing the worst of the emotional brunt of “doubling up,” and many of them show that by acting up in school.
“The homeless people I see are not alcoholic, drunk men lying on a grate—the stereotype of a homeless person,” said Moore, a member of both the House Budget and Financial Services Committees. “They’re kids who live with grandma one weekend, the other grandma the next, auntie the next week, moving from school to school to school.”

The report also highlights the fast rising number of poor households that are devoting more than half their income to rent. Those families and groups are highly vulnerable to losing their housing in the coming years, the report stated. Between 2007 and 2010, there was a 22 percent increase in the number of these so-called “severely housing cost burdened” households.

Shamekia Murray knows this situation all too well. She couldn’t keep up with her rent payments after she was forced to accept a $15,000-a-year pay cut at her Washington, D.C. community health clinic job. She and her then-five-year-old son were evicted from their apartment and her car was repossessed.

Murray and her son slept on friends’ and family members’ sofas for eight months, while she continued to hold down her job as a dental assistant. “I wasn’t used to having to ask someone, ‘Can I borrow $20 to pay for the Metro subway?’ I was used to turning the key in my own home, having family gatherings, and having my son sleep in his own bed. “All that got taken away from me in less than a year,” she added. “It got to the point where I just broke inside.”

Murray, now 33, sought transitional housing for eight months to get on her feet before going out on her own. She recently received a job promotion, and now rents a two-bedroom apartment. “It’s a matter of knowing what it is that you want, and knowing that you’re not ever going to go back,” she said.

Advocates Unhappy With Nashville Homelessness Commission Performance

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 12:28:00 +0000

I attended my first Nashville Metropolitan Homelessness Commission meeting in my official capacity as Commissioner on 1/6/2012 and the perfunctory progression of the Commission meeting brought little in the way of new news about the status of homelessness or the work towards ending it in our community. This isn't the Commission's fault, since three new members were appointed and it took a chunk of time to cover that, as well as to discuss the "highlights" of 2011.

I also wasn't surprised to hear public comments from many of the people I have worked with on the streets here that expressed frustration and despair with the lack of progress of the Commission. A couple of gentlemen even requested the disbanding of the Commission, while others focused their ire on Key Alliance Director Clifton Harris.

I understand well their frustrations, their anger, and their despair. I have felt those same emotions plenty of times when working as an outreach worker here in the city of Nashville, and can remember clearly the rage and utter hopelessness I often felt when I was homeless and struggling on my own.

Back when I was experiencing homelessness however, the idea of a commission to address the problems I faced wasn't even a twinkle in the eye of a local official yet, and having a place to go and vent my frustrations while raising awareness of the problems I was facing would have been an incredible opportunity. For these two reasons alone I support having the Commission remain together.

Demanding the resignation of Clifton Harris would almost certainly have deleterious impact on the progress of the commission, minor as that progress might seem to some at this point. Disbanding the Commission now would further silo agencies while completely removing any level of accountability of the performance of agencies around the city. None of these things would work in the best interest of ending homelessness in our city and frankly would most likely cause further delays, as well as chaos, in trying to arrive at comprehensive and integrated approaches to ending homelessness in and around Nashville.

Furthermore, that we may very well be at a point in time in Nashville when some of the opposing forces that had been polarized into defensive positions by previous actions and events within the community - on all sides - may be ready to come together around the common goal of ending homelessness provides perhaps the most important reason the Commission should remain viable and active.

Mind you, I agree with advocates and disgruntled voices that the Commission has struggled. It has gone off-course on tangents. It has perhaps taken on issues that, while related to homelessness, were not necessarily germane to its mission. But hindsight is 20-20 and the forest is thick with trees. It's hard to know whether you're on course with so many unknowns. Understanding the myriad causes of homelessness, and the interconnected nature of forces that conspire to keep people on the streets, takes time to discover within each community. Granted, this doesn't excuse a lack of progress by the Commission, but it does help to explain why momentum has been challenging to induce.

Frankly, even when one does begin to get a handle on these "forces," correcting them can be far harder than one may think.

Recently, a friend of mine who I worked with to get off the street several years ago told me about his experience with a local church as they set about attempting to create a 90-day shelter for those experiencing homelessness. He told me he was amazed that there were so many rules and codes and issues around trying to provide housing fit for "human habitation."

I feel - and know oh so well - your pain, my friend.

For him it was clearly one of those "if I'da known back then what I know now, I'da done my bitchin differently..." moments for him. I bring this up because I think the same holds true for anyone who is unfamiliar with LWI, or Living While Impoverished.

It's important to remember here that we're not talking about building a bridge across a river or a deciding on whether a new mall can be placed near a residential neighborhood.

The causes of homelessness can be extraordinarily complex. When that is coupled with an uncoordinated patchwork of policies by separate entities designed to address individual issues related to housing, employment, substance misuse and/or mental health conditions, I believe it sets up its own conditions that can, under certain circumstances, lead to more people actually being harmed by efforts to "fix" the problems than those who are helped.

The Feds, often maligned as well for uncoordinated, patchwork policies and missteps, understood this problem a long time ago and back in 87 created the Interagency Council on Homelessness to try and build some bridges and collaboration across siloed agencies.

Talk about a tough damned job.

From egos to politics to issues around funding, working at that level has more landmines than the Korean border.

To its credit, the Council has grown increasingly important as a mechanism to establish cooperative engagement across the Federal spectrum. If you think that ain't a job from hell, you most likely don't have much of a clue about how these entities operate, or how much actual "politics" (meant in the most derisive, cynical, contemptible example of the word possible) plays a role in whether a particular agency will help, harm or fail miserably.

And no disrespect intended to those who don't know how politics impacts these agencies; hell, if what each agency is responsible for doesn't directly affect you, I can't blame you for not only not knowing, but also not caring and lumping them in with the rest of the governmental "mysteries" that operate whether we know anything about them or not.

My point here is that as we have delved into the causes of homelessness, we've uncovered tentacles into damned near every aspect of society, government and culture. No one person, or single agency, can possibly hope to know, understand and be able to guide the rest of us toward a solution that applies to all.

So when one drills down to the local level and finds a body of people coming together to find solutions, it shouldn't come as a surprise that we find ignorance, agendas, and differing perspectives about how to approach the problems associated with causing homelessness.

And remember here that we've not even begun to consider yet the overarching responsibility, which is to ensure housing for people experiencing homelessness. What one quickly discovers as one begins to grapple with this responsibility is that the interconnectedness of everything else begins quickly tearing apart the finest-laid plans. Finding housing for some of the most challenging of our chronically homeless residents is probably one of the most demanding tasks we ask of local leaders and concerned citizens in our community.

So while the Commission has struggled, disbanding it now, or tarring, feathering and running out of town the guy who has worked daily to bring folks from every perspective to the table, seems like the worst possible thing to do, especially given this recent news.

Rather, what I would propose to all Commission members is that we set a single priority for 2012:

HOUSING.

Finding it, figuring out how to pay for it, getting people experiencing homelessness into it, and then keeping those people housed for....ever, if that's what it takes.

All other issues that the Commission is currently grappling with need to be either tabled or delegated out to other groups, agencies and/or entities in the community. Then, every single one of us involved with the Commission and/or interested in ending homelessness in the city needs to hunker down, explore our connections within the community, bring the key stakeholders to the table and hash out what it takes to make affordable housing, lots of it, available to our citizens. Secondarily but perhaps even more important in the long run, we must figure out a way to sustain it.

There are some good models up and running that are available to us for examples. There are also some great minds that have resolved tougher issues in their communities than we are now facing. We have access to those models and those people and we need to bring them into the discussion as needed, both to provide some new perspectives and in the event we are unable to resolve issues or arrive at solutions.

There should no longer be a reason - or an excuse - that we stand at any impasse on this issue. Regardless of what is motivating people to the table, we all know what is absolutely needed, and needed now: an end to homelessness for the good people of Nashville.

It's time for everyone to set aside differences, grudges, anger, disillusionment and join minds and hands to carry out the vision of the Commission:

Within 10 years, Nashville will be a community without chronic homelessness by assuring access to safe, affordable and permanent housing with a comprehensive array of supportive services.

Given the little time we have left to realize this vision, we'd better get very busy, indeed.

Everything you ever wanted to know about the Nashville Metropolitan Homelessness Commission

Activists Unhappy with Progress of Homelessness Commission

Monday, January 09th, 2012, by Blake Farmer

The Metro Homelessness Commission reports providing 34 people with housing and case management in 2011. (image courtesy The Key Alliance)

Homeless activists in Nashville are calling for the Metro Homelessness Commission to be disbanded or at least overhauled. The panel was set up in 2005 and originally tasked with ending chronic homelessness in Nashville by 2015.

Anyone can speak at the end of commission meetings, which now occur just six times a year because of poor attendance by the panel’s own commissioners. It’s not unusual for homeless people to sound off on downtown police or conditions at a shelter. But on Friday, several expressed hopelessness.

“We’re so off course and off plan that it’s almost shameful.”

Steve Reiter is formerly homeless and says the commission should be dissolved. In seven years, the panel has been responsible for housing 92 people, according to its own figures. The goal morphed from ending chronic homelessness to reducing overall homelessness.
Chairman Eric Cole has been part of the commission since its establishment by Mayor Bill Purcell.

“I feel like everybody else, that there’s a lot more progress that needs to be made. But I also think we’ve had some significant accomplishments.”

Finding housing and services for 15 veterans and organizing a new 5K benefit run were on the commission’s list of successes for 2011.

When the original timeline expires in 2015, Cole says it would make sense to review the need for a commission, which has an annual budget of $1.3 million. Even then, Cole says he’d be “shocked and very disappointed” if the panel went away.

Here’s a look back at the original “Strategic Plan to End Homelessness in Nashville.”

"Arrests of 2 alleged gang members in connection with the murders of five people in a shooting rampage at a homeless camp in 2008"

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 13:37:00 +0000

The wheels of justice turn slowly, but turn they do.

I'm not a proponent of the death penalty because frankly it's not a deterrent but rather a punitive "feel-good" measure we as a society mete out to those guilty of heinous crimes. With that said however, I think if you are going to have a death penalty, it should be reserved for cases like this, child murderers, and the twisted rapists who prey on the most vulnerable.

Okay, enough of the vengeance-promotion; the truth is that even though these crimes rise to the level of having "special circumstances" that "enhance" the punishment for the crime, I don't think California specifically designates crimes against those experiencing homelessness as a "hate crime."

I do know that since 2004, police in California has a law "mandating police officer training on hate crimes against homeless persons, particularly those with disabilities," but whether the prosecuting attorney actually has a law with which to charge someone accused of a hate crime is unknown to me.

That's too bad, too, since there'd be no question whatsoever if there was some kind of national hate crime law that included persons experiencing homelessness.....

Two Gang Members Arrested in 2008 Homeless Camp Massacre

VIDEO: Watch Glen Walker's Report

5 Dead in Shooting Massacre at Homeless Camp in 2008 (KTLA News)

KTLA News

5:01 p.m. PST, January 18, 2012

LONG BEACH, Calif. -- Police have announced the arrests of 2 alleged gang members in connection with the murders of five people in a shooting rampage at a homeless camp in 2008.

David Cruz Ponce, 31, and Max Eliseo Rafael, 25, were each charged with five special circumstance murders in the case, said Deputy District Attorney Eric Harmon.

The criminal complaint lists the special circumstance allegations as murder in the commission of kidnapping and murder of witnesses to a crime.

The bodies of three men and two women were discovered on November 2 in the space between commercial buildings and Interstate 405 near the Santa Fe Avenue off-ramp.

Ponce and Rafael, purportedly of the Nuthood Watts gang, are accused of killing Vanessa Malaepule, 34; her boyfriend Lorenzo Perez Villacana, 44, who lived at the camp; Katherine Verdun, 24; Hamid "Sammy" Shraifat, 41; and Frederick Neumeier, 53.

Don Morgan, a friend of the victims, told KTLA in 2008 that he knew them all by their first names or nicknames -- LV, Vanessa, Cat, Sammy and Fred.

He said they liked to come to the site to party.

Relatives of Malaepule said she was the mother of six children and was not homeless, but liked to hang out at the spot for unknown reasons.

She lived with her mother and children -- ages 8, 10, 13, 14, 15 and 16 -- at a home about two miles away, they said.

"She was a good person," said Malaepule's sister, Veronica Puaauli, 27. "Very funny. Everybody loved her."

Her uncle Ilager McMoore said police told him his niece was found beneath the body of her boyfriend, as though he had tried to shield her from the gunfire.

At the time, McMoore said he suspected the boyfriend may have been involved in a gang dispute.

Ponce is additionally charged with the kidnapping and murder of Tony Bledsoe of Lancaster on March 23, 2009.

In that case, Ponce is charged with one count each of murder and kidnapping to commit another crime with a special circumstance allegation that Bledsoe was killed while the defendant was engaged in the crime of kidnapping.

Ponce has three felony convictions from 2003 for second-degree robbery, first-degree residential burglary and possession of a controlled substance.

Ponce and Rafael also have been linked to a 2010 murder plot involving a rival gang member.

Homelessness: "the worst may be to come for many people."

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 01:23:00 +0000

While anyone who has been paying attention to the working poor and the poor knows, times are getting tougher by the minute for them. What many folks don't realize however, was succinctly pointed out by Nan Roman, Executive Director for the National Alliance to End Homelessness:

"There just aren't enough units for the number of people who need them."

Those of us who've had to try and house folks have known that the crunch for "affordable" units has been beyond severe for damned near a decade now. But something else has happened since the housing market imploded; many of the rentals that folks used to be able to snag by landlords desperate to fill vacancies are nowhere to be found anymore. Even the dives are rented as soon as a sign appears on a lawn, and landlords have become oh so selective in the clientele they rent to. Credit checks, background checks, huge deposits, ridiculous rules and restrictions, all conspire to keep out everyone but the most perfect of renters.

No telling how long that's going to last, but given that we haven't even hit the bottom of the housing market yet, I'd say we're in for a long stretch.

Something else important in this article that folks don't realize either; it does take a while for the new face of homelessness to hit the bricks. These people are fighters and they typically try every option, every possibility, before the bottom falls out. When the sheriff shows up and sets them out on the sidewalk, they are typically 3+ months behind in all their utilities, are either going through foreclosure or are being sued by landlords for nonpayment of rent, and when those things hit the credit report, they can kiss goodbye any chance at renting damned near anything besides some lowlife predator's garage or backyard shed.

If the amount owed has been turned over to collections, it's like breaking a mirror; the eviction/collection shows up for 7 years (in some cases, longer) on those reports. Along with the credit report, Tenant Screening Agencies will list you in their database, and any landlord looking to protect his/her investment will instantly roundfile an application that comes up "TSA positive."

So Joe and Sally move into Mom and Dad's, or Uncle Bob and Aunt Phyllis's house, if they're lucky. This creates immediate tension, no matter how good your family dynamic is. It ain't never good to impose on relatives and friends, and we've all heard countless tales about close family members who overstay their welcomes during the holidays. In that situation, the houseowners know their guests are temporary; you can imagine how quickly the tolerance fades when the departure date is TBD.

The good setups last about a year. After that, Bob and Phyllis approach Joe and Sally, and with eyes diverted away, tell them that they've "done all they can" and "it's expensive enough for the both of us." Joe and Sally get the message and move what few belongings they have to the car, if they're still lucky enough to have one. If not, they begin wondering who to turn to.

That's when those of us who work in homeless services get the call, and by this point, Joe and Sally are in so much trouble from so many angles that getting them squared away becomes a massive undertaking.

Unfortunately, we're broker than Joe and Sally, and those who pay us to provide services are currently moving the furniture out of the building and getting ready to turn the utilities off. We got nuthin, and because they don't suffer from mental health or substance misuse (yet, anyway, if they're lucky) they get nuthin.
See, the system has been so overstressed that in many cities, we only provide service to people who are not just considered chronically homeless, but "most likely to die on the streets within the year."
This determination is usually arrived at through a tool called the Vulnerability Index (VI), created by Dr. Jim O'Connell, a pioneer in street medicine and deeply respected by folks like me.
The VI is an incredibly important method of identifying those at serious risk on our nation's streets, and has saved a lot of lives.
Unfortunately, there can be a downside to the VI, but I want to clearly point out that this is in no way the fault of the VI itself, but rather how a city prioritizes its resources.
See, often what ends up happening is that cities are so damned poor that they don't have enough resources to go around. As such, they prioritize how those scarce resources will be used. The VI ultimately saves cities money by housing those individuals who are costing the city the most while existing on the street.
Great.
Except that if you're not considered "trimorbid" (having co-occuring mental health, substance abuse, and medical issues) after taking the assessment - if you were lucky enough (or unlucky, as the case may be) to be around when the surveyors actually performed the assessment (they continue using a VI performed in Nashville in the fall of 2008 and I remember it well because I was part of the team. I don't think they've redone the survey since then) - you're often shit outta luck and are relegated to the end of the service line.
Now, you would think that, as a city saved money by removing the sickest individuals from our streets and funneling them through a SOAR program to connect them with disability income and medical insurance, the city could use some of those savings gained to bolster sagging social services.
You would be wrong because it doesn't work that way.

So while we have a couple of spectacularly important and successful programs, to access them, you've got to be damned near knocking on death's door.
The new faces of homelessness don't look like that....yet. They are still relatively healthy and get more than a mite pissed when they're told they're "not eligible" for the paltry crap our community tries to pass off as "services." About the only exception to this is if you happen to be a veteran, and while the US military has become the nation's largest employer, for many of us, the price that might be paid for a job with them is beyond the price we're willing to pay (and I'm not willing to dig into the deeper issues around a military that provides all the jobs and the available benefits to those who serve, causing a vicious cycle of an ever-increasing military and ....nope, not going there).
Yep, I agree completely with Nan Roman that the situation facing us is "worrisome." And I gotta say, I appreciate Nan's self-control here, because frankly, I'd say the situation is "fucked" for many who are the new faces of homelessness.

Alexander Eichler

Homeless Rate Ready To Rise As Stimulus Cash Runs Out: Study

Although the recession has officially been over for two years, the worst may be to come for many people.
Job losses rose during the last few years. So did wages -- barely. Foreclosures went up, as did the number of poor people for whom rent eats up at least half the paycheck. And a federal program believed to have made a major difference in keeping homeowners off the streets is due to expire in a few months.
All in all, the conditions are right for national homeless rates to start rising soon, according to a new report that examines many of the large-scale economic factors that force people out of their homes. The report, published Tuesday by the National Alliance to End Homelessness, suggests that a delayed wave of pain may be coming for low-earning renters and homeowners.
"It takes a while for people to become homeless," said Nan Roman, president and CEO of the National Alliance to End Homelessness, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit. "They don't enter the shelter right away."
"We are very concerned that homelessness is going to go up," Roman added.
For homelessness to start climbing just as the unemployment rate begins to deflate might seem counterintuitive. But such is the nature of homelessness, which tends to lag behind other macroeconomic trends.
During 2009 and 2010, for example -- a period when unemployment grew by leaps and bounds, and foreclosure filings increased at record rates -- homelessness in America actually dropped by 1 percent.
But the economy has experienced only limited growth since then. Millions are still out of work, and millions more aren't earning enough to cover basic living expenses. More and more homeowners and renters are edging toward a desperate situation.
According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness report, while the national homeless rate fell by 1 percent, the number of people living "doubled up" -- that is, lodging with friends or family for economic reasons -- rose by 13 percent in roughly the same time period. The number of unemployed people climbed by 4 percent. And the number of people in poverty who spend at least half their income on rent climbed by 6 percent.
Such changes all suggest trouble down the line. Living doubled-up is often a step on the road to no home, according to the report. A person in a doubled-up living situation has a 1 in 12 chance of becoming homeless within a year.
Other economic circumstances are putting additional pressure on low-income Americans. Many people simply aren't paid enough to afford a place to live, while others may be looking for rental units that aren't available in a market wracked by foreclosures.
Average real income for the working poor -- those who hold jobs but still live below the poverty line -- was just $9,413 in 2010, according to the report. On that income, the report states, one-bedroom apartments are unaffordable virtually everywhere in the country.
Meanwhile, the foreclosure epidemic is likely steering would-be homeowners into rental properties instead, which makes the market more competitive for renters.
"There just aren't enough units for the number of people who need them," Roman told HuffPost. The lack of affordable housing, she said, is the nation's "other housing crisis."
This aspect of the housing problem is likely to grow more pronounced in 2012 and 2013, as the number of foreclosures is expected to swell. By the end of next year, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York recently predicted, there could be as many as 5.6 million homes in foreclosure.
Making matters still worse is the impending end of the Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program, a $1.5 billion federal initiative funded through the 2009 stimulus package that both Roman and her organization's report credit with keeping the national homeless rate from ballooning during the economic downturn.
According to Roman, HPRP, as the program is known, focuses on preventive efforts, offering aid to renters and homeowners at risk of losing their place of residence. The program provides rental assistance to low-income households, helps those relocating find a new place to live and mediates discussions between landlords and tenants.
"A billion and a half dollars is a lot of money in terms of homeless assistance," said Roman.
But the money is almost all gone. A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development said that virtually all HPRP activity will have ceased by September of this year. And with the federal government contemplating massive spending cuts, the future of national homeless assistance looks cloudy.
In two weeks, HUD will conduct its annual point-in-time count, when volunteers in more than 3,000 locations across America try to conduct a one-night nationwide head count of homeless people.
The 2011 count produced a estimate of 636,017 homeless individuals, a figure that represented a 2.1 percent drop from the year before. Roman said that anecdotal evidence suggests the numbers are rising now.
"We're certainly hearing from some places that demand is going up in the shelter system," she said. "It's worrisome."

Itzcoatl Ocampo: Charged With Murder of 4 Homeless Men

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 12:30:00 +0000

The first thought I had was whether any of the men Mr. Ocampo allegedly murdered were vets themselves, given the high number of veterans who experience homelessness.

Itzcoatl Ocampo/Anaheim Police Department

The second thought I had was whether Mr. Ocampo's service tour played a role in creating the mental conditions one must have to step over the line and begin taking lives. That the deaths were done with a knife and were particularly brutal, with large numbers of "stabs" on each victim, tell me that this man was angry....raging...about something broiling within him. Using a knife brings one very close to the actual death, and as a rational person who abhors violence of any kind, I would think that if you did have to kill someone, you'd certainly not want to be right on top of him/her while they were dying. There is just something particularly vicious in my mind about anyone who kills with a knife in this way.
I do want to say "Thank You" to those individuals in Orange County who acted relatively quickly and did so with sufficient levels of police and resources to catch this man before he was able to do more damage than he already had. People experiencing homelessness are often ignored or have their concerns minimized by a public that continues to remain ignorant of the extreme risks one must take every night while living homeless and trying to find a place to rest for the evening.
Let's hope mr. Ocampo, if found guilty, not only spends the rest of his life behind some very secure bars, but also that his alleged crimes help spur a successful passage of a national hate crime bill that includes "persons experiencing homelessness."

Veteran Charged in Slayings of Four Homeless Men

By IAN LOVETT

Published: January 17, 2012

SANTA ANA, Calif.—The Iraq war veteran accused of killing four homeless men in the past month stalked his victims before striking, enjoyed the media coverage of his crimes and had a list of future victims at the time of his arrest, according to Orange County prosecutors.

Suspect in Killings of Homeless Men Has Family Link to Homelessness (January 17, 2012)
Pinkberry Co-founder Arrested in Beating of Homeless Man (January 18, 2012)

Tony Rackauckas, the Orange County district attorney, viewed posters Tuesday of four homeless men killed in the past month.

Enlarge This Image

Alex Gallardo/Reuters

Itzcoatl Ocampo, 23, was charged on Tuesday with four counts of murder. If convicted, Mr. Ocampo will face a minimum sentence of life in prison and could face the death penalty.
Although the Orange County district attorney, Tony Rackauckas, would not say whether he planned to pursue capital punishment, at a news conference Tuesday, he called Mr. Ocampo “a vicious killer” and offered grim details of crimes that he said grew more brazen and more violent as the killing spree went on.
“The defendant planned the murders in advance, stalked his victims looking for the right opportunity to execute them,” Mr. Rackauckas said. “He had additional victims already selected.”
Mr. Ocampo, who was honorably discharged from the Marine Corps in 2010, stabbed the first victim more then 40 times on Dec. 20, starting while the victim was asleep on the street, Mr. Rackauckas said. The second victim was stabbed more than 50 times on Dec. 27. The third was stabbed more than 60 times on Dec. 30.
Neither Mr. Rackauckas nor the police would speculate about possible motives for the first three murders. By the time of the fourth murder, on Friday, news of a possible serial killer targeting homeless men dominated media coverage in Orange County, and multiple law enforcement agencies had assigned hundreds of officers to the case.
John Berry, 64, a homeless Vietnam War veteran who had slept by the riverbed in Anaheim for years, was pictured in a Los Angeles Times article about the killings. That picture, Mr. Rackauckas said, led Mr. Ocampo to make a target of him.
“The defendant specifically sought this victim out for participating in this article,” Mr. Rackauckas said.
On Thursday, Mr. Berry contacted the Anaheim police to say he thought he was being stalked. They encouraged him to go to a shelter, or to accept some kind of police protection, but he refused, preferring to stay on the street by himself, said Chief John Welter of the Anaheim police.
Then on Friday, Mr. Ocampo passed through both checkpoints that the police had set up to help find the killer. He spoke to officers but did not arouse suspicion. Mr. Berry was killed just after 8 p.m., in a busy shopping center with dozens of witnesses.
After Mr. Berry’s slaying, Mr. Ocampo was chased by civilians into a nearby mobile home park, where he was captured by the police, his face and hands spattered with blood. A large knife, which Mr. Rackauckas said was likely the murder weapon in all four killings, was found nearby.
Mr. Ocampo, who was being held in medical isolation Tuesday, is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday. His lawyer, Randall T. Longwith, said he did not yet know how his client intended to plead, because neither he nor family members had been able to speak with him.

A version of this article appeared in print on January 18, 2012, on page A10 of the New York edition with the headline: Veteran Charged in Slayings of Four Homeless Men.

"Over 4 million Americans report that they have been unemployed for more than 12 months—the largest number since records were first kept in 1948"

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 16:05:00 +0000

Some weeks ago (maybe months, as time flies when you're having so much fun getting a ginormous project for SAMHSA up off the ground and running full steam), I was listening to NPR or some other form of great "liberal" media and one of the talking voices mentioned that it wasn't until several years after the Great Depression had ended that people began calling it by that name. As I recall, the guest on the radio show said that while the country was neck-deep in the grips of the worst economic disaster this country had ever seen (at least at that time, anyway), important figures of the day referred to the situation very similarly to the way we are hearing about our own situation today, "economic woes," "financial turmoil," "tough times," etc.

I mention this because I think, once the dust settles and we regain some sanity and clarity in what happened and how we eventually swung the pendulum back towards caring for "we the people" instead of "we the corporations, banks, Wall Street and the "1 percent," we will look back on this time in America and understand clearly that we were in the midst of the "Greatest Depression."

I remain an optimist that we will indeed regain control of our government at some point and bend it back to the will of the people. I don't fool myself though, on how long this may take and recognize that it could very well end up taking longer than my lifetime has left to correct the terrible consequences of poor leadership, greed and corruption that - while ever-present in some capacity within our system - seems to have become the primary mode of operation for politicians over the last 30 years.

New studies show growth of poverty, class tensions in US

By Kate Randall
14 January 2012

Two new studies document the growth of poverty in America and heightened awareness of the social tensions arising from the conflict between the rich and poor. Both deal with the impact of the recession and reflect rapid changes in both the economic conditions and consciousness of wide layers of the population.

“At Risk: America’s Poor During and After the Great Recession,” published by the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University Bloomington, focuses on the growth of poverty as a result of the economic downturn, and the performance of the US “safety net” in response.

The Pew Research Center survey, “Rising Share of Americans See Conflict Between Rich and Poor,” reveals that “the issue of class conflict has captured a growing share of the national consciousness,” and that increasing numbers say there are “very strong conflicts” between the wealthy and those at the bottom.

The Indiana University study shows how the extended duration and severity of the economic downturn has “inflicted long-lasting damage to individuals, families, and communities.” In particular, the authors point to the growth of the “near poor” and “new poor” as a result of the recession.

The study cites long-term unemployment as one of the major factors contributing to the growth of poverty. Over 4 million Americans report that they have been unemployed for more than 12 months—the largest number since records were first kept in 1948. If the long-term jobless lose their unemployment benefits before the economy turns around, the study warns, the ranks of the so-called new poor will swell between now and 2017.

The authors note that the growing ranks of the newly poor come under conditions where large numbers of Americans are already impoverished. According to official government measures, 46.2 million Americans—about 15 percent of the population—were living in poverty in 2010. This number rises to about 16 percent when using a new “Supplemental Measure,” which accounts for shortcomings in the official measurement.

While economists designate June 2009 as the official end of the recession, the Indiana University study notes that the number of people living in poverty is still expected to rise, due to the slow pace of the recovery. Between the years 2006 and 2010 the proportion of people living in poverty has increased by a staggering 27 percent, a trend that is highly likely to continue. This recent increase in poverty has hit young people between the ages of 18 and 34 particularly hard.

The performance of the American “safety net” under these economic conditions has been inadequate and uneven. So-called entitlement programs, including food stamps (SNAP), Medicaid and Unemployment Insurance, which operate with mandatory (if insufficient) funding, have been more responsive as jobs are lost and incomes fall.

By contrast, programs such as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), which replaced traditional welfare beginning in 1996, and federal housing assistance have lagged behind need. The study notes that moves under way in Congress to cut the federal budget deficit are likely to result in significant cutbacks to these programs.

Initiatives such as the 2009 federal stimulus package, which somewhat cushioned the blow of poverty in the recession, are also unlikely to be renewed. Additionally, while poverty continues to deepen, many cash-strapped states are making cuts to programs such as unemployment insurance, temporary cash assistance, Medicaid, TANF and other services for low-income individuals and families.

The Pew Research Center Survey finds that the growth of poverty and the inability of federal and state programs to respond to it are having a dramatic impact on the way wide layers of American society view growing social inequality.

The study of 2,048 adults found that about two-thirds of Americans (66 percent) believe that there are either “strong” or “very strong” conflicts between the rich and the poor. This is an increase of 19 percentage points over views studied in 2009. Three in ten Americans, or 30 percent, now feel that there are “very strong conflicts” between rich and poor—double the proportion compared to 2009, and the largest percentage holding this opinion since the question was first asked in 1987.

When evaluating the divisions within US society, survey respondents ranked the conflicts between rich and poor ahead of three other potential sources of tensions: between immigrants and native born, between blacks and whites, and between young and old. In a 2009 survey, respondents cited the tensions between immigrants and native born as the greatest source of conflicts.

The perception that class conflict was the leading source of tension was held across virtually all demographic groups, with younger adults, women, Democrats and African Americans somewhat more likely to hold this view.

The Pew researchers note that this dramatic change in attitudes “may reflect the income and wealth inequality message conveyed by Occupy Wall Street protesters across the country in late 2011 that led to a spike in media attention to the topic.” The study points to growing public awareness of the shift in wealth distribution in America that was reflected in the Occupy movement and popular sympathy for the protests.

The authors cite US Census Bureau data showing that the proportion of overall wealth—a measure including home equity, stocks and bonds, and other personal possessions—held by the top 10 percent of the population increased from 49 percent in 2005 to 56 percent in 2009, a 7 percent rise in just four years.

The Pew survey, alongside the data on poverty presented in the Indiana University study, indicates how such indices of social inequality are finding expression in the sentiments of wider layers of the US population as this economic turmoil deepens and persists.

Two Words That Send Homeless To Shelters: Serial Killer

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 01:54:00 +0000

As if things aren't tough enough on the bricks already, now folks get to worry about some vile fecal smear sneaking up and offing them in the middle of the night....

Homeless seek shelter after murders in SoCal

Thu Jan 5, 2012 9:19 PM EST

us-news, us, southern-california, homeless, orange-county, homicides, faith-reynolds

Amy Taxin, Associated Press

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showing 1 of 7 photos

In this photo made Monday, Jan. 9, 2012, Faith Reynolds, 28, talks about being homeless at Mary's Kitchen, a non-profit, volunteer organization that provides food and services to the homeless of Orange County, in the city of Orange, Calif. Three homeless men have been found stabbed to death in north Orange County since Dec. 21. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)

ORANGE — After sleeping with her three-month old baby girl in a friend's car for the last week, Faith Reynolds heard two words that would push her to seek refuge in a shelter: serial killer.

Police and advocates have been urging those living on the streets to head inside or buddy up since three homeless men were stabbed to death in suburban Orange County in the last few weeks.
Reynolds, a recovering drug addict and former fast-food restaurant cashier, is heeding the call.
"I'm scared that he could do anything to anybody right now — us being alone," said Reynolds, 28, while gently stroking her daughter's forehead as she slept tucked inside a stroller at a soup kitchen in Orange.
Since the deaths, the number of homeless sleeping in each of two wintertime shelters in the county has jumped 40 percent, said Larry Haynes, executive director of Mercy House, which runs the shelters.
But he said it's tough to know whether fear, coaxing from police or cold weather is behind the surge. Nearly 7,000 people out of 3 million county residents were homeless when they were counted in January 2011.
Word of the crimes has spread quickly among the homeless, many of whom keep up with the news and pass along tidbits at soup kitchens and shelters in a county that is home to Disneyland and wealthy beachfront communities.
"The homeless grapevine has always been very active," Haynes said. "Changing behavior is another thing."
In Santa Ana, dozens of men and women slept on thin black mats covered by thick gray blankets in the cavernous National Guard Armory that doubles as a shelter in the winter. Some had their possessions tucked beneath their heads.
Scott Melton, 24, wolfed down a chocolate-filled doughnut and sipped coffee. The unemployed loan processor was shocked to learn about the killer when he returned Monday night from working a two-week job at a mountain hotel.
"You could possibly not wake up — it's a scary thing," Melton said.
For many of those who spent the night on the armory floor, the killer was just one more element they couldn't control.
Chris Clay, 50, speculated that the killer might have a grudge against sex offenders or drug addicts — who are both found in large numbers on the street. "I can't let it change the way I think," he said.
Clay was released a month ago from prison after he was convicted of making criminal threats and has had a tough time finding work except for $3 he makes each week by collecting empty juice and water bottles for recycling.
"There's what, 5,000 homeless out here? And there's just one killer stalking the homeless?"
"Just don't stalk me," he said.
The killing spree began with the stabbing of James McGillivray, 53, on Dec. 20. A week later, the body of Lloyd Middaugh, 42, was found on a riverbed trail. On Dec. 30, the body of Paulus Smit, 57, was discovered outside a library.
The way that the killer sought out lone victims in isolated places in different cities suggests these were the premeditated acts of a sociopath, said Brian Levin, a criminologist at California State University-San Bernardino.
"This person is a fairly careful planner," said Levin, director of the Center of Hate and Extremism. "For him, it's like a hunt. He's extremely dangerous and will probably do it again."
In response, police are patrolling spots frequented by the homeless and distributing fliers with safety tips. They shine bright flashlights onto the faces of men sleeping on mattresses to make sure they're OK.
Police have started a tip line and are investigating the killings with the county sheriff's department and FBI.
The Orange County Rescue Mission has passed out flashlights and whistles to help fend off attackers. Members of a Southern California chapter of the Guardian Angels have handed out fliers to tell people about the killer.
Random violent attacks against the homeless are fairly common as they make easy targets, particularly for youths on thrill-seeking binges. A serial killer preying upon homeless men, however, is more unusual.
In Los Angeles, at least 10 homeless people were stabbed to death on Skid Row in the late 1970s. In New Mexico, for example, authorities are searching for the killer of 11 women slain between 2001 and 2005.
Since 2002, the National Coalition for the Homeless has reported a rise in hate crimes against the homeless, but attacks rarely prompt people to move inside, said Neil J. Donovan, the organization's executive director.
"Many of these individuals are not mentally healthy so they are living with demons of their own," Donovan said. "This is just one other horror story in a whole life of horror."
George Robles, 37, has been on the streets since he lost his job as a cook and couldn't make his rent. He said he hasn't gotten much sleep since learning about the murders.
So, the fan of true crime novels decided to stop sleeping in his usual spot beneath a rumbling freeway near Angel Stadium and moved to an office building's outdoor stairwell where he says no one can see him — or would even think to look for him.
"I'm just waiting for the next headline," he said, after downing a pork and potatoes lunch at a soup kitchen. "`We caught him,' or `We got a suspect' — or, `There's another one (dead).'"
On Monday, there was another headline of a dead homeless man. His body was found next to a pickup truck parked behind a tire shop, but authorities don't believe the death was related to the other killings.
___
Associated Press writer Christina Hoag in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

Homelessness:: "Sometimes it's the little things that can lead to an unraveling,"

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 12:51:00 +0000

"We're homeless, not helpless."
Paul Sorenson

The first thing I wondered when I read this story was just how cold it was in a place like Billings in the middle of the winter. I checked the weather for Billings and was somewhat relieved to discover it was not as bad as I imagined (I don't know why, but I thought it would be similar to Truckee, California's temperatures and snowfall). Still it's damned cold to be sleeping outside, and with a 45+ mph wind blasting you at its whim, it would be pretty much unbearable. Made me cringe at the thought of having to figure out how to stay warm and dry while on the streets in Montana.

Given that the 2010 Census informed us that 1 in 3 folks in the country are now considered "poor or low income," it doesn't take a genius to understand how it is that the "little things" can stack up fast and send you hurtling to the bricks in the blink of an eye.

The size of the "perfect storm" of problems that can lead to homelessness is proportional to one's income level and available support system. The smaller each of those things are, the smaller the "storm" needs to be to kick one out into the cold. For many, all it takes is missing one day of work due to an illness or emergency, and the wind begins to rise while the first raindrops of the 'homelessness storm" begin to fall.

That is scary enough when you're alone and fending just for yourself. Imagine if you're the breadwinner of a family and have the burden of caring for loved ones on your shoulders as the clouds gather over your head.

When I think about the horrendously easy slide into homelessness so many of us face each day, I can't help but look towards the government for a safety net and some routes that will help guide a person toward a satisfying, stable and safe community.

So many clouds in the perfect storm of homelessness form long before the individual ever has any real influence on his or her "weather" that we as a community need to begin a national dialogue on the systemic changes needed to end homelessness permanently. As just one example, there is not a single community anywhere in the nation today that a person earning minimum wage at a full time job can afford to rent a dwelling.

I believe we must begin addressing these kinds of systemic issues if we are ever going to truly end homelessness. To ignore them while handing used umbrellas to those facing hurricane-level storms of economic and social challenges as the answer to ending homelessness is not only absurd, it's an insult to the intelligence and dignity of human beings.

Homelessness sometimes just a small emergency away

DAVID GRUBBS/Gazette Staff Jerry “Chilli” Baggerman waves to a passing motorist from a
favorite sleeping spot behind a downtown restaurant. Baggerman,
who’s been homeless for the last 14 years, is among the hundreds of
people in Billings who have no home.

Ask 57-year-old Billings native Paul Sorensen where he will sleep tonight and he points — here, there and everywhere.
He has been homeless since he ran away at age 13. Talkative and carrying the sweet scent of cheap alcohol, Sorensen said he wants people to know that "we're here."
"A lot of people are concerned," he said, nodding his head. "But a lot of people have no idea. Every day we wake up, we win."
He mostly lives in an abandoned shack near the county jail. On really cold days, he and his brother, also homeless, can spend the night at a cousin's place.
"But there are a lot of people out here with no place to go," he said.
Like many in his predicament, he does odd jobs for spending money.
"Give us a sidewalk to shovel, give us a windshield to wash," he said. "We're homeless, not helpless."
No two stories are alike — every path to homelessness is different.
"Sometimes it's the little things that can lead to an unraveling," said Adela Awner, executive director of Billings Interfaith Hospitality Network. "Hours get cut at work, or they've lost daycare because of a shift change. A few days' illness and a few days' lost wages and they can't make the rent."
Poor and lower-income people tend to spend 50 percent or more of their income on housing, she said. That puts them at greater risk when something goes wrong — a car breaks down or an unexpected medical problem arises. With no resources in reserve, homelessness is just a small emergency away.
According to the 2010 Census, one in three Americans now is either classified as poor or low income. Low income is defined as those earning between 100 and 200 percent of the poverty level. For a family of four, the poverty level is an income of $22,113. The low-income threshold is around $45,000 for the same family. Data from the 2010 Census show the median household income in Montana is $42,222 compared with the national average of $50,221.
Living in Montana isn't cheap, either. The estimated cost of living in 2010 was 102.6 percent of the national average.
Low-income Americans are less likely to have medical insurance and more likely to be living paycheck to paycheck. It doesn't take much to topple into homelessness.
"It's not about 'these' people," said Gwynn Pederson, of the Billings Mental Health Center. "It's about us. It could happen to any of us."
Stephan Larsen, who worked at the Montana Rescue Mission before becoming homeless because a back injury made it impossible to work, has gained insight from a broad perspective in the past couple of years.
"I learned that not all people were at the Rescue Mission because of drugs and alcohol," he said. "These are people with some kind of trauma in their life."
Larsen recalls one man in the shelter who had lost his family in a house fire.
"He just couldn't cope with the tragedy," he said.
Annual surveys in Billings say the No. 1 cause of homelessness here is substance abuse. Second on the list is unemployment. Mental health issues rank third. The studies also confirmed a direct correlation between fewer years of formal education and increased risk of homelessness.
Those who work with the homeless in Billings emphasize that the majority are homegrown. A 2010 survey showed that 21 percent have lived here all their lives. About 60 percent have been here two to 10 years.
"This is not a transient population," said Lynda Woods, homeless liaison for the city of Billings.
Although 55 percent have a high school education, more in the homeless population may have learning disabilities or other impairments that interfere with the ability to read and write.
Twenty-seven percent of the homeless are employed, but don't make enough money to keep a roof over their heads. Fifty-five percent are white and 29 percent are American Indian. Most, 66 percent, are between the ages of 30 and 59. Twenty-seven percent are 18 to 29 years old. Men outnumber women 56 to 44 percent.
The number of veterans who are homeless has gone down, but the number of families without a permanent place to stay is up, local agencies say.
Sue Runkle, homeless education liaison for Billings public schools, said she sees the trend across the K-12 spectrum.
"Last year the cumulative total of homeless kids in the district was 466," she said. "This year so far we have 331. That's 20 more than we had last year at this time."
While some of the older students live on their own, often couch surfing and sometimes living in cars and on the streets, most are with their families in shelters or doubled up with relatives.
"They've been called America's invisible children," she said. "People don't realize they are homeless."

Lorna Thackeray can be reached at 657-1314 or lthackeray@billingsgazette.com

Posted in Local, Top-headlines on Sunday, January 8, 2012 12:15 am Updated: 7:18 am. | Tags: P.a.t.h., The Hub, Hub, Paul Sorensen, Homeless, Homelessness, Interfaith Hospitality Network, U.s. Census 2010, Gwynn Pederson, Billings Mental Health Center, Stephan Larsen, Lynda Woods, Sue Runkle,

"Americans enjoy less economic mobility than their peers in Canada and much of Western Europe."

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 14:47:00 +0000

"Benjamin Franklin did it. Henry Ford did it. And American life is built on the faith that others can do it, too: rise from humble origins to economic heights. “Movin’ on up,” George Jefferson-style, is not only a sitcom song but a civil religion."

I remember as a child "grown ups" telling me repeatedly that I could "be anything" I wanted to be, from an astronaut to the President of the United States.

I of course didn't realize it at the time, but I was being inculcated - indoctrinated - with the American Dream. I suspect if you're reading this and you were born here in America, you probably have a similar recollection of your parent(s), teachers, mentors, and/or various other adults who promulgated a similar ideology.

I don't think the "dream" is dead, but I do believe it will be damned hard for those of us on the lower socio-economic rungs of the great ladder to climb up a rung or three. Lot's of reasons for this, but perhaps the biggest reason, at least in my mind, is the increasing difficulty folks have in obtaining educations beyond the standard public school system.

The ticket out of poverty and ignorance for me came from the availability of community and state college access, along with grants and loans that helped me to both pay for my schooling and related expenses, as well as providing me w enough to survive on while I worked part time and studied full-time.

While many clamor for "job training" programs, I think we need to expand that to include the need for a "well rounded" education. Trades come and go and can quickly be rendered obsolete by new technology. But the ability to critically think, reason, engage with important questions, see through and understand propaganda, recognize trends, understand statistics, and know the political process is not just important for a citizen of the world today, it's essential.

If you are seeking a path out of poverty, the first place you should look is your local educational providers. If you're an advocate of any aspect of undeserved populations, educational opportunities and what's transpiring in this domain should always be one of your top areas of interest and monitoring. We cannot expect people to rise from destitution when mired in ignorance and lacking effective communication skills, built upon a sound understanding of the way our system works and how one must engage with it in order to succeed.

Harder for Americans to Rise From Lower Rungs

By JASON DePARLE

Published: January 4, 2012

WASHINGTON — Benjamin Franklin did it. Henry Ford did it. And American life is built on the faith that others can do it, too: rise from humble origins to economic heights. “Movin’ on up,” George Jefferson-style, is not only a sitcom song but a civil religion.

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Ryan Garza/The Flint Journal, via Associated Press

Occupy protesters, like these in Flint, Mich., have pushed discussions about economic mobility toward center stage.

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Comparing Economic Mobility

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But many researchers have reached a conclusion that turns conventional wisdom on its head: Americans enjoy less economic mobility than their peers in Canada and much of Western Europe. The mobility gap has been widely discussed in academic circles, but a sour season of mass unemployment and street protests has moved the discussion toward center stage.
Former Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, a Republican candidate for president, warned this fall that movement “up into the middle income is actually greater, the mobility in Europe, than it is in America.” National Review, a conservative thought leader, wrote that “most Western European and English-speaking nations have higher rates of mobility.” Even Representative Paul D. Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican who argues that overall mobility remains high, recently wrote that “mobility from the very bottom up” is “where the United States lags behind.”
Liberal commentators have long emphasized class, but the attention on the right is largely new.
“It’s becoming conventional wisdom that the U.S. does not have as much mobility as most other advanced countries,” said Isabel V. Sawhill, an economist at the Brookings Institution. “I don’t think you’ll find too many people who will argue with that.”
One reason for the mobility gap may be the depth of American poverty, which leaves poor children starting especially far behind. Another may be the unusually large premiums that American employers pay for college degrees. Since children generally follow their parents’ educational trajectory, that premium increases the importance of family background and stymies people with less schooling.
At least five large studies in recent years have found the United States to be less mobile than comparable nations. A project led by Markus Jantti, an economist at a Swedish university, found that 42 percent of American men raised in the bottom fifth of incomes stay there as adults. That shows a level of persistent disadvantage much higher than in Denmark (25 percent) and Britain (30 percent) — a country famous for its class constraints.
Meanwhile, just 8 percent of American men at the bottom rose to the top fifth. That compares with 12 percent of the British and 14 percent of the Danes.
Despite frequent references to the United States as a classless society, about 62 percent of Americans (male and female) raised in the top fifth of incomes stay in the top two-fifths, according to research by the Economic Mobility Project of the Pew Charitable Trusts. Similarly, 65 percent born in the bottom fifth stay in the bottom two-fifths.
By emphasizing the influence of family background, the studies not only challenge American identity but speak to the debate about inequality. While liberals often complain that the United States has unusually large income gaps, many conservatives have argued that the system is fair because mobility is especially high, too: everyone can climb the ladder. Now the evidence suggests that America is not only less equal, but also less mobile.
John Bridgeland, a former aide to President George W. Bush who helped start Opportunity Nation, an effort to seek policy solutions, said he was “shocked” by the international comparisons. “Republicans will not feel compelled to talk about income inequality,” Mr. Bridgeland said. “But they will feel a need to talk about a lack of mobility — a lack of access to the American Dream.”
While Europe differs from the United States in culture and demographics, a more telling comparison may be with Canada, a neighbor with significant ethnic diversity. Miles Corak, an economist at the University of Ottawa, found that just 16 percent of Canadian men raised in the bottom tenth of incomes stayed there as adults, compared with 22 percent of Americans. Similarly, 26 percent of American men raised at the top tenth stayed there, but just 18 percent of Canadians.
“Family background plays more of a role in the U.S. than in most comparable countries,” Professor Corak said in an interview.
Skeptics caution that the studies measure “relative mobility” — how likely children are to move from their parents’ place in the income distribution. That is different from asking whether they have more money. Most Americans have higher incomes than their parents because the country has grown richer.
Some conservatives say this measure, called absolute mobility, is a better gauge of opportunity. A Pew study found that 81 percent of Americans have higher incomes than their parents (after accounting for family size). There is no comparable data on other countries.
Since they require two generations of data, the studies also omit immigrants, whose upward movement has long been considered an American strength. “If America is so poor in economic mobility, maybe someone should tell all these people who still want to come to the U.S.,” said Stuart M. Butler, an analyst at the Heritage Foundation.
The income compression in rival countries may also make them seem more mobile. Reihan Salam, a writer for The Daily and National Review Online, has calculated that a Danish family can move from the 10th percentile to the 90th percentile with $45,000 of additional earnings, while an American family would need an additional $93,000.
Even by measures of relative mobility, Middle America remains fluid. About 36 percent of Americans raised in the middle fifth move up as adults, while 23 percent stay on the same rung and 41 percent move down, according to Pew research. The “stickiness” appears at the top and bottom, as affluent families transmit their advantages and poor families stay trapped.
While Americans have boasted of casting off class since Poor Richard’s Almanac, until recently there has been little data.
Pioneering work in the early 1980s by Gary S. Becker, a Nobel laureate in economics, found only a mild relationship between fathers’ earnings and those of their sons. But when better data became available a decade later, another prominent economist, Gary Solon, found the bond twice as strong. Most researchers now estimate the “elasticity” of father-son earnings at 0.5, which means if one man earns $100,000 more than another, his sons would earn $50,000 more on average than the sons of the poorer man.
In 2006 Professor Corak reviewed more than 50 studies of nine countries. He ranked Canada, Norway, Finland and Denmark as the most mobile, with the United States and Britain roughly tied at the other extreme. Sweden, Germany, and France were scattered across the middle.
The causes of America’s mobility problem are a topic of dispute — starting with the debates over poverty. The United States maintains a thinner safety net than other rich countries, leaving more children vulnerable to debilitating hardships.
Poor Americans are also more likely than foreign peers to grow up with single mothers. That places them at an elevated risk of experiencing poverty and related problems, a point frequently made by Mr. Santorum, who surged into contention in the Iowa caucuses. The United States also has uniquely high incarceration rates, and a longer history of racial stratification than its peers.
“The bottom fifth in the U.S. looks very different from the bottom fifth in other countries,” said Scott Winship, a researcher at the Brookings Institution, who wrote the article for National Review. “Poor Americans have to work their way up from a lower floor.”
A second distinguishing American trait is the pay tilt toward educated workers. While in theory that could help poor children rise — good learners can become high earners — more often it favors the children of the educated and affluent, who have access to better schools and arrive in them more prepared to learn.
“Upper-income families can invest more in their children’s education and they may have a better understanding of what it takes to get a good education,” said Eric Wanner, president of the Russell Sage Foundation, which gives grants to social scientists.
The United States is also less unionized than many of its peers, which may lower wages among the least skilled, and has public health problems, like obesity and diabetes, which can limit education and employment.
Perhaps another brake on American mobility is the sheer magnitude of the gaps between rich and the rest — the theme of the Occupy Wall Street protests, which emphasize the power of the privileged to protect their interests. Countries with less equality generally have less mobility.
Mr. Salam recently wrote that relative mobility “is overrated as a social policy goal” compared with raising incomes across the board. Parents naturally try to help their children, and a completely mobile society would mean complete insecurity: anyone could tumble any time.
But he finds the stagnation at the bottom alarming and warns that it will worsen. Most of the studies end with people born before 1970, while wage gaps, single motherhood and incarceration increased later. Until more recent data arrives, he said, “we don’t know the half of it.”

LIHEAP Left in the Cold: "Early in 2011 President Obama proposed cutting energy assistance all the way to $2.5 billion"

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 12:09:00 +0000

What a fine way to ring in the new year! It just warms the cockles of my heart to see some of the richest men and women in America acting so magnanimously towards those less fortunate.

Maybe the heat from those warm cockles can be donated to those who will be hardest hit by this spending cut.

Just so we all know where the priorities are up there on "the Hill," I make the comparison of the pittance of annual funding for HIHEAP which is $3.5 billion in 2012, and the annual funding for the US military, which is $687 billion in 2012.

The "hawks" would argue that we need this strong military spending to keep our country safe from "the terrorists," who run the gamut from drug dealers to Al Qaeda, depending on the type of fear our officials are trying to generate within us.

I wondered what a comparison of other country military budgets looked like, since we're constantly told that we "need" this money to "protect" us. I think the following graph says far more than I can:

Annual military spending by country. (Courtesy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_military_expenditures)

Hmmm. Looks like we could divert close to $400 billion towards "We the People" and still have more than twice the annual military budget of the next closest country.

In fact, if we were to divert $400 billion into the social system of the United States, it looks like we'd still be spending more money annually on the military than all the other countries combined.

In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.
Dwight D. Eisenhower

LIHEAP: Congress, White House Cut Heating Assistance Just In Time For Winter

First Posted: 1/5/12 06:38 PM ET Updated: 1/5/12 07:50 PM ET

Ralph Olivieri of Coventry, R.I., says he and his wife Alexis will run out of heating oil in a couple weeks after receiving roughly $400 worth courtesy the federal government's heating assistance program in December.
"I got the temperature down to 65, and I got to keep a jacket on and a couple of sweaters in the house, because I never know when the next oil's gonna come," Olivieri said.
Olivieri, 81, had applied to a local nonprofit for heating oil under the federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program. "They send you a letter, they call the oil company up and send the $400 to them," he said. "On the letter they say that's my allotment for oil. They don't say that they're gonna give you any more."
It's not likely they will: Just in time for the start of winter, Congress and the White House reduced LIHEAP funding by 25 percent. The federal government doled out $4.7 billion for heating assistance in fiscal 2011; the 2012 allotment is $3.5 billion. The cut happened in December as lawmakers scrambled to fund the government before they left town. The result will be less heat for fewer people.
Nearly 9 million households received assistance in 2011, according to the National Energy Assistance Directors' Association, a Washington group that advocates for household energy subsidy programs. The average benefit was $417 per year. Ninety percent of households that received assistance last year had at least one "vulnerable" member, which NEADA describes as a person who is older than 60, younger than 18 or disabled. Households are eligible for the program if their income is at or below 150 percent of the poverty level or 60 percent of their state's median income.
NEADA director Mark Wolfe said the smaller appropriation would mean assistance for roughly 1 million fewer households. Mostly, the reduction would mean less aid for many of the homes that do get help.
"We'll really see the problems next month," Wolfe said. "We've never gone into the winter before with heating oils this high."
A gallon of heating oil currently goes for $3.83, up more than 50 cents from this time last year and the highest price since 1990, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Members of Congress from northeastern states have been pushing to maintain LIHEAP funding at the current $4.7 billion level, but that's not likely to happen.
Early in 2011 President Obama proposed cutting energy assistance all the way to $2.5 billion, pointing out that the cut would only reduce LIHEAP funding to its 2008 level. Congress first increased LIHEAP funding in the beginning of 2009 as part of President Barack Obama's stimulus package, doubling the program's funding to $5 billion from $2.5 billion in 2008.
But the members of Congress lobbying for increased aid say their constituents are still feeling the effects of a lagging economy.
"Even though the number of households eligible for the program continues to exceed those receiving assistance, this funding has been a lifeline during the economic downturn and rising energy costs, helping to ensure that people do not have to choose between paying their energy bills and paying for food or medicine," wrote Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) and Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) in a Tuesday letter urging President Obama to set LIHEAP funding at $4.7 billion in his forthcoming budget proposal for 2013.
How the cuts affect low income households varies by state. In Vermont, the effect will be minimal: State lawmakers are dipping into reserves to make up the shortfall from Washington's cuts.
No such luck in Maine, which saw its allotment drop from $56 million to $38.5 million. Last year 64,000 Maine households received LIHEAP assistance, with an average benefit of $804. The quasi-state agency that manages LIHEAP will make sure no fewer people receive assistance, partially by shifting funds and partially by slashing the average benefit to $483.
"We are seeing more people than ever with no resources to heat their homes," Rick McCarthy, a consultant to the Maine Community Action Association, which processes LIHEAP requests, said in a statement. "We are counting on the generosity of Maine people and businesses supporting Keep ME Warm and other efforts to meet that need."
John Adams of Phillips, Maine, said he and his wife Joan get by on $1,500 a month in Social Security checks. They're "hurting for fuel," Adams said, "because we can't get as much help as we got in the past." Adams, 74, said for the past three years he's applied for fuel from both LIHEAP agencies and Citizens Energy, a nonprofit that provides heating oil to seniors. He said he received 100 gallons of fuel from LIHEAP three weeks ago, and that the line's always busy lately when he calls Citizens Energy.
In the meantime, they're keeping the thermostat low to save funds.
"At night we leave it down to 50 and during the day right now we run it at 60 degrees," he said. "This is ludicrous. The wealthy can handle it. We haven't got any money. I go to the food bank. All I get is outdated cans and a lot of spaghetti. There's a rich versus poor situation in this country. It's bad."
Ronald Renaud, director of the Rhode Island Department of Administration, said the state is expecting roughly $23 million in LIHEAP funds this year, down from $31.1 million last year. "I think it's safe to say fewer households will receive a benefit this year than they did last year," Renaud said. "$390 a home and you have 30 percent less funding, there's gotta be some cuts."
Ralph Olivieri of Coventry said he's used credit cards to pay for fuel when he can't find another way. He's called churches and other charitable organizations with no luck. He said he and his wife together receive only about $1,300 a month in Social Security retirement benefits and that it costs $1,200 to $1,500 a year to heat his home, which is the same one he's lived in for the past 55 years.
"When you're living on social security you just can't afford it," he said. "I know they reduced [LIHEAP funding]. It's kind of ridiculous. ... The politicians are all screwed up anyway."
Arthur Delaney is the author of "A People's History of the Great Recession," HuffPost's first e-book.

Jim Wallis: "In Jesus Christ, God hits the streets."

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 13:12:00 +0000

Readers here rarely see anything related to religion or religious issues and there's a good reason for that; I firmly believe that issues of faith and/or spirituality are intensely personal matters that should remain private for each person.

But Jim Wallis shares a perspective here that, regardless of your religious inclination, can, I believe, cross theologic boundaries with a genuinely universal message, regardless of what name your particular faith calls "God," who: "calls on his disciples to turn the other cheek, practice humility, walk the extra mile, put away their swords, love their neighbors — and even their enemies — and says that in his kingdom, it is the peacemakers who will be called the children of God."

I can certainly get behind a message like that, regardless of which "God" might be promoting it.

Jim Wallis

Christian leader for social change

The Real War On Christmas... By Fox News

Posted: 12/15/11 02:40 PM ET
Each Advent in recent years, around the time when those prefab, do-it-yourself gingerbread house kits appear on supermarket shelves, Fox News launches its (allegedly) defensive campaign commonly known as the “War on Christmas.”

Fox News’ “war” is designed to criticize the “secularization” of our culture wrought by atheists, agnostics, liberals, leftists, progressives, and separation of church and state zealots — i.e. Democrats. This irreligious coalition force is allegedly waging a strategic offensive on Christmas, trying to banish the sacred symbols of the season, denying our religious heritage, and even undermining the spiritual rubrics upon which our great nation is built.

Fox News positions itself as the defender of the faith and all things sacred. And Bill O’Reilly fancies himself the “watchdog” of Christmas.

Fox News’ usual targets include shopping malls and stores that replace their “Merry Christmas” greetings with “Happy Holidays,” and state governments that no longer call their official "Christmas" trees by their rightful name, or municipalities that ban any depictions of, or references to, the Christmas season in public places. Those who are attacked defend themselves, often claim that they are really religious too, and the perennial war is on.

But what we actually have here is a theological problem, where cultural and commercial symbols are confused with truly Christian ones, and the meaning of the holy season is missed all together.
The war on Christmas is really about what brand of “civil religion” America should have. The particular (read: biblical) meaning of Christmas, for Christians, has almost nothing to do with the media war.

What a surprise.

What is Christmas? It is the celebration of the Incarnation, God’s becoming flesh — human — and entering into history in the form of a vulnerable baby born to a poor, teenage mother in a dirty animal stall. Simply amazing. That Mary was homeless at the time,a member of a people oppressed by the imperial power of an occupied country whose local political leader, Herod, was so threatened by the baby’s birth that he killed countless children in a vain attempt to destroy the Christ child, all adds compelling historical and political context to the Advent season.

The theological claim that sets Christianity apart from any other faith tradition is the Incarnation. God has come into the world to save us. God became like us to bring us back to God and show us what it means to be truly human.

That is the meaning of the Incarnation. That is the reason for the season.

In Jesus Christ, God hits the streets.

It is theologically and spiritually significant that the Incarnation came to our poorest streets. That Jesus was born poor, later announces his mission at Nazareth as “bringing good news to the poor,” and finally tells us that how we treat “the least of these” is his measure of how we treat him and how he will judge us as the Son of God, radically defines the social context and meaning of the Incarnation of God in Christ. And it clearly reveals the real meaning of Christmas.

The other explicit message of the Incarnation is that Jesus the Christ’s arrival will mean “peace on earth, good will toward men.” He is “the mighty God, the everlasting Father, and the Prince of Peace.” Jesus later calls on his disciples to turn the other cheek, practice humility, walk the extra mile, put away their swords, love their neighbors — and even their enemies — and says that in his kingdom, it is the peacemakers who will be called the children of God. Christ will end our warring ways, bringing reconciliation to God and to one another.

None of that has anything to do with the Fox News Christmas. In fact, quite the opposite.
Making sure that shopping malls and stores greet their customers with “Merry Christmas” is entirely irrelevant to the meaning of the Incarnation. In reality it is the consumer frenzy of Christmas shopping that is the real affront and threat to the season.

Last year, Americans spent $450 billion on Christmas. Clean water for the whole world, including every poor person on the planet, would cost about $20 billion. Let’s just call that what it is: A material blasphemy of the Christmas season.

Imagine Jesus walking into the mall, seeing the Merry Christmas signs, and expressing his humble thanks for how the pre- and post-Christmas sales are honoring to him. How about credit cards for Christ?

While we’re at it, here’s another point of clarification: The arrival of the Christ child has nothing to do with trees or what we call them.

Evergreens and wreaths, holly and ivy, and even mistletoe turn out to be customs borrowed from ancient Roman and Germanic winter solstice celebrations, assimilated and co-opted by the church after Constantine made peace between his empire and the Christians.

Now, my family loves our Christmas tree, but its bright lights and wonderful ornaments don’t teach my children much about why Jesus came into the world. We do that in other ways, such as giving needed gifts — goats, sheep, and chickens and the like — to the poorest children and families of the world though the World Vision web site on Christmas Day. The goal is to make our sons more excited about the gifts they give than the ones they get, and it usually works. Last year, my boys sponsored a child in Ghana.

I have no problem with the public viewing of symbols from all of the world’s religions at appropriate times in their religious calendars (which can actually be educational for all of our children) and believe that doing so is consistent with our democratic and cultural pluralism.

But I don’t believe that respectfully and publicly honoring those many religious symbols has changed many lives, for better or for worse. Much more important than symbols and symbolism is how we live the faith that we espouse. And here is where Fox News’s war on Christmas is most patently unjust.
The real Christmas announces the birth of Jesus to a world of poverty, pain, and sin, and offers the hope of salvation and justice.

The Fox News Christmas heralds the steady promotion of consumerism, the defense of wealth and power, the adulation of money and markets, and the regular belittling or attacking of efforts to overcome poverty.

The real Christmas offers the joyful promise of peace and the hope of reconciliation with God and between humankind.

The Fox News Christmas proffers the constant drumbeat of war, the reliance on military solutions to every conflict, the demonizing of our enemies, and the gospel of American dominance.
The real Christmas lifts up the Virgin Mary’s song of praise for her baby boy: “He has brought the mighty down from their thrones, and lifted the lowly, he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich empty away.”

The Fox News Christmas would label Mary’s Magnificat as “class warfare.”

So if there is a war on Christmas it's the one being waged by Fox News.

Merry Christmas from around the world [PHOTO BLOG]

posted at 7:35 AM PST by Andrea Peer, WV communications

TAGS: Christmas, holidays

What do Christmas celebrations look like in other parts of the world? In some places, World Vision throws big Christmas parties where disadvantaged children can enjoy the festivities and even receive presents. In other places, children participate in traditional celebrations that might look quite different than our American Christmas.
Wherever you live, Merry Christmas to you and yours. We pray the holidays bring your family the love and joy of Christ.

Gavar City, Armenia: For World Vision sponsored children in Gavar, in central-eastern Armenia, this year's Christmas celebration was arguably the brightest and most colorful ever! A theatre performance around the Christmas theme brought children together to performe Christmas songs and dances. At the end they received gifts from World Vision.

Tirana, Albania: Children in the north of Albania capital city, Tirana, celebrate together and enjoy Christmas with festive fun and face painting.

Winaypaj, Bolivia: The last day of school in December is celebration time for girls and boys at this local elementary school. Parents and siblings are all invited to enjoy music and traditional dances. This year, children have prepared a special Christmas dance where gifts are given to baby Jesus.

Phnom Penh, Cambodia: Christmas is commonly known as a happy time nearly ending of the year for many Cambodian people. Christmas tree and costumes tell people to be ready to enjoy this special event that comes once in a year. But to those whose life has accepted Christ as their savior, they take this event for granted to share the good news of Christ. The good news of Christ is that Jesus; he comes to earth with a new reason of salvation to all (John 3:16).

Quacha Birra, Ethiopia: Christmas, known locally as "Genna", is one of the big festivities in Ethiopia. Different from the rest of the world, Ethiopia celebrates Christmas on January 7 every year. The preparation for the celebration of Christmas begins some weeks before. On the eve of Christmas, mothers prepare all sort of food to be eaten on Christmas. On the early night of the eve of Christmas, people go to church for prayer. In this photo, bread prepared for Christmas is sliced.

Port-au-Prince, Haiti: Santa delivers Christmas gifts to children in one of World Vision's 15 early childhood development learning spaces in a camp in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. More than 1,200 children attend the learning spaces, located in large tents in camps for people displaced by the January 2010 earthquake.

Hlaing Thar Yar, Myanmar: The Hlaing Thar Yar West sponsorship community celebrated Christmas with a handwashing festival, which was both fun and life saving, with 11,000 children present.

West Virginia, USA: Children and families in the U.S. celebrate the Christmas season by decorating a tree with colorful ornaments.

Tacoma, Washington, USA: On Christmas day in the U.S. families exchange Christmas gifts with one another as a sign of love and cheer.

KC MO Mayor Sly James: "Here is the richest country in the world (and) we have people who cannot find a place to live,"

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 11:44:00 +0000

"We are failing" to address critical issues of homelessness and the use of food stamps, which is "increasing, not decreasing,"

Just about anyone who works in the world of homeless services will tell you that we're band-aiding the individualized results of systemic failures in our nation. The slashing of budgets targeting those who assist the poorest among us simply exacerbates an already bad situation and demoralizes the few who work tirelessly and diligently to help arrive at even band aid solutions.

Worse yet, as we look to our "leaders" to provide us with "buckets" to help bail out our sinking country, we're handed colanders instead and both our hope for a better future and solutions to our ailing social and economic structure go right down the damned drain together.

It's depressing as hell for everyone involved, especially when one can contrast our preposterous poverty and the even more preposterous demands by leaders for more and more concessions while they appear to not only be doing quite fine by comparison- thank you very much for nothing.

It's a wonder anyone remains committed to helping those who for whatever the reason, cannot or choose not to find help for themselves....

US mayors decry rise in poverty, homelessness

AFP – Thu, Dec 15, 2011

A homeless woman sits with her belongings on a sidewalk in Los Angeles on December …

S mayors sounded an alarm Thursday over deepening economic woes after a survey of 29 cities from Los Angeles to Washington showed worrying rises in homelessness and poverty-related food aid.

"Here is the richest country in the world (and) we have people who cannot find a place to live," said Kansas City Mayor Sly James, who co-chairs a task force on hunger and homelessness for the US Conference of Mayors.

"We are failing" to address critical issues of homelessness and the use of food stamps, which is "increasing, not decreasing," he told reporters on a conference call to discuss the survey.

The government has reported that 46.2 million people nationwide were living in poverty in 2010 and that the rate climbed to 15.1 percent, up from 14.3 percent a year earlier.

Of the 29 cities surveyed -- all of which have more than 30,000 residents -- 25 reported increased requests for emergency food assistance in the past year.

In Kansas City, Missouri, the rate of food aid spiked by 40 percent, the highest increase in the survey, followed by Boston and Salt Lake City with a 35 percent increase and Philadelphia with 32 percent. Food aid requests in San Francisco dropped by 11 percent.

Unemployment was the primary cause of hunger, according to the cities, whose total emergency food budget as a group last year was $272 million.

And the cities are not expecting improvements. All but two predicted emergency food requests will increase next year, with three-quarters of the cities forecasting shrinking food aid budgets.

"It is not surprising that the combination of increasing demand and decreasing resources is the biggest challenge that they would face in that effort to address hunger in the next year," said Mayor Terry Bellamy of Asheville, North Carolina.

Homelessness across the surveyed cities rose an average of six percent, according to the report. Especially hard hit was Charleston, South Carolina, where homelessness rose 33 percent, Cleveland, Ohio (21 percent) and Detroit, Michigan (16 percent).

Two out of three cities surveyed predicted their homeless numbers will grow in the next year.

The report said more than a quarter of homeless adults were "severely mentally ill," while 13 percent were US military veterans.

"We should be ashamed of ourselves for allowing veterans who fought for this country... to find themselves living on the street," said James, the Kansas City mayor.

An average of 18 percent of homeless people seeking assistance were turned away, in part because there were not enough beds in homeless shelters.

The Social Security Administration's 2012 Cost of Living Increase and the Law of Unintended Consequences

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 13:48:00 +0000

You're a single person experiencing a disability - mental or physical - and you've fought the damned challenging and often years-long battle of obtaining both your Social Security Disability / Supplemental Security Income and Section 8/"affordable" housing.

It has been a long and tough struggle to remain hopeful, persistent and energized enough to cope with your disability while jumping the myriad hoops associated with either one of the above "benefits," and you've made your way through it. You've remained committed, persisted, overcome the challenges and have since made yourself a real home; comfortable, familiar, and cozy.

Several years pass and one day, you receive communication from the Social Security Administration (SSA). You've learned that these letters can seem to sneak up on you with some nasty surprises and tripwires; appointment dates for "re-certification," "requests for info on "earnings", or some need to see a case manager at the office for some reason not specified. The delivery of these letters often cause great anxiety in you, but you know that to ignore them is to risk losing everything you've persevered through, so with trepidation you open the envelope and find the following key point of the letter:

Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA):
Based on the increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI-W) from the third quarter of 2008 through the third quarter of 2011, Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) beneficiaries will receive a 3.6 percent COLA for 2012.

"WOOHOO!" says you, because you know that while "3.6 percent" isn't going to be much of a monetary addition to your meager income, when you're living on around $12,840 (SSDI) or $6,168 (SSI) a year (approximately $1,070 or $514 a month respectively), any extra pennies that come to you are important. Both these "assistance" programs still keep you near or below the poverty line in the United States, so regardless of the type you receive, the day to day survival is still a struggle, although it has eased some since those dark days of your utter destitution.

**2011 HHS Poverty Guidelines**
Persons in Family	48 Contiguous States and D.C.	Alaska	Hawaii
1	$10,890	$13,600	$12,540
2	14,710	18,380	16,930
3	18,530	23,160	21,320
4	22,350	27,940	25,710
5	26,170	32,720	30,100
6	29,990	37,500	34,490
7	33,810	42,280	38,880
8	37,630	47,060	43,270
For each additional person, add	3,820	4,780	4,390

SOURCE: Federal Register, Vol. 76, No. 13, January 20, 2011, pp. 3637-3638

So you're excited about your approximately $38 (SSDI) or your $18 (SSI) increase; you might even be able to buy some real bacon strips, instead of that box of "ends and pieces" crap you try to convince yourself is "just the same."

Off to the store you go, and as you ride the bus back to your home, bags of groceries perched on your lap, you smile the smile of those who have stability and security in your life.

In fact, life's been going so well for you since you were able to obtain your disability that you've even grown complacent. You've stopped thinking about how to ensure whatever you own will fit into a backpack. You've begun to actually collect some "stuff" and you've got real possessions now; furniture, a television and radio, dishes, bedding, pictures, maybe even a camera, a computer, a smart phone. Mail comes to you and it's actually addressed to you and not just "current occupant." Family and friends know where you live and come to visit, and you're beaming with pride when you open the door and invite them into your home! You've forgotten the days and times of when the local soup kitchens feed, and there's no need to stand in front of the plasma center on cold mornings in order to donate blood so you can eat again today.

You get off the bus at your stop and carrying your groceries, you whistle out of simple pleasure as you make your way back to your home. As you approach the door, you notice an envelope taped onto it, and it's from the landlord.

Knowing you are current on your rent, and knowing that you're in full compliance with all the rules and regulations of the property manager, you aren't too worried, although there is a tinge of anxiety and fear, just like what you experience when a letter arrives from the Social Security Administration.

You sit down at your kitchen table and open the letter. What you read doesn't make sense at first, but slowly it sinks in and fear, anxiety and hopelessness return with a vengeance, souring your stomach and bringing you to the edge of your sanity as you're retraumatized once again: your cost of living increase from the Social Security Administration has resulted in pushing your total income level a few - (verified case of $3 in Madison, TN) - dollars above the maximum level established for your apartment income parameters.

You now make too much money to qualify for an apartment in public housing and you are being evicted. You must be out of the unit within 30 days, which will have you hitting the bricks in the dead of winter in most American cities.

This is a true story. It has just occurred and it is playing out in cities across the country right now, and will force a number of SSDI recipients out onto the streets in February, 2012. That is one helluva Christmas present from your friends at the Social Security Administration, although it can hardly be considered their fault.

Unfortunately, while the good people at the SSA almost certainly didn't see this coming, it just goes to show the critical importance of knowing that your actions in the public sphere - whether you think they will have a positive or negative impact - almost always have unintended consequences.....