Showing posts with label Homeless Children. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Homeless Children. Show all posts

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Perfect Gift for Teachers! Inside Story of Homeless Children and Youth

Pardon the self-serving nature of this post, but as a former teacher and a former shelter director, I feel
qualified to offer this suggestion. And I'm willing to put my money where my mouth is...*

Instead of giving your kid's favorite teacher a coffee mug or McDonald's gift certificate, how about a gift that will not only be useful, but might just help homeless kids in your community? (This suggestion works for others on your gift list, too!)

My Own Four Walls is a collection of heart-touching short documentaries that focus on children and youth experiencing homelessness. (Watch the 4-min trailer.)
Based on hundreds of film screenings I've conducted over the years, MOFW touches hearts and opens minds better than anyone can imagine. It's a myth-buster. It lets audiences hear from kids who know what homelessness is like because they live it.
With all the attention given to the surging increase of homelessness among children and youth lately, it might be good for schools to have a versatile, effective video tool to help staff and students better understand what "being homeless" means to kids.

* In the spirit of Christmas, HEAR US is offering the DVD at half-price, $20 plus $6 shipping/handling. It means that much to get these award-winning DVDs seen by as many eyes as possible.

There. Short. Sweet. To the point. Now order the DVD so I can get it to you in time for the holidays.





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It’s Time to Help Homeless Kids, Yes! You! Now!

I often have the question put to me, “What can I do to help homeless families and/or teens?” Well, just in time for the holiday spirit, here are suggestions that range from free/fast to more complicated/commitment. I'm always pushing the concept of Compassion Epidemic. These are ways you can make that happen.

STUFF
Your local shelter (if you have any) will be happy to receive:
  • packs of socks, undies for kids of all sizes/ages
  • new/gently-used shoes, practical styles for school/play
  • hygiene items (toothpaste, brushes, shampoo, soap, combs, etc.)
  • coats, hats and gloves, especially for kids (assuming they serve kids)
  • baby stuff—formula, diapers, wipes, etc.
If you don’t have a shelter, contact the homeless liaison in your school district (each district is required to have one). Ask that person what’s needed. They might suggest:
  • band instruments, sports equipment, school/scout uniforms (gently-used)
  • school supplies
  • backpacks
  • snack foods to discretely distribute to hungry kids
  • bus passes
TIME
  • Offer to read, tutor, or otherwise mentor kids. This requires a regular commitment of your time and the proper attitude. School or shelters.
  • Volunteer at your local shelter. 
  • Volunteer to tutor or read to kids at your local public school.
DONATE HELPFUL TOOLS TO YOUR SCHOOLS/SHELTERS/LIBRARIES

HEAR US has a selection of modestly-priced, acclaimed videos and books that greatly increase awareness and compassion for homeless students. Many schools aren’t aware of them, or lack the funds, or…whatever. You can be the conduit for these items, and here’s the order form. (Plus, this supports HEAR US!)

ADVOCACY—ACTION!
  • Sign the petition that goes right to your Members of Congress, urging them to cosponsor the Homeless Children and Youth Act. Takes just seconds, only need to share your zip code. 
  • Share the above petition with your networks of friends, neighbors, co-workers, etc. 
  • Invite me to speak to your community, university, group, etc. Yup. Ask. Let’s see what happens! 
  • Share my Facebook posts with your FB friends. Comment. Friend me. 

Notice I didn't put any suggestions about holiday gifts or activities. That's because of my years running shelters and going crazy at holiday time with overabundance, while suffering through the drought of scarcities during the rest of the year. I won't inflict that similar pain on others. Do as you want for holidays. You will anyhow. And I didn't make a big deal about donating to HEAR US, but you can do that and we'll be very appreciative.

This is just the beginning of a list that you can add to by commenting on this blog. Yeah, share this blog, too. ’Tis (always) the season to be kind…!

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We Proved It. Now What?

"Prove it," my boss demanded before she would agree to my request for a raise. "Prove you really deserve more money." I scrambled off, determined...sometimes I won, sometimes not.

I've been around the world of homelessness since before the government hid behind the McKinney-Vento Homelessness Assistance Act which passed in 1987. I say "hid behind" because it's been mostly a progression of lackluster efforts, especially from the standpoint of anyone who's been homeless.

I figured it for a smoke screen, but we all pursued the counting angels on the head of a pin nature of documenting how many homeless kids are out here with hope that the huge numbers would bring about a change of the bureaucratic stone-heart and loosen resources to help these kids.

I'm not a numbers person, but I have to say the efforts and results have been impressive. The Huffington Post article that highlighted that issue pointed out:
The government report said 1,065,794 homeless kids were enrolled in schools in the 2010-2011 school year, an increase of 13 percent from the previous year and 57 percent since the start of the recession in 2007.
Consider the daunting challenge of counting homeless children and youth: Families/youth are ashamed, therefore don't volunteer the information to schools about their plight. Parents fear the kids will be removed from their care because of homelessness. Kids don't want to be made to change schools, and despite a 10-year-old federal law that says that won't happen (McKinney-Vento Education for Homeless Children Act), it occasionally does (not if we can help it).

Important clarification about the 1 million number. It represents probably half the kids in school who are homeless. It doesn't include their younger siblings--Littlest Nomads--the babies and toddlers not in school, or the teens and young adults out of school and homeless. Some of us believe those numbers, plus the parents of kids in this dire situation, would add at least 3-4 million to the count.

And what do those numbers mean? Nothing.
The resources to help homeless students, under our favorite federal law, the McKinney-Vento Education for Homeless Children Act, are less than what it costs to maintain 70 soldiers in Afghanistan, about $70 mil. Less than 10% of the 16k school districts nationwide get any of that money that Congress still needs to appropriate.
If you need a textbook example of how bad this gross negligence of homeless kids is, take the example of Albuquerque, NM, a decent city of about 500k. They recently reported over 4,000 homeless kids UNDER THE AGE OF 6!! Those do-nothing Littlest Nomads freeloaders....

Think how it could have been different--if all the money tossed at bean-counters, software, and meaningless reports to Congress could have been used to, um, house and help families and youth who  desperately cling to hope that we'll stop dinking around and start using what we have to actually address homelessness instead of dither.

So, as HEAR US Inc. enters our 8th (yup, that's right!) year, I'm vowing to pull out all the stops in throwing these astonishing and dismaying numbers in the faces of policymakers, no matter what or how.

Stay tuned! (Follow my travels on Facebook. Keep up with HEAR US on Facebook too.) I can promise it's gonna get, um, interesting, way more than the bean-counters expect.



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HUD Homeless Policies = Child Abuse and Neglect

Maybe I've stared at too many faces of little ones through the eyes of my cameras.

Maybe I've sat on the edge of lumpy mattresses in crappy motel rooms, surrounded by the squalor that comes from too many people crammed into too small space for too many desperate nights listening to heartbreaking sagas.

Maybe I've shared too many WalMart parking lots with too many families who find safety in the security cameras as they cuddle together for warmth in their cars.

Maybe I've talked to too many youth, some with another generation in tow, who ask me what should they do, where can they find a safe way to escape life on the streets.

Maybe I've grown impatient with waiting...for lawmakers and bureaucrats to wake up--or quit denying--the abysmal dearth of housing assistance (much less affordable and safe options) and other vital safety net programs. (Reminder, the US offers about $144 Billion in home-owner housing subsidies compared to a measly $34 billion housing assistance.)

Maybe I'm carrying around guilt knowing that I was complicit in this homeless family and youth debacle, not intentionally, but by default, for my years running shelters that pretty well ignored the needs of our future--the children and youth, unwitting products of their pathetic upbringing, who become adults, productive or not.

Maybe...but I can no longer be part of the silent--or not-loud-enough--conspiracy.
For years, this nation has blatantly ignored the dire peril that millions of families and youth find themselves in year after year. We had to fight to remove barriers to school for kids without homes (kids now numbering 1 million). We have, for years, been fighting with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the often-hapless agency charged with providing decent affordable housing and homelessness assistance, about including children and youth in their focus (as inadequate as it is).
HUD's newest regulations forcing homeless families/youth to PROVE their homelessness (as if people are clamoring to get into shelters??!) are a horrendous burden to families/youth and shelter staff. Check out this 3-min. video explaining the latest absurdity.
The few groups that continually side with HUD, likely out of fear that the slice of the tiny pie that funds their worthy efforts will get decimated, sadly spread fear and deception like Homeland Security--painting the scene of evil resource depleters coming after what amounts the crumbs from the federal budget table. (Here's a rebuttal to their argument. pdf)

And my friend Barbara Duffield offers these reminders:
a) HR 32 does not mandate that kids identified through four programs are served; it simply makes them eligible and allows communities to make assessments of who is most in need at the moment; b) doubled-up and motel kids are among the most vulnerable, and HUD’s regulations make it impossible for them to be served; today’s homeless kids are tomorrow’s homeless adults
Someone explain to me: when have the feds ever given money to a legitimate cause when advocates haven't fought for it? It sure hasn't been HUD's homelessness assistance programs. I know. I've been in this work too long. Programs serving families--and even worse for youth-- are few and too far between. And HUD makes it seem like families and youth either don't exist or they don't count, I'm not sure.
Where is the outcry about the slash-and-burn of our nation's housing budget (read this illuminating and easy-to-comprehend report, pdf)? 
Having otherwise decent human beings arguing against pulling out all stops to help this most vulnerable and ignored segment of the homeless population--a segment that dwarfs the single adults so disparagingly labeled "chronic" as in a disease--well, it's either a lack of conscience or a lack of awareness of the dire conditions facing families and youth.

In an ongoing effort to convey the desperate situation facing families and youth, a panel of experts--homeless children and youth who know the perils of living without a home and without shelter--addressed Members of Congress in mid-December. Their compelling and heartbreaking stories illustrated beyond a doubt the level of suffering common to families/youth in motels, doubled-up with others, or in other non-HUD-homeless states.  

But what happened? The so-called homeless advocates that have vehemently opposed bringing HUD's definition in sync with other federal definitions ratcheted up their rhetoric dismissing the suffering of the kids in the various non-HUD states of homelessness. Fortunately, the subcommittee headed by homeless kid champion Judy Biggert (R-IL, my congresswoman) passed HR 32, The Homeless Children and Youth Act, which now heads to full committee.

And about the same time, at a national conference of homelessness service providers, the anti-HR 32 rhetoric spewed.

I will not apologize for hammering hard on this issue. Nor will my stalwart band of colleagues (with a growing network of agencies) working hard to get Congress, HUD and the nation to acknowledge--and address--what boils down to federally-sanctioned child neglect.

If we "can't afford" to go all-out to help those in all kinds of homeless situations, if we (from our positions of relative comfort) deem some homelessness tolerable, if we don't demand that resources be immediately and adequately marshaled for the millions of precarious and/or un-housed people in this country, than I'd say we're suffering from a severe and unconscionable lack of compassion.

My conscience pushes me to do everything possible to help. What about yours?
  • Contact your member of Congress if she/he is on the House Financial Services Committee (view committee list)
  • Urge their support of HR 32. Sample letters here.
  • Challenge nay-sayers who insist this nation cannot care for our homeless kids.
  • Do something to help.
At least you'll be able to look at kids like this with a clear conscience. 




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Tired of the BS from 'Advocates'

Photo (C) Pat Van Doren
I worry that things are so screwy that we'll "eat our young" as we all scramble for a piece of the dwindling, vulnerable federal human services pie. It seems that a group of so-called advocates and unenlightened legislators are poised to do just that--"eat" homeless kids by depriving the majority of them of assistance otherwise available for homeless kids staying in shelters.

Gosh, this homeless definition issue is getting so drawn out that it makes me shake my head in wonderment. I dug through my email trash to look at what the young-eaters give for reasons to oppose forcing Congress to help more homeless kids. Shameful. I'll let their words speak for this atrocious form of advocacy.
If HR 32 (The Homeless Children and Youth Act) were enacted, children who are now defined as homeless, including those who are fleeing domestic violence, living in dangerous situations, or literally sleeping outside, would be forced to compete for scarce resources with millions more who have the advantage of a more stable apartment or house to sleep in every night.
As NAEHCY Policy Director Barbara so adamantly points out, "Defining a problem by the funding currently available to address it is nonsensical. Congress needs to know who and how many people are without housing in order to devise effective solutions.  A narrow definition of homelessness does nothing to reduce the number of people living without their own homes. It simply gives policymakers an unrealistic view of the scope of the problem.

I'd be even more caustic. Continuing a failed policy of counting homeless people, spending money and volunteer/staff time each year to do so, to produce the absolutely bogus AHAR (Annual Homeless Assessment Report...or the capital of Ahar County, East Azerbaijan Province, Iran) is irrational and unconscionable. Furthermore, the last thing we need to do is confuse Congress on matters of poverty.
... HR 32, if enacted, would expand the definition of homelessness to include an additional 2,351,762 low-income housed children each year, who, although their housing may be poor, are not literally homeless (my underline).  
 The esteemed Barbara Duffield rebuts, "H.R. 32, will not require communities to spend HUD funding on doubled-up and motel families and youth. It simply gives them the flexibility to do so when these families and youth need HUD homeless services...Vulnerability determinations must be done on a local, individual basis, after gathering as many facts as possible. Congress is not in a position to decide the relative vulnerability of individual children and adults in communities across the county."

My good friend Pat LaMarche took a swing at this issue in her Christmas HufPo column following the testimony of 6 supremely courageous and articulate kids who testified to Congress about the agony of homelessness (the non-HUD kind). She gets it. She ran a shelter for a few years.

And I'd add that the time and energy we've spent on this issue is time wasted. Not so much for policy-wonks but for families and youth being excluded from possibly getting emergency assistance. How can you look a kid or a desperate parent in the face and say they're not homeless enough...when they are as homeless as the next person, and possibly suffering abuse, among other common experiences? Not "literally homeless"? That reference pushes me over the edge. When do we get to splitting hairs over who's homeless, more homeless, most homeless? I can't even go there. Nor should they.

Had I not just witnessed the debacle between The Susan G. Komen Foundation and Planned Parenthood, I'd think our advocacy wars were unusual. In case you missed it, here's the powerful and poignant response on this life-threatening issue as courageously and vociferously offered by Linda, a woman whose own experience with breast cancer gives her the right to weigh in, which she did. Catch her last line. 

I'll be looking for an outraged parent or kid who is willing to go on record like Linda did about the atrocious behavior of "advocates" and public officials that think our pathetic level of assistance directed to the crisis of homelessness is enough. But until then, I'll close with some thoughts of my own...
To pretend that you have any comprehension of the anguish, agony and hopelessness of homelessness is absolute bull shit. To shy away from a united and forceful campaign to begin to relieve millions of people in this country from the sufferings of homelessness makes me disregard your efforts entirely.
If you wish to act upon this outrage, check the HEAR US website, Compassion Epidemic, Hot Alert!

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Storm Cloud Darkens for Homeless Children


Ever since I became aware of homelessness, from the early 1980s, I figured it was, at least in some part, about money. 

I knew people didn’t care much for the homeless men and women being seen more and more on streets of cities across the country. Media depictions of these frightening bedraggled “street people” began the perhaps inadvertent campaign to demonize people without homes. It worked. If you ask people to describe homeless persons, you’ll see what I mean.

My memory goes back to Mitch Snyder, a DC activist who took up the issue, going head-to-head with federal officials and eventually backing President Reagan into a corner as Snyder fasted almost to death on the street across from the White House to get the government to do something. They did, passing the McKinney Act in 1987. I met Mitch. His determination and conviction impressed me. I became involved with advocacy along with running shelters, an essential combination, I believe.

Back then, homeless adults were the visible and predominant manifestation of homelessness. At the human service agency where I worked, we began to see a few families, but they were rare. As time passed, into the 90s, families trickled into our emergency overnight shelter. Looking back, we didn’t do enough for the families, but we tried our best to make sure they had shelter, pathetic as our efforts were.

After the drastic changes to our dysfunctional welfare system, some of us feared the worst for the families too shattered to move into self-sufficiency. But the economy was somewhat functional, and things didn’t appear as dreadful as some of us thought, although signs were brewing like storm clouds.

Throughout the 1990s, we began to notice different—invisible—forms of homelessness. Sure, we were seeing more families in our shelters, but when we (IL Coalition to End Homelessness) examined the issue of homeless families staying in motels in the Chicagoland area, we were shocked. Across the 8 collar counties, families were scattered in no-tell-motels and some of the less-expensive chains.  We released a report on what we found. It was a storm warning. No one heeded it. 

Instead, Congress went about quietly tinkering with programs serving homeless persons. They made it harder to qualify for subsidized housing, and reduced HUD’s budget dramatically and tragically. They funded software to track and count homeless people (only those deemed “chronic”) and reshaped how communities organized to address homelessness into mostly dysfunctional “Continuum of Care” alliances. 

Anti-welfare sentiments contaminated programs designed to serve people in poverty. Bad credit became a good reason to deny people housing or a job. Prisons, overflowing, turned people out to a world where the label “ex con” meant less than human. 

One bright spot…. After considerable advocacy, the McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Act passed in 2001, implemented in 2002, guiding schools education for homeless children and youth. It’s been an uphill climb, but progress is being made, despite some recalcitrant educators.
Then the seismic changes of the 21st century hit. And when the economy nose-dived in 2008, the first group to explode on the poverty and homelessness scene was families and young people (without parent/guardians).  No surprise. 

And along the way, the National Alliance to End Homelessness (NAEH) received sizable funding to provide technical assistance for HUD. Benign as that sounds, it ties NAEH to HUD. So this “advocacy” group becomes, in my opinion, a lapdog to the agency that needs a dog nipping at their heels, not drooling in their lap. In the process, NAEH has become a vehement opponent of expanding the homelessness definition to include families and kids. 

One obvious result of this “partnership,” HUD’s homelessness numbers are astoundingly low, NAEH proudly reported in June. Gee. Not bad for a country in the economic sewer. Not real, but let’s not confuse reality and glee.

The US Department of Education reports almost 1 million identified (likely that many more unidentified) homeless students. It doesn't include younger ones--our Littlest Nomads.  Here are the stats. Read ‘em and weep for the million kids who have no home. If watching TV is something you’d rather do than read dry, depressing government reports, this link connects you with the recent CBS 60 Minutes account about families living in their cars. Not to be denied—the reality that millions of kids, some in families and some on their own, are homeless in America. If you're so inclined, take in 4 minutes of kids talking on our HEAR US documentary, My Own Four Walls.

Seems to me it’s time for NAEH to resign as voice of homeless persons. Conflict of interest has gotten in their way. The kids at Thursday’s hearing will make that perfectly clear. It remains to be seen who will listen and care.


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Michigan Tourism Slogan--the Canary in the Coal Mine?

Michigan, with their miles of dunes along miles of Lake Michigan and Chicago area pols hot-footing it down sandy sidewalks in picturesque vacation getaways, spends good money for their catchy new tourism slogans, now Pure Michigan, from Great Lakes, Great Times, and Say Yes to Michigan....

No matter, because the more popular signs in the beleaguered Wolverine State, tarnished by the tanking of the auto business and what was left of commerce, now feature for sale by owner, for rent, and closed signs.  Michigan can teach us something. They've increased their tourism budget to attract people to the once-popular vacation land. (One would wonder who's getting all the money...but that's another topic for another blogger I hope.)

Sadly, the state once known for beaches, tulips and cherries is now close to dying. Because the symptoms are little—as in kids—few pay attention. While nationally the number of kids in poverty (household income $22,000 or less) has reached an alarming (to some of us) 25% according to Kids Count 2011, the number of kids in Michigan living in poverty soared 64%, with 75,000 kids added to the already dismayingly high numbers, which includes over 20,000 homeless children.

Take a look at the years since I've been on the road under the HEAR US banner--since November 2005. Way back then MI had 459,000 kids living in poverty. The number now is 520,000 (for 2009, the latest data reported). That's quite an increase.

I'm not a number cruncher, but the availability of detailed data in this respected report got my attention:

  • 249,000 kids in extreme poverty (that's 1/2 the measly, inadequate poverty rate). 

  • 709,000 kids living in households spending more than the acceptable amount of 30% on housing

  • 735,401 kids getting free or reduced lunch

  • 340,169 babies and toddlers (0-4) receiving WIC (Women, Infants and Children). 


Enough data. Look up your own state. Get locally appalled.

(This is where the rabid nay-sayers chime in and say women shouldn't have babies. We should cut people off the benefit trough and let them fend for themselves. Stick a sock in it.)


Folks up in MI aren't just sitting around pining (bad pun) about these problems. The MI League for Human Services offers suggestions:

Here in Michigan we should focus our attention on:
  • Expanding programs, such job training and postsecondary education for unemployed and low-income parents and the Earned Income Tax Credit to supplement low wages; these programs promote economic success for families.

  • Implementing programs and disbursing funds that help more families negotiate the foreclosure process; Michigan has $498 million in federal funds to help families in foreclosure.

  • Enacting the reforms, such as including part-time workers, to the unemployment system that would recognize the changes in the world of work and bring another $139 million of federal funding into the state.
    – Jane Zehnder-Merrell


Yeah. That's gonna happen with Gov. Snyder whacking away at anything that resembles human services.

For those applauding Guv Ax-Assistance, let me point out the hard truth. Ignore human needs today and pay more tomorrow. It's a lesson that needs to become the new Michigan slogan.

I'm so outraged about this and every other state's skyrocketing poverty I hardly know what to say or do. I can cry for the kids, but that won't help. So the small band of us working hard to make sure kids get an education, even if they don't have homes, will continue our efforts.

Not to get all scriptural, but The poor shall inherit the earth comes to mind. Hmmm. That makes a great slogan for MI tourism. Wonder what they'd be willing to pay me?

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It Really Is About the Children

These young children enjoyed the book Sarah gave them.
About 15 years ago, my friend, Pat Van Doren, started a project, It's About the Children.  Pat and her effort are now part of HEAR US Inc., our unconventional effort to prick the nation's conscience about the invisible homeless children and youth population.

Recently I've traveled coast-to-coast, filming for our new Littlest Nomads project. We're trying to sound the alarm about the hundreds of thousands (millions?) of little babies and toddlers growing up without a home during their most important time of development.

Sarah Benjamin, a McKinney-Vento funded homeless early childhood teacher and advocate from Long Island took me around to families in her program willing to let me "invade" with my camera. These kids, whose families had experienced various forms of homelessness (doubled-up, in motels, in shelters), benefited immensely by once a week "home" visits from Sarah and her colleagues. Despite high mobility, families had a strong link and continually received valuable resources, guidance and support to keep them involved in their toddlers' vital development. Witnessing the interaction between Sarah and the families touched my heart!

On an entirely different, disturbing level was the recent report of no increase of homeless persons during this brutal recession. Disturbing? You betcha! The National Alliance to End Homelessness reviewed the Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR) that Congress receives from HUD. I dunno. Leading the NAEH press release with No Increase In Homelessness Despite the Recession strikes me as a tad, um, delusional.

I've never had much use for the AHAR-generating Point-in-Time counts, the late-January best-faith effort to enumerate homeless persons in communities receiving HUD funding. One reason--they tend to totally overlook the invisible homeless family and youth population. And they ignore the many communities not receiving HUD funding. Even the Government Accounting Office took issue with these reports and related topics last year, citing rampant confusion in HUD's efforts.

NAEH staff, HUD and the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness,
Congress and our President should be made to listen to this traumatized
baby wailing on this church floor (aka homeless shelter of the night).
Congress gets AHAR and feels "good" about HUD's progress. NAEH touting HUD's success is, in my humble opinion, disingenuous at best.


Homelessness--for adults and children--is traumatic and not acceptable. And the half-ass way this nation has been pretending to address it--the McKinney-Vento Act of 1987 signed into law 24 years ago--the abysmally under-funded, discombobulated, bamboozling "approach" to "ending homelessness," is a travesty at best.

Whatever M-V success--and some has occurred--is commendable. But don't think that these accomplishments have reached coast-to-coast or in any way solved the problem. And for every family or individual who gets the well-intentioned, sincere help returning to a place to call home, or gets an education, countless others fall into the vortex.

Homeless programs are an easy target for the ruthless budget-balancing-bobble-heads wanting to rob from the poor and give to the rich. But it doesn't have to be that way. 
I invite--no, urge--you to join me and tens of thousands of like-minded concerned Americans to urge President Obama to take a stand that will protect our vulnerable infants, children, elders, and others from the otherwise inevitable budget slashing. Co-sign Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) letter.
Seems to me the message Pat Van Doren created years ago is even more essential today. It's About the Children...or we'll all be sorry.

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Homeless Kids of All Ages Thrown Under the Budget-Busting Bus

The longer I stayed to film at First Place Kids Center in Eugene, OR, the more furious I got. Nothing about this center's pending closing makes any sense. But what does nowadays?

If you think budget cut talk is a bunch of hype, think again. I hear and see worthy efforts being stymied or slashed to death, as is this kids' center, everywhere I turn. The carnage hits all age brackets and all on the poverty spectrum. My bias--it's the little kids that have the most to lose. That's certainly the case for Eugene's "littlest nomads" without this first-class daycare program.

The kids lose. They're in the most crucial development stage of their life. Stimuli, learning opportunities, socialization, nutrition, structure, stability...all of this and more are what they need lots of, in a safe, clean environment. Sorry, despite best effort of parents and shelters, those environments usually lack what these kids need.

Parents lose. Ever try to look for a job or housing with a 3-year-old? Do you feel guilty when you can't provide a decent meal, clean diapers, or just some quality time with your little one? Have you ever spent a rainy, chilly day in a beater-car with your little one(s)? I'll stop here. You get the idea.

We lose. When kids show up to school, they should be school-ready. But kids don't become school-ready magically. It takes loving effort--lots of it--like what I saw at the Kids Center (1-min. video I shot). When kids aren't school ready, their chances of success--at school and life--diminish. You can figure what happens then.

I'd like to be an optimist, but these are not the days for Pollyanna. These are days for Diane the Fire-breathing Dragon. The daily litany of drastic cuts on local, state and federal levels targeting these kids, and the rest makes me agree with my friend Pat LaMarche who penned a powerful HuffPo piece about politicians' contempt for the poor. I can't figure another way to take this. You can tell me if Pat/I are wrong.

Seems to me that we should have been paying closer attention to the riots in Egypt. The injustice they were fighting against, the have-lots' contempt for the poor, is the same thing we're seeing here. The difference--we elected these contemptible hypocrites. You can figure out what needs to be done....

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Their Playground--and Home--Gone

The parking lot was their playground. Now it's gone, thanks to an apparent deal between the Congressman, Georgia's majority Senate leader and an assumedly hapless mope.

The Oglethorpe Inn, off the exit ramp in the decimated carpet industry town of Calhoun, GA, is like one of thousands of nondescript motels peeking at our nation's Interstate highway system. Gordon County, sitting in northwest Georgia, where 1 in 10 school children are reported to be homeless, has no shelter for those without. So the 2-story motel became "home" for about 80 people who lost the keys to their own places.

And now the kids and their families are forced to involuntarily check out of their 12' x12' abodes to search for a safe place to sleep, do homework, play, and keep their stuff. Good luck with that.

According to an Atlanta Journal Constitution story, the previous owners of the motel, a partnership between the area's congressman and the state's lead Republican senator, Tich Hospitality, took out a $2.2 mil loan to buy and rehab the motel, but payments apparently stopped and they turned over ownership to Mr. Edens. The local bank is suing the legislators for, ahem, nonpayment.

If Mr. Edens is the same guy we heard about while we were in Calhoun a couple weeks ago, he was trying to help "guests" of his motel according to Shawn, one of the guys staying there. Shawn spoke of kindnesses shown to people who couldn't always pay on time. That was before Mr. Edens disappeared like a Wisconsin Democratic lawmaker.

While Pat and I were parked outside the Oglethorpe, I noticed several kids playing in the parking lot. Hmmm. Not vacation time. Talking to Shawn and Dan, two guys who know homelessness firsthand, they confirmed that several homeless families lived in the motel, along with a bunch of single adults.

Kids can adapt to many circumstances. Resilience is a good thing. Testing that resilience, forcing them to move yet again, to leave their playmates in this inadvertent community, might be pushing it. Worse yet, when the community has no shelter, it can only get very ugly for the kids and adults.

Seems to me the assumedly well-off legislators who may have profited by their seemingly sleazy dealings could step up and put a roof over the heads of their again-displaced constituents. That might assure votes in the next election.

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Could It Be?

As the ever-growing ranks of homeless children and youth continue the tragic upwards climb, some glimmers of hope need to be nurtured, much like the damp kindling in a campfire.

Last month, from what I imagine to be the dark DC basement where the Government Accounting Office (GAO) probably operates, a hugely-significant report was issued. This document validated what many of us have been saying for years--that the too-narrow definition of "homeless" confuses Congress, and worse, keeps too many families, youth and individuals from getting the life-saving help they need.

Vindication isn't what we're after, though I'd have to admit it feels good. Some of the so-called (and unnamed in this post anyhow, but look in my previous posts if you're curious) national advocacy groups had fought a change of definition. One Senate staffer told me it would "open a floodgate" if we increased the number of homeless people by changing the definition to what I and others believe is reality. We're not there yet--but having an official government publication on our side helps.

The other glimmer of hope comes from an unlikely place--Congress. The newly-formed Congressional Caucus on Homelessness has the potential to generate more comprehensive discussion, perhaps leading to action, on this long-ignored issue afflicting millions in our country.

One of the caucus chairs, my Congresswoman, Judy Biggert, recently spoke at the premiere screening of "Homeless: Motel Kids in Orange County," a new documentary airing on 7/26 on HBO. As the title suggests, the richest county in the country has kids, with their families, living in motels. I previewed the film and, despite my vast experiences with families in motels, I was aghast at what I saw.

At the DC screening the other night, Judy Biggert addressed the bipartisan, diverse audience assembled. Her remarks pave the way for progress on this solvable plight. Maybe I'm reading too much into her comments,
"...join me in sharing our passion with others, and pushing Congress to redouble its efforts to ensure that homeless kids have access to secure, stable housing and the same educational opportunities that millions of Americans take for granted."
What can you do? A few things quickly and easily:


Seems to me, given the unprecedented gridlock gridding and locking immobilizing our national policymakers, that perhaps our hopes rest in the little children, leading the adults to realize that if we don't do something to change our destructive trajectory we're doomed.

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Tree Houses vs. No Houses: Is it Right?

I spent the July 4th holiday at a parade like countless other Americans. Instead of sitting on the sidelines, which I don't do well, I volunteered to take pix for my sister and brother-in-law's builder who wanted their 54 Chevy (or do I need to say Chevrolet?!) to pull his float. It was a beautiful day. The town of Blowing Rock, NC, quaint and vibrant, had people lining the streets, in some places 10-deep, to see this modest parade. Yet I was troubled....

First off, the white-faced crowd belies the reality of multiracial America. Where were people of color?

Most ironic for me, however, was the tree-house. Me, the voice in the wind on behalf of children without houses, accompanying a well-built domicile that will land in a stately tree in the builder's backyard, an instant mecca for neighborhood kids. I'm not begrudging these kids their house, but I wonder what it will take to make sure all kids in America have a house, a secure modest place, to put their heads at night?

The latest grossly understated homeless government figures on the plight of homeless children, teens and adults reminds me of the pathetic attempts by BP to mask the dreadful reality of how much oil spills from the gushing Gulf well. Well, it's not so bad. Like hell. Even 1 family is too many. Millions--unacceptable.

The Obama administration just released "Opening Doors," a revised plan (pdf) on addressing skyrocketing homelessness, and they at least mention families, albeit minimizing the quantity that lack a place to call home. Furthermore, the resources to carry out the plan, well, let's say we'll have to wait and see. But if your family was the one experiencing homelessness, a wait-and-see attitude would be impossible. Outrage, yes. Patience, no.

Millions of kids this summer are spending their time dreading each day instead of splashing around in a cool pool. Their parents struggle for survival, and the kids pick up on that, absorbing anxiety instead of enjoying childhood. Night-by-night "plans" of where to sleep, day-by-day agendas of where to hang out, worrying that "back to school" time will be a battle because of a lack of permanent address. More and more kids are traumatized by homelessness and poverty...and some kids, by virtue of birth and "luck," will have a place to call home, and a refuge in a tree to boot.

Seems to me that strengthening the human infrastructure of America should be the first task on our national agenda. Spending our nation's dwindling resources destroying countries and killing in the name of peace haven't proven effective for them or us. And it makes a lousy excuse that fails to explain why some kids have tree-houses and some have no houses.

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Homeless Kids...As Ignored as Dead Birds...

Step over. Walk around. Don't look. Forget about. 

Dead birds don't merit much attention except by bird-lovers. That's kinda the same way homeless kids tend to be treated. I'm a homeless-kid-lover. And stepping over, walking around, not looking or forgetting about homeless children in Las Cruces, NM, or elsewhere, is not an option. I've long written about this tragic travesty.

My ire got raised as I read this Las Cruces Bulletin article about the long-vacated Las Cruces family shelter now being converted into a children crisis center. Let me say straight up that I think every community should have a safe place for young (and older) children to go when they are in danger. But...

...the vacant building that for 4 years sat vacant on the campus of the Community of Hope used to house homeless families. My first visit to Las Cruces, a pleasant community of about 80,000 on the south end of New Mexico, had me tethered to their shelter by way of extension cord. I spent time inside, talking with families, interviewing kids for "My Own Four Walls," the now-popular HEAR US series of documentaries (DVD, $40).

Las Cruces has no other family shelter. Families in crisis can go to the Rescue Mission across the street, but it's a tough choice, for too many reasons to discuss in limited space. As a parent of homeless kids, you have to decide if this risk is worth it. And often parents in crisis don't make the best choices. Neither do I. And sometimes we fail to make sure people in crisis have adequate options. Then we're disappointed at their decisions.

When I first met LC Mayor Ken last year, he didn't know that his community's only shelter for families was shuttered. He was pretty upset about not being told. We've talked since then and he seems genuinely concerned. 

Which gets me back to the dead bird analogy. Do we step over, walk around, not look or forget about homeless kids in Las Cruces and across the country? They're not birds, worthy creatures that birds are. These are kids, and parents (some flawed, some not), that seem to get less attention than dead birds.

Seems to me we should put some of our country's misguided passions into something that counts. Making sure families in crisis have a safe place to go, and adequate supports to get them back on their feet, would be a good place to start. With over 1.5 million kids, including hundreds of thousands under the age of 5, we've got our work cut out for us, unless we want to wait and do the human version of scraping these kids off our streets.   

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Help Wanted: Powerful Lobbyists Needed

I know I'm getting desperate when I start thinking about hiring powerful lobbyists to help homeless children and youth. I'm just lacking a few hundred thou to pay them. And I'm a little short on cash for campaign donations too.

Not that the current intrepid team of homeless children advocates isn't working tremendously hard, but they just don't have the clout to turn this country's "Titanic-like" approach to homelessness around in time to save the kids, including a horrendous number of babies and toddlers, who are getting brutalized by homelessness and poverty. Yes, this current administration is a tad bit better when it comes to at least acknowledging this issue, but they're too busy on other efforts. In the meantime, homeless kids slip through Grand Canyon-sized cracks in our all but shredded safety network.

What motivates me? I've talked to so many amazing kids and parents on my journeys across this country. I carry their faces with me, hearing their voices pleading for help, wanting a chance to succeed.

Picture a big mob scene, with determined, passionate, desperate people crowded together. Then put a bunch of little kids into the mix. When the crowd panics and scatters, the kids get crushed. That's sort of what's happening.

In true DC fashion, I've seen a turn-around, with former "anti-homeless kids" advocacy organizations now proclaiming the urgent need to do something about this tragic issue. Yes, more money is being allocated to homelessness, but it's way too little, way too late, and way too slow getting disbursed. Everywhere I go I hear about the HPRP (Homelessness Prevention Rapid Re-housing) funds that are not beginning to make a dent, or the frustrations of a weak distribution network that makes it hard to get the money on the streets in a timely manner.

Tillie, my turtle-like RV, and I will be heading to DC next week. We're going to screen our new documentary on homeless families, "on the edge," with a few select audiences. And I'll sit down with key legislators to talk about the need to pass an even stronger, better funded, homeless education bill. 

You can join the "fun" by signing our petition to asking for increased funding for homeless students' education. Rest assured that this issue gets almost no attention by beleaguered lawmakers for reasons we can all figure out. That's where you come in. Sign and share this simple petition--the current way to communicate with elected officials. (WE WANT 1,000 SIGNATURES. We have almost 200. LET'S GET GOING!!!)
Seems to me that it's far too easy to dismiss the lobbyist-less homeless kids and families that need attention. I guess that's why I feel the need to go to tell lawmakers that homeless kids count, and their count is soaring. I'd love to have you with me, with your petitions paving the way like a plow on a muddy field.

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Poverty and Homelessness: Call It What It Is!

A family having "hard times" (translation, homeless because they lost their housing due to hardship) in Starkville, MS was taken in by a mother who understood what "hard times" does to a family, as she was not far from that pernicious condition. On Monday, Dec. 28, in Starkville, a fire rooted in poverty and overcrowded living space took their lives, 3 women and 6 small children.

Having known "hard times," India Williams, the 25-year-old mother of 3 small children, squeezed the other 2 women and 3 children into her humble apartment because they needed a place to stay. I'm not sure of the exact circumstances, but having seen this tragic story unfold countless times, I would guess that a domestic disturbance, money problems, and/or neighborhood violence caused the loss of housing.

The fire that took their lives, sadly, is not unlike a mostly unnoticed nationwide house fire epidemic (certainly getting less attention than H1N1), as winter's wrath has frozen even Florida. The Red Cross reports a 200% increase in house fires in this country, and utility shut-offs cause a good number of those fires as impoverished and desperately cold households turn to unsafe methods to stay warm. (Does your Red Cross do more than put house fire survivors in a motel for just a few days? Enlighten me.)

I've noticed an interesting, and revealing, phenomenon when it comes to news stories about these tragedies. "Hard times" is a common term. The Tulsa World just ran a story with the headline "Tough Times" that described poverty among families in the OK state. The Denver Post just ran a superb feature on CO childhood poverty, people "trying to get by."

"Hard times," "tough times," "trying to get by," are euphemisms for abject poverty and homelessness. I want to call it what it is so thick-headed legislators and policymakers get a clue. Poverty causes a dreadful ripple effect through all communities. It costs more to maintain poverty than it does to holistically address it.

So HEAR US is launching a campaign, "Up the Food Chain," to challenge mayors to look at hard times for what it is--poverty. We're setting up a simple way for people to petition mayors to go up the "food chain" to urge legislators on state and national levels to seriously address poverty. We're targeting communities where poverty-related house fires occur, hoping to in some small way make sense out of these tragedies.

Why mayors? Well, the US Conference of Mayors is an influential body, and they have ties--formal and not--to other politicians. Petitions get mayors' attention, as demonstrated with the successful campaign HEAR US launched in Grand Junction, CO that improved daytime options for homeless families otherwise left out in the cold.

Seems to me that it's time to put significant energy--or at least a few keyboard clicks--into something worthwhile, reducing hard times, before we all get to know first-hand what it means to experience hard times. I urge you to join our effort, share this campaign, and do what you can in your community to make lives of homeless children, families living in poverty, and those having hard times just a little easier. We'll all be better for it.
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