0 Sigh...Homeless Families: They're Everywhere.

Picture a nondescript New England town on a raw, dreary early June day. I stopped at a gas station to get much-needed propane.

As the very clean-cut man read the impossible-to-ignore signage as he filled Tillie's tank he asked me about what I do. I gave him my standard spiel, I used to run a homeless shelter (actually 2). 7 years ago I went on the road to give homeless kids a chance to tell what it was like to be homeless. (Here's a spread in UNCENSORED magazine that I did which gives you a better idea what I'm up to...worth checking out!)


Do you have a brochure? Well, I do, but not something easy to find. (Memo to self, work on that one.)

As I went inside to pay, I handed the guy a Littlest Nomads card, the best I could do without digging deep into Tillie's bowels.

He sighed and told me about a young woman he knows, a single mom with 2 kids, one 10, the other 4. She had been living with her mother but was just kicked out and now she was homeless. She's not a bad kid, he offered as if I needed convincing.

Does the federal government have any help for someone like this family? I sighed. Not an easy answer. He sure didn't want to hear about our campaign to get HUD to improve their definition of homelessness so at least this family would be counted in the annual homeless census that gets reported to Congress.

I opted to tell him the harsh truth: the feds partially fund some shelters, if a community even has them. But most of the time the shelters are full and turn families away. Then parents face tough "choices," aka survival. She might be able to get some help at the local welfare office, I lamely suggested.

He sighed. He said he gave the mom $60 yesterday so she could get a motel room. I sighed when I pictured her dilemma. Where will she get $60 a night for a motel room?

He sighed and thanked me for the info. I sighed and drove away. Then I fumed.

It's bad enough families go through whatever leads up to their homelessness. But shit happens. To "good" families as well as "bad." The real shit happens when families go looking for help.

I have seen and heard what happens, countless times. It's ugly. And it's frustrating because it's happening to more and more families (as well as single adults and unaccompanied youth). The economy stinks. That means while the government piles on the money for bankers and corporations it piles on the misery for those on the bottom of the ever-growing heap.

And presidential candidates pile up the campaign funds, sucking the wind out of media, as stories of suffering and injustice go untold.

Truth be told, it's likely that this family is screwed without some unimaginable intervention. I'd bet that this little town has no shelter. The mom will likely have nowhere to turn. These kids will learn the hard way that they don't count. Sigh.

The one thing you can do to help (besides supporting HEAR US Inc.) is to go to our campaign to get HUD to change their definition of homelessness. It sounds like a strange campaign, but this web site will explain all about it: http://helphomelesskidsnow.org. It also gives you a simple thing to do--to urge your member of Congress to co-sponsor HR 32, the Homeless Children and Youth Act.

Think of this mom and her kids. And millions more like them here in the good ol' US of A. At least this gas station guy did something to help a little bit. I guess that's what it's going to take. Sigh. Growl.

Detail: Sigh...Homeless Families: They're Everywhere.

0 Explain It to Me Like I'm a 4-Year-Old

What would you say to this child if she asked you why she didn't have a home?

She doesn't. Her family is in a shelter--they're "lucky" compared to the countless kids who have a lot tougher surroundings. A conservative estimate is that over 1.5 million kids are homeless in this country.

Family homelessness is getting the short end of the stick from the federal--and probably lots of states--government. For starters, the feds don't recognize the realities of homelessness that most families experience--they're doubled-up, insecurely housed, or precariously staying in motels.

"We don't want to open a floodgate," is the classic Beltway response from those protecting the federal definition of homeless.

OPEN THE FLOODGATE???!!! is my flabbergasted reply.

Of course, this is the same government that has managed to evade any responsibility for the floodgates that opened in New Orleans. I shouldn't think that government and responsibility go hand-in-hand except when the government is laying down the responsibility law to impoverished parents.

As the U.S. economy crumbles--at least for some--it's the families who will find their resources dried up. When that happens, it's a short hop to homelessness. And homeless families rarely have it good. It's a lot easier to get into homelessness than to get out of it.

This little girl is at least in a shelter with her family, being assisted by structured programs and caring staff. We'd like to believe that all cute little kids have the same. But, truth be told, most kids without homes are not in shelters. Many communities have no shelters or their shelters are full.

So, when are we going to get this message across in a way that someone with clout will start to do something about it? Who is going to push this issue--one that holds the well-being of kids like this little girl as central? When are the presidential candidates going to even mention the term "homeless families" in their laundry list of ailments in this land of plenty?

Seems to me that we should paste this picture up on our mirrors and be painfully reminded that this nation, under God, doesn't seem to care what happens to 4-year-old girls, or any poor children and their families....and then take a breath, and realize that each of us has a responsibility to do something about it. Then DO IT!

Detail: Explain It to Me Like I'm a 4-Year-Old

0 New York, New York Could Help Regauge Poverty

Homeless shelters in rural southern New Mexico are rare--or consist of ramshackle trailers gutted to make dorms, like this location outside Deming. Emma, the woman who runs this ministry, says it's not a place for families. But they come anyhow....

A New York movement to change the way poverty is measured could give rise to a long overdue adjustment to how this nation measures poverty. The reassuring message that "only" 12.5% of the population lives in poverty is misleading at best.

The current U.S. Poverty Level is based on the good ol' days--the 1960s. Remember those days?? Gas cost $1 for 4 gallons! Home heating and electric costs were minimal. Housing didn't require 2 incomes. Take a look at this link and decide if you'd be able to survive, much less thrive, at this level.

No president wants to adjust the poverty rate in this country. It just wouldn't look good, "My legacy is poverty statistically doubled during my term of office." Nah, it ain't gonna happen.

Some enlightened economic experts have determined what it takes to survive in this rapidly changing economy, suggesting that doubling the current rate would be more accurate. The independent and brassy mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg, has embraced their concepts.

Shift from bustling NYC to the fringe of the SW United States border to the town of Columbus, NM. This crusty, dusty community of about 1,800 embodies poverty to the limit: at the current rate it shows up at 57%. More realistically it would be 100%, with no visible means of lifting itself out of the poverty pit.

As we were being shown around this area by the school district's homeless liaison, both Laura and I cringed at the thought of anyone being raised here in this shantytown. Hundreds of children walk to an overcrowded school and play on the shade-free dirt roads a mere 3 miles from Mexico.

"Doing without" typically means doing without water, without heat, without a solid structure to come between ravages of weather and your family.

Far too many places like Columbus exist in our still-wealthy country, hidden in the mine-scarred Appalachian hills; in forgotten fringe neighborhoods abutting fast food littered Interstate highways; spilling through the guts of large, medium and small cities; discretely concealed on the edge of glitzy resort communities; and scattered like tumbleweed throughout remote rural areas.

What seems to be lost in the argument is that these neighborhoods are comprised of people--adults and children discarded by the techno-economic monster that devours its own in its greedy pursuit of power and profits. Homelessness is a natural by-product of such inequities. Homelessness is proof that poverty is alive and well in America.

Seems to me that it's time to get the numbers right instead of deluding ourselves that "only" 12.5% are poor. Maybe by channeling 25% of our nation's resources to alleviate poverty and homelessness we'll start to undo decades of neglect that has led to the mess we're in right now. What do our presidential candidates say about this?











Columbus, NM poverty

Detail: New York, New York Could Help Regauge Poverty

0 See, We're Not Kidding!

Maybe homelessness activists can be dismissed as kooks. I'm sure lots of people have heard my rants and dismissed me as a well-intentioned but misguided troublemaker.

Today, a Reuters' story at least touches the agony of families caught up in the wide reaching mortgage scandal. Families, once securely housed, now living in cars. We call that H-O-M-E-L-E-S-S.

The good news--their kids can stay in their same schools if that's desired and feasible. Thanks to the McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Act, homeless kids can stay in their school of origin or attend the school nearest to where they are now staying.

The bad news--this latest spate of homeless families will not find much help in their communities. Homeless shelters are too few and overcrowded. Financial assistance, no matter how well-deserved and desperately needed, is all but dried up. So families who have been through hell and back as they fell into the vortex of the mortgage debacle are SOL.

It's like having a small fire in your house and finding empty fire extinguishers. How did our safety net get so tattered? Did anyone pay attention to the dismantling of housing and emergency assistance over the past 20 years?

In addition to obvious fall-out with this national disaster--and it is a disaster when so many people lose their homes--it doesn't take a PhD to figure out that the kids will be the ones who suffer the most.

Seems to me that it's high time to pay attention to the needs of thousands, if not millions, of kids and their families, some newly-homeless, some have endured this nomadic lifestyle for way too long. Any presidential candidates want to pay attention to this issue?

Detail: See, We're Not Kidding!