Homelessness

It’s Official! City Of Philadelphia Effectively Ends Veteran Homelessness

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veteransAmanda Froelich – Positive news! On Thursday, city and federal officials announced that homelessness among military veterans has effectively ended. This means that every veteran in the city of Philadelphia who wants or needs housing officially has access to it.

Since August 2013, reports Philadelphia News, 1,390 Philadelphia veterans have been connected to permanent housing. Only 15 remain on the street, and that’s their choice as they “don’t want to be housed,” says the city’s mayor.

At a recent City Hall news conference, Mayor Nutter addressed the remaining veterans living on the streets:

I have a message for each of you who are still out there. We honor your service and your sacrifices. You deserve a home. We won’t give up on you. Continue reading →

Jeff Roberts ~ Over 100,000 Homeless People Have Been Moved Into Homes & It Isn’t Stopping There!

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“As of right now, in just under 4 years, the communities participating in this movement have housed [105,580] of our most vulnerable neighbours, many of whom were at an extremely high risk of dying on our streets, and are now safe in homes of their own.” – Becky Kanis Margiotta, Director, 100,000 Homes Campaign.

HomelessManWhether you live in a major metropolis or a small town, chances are you’ve seen homeless people sleeping or wandering the streets at some point. On those cold and ruthless winter nights I can’t help but feel compassion and misery for anyone who doesn’t have warm food, clothing, or a bed to help ease the sub-zero temperatures.

In Canada alone it is estimated that at least 200,000 experience homelessness in a year. This number is substantiated by an even larger number of homeless people in the United States, coming in at an unsettling 1.7 million. One can’t help but ask ourselves the daunting question, “what can I do to help?”

A Backwards Solution

Enter 100k Homes. Sparked by the belief that conventional homelessness interventions were not working efficiently enough, 100k Homes is bringing a backwards-considered approach to solving the homelessness crisis. Continue reading →

Cities All Over America Are Becoming Extremely Cruel To The Homeless

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EconomicCollapse  May 15 2014

HomelessHave you ever given food to a homeless person?  Well, if you do it again in the future it might be a criminal act depending on where you live.  Right now, there are dozens of major U.S. cities that have already passed laws against feeding the homeless.  As you will read about below, in some areas of the country you can actually be fined hundreds of dollars for just trying to give food to a hungry person.  I know that sounds absolutely insane, but this is what America is turning into.  Communities all over the country are attempting to “clean up the streets” by making it virtually illegal to either be homeless or to help those that are homeless.  Instead of spending more money on programs to assist the homeless, local governments are bulldozing tent cities and giving homeless people one way bus tickets out of town.  We are treating some of the most vulnerable members of our society like human garbage, and it is a national disgrace.

What does it say about our country when we can’t even give a warm sandwich to a desperately hungry person that is sleeping on the streets?  A retired couple down in Florida named Debbie and Chico Jimenez wanted to do something positive for their community during their retirement years, so they started feeding the homeless in Daytona Beach.  But recently the police decided to crack down on their feeding program and slapped everyone involved with a $373 fine…

For the past year, the Jimenezes have set up shop every Wednesday on Manatee Island in Daytona Beach, Fla., where they feed hot dogs, chicken, pasta salad and other BBQ staples to about 100 homeless people, WFTV reported. Handing out meals is just one aspect of the ministry the two founded, Spreading the Word Without Saying a Word, to help people living in poverty.

But on Wednesday, the Jimenezes said that without warning, they and four other volunteers were accosted by police, fined and told that they could be thrown in jail if they continue their program, according to NBC News.

Each of the six was fined $373 and were given 10 days to either pay up or go to court.

“We’re going to court,” Debbie Jimenez, 52, a former auto parts store manager, told NBC News. “The police don’t like it. But how can we turn our backs on the hungry? We can’t.”

Continue reading →

Detoxing The Money Programming

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Zen-Haven June 11 2013

Empathy for the poor and the homeless comes from somewhere, just like with all things, ‘been there… done that’ gives you the feeling of a particular experience. You have felt the disdainful glare… and it makes you tender hearted when the homeless man approaches. No matter that it might be self-caused – you know he longs to feel dignity, and so you offer some money and tell him, “I wish you the very best.” And you mean it.

Last night I was talking with a very wealthy man, listening to his experiences. He told stories about his friends, and these were the oddest stories… so far outside my realm of experience. “Wow, you really know some strange people,” was all I could say. What stood out? The fact that I had never lived that… I had no feeling for it. And I confess… I was grateful.

I have nurtured the belief that a focus on money would take me away from my purpose. So it seems this belief is a personal challenge of mine, and maybe it is yours too. Can we step outside the system’s control, focus on the spiritual, and have plenty of money at the same time? Can we actually be limitless in our expectations?

Denying yourself certain experiences because of the entrapping nature of those experiences is real, and it’s wise. But why money? Why do we see it as entrapping? We’re getting to the point where the renewal is to be manifested, and it wouldn’t hurt to have some to spread around.

So today I’m working to understand the conditioning and programming behind this mindset… the closest I can come to it for myself is ‘sacrifice is divine’.

Who taught me the nobility of sacrifice? Well, I don’t need to ask really. It was the sacrifice of Jesus story that I absorbed in childhood. I didn’t realize that the underbelly was guilt. Do I regret taking those messages to heart? Not at all. They led me to experiences that have increased my understanding.

I’m sure my stories would be as strange sounding to the wealthy as theirs are to me.

I know how it feels to be homeless. I’ve been homeless under the worst of circumstances… pregnant with a 1 ½ year old baby. I didn’t get there through drug addiction or ill behavior… it was inadequate planning, trying to travel on a wing and a prayer. One wing is not enough! But two human angels did help me out of it. I can now teach the wealthy how to help the homeless if they’re interested in knowing.

Read More Here