Recapping Some Points from the President’s Speech

Great recap of President Obama’s speech and what it means to the homeless.

...With Housing and Justice For All

When President Obama spoke on Monday of our nation’s founding creed, that all are created equal, his words resonated deeply with us.

• He spoke of our resolve “that a great nation must care for the vulnerable, and protect its people from life’s worst hazards and misfortune.”

• He described our understanding “that our country cannot succeed when a shrinking few do very well and a growing many barely make it.”

• He reminded us that we will have been “true to our creed when a little girl born into the bleakest poverty knows that she has the same chance to succeed as anybody else, because she is an American; she is free, and she is equal, not just in the eyes of God but also in our own.”

• And perhaps most importantly, he called on each of us to “be a source of hope to the poor, the sick, the marginalized, the…

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Computer App’s for the Homeless. Who knew?

Great help for the homeless with computer access. Going to bookmark this one!

Related articles

• Formerly homeless Jacksonville man now works for affordable housing nonprofit: ‘I slept on the street’ (members.jacksonville.com)
• UW-L student documents stories of homeless (lacrossetribune.com)
• People without homes, not “homeless people” (newstatesman.com)

Career Services for the Homeless

1. Toodledo (Not free)

Helps with planning, getting organized, and staying motivated to achieve a goal.

http://www.toodledo.com

4 stars

Can be used by homeless individuals to organize the job search and stay motivated to achieve their goals.

2. American Red Cross

Useful for finding Red Cross locations for emergency services.

http://app.redcross.org/nss-app/

5 stars

Can be used by homeless individuals to find emergency shelters, food, and other services when needed. 

3. Homeless Reach

http://homelesshelper.us

Helpful for finding housing, transport, legal help, employment, and other services in the community.

5 stars

4. Disaster Alert

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=disasterAlert.PDC

Lets people know if there are any natural disasters on track or occurring at current location.

5 stars

5. Work Smart

An app that helps people manage their career and keep track of their accomplishments.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/worksmart-manage-your-career/id427541999?mt=8

4 stars

Can help homeless individuals stay organized during the job search.

6. Jobfinder

Useful for the job search.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/worksmart-manage-your-career/id427541999?mt=8

3…

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Next Article for Street Beat

I am working on my next article for Street Beat. It is going to be about Homeless Verification. The article will focus on how this requirement of the homeless for some basic services and re-entry into housing has become a “paper maze” that makes it next to impossible for some to get settled into housing or even a shelter. Will be publishing it here, first, when the article is finished.

Related articles

• Living on the Streets No Longer Exceptional in Spain (ipsnews.net)
• Proven Reforms Help Beat Homelessness Even in Tough Times – Bloomberg (bloomberg.com)
• The Homeless Reality (catholiclane.com)

Take Care, Ali. Where ever you are.

Homeless man’s death brings others to action on helping those in their hometown. This one gave me tears. Really well written. — T.J.

Related articles

• My Turn: Why Project Homeless Connect matters (juneauempire.com)
• Helping the homeless in the cold (myfox8.com)
• Advocates: homelessness increases, even as officials numbers decline (trib.com)

No Easy Answer

Ali (aka Alloush) was the kind of homeless man you would find often on the streets of North America: Old, shabby, filthy and shrouded in rumors of his allegedly traumatizing past and mental disorder. Unlike some beggars who many assume to be “lazy” or “faking it”, there is no doubt that Ali—who never asked for a penny—was truly alone in the world.

Ali, the dirty haggard man in brown, slept on the sidewalks and was treated like the harmless stray dog of the neighborhood. (Liked, but mostly passed by without a second thought). I assumed, correctly, that he was taken care of through the charity of those who could help him in any way they could. I knew that had to be so because I couldn’t imagine him having a cent to spend. I took comfort in the thought that people had to be at least feeding him because he…

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We are all Human.

We are all human… great way to have someone wrap their mind around the homeless “problem”.

Related articles

• When it rains, a plastic tarp can be a precious belonging. For us, we hop into a local store for shelter or go have a cup of coffee. Often, that’s not a viable option for homeless people. How would you feel if you were homeless, and it was wet and cold? (jeremyreynalds.wordpress.com)

Bring In Light's Space

“We set out on a course in life, to live it fully by chasing our dreams, supporting our families and we all cherish our friends along the way.

Though often times along our way, tough things happen to some of us, whether it is a wrong turn, a not so good choice, an accident, a traumatic event or a career ending of no-fault of your own.

We all have had “Events” come into our lives that knock the wind out of our sails, we have all hit at least one brick wall at the end of a path and we have all said “Good-Bye” to someone we love and cherish.

Today let us realize our own shortcomings, our own hard luck times and look out in the streets. May you be able to “See” beyond the individual holding a sign, sleeping on a sidewalk, hustling for a dollar or walking…

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Now, I Must Tackle My Clutter Habit

Since it does seem as if a place of my own is in the works and at some point I will be indoors, I must confront a really bad habit of mine. I’m a pack rat. Love to save the paper. All kinds of sentimental junk. And it is all jammed in storage. Guhhhh.

I’m going to have to be strong and cull the pile… don’t want to be tripping over junk in my new place. I have been looking through some books to help me, here is a list of a few:

It’s All Too Much. (the book and workbook) by Peter Walsh

Throw Out 50 Things by Gail Blanke

Winning the Clutter War by Sandra Felton

All very good reads. I wish they had made a class about clutter-busting for those of us in the shelter. It is so important to get into the mindset of keeping your place clean and neat from day one so you can feel like you are in your home and it is comfortable and relaxing.

Here are some blogs that tackle the subject of clutter:

http://innerself.com/content/self-help/behavior-modification/self-help/8325-clutter-busting-your-life-letting-go.html

Here is a blog for those who are living in homes and who want to find ways to give away their excess. (Keeping a pile of clothes in your car and offering them to a homeless person or dropping them off on the street where they can be “found” is a neat idea.)

I think I”ll pitch that clutter buster class to the local homeless shelter (heck, I might even teach it… soon as I clear up my mess).

Related articles

• Time To Get Rid Of The Junk (gibsongirl247.wordpress.com)
• Clutter (imusthavethisthing.wordpress.com)
• How to de-clutter our environment and mind in ways that will bring about a greater sense of balance (eagleman6788.wordpress.com)
• Less Stuff Equals More Calm? How to De-Clutter (news.health.com)
• 2 died trying to escape cluttered Illinois home (kmov.com)

Visiting a homeless tent city in Camden and helping out the residents. One of the many stories of sharing and caring.

A really good read about why many are homeless. Check it out:

Inn-Sights for Today

At face value, the cause of homelessness for most of our clients seems pretty clear – they don’t make enough money to pay their rent and utilities. Many of them have no jobs, or if they do it is a part-time and/or minimum wage job. So what they need to do to stabilize is get a job, or get a better job, or get a second job, right? What could be more simple?

Were it only that easy! In truth, the causes of our clients’ homelessness – and the solutions we have to find in order to overcome them – are both broad and complex. Certainly, there are some who come to us for help who have the abilities to be independent and have been in the past, but simply hit a hard time for various reasons and just need a little help and support until they get back on their…

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Empowerment for the Homeless

I just went to another interview for housing. Things are looking on track and I must say that writing this blog has given me a voice and the ability to stand up for myself. Information is power. I hope those of you who tune in will get ideas and find an advocate in this blog site.

Your heart on your sleeve…

Ever notice how many actors and other creative people were once homeless?  (Check out this list, if you don’t believe me.)

Your heart on your sleeve….