Monthly Archives: August 2014
Haircuts Can Be A Real Game Changer
“If we all do one random act of kindness daily, we just might set the world in the right direction.”
A high-end New York hair stylist spends his Sundays (and only day off) roaming the city streets offering haircuts to those in need. Mark Bustos, a stylist at the famous Three Squares Studio has been giving free haircuts since May 2012 when he visited his family’s native Philippines and rented a barber chair to give haircuts to underprivileged children. The experience was so empowering that he’s replicated his free services in Jamaica, Costa Rica, and here in Los Angeles offering food to his new clients along the way.
Mark has spent his Sundays approaching the homeless and needy in Jamaica, Costa Rica and N.Y.C. with one phrase: “I want to do something nice for you today.”
Photo courtesy of Mark Bustos. Instagram: @markbustos
It’s evident that he gives his whole…
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Shelter
Be sure to read the comments section 🙂
I’m sleeping in church tonight, in the back of our education building, in a room that once was used for one of our adult Sunday School classes, but now mostly functions as storage. Three families who are homeless are in the other rooms which open onto the back hallway. Well, I think two of the families are still in the next room watching some sort of dramatic adventure movie, playing air hockey, and otherwise unwinding at the end of the week. At least that is what the noise coming through the wall would indicate. The couple with the four children, all under the age of 4, seems to have gone to sleep. I don’t blame them.
I remember being in a similar place over 20 years ago in Portland, Oregon. I went to college in Portland in the early 1990s, when activism through community service was becoming a thing for…
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Smart Phone Access
Yesterday is the first time I got to view my blog over a smart phone and I just have one tip: To view the full page, you will have to scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page and touch “view full page” (or something close to that). That way, you can see the page as it appears on a computer and it is easier to navigate.
Bureaucracy, housing for cars and legalize sleep!
“I just wanted to shake your hand. Your Bill, a homeless advocate, right?” — A young lady at Catholic Ladies Food Locker in Chico.
We share warm smiles and a hearty handshake. I ask, “Do you follow me on Facebook?”
“I know you from the Greater Chico Homeless Task Force. I went a few times and found it ineffectual. The real work is being done directly on the streets.”
I replied, “It sure is and thank you for recognizing this. I don’t go to the GCHTF anymore either. I would add bureaucracy to what you said.”
I invited at least ten people in 2013 when I participated in all the meetings. They all backed away for similar reasons, most after one or two meetings.
I returned after a six month hiatus for two meetings and have decided to no longer participate in this forum.
More people need to have the…
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Nonprofit Group Turns Bus Into a Bathroom for the Homeless
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A nonprofit group is taking a novel approach to helping the homeless in San Francisco with a new bus that allows them to take a shower.
The former public transit bus has been outfitted with two full private bathrooms and offers hot showers, clean toilets, shampoo, soap and towels free of charge. The founder of the nonprofit Lava Mae mobile shower bus said she wanted to return a sense of dignity to those living on the streets.
“If you’re homeless, you’re living on the streets and you’re filthy, you’re trying to improve your circumstances, but you can’t interview for a job, you can’t apply for housing and you get disconnected from your sense of humanity,” Doniece Sandoval said. “So a shower just in of itself is amazing for people.”
Lava Mae says the bus is mobile, allowing it to reach homeless people scattered throughout the city…
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Tamworth student lands media job following experience making homeless film
Tamworth student James Wood has landed a coveted apprenticeship working for two media companies – thanks to his involvement in a film aimed at tackling homelessness.
18-year-old James was at the Landau Forte Academy Sixth Form Centre and was looking for work in the media, film and TV industry – applying for work experience and media courses.
Then earlier this year, the Tamworth Homeless Education Programme (THEP) put out the call for young people to volunteer their talents to help create a film to take into the borough’s schools to spread the homelessness prevention message.
THEP is a Tamworth Borough Council initiative which works with Tamworth schools and other organisations to help prevent homelessness. The film was created to enhance the work already being done in schools with Year Six classes across the borough.
James was one of the talented young people who responded to the call, and worked with…
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Homeless Man Tearfully Watches As Police Destroy His Shelter
Homeless, and now shelterless. When will the inhumanity end?
By Robbie Couch published by The Huffington Post:
Sam had just one request for police about to destroy the makeshift shelter in the woods he’d built: “Can I watch?”
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