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Fade to black – Is government leveraging homeless agencies out of business? Thursday, March, 4, 2010
Is politics the problem or the solution to homelessness? Monday, March, 1, 2010
Why do you hate in the name of God? Monday, February, 22, 2010
Cardboard is for shipping, not for housing Thursday, February, 18, 2010
Throw the bums out—RPG game re homeless should be sent back Monday, February, 15, 2010
Down-sizing affordable housing could increase the reduction of homelessness Thursday, February, 11, 2010
Down and exploited in Beverly Hills - Is TMZ.com exploiters? Monday, February, 8, 2010
Is marriage the solution to poverty or is it the cause of poverty? Saturday, February, 6, 2010
Book on homeless man and Los Angeles journalist is highlighted by Long Beach Book Week Thursday, February, 4, 2010
Why homelessness is decreasing while hunger and poverty is increasing
Tuesday, January, 26, 2010
Sometimes I Feel I’m Earning A Graduate Degree in Homelessness
I remember years ago, when we were trying to set up an emergency housing program for people who have been tragically living on the streets of Los Angeles for years, I had a recent UCLA graduate as a staff person helping me navigate the political waters of Los Angeles.
After months of dealing with the bureaucracy of local jurisdictions, she asked me one late afternoon, “Why is it so hard to set up a program to help people?” All we wanted to do was build a homeless program that would help dozens and dozens of people each night get off the streets and begin a new life. You’d think everyone wanted the same thing.
But no. The rules and regulations, the public hearings, would cause those who were weak to quit. But we were determined to provide a program that transformed lives.
It worked. This facility has been open for more than five years.
Years later, however, I sometimes feel that I’m still on that trek of earning a post graduate degree in homelessness. Sure, I earned a degree in communications and a post graduate degree in cross cultural studies. But that’s elementary school, compared to the school of homelessness and local politics.
It’s tough out there. It’s complicated. It’s complex. It’s the rough and tumble world of local politics.
Yesterday, I was handed a large packet, a proposal to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors that would enhance its General Relief program and help 10,000 homeless people with disabilities to obtain Supplemental Security Income. Basically, enough income to propel people out of homelessness. 10,000 people.
The program is complicated. I’ll need two glasses of wine, and a whole Saturday evening to read the detailed governmental explanations of how this program will reduce homelessness in the Los Angeles County. But it’s worth the sacrifice.
There’s more. This afternoon, I sat through an hour-long Power Point presentation on an amazing research project that studied the costs between a homeless person living on the streets and a homeless person housed.
With the expense of emergency hospital visits, shelters, and law enforcement, our community is paying thousands and thousands of dollars per month for a disabled homeless person to STAY on the streets.
The study revealed that if that same person was housed, that cost would be reduced 79 percent.
For those of us who see reducing homelessness as more than just a compassionate act, but a cost benefit to society, this study is profound. Another graduate school-type of reading.
The bottom line is this… we need to use more than just our hearts to resolve homelessness. We need to utilize our intellect and creative energy.
I’m honored to be a part of a community of professional advocates and providers who are using every ounce of their intellect, compassion, and creative energy to help as many people as possible to overcome extreme poverty, to end their own personal homelessness.
Posted 2010-02-18 16:10:43
Would love help or advice. Thanks, Kathy
Posted 2010-01-29 12:59:10
A Third Wave Of Addressing Homelesness Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Civil Overestimation Friday, April 3, 2009
WWYD? Monday, November 13, 2006
705 Missing Homeless People: Where Did They Go? Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Body Found In A River Near Long Beach
Linda Rosenberg, MSW Juan was a delivery driver, but his health problems were putting him at risk of losing his job. His diabetes was poorly controlled and had caused foot ulcers that made it difficult for him to walk. He also had bipolar disorder, which was not being controlled. When he joined the Working Well program in Harris County, Texas, Juan worked with a case manager to get orthopedic shoes, to receive support in developing a diabetic diet and exercise plan, and to make an appointment with a psychiatrist to bring his mental health condition under control. As a result, Juan was able to continue working full time as a delivery driver and received a raise for exceptional performance (Bohman, Stoner, & Chimera, 2009). Working Well is part of the....
Homelessness Resource Center "I believe that people who are trained in Motivational Interviewing have a different perspective on building relationships. Many people are trained to view clients in a paternalistic manner, like they are children. This attitude says that providers always know what is best for a client. This attitude makes us think that we must convince clients that we know what is best for them. In this view, success is measured by the provider’s actions, not the client’s." In the spirit of Motivational Interviewing, Alan Pickett, a Mental Health Outreach Nurse at the Project Outreach Team (PORT) for Washtenaw County Community Mental Health in Ann Arbor, Michigan, does not define success this way. He believes his first task to is to make himse
David J. Jefferson “The prevalent fear of poverty among the educated classes is the worst moral disease from which our civilization suffers.” When William James, ostensible father of American Psychology, penned this line over a century ago, he had embedded the idea in a discussion on religious experience, in which he also extolled the virtues of voluntary poverty. Today, in a totally distinct context, James’ words are imbued with new meaning. Due to economic recession and what many economists have deemed a jobless recovery in contemporary America, people who never before feared poverty—the educated, or middle class—must now confront harsh new realities. The current conditions are like nothing we’ve ever seen. Conspiring myriad circumstances....
Jamie Van Leeuwen When Denver’s Road Home began over four years ago, we never could have anticipated a year like we just had. Who could ever imagine that our economy would shift into a global recession unlike anything the country has experienced since the Great Depression? And yet, in the midst of unparalleled economic shifts, there comes great opportunity. We believe there has never been a more important time for Denver to have a plan to end homelessness. During the past year, our homeless plan has been tested and we expect the coming year will continue to pose new challenges for us. Housing foreclosures, unemployment and funding cutbacks will continue to place new demands on our ten-year plan to end homelessness. As a result, we updated our plan so....
Linda Valverde & General Dogon The authors have lived and worked in Central City East—commonly known as Skid Row—for a combined thirty years. During all of our decades of living in Los Angeles, neither of us had ever heard of gentrification until about five years ago, when we became members of the Los Angeles Community Action Network (LA CAN). Now it seems that gentrification has become a common household word in cities throughout the United States, and nowhere more than downtown Los Angeles. When redevelopment really took off in downtown L.A. in 2002, LA CAN and our allies created five principles for fair redevelopment. We wanted to see our neighborhood revitalized, not gentrified. The principles were....
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