Old Annual Homelessness Marathon blog

New & Improved Annual Homelessness Marathon blog

2006-12-26T20:18:00.000-08:00

The Annual Homelessness Marathon now features an all new and improved Annual Homelessness Marathon blog.

Make sure to check it out and bookmark it today. If you have bookmarks or links to this particular blog, please update them to direct to the new blog instead: i.e., homelessness-marathon.blogspot.com

Thank you!

Must-Read Article: Profile of People Living Homeless in VT

2006-12-24T13:39:00.000-08:00

David Gram, an Associated Press Writer for the Vermont Bureau, penned a must-read article profiling people living homeless within the state that helps to illustrate how [h]omelessness is not just an urban problem, here [via Barre - Montpelier Times Argus; Sunday, December 24, 2006].

Read my thoughts and insights on the subject, here [via a diary installment of mine posted to the Green Mountain Daily blog (Sunday, December 24, 2006)].

[cross-posted from Norsehorse's Home Turf, here]

10th Annual Homelessness Marathon

2006-12-24T06:32:00.000-08:00

The Tenth Annual Homelessness Marathon will originate from Fresno, California.

A 14 hour radio broadcast featuring the voices and stories of homeless people from around the U.S. The Homelessness Marathon features live call-ins all night long via a national toll-free number. The Homelessness Marathon is available for free to all non-commercial stations.

The broadcast will start at 7PM(est) on Tuesday, February 20th, and it will end at 9AM(est) on Wednesday, February 21, 2007.

Streaming audio will be available at Pacifica.org

Visit the Annual Homelessness Marathon Website for additional information.

Statement by Jeremy Alderson: Declaration of Principles

2006-10-09T17:14:00.000-07:00

I am the director of the Homelessness Marathon, an annual, live 14-hour radio broadcast that focuses on homelessness and poverty in America (www.homelessnessmarathon.org). Perhaps because my only role in the anti-poverty movement is communicating with the public, it has bothered me for some time that, unless one believes in ten-year-plans and police sweeps, there really isn't anything out there that we can say we all agree to as a movement. So I have drafted the Declaration of Principles below. I know it won't satisfy everyone or maybe even anyone, but I am hoping that it will provide a basis for discussion.

Is such a declaration needed? Does the draft declaration below really express what's right? What changes should be made? I would welcome answers to these questions and many others, including many that I probably haven't even thought of.

We have posted this declaration on the Homelessness Marathon's blog site and we invite people to post their comments there. The blog is at: homelessnessmarathon.blogspot.com

Sincerely,

Jeremy Weir Alderson
Director, Homelessness Marathon

Declaration of Principles
We the undersigned believe that the elimination of poverty is a moral duty for society. We believe that fulfilling this duty makes for a better society. And we believe that there are many ways to fulfill this duty, but that all of them should be guided by these principles:

1. The most severe forms of poverty must be addressed on an emergency
basis.

2. National efforts to eliminate poverty must be funded through the national budget and must focus on changes in the system not in the poor. These changes should include:

A universal living wage and universal health care

A full employment economy.

Investment in public housing and public transportation.

Benefits for the truly needy that truly keep them out of need.

Fair taxes on corporations and wealth.

Recognition of food, shelter, health care and education as the rights of citizens.

3. Within these guidelines, we support a wide variety of approaches to poverty, including those based on charity, personal uplift, supportive services and economic opportunity.

Posted on behalf of Jeremy Alderson, per his request.

Vlog Post: A Cold City

2006-02-17T20:27:00.000-08:00

A moving photograph documentary dealing with homeless life versus college life in Boston, MA.

[via YouTube, here; posted on February 07, 2006, by Ender1]

Vlog Post: Cold Night

2006-02-17T18:49:00.000-08:00

A look at the lives of the homeless.

[via YouTube, here; posted on November 30, 2005, by ucastovia]

Vlog Post: Homeless in Dallas

2006-02-17T12:57:00.000-08:00

John Lunt recently vlogged up a short video clip concerning homelessness as experienced by people living homeless in the City of Dallas, Texas (here):

[via Walking In The Way; via YouTube (on February 16, 2006), here].

[note: vlog = video blog]

Wrapping Up & Closing Down

2006-02-16T06:41:00.000-08:00

Snapshot of The Tabernacle of Truth via the Homelessness Marathon Webcam:

The Tabernacle of Truth is taken down after the end of the 9th Annual Homelessness Marathon broadcast.

Nobody Signs Off from the Annual Homelessness Marathon for Final Time as Director: Retires On-Air in Closing Remarks

2006-02-16T06:06:00.000-08:00

Snapshots of The Tabernacle of Truth via the Homelessness Marathon Webcam:

Just before the end of the broadcast, I called in and got on-air with Nobody for a few moments were we talked about the blog a little.

He mentioned to me that he plans to read it at some point. As such and since he is retiring as director of the marathon, if you are so inclined, make sure to post a comment to this blog post for Jeremy in honor of him and his work over the years.

Final Hour of Broadcast - Upcoming: 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM [ET]

2006-02-16T04:40:00.000-08:00

Short Program: Rural Homelessness
Long Program: A panel of Katrina survivors in Atlanta

*Update*: The panelists for the long program did not show up, so it is open mike time once again.

Snapshots of The Tabernacle of Truth via the Homelessness Marathon Webcam:

Nobody wraps up the last hour of the 9th annaul 14-hour Homelessness Marathon national radio broadcast with an open mike session.

Nobody is joined by a local volunteer and someone else with a camera during the last final minutes.

Discuss what you hear during this hour of the broadcast by posting comments to this blog post.

Upcoming at 7:00 AM [ET]: Long Program

2006-02-16T03:45:00.000-08:00

Who's On the Food Line
Co-Host: Sandra Robertson, executive director, Georgia Citizens Coalition Against Hunger.

Discuss what you hear during this hour of the broadcast by posting comments to this blog post.

6:00 AM [ET] Hour: Long Program

2006-02-16T03:30:00.000-08:00

Snapshot of The Tabernacle of Truth via the Homelessness Marathon Webcam:

Nobody poses the question of God or the Government: Who Do We Turn To?

Joining in on the discussions were co-hosts Rev. Eric Garbison, Open Door Community, Atlanta and, via telephone, Rev. Stephen Burger, Executive Director, Association of Gospel Rescue Missions.

Discuss what you hear during this hour of the broadcast by posting comments to this blog post.

Photographic Evidence: Nobody is Joined During the Broadcast by a VIP Co-host: 5:00 AM - 6:00 AM [ET]

2006-02-16T02:49:00.000-08:00

Snapshots of The Tabernacle of Truth via the Homelessness Marathon Webcam:

Blogging the 9th Annual Homelessness Marathon (2006)

2006-02-16T02:41:00.000-08:00

There are bloggers who have been listening into the 9th Annual Homelessness Marathon 14-hour national radio broadcast and some of these have been blogging about it as well.

One I am aware of is Mary Blacklock (Sometimes life you know it ain't what it seems), whom has posted several posts on her blog about the broadcast.

If you have been listening in, have a blog and have been blogging about it concerning what you have been hearing during the broadcast, post a comment to this blog post and make sure to provide a live link to your blog so we can then check it out.

Nobody Holds Court: Something Is Rotten In Denver

2006-02-16T00:48:00.000-08:00

Snapshot from The Tabernacle of Truth via the Homelessness Marathon Webcam:

During the 4:00 AM [ET] hour of the 9th Annual Homelessness Marathon broadcast, Nobody asks: Has the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless betrayed the homeless people it is supposed to protect?

... Shame on the coalition, ...

Nobody listens and speaks with a final caller during the 4:00 AM [ET] long program.

Discuss what you hear during this hour of the broadcast by posting comments to this blog post.

Homelessness In Literature

2006-02-16T00:25:00.000-08:00

The short pre-taped program at the top of the three o'clock (3:00 AM [EST]) hour this morning featured a compelling reading on homelessness in literature by Hugh Curran, formerly a co-director of a Down East homeless shelter for five years and currently teaching in the Peace Studies Program at the University of Maine in Orono; a slightly longer version of which, had been published within yesterday's (Wednesday, February 15, 2006) edition of the Bangor Daily News (Maine), here.

Reference: earlier post, here (Wednesday, February 15, 2006).

Upcoming at 2:00 AM [ET]: Long Program

2006-02-15T22:26:00.000-08:00

First: A report on what happened to the homeless people of New Orleans when Katrina struck

Guest: Rusty Wirth, outreach worker with Unity for the Homeless of New Orleans.

Second: An open mic session
Topic: Why is there friction between Katrina survivors and people homeless for other reasons?

Discuss what you hear during this hour of the broadcast by posting comments to this blog post.

Upcoming at 1:00 AM [ET]: Long Program

2006-02-15T21:59:00.000-08:00

Losing Their Land: Black Farmers and Homelessness

Guest host: Heather Gray, communications director, Federation of Southern Cooperatives.

Co-Host, Maessha Thomas, staff attorney, Federation of Southern Cooperatives.

*Update*: Snapshot from The Tabernacle of Truth via the Homelessness Marathon Webcam:

Guest host Heather Gray, in the The Tabernacle of Truth, on the phone with co-host Maessha Thomas as well as with Frank Taylor, a farmer from rural Mississippi.

Discuss what you hear during this hour of the broadcast by posting comments to this blog post.

Midnight Hour [ET]

2006-02-15T21:47:00.000-08:00

We are into the midnight hour and its long program of: Bringing Down The House: How cities destroy poor-peoples homes, with Nobody as well as co-Hosts Tom Noel, Director of Public History at the University of Colorado and, Georgia State Legislator "Able Mabel" Thomas, speaking about the lack of affordable housing for those subsisting on little or no income.

Discuss what you hear during this hour of the broadcast by posting comments to this blog post.

Open Thread

2006-02-15T20:27:00.000-08:00

Had meant to get this post up sooner, but have been having trouble with the online streaming feed again and got preoccupied with that; there is goes again, gone that is.

Anyway, part two of the 11:00 PM [ET] long program is on and it is open mic time.

In that spirit, this is an open thread to discuss anything about what you have heard so far or anything else concerning the matters being raised in the broadcast by posting comments and questions to this blog post.

*Update*: Snapshot from The Tabernacle of Truth via the Homelessness Marathon Webcam:

11:00 PM Hour [ET]

2006-02-15T20:07:00.000-08:00

Long Program: Part 1

First: "Where Are They Now?: A report on the Katrina survivors."

Guest: Brad Paul, executive director National Policy and Advocacy Council on Homelessness

Discuss what you hear during the first segment of this hour of the broadcast by posting comments to this blog post.

Upcoming at the 10:00 PM Hour [ET]

2006-02-15T18:27:00.000-08:00

Long Program: Disenfranchisement: How poor people lose the vote

Co-Hosts: Tulin Ozdeger, civil rights staff attorney, National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty; Laughlin McDonald, director, Voting Rights Project, American Civil Liberties Union in Atlanta.

*Update*: Snapshots from The Tabernacle of Truth via the Homelessness Marathon Webcam:

Nobody is joined in ~~the~~ The Tabernacle of Truth by Laughlin McDonald as well as on the phone by Tulin Ozdeger speaking on the subject of voting rights and related matters.

Discuss what you hear during this hour of the broadcast by posting comments to this blog post.

9:00 PM Hour [ET]

2006-02-15T18:02:00.000-08:00

Long Program:

Homelessness In Atlanta

Co-Hosts: Anita Beaty, executive director Metro Atlanta Coalition for the Homeless; Georgia State Senator Vincent Fort.

Nobody aka Jeremy Alderson [and Anita Beaty] are speaking about some of the behind the scenes aspects of homelessness in Atlanta and have just been joined by state senator Vincent Fort.

*Update*: Snapshots from the The Tabernacle of Truth via the Homelessness Marathon Webcam:

Discuss what you hear during this hour of the broadcast by posting comments to this blog post.

Did Somebody Forget About US?

2006-02-15T17:16:00.000-08:00

Had a little problem on this end with the online feed of the broadcast, but have it back, although I missed the intro of the current segment.

On-air right now, as I understand it, Katrina survivors speak out from Mobile, Alabama.

Discuss the what you are hearing and also share your own viewpoint on the subject by posting your comments.

9th Annual Homelessness Marathon is On the Air & Streaming Online

2006-02-15T16:42:00.000-08:00

Call in 7 pm - 9 am EST:

1-877-NOBODY-8 (1-877-662-6398)

If you are homeless: 1-866-LEFTOUT (1-866-533-8688)

Email your questions:
questions@homelessnessmarathon.org

For more information, including where to access the broadcast via online streaming, visit the recently updated Annual Homelessness Marathon Website.

P.S.

Watch live, via the Homelessness Marathon Webcam.

Woody Guthrie and homelessness

2006-02-15T11:37:00.000-08:00

Viewpoint by Hugh Curran, formerly a co-director of a Down East homeless shelter for five years and currently teaching in the Peace Studies Program at the University of Maine in Orono, here [via Bangor Daily News (Maine)].

A slightly shorter version of this article was recorded for broadcasting on WERU Radio and for the "Homelessness Marathon," which will be taking place on Feb 15-16 [via bottom of article].

WERU-FM Community Radio - Bangor, Maine

Homelessness Puzzle Post Moved

2006-02-15T09:30:00.000-08:00

Due to size problems faced with the big size of the flash puzzle box when using IE browser(s), which is not allowing the side-bar column to show in its proper place and down at the bottom of the page instead, I have moved this post to a day nothing else got posted, which will not mess up either the main or archive pages with other posts on them.

In addition, I also changed the size of the pieces to smaller ones and hence the difficulty of the puzzle to being tougher as well as more time consuming to solve, which helps to drive the point home a little better.

The blog post is now available, here (Sunday, January 29, 2006).

By the way, someone posted their own thoughts on the matters raised within the post, check it out.

My apologies for the move or any confusion it may cause.

Poll: Have You Ever Lived Homeless?

2006-02-15T04:29:00.000-08:00

Class Peace

2006-02-14T23:13:00.000-08:00

by Nobody

If there's one thing the right wing is good at it's doublespeak. If you listen to them, throwing desperately poor people off welfare isn't about kicking people when they're down, it's about "Responsibility." A missile capable of wreaking more destruction than has been caused by all of humanity's wars put together is dubbed a "Peacekeeper." And, of course, acts of aggression against a distant country which poses no threat to us are for "Security."

Against this backdrop, it's hardly surprising that any time activists bring up issues of economic justice the right slaps them in the face with accusations that they're fomenting "Class War." That's been a tough argument to unravel because, after all, who's for war? Back when I had a weekly talk show I tried more than one way to respond.

I said that such charges were ridiculous and launched into lengthy explanations why, but lengthy explanations don't have the bite of epithets. Once, I even tried saying that, yes, I was for class war, but only because it was a war of self-defense that had been thrust upon us. I quickly dropped that response, though, because I wasn't comfortable with it. And it was only then, when I had to ask myself just exactly what it was that defined my comfort zone around this issue, that the answer came
to me like the proverbial bolt out of the blue: I know I'm not for class war, because what I stand for is class peace. And what I want to know from those on the right is how they think there can be class peace under the current (worsening) economic circumstances.

How can a mother be at peace when she sleeps in an overcrowded homeless shelter, separated from her son because the rules won't allow them to be together? How can she be at peace when she worries that she or her young daughter may be raped either in the shelter or during the daylight hours when they're forced onto the streets, when she can't take her kids to the clinic for dental care because if they go they'll lose their place in line for a bed, when she sees no future for herself or her
kids, when she sees no way out?

How can a man be at peace when he's ready, willing and able to work but there are no jobs to be found? Or when the only job he can get won't pay him enough to afford shelter, or when the job training program he desperately hopes to get into has a waiting list three years long, or when the only real economic opportunity that presents itself to him requires acts of criminality that make him sick?

How can the housed poor be at peace when every week they're falling farther and farther behind on their bills and the food pantry they depend on to help fill the gaps is running out of supplies earlier every month? How can they be at peace when they have no health insurance, they can't afford school supplies for their kids, and the school authorities can't help them because their budget has run out too? How can they be at peace when the wife has to put up with being groped on a job she can't afford to lose, and the husband has to breathe toxic fumes because there's no other work around?

How can the vanishing middle class be at peace when every day they watch their friends being laid off, losing their pensions and moving overnight from a comfortable lifestyle to dire distress? How can they be at peace when every morning they wonder if this will be the day when their turn comes, or when they have to drive to Canada or Mexico to fill their prescriptions? How can they be at peace when they can no longer afford to help their children with college and free tuition has gone the way of Norman Rockwell? How can they be at peace watching their parents age and worrying that there are no funds to put them anywhere but a state-neglected facility where the patients develop bed sores because there are too few aides to turn them over?

And how, in the end, can the rich be at peace? Don't they, too, have to eat and sleep and raise children? How can they be at peace when they know that the food in their mouths may be tainted because there's no more money for health inspectors or that the person standing next to them on a corner may be carrying a preventable infectious disease? How can they be at peace when they know that they and their kids have to walk down streets where they may be targets for desperate people robbing to survive? And how can they sleep knowing that they themselves are the ones sowing the seeds of misery from one end of the earth to the other?

Will they be soothed by the lullaby of the shills they pay to warble recklessly about class war? How can they be soothed when even the shills aren't soothed? Or are we now asked to believe that being adicted to Oxycontin is a sign of inner peace?

To all of these questions, the right wing has only two answers. There's the smiley-faced answer about how giving more money to people who've already got too much of it will eventually help everybody -- just wait and see. And there's the frowny-faced answer about how what we really need to do is hire more police, build more prisons and invade more countries. But if you look past the little faces, they're not putting an actual plan for class peace on the table.

Why should we listen anymore?

As he is far too busy to do so himself, Annual Homelessness Marathon Director Jeremy Weir Alderson aka Nobody asked me to blog up the above column of his for him.

*Note*: Above photo via Annual Homelessness Marathon Website (7th Annual Homelessness Marathon - 2/25/04), here]

Let The Bums Have A Flop

2006-02-14T21:48:00.000-08:00

by Nobody

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. The reason nothing gets fixed in this country is because the problems are more profitable than the solutions. And it's usually not hard to figure out where the profit lies. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to see that many industries find it's cheaper to pollute than to clean up. And you don't have to be an industrial polluter to see that scientists make more money building rockets than working for peace.

But it's a little harder sometimes to see the profit in homelessness. After all, who makes money off the homeless besides drug dealers and distilleries? Isn't that the cause of the problem, that they all drink and drug too much and, oh yeah, some of them are crazy? No, that's not the cause of the problem, but this myth certainly keeps us from looking at what the causes really are.

Let's start with the bums. Yeah, that's right, let's not call them homeless, let's just call them bums like we did when we were kinder to them. Back in the old days, there used to be flop houses. I grew up in Manhattan, so I know first hand that in the early 60's it used to cost 25 cents for a flop except in the more upscale "Lyons House" where it was fifty cents. I know this because they had their prices displayed
right outside.

Today, Manhattan's flop houses are gone, and I have it on the reliable testimony of a former New York City junkie that the cheapest hotel rooms in the city cost about $35 a night. Even if a couple of people split the room, that still means the price of a bed for a drunk has gone up 70 times in 40 years. That's like a $200-a-month apartment becoming a $14,000-a-month apartment. If sober people had faced hikes like that, even more of them would be on the streets too.

Where did the flop houses go? In city after city they were victims of urban renewal, as were the SRO's (single room occupancy buildings, where you could get a cheap room on a monthly or yearly basis). Why did the flop houses go? Because in city after city the powers that be decided more revenue would be returned to the tax base (i.e. they'd make more money), if the cheap housing was torn down and replaced by office buildings, stadiums and convention centers. Me, I'd have said, "Let the bums have a flop," just like people said for generations, but that's not the way it is in America anymore. The cities like to talk about the millions they spend solving homelessness, but not the tens of millions they made creating it.

Of course, there are plenty of homeless people who aren't bums, by which I mean, they're clearly not doing everything they can to stay in the same miserable situation. Think of it this way. More than 750,000 people are homeless at any given moment, which represents as many as 3.5 million people cycling on and off the streets every year, which represents at least 20 million people homeless since the early '80s when the crisis began. Just do the math.

750,000 represents less than four percent of 20 million, which means that more than 96 percent of all the people who have ever been homeless have gotten out of homelessness (as will most of the people on the streets today). That's a statistic you won't hear from Bill O'Reily who regularly portrays homeless people as unable to get their lives together. Maybe because once you've heard it, you have to wonder how come this obviously motivated more-than-96% wound up on the streets in the first place.

Does anyone remember the name Sam Pierce? He was Reagan's HUD secretary, and two things happened under his aegis. First HUD got out of the business of building housing, which is why there's a critical shortage of affordable housing today. In the peak years of the 1970s, we were spending over $60 billion a year on all the Federal housing programs. But under Reagan and Pierce, that figure plummeted to the point where we're spending less than $30 billion today. If we'd stayed at the
pre-Reagan/Pierce levels, an aggregate of well over $500 billion more would have been spent on housing. Can anyone doubt that we wouldn't be in the pickle we're in if it weren't for those cuts? Well, someone else got the $500 billion, so we know exactly what this policy change was worth to them.

The other thing that happened under Pierce was that there was a mammoth scandal about HUD funds being misappropriated to finance pet projects for the clients of highly-placed Republican consultants. Pierce didn't go to jail, himself, but some of his associates did, indeed, wind up living in government housing aka the pokey. And just which money do you think it was that they misappropriated? It was some of the surviving funds (about $10 billion worth) for low-income housing. So let us not be
too polite to remember that the homelessness crisis was created, in part, by people who weren't too proud to rob the poor box.

And let's also not forget that when we're talking about low-income housing, we're talking about housing for people who do, in fact, have an income. Why do these people make so little money that they need low-income housing to begin with? O'Reily notwithstanding, the answer has much less to do with choices they made than with choices they didn't make.

For example, the Social Security Administration says that in 2001, there were 2,649,523 people getting SSI and no other form of Federal benefit except maybe food stamps. These people were, by the requirements of the program, blind, disabled, or over 65 years old but for some reason not eligible for regular social security. These were surely among the people Ronald Reagan called the "truly needy," the ones he said would not be allowed to slip through the social safety net.

But these SSI recipients couldn't decide for themselves how much money they would get. That decision was made for them in Washington, and in Washington they decided that the average monthly payment (as of Dec. 2003) would be $435.38. Some of the states kick in another $200 or so, but this is why every year on the Homelessness Marathon I find myself talking to disabled people who don't get a check from the government big enough to let them afford housing.

Let's do some more math. Let's just suppose we gave the otherwise destitute aged, disabled and blind an extra $500 a month, which might be enough to give most of them a little fiscal dignity. That would be an additional $6000 per year for 2.65 million people or, approximately, $16 billion a year. In other words, leaving some of our neediest citizens to rot, frees up $16 billion a year for people who couldn't
possibly need the money as much, if at all.

On the other hand, there are plenty of people with low incomes who actually do work, but they just don't make much money at their jobs. The original idea of the minimum wage was to keep these lowest-paid workers from sinking into poverty, but the real-dollar value of the minimum wage has fallen to the point where it doesn't do that anymore. And as the wage floor has fallen, it has taken with it the real-dollar
value of the wages pegged to be a little above the minimum or a little above that. Whose fault do we think this is?

Do we think it was the minimum-wage workers, themselves, who lobbied Washington and insisted that they be paid too little? Or do we think the process is a tad more influenced by the wealthy employers? Well what was it worth to the employers?

According to the Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics, 13,677,000 people are working for $7.14 an hour or less. If we gave them all an extra dollar, the ones at the very top would be getting about the purchasing power of the minimum wage in 1968. And the ones at the bottom still wouldn't be making enough, but at least they'd be better off. That one dollar would cost employers $13.6 million dollars an hour. That's $544 million a week (for a 40 hour week) or more than $28 billion
dollars a year.

In other words, every dollar that low-wage workers lose represents a $28 billion subsidy for business -- annually. And, of course, when the lowest wages are depressed, the wages in the middle are too, freeing up the globs of cash that today's titans of industry use to reward themselves with historic largesse. But even this is not enough.

You just can't make an American job cheap enough to keep someone with expensive tastes from shipping it overseas. And what is it worth to American corporations to have the remaining American workers so scared that they'll accept give-backs and cuts and be afraid to unionize much less strike? The bosses don't have to hire Pinkertons when they can hire Congress to strip away labor's protections and threaten workers
with becoming homeless if they raise a peep.

Add to this the billions of dollars that are made by the for-profit health-care industry which has no compunctions about bankrupting people, driving them into the streets and then denying them proper care when they get there. This mega-industry's profits would be lost if we had national health care like almost every other industrialized nation.

And of course, unless something changes, the enormous Federal budget deficit will be paid for in no small measure by reductions in aid for the poorest Americans. That's how Shwarzenegger is fixing California's deficit. Has anyone heard of a different plan for the national debt? And how was that debt created? With massive tax breaks for the rich. So how greedy is that? They've even stolen from tomorrow's poor. Couldn't they at least have had the decency to leave some poor for future generations to rob?

No wonder we're supposed to think homelessness is just a matter of personal responsibility. It's a money gusher for the people who really create it, and they're the ones who never take responsibility at all.

24 Hour Countdown to Start of the 9th Annual Homelessness Marathon

2006-02-14T16:00:00.000-08:00

photo by Lee Mandell

Streaming audio will be available at Pacifica.org

[via Annual Homelessness Marathon Website]

fyi:

Broadcast Schedule

Station List

About: A Brief History ...

Press Release

Canadian Annual Homelessness Marathon

The 9th Annual Homelessness Marathon 14-hour national radio broadcast will kickoff at 7:00 PM [Eastern Time] tomorrow evening (Wednesday, February 15, 2006), hosted in Atlanta by 100,000 watt community radio station, WRFG, and by the Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless.

This year (2006) people will also be able to use this blog in helping to discuss what they hear during the broadcast.

It is also hoped that other bloggers will be blogging about the broadcast, as well as the online discussions taking place on this blog, on their own blogs and thus help spread the message within the blogosphere about homelessness, poverty and related matters.

Blog on!

The Price of a Smile

2006-02-12T21:46:00.000-08:00

John Lunt (In The Way) blogged about blessings received, while out walking the walk in his own unique fashion, here.

By the way, it was John's blog where I initially came upon Deb Hoeffner's Homeless Christ illustration, which I blogged up earlier this month, here (Wednesday, February 1, 2006).

[Denver, Colorado] Neighborhood tells shelter to hit the road

2006-02-12T11:10:00.000-08:00

Read news article on the subject, here [via Denver Post (Sunday, February 12, 2006)].

When it Snows, Where Do the Homeless Stay?

2006-02-12T10:28:00.000-08:00

Amid the blizzard pounding New York City as well as much of the rest of the Northeast region, based upon his perspective and concerns about these matters, Jason Gooljar ponders certain aspects of where people living homeless stay during such events, here [via Jason Gooljar's Blog, TPM Cafe].

[In Nashville] Homeless, Partnership argue over harassment

2006-02-09T16:29:00.000-08:00

Today's (Thursday, February 9, 2006) edition of the Nashville City Paper includes an article concerning reported organized harassment of people living homeless within the city, as well as the controversy and disagreement over it, here.

NCH: Widespread Epidemic of Hate Crimes & Violence Against Homeless People

2006-02-09T09:35:00.000-08:00

Recently posted up on the National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH) Website is both a press release as well as the 2005 report on hate crimes and violence against people living homeless within the U.S.A., here [press release] and, here [report; issued February 2006] -- each of which are must-reads.

*Note*: Above report cover image via NCH report Web page.

A Dream Denied

2006-02-08T21:14:00.000-08:00

The Criminalization of Homelessness in U.S. Cities. A Report by The National Coalition for the Homeless and The National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty, January 2006, here.

[via National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH) Website]

Catch 22 re: Anti-Panhandling Ordinances

2006-02-08T13:57:00.000-08:00

Rome News - Tribune (Rome, Georgia) editorial cartoonist Mike Lester's political cartoon concerning panhandling ordinances, here (August 25, 2005).

[initially came across the cartoon via LA's Homeless blog, here (Wednesday, February 08, 2006); with, clicking onto the cartoon posted within the blog post, a larger version available here]

Radio marathon to focus on homeless

2006-02-07T07:37:00.000-08:00

Today's (Tuesday, February 7, 2006) edition of the Humboldt County Times-Standard (Eureka, California) included an article about the upcoming 9th Annual Homelessness Marathon 14-hour national radio broadcast, which is set to air Feb. 15 on KHSU-FM, 90.5 in Humboldt County and KHSR-FM, 91.9 in Crescent City/Brookings from 7:30 p.m. to midnight live, here.

To find out where to access the broadcast either on a local radio station within your area or via online streaming, check the station listing, here.

Citizens X

2006-02-06T21:56:00.000-08:00

Recently posted on the Street News Service (SNS) Website is a reprint of an article from the February 1, 2006 edition of Street Roots concerning the various problems people living homeless face regarding state photo ID cards within the post-9/11 (2001) age, here.

Street Roots is a nonprofit street newspaper published twice a month, on the 1st and on the middle Friday, in Portland, Oregon.

The Street News Service offers a hearty helping of news, views and features from street papers around the world.

*Note*: Above cover image of the February 1, 2006 edition of Street Roots (street newspaper of Portland, Oregon, USA) via Street Roots Website.

9th Annual Homelessness Marathon Broadcast Schedule Posted

2006-02-06T04:03:00.000-08:00

Recently posted to the 9th Annual Homelessness Marathon (2006) Website is the schedule for the upcoming 14-hour national radio broadcast.

Broadcast live from Atlanta, Georgia starting at 7 pm EST on Feb. 15, 2006

The Homelessness Marathon is primarily composed of short, prerecorded segments that focus intensely on a single issue and longer live segments during which we take calls and have broader discussions.

[...]

Check it out, here.

Priest Seeks Change from Churchgoers

2006-02-05T15:32:00.000-08:00

Today's (Sunday, February 5, 2006) edition of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel included an article concerning how a small-town Episcopal parish priest disguised himself as someone living homeless and, with no one recognizing him, hung out on the steps of his church and panhandled churchgoers as they went into the services, here (includes photo's).

With the reaction from parishioners of the Christ Episcopal Church -- located in Delavan, Wisconsin -- being somewhat mixed, Father William Myrick became unsettled [...] so much that he rallied religious leaders to create an ecumenical emergency shelter system in Walworth County that rotates among eight area churches on a weekly basis.

[came across mention and link to news article via What's Left, here]

*Note*: Above photo via Christ Episcopal Church Website.

No Homeless at the Super Bowl

2006-02-04T04:34:00.000-08:00

Stone Soup Musings offers a compelling blog post concerning Super Bowl XL being hosted at the Ford Field stadium in Detroit and, of potential attempts to keep people living homeless in the city out of sight, out of mind during the multi-million dollar event, here (Thursday, February 02, 2006).

[came across the blog post via The Homeless Guy]

In addition, elsewhere within the homeless blogosphere, Joel John Roberts (LA's Homeless blog; Thursday, February 02, 2006) asks: Does Super Bowl Mean Super Sweeps of Homeless People?

six million dollar question…

2006-02-03T12:07:00.000-08:00

Joel John Roberts, CEO of the Los Angeles, California PATH Partners and People Assisting The Homeless program as well as the blogger-in-chief of LA's Homeless Blog, ponders an age-old question:

Do You Rob Peter To Pay Paul?

Orlando Weekly Three-Part Series

2006-02-03T11:33:00.000-08:00

John Scolaro, Director of the Prometheus Project, a Valencia Community College Course in the Humanities (aka the Clemente Project), brought to my attention today a three-part series of feature articles the Orlando Weekly recently published, written by Jeffrey C. Billman, concerning homelessness and related matters within Orlando, Florida:

Stalemate: The city wants to move its homeless shelter – it just doesn't know where or how (1/19/2006)

Battle Ready: The city's ban on social service agencies in Parramore could end up in court (1/26/2006)

Dear Buddy: Let's be honest. All this talk about relocating the Coalition for the Homeless of Central Florida has sucked the air out of a much larger conversation ... (2/2/2006)

Thank you for the heads up John. Much appreciated.

Can We Make A Movement?

2006-02-02T20:51:00.000-08:00

Okay, I'll admit it. I think I could do a better job than President Bush. But then again, I think just about everyone I've ever met -- Republican, Democrat or German shepherd -- could do a better job than President Bush. The problem isn't with envisioning better solutions to our problems, it's with getting the chance to enact them.

But unlike the president, I’ll tell you I'm a divider not a uniter, because I don't like a lot of what I see among my putative compatriots in the loyal opposition. In '04, I was a Democratic candidate for Congress (i.e. an anti-war candidate who got clobbered in the primary), but I'll gladly join the chorus calling the Democrats a spineless bunch of second-rate Republicans who stand for nothing. The radio show that gave birth to the Homelessness Marathon was my show, "The Nobody Show: Your Unabashed Voice of the Left and Left Out," but I won't even call myself a leftist anymore; because I'm sick of the left's anti-Semitism and racism; it's penchant for saying "People First," while putting the party line first (even when there's no party); and its endless addiction to self-congratulatory masturbation. As for the supposed good guys who just selflessly work for humanitarian groups, I invite you to take a look at the chart on the Marathon's web site that shows just what some of them are paying themselves.

And on top of that, everyone I know is scared.

So when I look at how I look at things, I don't think I'm really movement material, and I'm one of the lucky ones, because, despite a lifetime of useless maladjustment, on a good day I can pay my bills, or at least the minimum balance due. Maybe someone reading this will have a brighter view, and God bless you. In fact, God bless you if you don’t have a brighter view or any view at all. But I can’t be the only one who sees a disconnect between the size of the movement we’ve got to build and the material we’ve got to work with, by which I mean ourselves.

So the first thing I’d like to ask in my first post on this beautiful blog by which my work is so honored is this: now that the vast majority of Americans believe the country is headed in the wrong direction, how are we going to turn it around?

By the way, if anybody wonders how I can say a German Shepherd could run this country better than Bush, it’s easy. A German shepherd couldn’t give the order to go to war, and it wouldn’t hesitate to piss on the Patriot Act.

Homeless Capital of America

2006-02-02T09:49:00.000-08:00

Check out a recent (January 15, 2006) editorial cartoon by cartoonist Patrick O'Connor of the LA Daily News, here [via LA's Homeless Blog (once at the blog post, click onto the cartoon to view enlargement)].

For more of his editorial cartoons, visit the LA Daily News - Patrick O'Connor page, here.

Top Executive Pay

2006-02-02T07:51:00.000-08:00

Recently posted to the 9th Annual Homelessness Marathon (2006) Website is an informative as well as most interesting chart, which -- by way of a selective sampling -- helps to illustrate how homelessness, hunger and poverty appears to be paying off rather well, at least for some of the top executives working within the(se) field(s): Top Executive Pay At Selected Organizations Helping Hungry and Homeless People.

Homeless Christ

2006-02-01T00:22:00.000-08:00

illustration by
deb hoeffner
www.debhoeffner.com

Matthew 25:40 (New International Version)

40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the
truth, whatever you did for one of the
least of these brothers of mine, you
did for me.'

*Note*: deb hoeffner illustration, Homeless Christ, posted with permission.

[came across above illustration as well as bible verse via In The Way, here]

Two Poems

2006-01-31T18:58:00.000-08:00

flowers of hope

searching for flowers of hope
within the snow and ice of a cold,
indifferent and hostile world;
growing impatient for life's endless
winter to pass, since spring's warmth
may not be enough to compel these
expectant blossoms to rise and flower.

like so many others mindlessly
trampled, leaving the world barren;
desolate of those whose faith, beauty,
passion, strength and resolve would
usually still be able to rise, had they not
had that spirit carelessly plucked from them.

by Morgan W. Brown
March 6, 1999
White River Junction, Vermont, USA

a home is a garden of life

let people find a place
where they can plant
fertile seeds -- that contain
their own hopes and dreams,
from which they may then
draw harvests of plenty to
share with others and,
which they will call home,
for it is a garden where
lives thrive and are grown.

by Morgan W. Brown
August 13, 1999
Montpelier, Vermont, USA

Essay: Gracious Extra Miles & Beyond

2006-01-31T17:34:00.000-08:00

The following essay is actually a recently updated and slightly edited version drawn from an original one of mine, which was written over three years ago, during the early autumn of 2002.

Gracious Extra Miles & Beyond

by Morgan W. Brown

Over thirty-two years ago, at the age of seventeen (October 1973), I found myself literally living on the street. Being homeless for the first time, with nothing to lose, no place to sleep or rest and with no clue about where to seek assistance, my thumb was held out to get farther up the road.

After hitchhiking much of the United States eastern coast down and back on my own without money or food and, only the clothes that I wore upon my thin bony frame, I was beyond being exhausted and hungry.

Nearing the end of the return leg, I had serious doubts about ever being able to reach my chosen destination. Hope eventually faded. Negative and scary thoughts concerning my fate took over, pounding away over and over within my already aching head.

The next thing I knew, a commercial short-haul truck pulled over to give me a ride. Opening the passenger door, I cautiously sized up the situation as best I could before climbing in.

Easily sensing how guarded I was, with firm assurance and compassion in his voice that did not fail recognition, the driver offered a ride as far as he was going to his next stop a little ways down the Interstate. As we traveled down the busy highway, he casually engaged me in conversation along with also asking questions about my journey and circumstances.

Once he had my trust enough for it, assistance was offered. Without being asked, he graciously went extra miles and beyond; making sure that I ate a good hearty breakfast – my first in days – as well as, among other things, ensuring that I made a call to those family members of mine whom I was heading up to stay with. Just as if I was a member of his own family, he made sure that I would have somewhere to go and would safely get there.

We parted company shortly after, though not before he had me promise to take good care of myself. It is to this person’s credit that I was able to get to a place where I could actually begin doing so.

There are never enough ways to thank such people for doing something like that, except to make sure that we graciously go extra miles and beyond for those in need who cross our path as well.

Morgan W. Brown, whom has lived homeless off and on over a period of several years in many of its various forms since his initial experience with homelessness, resides within Central Vermont.

This essay is dedicated to the person mentioned anonymously above as well as all others who graciously go the extra mile and beyond on behalf of those in need who have crossed their path.

[reprinted from an original version posted on the Prometheus Project: Clemente Course in the Humanities Project Website; Project Reference Links section, here; Valencia Community College, Orlando, Florida]

*Note*: Reprint information via: morganbrown [at] gmail [dot] com

Brief History: Annual Homelessness Marathon

2006-01-31T04:47:00.000-08:00

Read a brief history about how the national radio broadcast all got started as well as how it has evolved over the years, written by founder and director Jeremy Weir Alderson aka Nobody, here.

[brief history, as well as 2002 5th annual event photo (Photo caption: Patricia, a participant at the street microphone; original photo - enlargement, here), via Annual Homelessness Marathon Website]

Homelessness Blogathon

2006-01-30T00:32:00.000-08:00

This latest blog project of mine is actually the result of a suggestion I made last year (2005) to Homelessness Marathon founder Jeremy Weir Alderson just after the close of the 8th annual national radio broadcast, when I e-mailed him asking them to consider including a blog as a component of their Website and future broadcast(s).

Jeremy and I have traded a slew of e-mails on the subject and related matters since then. A week ago (Monday, January 23, 2006) he e-mailed me to ask some additional questions and, as part of my response, I offered to volunteer to set up a test blog so they could ~~get a~~ better determine both what one might look like and if it was something they felt inclined going with.

In short order he asked me to do so and, although I told him it could take me a day or two to get it up depending on my energy level, I managed to set up a basic blog within a couple of hours or so.

While there has of course been much more for them to consider before deciding whether to go forward with including a blog, thus far Jeremy and others with the homelessness marathon have been very interested and open to learning.

It is exciting to me that there will now be a blog as a component of the 9th Annual Homelessness Marathon (2006).

The belief I have held for a few years now is that a blog would be an excellent compliment to the annual 14-hour national radio broadcast and, that those of us bloggers and blog readers as well as anyone with online access, can use both this particular blog and blogs we may have or visit as an additional tool for discussion about the matters raised during the event.

Maybe we can turn it into a 14-hour homelessness blogathon, possibly creating some buzz on these matters elsewhere within the blogosphere and help to educate others to the needs and lives of those of us who either currently live or formerly have lived homeless in one of its various forms or another.

Please let us know what you think [of] it so far as well as your suggestions for this blog. Although we cannot promise to be able to incorporate each and every concept or suggestion, especially this initial year of blogging, it would be good to have an idea of what you believe could be useful.

Thank you for reading.

*Note*: Above Homelessness Marathon banner, which is also featured within the right-hand side-column of the pages of this blog, by Jeff Rountree; minor edit within 2nd and 8th paragraphs for the purposes of clarification and readability; last updated on Tuesday, January 31, 2006 at 8:07 AM [EST].

Homelessness is Usually Puzzling

2006-01-29T07:39:00.000-08:00

[originally posted on Wednesday, February 15, 2006, however reshuffled due to size problems faced with the big size of the flash puzzle box and the IE browser(s) not allowing the side-bar column to show in its proper place and down at the bottom of the page instead; so I have moved this post to a day nothing else got posted, which will not mess up either the main or archive pages with other posts on them]

Although puzzle games themselves are typically easier to figure out than the real thing, here is a puzzle for anyone willing to try to piece together.

The fact of the matter is that many things often lead one into homelessness and, no one ever gets there by themselves, so why is getting out of it expected to be any different?

That said, should not the person whose puzzle it truly is, be in complete charge of what is theirs, with whatever assistance offered being voluntarily with the choice of picking and choosing until it appears right for them?

Whatever the circumstance(s) someone may come upon, life often brings with it plenty of hard and difficult questions, no easy or simple answers and certainly no one right or correct - one size fits all - solution or answer.

These are some of the many different pieces of my thinking concerning these and related matters for what they may be worth. What are yours?

*Note*: changed the size of the pieces to smaller ones and hence the difficulty of the puzzle to being tougher as well as more time consuming to solve, which helps to drive the point home a little better; post last updated on Wednesday, February 15, 2006 at 12:26 PM [EST].

[with apologies to those without flash capability, old browsers and the like]

What is a blog? What is blogging?

2006-01-24T06:47:00.000-08:00

These are certainly good questions, ones not always so easy or simple to answer satisfactorily.

That said, the following information is offered for those who have visited this blog, yet are relatively new to blogs and blogging:

blog terms & their usuages

In general terms, a web log (or, blog for short), is a type of website which in one form or another tends to be more personal or casual in style as well as interactive in nature than more traditional websites, especially since they typically employ commenting features and the like. Blogs can be authored by one or more individuals.

blog and blogs: used as both noun and verb (e.g., That is a nice blog you have, and I will blog a post about it.).

blog tool: the program used to create and maintain a blog; they can either be web-based or downloaded to a computer and are user-friendly, self-publishing programs that do not require you to know anything about coding or web page design. They are either relatively low cost, or in many cases, free.

blogosphere or blogsphere: denotes either the entire blog community or a specific community of blogs.

blogroll: a list of links to other blogs and sites of particular interest to the blog owner or done as a mutual link swap. Blogrolls are maintained usually within a side-column of a blog, or sometimes on a separate page or site.

blogging: either working on one's blog or the publishing of a blog post.

blogged: the act of having published a blog post.

blogger: someone who maintains and/or posts to a blog.

j-blogger: denotes a journalist who blogs.

team blog: a blog blogged by two or more bloggers.

[via Discovering Vermont's homegrown blogosphere (bottom of page; article informational sidebar); Vermont Guardian (September 23, 2005)]

A Marathon Run

2006-01-24T05:36:00.000-08:00

Must-read article concerning the 8th Annual Homelessness Marathon hosted outside Columbus House, a homeless shelter in New Haven, Connecticut (2005), here [reprinted by Street News Service (SNS); originally published within Spare Change News (Boston, MA, March 2005)].

*Note*: Above photo montage panel via 8th Annual Homelessness Marathon (2005) Website.

Helping the homeless tell their story

2006-01-24T00:04:00.000-08:00

keepMEcurrent article (published on January 12, 2006) concerning the work over the last five years of Homelessness Marathon producer Karen D'Andrea, as well as about the upcoming 9th annual 14-hour national radio broadcast being hosted in Atlanta, Georgia beginning on the evening of February 15th, here.

9th Annual Homelessness Marathon Information

2006-01-23T20:16:00.000-08:00

To learn more about the Homelessness Marathon, read the press release concerning the 9th annual (2006) national radio broadcast, here.

*Note*: Above photo panel via 9th Annual Homelessness Marathon (2006) Website; photo by Lee Mandell.

Under Construction

2006-01-23T19:41:00.000-08:00

*Updated*

This blog is under construction ~~and, for the time being anyway, is merely a test blog while~~[for] the Annual Homelessness Marathon ~~considers its potential blogging options~~.

*Note*: edited post to reflect the evolution of this particular blog from its test phase to one of potential utilization; last updated on Sunday, January 29, 2006 at 2:20 AM [EST].