Homeless Advocate

I'd like to meet:

Look at the video below and and gaze into the eyes of desperation, see the pain of being lost and unloved by those who pass without a care or a thought for the wreckages of lives around them.
What does it take to be given a helping hand, how far down do we have to go for you to help? We have reached bottom the only thing that is left is death, is that what you want, well then you can send flowers.

WAR AGAINST THE HOMELESS

Over the past six years, advocates and homeless shelter workers from around the country have seen an alarming increase in reports of homeless men, women and even children being killed, beaten and harassed. The violent attacks and murders are often directed against people precisely because they are homeless, and thus constitute hate crimes.

WHAT IS A HATE CRIME

The term "hate crime" generally conjures up images of cross burnings and lynchings, swastikas on Jewish synagogues, and horrific murders of gays and lesbians. Hate crimes are commonly called bias-motivated crimes, referring to the prejudice of the perpetrator against the victim's real or perceived grouping or circumstance. Most hate crimes are committed not by organized hate groups, but by individual citizens who harbor a strong resentment against a certain group of people.

It doesn't help that we have sites like bumfights.com that makes Homless individuals look like buffoons and clowns. This site takes advantage of the Homeless's constant need for money to get them to perform some of the most dehumanizing acts that a person can do. Look at this video of what happened to the creator of bumfights on Dr Phils show.

There is another site that perpetuates atrocious acts on Homeless people it is called Bum Hunter. There is a myspace site of the same name and many of their videos can be found on youtube.com. look at this video and weep at what they do to human beings.

Violence against Homeless is increasing on the streets, videos like the ones that you just saw are contributors to the publics negative mental attitudes toward the Homeless. See below what it is really like.

How can we as a people condone these atrocious acts against other human beings. Remember if you are not saying no to it and ignoring as if it isn't happening you are still saying yes.

Feed The Hungry GAME

- Click here to play.

It's a word game you can play, except.. For each word you get correct, 10 grains of rice will be donated through the United Nations to help end world hunger.

Play and Feed Hungry People

1 Word = 10 Grains
5 Words = 50 Grains

CRIMINALIZATION OF THE HOMELESS

The Homeless are being systematically criminalized all across the country. City governments are enacting legislation to keep them moving. Not allowing them to sit, sleep, camp, eat, panhandle in public places. There camps are bulldozed putting many in a crises situation because more often than not their documents, belongings and medications are destroyed in the process. See below the truth about the Criminalization of the Homeless.

Illegal to be Homeless in Minneapolis part 1

Illegal to be Homeless in Minneapolis Part 2 ..

Illegal to be Homeless in Minneapolis Part 3

There is a new tendency now to place restrictions on people and agencies that provide food to the Homeless in public places. Restrictions exist that prevent them from feeding more than 30 people or they have to acquire a permit after they perform a certain amount of feedings.
Many of the people that are being fed in these circumstances work full time jobs but yet they are so underemployed that they cannot provide adequately for themselves or even for their families that are also Homeless.

Separate and Unequal

HOMELESS RSS NEWS FEEDS

National Alliance to End Homelessness

Podcasts

National Alliance to End Homelessness
You will need a MP3 player on your PC to play these podcasts

Housing is Health Care
New York City’s Project Renewal: Housing First for People with Addictions
Housing for Survivors of Domestic Violence
Permanent Housing Solutions for Homeless Veterens

Pimping Myspace Friends Homeless Sites
The following sites are my friends .. myspace sites. If you want to know more about Homelessness from different perspectives than mine below are the places to go. Become friends with them and they will contribute to your body of knowledge on Homelessness. Their descriptions have been extracted from their sites.

11th Annual Homeless Marathon
It is 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.
Everywhere. The 11th Annual Homelessness Marathon will broadcast from Nashville, Tennessee. But you can participate by tuning into a station in your area. Or listen ... Streaming audio will be available at pacifica.org/ .
The broadcast will start at 7PM(est) on Wednesday, February 20th. It will end at 9AM(est) on Thursday, February 21, 2007.

National Coalition for the Homeless
The National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH), founded in 1982, is a national network of people who are currently experiencing or who have experienced homelessness, activists and advocates, community-based and faith-based service providers, and others committed to a single mission. That mission, our common bond, is to end homelessness.

End Youth Homelessness
Mission: Raise awareness, create an alliance, a group of active people ready to stand up and fight, and work towards this problem's end.
Youth homelessness can be limited through increased awareness of the issue and supporting nationally recognized programs that address the issue.

Homeless Angels 2007
My true love and devotion is to reach out to the "Homeless" There is nothing in my life more important to me. I want so bad to open up a Homeless Shelter. For about 10 years I have been taking Homeless men, women and children off of the streets and into my house to live with me. God sends them to me. I do not go out searching for them. It has been a difficult ride as many times I have had to fight the natural causes of Homelessness. The drug addictions,the lies, the inability to get my kids clean,the sorrow of suicide, the agony of jail sentencing,the pain of having to let someone go free back to the streets. I guess my family calls me crazy. Hummm, maybe so. Hey ask God because he is the one that gave me this heart. I need help. I need a large home and supportive services to help me in my quest. It is time for one door to close and another to open. I am knocking and I pray that someone will come along and open the door for me or at least have the right keys to help ME unlock the door.

Help Another Soul.org
"Help us impact the issues of homelessness in America by raising awareness, compassion, and financial support over this growing epidemic."

Homeless in America
I have been homeless for about twelve years. I first became homeless in Laguna Beach. Now I live in Humboldt County most of the time, but spend alot of time in Santa Barbara. For the past ten years I have been an activist, invoved with many different issues, including homelessness.For more information about homeless activism in Arcata visit The Arcata Reporter

Homeless in America
"We all need Love and a place to call Home"

Music:

HOMELESS SNIPPETS

These are interviews with Homeless individuals in their own voices. Please listen to the introduction below.

Check out Mp3Crib.com to get your own music player.

Movies:

WHAT OTHERS HAVE GOT TO SAY
Read Blu222’s Blog on Homelessness
“So many people never look into the eyes of the homeless, they look through them.
There are so many stories behind the individuals who for what ever reason find themselves in the nightmare world on homelessness.
In this blog many issues related to their plight are discussed. And many personal stories about being homeless are shared.”
My new montage -Homeless in America
Read Connie’s Blog on Homelessness
YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE
Read Dominique’s Blog on Homelessness
"I was thinking about my life back in New Orleans and all the tragedy and decimation I saw all around me while I lived there. It amazed me and horrofied me seeing all these people living in their cars and underpasages because they could not afford the rent. Some were grandfathers, mothers, husbands and even kids. Some of things that I saw there I will never forget. It scarred my soul seeing that."
Fat chicken shit and other things
Read Homeless and Hungry’s Blogs on Homelessness
"The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it."
Homeless Donate Plasma For Cash
Check out this orange Porsche..
Just some of my thoughts
What is the number one cause of homelessness?
Blanket - A - Human
Read Waking the Deads Blog on corruption in Public Housing
"I have seen so much go on within the program, things that would be shocking to most people, The program is riddled with corruption and with bad people who are taking advantage of the poor and the program, these are people who are on average making 30-40k a year from the position, who are taking clear advantage of the system by exploiting the poor and profiting from dishonest landlords who's only interest is earning money from rent."
The truth hides beneath
Read Nople's Blog on her experience being Homeless
And Now A Story About Some Good People
Read Anti-Moron Taskforce Blog on Homelessness
"Written while sitting at the bottom of a tree in Buffalo watching the world pass me by. I took out a broken pencil I had come across, picked up a torn McDonalds bag and just wrote. Thinking back to that time is painful for me yet, it let’s me know just how blessed I am. I was lucky to get on my feet at all, Homelessness is more than not have a roof over your head, it’s living an existence of no existence. For them death seems that it would be easy because life is so hard."
The Unfortunates
Read Homeless Angels 2007 Blogs on Homelessness
What are the Many classifcations of Homelessness?
WHEN YOU SEE SOMEONE HOMELESS ON THE STREETS IN YOUR COMMUNITY WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THEM?
Read Tres's Blog on hunger
"All too often it is easy to lose your perspective on things...The collective distraction of everyday obligations, schedules, etc. can make it difficult to see the big picture. But every so often, you get to see/read something that helps reign it all back in...Hunger relief is a problem I strongly believe in, and a friend of mine sent me a visual comparison of weekly food expenditures from around the world that kind of shook the ditsractions away."
Food for thought.

Television:

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Books:

HOMELESS VETERANS

About 40% of Homeless men are veterans and though they comprise only 11% of the population, they make up 1 of every 4 of the nation's Homeless.4% of the Homeless veterans are woman.There are about 6ooo female Homeless vets in the US and that number will rise as more return home from Iraq and Afghanistan. Nearly 40% of the women veterans said they were sexually assaulted by American soldiers while in the military. Sexual abuse is a high risk factor for Homelessness.
There are 200,000 veterans Homeless on any given night and 400,000 experience Homelessness in the coarse of a year. Look at the facts below.
HOMELESS VETS ON THE STREETS OF AMERICA
West Wing - In Excelsis Deo - Homeless Veterans
Help Us to Help a Homeless Veteran
Homeless Veterans in America
Homeless, Gulf War Veteran
Isn't it wrong that we will send a man or a woman to war and allow them to come back Homeless?

Heroes:

YOUTH HOMELESSNESSYouth Homelessness has at least one million youth on the streets and in shelter—and thousands more leaving juvenile justice, mental health facilities, and leaving foster care systems—the problem of youth homelessness continues to grow. About 1.7 to 2.8 million youth experience runaway or Homelesssituation every year.
You like numbers here is a few for you.
One out of every seven youth (15%) will runaway before their 18th birthday. 46% had been physically abused before running away from home. 32% have been forced to participate in sexual activity against their will. 47% leave because of a conflict with a parent or guardian. 17% have dropped out of school. 32% will try to kill themselves. Each year, approximately 5,000 runaway and homeless youths die from assault, illness and suicide.
Homeless youth face many challenges on the streets. Few homeless youth are housed in emergency shelters as a result of lack of shelter beds for youth, shelter admission policies, and a preference for greater autonomy (Robertson, 1996). Because of their age, homeless youth have few legal means by which they can earn enough money to meet basic needs. Many homeless adolescents find that exchanging sex for food, clothing, and shelter is their only chance of survival on the streets. In turn, homeless youth are at a greater risk of contracting AIDS or HIV related illnesses. HIV prevalence studies anonymously performed in four cities found a median HIV-positive rate of 2.3% for homeless persons under age 25.
Listen below as 10 year old Zach Bonner tells you the truth about youth Homelessness
This one is by Declan Galbraith singing -Tell me why... If this one doesn't make you ask why....nothing will
This one is about gay youth Homelessness. Many of the situations that this person speaks about when she was Homeless are some of the same ones that most all Homeless children go through whether they are gay or not. They have to survive so they do what they must. Look and listen to this one. Can you possibly continue to be apathetic about youth Homelessness after listening and watching the following.
This one is pre Katrina and is in New Orleans. They labeled their Homeless youth as “gutterpunks”. Can you get more depreciating tan that? You even see in this video a City Councilman referring to Homeless kids as “gutterpunks”. It is bad enough to be in a Homeless condition without being labeled a deragotory, abusive name like “gutterpunks”. Makes you think when the order was given to evacuate New Orleans how well did the New Orleans Homeless fair. How did they leave town or were they able to? The other question is how many of them died with no means to leave town?
Look at these Homeless children can you stand the sight of it? Is this something that you can tolerate? In all of our upbringing morale, spiritual and religious is this something that falls within our concept of what is right? Can we allow this yet another travesty of our society to continue?
These are our children. Yes I said our. All the children of the world belong to us. If we allow one child in this world to be diminished, to go hungry, to live without love to have to scurry and fight in this world just to live we as homo sapiens are diminished and have failed our responsibility. Look at these children. I mean LOOK at them and see in their eyes our own failure. How many do you think will survive their struggle to exist? How many will freeze in the cold of winter or die from hunger? How many more will we allow to go down the tube?
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