hot cup of coffee and a good book time…not in the ghetto.

Rats run the streets looking for a warm place to be…sometimes

it’s human body heat….in the ghetto.

 Warm pair of slippers and a remote,

just the things we need to stay off the cold….not in the ghetto.

Seems we just don’t understand,

it can happen to anyone of us man.

Out here sleeping in the street,

no place to dry your feet… in the ghetto.

 One day you’re at the top of your game,

good family, home and bills get paid..then the ghetto.

 Stock market crashes down, jobs lost with factories shutting down…

then the ghettos.

 Yes it’s a two way street, some homeless have been known to steal.

Drugs and lack of motivation,

no education.

Drunks and street rip Raf

but just see it better man,

this can be you too…. in the ghetto.

Just think about those motgage loans,

who pays them when the company folds?

Then it will be you out there,

cold, frustrated and a little scared.

So, next time the wind starts to blow,

things get miserable , wet and cold.

Think on  and be thankful for your dry feet

and just maybe, just maybe, take a box of canned goods to someone

who has nothing to eat….. in the ghettos.

 It’s a sad day when people have to struggle so hard to just get by every day. Sure the churches and homeless shelters can help provide food and belongings when needed but there isn’t a place to call ‘home’. Parents lost their jobs or had to take a lower paying job, and couldn’t afford to pay a mortgage payment or rent, but could only afford food instead.

 Companies that have fired people to save themselves money, are also fighting these same people against their unemployment benefits, so the company can save more money.  And with all the big banks and  foreign banks foreclosing on homes then just turn around and sell them for pennies on the dollar to get some kind of money out of them. It’s a horrible cycle, the rich keep getting richer and they, don’t care about the lives they have destroyed, just to make a dollar.   

 In the light of all of this we are finding alot of people who really care, and want to help. justgive.org is selling newspapers, artists are selling their art to donate the money toward the homeless. And so many others have joined in, teachers who bring extra supplies, or the cafeteria staff that makes weekend lunches for the kids to take home. So next time you’re cleaning out your closet, make that trip down to one of your local homeless shelters instead of that clothes bin in the parking lot. Just so you know they will be going to someone who needs them. 

Homelessness has been on the rise again over the last few years.  Many transients are the stereotypical types found drunk and passed out beside a downtown building, but many more are there against their own wills.  Society tends to create its own plagues be it viral or social.  As the wealthy get richer, and more and more background checks are implemented to profile people as law enforcement does, we create situations that keep people from obtaining proper shelters that they could otherwise afford.

Example:  A family grosses enough monthly income to pay three times the rent as required by most property management companies, has clean criminal history, but very bad credit scores.  This family will be denied a rental just because of this issue.  Let’s just be honest here.  We have a bad economy and this is going to impact many families’ credit scores as well as companies.  By denying families just because they have bad credit seems a little harsh.

Insurance does it as well.  Apparently having bad credit makes you a liability or a bad driver.  I understand that there are bad people out there but good or bad we all need a place to live.  If they are bad enough then they should be in jail but if they are not criminal then why are they left to live on the streets?  Profiling is helpful in many things but it should never keep someone homeless.

Image by Todd Huffman via Flickr

Society has created this homeless issue and blames the people or some other “Fall-Guy” rather than note the obvious.  Evictions are necessary for those who are worthy of it.  Families with children who are making efforts to pay rent but fall short of paying rent on time are evicted every day.  Between these two issues and several others, we have created a rise in homelessness.

Changes need to be made regarding rental criteria and home ownership.  It wasn’t that long ago that you could work a part-time job making $4.75 an hour and still have enough to pay rent, all your bills, and have enough for recreational fun.  It is all simple maths.  People have become greedy.  Governments have lost sight of their purpose.

I am not, nor do I ever wish to be a politician, but someone needs to step up and do the right thing.  Life should not be a struggle to live.  People should never have to worry whether or not they will have a roof over their heads.  Profiling should be banned.  My credit should not be an issue for renting a home, just buying.

http://pastoralblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/statistics-on-homeless-in-oregon-and.html

Image via Wikipedia

While I have found my trip to LA to be great the one thing I did notice was the vast amount of homeless on the street. Talking with our unofficial tour guide I found that he used to care for a man who lost both of his legs in Korea. It saddens me to know that this man put his life on the line and lost both legs, yet was left to fend for himself here in the country he was defending.

I have done some research, because I have even notice myself that a great number of homeless people are veterans, I have discovered that this is very true. The National Coalition for Homeless Veterans say that “VA estimates that 107,000 veterans are homeless on any given night. Over the course of a year, approximately twice that many experience homelessness. Only eight percent of the general population can claim veteran status, but nearly one-fifth of the homeless population are veterans.” They also say, “The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) states the nation’s homeless veterans are predominantly male, with roughly five percent being female. The majority of them are single; come from urban areas; and suffer from mental illness, alcohol and/or substance abuse, or co-occurring disorders. About one-third of the adult homeless population are veterans.About 1.5 million other veterans, meanwhile, are considered at risk of homelessness due to poverty, lack of support networks, and dismal living conditions in overcrowded or substandard housing.” (1)

Also I read from USA Today that, “Veterans make up one in four homeless people in the United States, though they are only 11% of the general adult population, according to a report to be released Thursday. And homelessness is not just a problem among middle-age and elderly veterans. Younger veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan are trickling into shelters and soup kitchens seeking services, treatment or help with finding a job.The Veterans Affairs Department has identified 1,500 homeless veterans from the current wars and says 400 of them have participated in its programs specifically targeting homelessness.The National Alliance to End Homelessness, a public education non-profit, based the findings of its report on numbers from Veterans Affairs and the Census Bureau. 2005 data estimated that 194,254 homeless people out of 744,313 on any given night were veterans.In comparison, the VA says that 20 years ago, the estimated number of veterans who were homeless on any given night was 250,000.” (2)

Last the National Coalition the Homeless even has input on this subject saying that, “Far too many veterans are homeless in America—between 130,000 and 200,000 on any given night—representing between one fourth and one-fifth of all homeless people. Three times that many veterans are struggling with excessive rent burdens and thus at increased risk of homelessness.
Further, there is concern about the future. Women veterans and those with disabilities including post traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury are more likely to become homeless, and a higher percentage of veterans returning from the current conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq have these characteristics.The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs estimates that 131,000 veterans are homeless on any given night. And approximately twice that many experience homelessness over the course of a year. Conservatively, one out of every three homeless men who is sleeping in a doorway, alley or box in our cities and rural communities has put on a uniform and served this country.” (3)

So now I find myself asking, why is it that so many men and women who served our country so bravely laying in the streets. Chances are that just about everyone knows someone who has served in the arm forces, or is currently serving. These people are sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents as well, and chances are that one of these people you know will be homeless sleeping in a box on the street. They are not only are family and friends, but the protectors and defenders to everything we hold dear, SO why are we letting this tragedy happen right before our very eyes? We walk right past someone almost everyday who has put their life on the line for our country, and most act as though they are not even there.

I feel we should all ask our selves where would this country be if these men and women didn’t put their life on the line for our freedom. And I find myself to a very simple answer, “What freedom?” because without these veterans risking everything we would not have freedom. So maybe we should consider this the next time we pass one of them laying on the street homeless. Maybe we should start to do more to help them, because without them we might not even be here. And if we do not start to help them that will be our fate as a country, and then what will the real tragedy be then?

(1) National Coalition for Homeless Veterans http://www.nchv.org/background.cfm

(2) USA Today “Veterans make up 1 in 4 homeless” http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-11-07-homeless-veterans_N.htm

(3) National Coalition for the Homeless “Homeless Veterans” http://www.nationalhomeless.org/factsheets/veterans.html

“This pain I feel, is from my head to my heels. I’m always doing right, cause I know kindness kills. I have one problem with all the feelings I feel. I would love to know when will it heal. Made lots of good choices, though some was bad, but I’m forgetting a good feeling, so now I’m hanging my head. I’ve always been strong but I’ve struggled to long. Lord when I raise my kids I’ll be ready to come home. I try to make friends and I try not to sin. But lord I seem to continue to give in. Can a have a break, if even just for a day. Oops! Lord I forgot you still letting me breathe!” -Rod

I’ve been struggling for so long and I’ve just been wanting the simple things out of life! A family, kids, wife, running car, and a home! Not a house, a home! I have not yet to get them, but I’m constantly preaching and teaching to do the right thing! Yes! There is a reward for the hard times and doing the right thing but these rewards are in heaven!

For once I’d just like to be without the same issues. I’ve address them in several different manners but getting the same results. I don’t steal, kill, drink, smoke, club or talk bad about others! A trustworthy person, but for some reason I’m always getting the cheating girlfriend, the fake friend’s, the temporary jobs! It’s just I never really get a way out, and yes I’m complaining cause I don’t complain cause I understand it makes thing worst. Some of you have family that loves you and will give you an arm or a leg, and you take it for granted!

Some of you have the perfect woman and won’t treat them like a queen, forget a woman, like a queen! Some you can have any job you want, or can go to any college out there, and you just take these things for granted! But someone that really needs the opportunity is just in the mud! It is just so painful to go through these type of problems and still being a good person! Not walking around hating people, not stealing in desperate situations, allow people to talk bad about you and keep quiet!

I’ve dealt with a lot and all I want out of life is a family and to help as many people as I can in the world! I feel like I can cry for the people that can’t do it, I could cry for the world cause I feel others pain and I hate it! There is barely any love going around in the world anymore, and I know God is love. So we really need to start looking out for one another, it’s people around you barely making it!

And I know everyone has there own story but every chance you get show some love and wipe somebody’s tears away! Cause I could use one million dollars right now, just like you! But right now I need a should, or something to wipe my eyes! If you don’t care about others more then yourself your already dead! Go to the nursing homes, hospitals, jails, yes jails, homeless shelter, or just find someone needing love.

Love is a nuclear weapon for Christian people….  

I was a little boy then when I felt the spur for the wilds. I loved the road, and had always been on the road. I have sauntered the wild, dusty roads of Kinja, trodden the footpaths of the hills up the Kirumen, trudged the muddy landscapes down the glens of the River Kinseng. The feeling of discovery ever startling the waking life in me. I grew up with this sense of ever being on the go. It has been beautiful. It has been enriching. It has had its surprises and it still does have its surprises. And it has, above all, measured the pulse of my life. 

Why did I travel? Why do I still long for the road? You may be in a hurry, thumps up, to usher an answer. You will get it wrong. I never travel because I lacked a place. It wasn’t in search of a home. It was because I wanted to fill everywhere with the sense of home, it was because I was home. 

The soul of man is always in search of an abode. And I am not talking about the brick-walled place that cannot hide a secret where we cluster when night falls and the stars depart from the sky. Home, for me, has been everywhere, because it has always been the space within. The space within. We carry it with us. It is in our passions, in our friends, in our profession, in the smiles around us and in the people we love. Home is also in the hunger that burns within every throbbing heart, the hunger for fullness of life, for justice, for peace. 

I have travelled many miles. And the further I go, the more I discover that the path within is shortened. The further still I go, the more I discover that I have been walking the long, endless road to my heart. And as I sit in this jet, looking through the turret, over the vast expanse of land and sea, the wild forests stretching endlessly and the omnibus in the sky, I know a certain thought… no matter how far you go, nothing can take you from yourself. 

Will you give in to the nuns scam and give them the money they cheated to get at? Because you shouldn’t. I say we make a stand against the nuns and stop funding their scams for quick and easy money. Those nuns make more than the average working man in just one day. Stop giving in. This ends now.

One person came to me for advice ,but then whenever she could she turned me into the big boss to get me in trouble.  I was stupid and believe that this person would not do something like that to me.  I was her friend and she cared what I do-right?   Very Wrong!

As I sat back now and thought about the situation, I knew who had to turn me in cause she was the only one I had told about it.  My trusting friend couldn’t wait to tell the big boss ,so she could get me in trouble.  Friends like that I don’t need.

I started to think I could trust no one.  God is helping me to see that there is people out there I can trust.   There is people that do need help from me and do want me as a friend.  I put the “wrong” person behind me and got on with my life.

In dealing with this, God also helped me to see that I was not the most important person in everyone lives and ,so what if I was top in my department.  I was not the big boss making the decision for the factory ,so I was not the most important person in everyone lives.

The only person that should be the most important person to everyone is God!  He has got me passed and through things that I thought would never be taking care of.  I love and trust God with my whole heart.

He has been giving me time to crochet lately.  I want to bless the homeless and unemployed.  I am making slippers, scarves, mittens, gloves, and hats.  Next Christmas, the homeless and unemployed will have something to look for–homemade crochet belongs they can call their own!

I have a big dream for the future and that is to be able to give the homeless a place to live.  The unemployed I hope and pray that I will be able to bring jobs to my small town.  With the income that I plan for the future I pray that one day I will be able to put on a big feast for the unemployed and homeless.

Corporations first of all only exist if they provide a product or service in demand by individuals, and provide it at a competitive price.  A corporation has no power to require individuals to purchase its products or services; the corporation must serve the consumers.  Corporations must innovate and provide better quality or lower prices or some combination just to serve the needs and desires of individuals.  What individuals ask for, companies in a free society provide. Governments on the other hand can operate by command and control and require individuals to pay for services that they may not want or do not feel are of high quality.  Governments can also protect certain corporations from competition, undermining the need of the corporation to serve consumers.  In these instances, the corporation need only serve its government partner to preserve its power to command consumers to purchase its products.  Many utility companies and local cable operators operate this way.  These are not true corporations, but government-corporate partnerships, and the arguments that corporations already “give back” likely do not apply to these command-and-control government-corporate partnerships.  

Corporations also educate.  They educate their employees in how free individuals come together to cooperate to produce a good or service.  This work — this employment — is educational in that it teaches individuals how to be part of a team, how to build a product or service together, and how to manage scarce resources to respond to the wants and needs of consumers.  These cooperative exercises that constitute the work in any corporation large or small also educates some employees enough that they take their skills and start their own company.  This is a virtuous cycle of entrepreneurship that not only benefits individuals with education, but also by creating competition for employees, thus ultimately raising employee pay.  These benefit are not widely recognized by those clamoring for corporations to “give back”.

Finally, corporations are places of personal fulfillment.  Individuals have choices.  They do not have to work for a company, and if they choose to do so, they can work at a large, medium, or small business or start their own business. They can also choose not to work at all and bear the consequences of that decision.  Many employees find their job to satisfy both their physical and some or all of their spiritual needs.  Employment with a corporation will satisfy some of the employees physical needs and thus make that person less of a burden on society.  Therefore, for corporations that employs thousands of employees — Walmart, for example — is taking a burden from society at large and contributing to society by allowing those individuals to be self-reliant.  A corporation is naturally involved in an anti-poverty program. In addition, a corporation by providing employment rather than a handout may also be satisfying a spiritual need of its employees.  The employee feels that his or work has value, that he or she is not a burden to others, and that he or she is engaged in a productive enterprise.  

Accordingly, it is imperative not to diminish the importance of corporations, large and small, in society, and to understand the many benefits corporations already contribute to society that are not reflected in the debate about “giving back.” Corporations already “give back”.  The only question is whether society is doing enough to allow corporations to thrive so the corporations can continue to contribute in these meaningful ways.  What can society do to “give back” to corporations to make sure they grow and multiply?

In 2009, Tina became the victim of identity theft, loosing thousands of dollars from her checking accounts. They were so messed up the accounts were closed. She had to borrow the house payment from her roommate, Steve (name changed at the real person’s request).

Tina was and still is a freelance writer. Little did she know that her pay from Paypal was going in to the closed account, so when it came time to pay the mortgage again and pay Steve, she couldn’t. The businesses the identity thief stole from had not corrected anything even though the police reports were clear.

Seriously, Tina does not resemble a 5′7″ Jamaican woman. She’s actually a 5′2″ Caucasian. Some of the businesses swore they would take Tina to court and sue her, claiming they had her on tape. She stood her ground and told them to go ahead- she was eager to prove her innocence.

When the dust cleared, most of the money was still gone; never to be recovered, which left her checking account was destroyed.

She had to borrow the mortgage again from Steve, who was livid. Tina switched her Paypal account to a different checking account, and began to pay Steve back.

Other events took place that sent Tina into a spiral of clinical depression. She had applied for jobs because writing was slow. Several businesses had run her credit rating, destroyed by the theft, and turned her down for employment.

This continued into well into 2010.

Things got worse, the friendship with Steve was strained, and Tina turned to the new laws to have her mortgage modified. The bank, Bank of America, did not send the paperwork, and told her different things every time she called. Her story with the bank is similar to those around the country.

Events continued to spiral until Tina thought she had help. A representative of a local mortgage company showed up and offered to buy the mortgage and sell the house to her at a reduced cost. This was in February 2011.

She was scammed. A lawyer read the contract she signed, and told her she lost her house. She had to leave.

Heartbroken, she asked friends for help, perhaps a room to rent.

At first Steve said she could rent from him for a year, because he had rented a room from her for eight years. He then said no, just a few days before she had to leave. You can only imagine how scared and hurt she was.

He relented a couple of days later, and told her she could rent from him. Only until November first, 2011. He made living conditions extremely hostile.

She lost sleep until one night she woke up convinced someone was in the bedroom. She could hear Steve’s snoring in the next room. She knew if she screamed and woke him, and no one was there, there would be hell to pay. She really believed someone was in the corner of the room. She crawled to the light, and almost screamed when she closed the door and turned the light on. She was staring into the corner, looking at nothing but still had the feeling she wasn’t alone. No one else was in the room.

She purchased sleeping pills after that. She knew sleep deprivation could be dangerous.

T’Siri was fine, living with Steve’s cats and his dog.

They had to find another place to live.

That’s covered in part two.