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Newsjock

(11,733 posts)
Thu Feb 6, 2014, 09:44 PM Feb 2014

Congresswoman (Jackie Speier, D-Calif.) sleeps in a homeless shelter

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

Democratic Rep. Jackie Speier is gearing up for what she hopes is the next big fight in Congress — balancing out the growing economic inequality that has ravaged the middle class for years — so she reckoned she’d do a bit of ground-level research first.

And since you can’t get much more ground level than a homeless shelter, that’s where she went last Friday — to spend the night.

The Maple Street Shelter in Redwood City was the destination. Speier had actually been there a week before to chat with the residents, and the fact that a well-off Hillsborough member of the Washington power structure was hanging out with the penniless was lost on nobody, least of all the member herself. That was the point, she said.

“I’m still kind of reeling from the experience. Every member of Congress should be required to do what I did,” Speier said this week. “It would help us appreciate who we are talking about. We rattle off numbers, but it doesn’t speak about the people themselves.”

Read more: http://blog.sfgate.com/nov05election/2014/02/06/congresswoman-sleeps-in-a-homeless-shelter/

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Congresswoman (Jackie Speier, D-Calif.) sleeps in a homeless shelter (Original Post) Newsjock Feb 2014 OP
This is good. I just hope she didn't take someone else's bed, though. eggplant Feb 2014 #1
No she didn't. sheshe2 Feb 2014 #4
+1000. That's Awesome! nt adirondacker Feb 2014 #11
That totally rocks. eggplant Feb 2014 #21
+ 10,000 red dog 1 Feb 2014 #25
That's wonderful. :) Javaman Feb 2014 #32
... handmade34 Feb 2014 #2
she was shot 5 times riverwalker Feb 2014 #3
Also, see Comment #6 Tx4obama Feb 2014 #7
she's a total bad ass.. frylock Feb 2014 #16
Also lost her husband in a car crash. tblue Feb 2014 #23
Thanks Newsjock. sheshe2 Feb 2014 #5
Jackie Speier on Abortion, Planned Parenthood, Halliburton, etc - February 2011 - video Tx4obama Feb 2014 #6
She is awesome! JDPriestly Feb 2014 #13
Wow, that is one amazing woman. closeupready Feb 2014 #14
I did not know blue14u Feb 2014 #18
Thanks for the video. red dog 1 Feb 2014 #26
awesome video! We Ds are so fortunate to have many 'presidential material' politicians :) Sunlei Feb 2014 #36
I had no idea she was so awesome renate Feb 2014 #8
Very impressive. I remember when Jerry Brown was running for prez he stayed in valerief Feb 2014 #9
Jackie Speier & Jerry Brown have much in common.... red dog 1 Feb 2014 #28
I'm not implying that either Rep. Speier or Gov. Brown are Socialists...just populists. red dog 1 Feb 2014 #30
We can hope someday they will become Socialists, though! nt valerief Feb 2014 #31
We can also hope that someday Congress will change Obamacare into a.. red dog 1 Feb 2014 #34
I'm with you there! nt valerief Feb 2014 #35
That is what Democrats must do bucolic_frolic Feb 2014 #10
Thank you, Jackie Speier. JDPriestly Feb 2014 #12
Thank you, Congresswoman Speier. closeupready Feb 2014 #15
I didn't even know she was still around. SoapBox Feb 2014 #17
In the U.S. House since 2008, bio link below Tx4obama Feb 2014 #19
HUGE K & R !!! - Thank You !!! WillyT Feb 2014 #20
Maybe she can finally do something about JackInGreen Feb 2014 #22
I think she should double down Joe Shlabotnik Feb 2014 #24
Thanks Newsjock for posting. red dog 1 Feb 2014 #27
She really is amazing. TDale313 Feb 2014 #29
They should be required to do this. K&R. ck4829 Feb 2014 #33
She is an amazing human being. hamsterjill Feb 2014 #37

sheshe2

(83,786 posts)
4. No she didn't.
Thu Feb 6, 2014, 10:10 PM
Feb 2014
Speier stayed up chatting with the shelter staff and residents past 1 a.m. She drove herself solo to the shelter, brought a bunch of coats to donate, and when lights-out time came, Speier bunked down alone. No handlers in sight.

The fact that she trusted the scene enough to sleep by herself, made sure she wasn’t taking a bed from someone who needed it, and slipped easily into conversation left a big impression. This was no stunt, shelter staffers said.


“Her entire demeanor was very unassuming,” said Mila Zelkha, director of strategic relations for InnVision Shelter Network, which runs Maple Street. “I mean, she is an elegant, graceful person in how she communicates, but she dials into important things right away, and she creates a space where people confide in her.

“She’s straight up and real.”

Javaman

(62,530 posts)
32. That's wonderful. :)
Fri Feb 7, 2014, 09:47 AM
Feb 2014

I have personal experience with those "shelters". I'm glad she's highlighting this.

I have stories I could tell you...

handmade34

(22,756 posts)
2. ...
Thu Feb 6, 2014, 09:54 PM
Feb 2014

I applaud her and others that try to put themselves in other's shoes... although, there is no way to really understand the day in and day out of poverty, homelessness, loss of hope, etc. that the disenfranchised and marginalized experience everyday

riverwalker

(8,694 posts)
3. she was shot 5 times
Thu Feb 6, 2014, 10:07 PM
Feb 2014

and lay on the tarmac 22 hours after the assassination of on Congressman Ryan, during the Jonestown/ Peoples Temple investigation. One strong woman.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackie_Speier

Tx4obama

(36,974 posts)
6. Jackie Speier on Abortion, Planned Parenthood, Halliburton, etc - February 2011 - video
Thu Feb 6, 2014, 10:30 PM
Feb 2014


Uploaded on Feb 18, 2011

During a U.S. House debate (seen on C-SPAN) on 2011 Federal Spending, Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA) comments on abortion, in response to comments made by Rep. Christopher Smith (R-NJ). Included in her comments, "I had a procedure at 17 weeks pregnant with a child...that procedure is a procedure that I endured. I lost a baby. But for you to stand on this floor and to suggest, as you have, that somehow this is a procedure that is either welcomed or done cavalierly or done without any thought is preposterous." ...
-snip-


I think she is awesome!

blue14u

(575 posts)
18. I did not know
Fri Feb 7, 2014, 12:38 AM
Feb 2014

About ber. Thank you for the video. She blew me away with that
speech. I can see how her going to a homeless shelter would
be a natural and comfortable experience for her. She has class!
Democrats really do have many great Representatives. I count her as one.

red dog 1

(27,817 posts)
26. Thanks for the video.
Fri Feb 7, 2014, 04:10 AM
Feb 2014

San Mateo County is fortunate to have her representing them.

One good Dem, that's for sure!

Sunlei

(22,651 posts)
36. awesome video! We Ds are so fortunate to have many 'presidential material' politicians :)
Sat Feb 8, 2014, 12:55 PM
Feb 2014

todays Rs must be jealous as hell

renate

(13,776 posts)
8. I had no idea she was so awesome
Thu Feb 6, 2014, 10:35 PM
Feb 2014

Wouldn't it be incredible if all our representatives were so genuinely focused on honest-to-goodness public service? She's right--it is so important that they understand that there are real people behind the numbers they talk about.

valerief

(53,235 posts)
9. Very impressive. I remember when Jerry Brown was running for prez he stayed in
Thu Feb 6, 2014, 10:52 PM
Feb 2014

regular working class people's homes instead of fancy hotels. Not quite the same as a homeless shelter, but that blew me away. Speier is doing the same.

red dog 1

(27,817 posts)
28. Jackie Speier & Jerry Brown have much in common....
Fri Feb 7, 2014, 04:16 AM
Feb 2014

They both could be described as "Populist"...IMO.

Kind of like West Coast versions of Bernie Sanders

red dog 1

(27,817 posts)
30. I'm not implying that either Rep. Speier or Gov. Brown are Socialists...just populists.
Fri Feb 7, 2014, 05:16 AM
Feb 2014

like Uncle Bernie.

red dog 1

(27,817 posts)
34. We can also hope that someday Congress will change Obamacare into a..
Fri Feb 7, 2014, 03:56 PM
Feb 2014

..single-payer health plan like they have in Canada, the U.K. and all the "Socialist" countries of Northern Europe.

The big insurance companies can all go to Hell.

bucolic_frolic

(43,176 posts)
10. That is what Democrats must do
Thu Feb 6, 2014, 10:53 PM
Feb 2014

If the GOP was worried about new voters - let's give them some to worry about!

JDPriestly

(57,936 posts)
12. Thank you, Jackie Speier.
Thu Feb 6, 2014, 11:14 PM
Feb 2014

31 “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy[a] angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. 33 And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35 for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; 36 I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’

37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? 38 When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? 39 Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’

41 “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: 42 for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; 43 I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’

44 “Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ 45 Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ 46 And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+25%3A31-46&version=NKJV

Tx4obama

(36,974 posts)
19. In the U.S. House since 2008, bio link below
Fri Feb 7, 2014, 12:42 AM
Feb 2014

Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 12th district: April 8, 2008 – January 3, 2013

Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 14th district: Assumed office January 3, 2013

BIO: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackie_Speier

JackInGreen

(2,975 posts)
22. Maybe she can finally do something about
Fri Feb 7, 2014, 03:30 AM
Feb 2014

the cost of living almost ANYWHERE in the Bay Area right now....I'd love to move home, but there is no way I will ever be able to afford it.

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