One Million Homeless Children in America’s Schools

One Million Homeless Children in America’s Schools
by: Craig Wiesner on August 26th, 2010

The National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth (NAEHCY) recently published a report showing that there are nearly 1,000,000 homeless children enrolled in U.S. schools. This represents an alarming 41% rise from just a few years ago. Most people don’t imagine a child’s face when they think of the face of homelessness, but the average age of a homeless person in our country is nine!

Click here to read a report by NAEHCY with more details.

When my husband and I launched Reach And Teach, one of our first areas of focus was homelessness. Homeless children face very unique challenges when attending school and it is critical for teachers, administrators, social workers and medical staff to be aware of those challenges to help these children succeed in school. Imagine, for example, a teacher handing out materials to children for a homework project and saying “Now make sure you put all these materials in a very safe, dry, place! You’ll need them to be perfect if you want to get the best grade.” Where will a homeless child keep anything that won’t fit into her backpack?

Hopefully, a shocking statistic like 1,000,000 homeless children in America’s schools will help raise people’s awareness of the issue and also help organizations like NAEHCY continue to advocate for those children and the educators working with them.

NAEHCY has incredible resources to help professionals work with homeless children including:

An FAQ about educating homeless children
Training and Awareness Resources (including videos)
Information about the McKinney-Vento Act, the primary piece of federal legislation dealing with the education of children and youth in homeless situations.

My call to act? When you walk around in the next few days, look at the people around you. There are some you will assume are homeless, because of how they look. Stop. Look at all the children who pass by and think about this. If one million children in America’s schools are homeless, that means that one child in every classroom of 30 is homeless. If you see 100 children in the next few days of walking around, could that help change your perception about what homelessness looks like? I hope so, because the face of one of those children IS the face of homelessness.


http://www.tikkun.org/tikkundaily/2010/08/26/one-million-homeless-children-in-americas-schools/

it is waaaay tooo many!

Please join me in fighting this ugly nonsense!

heh.. this reply was supposed to be for Liberal_In_LA.....sigh....

is one too many in the "richest" country in the world. K&R

is one too many in the "richest" country in the world. K&R

Hello?

http://www.earcandleproductions.com/ecweb.swf

It is in the accounts of the top 1%.
Of course 90% of us are suffering.
If we would distribute the obscene wealth around to those who need it, our economy and our people would be in good shape.
Wealth taxes, fair and progressive income taxes and limits on "bonuses", taxes on dividend income, the DEATH TAX..lol... (it only affects about 1/2 of 1% of the wealthiest families)...it is criminal the ways that they have exempted the wealthy from taxes in the last 30 years.
It doesn't take much to realize that if you don't tax the wealthiest citizens and corporations on a progressive scale (currently no scale at all), then our government and it's citizens will go broke quickly....it's happening now.

"we" have the money, but "we" is a very small group

Should I join this group? Should I go to homeless shelters and help there. I'm a nurse, not an educator, though educating is interconnected to my nursing. Give me concrete ideas. I'm looking for another passion to sink my teeth into. I work with the smallest of humans in my worklife and it makes me very protective of them. Help me to best help them. Send me links or ideas if you are willing. Thank you.

What strategies for housing do we have? Does anyone have the funds to fix this? Both the federal and state budgets are not in good shape.

here is all this concern about animals dying that we read about on DU, and yet we can't have concern about the humans who are being tossed under the bus?

As Michael Moore said, "Who ARE we?"

Looks to me like funds will be shifted from one needy group to the next.

In Hawaii, because the land is so expensive families extend their houses so that 3 generations can live in one residence. 3 or 4 people living in a one bedroom condo is not unusual.

I think because housing is so expensive here people are used to having to cope with many family members under one roof. It is not a great way to live but you gotta do what you gotta do.

I am not saying that is the solution but I really don't understand how a family member lets anyone be homeless.

next", it will continue.

If people were truly concerned about homelessness they wouldn't let their family members be homeless, they wouldn't let their former neighbor be homeless, they wouldn't let their fellow churchgoer be homeless, they wouldn't let that person in the paper be homeless. But no. We all sit back and say "why are people homeless?".

And let's face it. Waiting for congress to act is like waiting for Godot.

As long as we wait for federal action to tax the rich and subsidize housing or get rid of defense spending nothing will happen. Anything that is not community based will take forever.

As long as there are so many like you just waiting, and ignoring it there will be more and more homeless people.

While the rage about dying marine animals keeps mounting.

Some values. :puke:

In doing so I came to the realization that it is a failure of community that creates homelessness. I actually went through a thought process unlike some.

My opinion is we can only have an impact through community based programs, like the Weinberg foundation here in Hawaii. Or we can do things directly by offering families a room in our house. I don't have a house and if I did I'm not sure I would be comfortable with that. But I would know it is within my power to truly show another human being that I'm more than an easy call for someone else to do something.

worse.

I don't know why you think that government can't do it, but it is that mindset that is causing this.

Government can make it legally OK for gays to be out and in the military, and for gays to marry, right? There are LOTS of people fighting for that, but hardly any fighting for housing.

All the corporate bailouts, all the tax cuts for the rich, all the demands for more jobs.

But homeless people can just suck it up.

Then you wonder why we are getting angrier.

until the middle eighties...It was a huge "shock to the system" when it became one. That sort of shit just "didn't happen in America". and, at the time, most of us were sure it would be be "temporary"....America was the home of the "middle class"...not one with a class of beggars.

employers run a credit check on potential employees. It is completely legal...how is that for Big Brother?????

This madness must end!

Yet, so many think that all homelessness is due to "mental illness" and substance abuse!

Kiva style?

Leaving it all up to individual charity hasn't worked. What is required is a movement by citizens to petition our government for change. Specifically, housing for the homeless.

Years ago I would have thought yours would be the predominant view of "progressives".

Sadly, your wisdom seems to be in the minority.

Preach. It!

we should never forget

...when in fact "the government" is the people! So when taxes are enacted or regulations issued, it is done for the people.

To hear libertarians, Tea Baggers, and conservative Republicans talk, only corporations run by powerful individuals working in secret for a group of investors has the best interests of the American people at heart...

The webpage I got the pie chart from (http://dailycensored.com/2010/03/30/there-is-a-thing-about-opinions/) doesn't say, which makes me think that it is probably not the original source.

People just didn't seem to care. I was homeless for 6 years, and the vast majority seemed to look at me as less then human. We don't need to care for someone that is not a full human right?

The Empathy Gap by J.D. Trout 2009

p. 30 In the research of Fisk and her colleagues, people were asked how different social groups are viewed by their society. When asked a series of questions about social warmth and the competency of different social and ethnic groups, the answers clustered around four emotional responses: pity, envy, pride, and disgust. For example, people routinely react to the homeless with disgust. This is puzzling enough. You might have thought people would pity the homeless, empathize with their position, and feel sorry for them. Not at all. And in a functional MRI study, when study participants were presented with pictures of members from each social and ethnic group, the medial prefrontal cortex--the site that registers the potential for an object's social action--popped for all but one group: the homeless. The homeless maybe seen as human, but not fully so, not as social actors.14

He became our handyman and our beloved friend. He died of a heart attack last year but I hope the last years of his life were richer for having us. I know ours were for having him. I miss Jerry.

Its wonderful that you were able to make a personl relationship work. This is usually a benefit to everyone concerned.

What I am trying to get across is that with 3 million (at least!) homeless people, it is simply not possible for every person to have this sort of problem-solving connection. When people can do this, it is great, but when that is the only effort, what happens to those left out?

I am also going to say that this is exactly what the Republicans keep hammering on... personal charity, personal solutions. It is NOT possible, and we need to be a strong voice to the nation that there MUST be a national solution. That solution is housing for all, and while you and others are forging the personal connections, you also need to be doing everything you possibly can to work for subsidized housing for the rest whom you cannot connect with.

I agree that those for whom these connections happen, it is great. But just like Habitat, it will always only serve a very small portion of the homeless population, and the rest of us cannot be allowed to just suffer alone and die alone.

village style. And that would go a long way toward solving that. But, villages work with fewer people. That's why in New York, people can walk right by a homeless person almost or even without seeing them - rats and humans become antisocial when there are too many of us crammed in to too small a place.

I think we've brought ourselves to an unsustainable population and that, as always must happen when a species gets out of control numbers wise, a cull will happen. How or when I care not to spend too much mental energy on. Mostly, because I think it will be the least (the homeless, those living on the edge, those who are so far away from the communal idea that they can't do it) who will perish and that breaks my heart. It's always the ones with the least who lose out. Just once in this world, I would like it to be just and the have too much's should be the ones to go.

The nuclear "family" idea is one that I don't think is sustainable for humans. Certain species can do it but I don't think we're one of those.

Aren't I lucky?

That's what I'm saying. I hate that it's the people on the edge who are paying for the nasty people at the top of the pyramid. The good people seem to congregate at the bottom and middle. I think maybe I have a prejudice against rich people but I haven't met that many and the ones in the news rarely make me feel all cuddly about them.

If you lived closer, you would have a couch if you needed it. As is, if there is something I can do, please PM me.

I'm sorry. This medium doesn't always lend to the best communication.

they search high and low for excuses not to help the homeless. Which means they are aware, but their own selfishness is too much to overcome so they look for something negative as in, "they deserve it".

There are millions of homes sitting empty, perhaps it is time we started putting them to use.

And frankly, if we would end these illegal, immoral wars, and cut the defense spending in this country in half, we would have plenty of money to do lots of beneficial things for our society. Instead, we're pissing it all away pursuing these illegal, immoral wars for empire and resources.

"We have to stop the wars first. We can't do anything else until we stop the wars."

So people suffer and die IN THIS COUNTRY because homelessness is NOT a priority.

Clearly,"progressives" cannot walk and chew gum at the same time.

It's not that we don't have the money. We've got the money; we don't have the priorities in the right order.

We spend hugely more on "defense" than other developed nations - by tremendous proportions.

We are taxed far less than most other developed nations as well.

And yet, we have this idea that we're terribly put upon - not by the military-industrial complex as Eisenhower said - but by these least among us who need our help the most.

We still equate being poor with some sort of lack of character. It's something to be ashamed of.

So we need to make a choice: what's our priority?

we lack the "collective will"

State and local budgets are in bad shape because the Feds have cut off their subsidies in order to keep taxes down on the rich.

Maybe a small share of the obscene profits being accumulated by the Overclass ought to be redirected into taking care of actual human needs.

We didn't "have the funds" for the WPA or the many other Depression-era programs, but we were smart enough back then to see immediate outlays of cash as investments rather than as mere expenses. By the end of the Depression we had electrified the rural areas, built roads and parks, and otherwise put together the infrastructure that made us a world power in WWII.

I think it starts with taxing people equitably--which automatically means raising taxes on those with large incomes and large holdings--and using these funds to put the able-bodied to work and to provide care for those who need it. We spend money on so many insane things in this country that surely we can afford to spend some on sane and humane objectives. As an example (one of many) of insane spending, I would point to our prison system, where we incarcerate more people than any other nation on Earth. If we instead devoted those funds to eliminating the poverty and squalor that give rise to crime and drug use, we would be on our way to actually becoming a civilized nation.

I have room in my living room. We could rearrange our bedrooms to leave one available, easily. In the winter, we have an attic area that's habitable. I think we all desperately need to start thinking this way.

However, it is only the start... we need HOUSING for every person who needs it!

While your compassion is great, and I'm sure your hospitality would be great as well, think what it would be like to be on the receiving end, and live with people you don't know, and are beholden to.
The stress for them would be great, and it could only be temporary.

Everyone deserves their own place to live in this country, and as a nation, we are better than what we are doing now!

HOUSING FOR ALL!

As soon as he could, Jerry did get his own trailer on the property.

and tax the poor.

Re-build the middle class.

Raise taxes on the rich.

Stop supporting "free trade" that just lets companies send capital and companies overseas.

Stop subsidizing profitable corporations, and start using that money to subsidize the incubation of new small businesses.

Stop approving the merger of mega-corporations, and break up most of the mega-corporations that already exist. They are anti-competitive and they engage in price-fixing by their very size and existence.

Recognize that we have been writing laws that punish people for being poor, and get rid of those laws. Recognize that we have been writing laws that reward people for being rich, and get rid of those laws too. Write alternative laws that take care of our society's poor people first, and then middle class people second, recognizing that rich people have the resources to take care of themselves.

Gut the pentagon budget and the homeland security budget and stop using the military industrial complex "security" as some sacred cow. They do not provide real security for us. They provide a military experience for all of us that makes up less safe, and makes us more and more enemies in our own country. They do not benefit society. We do not need a pentagon budget higher than all other national military budgets on earth combined. We do not need a fake concept of a "homeland."

Put the money saved from gutting the pentagon budget directly into
- rebuilding our public institutions and infrastructure (roads, public and charity hospitals, public schools, public parks, etc.
- refund PUBLIC schools and real education instead of teaching to tests
- rebuilding local public transportation infrastructures around the country
- Train and hire inspectors to protect our food supply and imports into our country

of the vast numbers of families that have 2, 3, 4 cars... the price of a car can easily support a person... we are pathetic

Said it perfectly.
Politicians should be required to wear jackets just like the NASCAR drivers do. The ones that name their sponsors.
That way we would know why they vote like they do.......makes perfect sense.

by half. Start using some of that money for housing and feeding those who need it. How does even one Abrams tank enrich us as a people?

pissing untold billions nonstop into the gaping black holes of Iraq and Afghanistan we might have a little edge in dealing with problems like homelessness here in the U.S.A.

begins at home.

Here are the stats... the US, while it prides itself on giving so much, actually gives LESS to poor countries than other Industrialized nations do!

AND, what is needed now is NOT charity... it is JUSTICE!

Charity doesn't provide homes.... JUSTICE does.

Jobs can be created fixing up homes, turning mcmansions into duplexes etc. There is not enough low income housing, and yet millions of homes sit empty. IT is just stupid. All it takes is a tiny bit of common sense and perhaps a little compassion...

The government isn't even trying to help at all!

Why do we pay them a salary, give them a great retirement and health care? They certainly don't deserve it and it only keeps them in their out of touch little bubble of self enrichment and amusement.

When they want the money for war- they find it.

When the want the money to give to their banker buddies- they find it.

It is time for the bastards in DC to throw all the poor, homeless and hopeless people they have created a bone, or we should all go to DC and camp out on their doorstep until they do.

At some point we will unite and realize there are more of us then there are of them.

I was just looking up the housing shortage after WWII... it was estimated they needed to build 3 million houses from 1946 to 1947... one year! And, they did it... I know people who got one of those houses. It is very nice, and stands to this day.

Interestingly, 3 million is the number needed now, but people just don't give one damn.

Thhis is never discussed on Thom Hartmann, on Ed Schultz, on Rachel, etc. And why?

BECAUSE THERE IS NO PRESSURE FROM LIBERALS LIKE DUERS TO GET ATTENTION TO THIS ISSUE!

It starts here.

And, apparently, ends here.

:kick:

:hi:

:mad:

Not an attack on your post. Your post is a good one. I am giving this a k & r because it is a very important issue.

If you ever read what I post at all, you know I care deeply about teachers, and are on their side. Always have been.

The fact is, it is the TEACHERS who are taking the real load of homelessness. THEY are the ones who go the extra mile to help homeless kids, on their own time. THEY are the ones who buy a cold child a warm coat. THEY are the ones who get the school supplies for those homeless kids.

Not only the kids, but the TEACHERS deserve better that what WE are saddling them with!

You're right, it is serious. I wish things were different.

:grr:

has anyone seen this documetary?

http://www.hbo.com/documentaries/homeless-the-motel-kids-of-orange-county/index.html

I'm meeting with the principal at my daughter's school about this issue this week, and how teachers must be sensitive to the fact that, inevitably, some of their students are living in poverty and indeed homeless and don't have computers or Internet access at home, no money for supplies or field trips, etc., etc.

I wrote about it a few days ago, asking for input about other districts' protocol.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=9025820&mesg_id=9025820

Thank you for the link and for reminding me about this awesome website.

:hi:

I also hope you give them this bit of information, and that it shocks them. Its time people were shocked into action about this epidemic!

If you come across any sensitive teachers who would be willing to give a short interview of experiences with homeless students, that is one thing I am looking for.

Also, any teachers who use art with kids, and could come up with some drawings like this (or maybe something depicting a homeless child in school):

from an "insider." I will definitely see if I can get either of those for you and let you know.

:hug:

On edit: I will DEFINITELY share the information provided here.

but the childrens' drawings are compelling, and that is not so easily found, unless one has personal contact at a school.

One thing to keep in mind... I heard before that the numnber was actually 1.65 million.
"In the U.S., 1.4 to 2.5 million children were estimated to have been homeless at some point in 1996."
http://works.bepress.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1034&context=dennis_culhane

Here is a Hunger And Homelessness Awareness Week packet:
http://www.neded.org/files/crd/2009/housing/2009_Hunger_and_Homelessness_Awareness_Week_Packet.pdf

OK, I lied... the second thing to keep in mind is that NOBODY knows how many homeless people there are in this country. It is not possible to get any kind of accurate count! BUT... the school children count is more accurate because of the school records kept.

SO, while some even argue that less than 1 million people are homeless, if there are at least 1 million homeless school children, then that is abviously totally off the mark. That is one reason why I use this figure. Not because it is more important for children to have homes, but because it shows the fallacy of some of the figures that are being used.

Also, if it is believed that the majority of homeless people are alcoholic, drug addicted, and/or mentally ill, then either theere are many millions of homeless people, or they are deluding themselves that most of the children are also substance-abusers and mentally ill!

I hope you will remember those things...... it is instructive in how we have been trained to mis-perceive the reality.

depending upon how the interactions take place; it will probably vary with the different people I'm contacting this week. I won't rely on my own memory.

As always, thanks for the great resources. :)

and I think this needs to be looked at in the short AND long term. We can throw money at the problem and solve it in the short term, and I believe this is something we should do immediately. As has been pointed out earlier, 1 or 2 percent of the Pentagon budget would probably suffice, one aircraft carrier or submarine would be all that is needed.

But in the longer term, we need to get back to creating decent paying jobs in this country. That means educating people to do the jobs of the 21st century, and creating more manufacturing jobs. Allowing unions to regain their strength would also be a huge help. And we need to make it no longer feasible to off-shore these jobs that were once done at home, but are now being done overseas at slave wages with no concern for the safety or well being of the employees. Taxes or tariffs, I don't care how it is done, but make it no longer cost effective to ship jobs overseas.

Finally, we need to offer mental health care to those who need it, and remove the stigma associated with mental illness. Why is it that if there is something wrong with my kidneys, nobody questions it, but if I have a personality disorder, society acts like it is my fault? Both have medical causes, and yet they are looked at totally differently.

So in short, yes we need to deal with the situation we now have, but we also need to address the causes. Neither will be easy, or inexpensive in the short term, but what does it say about our supposedly great nation that we can't even deal with our homeless people (and children in particular) in a compassionate way, or that we even have so many to begin with? It would be a big help too if we didn't have to fight FOX News and the GOP every step of the way.

edited for spelling

assumptions.

ONE, that jobs will solve everything. Please remember that homelessness didn't start recently in this country.... it is NOT directly linked to "jobs". Homelessness began when Rayguns terminated the low-income housing in this country. Also, many low-income people who need subsidized housing are not able to work... people who are too young (children), people who are too old, too sick and too injured to work. Jobs alone will NOT house those people, and they comprise much of the homeless population.

Second, if you will notice, this article is about homeless children. You made the assumption that homelessness is caused by "mental illness". Assumging that most of these children are either "mentally ill" or need a job is ridiculous.

The National Coalition For The Homeless asserts that between 16% and 25% of homeless people have some form of "mental illness". In general, that equates to the population as a whole. This whole meme of homelessness being a result of mental illness and substance abuse is false, and the ignorance needs to be combatted.

The only solution is to return to making sure there is plenty of quality low-income housing for everyone who needs it. As Rep. Barney Frank quoted from the article in the NYT, there are needs for 9 million units of low-income housing. There are 6 million available units. Anyone can do that math, and it does NOT have to do with "mental illness" and substance abusse.

I never said "Jobs will solve everything", however they will solve a significant part of the problem, I don't think there is any denying that.

You also make it sound as if I am saying ALL homelessness is caused by mental illness. I never said any such thing, and have NO IDEA how much is, though I have heard and have no reason to doubt that at least SOME is. And even if it amounts to 1%, it shouldn't be ignored. Same goes for substance abuse, since you brought it up, even though I never did. And while the article is about homeless children, those children have parents who are also homeless. Few children own homes or rent apartments. Their parents, for whatever the reason are also homeless, and support for them one way or another is helps address the problem.

Low income housing is definitely part of the solution, and obviously a big part. But I don't think it is the only part. It is a complicated situation that desperately needs to be addressed, but sadly, I expect we will only see minimal if any of the solutions implemented any time soon. And THAT is a national tragedy.

BTW, I am sorry if the term "throw money at it" offended you, but building the amount of low income housing needed WILL require a lot of money. Money I personally am not opposed to being spent. In fact, that money being spent would provide both low income housing and good paying jobs.

You stressed the "mental illness" and jobs stuff with no mention of anything else, so of course that is what comes through.

This is a HUGE problem for those of us who don't fit into those categories, we are constantly having this thrown in our faces. As a matter of fact, EVERY homeless person I have listened to at length has said that the most painful thing they had to deal with was always being assumed to be "mentally ill". So, when I see it come up, and especially when it is stressed as it was in your post, I am going to counter it. It is destructive, and it is causing pain. Caring people don't want to cause pain, so I hope that by bringing this to light, it changes perceptions.

IF you have read any of the articles posted on DU about how homeless people are treated, then I am sure you can understand what this is doing to people, and that affects children.

And to assume that all those children's parents are somehow in need of being "fixed" hurts not only the parents, but the children also.

There are waaay too many stereotypes being repeated ad museum about homeless people, and I am sure that as a progressive, you want to see the truth being broadcast, and not a continuation of false memes.

and I am being serious, so don't take this as an attack...

are you saying that mental illness has ABSOLUTELY ZERO to do with anyone being homeless or if it does, it should be ignored because it perpetuates a negative stereotype? However small the percentage of people this applies to, and I don't doubt you that it may be a very small percentage, is it right or fair to ignore it? Don't you think that the very fact that there is a negative connotation to having a mental illness is a problem and keeps people from either receiving help or being offered it in the first place?

that the current high unemployment hasn't swollen the ranks of homeless children? It seems to me that if we could create more jobs, as well as make some of the existing jobs pay a livable wage, we may in fact lessen the number of homeless children and reduce the need for low income housing, thereby making it available to more of those who do need it. Again, it won't solve all the problems, but isn't it a part of the solution?

I understand your point about low income housing, and don't doubt for a second that you know much more about this topic than I do, it just seems to me that there is more to be done than only providing more low income housing, however important a part of the solution that may be.

It just seems to me that reducing the need for low income housing is as worth a goal as building more.

Like I said, I don't doubt that you are more knowledgeable than I am on this topic, and I am not trying to be confrontational. But I don't think my views on this make me some kind of monster, and that's how I felt your response painted me (maybe I'm just too sensitive today). If I am wrong, help me learn, but it seems this is a complicated problem with many causes and will require multiple solutions.

Thanks.

"are you saying that mental illness has ABSOLUTELY ZERO to do with anyone being homeless or if it does, it should be ignored because it perpetuates a negative stereotype?"

That kind of false choice doesn't sound too serious to me.

I have been working hard, while living in my car, to bring this issue to light, and combat stereotypes, all the while having to put up with some really UGLY crap from so-called "progressives". I spent a lot of time and effort and emotional strength yesterday on some of this, while being demeaned by some here, and I am really out of steam.


I told you how that stereotype hurts people, and rather than take it seriously, and offer some compassion, you sound like you are mocking me.

I am just too tired and too empty right now to do battle on this.

So, how about you take a break, and take a deep breath and consider how you might feel if this was YOU or a loved relative going through this. Then reorder you thoughts and come back to it when you are able to be a bit more open and compassionate.

I have a lot of work to do on trying to build awareness, and I don't need another protracted hassle right now. There are a lot of places where you can look up the information if you really desire to.

I am sorry you feel that I am mocking you, that is the last thing I intended. But I don't think my questions were without merit, perhaps I'm just not articulate enough to ask them in a way that you'd not find fault with, assuming there is a way. That would be my shortcoming, not yours. As for not being open, I asked you to help me understand, but instead you offer nothing to do so. As for being more compassionate, you have no idea how compassionate I may or may not be, and I take some offense that you are judging me to have no compassion for the homeless. Given the fact that you have been "putting up with some really UGLY crap from so-called "progressives", as well as dealing with your own current situation, I can understand that this is a very sensitive and important issue to you. I'm sorry you can't see that I was trying to learn something and DO care about homeless children (and adults, too). Again, I wish you the best in both your personal circumstances and your larger fight against homelessness in general. Be well.

Adults or kids, we spend billions over there (and I mean anywhere) when we need to spend here.
K & R

Where's their personal responsibility?!?

It's their fault for choosing the wrong parents!!

It's the parents' fault for having kids!!

And we're all about righteousness and the "sanctity of life."

:sarcasm:

:mad:

shelter is a basic right.

Every American should have a place to sleep and live with a full bathroom and the ability to cook meals.

We are a misguided land that has no shortage of homes but of places people can afford to live in.

You know the loonies are in charge when you can see a newscaster going from complaining with an expert about years of hellish foreclosures right into wondering what is going on with new home starts.

That is the complete insanity of the way we think and work.

Let us break this mentality so that sane solutions have a space to exist in.

With what money will we house the homeless? With the money we already paid to the banks, we'll take those properties sitting open for this purpose. That isn't all the money required but the land and many workable buildings is a hell of a down payment.

My only quibble.. the minute you say the word "shelter", because of the crap we have been fed for 30 years, people immediately think of "shelters" rather than housing.

We already have too many shelters!

It is waaaay past time to concentrate on Housing For All!

and that is why I made sure we were talking about a place that a human can actually live, rest, take care of their needs but if it makes people wince then I'll try to be more careful.

The word was selected as opposed to home in hopes of not stirring up that kneejerk opposition of the folks that fear someone is getting what they work for, for nothing.

They come out of the woodwork enough without derailing something important to debate square footage and every bit of minutia to keep from addressing the heart of the matter.

Still, the other stigma is just as bad, if people get 'shelter' in their mind they will do what I have done when I had no home to go to and had no couches to surf and stayed far away.

No question in a civilized society people have homes. Children need to have a home to go, not to have to seek shelter after school.

I understand what you are saying, and appreciate your clarifying it. It all gets so difficult to get through to obtuse people, something that should be so simple.

From a lot of experience, I know that "shelter" is the first thing that comes to mind for "progressives", as well as the general public. They haven't a concept what it really is... just have heard over and over and over. It is a tough nut to crack, and one that Sapphire Blue went to battle on many times.

Thanks for joining the battle.. there are far too few on the front lines of this!

and that is why I made sure we were talking about a place that a human can actually live, rest, take care of their needs but if it makes people wince then I'll try to be more careful.

The word was selected as opposed to home in hopes of not stirring up that kneejerk opposition of the folks that fear someone is getting what they work for, for nothing.

They come out of the woodwork enough without derailing something important to debate square footage and every bit of minutia to keep from addressing the heart of the matter.

Still, the other stigma is just as bad, if people get 'shelter' in their mind they will do what I have done when I had no home to go to and had no couches to surf and stayed far away.

No question in a civilized society people have homes. Children need to have a home to go, not to have to seek shelter after school.

as a given, and don't know of a time before this epidemic?

Further, these children who are homeless now are more in danger of growing up to be homeless as adults.

What have we done?

I teach in the good alternative high school in town. We work with very poor, often homeless students every day. We have ways to deal with it and help them through it, and we use every local resource we can get our hands on.

So many homeless students don't graduate or can't handle the traditional high schools. That's why programs like ours exist, and we do our darndest to get them that diploma they earn.

Bless you for posting this.

Rec

Neo-Victorian moral decay anyone?
The most powerful people in the society have bought this ticket, and now we are all forced to take the damn ride.

just remember, it could be worse with President Palin.....

A bar so low a snake couldn't crawl under it.

When does, "Absolutely unacceptable! This gets fixed NOW!" happen?

Don't hold your breath, better grab a wrench.

:wtf:

This is just heartbreaking. My sister teaches and has talked about having homeless children in her first grade classroom. When you hear the stories, it is easy to assume that it is unusual. Apparently it is not. 1 out of 100? It is beyond horrifying.

And as someone said up thread, one homeless child is one too many. Every child deserves a home. Every person deserves a home.

about 4.2% or 752 students who were homeless. This is a huge number because in this context even the number 1 is far too large.
752.

Was there any local reaction, or just met with silence?

And they get attention. People here want to know, and try to do more than other places I have lived or worked. I did look up the exact numbers from last year, but I have no kids, nor grand kids and so anything I know about the schools is thanks to the news. I include in our local media a new paper being made by the homeless community, and sold on the streets. They hit the issues well, of course.
This has only been my home for about 5 years, but for what it is worth, more people here are aware of poverty and the homeless community than in other places I have lived, more people give, including time and heart as well as money.
Here is something unusual a local guy has done, this continues with many adding to the tree.
http://1worldcurrency.net/2009/12/24/maitreya-buddha-giving-tree/
The other day at the store I was talking to this affluent looking woman, and she told me that earlier, she'd been approached for spare change by a person on the street. She said she always gives change, but this time, this time she said she was on her way to lunch, so she gave some money, and then asked the person to join her for lunch, if they wanted to. She said they went and had a great meal, and a long talk, and she'd made a friend. She said 'why did I never think before to ask, to invite, to sit down and share?' She said that lunch had changed her for the better. I love that woman, whoever she is, and that moment she found, that friend she made.
Sometimes I like this city.
But still, all of those people, all of those children, without a home is unacceptable. Whatever we have done, whatever we are doing, it is still falling short until each of our brothers and sisters has their needs met, each and every day, full bellies and open doors.

Geez, I want to move to Eugene. I only read amazingly positive things about that place.

:hi:

are still decent, caring, compassionate people in this world. unfortunately, none of them seem to be in the government or think tanks or wherever these people-hating, war-loving policies are coming from.

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

need to be replaced. If teachers weren't so lazy and would do their jobs, these kids would all pass the multiple choice tests and have good jobs. Must be the union's fault.

Do I need the thingie? :sarcasm:

I work (volunteeer) with two agencies that work with out of work and homeless adults. For many of these men and women, the feeling that their children are getting cheated is the thing that haunts their nights and eats at their guts during the day. We don't need a war in Afghanistan or more aid to Wall Street. We don't need pep talks about how great it is compared to mccain. These people need jobs. There is no greater need in our country. There is no greater threat to the Democratic party or to America itself than the jobless situation.

With all the things the president and his men have done to piss me off, if he would just get something done about this, make it priority one, take it to the air waves, go down to Congress and yell at the republicans. If he would do that I would be able to stifle my irritations and put in the hundreds of hours working for the campaign that I did in '08.

...who really want to get behind the President again:

"With all the things the president and his men have done to piss me off, if he would just get something done about this, make it priority one, take it to the air waves, go down to Congress and yell at the republicans. If he would do that I would be able to stifle my irritations and put in the hundreds of hours working for the campaign that I did in '08."

I am still supporting President Obama...but it's harder with what is happening to education and teachers. I went door-to-door with a group of teacher/friends in 2004 for Kerry, 2006 for Dems, and in 2008 to make sure Obama was elected. It's harder to make the case to these friends that we should do the same now, for November.

There's always HOPE.. :patriot:

Our concept of "America" is certainly twisted these days!!

Oh..I'd better add this...:sarcasm:

That is ONE county.

In ONE state.

http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/

They are quite small, but an 800 sq. footer could house a family of 4 I'd say. Even as small as they are, homes like this would be 1000X's better than the streets or shelters. They're actually ideal for poor/lower income people since energy and upkeep costs are minimal.

This is from July, and I'd love to hear your thoughts when you get time, no rush, no worries, this seems to be a busy week for everybody.

Or maybe this was half-deleted?

:rofl:

about this happening here, still looking.
I'll post it if I can find it.

headline story I was going to post here, but I couldn't find it online to save my soul. :(

What I found is that it actually works better to search by reporter, but you probably don't remember that.

I would like it if people would post these things as they come up in the paper, but I know it isn't a sexy topic. Not nearly as much fun as bashing Sarah Palin. :(

edited to say they are often given a different subject line online than the headline in the actual newspaper. :grr:

the parents had recently become homeless, and the kids school grades all took a dive, they were really struggling psychologically and not coping well.

solved!

What the fuck will it take?

Why would anyone continue some stupid BS Dept that Bush started anyway? We don't need it, If he had just read the memos they could have stopped the attack on 9/11.


Take the money from Homeland Security and use that for people security, housing for all, food for all, health care for all.

But posting it here won't convince people to take action.

I hope you will begin aggitating, because people are suffering and dying.

It is easy to help someone here and there, but we have an epidemic on our hands and it doesn't look like anyone is going to do anything about it.

Suggestions?

You don't happen to be an artist or songwrter, do you?

Or, PowerPoint designer/wiz?

I could certainly use a lot of help.

There is so much misinformation and distortion, and until we change that, I don't see much happening to provide the much needed housing.

There are so many things that could be done along these lines!

"Too many homeless" by Pato Banton

TOO MANY HOMELESS



NOW THERES A WHOLE LOTTA THINGS

GOING DOWN AROUND TOWN

I DON’T HAVE THE TIME TO BREAK IT DOWN

WHOS GOT EARS TO HEAR WILL HEAR

AND WHOS GOT EYES TO SEE WILL SEE

MISTER MONEY MAKES THE WORLD GO ROUND

IM LIVING IN A GREAT BIG SWIMMING POOL

WERE THE RICH MAN SWIM

AND THE POOR MEN DROWN

AND EVERYTIME I SEE MY BROTHER LYING IN THE GUTTER

IT TURNS MY EMOTIONS UPSIDE DOWN

IT REALLY DRIVES ME CRAZY

TOO SEE SO MANY HOMELESS PEOPLE



TOO MANY HOMELESS!

TOO MANY HOMELESS!

TOO MANY HOMELESS PEOPLE!



IT CUTS ME LIKE A KNIFE TO SEE A MAN AND HIS WIFE

AND THEIR KIDS SLEEPING ON THE STREETS AT NIGHT

IT’S HARD TO UNDERSTAND WHY

IN THIS WORLD WITH SO MUCH LAND

PEOPLE AINT GIVEN A BETTER CHOICE, HAY!

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO CIVILIZATION

PEOPLE NEED HELP IT’S A CRYING SHAME

RIGHT NOW IM ON MY KNEES

BEGGING ALL YOU LEADERS PLEASE

CANT YOU SEE IT’S TIME TO REARRANGE

IT REALLY DRIVES ME CRAZY

TOO SEE SO MANY HOMELESS PEOPLE



TOO MANY HOMELESS!

TOO MANY HOMELESS!

TOO MANY HOMELESS PEOPLE!



TOO MANY, TOO MANY HOMELESS PEOPLE YAH!

FOR THIS PROBLEM, WE NEED A SOLUTION

RIGHT NOW!



CAUSE THERES A WHOLE LOTTA THINGS

GOING DOWN AROUND TOWN

BUT I DON’T HAVE THE TIME TO BREAK IT DOWN

WHOS GOT EARS TO HEAR WILL HEAR

AND WHOS GOT EYES TO SEE WILL SEE

MISTER MONEY MAKES THE WORLD GO ROUND

IM LIVING IN A GREAT BIG SWIMMING POOL

WERE THE RICH MAN SWIM

AND THE POOR MEN DROWN

AND EVERYTIME I SEE MY BROTHER LYING IN THE GUTTER

IT TURNS MY EMOTIONS UPSIDE DOWN

IT REALLY DRIVES ME CRAZY

TOO SEE SO MANY HOMELESS PEOPLE



TOO MANY HOMELESS!

TOO MANY HOMELESS!

TOO MANY HOMELESS PEOPLE!



TOO MANY, TOO MANY, TOO MANY,

TOO MANY HOMELESS!

TOO MANY, TOO MANY, TOO MANY,

RIGHT NOW!

TOO MANY, TOO MANY, TOO MANY,

TOO MANY HOMELESS

TOO MANY, TOO MANY, TOO MANY,

YAH!

TOO MANY, TOO MANY, TOO MANY,

TOO MANY HOMELESS

TOO MANY, TOO MANY, TOO MANY,

TOO MANY, TOO MANY, TOO MANY,

TOO MANY, TOO MANY, TOO MANY,

YAH!



TOO MANY HOMELESS, RIGHT NOW!

TOO MANY HOMELESS YAH!


also "we can't make it here anymore" by James McMurtry

"We Can't Make it Here"
Lyrics

Vietnam Vet with a cardboard sign
Sitting there by the left turn line
Flag on the wheelchair flapping in the breeze
One leg missing, both hands free
No one's paying much mind to him
The V.A. budget's stretched so thin
And there's more comin' home from the Mideast war
We can't make it here anymore

That big ol' building was the textile mill
It fed our kids and it paid our bills
But they turned us out and they closed the doors
We can't make it here anymore

See all those pallets piled up on the loading dock
They're just gonna set there till they rot
'Cause there's nothing to ship, nothing to pack
Just busted concrete and rusted tracks
Empty storefronts around the square
There's a needle in the gutter and glass everywhere
You don't come down here 'less you're looking to score
We can't make it here anymore

The bar's still open but man it's slow
The tip jar's light and the register's low
The bartender don't have much to say
The regular crowd gets thinner each day

Some have maxed out all their credit cards
Some are working two jobs and living in cars
Minimum wage won't pay for a roof, won't pay for a drink
If you gotta have proof just try it yourself Mr. CEO
See how far 5.15 an hour will go
Take a part time job at one of your stores
Bet you can't make it here anymore

High school girl with a bourgeois dream
Just like the pictures in the magazine
She found on the floor of the laundromat
A woman with kids can forget all that
If she comes up pregnant what'll she do
Forget the career, forget about school
Can she live on faith? live on hope?
High on Jesus or hooked on dope
When it's way too late to just say no
You can't make it here anymore

Now I'm stocking shirts in the Wal-Mart store
Just like the ones we made before
'Cept this one came from Singapore
I guess we can't make it here anymore

Should I hate a people for the shade of their skin
Or the shape of their eyes or the shape I'm in
Should I hate 'em for having our jobs today
No I hate the men sent the jobs away
I can see them all now, they haunt my dreams
All lily white and squeaky clean
They've never known want, they'll never know need
Their sh@# don't stink and their kids won't bleed
Their kids won't bleed in the da$% little war
And we can't make it here anymore

Will work for food
Will die for oil
Will kill for power and to us the spoils
The billionaires get to pay less tax
The working poor get to fall through the cracks
Let 'em eat jellybeans let 'em eat cake
Let 'em eat sh$%, whatever it takes
They can join the Air Force, or join the Corps
If they can't make it here anymore

And that's how it is
That's what we got
If the president wants to admit it or not
You can read it in the paper
Read it on the wall
Hear it on the wind
If you're listening at all
Get out of that limo
Look us in the eye
Call us on the cell phone
Tell us all why

In Dayton, Ohio
Or Portland, Maine
Or a cotton gin out on the great high plains
That's done closed down along with the school
And the hospital and the swimming pool
Dust devils dance in the noonday heat
There's rats in the alley
And trash in the street
Gang graffiti on a boxcar door
We can't make it here anymore

Music and lyrics © 2004 by James McMurtry

(Let me know and I will send you links to the MP3s)



I am not an artist but I am sure there are many DUers who are, and who know how to do powerpoint.

time to cut through the red tape to get permission to use their songs.

It also takes a lot of waiting time to get it to happen.

A local artist has offered his music for background for the whole presentation, but I would like a song at the end for credits and review of issues and quotes and art.

If you know the artists, or are willing to try to get permission from them, that would be great!

Thanks.... I appreciate your reply. This is a very large project for one person!

:hi:

do you have an email where I can have him contact you to give direct permission?

I

hopefully I will get an answer and get back to you.

With lyrics like that, how could he say no?

and it is more political than what I want to use for the first one I am doing. It is a middle America audience, and I want to stay apolotical.

However, since I now have more people who are willing to do PowerPoint, I can see doing a pp with more political and more radical awareness, and this would fit perfectly for that!

Thank you for contacting him, and I will hope you hear back from him! :toast:

Can someone on Facebook contact Pato??
http://www.facebook.com/patobantonandthenowgeneration?v=info

anyone?

anyone?

He does all kinds of benefits, I am sure he would be happy to have you use his song.

I like it, and I could envision some graphics that would go well with it.

If someone could try to contact him on Facebook (I can't get it), I would be most appreciative!

Yes, I can see using this song!

Thanks so much for telling me about this one.

:hi: :yourock:

I really appreciate the help!

:hug:

so I'm not sure how long it will take for me to hear! It's a pleasure and an honor to serve you.

Total waste of money. If anybody doubts that we are at war the one million children displaced by the corpotatists gives clear evidence. The time for being nice to theese asholes is long over. It's time progressives woke up to the fact that we are in a state of war and go at them no holds barred.

then who are we, and what the hell is it we ARE fighting??

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2012683006_homelessfamilies29m.html

Schools districts across the state offer another glimpse, counting more than 20,700 homeless students during the 2008-09 school year — an increase of 150 percent from six years ago.

And that statistic only includes those students who have somehow managed to stay in school, not the students who have dropped out.

From a profile of a woman and her son in the same article:

His lower lip and one ear pierced, Cody dropped out of high school in the ninth grade, two years earlier, when they first gave up their Auburn duplex. He said he couldn't focus; his mother says he doesn't mix easily with strangers.

He later signed up for online school through the state's Insight program, but later, after they moved into the truck, dropped out of that program, too.

~~~

"I feel like we're in this situation because of me," he says. "I've not really been able to be a kid in a long time because of what's been going on."

He'd says he'd like to get his GED, and if not that, maybe a part-time job in the technology field or perhaps working on cars, taking apart engines and putting them back together.

:kick: