Babies Beware! Billionaire Blathering

Babe of Wrath Pat LaMarche stood with her sign outside
the Janesville, WI office of Speaker Paul Ryan. The police were
summoned. She collected $6.79, and donated it to HEAR US. 

It’s not easy to stand on a street corner with a sign—asking for money or demanding justice. Between hecklers and honkers, and those who pass you by like litter, it takes a hefty dose of chutzpah to put yourself out there. Three good-hearted women in Greenville, MI discovered the perils of panhandling last Friday.

Panhandling is one of the least popular “professions” in America, aside from politicians and plumbers. That loaded term demeans those standing on street corners asking for money. Think of it as people trying to earn money honestly since they’ve been shut out of the brutal employment market.

The women who stood with their cardboard signs in this nondescript Michigan town were calling attention to homeless babies and children. 

What? Babies and children are homeless? It never ceases to surprise me how many are, and how few know. Using numbers of actually identified homeless students, I’ve estimated that probably 3 million kids in America—from infants to youth approaching adulthood—are homeless. That number shocks me. And I’ve been doing this work for over 3 decades. 

A couple years ago I visited with Becky, an astute mom in central Michigan, not far from Greenville. She, along with her family, had experienced homelessness, including a brutal winter in a pop-up camper. In 3 minutes she can enlighten and maybe inspire you. 

My national nonprofit, HEAR US Inc., “specializes” in raising awareness of homeless children and youth. For the past 11 years I’ve traveled more than 300,000 miles of mostly backroads to chronicle the kind of homelessness the press, politicians and the public fail to see. It’s not a pretty picture. And it’s about to get worse. 

My prediction isn’t based on partisan politics. It’s based on how a billionaire buffoon’s blathering bamboozled bubbleheads’ beliefs. 

Enough alliteration. For now. 

Having been around the block a few times during presidential elections, and being fascinated by media, I’ve witnessed the power of the idiotic overpowering the essential. I knew it was coming in this incessant election "news" cycle that had millions wanting to stick our heads into pencil sharpeners. And it’s not over.

That doesn’t bode well for vulnerable populations, homeless babies and children for example. HEAR US worked hard to create a catchy project, Yay Babies! Yay Kids!, to call positive attention to the millions of little and bigger kids without homes. Our effort offers free materials—a catchy short PSA (Public Service Announcement) video about babies, and a simple flyer with 3 action steps to help babies in local communities—and a modestly-priced ($10) guide, The Charlie Book: 60 Ways to Help Homeless Kids, to, well, you know. 

Despite my cogent nature, I had hoped these tools would light the world on fire, or at least generate a sizable and viral ripple that would make sure we are at least caring for the basic needs of babies and kids without homes. Um, well, no. 

But it’s not too late. The tools stand ready:

• Yay Babies! video
• Yay Babies! flyer
• Yay Kids! The Charlie Book: 60 Ways to Help Homeless Kids
• Yay Babies! Yay Kids! Facebook page

All that’s needed is you. 

Disturbing Shelter Sights and Sounds--Something You Can Do To Help

Watch this 4-min HEAR US video I filmed at
Carlisle Cares.

From my vantage point, tethered to the electrical outlet a few feet from the front door of the daytime
resource center at Carlisle Cares, I heard the morning murmurs of the early arrivals, those who walked in the brisk Pennsylvania morning from the Quaker Meeting House converted last night into a haven for dozens of homeless adults and kids.

Thuds as the center’s door closed. Rumble of wheels from those wondrously easy rolling suitcases that carry the humble possessions. Grumbles and giggles from big people and little ones. 

I spent a few days in Carlisle before continuing my 10th Anniversary, 10,000 mile HEAR US cross-country jaunt, giving talks, screening my documentaries, and doing whatever I can to raise awareness of homeless families and youth.

This tiny borough, population 19,000, has an remarkable 3 shelters that accept families. Even more astounding to the unknowing—the shelters are over capacity. And it was “only” mid October. This program is way over their capacity of 64—a census hovering in the mid 80s and 20+ children.

Babies and toddlers, toted and tugged by stressed out moms and dads. Discarded youth, over 18 (the legal age for shelter admittance, leaving the younger ones to predators and chance). Blended in with mostly single men and a handful of women.

I focused on kids and families. PA has way more than 23,000.

Contrary to the demented rantings of a blowhard media “news” figure who blissfully and erroneously maintains that this burgeoning hungry and homeless kids’ crisis is a hoax, more and more families and youth find themselves with nowhere to go.

And contrary to unenlightened popular belief, most communities have nowhere to go for these vulnerable young people, including hoards of babies and toddlers with desperate and despairing parents, even for the night. Ask around your community—any shelters that accept families, intact or single parents, dads with kids? Are they full?

Even established nonprofit (and I really mean NON profit) programs like Carlisle Cares struggle to patch together a nightly shelter program, utilizing area faith communities willing to turn their halls and classrooms into havens for homeless kids and adults in their community, providing a handful of devoted volunteers to keep watch over their homeless guests. (Donate to their holiday challenge)

Beyond the incalculable numbers (millions, Mr. O’Reilly), are the little things you might not think about that bedevil programs like Cares. They’re not really set up to handle record numbers of kids. They struggle to keep a supply of vitals—diapers, formula, baby food--and have an embarrassing dearth of kids’ stuff—coloring books and games, DVDs, books, and the kind of things that can keep kids busy for a few moments. Kids’ basics—underwear, socks, shoes, coats, clothing—forget it. 

One of my HEAR US board members, Rita Sullivan, decided to act on these needs. She’s in Illinois—but she’s met Pat LaMarche, the shelter manager and Babe of Wrath. Rita decided to help the families there.  She solicited the items listed below and sent them to Carlisle Cares.

Here's an ongoing wish list for items needed at Cares. New items are best, but gently-used accepted. If you're not near the sweet town of Carlisle, you can order online and have items delivered.

• diapers and pull-ups, all sizes
• formula and baby food
• baby wipes
• coloring books, crayons
• puzzles (all ages)
• kids' books
• kids' socks and undies (new)

Now, make the next sound heard here the rumble of delivery trucks as they drop off packages that show you care for the families of Carlisle Cares. The kids’ giggles and happy sounds from parents, staff and Cares’ guests will make it all worth it. (And remember--they need items and support year-round!)

(And if you'd rather do this for your local shelter, great! Call and see what they need.)

A Worthwhile Journey

The ICPH map showing the dearth of family
shelters across the country hung proudly
from Tillie at our Arkansas launching spot--
the Clinton Presidential Library in
Little Rock, AR.

Another cross-country trip--I don't take them lightly. But this one was special. Dubbed Babes of Wrath, my esteemed friend Pat LaMarche and I, supported by our techie Mary Parks, threw everything we had at our EPIC (Everyday People In Crisis) Journey 2013. 6,500 miles (trip map) later, phew, we know it was quite worth it.

The awareness factor of homeless families and kids is dismayingly low--on all levels: elected officials, school personnel, and community members. As Babes of Wrath, we set out to change that in a swath of states from AR to CA, from Pacific to Atlantic coasts.

Tillie, my tin can on wheels, served as our traveling home-office, albeit a tad crowded. We contacted our network--Pat's Green Party and my HEAR US McKinney-Vento and shelter friends--and set up events. The tremendous cooperation we received made our trip extremely worthwhile and satisfying! We cannot thank our friends enough for their efforts, support and hospitality!

In addition to events, Pat and I blogged. She writes for HuffPo and New Clear Vision. I write for AlterNet, as well as my (neglected) invisible homeless kids and Wanderers. 

We received some incredible media interest, including the prestigious cable news show, The Young Turks.

Social media proved to be our super-tool, with our EPIC Journey FB page becoming quite the hotspot of cyberspace.

The crux of our journey--and the reason we did this crazy marathon trip--consists of 2 groups:

• university students and audience members who attended our events; and,
• the people experiencing homelessness who shared their stories with us.

We're excited that the stories and support have lead to a bodacious plot. More on that soon!

We took this journey for each of you--those experiencing homelessness and those working to ease the crisis of homelessness. We're not done yet, so we urge you to join our EPIC Journey family because we've got some exciting news round the corner! 

Knowing your time is limited, unlike our blogs and stories, I'm listing my favorites below. 

Blogs:

• Pat called me a "daft knight" and a middle-age broad, and I'm delighted!
• My double-double-dog dare to 2016 Prez candidates
• An in depth, and disturbing look at Sheriff Joe Arpaio, Maricopa County's legendary lawless-lawman. Sheriff Joe, Whatta Ya Know? (includes blog and links to transcript and photos)

News stories:

• Focus on the film stars--the kids of My Own Four Walls--People's Tribune
• Flagstaff, AZ covered our event
• The Young Turks news show

Far from feeling all news is bad news, this trip restored my faith in good people doing good things. After 8 years, 166,000 miles, that's the kind of tune-up this gal needed! Happy to share a burst of good news, knowing we all need to hunker down to overpower the naysayers. Count on this "daft knight" to continue my humble efforts. Stick around!