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. 

How To Help Homeless Families and Youth?

I’ve looked into the eyes of too many homeless children. That partially explains my task-master teacher-like attitude for following up on “assignments” I’ve given, like the edict I issued at the end of January at the CARES Community Discussion about homelessness held at Dickinson College.

The assignment was simple, requiring less than 30 seconds on www.helphomelesskidsnow.org under “Take Action.” I urged the audience—CARES volunteers and guests, Dickinson students and professors, and the public to send Congressman Barlettta a message requesting that he co-sponsor the Homeless Children and Youth Act (HR 576).

This bipartisan legislation will expand the narrow definition of “homelessness” used by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to reflect the more realistic definition used by the U.S. Department of Education and other federal agencies. It sounds benign. It’s far from that. It’s a matter of life and death.

HUD’s definition excludes literally millions of children, parents, youth on their own, and adults from services, including emergency shelter, and from being counted in HUD’s annual Point-In-Time census which recently happened in Cumberland County.

This exclusion means that HUD reported to Congress that about 500,000 people were counted as homeless, including 128,000 children/youth, while the Education census identified over 1.3 million students as homeless, not including younger/older siblings or parents, a number that has appallingly doubled in the 10 years I’ve been on the road chronicling the plight and promise of homeless families and youth.

What this issue boils down to is dreadfully underfunded shelters and services for those who need it most—babies, toddlers, younger and older kids and parents. If you want a face on this issue, watch this 4-minute video of kids talking about homelessness. 

If you want more, go to www.hearus.us (my organization, HEAR US Inc.’s website) and scroll down a bit to watch Worn Out Welcome Mat - Kansas. 

In short, the bill would help vulnerable families and youth by changing HUD’s policy which “excludes children and youth who face real harm, including negative emotional, educational, and health outcomes; it also increases their risk of physical and sexual abuse and trafficking.” And much more. 

I stopped in Congressman Barletta’s Carlisle office and spoke with Leah, his field representative. She was quite understanding and willing to help Pat LaMarche and me set up an appointment to ask the Congressman to cosponsor this bill. Since she was so nice, I asked if she could look up how many emails were generated after my plea last Tuesday night. She did.

I wish I could say it was a lot. I can’t.

Sadly, people are busy. Survival is hard, even for those with homes. And we'd like to think we made it easy, but maybe it's not.

If you want to weigh in, simply go to www.helphomelesskidsnow.org and click on TAKE ACTION. 

The bottom line is, without community support (i.e. emails or calls) to get laws like this passed, we will continue to have skyrocketing numbers of homeless families and youth. People of Cumberland County (and beyond) will have to increase even beyond your impressive efforts to provide emergency services to families and youth who will have little hope to escape the ravages of homelessness. And I will continue to have to look in their eyes, knowing much more needs to be done, wondering what it will take to get people to care. 

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.)

Toothless, Homeless—That Bites!

She smiled as I cooed over her adorable 2-year-old daughter. I cringed.

I didn’t count, but I’d guess this girl’s mother had all of 5 teeth in her mouth, none appearing to be healthy.

This homeless mother and daughter rely on the goodness of a community-based shelter, a stopgap effort to ensure homeless adults and children don’t freeze to death for want of a place to sleep. These shelters don’t have dentists or docs on staff. And every single person staying there has grossly neglected dental and medical needs.

But this mom’s smile. How many smiles—toothless all or most—would you see in the average shelter? Based on what I’ve seen and heard—shockingly too many. My shelter director-friend Pat LaMarche told me, “Half the people there (at the shelter) have no teeth. I have a guy with no teeth and a broken jaw so he can't get dentures. They set his jaw wrong when he broke it and no oral surgeon will do Medicaid work that extensive. He’s had no real solid food in 5 years.”

And that doesn’t include the millions of kids and adults who aren’t “lucky” enough to be in shelters, those doubled up with friends and family, or staying in the no-tell-motels, shacking up illegally and uncomfortably in storage units, or desperately eking out a place to safely catch just a little sleep.

A healthy mouth is important. The American Dental Association describes the dental dearth, “But tens of millions still do not, owing to such factors as poverty, geography, lack of oral health education, language or cultural barriers, fear of dental care and the belief that people who are not in pain do not need dental care.” Not to mention homelessness.

The North Bay Business Journal reported on a recent study by the Pacific Health Consulting Group, “A growing body of research indicates that poor oral health is directly linked to a number of major health conditions including cancer and diabetes as well as heart disease and stroke. Untreated dental problems during pregnancy can contribute to poor birth outcomes and neonatal mortality.”

Millions of children on Medi-Cal (Medicaid in CA) lacked access to dental care, prompting an audit with appalling findings.  State Auditor Elaine Howle described the ghastly gap to Governor Jerry Brown, blaming “poor provider participation on low reimbursement rates, some of which have not increased since fiscal 2000-01.”

And Florida was recently chastised for neglecting over 80% of children on Medicaid.

Rural communities have their own set of challenges to reach their dental-deprived adults and kids. The Rural Assistance Center offers solutions to the gaping problem. And Dr. Jay Grossman has led the way for urban dental action for those most desperate for oral health care.

But the growing inadequacies in access to dental care seem to be low priority for elected officials and others controlling access to the drill. The Affordable Care Act specifies that kids can get dental check ups. But a shortage of dentists willing to accept ACA/Medicaid rates makes the dream a nightmare. And adults are out of luck. As are all members of families not deemed citizens.

And yet parents of a dental-care deprived 7-year-old girl in Pennsylvania face jail time for allegedly neglecting their daughter’s teeth. “The girl's oral health was so poor a dentist needed to remove seven teeth, remove a nerve from eight others and cap another,”  although the Lehigh Valley Live story points out the extenuating circumstances that may keep the parents from the slammer.

In my perfect world, those who mangled the economic system—not those who fail to use the dental health system—would be held responsible for the incalculable suffering of millions and millions of adults and kids without access to oral health care.

Expecting people with disintegrated teeth to rush out and get jobs requiring smiling faces is, well, insulting. Witnessing the human degradation that occurs with dental decay is heartbreaking. Explaining to this little girl that brushing her teeth is an exercise in futility is a task for the 3 dentists, all ADA members, in Congress.

Sign this petition created by HEAR US Inc. to the American Dental Association and the ADA members of Congress to increase access to dental care for those unable to afford it.

Perverted Reality: Shelter ‘System’ Is No System

Homeless people have shelters to go to, a common belief comforting those who don’t know better. 

Having just come from Carlisle Cares, the community-based shelter where my friend and colleague Pat LaMarche works, having run shelters for 15 years myself, having seen shelters across the country for the past 9 years of my HEAR US traveling, I find myself seething at the perverted reality of what our shelter “system” is in this affluent country.

Pat’s shelter is probably average (no offense!). It’s in a middle-income borough in sort of central PA. Hundreds of similar communities dot the Keystone State. This community is quite unusual, with 3 shelters—one in a fixed site, this one which rotates to different places of worship—and a Salvation Army shelter for families. Shari Bellish, the shelter founder, fights hard to keep this meager operation going, knowing that 55 people a night will have a safe place to sleep. 

I listened as Pat answered one of many phone calls she and other staff get during the day. “I’m sorry, we’re full,” was the gist of it. The caller, a woman staying in her car. It’s below freezing tonight. Pat referred her to a neighboring community’s rotating site “shelter” program. At least she has a car, and gas is cheaper. Maybe she’ll get a spot to sleep.

Many shelters operate on paltry budgets, forcing them to creatively get around the lack of space and staff by setting hours that minimize the operations’ expenses. Pat’s shelter busses people to the night site which opens at 9:30 p.m. Everyone has to be out by 7 a.m., bussed back to this modest base so everyone can go on their way.

Imagine life for school kids—to bed by 10 if they’re lucky, up at 6:30, on a bus at 7 to go back to shelter headquarters to wash up and grab breakfast before heading out to school. Not a lot of quality time for homework, much less sleep and normalcy. The pads on the floor squeezed together don’t allow for privacy, or sleep. 

Volunteers and a skeleton staff make this emergency arrangement possible. And it’s much better than everyone cuddling up on the street. In Phoenix, the county is contemplating shutting down their overflow shelter—a bleak warehouse that offers nothing but a place on the floor for hundreds of desperate men.

Reading Bill Moyer’s post on homelessness, I found myself torn. His valid perspective is tainted by the use of wildly-delusional statistics provided by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. HUD’s official report to Congress, which determines funding for homelessness programs, was that 578,424 people were homeless last year.  

This extremely narrow enumeration hardly counts homelessness at all. It’s a one-night point-in-time count that, despite sincerely stalwart efforts by professionals and volunteers, documents a mere drop in the vast sea of people—adults and kids, oldsters and babies and those in between—with no place to go.

Case in point, the U.S. Department of Education reported that almost 1.3 million students without homes were identified in the 2013 school year, a staggering 72% increase since 2006. T America’s Youngest Outcasts reports over 2.5 million CHILDREN are homeless, not including parents or single adults. So, HUD’s report…just a tad under-representing the crisis.

I left as Pat headed down the garbage bag-lined hallway, holiday clothing donations. Folks were quietly waiting at tables. If you’d could ask, you’d hear about boredom, frustration finding housing or jobs, regrets about burned bridges and family alienation, and gratitude that at least they have some place to turn to on this cold Pennsylvania night where they’ll be safe. 

It’s perverted that they should feel grateful. It’s perverted that many communities have no shelters. It’s perverted that HUD is pushing “Housing First” with inadequate resources to help those who need it, and we’ll see the perverted action of the 114th Congress, which doesn’t begin to have a clue as to the staggering scope homeless Americans, as they likely slash spending for human needs.

Brutal Cold + Brutal Reality For Homeless Families/Youth

Keynote speeches can be good or bad, stimulating or numbing. At the Beyond Housing conference put on by the venerable Institute of Children, Poverty and Homelessness in NYC last week, I could have danced on the table during Ralph da Costa Nunez’s opening salvo.

Ever the contrarian, this respected guru of all things to help homeless families took a major shot at the homelessness “cure” de jour, Housing First aka Rapid Rehousing. Nunez spared no words. It doesn’t work as a one-size-fits-all (underfunded) approach to ending homelessness. My dear friend and sister-blogger Pat LaMarche captured the sense of his proclamation.

Now, let me add my 2¢ worth: whatever well-intentioned approaches communities have to assist families and youth moving from the streets to sheets (and all the other essentials of home), far more communities have nothing. Read that again.

Maybe it’s the ivory tower syndrome:

• I’m doing good in my job helping homeless families and youth, so everyone else is probably doing the same. (Hello, organizations in big cities that have resources.) 
• I don’t see any homeless families/youth, so they’re all OK or we don’t have any here. 
• I’ve heard this isn’t a problem, so it’s not.

Or worse:

• I get HUD funding so I can’t say anything bad about this absurd policy that excludes million of homeless families/youth.
• I will agree with this policy of Housing First because I want it to work (and I get HUD funding so I can’t bite the hand that feeds me). 
• It would be too much work to change things to better serve homeless families/youth. 
• They should try harder to solve the problem on their own. I’ve got too much to do as it is.

Having spent many grueling years running shelters for individuals, families and youth over 18, I feel I’ve got skin in the game. (My bio) Having spent the past 9 years traversing the country listening to and chronicling families and youth in homeless situations (3-min YouTube vid), I feel obligated to bring their story to the table. Having spent 30+ years advocating ending homelessness (How’s that working? Not!), I can’t stay quiet when these rare discussions hit the media wave.

I wrote a book, Crossing the Line: Taking Steps to End Homelessness, because I was dismayed about the lack of understanding of homelessness among policymakers and the public. Here’s a 1-page excerpt from my missive that list some causes of family/youth homelessness. (You can order the e-book or real book at my HEAR US website.)

20+ years ago I astoundingly found myself fighting against so-called advocates in Illinois who said we didn’t need a state law to remove barriers commonly experienced by homeless students trying to get into school. Yes we did. We got it, and now it’s federal law. And millions of kids have had access to 6-hours a day of educational stability, meals (albeit not the greatest), and a shot at escaping poverty through education.

So I’m not backing down when it comes to demanding that our affordable-housing-destroying government steps up mightily to right the wrongs of the past 30 years of what doesn’t pass for viable housing policies. Here’s a 3-minute video critiquing  “Rapid Rehousing,” produced by Nunez’s organization, ICPH.

Housing First, the touted “solution” to homelessness, has been primarily directed at those derogatorily dubbed “chronic” homeless persons, and grossly inadequate funding has caused organizations to fight brutally. You should be a little suspicious when HUD and HUD-funded agencies fight to keep a narrow definition of homelessness that excludes most families, youth and non-chronic adults.

Ralph suggests Housing Second and Third. And funding these approaches. That would take us beyond our one-size-fits-all mentality to addressing this growing national scandal. Why we have to fight about this baffles me.

I’d suggest those who think we’re doing enough to help homeless families and youth to leave the comfort of their cozy work/home environments and spend a day or 2 (preferably with kids in tow) looking for a place to stay. Yeah, Housing First is a good slogan but a lousy blanket. 

 (Originally posted by me on my AlterNet blog)

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!

Tired of the BS from 'Advocates'

Photo (C) Pat Van Doren

I worry that things are so screwy that we'll "eat our young" as we all scramble for a piece of the dwindling, vulnerable federal human services pie. It seems that a group of so-called advocates and unenlightened legislators are poised to do just that--"eat" homeless kids by depriving the majority of them of assistance otherwise available for homeless kids staying in shelters.

Gosh, this homeless definition issue is getting so drawn out that it makes me shake my head in wonderment. I dug through my email trash to look at what the young-eaters give for reasons to oppose forcing Congress to help more homeless kids. Shameful. I'll let their words speak for this atrocious form of advocacy.

If HR 32 (The Homeless Children and Youth Act) were enacted, children who are now defined as homeless, including those who are fleeing domestic violence, living in dangerous situations, or literally sleeping outside, would be forced to compete for scarce resources with millions more who have the advantage of a more stable apartment or house to sleep in every night.

As NAEHCY Policy Director Barbara so adamantly points out, "Defining a problem by the funding currently available to address it is nonsensical. Congress needs to know who and how many people are without housing in order to devise effective solutions.  A narrow definition of homelessness does nothing to reduce the number of people living without their own homes. It simply gives policymakers an unrealistic view of the scope of the problem.

I'd be even more caustic. Continuing a failed policy of counting homeless people, spending money and volunteer/staff time each year to do so, to produce the absolutely bogus AHAR (Annual Homeless Assessment Report...or the capital of Ahar County, East Azerbaijan Province, Iran) is irrational and unconscionable. Furthermore, the last thing we need to do is confuse Congress on matters of poverty.

... HR 32, if enacted, would expand the definition of homelessness to include an additional 2,351,762 low-income housed children each year, who, although their housing may be poor, are not literally homeless (my underline).  

 The esteemed Barbara Duffield rebuts, "H.R. 32, will not require communities to spend HUD funding on doubled-up and motel families and youth. It simply gives them the flexibility to do so when these families and youth need HUD homeless services...Vulnerability determinations must be done on a local, individual basis, after gathering as many facts as possible. Congress is not in a position to decide the relative vulnerability of individual children and adults in communities across the county."

My good friend Pat LaMarche took a swing at this issue in her Christmas HufPo column following the testimony of 6 supremely courageous and articulate kids who testified to Congress about the agony of homelessness (the non-HUD kind). She gets it. She ran a shelter for a few years.

And I'd add that the time and energy we've spent on this issue is time wasted. Not so much for policy-wonks but for families and youth being excluded from possibly getting emergency assistance. How can you look a kid or a desperate parent in the face and say they're not homeless enough...when they are as homeless as the next person, and possibly suffering abuse, among other common experiences? Not "literally homeless"? That reference pushes me over the edge. When do we get to splitting hairs over who's homeless, more homeless, most homeless? I can't even go there. Nor should they.

Had I not just witnessed the debacle between The Susan G. Komen Foundation and Planned Parenthood, I'd think our advocacy wars were unusual. In case you missed it, here's the powerful and poignant response on this life-threatening issue as courageously and vociferously offered by Linda, a woman whose own experience with breast cancer gives her the right to weigh in, which she did. Catch her last line. 

I'll be looking for an outraged parent or kid who is willing to go on record like Linda did about the atrocious behavior of "advocates" and public officials that think our pathetic level of assistance directed to the crisis of homelessness is enough. But until then, I'll close with some thoughts of my own...

To pretend that you have any comprehension of the anguish, agony and hopelessness of homelessness is absolute bull shit. To shy away from a united and forceful campaign to begin to relieve millions of people in this country from the sufferings of homelessness makes me disregard your efforts entirely.

If you wish to act upon this outrage, check the HEAR US website, Compassion Epidemic, Hot Alert!

Back-to-School Nightmares Rampant for Homeless Parents

You don't get it until you live it.

The reality of shelter life is...impermanence; where will we end up? Add this to the day after day awareness of their parents preoccupation with seeking employment, overcoming the despair that poverty invites or banging your head daily to live with seriously limited resources, and feeling isolated because as much as we don't want to feel ashamed of our circumstances...we suffer the judgmental slings and arrows from school personnel and all the jabs and jeers of those automated letters and voicemails. [Paula, mom in a homeless situation with her son]

Paula nails it. She and her son have been homeless for a couple years after experiencing brutal and long-lasting abuse from her ex. It's a common tale, I know. But let's not ho-hum it. What they're dealing with is anything but ho-hum.

The simple act of her 12-year-old son (a cool kid!) getting to school is causing massive distress. Trauma in abundance lingers like a storm cloud over their lives. Her ex-spouse sounds like a scary monster in a horror movie. The "protection" system--the courts/law enforcement--appear to be anything but helpful. The danger of the ex returning to wreak havoc is plausible. And the school appears to be dismissing her like a piece of junk mail.

Paula's trying to get her son on the school bus, but the shelter they're in seems to be a tad too close to the school, by .2 miles according to my calculation. Her son, according to what she's shared, gets bullied by kids along the sidewalk and on school property. He's dreading school, certainly the act of walking to/from school, which is contrary to his intelligent, enthusiastic manner that I've seen.

I've talked to a couple lawyers familiar with the rightfully-touted McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Act. Although MV isn't as obvious as some of us would like, it does give schools leeway in situations like this--where barriers exist for kids' attendance and success in school. Other creative, legit ways of getting around the obvious school transportation issue also exist.

I spoke with the principal who assured me that they do everything possible for kids--all kids--at their school. I'd like to believe him. But the proof will be evident if this boy can hop a bus.

I'm waiting to speak with the district's homeless liaison. Paula indicates no one's ever connected her (or other families she's spoken to) with the liaison, who is supposed to be the point-person to avert these kind of stumbling blocks. The lack of attention to this issue is quite evident to this astute mom.

The good news is, if districts are willing to invest minimal money and precious time, we have some great tools to help districts better understand and address myriad issues facing students in homeless situations:

• HEAR US offers 2 great videos (DVDs), My Own Four Walls, and on the edge. 
• We have a free video that can be watched online, REACH, that explains how to make M-V work, even if you're behind bars.
• We also have Pat Van Doren's powerful set of children's books and  adult books on homelessness, mine (Crossing the Line: Taking Steps to End Homelessness) and my friend Pat LaMarche's missive, Left Out in America. 
• And a great new video by my friend Patricia Julianelle has school officials explaining (in user-friendly 8-min. clips) how this law, one in which I was quite involved in getting passed, works so well. The McKinney-Vento Act in Our Schools hits the nail on the head. 

I dunno...with all the information available, it seems like schools wouldn't create barriers when it comes to opening school doors and encouraging success of our nation's most promising (and growing class) of scholars--kids in homeless situations.

I'm willing to be the tutor for this district. I'd bring in experts like Paula and scads of other parents that could educate the educators. With the unprecedented growth of homelessness, we better kick into gear how to best cope with it before we see an Occupy Schoolyard movement.

Homeless Kids of All Ages Thrown Under the Budget-Busting Bus

The longer I stayed to film at First Place Kids Center in Eugene, OR, the more furious I got. Nothing about this center's pending closing makes any sense. But what does nowadays?

If you think budget cut talk is a bunch of hype, think again. I hear and see worthy efforts being stymied or slashed to death, as is this kids' center, everywhere I turn. The carnage hits all age brackets and all on the poverty spectrum. My bias--it's the little kids that have the most to lose. That's certainly the case for Eugene's "littlest nomads" without this first-class daycare program.

The kids lose. They're in the most crucial development stage of their life. Stimuli, learning opportunities, socialization, nutrition, structure, stability...all of this and more are what they need lots of, in a safe, clean environment. Sorry, despite best effort of parents and shelters, those environments usually lack what these kids need.

Parents lose. Ever try to look for a job or housing with a 3-year-old? Do you feel guilty when you can't provide a decent meal, clean diapers, or just some quality time with your little one? Have you ever spent a rainy, chilly day in a beater-car with your little one(s)? I'll stop here. You get the idea.

We lose. When kids show up to school, they should be school-ready. But kids don't become school-ready magically. It takes loving effort--lots of it--like what I saw at the Kids Center (1-min. video I shot). When kids aren't school ready, their chances of success--at school and life--diminish. You can figure what happens then.

I'd like to be an optimist, but these are not the days for Pollyanna. These are days for Diane the Fire-breathing Dragon. The daily litany of drastic cuts on local, state and federal levels targeting these kids, and the rest makes me agree with my friend Pat LaMarche who penned a powerful HuffPo piece about politicians' contempt for the poor. I can't figure another way to take this. You can tell me if Pat/I are wrong.

Seems to me that we should have been paying closer attention to the riots in Egypt. The injustice they were fighting against, the have-lots' contempt for the poor, is the same thing we're seeing here. The difference--we elected these contemptible hypocrites. You can figure out what needs to be done....