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.)

Don't Send HEAR US Flowers!

Sometimes I just don't do well asking for money.

We have our 10th anniversary coming up July 1. Donations up to $5000 will be matched, so we can raise $10,000 without having a dinner, dance or auction.

For the past 10 years, I've been honored to be the instrument to give homeless kids and parents voice and visibility. It's been quite a ride. Check our website and blogs for more info, www.hearus.us.

Funds keep me going on projects that don't always have funding attached, but they're important. HEAR US is frugal. We're effective. And we've gained respect and gratitude of people across the country, especially those without homes who are grateful that we provide them with voice and visibility.

HEAR US is a lot like public broadcasting or other worthwhile web sources that rely on public support. Help us hit the 10 year $10k mark!

If you can give--or know someone who can--please take a moment and sign up. On behalf of the 3 million+ homeless kids in our country, thanks!

Forget-Me-Not: Help Homeless Kids Blossom, the Peter Yarrow Inspired Campaign, Round Two

How to make Congress pay attention to homeless kids? With my frustration mounting, I remember driving home, listening to Garden Song, a clever little ditty sung by Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary. It was 1999, a beautiful spring day. And my pending call from my friend-colleague Barbara Duffield would be our chance to devise a theme for our upcoming unprecedented lobbying of Congress by homeless kids.

The Garden Song haunted me. I could visualize row-by-row, dark soil, rakes, seeds and sprouts of new plants, the hopeful signs of new life (here's a little garden video I did using the song). Barbara and I started talking. I blurted out my garden theme which somehow morphed into Forget Me Not: Help Homeless Kids Blossom. Soon we were begging for thousands of packs of Forget Me Not seeds, generously given and specially labeled by Burpee Seeds.

Over 11,000 packets of Forget Me Not seeds spilled from constituents’ letters onto congressional desks, many bearing heart-felt messages about homeless kids needing education. While in DC, hordes of FMN kids and their chaperones streamed into offices of their congresspersons and asked them why homeless kids couldn’t have rights to go to school. And a massive and poignant assembly featured searing testimony by homeless kids in front of Members of Congress. The combination caused this nation’s million or so homeless students to finally get what every child deserved—the right to a public education.

In 2001, the McKinney-Vento Homeless Education AssistanceAct became law. It resembled almost line-by-line the Illinois Education for Homeless Children Act, better known as Charlie’s Bill, named after Charles, an endearing 4-year-old whose photo (©Pat Van Doren) adorned every piece of literature given to Illinois legislators. My (now-retired) congresswoman, Judy Biggert (IL-13,R), took the lead to get this essential piece of legislation passed, a bill she also supported as a state legislator.

When Peter Yarrow shares his wisdom of word and song on May 8, we’ll be coming full circle except for one thing. It was my (naïve) hope that by now Congress would have at least put 2 + 2 together and figured that kids need not only school but also a place to live. Not the case. We’re sliding backwards.  HEAR US is dusting off the Forget Me Not concept, and we’ll ask the audience to contact their Illinois legislators to ask them to reinstate the $3 million taken from homeless kids back in 2008-09, the last time Illinois budgeted for such “frivolous” purposes.

Standing on the stage, Peter Yarrow, social justice champion and folk music icon, will summon the spirit of all civil rights trailblazers of our lifetimes. He’ll light the fire that needs to burn steadily in the hearts of each member of the audience. He’ll plant the seed of justice that will grow beyond the sprouting dreams we had back in 1994 when just getting the kids into school seemed progress.

I’m totally delighted to have my friend, mentor, and champion Peter Yarrow coming to Aurora, IL, the 2^nd largest city in Illinois, dubbed by Michael Stoops of the National Coalition for the Homeless  “the Selma of the 90s,” to kick off our next campaign to demand that homeless children and youth a place to call home.

The blight of greed and injustice threatens to destroy the fruits of our nation—our young people choked by poverty and homelessness. Our collective compassion-fueled nurturing of families and youth will require that we get our hands dirty and break a sweat.

Gift of Education for Homeless & Foster Care Kids

Try to imagine having no home, and/or no parents. For millions of kids in this country, this is a devastating, regular experience. Frequently it means being ripped from school--the one stability in kids' lives. And you, my friend, are in a position to give an invaluable gift to these kids! NO MONEY needed!

Way over 1.5 million kids in this country are homeless, some with/without parents. Almost a million more are in the often dysfunctional foster care system. For these kids, educational access and stability is vital.

Fortunately, hard-working advocates and enlightened members of Congress have created and just (11/09) introduced 2 important pieces of legislation:

• Educational Success for Children without Homes Act of 2009 (S. 2800), and
• Fostering Success in Education Act of 2009 (S. 2801)

I can only imagine what things are like in Congress as the "big" issues get hashed over. Probably worse than Black Friday mobs. Frankly, I'm happy to be out here in California now, getting ready to film some Learning Curve Express interviews in Sacramento. But I know that these 2 bills, just introduced in the Senate, will have better chances to pass if we can rattle the cages of our senators now.

Sure, you're busy. Holidays and all that stuff. If you take a moment to contact your Senators, I can guarantee a few things:

• You won't die from it! In fact, you might feel like you've done something worthwhile.
• You'll be among a small group of crazy dedicated advocates fighting for these obscure, yet critically important issues.
• Homeless kids, and kids in foster care, will be much better off for a chance to succeed in school. Think of it as your gift for them!
  

You don't need to be an expert. All the info you need is available on the HEAR US website, thanks to my good friend and ultra-awesome advocate Barbara Duffield of NAEHCY.

Seems to me that the happiest people I know are the ones that take time to do something for others. Get yourself set up on Open Congress.org, and follow the prompts to contact your Senators. Or sign and circulate this HEAR US petition. You'll be giving an invaluable gift to kids for years to come, and you don't have to stand in line!

Learning Disability in Congress

I took this pix of Congressman Foster (guy with the suit) who recently met with constituents who stood in line on a Saturday morning in a freezing cold grocery store's bakery department. Despite the discomfort, it was worth it because he admitted to me that he "blew" the issue of the definition of homelessness.

I'm back. A week's vacation, tech issues and an unplanned week dealing with a family emergency knocked me out of the box for the past month. Hope I was missed! For those who can't get enough of my insights, I'm still doing a weekly piece for Change.org's Poverty in America blog.

A while back I decided to take advantage of a Google feature that lets me be notified once a day of stories and blogs on the topics of my choice. My keywords: homeless children, homeless teens, homeless students.

I rightly figured that those 3 would keep me busy. Since doing that, I've been astounded about the fairly significant news coverage of these issues. No reports of a dearth of homeless kids, quite the opposite, to no surprise. Some stories report gallant efforts, some tragic happenings. Accounts filter in from across the nation, from places I know and those I've never heard of, despite 4 years on our country's backroads.

I've found myself pondering one question: With what seems to be common knowledge of the existence and plight of America's homeless kids, why is the learning curve so steep for Congress?

I just left for my vacation when Congress passed and President Obama signed the reauthorization of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, the piece that governs HUD's homelessness efforts. While some improvements have been made, I was glad I was out of town and without phone/internet access.

The key issues some of us were hoping for did not pass, despite a herculean effort. Instead, a much-flawed version is set to become law, fortunately for just 2 years instead of the customary 5 year period.

A good story about a house-less family in a no-tell motel in affluent DuPage County (IL) ran this week on Chicago's Fox TV. Mark Saxenmeyer, the reporter, put together a compelling piece that included a poster-child family (mom, dad and 2 boys) who have spent a year in a motel. Chicago Coalition for the Homeless rep and my friend, Rene Heybach, did a superb job emphasizing the issues.

Seems to me steep learning curves need special vehicles. HEAR US plans to be that vehicle. Soon I will announce the game plan. But in the meantime, I'll be glued to my computer, reading about the problem some in Congress think we don't have--kids living without homes in our great nation.

Can It Get Uglier?

Compared to issues like water-boarding, steroids in baseball, and the economy, the DEFINITION of HOMELESS gets little attention. But to the little people affected by this issue, way over 1.5 homeless children and youth, it's a critical issue, one that seems to be going down the toilet.

According to our homeless children/teen "lobbyist" Barbara Duffield, hopes in DC are at the lowest point ever for negotiating improvements in the definition of homelessness to include the population missed thus far--families and teens who are "outside" the system.

HUD seems to be fighting this effort to expand the definition to include families and teens in motels, doubled-up with others, or outside the sparse HUD-funded shelter system. Big cities--with their big power--seem to be behind some of this strange behavior, maybe because they get funding to get those "chronic" homeless adults off the streets. I dunno...

In the meantime, in Georgia, walking along a highway, a wildly-determined 11-year-old Zach Bonner aims toward DC, wanting to meet with President Obama to raise awareness about homeless children, an issue that rightly appalls him. Zach started his nonprofit, Little Red Wagon Foundation, when he was 8. He's already walked from his home near Tampa to Tallahassee, then Tallahassee to Atlanta, taking important steps to walk the walk.

And I sit in Tillie--my RV home/office, desperately trying to help both Barbara and Zach's efforts. With technology at my fingertips, I can blog, call, and tweet. I'm pleading with people to:

• Urge your congressperson to support HR 29, the Homeless Children and Youth Act, which expands the definition of homelessness to include kids identified by schools as "homeless" under the HUD definition.
• Urge your congressperson to support the expanded definition as described in this document by sending the Piggies-format message.
  

Seems to me we need to convert the energy spent on changing the system into energy spent improving the hopes and dreams of kids without homes. In order to make that happen, lots of people are needed to rattle the cages of President Obama and legislators. Listen to Zach! And Make Homeless Kids Count!

Incredible Efforts in the Trenches

Fire departments can be all-volunteer or funded by municipalities. Every community has some form of fire protection. Every public school district has homeless liaisons. Dedicated fire-fighters and McKinney-Vento homeless education liaisons have similarities--both do amazing work despite incredible odds. This blog offers both a tribute and opportunity for these liaisons.

One bonus of my travels is that I often get to spend quality time hanging out with McK-V liaisons.

They are often the unsung s-heroes and heroes of a school community--going to places many wouldn't even know exist; finding, assisting and keeping track of invisible kids who otherwise would not get into school; fighting ravages of poverty and homelessness threatening to swamp families/youth; butting heads with clueless educators or administrators; wrestling with budget issues and bad attitudes; providing life-sustaining assistance and moral support to their students; training district personnel in McK-V policies; and always going above and beyond to make sure kids have the best chance to succeed in school and life. (This list is by NO MEANS inclusive....)

Another perk of my HEAR US job is to get to talk to kids who have experienced homelessness. If you haven't seen "My Own Four Walls," the first documentary I filmed featuring all kids talking about their experiences of homelessness and education, it's worth getting (I guarantee it!). One thing all these spokespersons had in common--they loved their homeless liaisons!

Sadly, another common trait is that McK-V programs and staff are often grossly unappreciated and under-supported. They're the ones locating the families after the fire, eviction, or domestic violence, trying to figure out how to help the families or teens patch things together again, at least enough to preserve the educational haven for the students.

We, the unwilling, led by the unknowing, are doing the impossible for the ungrateful. We have done so much, for so long, with so little, we are now qualified to do anything with nothing.

Commonly caused by lack of knowledge or sensitivity to homeless students, I've seen McK-V disregard at the district level show up as:

• Program focus gets shifted (weakened), too often without discussion, by administrators who may be trying to do the right thing....or not.
• Personnel gets shifted to non-McK-V programs if they are perceived as "too effective" or troublesome to non-compliant administrators.
• Little or no time gets made in professional development schedules to inform district personnel about McK-V issues.
• Funding gets, um, redirected by administrators, knowing that McK-V staff can't cause a stink.
• Superintendents name themselves as liaisons, or appoint someone who either has no time or desire to perform the task.
  
• Violations of McK-V are overlooked by district or state bureaucrats, especially if the offender is a "respected" administrator.

It's hard to find a safe place to voice frustrations of McK-V work. But this blog allows anonymous comments and I'd be interested to hear what's going on out in McK-V land across the country. Good or bad. If a district or administrator has done exemplary, let's give voice to that too!

I'll start...what's with apparent blatant disregard of McK-V that seems to be overlooked, if not sanctioned, by McK-V authorities? If families broke the law like some districts do they'd be behind bars.

Seems to me that if we have a law it should be followed. What will it take to ensure the protection of educational rights of homeless kids? Maybe I'm opening a can of worms, but it's a discussion that needs to happen with hope for improvement on the local, state and federal level. Let's hear from others....

STOP Doing That!

'Kicking the dog' is the age-old reference for what happens when angry people take out their frustrations on the innocent pooch. Homeless kids know how that dog feels, especially now that the economic crisis swirls around us all, making us feel fiscally-violated by the greed-meisters of Wall Street and Congress.

I read with dismay an article decrying the cost of getting kids to their school of origin. First, my fuse was lit by the cheap trick of headline deception--"costs up to $200 a day"--to bus one child. The only thing thought-deprived readers will see is "cost $200 a day" and they'll hit the roof. The blog that referenced that article added toxic icing to the cake, not correctly presenting the issue or the reason behind the law.

Now that every aspect of the economy is swirling down the drain, including the oldest profession--prostitution, everyone is upset, sometimes at the wrong people for the wrong reasons. With homeless kids' educational rights, stories about kids being deprived of school stability and, in too many cases, any school at all, are common and heart-wrenching. Watch My Own Four Walls, the HEAR US video, if you need convincing.

So to read the unenlightened blog of a person who professes to be a homeless advocate reminds me we have a long way to go to foster understanding of the plight of the invisible homeless kids, way over 1.5 million by my estimate, who seem destined to be kicked around by the system.

Seems to me we need to figure out a way to stop the proverbial dog-kicking. Adding to the hate-filled dysfunctional environment that seems to surround all of us is not the answer. I'd love the blogger of the aforementioned entry to rethink this issue and offer what I think she's capable of--thoughtful analysis of why the news article was in error.

Our chance to weigh in on homeless kids

Maybe it will do some good. It can't hurt.

Am I so hope-deprived that I doubt the power of the Internet?

You can help both promote the idea that homeless kids and families need their own four walls, and at the same time restore my faith that homelessness is an issue that people are willing to care about.

I've set up a page on Change.org and have challenged people toVOTE on the issue of homelessness as it affects the invisible families and youth. Plus I'm asking for financial support for our nonprofit organization, HEAR US, which gives voice and visibility to homeless kids.

HEAR US has been involved in some amazing endeavors to help homeless families and youth:

• We created and are distributing a powerful video that helps homeless kids.
  
• We've worked hard to successfully remove barriers for homeless youth so they can apply for financial aid to go to college.
  
• We have staved off the attempts to narrow the definition of homelessness, and at the same time managed to get Congress talking about this long-ignored problem.
  
• We're going behind bars, helping homeless parents protect their children's educational stability, and more...

So if you care about this issue, click on the widget--the thingie at the top of this post. If you'd like to support HEAR US buy some of our "stuff" that really does make a difference.

Seems to me we are so overdue for change in this country that we can't believe we have the chance to bring it about. But we do, if we act. Feel free to share this invitation with your circle of friends and colleagues.

Go to the Wall--If You Have One

When I need that extra boost of determination and focus to face the dragons of this world, I can get it by recalling my little friends pictured above. I met Destiny, Tiffany and Amanda in Reno, where they have no real family shelter--just "roller beds" parked in a church site that rotated weekly. The family couldn't hold onto the motel they were staying in so they hit the church-shelter, but were asked to leave because of some problem with one of the other families. They were sent off to CA on a 14-hour bus ride to stay with someone supposedly willing to take in the girls, their baby sister and mom.

My Own Four Walls was a brilliant name for the HEAR US documentary (DVD). It points to the value of what we take for granted--our own place to live. Probably most people who read this blog have not only a computer to connect you to the immense Internet world, but also have your own four walls.

As much as we'd like to think everyone has at least a humble place to call home, sorry, that's not the case. And maybe later blogs will dwell upon causes, effects, cures...but for now I want to ask you to picture the face of a homeless kid who touched your life. Got it?

If you haven't had the pleasure of getting to know at least one kid without a home, let me share some of the faces of kids I've met along my HEAR US sojourn. Jose (left) captured my heart during my visit to central PA. His family bounced in and out of homelessness--staying with family and friends and in/out of shelters, but fortunately he enjoyed school stability thanks to caring McKinney-Vento liaisons.


Tommy and his family called motels home for longer than he cared to talk about. His parents tried to make things work--both held low-paying jobs that barely added up to enough to stay in cheap motels. The mobility and the pressures of high school weighed heavily on Tommy. His McK-V liaison was there to pick up the pieces when the family's short-lived stint in their own apartment fell apart.

Cody pretty well had it with staying with other families by the time I interviewed her. Homeless thanks to Hurricane Rita, she and her siblings found out that the home they had taken for granted was much better than sharing space with another family. She ached with impatience for the process of getting her own four walls.


OK, now that you have a name and a face of a kid without a place to call home...would you be willing to help that kid?

No money required--just a phone call or a fax on MONDAY, JULY 14--to your Member of Congress to urge the House Financial Services Committee to make the right decisions to help homeless kids. It's a big vote--but most of them probably don't know it.

If you're willing to make the call CLICK HERE for simple instructions and more information.

Then, next time you stare at your own four walls, think about "your" kid that your phone call helped get closer to getting their own four walls. And smile....

Seems to me that the issue of families and teens on their own having their own four walls should at least get the amount of attention Congress gave the baseball steroid issue.

Looking at Progress (?) In DC???

Six months ago people thought it was hopeless to try to turn Congress around on the issue of the homelessness definition. For those just joining us, the issue has been that HUD, the federal agency overseeing housing and homelessness, has for the past several years focused on "chronic homelessness" which greatly limits help for kids and families (Congressional Quarterly article).

Word from "a little bird" in DC indicates forward movement for those of us who believe we need to address homeless families and unaccompanied teens STAT!

HEAR US has been part of this campaign, with our Piggies Action, a simple way to nudge your congresspersons. Well, the piggies get the message across. More people are needed to take a few moments to do this little activity.

Why?

Seems to me that we're due for a victory for the little people. Over nation's 1.5 million homeless kids in our country sure qualify as little people. When we can start caring about "the least among us" (not that I consider homeless kids "the least" but they sure lack power and importance) then maybe we're ready to turn a corner on this compassion epidemic I keep hoping for....

Photos c Pat Van Doren, used with permission

Welcome Blogger Readers!

After a few practice blogs, I'm ready to welcome readers. It's like being by yourself at the far end of the Grand Canyon and hollering into the abyss.

I've debated blogging for a long time. It took me a long time to succumb to getting a MP3 player too. I wanted to be sure that I want to commit to my readers but, more importantly, that I can take the time to properly and passionately represent the population that HEAR US exists for--homeless kids and families.

Seems to me is the title of my musings which hopefully won't all be rants, but I make no promises with this issue. It would be nice to hear an echo or at least another sound so I don't feel so alone out here. So, here we go....