Most Invisible Because They're Tiny

Warning. If your heart breaks easily, this will break your heart. But sometimes we need to do that so we can get fired up. As homelessness surges upward like out of control flood waters, swirling around unnoticed are thousands of babies. It's a horrible picture, but it's one that we need to look at, and act.

I filmed this 4-minute video, Life is But a Dream, with touching song by one of my favorite songsters, Sara Thomsen, while in Boston a couple weeks ago, joining with the MA Campaign to End Child Homelessness.

Since I was stuck in their tiny parking lot until staff left, I asked if I could hang with the little ones with my video camera. Staff at the amazing Horizons for Homeless Children agreed.

What most people fail to realize, even those of us working with homeless families, is that according to a recent report by the National Center on Family Homelessness over 40% of homeless children are under the age of 5.

Those kids have the most to lose by a continued life of homelessness. But we all lose. It cost more. We deal with the aftermath of thousands of deprived lives, as these babies represent. And state budget cuts just announced in MA (to be followed in many other states) will make things horribly worse.

So, please watch this 4-minute video. It will inspire and infuriate you. Maybe it will move you. If so, check the HEAR US Compassion Epidemic page. Do something.

Seems to me it's time for people across this land that profess to be religious, spiritual, and caring to put the beliefs to work. Don't make me explain what happens when these neglected babies grow into adults.

top photo (c) Pat Van Doren

Learning Curve Express Rolling!

The HEAR US LEARNING CURVE EXPRESS gives homeless families and teens a chance to be heard. And they need it like never before. In the dozens of years I've been working on this issue, the plight of homeless families and youth, as well as single adults, has never been more dismal.

Yes, we have a new administration in DC. President Obama, with his plate chock-full of critical issues, is trying his best. But it's not good enough. And lots of "other forces" are competing--with lots more resources and, well, let's say less compassion.

We're moving into winter--not that weather is the only dire factor with homelessness--but it's not to be ignored. Especially for kids.

Families and youth often don't get into shelters. Some communities don't have shelters. Sometimes people don't qualify for emergency housing or opt out for a variety of reasons--work schedule conflicts with shelter curfews, older boys are not allowed at the family shelter, pets are not allowed, etc. So they turn to a patchwork quilt of friends, family and/or motels. Or sleep in vehicles or tents. It's often not a pretty sight. (articles about homeless families/youth)

So far I've interviewed:

Laura and her 2 teen sons, from a rural town in Indiana, bounces from her parent's dilapidated single-wide trailer to other family and friends. They sleep on the floor. The trailer has holes in the floor and the family is too poor to pay for repairs.

From DeKalb, IL, Cathy and her 3 daughters struggled in a variety of places, family and friends' houses and expensive motels. All had their painful downsides.

In DuPage County (IL), Jacob and his sister tell of life in motels, where the entire family crammed in and tried to endure.

These families and teens on their own haven't registered a blip on the convoluted agenda driving Congressional priorities. But they need to.

So these courageous spokespersons will be sharing their stories with viewers everywhere, including their members of Congress. HEAR US will facilitate, but these experts will shine a light on this often invisible plight. (watch for these stories soon!)

HEAR US is joining forces with the National Center on Family Homelessness and their End Child Homelessness campaign. We're not kidding. We need to end child homelessness NOW!

If you want to help, check our HEAR US Compassion Epidemic info and alerts. Or not.

Seems to me if we can ignore homeless kids in this country, it takes us down a slippery slope. I don't want to go there. I bet you don't either.

photos by the author

Even in the 'System' Families Get Lost

I knew I'd be angry. But I went anyhow, volunteering at the DuPage PADS shelter (above, volunteers set up in the church gym) last Thursday night, helping my friend Jan with children's activities.

In one of the most affluent counties in the country, on the edge of Chicago, homeless families and adults are given less attention than homeless pets. That is not to disparage gallant efforts of the DuPage PADS program and their volunteers, but to point to gross inadequacies of funding and support for a more comprehensive effort.

This pristine county reflects a lifestyle many areas couldn't dream of: the median price of houses is $300+k, family poverty hovers under 4% of the 928,000 residents, and schools and recreation are regarded as top-notch. But they have homelessness, including a growing number of families.

The DuPage PADS executive director Carol Simler was recently quoted in a newspaper article, "...through the end of June, they saw homeless families increase by 119, or 49 percent, over the previous fiscal year. That included 152 children, a 43 percent increase from the previous year, and 75 of those children were under age 5."

What angered me as I interacted with families at PADS is their inability to get out of this totally inadequate way of living--some families have been there over 2 years! Imagine you and your kids schlepping to a different place to sleep each night, bedding down on the floor with dozens of others, and getting shuffled out by 7 each morning to make your way cross-county to the next shelter site--and doing it as a regular way to live for years! Their reasons for being stuck are complex, but shouldn't be insurmountable. But they need help!

One family uses bikes, not a bad transport in good weather, and they have the rickshaw contraption hooked to the back to transport their 2 growing kids to the shelter of the night. With nasty IL winter approaching I can't even think about what this would be like.

Just what does this say about society where some live in mega-mansions and some live without a place to call home? Many volunteers seem numb to the reality spilling through the doors before them, and church life goes on despite the suffering down in the gym. Thursday they had a photographer shooting portraits of well-groomed and healthy families for the church directory, and the choir echoed harmonious hymns in the sanctuary as they tuned up for Sunday's services.

Before ranting at my naivete, I know some families are hard to serve, and they may defy guidelines set by programs working with homeless families. But, come on, what's keeping us from providing more intensive services and housing for families--not hope-bashing pads on the floor in an overnight emergency shelter?

Oh yeah, money. Here's something people can do: Demand that Congress quits spending $2.7 BILLION a DAY on war. Spend a year using $2.7 billion a day on families in this country who have fallen through every crack possible.

Seems to me that it is cost-effective to create comprehensive solutions to homelessness. But the only time we seem to be cost effective is when we're cutting programs to the poor. No wonder we have such a mess! And these are the families HUD counts, not the uncounted invisible ones in motels and doubled up with others. That's why I'm hitting the road on Sunday for the Learning Curve Express.

photos by Diane Nilan

Need Inspiration?

When I need a shot of "I can do this,"
I turn to my favorite kids and an inspiring song.
These courageous kids volunteered to stand up infront of audiences far and wide,
via our "My Own Four Walls" DVD
and share their plight and dreams
with the hope that viewers would
be moved to
DO SOMETHING
to EASE and END
HOMELESSNESS.

I share these kids and the song with you.

Soaring, Surging, Way Out of Control

Can't say I'm surprised at the latest news about numbers of homeless kids exploding all across this fine country.

Sad because, in addition to the trauma that kids endure, this problem isn't bound to improve for a considerable amount of time.

Ever tell a kid to wait a bit, that things will get better? Their impatience puts pressure on the adults who promised improvement. Right now the pressure is on schools, struggling with a host of other issues, mostly funding-related, as they get swamped by homeless students.

Ever look at a youngster's face and know things are tough--and will remain painful--for a long time? What can you say?

I think it boils down to adults not getting it, or not prioritizing the well-being of kids. What gets in the way? Distorted politics, greed, and a sense of disconnect from what used to be perceived as kids from the other side of the tracks.

But now, with numbers of identified school-age kids shooting past 1 million (meaning even more than that--kids, younger and older, those hidden from plain sight), it's kids from both sides of the tracks losing their places to live.

I wish I could say I'm surprised. But I'm not. It's one of a multitude of "perfect storm" scenarios that are swirling around our beleaguered country. And, until our leaders learn to play well together, we're going to see more kids we know, with and without families, losing their homes.

Seems to me it's time to call a time-out on the "Red Rover" game. Instead of trying to destroy the other side, it's way past time to join hands together and see if we can salvage things before they get worse. But that means the bullies on the playground need to quit bullying. The principal better have a deep bag of tricks.

Photos C Diane Nilan

Here's Part of the Problem...

Deep in the South, in Mississippi, a state that registers 41th for child homelessness according to the National Center on Family Homelessness report "America's Youngest Outcasts", I made a discovery. People here aren't mean or callous on this issue. They just don't know--as in don't see family/youth homelessness in front of them.

"We take care of our own," explained one educator at the MS Dept. of Education Homeless Conference I presented at this week in their quiet capitol city of Jackson. She explained that when a family was having "hard times (i.e. homeless)" that others took them in. Often the local church gets involved.

And that is fine and good on one level. But consider one drawback--not identifying the root problem for what it is--a family lacks the resources/abilities to survive and thrive on their own--prevents those in power, the government, from knowing family/youth poverty and homelessness is a problem. So it goes on and on...

That seemed to be a common dilemma for rural folks, where shelters and agencies are non-existent to begin with, that people make do thanks to outstanding hospitality of family, friends and neighbors.

This state has identified over 11,000 homeless children. Conventional wisdom is multiply that number by 2 or 3 to factor in the invisible kids. Actually, with over 260,000 MS children living in poverty, figure a minimal 10% will experience homelessness. 26,000 children in Mississippi with no place to call home....

Seems to me that it's time to reframe the issue so legislators and other policymakers can get a clue. Let those with the nice houses, the mansions along the Gulf, the spacious stately abodes on moss-draped streets, the historic governor's mansion, you know, the rich folks...let them be the ones to take in the families having trouble. We'd soon have some forward movement on a long-ignored issue.

Good Ship USS USA Going Down?

Imagine a ship filled with passengers and crew, an adequate vessel owned by a wealthy, respected maritime corporation.

The ship fairly capably sails for a long time, and passengers and crew are mostly satisfied. But, unbeknownst to the passengers and the lower-ranking, least respected crew members—those who do the grungy grunt work—things are drastically changing.

Instead of plotting the course, the officers, including previous Captains, have spent a lot of time plotting how to have better accommodations and more control, at the expense of both passengers and the “non-essential” crew. This top-down systemic mutiny doesn’t happen with one swing of the sword, but as a gradual, noticeable change in the way things happen and how the ship's supplies are divvied up.

Soon it becomes apparent that because of the redistribution of space and materials, something has to give. With little fanfare, lowest ranking crew gets tossed overboard; then passengers, the least-affluent, up through the ranks. Finally, only the elite members of the crew remain and a handful of very lucky, and very wealthy, passengers who were able to buy their safety.

To say operations became dysfunctional is an understatement. Despite the need for crew and passengers for balance, the ship kept churning, although in erratic circles. Without adequate sailors and crew, the ship hits a hidden shoal, seriously damaging its hull. Abandon ship! Anarchy reigns....

The good ship USA is off course. Alienation is the norm. Thrashing, desperate former ship occupants and crew scramble to get on the lifeboats as the USS USA starts to list further to the right. The elite passengers and crew struggle to repel the invaders. With incredible help from the waterlogged masses, a new Captain, determined to rescue the ousted passengers and crew, fights his way on board and makes his way to the top deck.

Now what?

Take the above analogy and apply it to the current health care debate, or affordable housing/homelessness issues, racism, sexism, fair wages, environment, or any conundrum between the “haves” and the “have-nots.”

We're at a time in our country's history when more people are disenfranchised than ever. Homelessness among families, teens and single adults has blown off the charts. Poverty is spreading like wildfire thanks to those who schemed to gain control of even more money and power by sabotaging national and global economic engines.

Don't tell me that we CAN'T improve things. We can't afford to fail. Remember, we've managed to make progress on many essential issues, but every time we crawl onto the lifeboat we let some big brute stomp on our fingers and kick us off.

Seems to me that the only hope is for a strong voice of reason to be heard above the cacophonous cries of the self-interested mutineers. They need to walk the plank. Captain Obama and the masses need to get our mass-asses together and kick some ass. We may have to out-mutiny the mutineers....

NOTE: The New York Times ran a powerful op-ed column about poverty by Barbara Eherenreich, one of my s-heroes. It's worth reading, pondering and sharing! DDN