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!

Raising Awareness Gains Momentum!

This is the last day of the Paso Robles Film Festival where our film, My Own Four Walls, which gives voice and visibility to homeless kids, was screened. Being invited to share this short piece with the audience, which includes digital streaming, is a great opportunity!

I will make my way to Sacramento, where homeless families and teens will share their stories with me about living doubled-up and in motels for our Learning Curve Express project. They don't get counted as homeless, but they are. They've lost housing due to hardships, and typically live nomadic stress-filled lifestyles that make it all but impossible to get back on their feet.

To get an idea of what I'm doing, check out this news clip that originated on Fox Chicago last Friday. It got picked up by the Huffington Post and is getting broad coverage.

And here's a great idea if you would like to help raise the visibility of poverty and homelessness on the Internet. A cyber-friend, Jan, is promoting a simple, but effective, way to begin to tilt the scales on behalf of homeless and poor people in this country. Check out her blog.

Seems to me that as we pour billions of government and private dollars into dubious causes and projects, the crumbs from the table could go a long way to ease what is real suffering for the ever-increasing numbers of homeless families and teens in America. Don't tell me we don't have the money for this. The only shortage is political will.

photo by the author

Adults Struggle, Kids Suffer

No surprise, a recent NYT article describes behind-the-walls suffering when a parent is under/unemployed. Think of how many households are in that crisis. Then we'll think about the families who don't even have a house, or are in process of losing theirs.

Never in my 25 years of working on the issue of homelessness have I seen economic and systemic failures leaving millions facing peril. Homelessness is a "mere" symptom. We've been totally distracted by the hyper-focus on the issues de jour, ignoring the fact that millions of Americans face catastrophic realities each day. Poverty, with its octopus-like tentacles sucking life from the majority of our country, needs to be addressed sooner rather than later.

I'm one week into a 26+ week backroads tour of our country, the LEARNING CURVE EXPRESS, to let homeless families and teens who don't make the federal definition of homeless by some ill-conceived bureaucratic standard share their stories. It's been an inspiring, dismaying process so far. Check the short interviews on the LCE site. Share them with your networks.

Seems to me if we have the supposed vast social networking capabilities, we should be able to make it work for us. Hopefully fund-raising will pick up--because the 3 grant request reject letters we received before I shoved off don't bode well for foundation support. HEAR US has accomplished lots in our 4 years of this unconventional approach to advocacy. With more and more people falling into the vortex of poverty, we have our work cut out for us. Join us!

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.