Friday, March 20, 2009

DOWN BELOW ARE UPDATES FROM TENT CITIES AND HOMELESSNESS CONDITIONS AROUND THE COUNTRY.....


I will continue to update and document about Tent Cities, Homeless-Ness Living Conditions (tents,squatting,RV's,etc). When you read and watch these videos below, remember Many of these folks were living in a home less than a year ago, many were working and were Regular Normal Families. It is easy for many to think that Homeless are Lazy or are on drugs or that they Want "to Live like that" ( I heard one Politician call them "Campers")....It has been estimated that 40% of the New Homeless Population are "Recession Refugees".They did not choose this Life, they are trying to survive What has happened to their lives. Many are Families and also Returning Iraq Vets, that have lost Jobs and Homes simultaneously. Please also understand Our Shelter Situation is Broken, many shelters are only Single Gender, so they seperate Families, others don't take or allow Children.Another issue is that many of these Shelters are FULL,night after night, so people are having to set up their own Shelters, and Homeless Communities. Also many Shelters are not set up for Working Poor, or those that are Job Hunting, some are not even available to the UnderEmployed Impoverished. We need to start thinking on Solutions for these people. Closing Tent Cities will not solve the Problem unless there is Adequate Shelter provided for Families and Working Poor.They are Real People with Real Stories and a little while ago....Many were Our Neighbors...

It is ALL Connected...The Loss of Jobs, Healthcare, and How Much the War has Cost ALL of us.In many ways it feels like ALL of us have been Katrinaed at this point.....

Do Watch the Videos Below....in many of the videos People tell their Stories and they are poignant, they are real people with Faces, Names and Histories....and Ponder this...165 Million Dollars would Feed and House Alot of Families. ( Or 218 Million as it is now up to as of today....)
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Resident of Sacramento Tent City....

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