(crossposted at DocuDharma)
Face of homeless changing as more kinds of people seek help
Kristi Heim
Seattle Times
September 17, 2009
When you're homeless your feet take a beating. That was the simple fact behind the idea to provide a foot washing service.
...
One man's feet were so frost bitten from last winter that it hurt too much to brush them with a towel. Another man asked a volunteer to recite the little piggy nursery rhyme on his toes. A third said it was the first time another human being had touched him in months.
OREGON
Attacks on Bend's homeless on the rise?
By Victoria Adelus, KTVZ.COM
September 16, 2009
In the two years that Harvey Giles has been homeless, he's been attacked at least seven times.
"It's happened so many times I'm just used to it," Giles said Wednesday.
He's not the only one. He says his homeless friends have suffered the same abuse, some more than others.
"Four or five, and one was killed," Giles said.
Plymouth Housing Group Gets a Leg up on Providing Homeless Housing with Newly Launched Fund-Raising Event, Seattle Dances!
Reuters
September 15, 2009
Following a successful, three-year fundraising event partnership with Seattle Hotel Association, Plymouth Housing Group announced today it will launch a signature fundraiser to uphold its supportive housing programs for Seattle`s chronically homeless people. On March 13, 2010, Plymouth will introduce Seattle Dances!, a festive dinner, auction and local celebrity dance competition catered by Kaspar`s and held at Fremont Studios.
Investigators say Ashland Fire started in homeless camp
By Andrea Pettes & Andrea Calcagno
September 17, 2009
Oregon Department of Forestry Spokesman Brian Ballou said Thursday that the cause of the fire is still unknown. However, investigators determined the fire started inside a homeless camp. According to investigators no one was found at the campsite at the time of the fire.
Ballou said investigators will continue to search for clues as to what sparked it. He says, at this point, it could have been anything. Three different agencies and two helicopters battled the fire. Flames moved quickly uphill to the Talent Irrigation District Canal, where crews were able to stop it. Had they not, firefighters say homes would have been threatened.
Number of Ore. homeless students up 2,000
Democrat Herald
September 18, 1009
by Ryan Kost
The number of homeless students in Oregon grew by more than 2,000 last school year, just when it looked as though the number might begin to level off.
At least 18,051 students in kindergarten through 12th grade were homeless at some point last school year, according to a report released by the Department of Education Friday. That's a 12 percent increase over the previous year's 15,859. The year before that the number was 15,517.
RHODE ISLAND
Court tells second R.I. homeless group to move from Providence site
By Paul Davis
Providence Journal
September 18, 2009
PROVIDENCE — The 20 people living in Provitents, a homeless camp off Westminster Street, have one week to find a new place to pitch their tents, a city Housing Court judge said Thursday.
The group moved to the private lot on Labor Day weekend to avoid eviction from its previous home under an East Providence bridge.
Homeless camp tenants battle for a no-man's-land
Sophia Li
Brown Daily Herald
September 18, 2009
During the daylight hours, the inhabitants of Provitents — as the encampment is known — go about their business. Some work, and others look for jobs. They go to Crossroads, the state’s largest service provider for the homeless, to take showers. One 19-year-old goes to local concerts to sell his artwork, dreamscapes created entirely with spray paint.
But after only two weeks of existence, the tent city has already met with resistance from local residents and business owners concerned about the Westminster Street property. Charles J. Falugo, Inc. — the family-run corporation that owns the land — has been cited by the city because the property is not zoned for recreational camping, and a hearing into the tent community’s fate began Thursday.
IOWA
Des Moines officials skeptical about homeless plan
By Jason Pulliam
The Des Moines Register
September 13, 2009
DES MOINES, Iowa - A proposal to set up a centralized, regulated camp for the homeless -- similar to tent cities found elsewhere in the nation -- faces skepticism from Des Moines officials who want to stop the spread of tent camps in the city...An estimated 200 people live in homeless camps in the metropolitan area. The residents account for a small percentage of the area's overall homeless population -- estimated between 1,000 and 1,500 -- but they are often among the most difficult to help.
COLORADO
Homeless in Colorado metro area up to 11,061
Mike McPhee
The Denver Post
September 17, 2009
There are 11,061 homeless people in the seven-county metro region, and about half of them say they are homeless for the first time, according to the results of a 24-hour survey conducted Jan. 27 by the Metro Denver Homeless Initiative.
While the total number is 4 percent higher than in 2007, when the last point-in-time survey was taken, homeless advocates say the much-delayed results are already out of date. The survey results were expected in June.
John Parvensky, director of the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless, said homelessness dipped slightly in 2008 but came roaring back this year. He estimates homelessness is now up about 20 percent from 2007.
WASHINGTON, DC
Neighbors in Need Fund Deploys $714,300 to Help Area Safety Net Nonprofits Meet Unrelenting Demand
Reuters
September 17, 2009
Citing the greatest need for emergency services seen in its 36-year history, The Community Foundation for the National Capital Region announced today that its Neighbors in Need Fund is awarding $714,300 in new grants to safety net organizations that serve vulnerable residents throughout the metropolitan Washington region. The Community Foundation is the largest funder of nonprofit organizations in the Washington region.
CALIFORNIA
Women's Empowerment Fits Gala Gowns for Former Homeless Women
"I love that he is taking pictures of me, — I feel like a model!" Kim Wesley said as she struck a pose for a photographer. Tosh Olive, a volunteer and professional seamstress, offered dress adjustments, while volunteers advised on accessories and shoe choices.
Wesley, alongside other former homeless women, will take part in the eighth annual Women's Empowerment Gala on Oct. 1st. Of the 500 people who will attend the gala, around 140 will be graduates and the rest will be supporters and volunteers. The Gala will take place at The Grand Ballroom, in Downtown Sacramento.
Homeless relay race at City Hall
by Tamara Barak Aparton
San Francisco Examiner
September 17, 2009
City Hall workers and visitors, who have learned to expect the unexpected, will witness scores of homeless people performing a relay race on the inside steps of the building later this morning.
The piece of political theater is to illustrate how homeless people get the "run-around" to secure a shelter bed, according to Jennifer Friedenbach of the Coalition on Homelessness.
OC man charged with gunning down homeless man
Bakersfield Now (A/P)
September 18, 2009
Prosecutors contend the retiree used a .22-caliber rifle to kill 47-year-old Manuel Lopez on May 1. The homeless man was shot as he stood near a fence in an alley behind Villa's home.
Attorneys seek help for homeless couple in trouble for sleeping in downtown Santa Cruz
Mercury News
September 18, 2009
Attorneys for the city and a homeless couple who racked up dozens of citations have decided to set the legal wrangling aside and help the couple find jobs and an affordable place to live.
Sacramento divided over city's homeless
A rally supporting living space for the homeless was held at the Sacramento City Hall on Sept. 10. The rally provoked audience members and nearby walkers to tune in to message shouted from the crowd: "Stop the insanity. Allow safe ground now!"
Pastor David Ross said the city of Sacramento's campground ordinance is in violation of the Constitution. The illegality of camping on public property has made homelessness a crime resulting in the arrests of the city's homeless.
EDITORIAL: A Compromise for the City's Homeless
By The Sacramento Bee, Calif.
September 16, 2009
There is a reasonable alternative, one that even Hernandez supports. The city ought to declare a 3-acre site on Bannon Street, north of downtown, safe ground legally available to homeless campers. The plot is owned by the county's housing authority. It sits behind two homeless shelters run by the Volunteers of America and the Union Gospel Mission. It has plenty of shade and running water. It was used as a homeless camp in the 1990s until illegal drug use led to its closure.
Finding a Home for the Homeless Shelter
By Rita Robinson
September 18, 2009
The Act V parking lot next to the College of Art and Design in Laguna Canyon, primarily used by attendees of the summer art festivals, has emerged as the proposed location of a temporary overnight shelter for the city's increasing number of homeless people, according to Mayor Kelly Boyd.
...
The temporary overnight shelter will accommodate an estimated 100 homeless people, twice the amount of previous estimates of homeless residents in Laguna, now camping primarily at Heisler Park and adjacent beaches. The Act V location, if approved, would be available only during off-season months for the art festivals.
"An Evening with Garrison Keillor" Can Still Benefit Homeless Programs of Lutheran Social Services of Northern California
Reuters
September 18, 2009
You can`t keep a good man down, especially when he has "good" in mind and he`s Garrison Keillor. Keillor was determined to keep his date and to provide a wonderful entertaining evening September 22, 2009 at the Sacramento Convention Center to help Lutheran Social Services of Northern California expand its new homeless assistance program in Sacramento.
FLORIDA
Tent city ruling worries many Hillsborough residents
By Chandra Broadwater
St. Petersburg Times
September 18, 2009
If commissioners vote in favor of housing up to 250 people at the 12-acre site, then they will change the land development code so that other potential projects like it will be considered legal in the future.
Currently, such camps are not allowed. Commissioners expect to make a final decision on the tent city in October.
Project offers more hope for homeless in Pinellas
Stephen Thompson
Tampa Tribune
September 18, 2009
PINELLAS PARK - Officials gathered this morning to break ground for a project that will essentially swell the population of Pinellas Hope, a 20-acre site that has been the location for 250 tents for the homeless for the last two years.
Now, Catholic Charities will oversee the construction of 80 efficiency-style apartments on the same land, a move that will bring the population to roughly 350 people, said Frank Murphy, president of the philanthropic organization.
"It's going to get bigger," Murphy said.
Homeless children find stability at school
News Online
September 17, 2009
Every morning, Tabatha Dailey walks her son, Corbin, to his bus stop. A former accountant, the 29-year-old single mother lost her job a year ago.
Just days after Christmas, Tabatha and Corbin were evicted from their apartment and were suddenly homeless.
"It's hard when you're not able to provide for your child," said Dailey. "I know that was my hardest thing. As a mother, you want to do everything you can for them and when you know you're not capable of doing that it hurts a lot."
PENNSYLVANIA
Pennsylvania Gov. Rendell: $22 Million in Recovery Funds Will Help Fight Homelessness,...
Reuters
September 17, 2009
HARRISBURG, Pa., Sept. 17 PRNewswire-USNewswire -- Hundreds of Pennsylvania families who are struggling financially will receive critical financial and housing assistance thanks to $22 million in new federal stimulus funds, Governor Edward G. Rendell said today.
NORTH DAKOTA
Homeless in F-M
The Concordian, Moorhead, MN
Jennifer Harvey
...the Dorothy Day Food Pantry supplied the following statistics:
The number of meals served at soup kitchens in Fargo-Moorhead has gone up 11 percent since 2008.
Each month, 6,370 people seek assistance at food pantries and soup kitchens in Fargo-Moorhead.
In 2008, homeless shelters and soup kitchens in the area served 296,208 hot meals.
INDIANA
Homeless man who died was well-recognized here
Deborah Sederberg
The News-Dispatch
Terry O. Williams liked to have a Bible nearby and he liked his coffee, DeNita Ton, community services director for The Salvation Army, said Thursday.
"With cream," she added. "He liked his coffee with cream."
Williams, 58, didn't stop in for coffee on Wednesday morning.
ON THE ROAD
Vermont man on 3,200-mile odyssey to raise money for homeless youth
Lehighvalleylive
Pennsylvania
September 18, 2009
Tellman Knudson wants to raise $100 million for homeless people under the age of 24.
To do it, the successful Internet businessman and top runner, who draws references to Tom Hanks' character in "Forrest Gump," is running across the United States barefoot.
He started running Sept. 9 in New York and as of Thursday had run through almost all of Warren County. He's expected to cross the Lehigh Valley today.
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