My Grandmomma

Photo by Donna Reeves Summer 2013

My Key West internship is drawing to an end as I finish the final three weeks of work.  Yesterday afternoon I sat at the  food pantry intake desk awaiting the next client.  I looked up to see an elderly lady standing in the lobby. At first it appeared her dress was ripped on the side. As she drew closer it became apparent the dress had a side zipper but was a bit too tight for closure. The Haitian grandma stood at the intake office door and pointed down at her feet. Her face screwed into something like a grimace as she explained to me that she had no shoes. I looked down at her bare feet and at the dress that was too small. I wondered if someone had hurt her or taken her things. We walked back to the clothes distribution area and she began trying on shoes. I looked through the women’s clothes hanging on the racks and showed a few of them to her. She found a  pair of donated shoes and three articles of clothing and left saying, “Thank You Mommy,” and smiling at me on her way out.

Where were her shoes?

Her rich open way reminded me of my Grandmomma and I love her very much.

Working at S.O.S. has given me a close look at extreme poverty. This sweet lady touched my heart. Seeing her standing there at the intake office threshold without her shoes renewed my focus. I want to work harder to help people. The Bible says there will always be poverty, but we can make things better for people. I want to understand and find strong viable solutions. God is watching us and waiting to see what we will do. -Love from Donna

Out and In

Photo By Donna Reeves Summer 2013

Written By Donna Reeves
Key West paradise offers sun, sand and an elaborate night life to all who seek it. Thousands arrive here every year to escape the cold and bask in the tropical sun. Not everyone will be staying in the posh hotels and homes that line the sun baked streets, however.Riches and oppression bask together in the lavish Key West atmosphere. Many are homeless, disadvantaged, impoverished and disillusioned. The dream of living, working and becoming a part of the island scene is often charred by the burning sun or washed away with the tide.

Homeless sleeping on the beaches is not an unfamiliar scene in Key West. I was out for a morning bike ride last week and arrived early at the beach to find sleeping homeless not yet up with the sun. It is not as intimidating as one might imagine. It is just terribly sad.

Photo by Donna Reeves
Tourist and locals seem not to mind the interaction. That is good I suppose. The beaches belong to all of us. The segregation of classes is obvious but all go about their daily business of beaching and sunbathing. Some have spent thousands to play here and others lost everything and came to sleep on the beaches instead of in a colder climate. Part of my research here will include interviewing some members of the homeless population, vacationers and locals.

The homeless resources are nearly as abundant in Key West as are the hotels and taxi services. Supply and demand drives them all. I am inclined to believe that some of the homeless come here for the food and digs. I don’t mean that in a bad way. We are assigned as human beings to help one another. I hope they find the best of every thing. It just appears that because of the dramatic number of homeless in Key West, the city and outreach sources have worked at a more efficient level than in some other cities. I will investigate that theory in my Key West research. The homeless outreach centers are working long hours to find ways to accommodate and mobilize the homeless.

When I say mobilize, I do not mean they are working to ship them out. NO NO. There is one island outreach center here that provides bus tickets to people who have opportunities for jobs and a better life in another place. But they adhere to very strict guidelines. They are not working to send these folks from one bad situation to another. They cannot be leaving with the promise of another homeless shelter to move to. They must have hope for work and a  person on the receiving end of the bus line who will agree to take responsibility for them. If these people don’t have a plan to improve or a better place to go they are encouraged to just work things out here utilizing the available resources. The mobilization means that the Key West helping sources are working to improve the lives of the Key West homeless by meeting their needs and finding ways to improve their employ ability and sustainability.

There are new plans on the horizon for the Key West sun baked homeless. A new homeless shelter is being built and I hope to take a tour in the next few weeks. My interview with directors of the outreach facilities begin tomorrow and I am hopeful of the outcomes. Sleep well and dream of many solutions.-Donna

Homeless Appalachia

CEDAR BLUFF, VIRGINIA* (Photo credit: gobucks2)

As promised my research for part of the rest of my ENG 380 class will include a study of the homeless in Berea Ky where my college is. I talked to a few people and did a little bit of research to begin this process.

I spoke with Dr. Margaret Dotson, Professor of Child and Family Studies at Berea College on the subject of homelessness in Appalachia. She told me that it is difficult to realize the extent of homelessness in the region because family and friends are willing to allow their homes and possibly a camper trailer to ease the suffering of a family member. We discussed the fact that some of these mountain people are also camping in the mountains away from public view.(Dotson, 2013)

Dr. Dotson sent me an article from Rural Mental Health,  ” In Rural areas, fewer individuals fit the ‘typical’ profile of homelessness, including sleeping ‘on the streets’ or in shelters; instead, many individuals and families without money ‘double up’ sleep in tents or live in other nontraditional settings such as abandoned vehicles(National Coalition on Homelessness, 2009a; Robertson et al, 2007). “These marginalized living situations have led to increased use of the moniker ‘hidden homeless’ to refer to people experiencing homelessness in rural areas”(Sherry R. Shamblin, 2012).

A cab driver in Berea,KY told me recently that the panhandlers in the city are not homeless. They live in the hotel(Driver, 2013). If they are panhandling daily  to pay  for a hotel room it seems to me an indication of an unstable situation if not the exact definition of homelessness.

About two weeks ago a lady stood on the corner in front of our McDonalds holding a sign requesting money donations. I purchased a McDonald’s gift card for her and asked if she was homeless. She said no, she and her boyfriend had a broken car and were trying to raise enough money to return home. I gave her a few dollars to help fix her car and left her to the work of collecting more money.

This is HUD’s definition of homelessness:

• “People who are living in a place not meant for human habitation, in emergency shelter, in transitional housing, or are exiting an institution where they temporarily resided. The only significant change from existing practice is that people will be considered homeless if they are exiting an institution where they resided for up to 90 days (it was previously 30 days), and were in shelter or a place not meant for human habitation immediately prior to entering that institution.
• People who are losing their primary nighttime residence, which may include a motel or hotel or a doubled up situation, within 14 days and lack resources or support networks to remain in housing. HUD had previously allowed people who were being displaced within 7 days to be considered homeless. The proposed regulation also describes specific documentation requirements for this category.
• Families with children or unaccompanied youth who are unstably housed and likely to continue in that state. This is a new category of homelessness, and it applies to families with children or unaccompanied youth who have not had a lease or ownership interest in a housing unit in the last 60 or more days, have had two or more moves in the last 60 days, and who are likely to continue to be unstably housed because of disability or multiple barriers to employment.
• People who are fleeing or attempting to flee domestic violence, have no other residence, and lack the resources or support networks to obtain other permanent housing. This category is similar to the current practice regarding people who are fleeing domestic violence”(Brief, 2012).

This is a brief tour of rural homelessness in the Appalachian region. I will investigate more of the causes of homelessness in the area and further investigate homelessness in the city of Berea,KY.

The following link is to a poem   The Unopened Gas Station of My Homeless Appalachia By Bret R. Crabrooke 

Homeless and down and out. I guess there is a difference but the line is thin. Rural Appalachia and the city of Berea have a different way of doing things than people in the cities. I will talk to some more people in the area and see what else I can find.

Bibliography

Brief, F. P. (2012, January 18). National Alliance to End Homelessness. Retrieved March 24, 2013, from EndHomelessness.org: http://www.endhomelessness.org/library/entry/changes-in-the-hud-definition-of-homeless

Dotson, D. M. (2013, March). (D. Reeves, Interviewer)

Driver, U. C. (2013, March). (D. Reeves, Interviewer)

Sherry R. Shamblin, N. F. (2012). Conceptualizing Homelessness in Rural Appalachia: Understanding Contextual Factors Relevant to Community Mental Health Practice. Rural Mental Health, 3.

Berea College Student Lends a Helping Hand

This is a Facebook message from Angie Lee, my cohort in the Entrepreneurship for the Public Good Program at Berea College. Angie writes to me about her recent experience with a homeless man. To read more from Angie visit her blog at  http://www.daretobefoolish.net/. 

Donna,

I stumbled across your blog after the Sullivan Foundation mentioned a post of yours. I just wanted to share an experience I encountered with a man during my spring break. This man was standing on the street corner outside of a restaurant, and he asked my husband and I for a piece of bread. We did not have any food, and told him to wait for us to come back. He began to cry. We raced to the grocery store, afraid that this man would be kicked off of the corner, and brought him some food. When we returned he began to kneel in thanks and cry, but of course we didn’t want him to kneel and asked him to stand. I wondered the rest of the night how this man would have ended up in his situation, and why a soup kitchen or shelter was not available to him.

Keep up the good work on your posts.

Angie

The Right to Shelter and Proven Solutions to the Problem of Homelessness | Coalition for the Homeless

The Right to Shelter and Proven Solutions to the Problem of Homelessness | Coalition for the Homeless.

This is a link to the Coalition for the Homeless Blog. They are addressing the needs of the homeless in New York City. It includes a report recently released by NYC Mayor Bloomberg explaining the 2013 homeless situation in NYC. This article outlines some history of rights of homeless people in the city.

Drugs and Homelessness

Definition of Homelessness (Photo credit: homelesshub)

Street Sleeper 2 by David Shankbone (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In my research I will be investigating many possible causes of homelessness. Some of the people who find themselves homeless say that drug addiction was largely to blame. “Substance abuse is both a cause and a result of homelessness, often arising after people lose their housing…Substance abuse is much more common among homeless people than in the general population…Substance abuse is often a cause of homelessness”(Homeless, 2009).

The Greensboro Voice offers accounts from members of the homeless community. “Reggie Johnson… ‘I was working every day at the Four Seasons Mall…I loved my job until I was introduced to drugs…It became so bad that I could not pay my rent, my car loan or keep my job’” (Gilmore). Another interview with Darryl Bowers offers, “I broke the law by selling drugs because I thought that fast money was a way of life for me” (Gilmore).

An article in the New York Times offers “The major role that drug or alcohol abuse plays in causing homelessness has emerged in recent comments by advocates for the homeless, who estimate that addicts constitute a higher proportion of the homeless than do the mentally ill or other identifiable subgroups” (Kolata).

In further discussions on causes of homelessness, I will investigate the drug abuse contributor.

Bibliography

Gilmore, A. (n.d.). Short takes with Anita: A collection of stories. The Greensboro Voice.

Homeless, N. C. (2009, July). National Coalition for the Homeless. Retrieved March 5, 2013, from Nationa Coalition for thel Homeless: http://www.nationalhomeless.org/factsheets/addiction.pdf

Kolata, G. (1989, May 30). Drug Addicts Among the Homeless: Case Studies of Some ‘Lost Dreams’. New York Times.

Art

I think that a discussion of the solutions for ending homelessness should include assessing the abilities of the homeless population. Discovering ways to make these people able to sustain themselves will make an impact on their prolonged success. I have begun this portion of my research by looking at homeless art.

Here is a link to Art from the Streets. This organizations provides support for homeless artists. Watch the clip from the award winning documentary Art From the Streets: a feature length documentary.

This links it to a Huffington Post article about a formerly homeless man who supports himself by selling his art.

And EII EscapeIntoLife offers a look at the work of a homeless artist, Herbert Freeman.

These are only a few examples of talent of the homeless. Displaying these is a way of opening my mind and the mind of others to the potential of these people.

Homeless College Students

The idea in my mind of what homelessness looks like didn’t include this segment of the population. I spoke a few days ago to a young man who will be living out during the college summer break. He was homeless last summer and is preparing for another summer without a regular place to stay.I began researching and found homelessness among college students is a growing problem.

English: Students at Sheridan College (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

According to the Palm Beach Post , “There are a number of structures in place to help homeless students in K-12, but fewer for homeless college students, said Jennifer Martin with the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators” (Ross, 2012). The article reports an increase in Florida’s homeless students from 155 in 2006/07 to 638 in 2012.  Ross goes on to say that the homeless students range “…from a single mother staying in a shelter and taking college classes to better her life, to a high school grad…” These against all odds students are working hard to make things better for themselves.

NPR had this to say,”For many college students and their families, rising tuition costs and a tough economy are presenting new challenges as college bills come in.This has led to a little-known but growing population of financially stressed students, who are facing hunger and sometimes even homelessness.UCLA has created an Economic Crisis Response Team to try to identify financially strapped students and help keep them in school”(Hillard, 2010).The UCLA Team offers a list of on and off campus resources for students with financial difficulties.

Addressing this information, I would like to work to build a similar resource for students on other campuses. I will be entering  The Appalachian Ideas Network Contest at Berea College in April. I would like to incorporate a resource similar to the one being offered by UCLA. The idea for the contest will address homeless prevention and resource awareness. Feel free to comment with resource suggestions and other information.

Hillard, G. (2010, July 27). College Students Hide Hunger, Homelessness. Retrieved March 4, 2013, from NPR: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128778321

Ross, A. (2012, December 1). More attention, resources focusing on homeless college students as numbers rise. The Palm Beach Post.

This blog is called NYC on the Streets. They offer a report about the increase in homeless people in New York City as a result of Hurricane Sandy. This article suggests a lack of affordable housing as a major cause of homelessness stating a rise in the average rent payment.

It continues by discussing the criminalization of homelessness as a greater expense than the price of housing people.-Donna Reeves

NYC on the Streets

Hurricane Sandy left many of its victims without a home, allowing an opportunity for the media to shed a light on New York City’s current lack of affordable housing and growing homeless population. The National Association of Realtors reported in January of this year that the nation’s average rent has gone up by almost 4% in a single year. New Yorkers are heavily affected by these changes, making it highly unlikely to find an affordable home in a safe community. The homeless population of New York City is rising at a fast pace with shelters housing 43,000 individuals on a single night, the worst case of homelessness since the great depression of the 1930’s. An increase in homeless individuals means a decrease in homes, in this case caused by cut government spending.

“The government rushed to help victims of Hurricane Sandy because they were so clearly marked as victims of…

View original post 761 more words

Sullivan Foundation Social Entrepreneurship Program Weekend Retreat

Kanuga Conference Center, Hendersonville NC (Photo credit: esagor)

I just returned from an exiting weekend in North Carolina with Dr. Peter Hackbert and the Berea College Entrepreneurship for the Public Good Department. I was one of 6 student who traveled to the Kanuga Conference Center for a  Sullivan Foundation Service & Social Entrepreneurship weekend retreat. The energy was at peak levels as students from various colleges worked together to create plans of action to help change the world.

I was able to pitch my idea for a project that inspired the research on this blog. My long term career goals include creating an after care ranch for women getting out of prison. The facility will help prevent these women from becoming homeless and becoming repeat offenders.  There were several social entrepreneurs at the Sullivan Retreat providing feedback, critique and resources relating to my project idea. I am inspired to continue on my path. My ideas were refined and refreshed in this tremendous atmosphere.

Keep reading as I explore the causes of homelessness and entrepreneurial solutions in order to further refine my plan to help end homelessness.