http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/022108R

    Returning Home Homeless
    By Matt Renner
    t r u t h o u t | Report

    Thursday 21 February 2008

    Former Hospital Corpsman Kevin Bartolata spent four years and eight months in the military. When he decided to leave, he found himself alone and with few options. He soon became hopeless and homeless, sleeping in a park in San Francisco. Through sheer persistence and help from veterans organizations, he was able to pull himself out of his desperate situation and find his way.

Kevin Bartolata.     This is his story.

    Kevin Bartolata was eighteen and had just graduated from high school in 2000. His father, his closest role model, advised him to enlist to give his life direction and to help prepare him for adulthood.

    "If you can't figure out what to do after high school, join up. At least you'll come out with money to pay for college afterwards and then you can figure out whatever you want to do. You have to find yourself a good stepping stone," Bartolata's father told him.

    These words resonated with Bartolata and he acted upon them. He joined the Navy and decided to become a corpsman. Corpsmen are trained medical specialists who serve in naval hospitals, aboard ships or on the battlefield with the Marine Corps. Bartolata was told that becoming a corpsman would translate easily into a good job in the medical field when his six-year contract with the military ended.

    He was stationed in Okinawa, Japan, where he worked in the US Naval Hospital. During his deployment, and just two months after the September 11, 2001, attacks, his father died prematurely at age 50. This loss was a severe blow to Bartolata and remains an open wound.

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http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/022108R.shtml

Returning Home Homeless
    By Matt Renner
    t r u t h o u t | Report

    Thursday 21 February 2008

    Former Hospital Corpsman Kevin Bartolata spent four years and eight months in the military. When he decided to leave, he found himself alone and with few options. He soon became hopeless and homeless, sleeping in a park in San Francisco. Through sheer persistence and help from veterans organizations, he was able to pull himself out of his desperate situation and find his way.

Kevin Bartolata.     This is his story.

    Kevin Bartolata was eighteen and had just graduated from high school in 2000. His father, his closest role model, advised him to enlist to give his life direction and to help prepare him for adulthood.

    "If you can't figure out what to do after high school, join up. At least you'll come out with money to pay for college afterwards and then you can figure out whatever you want to do. You have to find yourself a good stepping stone," Bartolata's father told him.

    These words resonated with Bartolata and he acted upon them. He joined the Navy and decided to become a corpsman. Corpsmen are trained medical specialists who serve in naval hospitals, aboard ships or on the battlefield with the Marine Corps. Bartolata was told that becoming a corpsman would translate easily into a good job in the medical field when his six-year contract with the military ended.

    He was stationed in Okinawa, Japan, where he worked in the US Naval Hospital. During his deployment, and just two months after the September 11, 2001, attacks, his father died prematurely at age 50. This loss was a severe blow to Bartolata and remains an open wound.

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    One year after the US invasion, Bartolata was deployed to Iraq. He arrived at Al-Taqaddum Air Force Base in March of 2004. He was separated from his original company and put in with a new group of unfamiliar faces.

    "I ended up with a company of folks I didn't really know. There was a lack of trust because we hadn't trained together and I had all new superiors."

    However, Bartolata was considered lucky. He worked within the relatively safe Air Force base while other Corpsman were embedded with Marine units in combat zones.

    Bartolata and the other hospital staff felt that they owed a debt to the soldiers who were getting shot at by snipers and targeted with improvised bombs. Bartolata said that he was constantly "on," making sure that he was fully prepared at every moment to respond to the situation and to do his job to the best of his ability.

    "Everyday it was like 'I need to know everything I'm supposed to know, do everything that I am supposed to be doing the right way because I'm going to help save people's lives. They're out there getting shot at and I'm in the base waiting for them to come in. And if they don't make it out, I don't want to feel like I didn't do everything I could.'"

    His Surgical Shock Trauma Team received casualties directly from the battlefield. After preliminary field treatment by medics on the front lines, soldiers were brought by helicopter to the base, where Bartolata and his team would receive them and try to stabilize them. His team treated wounded soldiers from Najaf, Ramadi and Fallujah, three of the most dangerous areas for US forces in Iraq.

    The triage process through which doctors would decide who was worth trying to save stuck with Bartolata. "It was really difficult to figure out the triage because it was backwards. Here in the civilian world, you would triage with the worst person going directly into surgery and the walking wounded being seen last. If we knew the person had a minimal chance of making it, we would just let them go. They would be labeled 'expected.' When we knew they were going to die, there was no reason to waste supplies. It was my job to make them comfortable. It was a logistical thing; it's how the military functions."

    While the pragmatic military approach to triage might have been the only option in a combat zone, it is clear that Bartolata wishes there had been a way to try to revive every wounded soldier. His voice became more clear and took on a new intensity when he talked about performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) to artificially pump oxygen to the brains of soldiers who were near death, as if he had momentarily been transported back to those critical minutes inside his Humvee, shuttling wounded from helicopters to the surgical unit.

    "A lot of guys died, basically. By the time they were checking in with us, many were either killed in action or beyond repair. We were the receiving center ... we saw anywhere from two or three casualties a day, up to eight at a time. I carried that with me a lot when I got out because not everybody made it."

    The experience was one that Bartolata has just recently begun confronting. He said that he took all the traumatic moments, the entire reality of the situation, and pushed it back "into a small, dark closet" in his mind. This coping mechanism allowed him to stay focused while in the war zone; however, it was a temporary fix.

    Around July 2004, Bartolata was diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), an anxiety ailment common to military veterans that can manifest in different ways. Bartolata's condition resulted in insomnia and depression. However, the "military mentality" kept him from seeking treatment for nearly three years.

    "It was like being labeled a %#&!*% bag in the military. If you went to the psychiatric ward, people said 'oh wow ... why couldn't I think of that? That would have gotten me out of work too.' It was viewed as a cop out."

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    While he grew to value working with the Vietnam veterans he attended to at the facility, he was somewhat demoralized by the bad placement. "It was a step backwards. I didn't enjoy my time like I thought I would. I had clashes with the leadership." Bartolata began to look forward to leaving the Navy and rejoining the civilian world. He began moonlighting at a private hospital, working twelve-hour shifts on his days off from the naval hospital to save money and to prepare himself for his transition.

    During his service, Bartolata earned enough money to put a down payment on a new Acura sports car. He had solid credit and his military paycheck covered the monthly payments.

    He officially left the Navy on August 25, 2005. Six years after joining at the age of eighteen, Bartolata was excited about celebrating his upcoming twenty-fourth birthday with friends in Los Angeles. However, this celebration was tainted by the beginning of what would become a downward spiral.

    Days later, his car, his prized possession, broke down on the highway. Because Bartolata had made alterations to the vehicle, the warranty was void and the dealership wanted $10,000 to replace the engine. Without his car, Bartolata could not commute to work. When he began to miss shifts, he could no longer afford car payments. The dealership repossessed the vehicle and Bartolata's credit rating was ruined.

    After losing his car, Bartolata spent the next two years semi-homeless and in search of employment, sometimes staying with family members and other times on the street.

    Bartolata kept his homelessness hidden, ashamed of his situation and practically hopeless for his future. A close cousin of his let him sleep at his house during the day, so Bartolata would spend the night on the streets of San Francisco. He walked around the downtown area, appearing to have a destination. But in reality he was just pretending to have somewhere to go, disguising the fact that he was homeless while killing time.

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    When his cousin's house was not an option, Bartolata spent time sleeping in Crocker-Amazon park in South San Francisco. "I was sleeping in the park for three to four months. I'd wear a sweatshirt, a jacket and two pairs of pants to stay warm. The sprinklers would come on at two in the morning.... I had to keep moving because if the cops saw me, they'd harass the hell out of me."

    Sometimes he would ride the bus around town along with other homeless people. "The same driver drove the same late-night bus every night and it had the same passengers in wheelchairs. They'd be seat-belted in. It was the same people every night. They'd sleep in the bus because it was too cold outside. It was like 'Holy %#&!*%. I am one of these guys ... sort of.'"

    Downtrodden, Bartolata sometimes contemplated committing suicide. "Many days and nights I thought about ending my own life, but could never get myself to do it. I lost my father to diabetes and I could not let him down by doing something like that."

    Support from one man who served with him helped to keep him going. Paul Daniel Rodriguez, a fellow Navy corpsman from his unit, spoke with him and offered him an outlet. Rodriguez even offered to have Bartolata come to Houston to stay with him. Bartolata declined because he had no way to get there.

    In the face of a bleak future, a part of Bartolata remained determined to lift himself out of this dark place. One night, he looked around at the homeless men on the bus and thought to himself, "What makes me different from these guys? I don't have a disability, I'm pretty smart. What do I need to do to make things happen?"

    While using his cousin's computer to browse the internet in search of a job, a classified ad posted on Craigslist.org caught Bartolata's attention. The Veterans Administration (VA) was seeking veterans with PTSD for a research experiment. Bartolata had been participating in medical trials to earn money for sometime. He was qualified for the study, and began what would turn out to be a life-changing enterprise.

    During the study, doctors at the Fort Miley VA Medical Center in San Francisco would give the test subjects a common antibiotic used to fight tuberculosis called D-Cycloserine. Then the subjects would participate in counseling sessions and discuss their traumatic experiences. The experiment was intended to measure the effect the antibiotic would have on veterans who suffer from PTSD. In other experiments, the drug helped patients talk about their fears more openly and helped them to process and come to terms with the psychological damage they had endured.

    The sixteen-week sessions, combined with the support of VA staff members, helped to get Bartolata back on track. The VA put him in touch with a veterans assistance organization called Swords to Plowshares, a leading provider of emergency housing, job training, legal assistance and case management for veterans.

    Swords to Plowshares got him off the street for one month by housing him in a residence hotel. Bartolata jumped at the opportunity and set out to find a job. He got a haircut, put on slacks, a tie and his Navy pea coat, and started lining up interviews.

    Despite his medical training, Bartolata did not receive any official certification through the Navy. However, his skills were an asset and he was able, after three interviews, to find a job as a medical technician.

    For the past six months, Bartolata has been off the street, working full time and beginning to heal his invisible wounds.

    "Now that I have the basics: food, shelter, clothing, transportation, to live and sustain myself, I've been looking to dig up all that old stuff. I've been on a journey to try to find out what is hidden in my past, in the memories that I have of Iraq."

    One of the most important aspects of his healing has been talking face to face with other veterans. A organization called Vets 4 Vets has been working to bring young veterans together to share their stories and to support each other.

    According to Bartolata, the group setting helps combat the vicious loneliness veterans returning from war often feel. "When you get released into the civilian world, it is a different world, different rules, different everything. You get out here and you find that you don't have a purpose anymore. My purpose was to save lives. Now my purpose is undefined. Not being with military people was the hardest thing."

    This Truthout interview was the first time Kevin Bartolata had shared the story of his life since leaving the Navy.

    "It bothered me to talk about it initially, but having more people understand, knowing that people are being informed about what happens to veterans when they get out, I think that helps me out more in the long run," Bartolata said, adding, "at this point I don't think there is anything that I wouldn't talk about."

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UN AGENCY HAILS DRAFT LAW IN IRELAND THAT WOULD SPEED ASYLUM FOR REFUGEES

New York, Jan 31 2008  8:00AM
The United Nations refugee agency has welcomed a draft law in Ireland that would speed up the asylum process for people seeking protection in the country. The new Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill offered "a unique opportunity to strengthen Ireland's existing asylum system by introducing a single asylum procedure," said Manuel Jordăo, Representative of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Ireland. The draft legislation, which must be tabled in parliament, would bring Irish law in line with the European Union's asylum directives while simplifying the asylum process. The current multi-stage system, criticized by Ireland's Department of Justice as far too lengthy, would enable decision-makers to examine grounds for protection with wider scope to make a ruling at the initial and appeals stages of the asylum process. Mr. Jordăo said the bill would enhance the quality of asylum decisions, greatly reduce the risk of gaps occurring in the assessment of asylum claims, speed up decision-making and reduce the time asylum seekers live in accommodation centres.

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Sign the letter to Bill O'Reilly demanding he apologize to the "non-existent" homeless vets here.

To Bill O'Reilly: Homeless veterans exist. I met some.

In a previous post, I wrote about Bill O'Reilly's bizarre assertion that there are no homeless veterans in America. He made this claim on January 4, 2008 while talking about a speech by John Edwards where Edwards said that 200,000 vets are homeless on any given night in America. BOR continued to deny the existence of homeless veterans on January 16, 2008 during an interview with radio host Ed Schultz. This time, he added a caveat that if there are homeless veterans, "there aren't many of them out there". You can see both clips for yourself and read transcripts here, since I'm sure you'll soon be hearing BOR complain, as he always does when he's criticized for something he said, that he has been "taken out of context." The context of these unedited clips is quite clear.

http://www.alternet.org/blogs/video/74259/

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http://www.petitiononline.com/sign2015/petition.html

http://www.usc.edu/uscnews/stories/13337.html

http://www.bringlahome.org/docs/Reality_Approach_to_End_H_LA_2007.pdf

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/174460252

http://www.naeh.org/content/article/detail/1656

http://attc-ne.org/cultural/homeless.html

http://www.nationalhomeless.org/baha/petition.html

http://obama.senate.gov/press/071109-obama_introduce_21/

http://www.centralcityconcern.org/2004%20NAEH%20Materials.pdf

http://www.myselfmymessage.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=16

http://www.standrewswesleychurch.bc.ca/about/social_action.shtml

http://www.unitednativeamerica.com/naissues.html

http://www.housingaright.org/FLYER-web.htm

http://www.learningtogive.org/papers/index.asp?bpid=199

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salaams..ohh-yes I have read about and have seen here-tent cities where the homeless set up tents-and then the cops tear them down...also-a lot of opposition & violence towards the homeles by the authorities & local residents-unless it is a caring community.  It is sad...

I also am sorry to hear of your illness...and pray you get better and heal....your in my thoughts and heart...if u want to talk sometime, just write me!  Happy New Year & may 2008 bring us all more peace, justice and more caring ppl to make a difference..I am thankful for this site & this group in particular for all we are able to pen & voice for change...lets keep the faith & voices loud! smile

blessings A'isha

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Melissa-thank you so much for sharing with us-I am so happy to hear tho that you are with your parents and safe.  Your situation confirms how really, we all are at risk of homelessness should circumstances allow-such as loss of job, health problems, etc.  My hope is that there are resources (such as low income housing) in your area which you can apply for and get.  It is not easy but there are organiztions that help.  Keeeping you in my thoughts and prayers..please keep in touch and us know how your are doing, and what if any resources you may find-it would be relief to know you have secured some solution as well as it may be helpful to others here in your situation...

love n bless A'isha

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Thanks Melissa for sharing your story of your situation with the group, this post is a real facr of life in the U.S., but also around the World.

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Hi I am new here and glad to be a part of Care2.  I click everyday in every topic.

I read your article with the percentages of homeless people.  I fall into the 14% of single women.  I am disabled and alone.  I had no choice but to move into my parents home because I think the Government thinks that a single person can live off of 840.00 a month.  It's impossible.  I lost my husband almost three years ago in a tragic accident.  He had a very small life ins. policy and all of it went to expences.  Our only son moved in with his girlfriend, but I got really sick and had to come to Fl so my mom could take care  of me.  I feel like I am invading their golden years, I know I am, they deserve to be here, alone, like they wanted.  I would do anything if I could move on, but after bills and medical bills, I don't even have enough to pay utilities.  But I still give, because I know there are homeless people out there that have no one to turn to.  It scares me to death knowing I might be among them when my parents die. All I can do is hope and pray for a miricle.  Thanks for listening.

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Thank you Darlene--yes-very important topic and national (Global) issue.  I will be continuinhg to research this area as well as homeless with HIV/AIDS and will be posting more links and hopefully click sites.

I may be away until jan 6 as my son is here!! (I have not seen him in 2 years!!) but will try to check in.  Hope the information inspires many to help-especially during this holiday season...

love n bless A'isha

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One day, the world became gray..silent..the golden gate bridge stood in the distance...fog hailed the tinted hues of red and gold..peole walked, confused..no buildings, no stores, no apparent city..some walked in heels and stylish dresses, expensive handbags, some in suit & tie, clean shaven...some wandered in tattered clothes, barefoot, dirty, hungry, some walked wrapped in blankets carrying young babies fast asleep, or dead..., some smelled of perfume, some of filth and body odor...but..they all walked together with the golden gate in the distance... barren land, a place of only grays and faint tans...no colors could be seen..some walked in confusion..some walked in fear, some..just walked the vibe as they did everyday..silence, eyes met eyes...finally..and..finally...all were on equal ground..there was no where to go..no one to impress..no one to look down upon for apparently something much worse has happened...was it a nuclear bomb?  why didnt anyone tell them??  were they too fast asleep in their slumbered dreams??  What happened??  those who had..began to cry...and, it was those who had not-who comforted them...the grayness continued, the city gone, they gathered together for survival and began to talk to one another...they shed tears, huddled in mixed groups-the have and the have nots...it took a gray, lifeless day..to equalize all peoples, on one plane of truth.....visit them on canvas..where they still reside together as one family...today..if you look closely, you can see the beginning of life, opening hearts, hints of hues, colors returning.... 

meanwhile in other places, bombs are still exploding...bright intense colors of fire and hatred killing...angels weep at the sight of the world..while those in power turn a whiter shade of chalk, hoping to demarcate lines and cross boundries -creating hell...they go off golfing, horseback riding, to dinner parties...are they really humans?  or visitors from outer space sent to destroy this world....as in the twigh light zone...

yea..i feel the vibration of the earths movement thru me...it shakes my soul and awakens my reality....

I think i'll go down to that old abandoned warehouse and see that canvas everyone is talking about..i hear its quite an experience..no one knows who painted it..its supposed to be scary..they tried to remove it, but nothing can get the paint off, they try to cover it, but it seeps thru..some even fear getting sucked into the painting...strange huh...i hit you up later...inshallah        

 A.R. 2006

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yea...I feel the vibration from the earth as it moves from up under me, thru me and oh so gently the rhythm of life shakes my being as i come into ...more and more

I wonder, China, Indonesia, Iraq, Mexico, and all the beautiful countries of the world....do people there feel these vibrations of mother earths calling to life and longing...vibrations for peace and wholeness..and love...

or are mothers too busy frantically gathering up the bones and flesh of their crushed children, wailing to the skies a pain no one can imagine...children, killed by bombs painted with names and smiles.....can you feel her? no names and smiles here...people movin, busy, can't see, can't feel...only irritation of those they who get in their way -

yo- man a walks down the busy city streets, briefcase in hand, yea...euopean fitted suit..thinks hes going somewhere..an old homeless woman, who always tries to get his attention everyday as he walks his imperial beat--jumps up and down in front of him waving her arms "im here, here i am, cant you see me??  cant you see me??"  The man brushes the old woman off, irritated by her weakness, by her poverty, by her homelessness..angered at her asking for a bit of time, a bit of food, a bit of money..angered-he shoves her away a little too hard..she points a tapered aged finger at him and screams -you WILL SEE..the man suddenly is frozen mid footstep..he screams in terror.."old woman, you witch what have you done???: 

 He frantically tries to move... but cannot..in fear he begins to cry...but he tears fall as stones...the old woman stands frail, wrapped in multicolored shawls..face saddened weathered- but beautified by the hardships of those tested most by life itself..the man in his fear looks down-finally-at this old woman who has been following his footsteps day after day year after year...he looks into the eyes and face of this old homeless, useless....

"MOM????"  the man, suddenly mobile falls to his knees weeping..."i..didnt know...I didnt know it was you..I...thought you were living in our hometown..I..thought you were just some old homeless person..I..."  The mother looks at her child-grown, successful (?) and now in a pitiful state as his heart is ripped thru his chest and appears to be coming thru his throat in bits and pieces..."my son...if only you would have listened to the calling of those of us on the streets, the calling of the angels,  if only you would have taken the time to look, you would have seen your mother...in need, in search...of a gentle touch, a sound of compassion instead of the endless clicking of shoes passing by, in a hurry to get no where...if only you had nourished the seed of love in your heart, instead of chasing illusions...this is the real world..an ether place where anyone can end up-at any time....a place where angels and devils linger, you did not see me, you do not see any of us..."  As the man wept, his Mother put her hand on his head....40 some years ago she remembers the birth pains...as a child comes into the world crying loudly..now the birth pains are his, as he sits, scrunched up weeping uncontrollablly....she begins to walk away, almost floating...he reaches out to her, calling for his mother, louder...but she cannot turn to him, her mission is completed...she floats away and above into celestial realms..the mans cries and wails getting fainter....

she is everyone's mother...do you see her?

 (cont)

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While the holiday seasons are here, many homeless will be without...without a kind word, a warm meal, a bed to sleep in, a simple smile...please consider those you see who are in need in your daily travels and give from your heart.  It is said that most american's are one paycheck away from homelessness-meaning with the high cost of living, expensive housing-living paycheck to paycheck-no one is immune from becoming homeless. 

Actress Halle Berry was once homeless, as were many other's who are in the public light-and are speaking out, forming coalitions to help end homelessness...most of us could find ourselves homeless should we lose our jobs...sobering thoughts, but true. 

When considering gifts, holiday cheer, time spent with families-  please consider your brothers and sisters who are on the streets....  please consider helping by volunteering at a shelter, stopping to help a hand which is extended in need, and posssibly getting involved in organizations wich promote policies and reforms to end homelessness. 

Love & blessings to all, A'isha

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http://www.urban.org/pubs/homeless/chapter1.html

http://www.nationalhomeless.org/

http://www.helpusa.org/site/PageServer

http://www.hud.gov/homeless/index.cfm

www.nationalhomeless.org/publications/facts/you.pdf

http://www.iatse812.org/pages%20-%20wildsound/wild.11.02d.html

http://www.justgive.org/guide/subcategories.jsp?catId=12

http://www.dontalmostgive.org/Volunteer/HungerAndHomelessness.asp

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/318769/12_easy_things_you_can_do_to_help_the.html

http://www.helpthehomelessdc.org/site/c.plI4IcNWJyE/b.2699643/k.D6AC/Welcome_to_the_National_Help_the_Homeless_Web_Site.htm

http://humanityforhomeless.blogspot.com/2007/11/humanity-for-homeless-homeless-youth-in.html

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Among the number of homeless people, over one million are homeless children. Homelessness is epidemic and the number of homeless people and homeless children increase every year.

There are no definite homeless statistics, all numbers are estimates of homeless statistics.

• About 30 percent of homeless people are families with children.
• About 50 percent of homeless people are single men.
• About 14 percent of homeless people are single women.
• About 20-30 percent of homeless people are employed.
• About 40 percent of homeless people are veterans.
• About 30 percent of homeless people are children without families.

The New York City homeless shelters system houses more than 5,000 homeless people families. Of these homeless people housed by the homeless shelters, 13,000 are homeless children and half of these homeless children are under six years of age.

http://www.homeless-people.info/Homeless_Statistics_2.html

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The first thing to note about homeless statistics is that there are more homeless people today than at any previous time in U.S. history. In the past, "Skid-row bums" were the only homeless people in America on the street. However, nowadays those bums are not the only homeless people in America on the street. Ordinarily people fallen under hard times are now homeless people and some are with homeless children. This new wave of homeless people and homeless children in America now has them competing with the 'old fashioned bums' for space on bridges, benches, and parks to sleep.

Although it is impossible to count the number of homeless people in America accurately, experts on homeless people estimate that there are more than three million homeless people in America at this time. Also, the number of homeless people increases every year.

The National Coalition for the Homeless estimates that there are more than: 

• 70,000 homeless people in New York;
• 50,000 homeless people in Los Angeles;
• 25,000 homeless people in Chicago;
• 4,000-14,000 homeless people in Dallas;
• 10,000-15,000 homeless people in Washington, D.c.;
• 10,000 homeless people in Miami; and
• 6,500 homeless people in Phoenix.

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• Facts About Homelessness (National Coalition for the Homeless)
• Homelessness Background and Statistics (National Alliance to End Homelessness)
• The McKinney Act (National Coalition for the Homeless)
• Profile of Homelessness (Department of Health and Human Services)
•  http://www.policyalmanac.org/social_welfare/homeless.shtml

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http://www.policyalmanac.org/social_welfare/homeless.shtml

On any given night in America, anywhere from 700,000 to 2 million people are homeless, according to estimates of the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty.

According to a December, 2000 report of the US Conference of Mayors:

• single men comprise 44 percent of the homeless, single women 13 percent, families with children 36 percent, and unaccompanied minors seven percent.
• the homeless population is about 50 percent African-American, 35 percent white, 12 percent Hispanic, 2 percent Native American and 1 percent Asian.

According to the 1996 National Survey of Homeless Assistance Providers and Clients (NSHAPC):

• single homeless individuals in 1996 reported an average income of $348 during the last 30 days, about 51 percent of the 1996 federal poverty level of $680/month for one person.
• 28 percent said they sometimes or often do not get enough to eat, compared with 12 percent of poor American adults.
• 44 percent did paid work during the past month.
• 21 percent received income from family members or friends.
• 66 percent of the homeless have problems with alcohol, drug abuse, or mental illness.
• 22 percent have been physically assaulted.
• 7 percent have been sexually assaulted.
• 38 percent say someone stole money or things directly from them.
• 30 percent have been homeless for more than two years

• Political Magazines: The Almanac's links to political and public policy magazine sites.
• Public Policy Jobs: Sites listing public policy, lobbying, and media jobs in government and at major national organizations.
• Questia: Search over 400,000 books and journals at Questia online.
• More Links & info

http://www.cfnews13.com/News/Local/2007/3/28/homeless_attack.html

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-oe-ripston12mar12,1,2863260.story?coll=la-news-comment&ctrack=1&cset=true

http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/six-months-dead-a-grim-reminder-of-citys-homeless/2007/02/26/1172338547351.html

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2006/11/23/18332519.php

http://www.youthnoise.com/page.php?page_id=569

http://www.hrsa.gov/homeless/pa_materials/pa8/03.rtf

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Homelessness has been and continues to be a crisis in one of the most supposed "rich countries"-the USA.   The largest growing number of homeless population is children.  Here in the Bay area of California-the anount of homelessness is staggering and appalling.  Just walking down the streets of San Francisco, Berkely, Oakland in the early morning or evening-the homeless are lying up against the cement walls, on concrete sidewalks, sleeping, covered with whatever they can find for warmth.  Families with children who are homeless are not as visible as they usually find bridges, and other obscure places to hide for a little bit of protection. While there are many organizations and agencies trying to help, it is not enough.  Please review the following video..it is truly heart wrenching...

peace, love n bless to all..

http://www.keloland.com/videoarchive/index.cfm?VideoFile=111007homeless

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