NEWSWORKING HOMELESS

This Thanksgiving, most of us around the country shared a bountiful harvest feast with friends and family. We celebrated all that we are thankful for by gorging ourselves right into a food coma. It's the American way. Unfortunately, it's also the American way to be thankful for all that we have while not always acknowledging those around us who are without. It's also the American way to not fully understand the real truth about Thanksgiving.

In his brilliant book A People's History of the United States, the late Howard Zinn noted that we need to question "the excuse of progress in the annihilation of races, and the telling of history from the standpoint of the conquerors and leaders of Western civilization."  In his provocative and necessary book Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong, author James W. Loewen finds that the "true history of Thanksgiving reveals embarrassing facts. The Pilgrims did not introduce the tradition; [Native Americans] had observed autumnal harvest celebrations for centuries ... During the Civil War, when the Union needed all the patriotism that such an observance might muster, Abraham Lincoln proclaimed Thanksgiving a national holiday. The Pilgrims had nothing to do with it; not until the 1890s did they even get included in the tradition."  Moreover, he notes that all foods typically included in Thanksgiving meals "are exclusively indigenous to the Americas and had been provided by the local tribe. This notion that 'we' advanced peoples provided for the [Native Americans is] exactly the converse of the truth...."

What are they thinking? People obviously don't see the homeless as human or they wouldn't attempt to hire them to do most of the insane, demeaning and illegal jobs out there. Here's a small sampling:

Rob dead bodies. The Aokigahara forest at the base of Mt. Fuji in Japan is the site of 50 to 100 suicides a year. The forest is too large to patrol, and authorities sweep the area only once a year. According to this documentary, the Yakuza (Japan's organized crime syndicate) pays homeless people to sneak into the forest and rob the corpses.

Murder people. He's not the only husband to order a hit on his wife, but he's one of the stupidest and most famous. The Food Network's "Calorie Commando" Juan-Carlos Cruz reportedly gave homeless men ten $100 bills, each cut in half, to kill his wife. The other half of the bills were promised to the men once the deed was done. Of course, the men reported his offer to police and Cruz was arrested.

Dumpster dive for identity theft. Police say a man named William Frelix hired homeless people to search through dumpsters at Nashville hotels to find customers' credit card information. Frelix used the numbers for over two years to buy more than $100,000 worth of stuff. The homeless didn't get much of a cut.

Yes, Anthony is homeless. We met at a rotating shelter near Detroit. When Anthony first lost his job and place to live, he tried squatting in an abandoned building filled with people using drugs.

Then he found MCREST Rotating Shelter. I love the rotating shelter model. Basically a group a faith-based organizations come together to share resources to help hurting people. That sounds to me like what church should be all about.

Calvin has a job and by now is living in his own apartment. He is also going back to school. I wish all stories ended like Calvin's. With your help they can.

Being mentioned by President George H.W. Bush in a 1999 letter to the Main Street Association of Breckenridge, Texas would be heady stuff for anyone. But for friends Billy Ines, now 54, and Angel Valencia, 64, it was the highlight of their rise from homelessness to local household names.

Fame doesn't always bring fortune, though. It just opens a few more doors. Thanks to a mural painted by Ines and Valencia, Breckenridge, Texas had beat out 138 other cities to win the "State's Best Public Improvement Project." Hosted by the Texas Downtown Association, the honor helped make Breckenridge a destination city and Ines and Valencia models for what's possible — even if you've been living in a box. What it didn't do was guarantee them money or even a home. That's where business acumen and marketing skills come in.

In 1998, the year before they made headlines, Ines and Valencia were homeless in Munday, Texas, painting signs and murals, a skill Ines developed as a child. With the help of townspeople in Munday, the men got into public housing as they worked their way off the streets and focused on their small business. Their break came when they got the job in Breckenridge.

"Homelessness. It's the hardest thing ever," Ines told me. "I don't ever want to be homeless again. People think they have it bad, they need to live in a box in an alley for five and a half months like I did."

The new mural brought tourism and attention to the town of Breckenridge, but it also brought positive attention to Ines. He describes the award and the resulting publicity as "overwhelming." Demand for his talent skyrocketed, creating more business than he could handle, so Ines became a bit more selective, then later decided to quit painting murals altogether  in order to care for Valencia, his assistant. Valencia suffered from some severe health problems, including diabetes.

"It was hard, painting with one hand, taking care of Angel with the other," Ines recalls. Loyalty runs deep and Ines says Valencia was there for him when he needed help so it's only right that he return the favor. The men have worked and traveled together for years. Mural painting jobs in Breckenridge slowed down so the partners painted in surrounding towns, including Graham and Olney. They took up residence in Amarillo and lived there for about six years. Eventually they bought and renovated an old Airstream trailer and now live in it in Altus, Oklahoma.

Regardless of the intent of those who recently posted images of homeless men using laptops, a discussion has emerged around the more-common-than-one-might-think bewilderment at how a homeless person could possibly (1) acquire a technological device and (2) benefit from one.

To many, a homeless person with a laptop might evoke the assumption that the laptop was acquired through illegal means (stolen, purchased on the black market, etc.). But Moore's Law would suggest otherwise. The exponential rate of technological improvement has yielded $50 cell phones and $150 laptops — and that's just retail price. In addition to charities that give away electronics, wholesalers and secondhand stores often sell used computers and other items for pennies on the dollar. (Of course, computers and other gadgetry can also be among what little is "left over" for people who were recently housed.) Beyond being affordable, technology can even provide an income stream for the homeless.

Technology's benefits to the homeless are even more apparent than its affordability. The advent of email, cellular phones and blogs has helped improved the plight of many homeless individuals as they attempt to move off of the streets and into permanent housing. Although providers of homeless services sometimes furnish mailbox and/or telephone services to their guests, email allows homeless individuals to have a permanent means of contact no matter their housing situation. Free computer and internet access at local libraries allows for reliable, written communication even without a permanent address (just ask some bloggers and commenters on this site). For things like obtaining food stamps, inquiring about housing, and understanding other essential services, cell phones have proven to be extremely useful tools.

Having a roof over one's head is nice. Having a job that will enable one to pay for said roof is even nicer.

Atlanta City Councilman Kwanza Hall helped Erica Merriwether get just that. Merriwether lost her accounting job at an Atlanta law firm in July 2008 and eventually lost her home and her car. By the end of 2009, she was living in a homeless shelter.

That all changed in February when, with the help of First Step Staffing, she was hired as an administrative assistant for Hall. The job gave her an income and the means to continue looking for a job as an accountant, which she eventually landed at the Rosewood Hotel at the Mansion on Peachtree in late August.

Now Hall is calling on his fellow City Council members to consider hiring those who are homeless through First Step Staffing or similar programs. Some 7,000 residents of the Atlanta Metro region are homeless. First Step, and other programs like Boston's Work First, focus on putting the formerly homeless on a path to financial independence.

Those who are homeless often have trouble finding a job because they lack an address and phone number, have long periods of unemployment, have a criminal record, or lack transportation to and from work. First Step Staffing provides not only job training and transportation to the work site if no public transportation is available, but it also assists in securing affordable housing.

On October 16th, homeless people in Boulder are going the extra mile to show that they are a valuable part of the community. As part of Global Hope International Network's ServeHope project, a team of homeless people will be cleaning the banks of Boulder Creek. The money raised will go to support efforts to help African villages become sustainable.

Teams of local student activists will do the online fundraising for homeless participants. There is a growing desire among local student groups and others to develop legitimate relationships with the homeless, and this project is giving them an outlet to support and connect with street people in a tangible and compelling way.

One reason this is such a powerful symbol of community-building in Boulder is the perception that much of the litter along the banks of Boulder Creek is due to homeless people. While there are many camps along the banks which undoubtedly contribute to the detritus, the creek is also used by families, sightseers and the ubiquitous fitness buffs. So while not all of the litter is from homeless people, this multi-use area is one of those zones of homeless/public interaction. For that reason, resentment has been building from the mainstream community. It probably doesn't help that the street community has developed a ritual of throwing people in the creek to express displeasure or censure.

Organizer Ken Miller is one of those visionaries who understands our interconnectedness. In addition to a lifetime of international mission work, service on multiple non-profit boards and his role as an elder at his church, he conceived this project as a way to express the integral role of homeless people in our community, as people who have something to give.

I recently decided to check out Nickelsville, a self-governing tent city in Seattle, because I might find myself there one day. It was as simple as calling the number on the Nickelsville website. A man named Nate told me I could come down between the hours of 8 a.m. and 9 p.m.

Nickelsville is currently located at the University Congregational United Church of Christ's parking lot. The first thing I noticed here wasn't the rows of tents — it was that the place is incredibly clean. I saw a man and his dog sitting behind a couple of old school desks and told him I was looking for Nate. "You mean Alter-Nate?" he asked. Apparently there were three different Nates but the one I spoke to is nicknamed Alter-Nate. Thank goodness I didn't meet Procrasti-Nate, since the folks at Nickelsville told me the name aptly fit the gentleman they gave it to.

Alter-Nate was very gracious and agreed to give me a tour. I followed him through a row of tents marked with numbered paper plates that serve as addresses down to a common area, an outdoor kitchen pantry that needed restocking and over to where the portable toilets were. Nate showed me a bike he converted into an electricity generator that he calls the "Cyclotron." The residents can use it to recharge their laptops, phones and so on. It was damaged in the last move (the city requires the camp to move from time to time) but Nate is busily repairing it. I believe they have or had a generator but could only run it twice a day and only if they really, really had to. Buying propane gas takes a large chunk out of the Nickelsville fund.

Other than the noise of the nearby street, Nickelsville is quiet. The 90 folks who live here are clean and look like everyone else. I got invited to sit in the common area and talk with people. I saw a family with two children making dinner on one of the grills. If I do have to come here, at least I know they take families (and pets). Most shelters will take men only or women and children only.

Somebody ought to do something. Everywhere I surf, I see it — blog post after blog post, comment after comment — "Ain't it awful! Somebody ought to do something!"

I get dozens of emails a week from people asking me to "do something." Write an article, sign a petition, march in protest. They're busy, but they thought somebody ought to do something. So they started emailing their friends.

Guess what? You're that somebody, even if you're homeless.

That something can be almost anything — donating money, collecting food for the food bank, hiring a homeless person, running for office, volunteering one day or one hour at a community non-profit, helping an entrepreneur get her business off the ground, or even just babysitting someone else's child so she can go to work.

I've heard people say, "I'm homeless, so why should I do anything? What has anybody done for me?" That's the attitude that got me and so many others in tough situations in the first place. Let's turn that around. Doing something isn't about resources; it's about resourcefulness. Since when is homelessness a get-out-of-giving-back-to-your-community-free ticket? Some people are living hand-to-mouth and overextended 24/7. If you're not one of them, consider helping out. If you are, when the day comes that you're back on your feet, remember how much you would have appreciated the help.

Here's my favorite example of taking initiative on one's own behalf. I met a homeless man in Denver in 2007 who had a shopping cart filled with bundles of wood. He collected kindling and dry branches from city parks and along the road where crews were clearing brush during the day. He tied up the bundles with twine ($1 for 200' at the dollar store) and sold the bundles outside grocery and convenience stores for $10 to $20 a bundle, depending on the size and type of wood. He spent a portion of his earnings at the store and made sure the managers knew it — so they gave him permission to stand outside. He told me he was beginning to clear $200 a night when I met him and bought a small bundle of wood for a campfire. I don't think he was homeless long.

It's not just Chicago where people are stealing tomatoes, cucumbers and corn, but Chicago's Community Gardens are in the news as harvest time is here and neighbors are ripping off neighbors all around the country. Who is getting the blame? The homeless and the poor.

Community gardens tend to be plots of land that are rented out to residents, usually by the square foot or by the plot. People who live in cities rarely have a yard to garden in. Poor populations often rely on the gardens as a way to supplement their income, or to feed their families. About $50 rent and $50 worth of seed can feed a family of four for a year with canned and fresh tomatoes, corn, beans and other produce. Excess can be sold at a farmer's market or traded for eggs or other items. It's not just a few tomatoes people are stealing when they plunder a community garden — it's people's lives.

Since most gardeners I know or have known are hard-working, generous people, I can understand the conflict between wanting to help those who have no food and being upset at having the literal fruits (and veggies) of their hard work stolen. Often thieves are stealing from people barely better off than they are. The homeless are getting the brunt of the blame — because gardens are often in the inner-city, are often located near parks where the homeless "hang out" and are often unfenced, unguarded and full of produce that doesn't need to be cooked. "Drive-by" thieves are often implicated as well — people who happen to drive by a garden and want free food. They might see the garden as easy pickings or as a community effort to provide food for the poor — like a live food bank.