Update

If you read my brother blog (real talk) you would know my Dad recently passed away.  And even though I am handling his death pretty well (I think) I am still a little overwhelmed by that, the work I had to do, and a few other things.

I plan on getting back with this blog within a few weeks.  With the few things I need to do I anticipate getting back to this blog by mid to late June with some new ideas.

Not finished

Even though this technically was a class assignment that went very well I am not finished with this blog.  My goal is to make it the most useful blog of its type.  Along with my sister blog (www.realtalk.blogspot.com ) I am going to add all the links to the side so people can better follow.  I am also devoting Mondays to this blog.  If anyone has any comments or helpful links and/or information please drop me

Ms. Dash

I met Ms. Dash when I started working for Immigration in New York. She worked in one of the other departments and I would see her while I was delivering mail (I worked inthe mailroom and her name is NOT Dash).  She was a few years older than me but we became good friends.  I would occasionally call her "Mom". She had a warm motherly way about her and she was very open and frank when she spoke.

For about two years I saw Ms. Dash and I eventually found out she had a problem with her kidneys and she needed dialysis a couple of times a week.  I learned she lived in the Bronx.  I also learned around 1997 that she was homeless.

That marked the first time I ever heard about a person working and living on the street.  I mean I never thought it was impossible but Ms. Dash was up close and personal.  I am not even sure HOW I found out and I am positive I heard it from her.

Based on her accounts even though she earned a decent salary working for the federal government, her bills and her rent were more than what she brought in and she was homeless.  Homeless in that she did not have an apartment or home or condo or room to acll her own.  No lease with HER name on it.  She managed to bounce from relative to relative to bathe and occasionally get something to eat but Ms. Dash had no place really to go

Daisy interview part 2

Forgive the video.  My first time.

Daisy Littlebear interview part 1

12/11/2010

Daisy Littlebear is a good friend of mine I met over 10 years ago.  She is the wife of one of my best friends.   I first met Daisy by chance.  I was walking through Coney Island during the summer of 1999 and I ran into Mike (her now husband).  I believe it was then I found out that they were an item and that she had given birth to their son (and my Godson).  I think it was then that I found out that they were homeless for awhile.  It was my first time meeting Daisy as I mentioned but I would never have expected that fate to come to Mike. 

For my project the two of them were kind enough to relive their experience and share it .  I had to break it up a bit, due to my just learning how to upload video, lol.

Lisa Squire

 

    I have known Lisa since 1993 when I first returned to City College. She was very inspirational as she was a single parent going to school full-time while taking care of her son who at the time was a special needs child. She struggled and still kept her head above water while showing a son born with autism all the love and more a mother can show her child.
    She eventually got married and had a second son. She and her husband moved to Maryland and though the marriage failed and she got a divorce Lisa still managed to survive and work and do what she needed to do. Her oldest son overcame his challenges and not only graduated from regular high school taking regular classes but he took some classes in college. Lisa was born again into the church and had her children dedicated to the church. Her eldest son became my godson.
    Eventually Lisa moved back to New York City with my godson to pursue a culinary career. The two of them had to move in with her mother which may sound easy but her mother is a senior on a budget and the apartment was very small when it housed just her mother. Imagine how tiny it is with three people.
    I included Lisa in this blog because technically she is homeless and her situation is similar to a lot of Americans. People who lost their jobs or could not find work or an apartment after graduating from school. People like Lisa and my godson are forgotten because they have a place to lay their heads, but in all reality they are homeless because they are not on a lease and if at any time her mother God forbid passed away or demanded that they leave, the two of them would be among the thousands sleeping on the street.
    Lisa allowed me to interview her and I thought what she had to say was interesting.

LINKS 12/27/2010

doing some research online I came up with a few links found on NYPIRG's website:


Coalition for the homeless:  http://www.coalitionforthehomeless.org/
NYC Coalition Against hunger:  http://www.nycah.org/
HANNYS:  http://www.hungeractionnys.org/
City harvest:  http://www.cityharvest.org/
Food Bank for NYC: http://www.foodbanknyc.org/
Housing First:  http://www.housingfirst.net/
The Door (teens):  http://www.door.org/
New York State Soup Kitchens and Shelters Bowery Mission (Manhattan):  http://www.bowery.org/
American Red Cross of Tompkins County:  http://www.tompkins-erdcross.org/
The HUC-JIR Community Soup Kitchen huc.edu/news/soup.html
City Mission of Schenectady:  Food, Shelter, Clothing:  http://www.citymission.com/
Human Services Coalition of Tompkins County:  http://www.hsctc.org/