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★★★Edit:The answer is almost a half and two years old, when I was in my third year. A lot of things must have surely changed by then and therefore I urge you to check with those studying there to get a knack of what exactly isngoing on.Also, please understand that barring the IITs, there are few quality alternatives in general available to us. However, consider the quality of individual departments and the merot of the faculty rather than the reputation of the college to which you apply.DCE as a college has ceased to exist and though there isn't a lot that has changed, there is a lot that has, and it will therefore depend on what parameters you value your education by that you will be able to grasp the quality (or the lack thereof) of DTU.Of course the review to a large extent will depend on the branch to which a kid belongs (due to variations in faculty, work load, facilities, etc.) but I'll try to be objective here.I'll write the review from the point of view of what a prospective undergrad student should be aware of.Major changes DTU v/s DCEThe biggest change has been the intake. In general the amount of kids per branch has risen directly and the number of branches have also been mindlessly increased. The fees has now become almost threefold as compared to what used to be for the enrolment year 2K9. The uptake is that for a higher price you are essentially receiving an inferior education because the resources haven't matched the increase in available seats.The examination laws have seen improvements and have become more friendly though not very proactive and still very regressive. e.g. The back clearance procedure is still the same whereby no additional back exams are conducted during summer or winter breaks but all back candidates are tendered the subject papers being given to those attempting a course for the first time, i.e. if you receive a back in subject A in 3rd semester, you can only attempt that paper in the next odd semester with your juniors.it is now possible for former students as well as current to fully repeat a course including attending classes and reattempting both the internals and the finals by paying a per subject fee.Edit: Through unconfirmed sources I have heard that the schedule of back papers has been made slightly more student friendly, in that backs in odd semesters are conducted in the even semester.The lab resources have become drastically limited per person, accommodation on the campus has become extremely limited due to higher intake without infrastructural addition.New faculty added is generally of a much inferior quality as compared to the earlier ones, and the difference is often stark, though this is highly dependent on your branch. The mass exodus of earlier faculty and HODs after the DCE->DTU saga has left the faculty threadbare in general.The college now conducts increased master's programmes as well as courses in MBA for engineering grads.The number of subjects imposed on a student (there are practically no electives, more on that later) has increased and the syllabi in each course has generally increased. This increase however, is of a very facetious nature as the course is still largely outdated and redundant.The emphasis on practical learning has dropped further with any worthwhile undergraduate research happening on the back of a student's extreme willingness, eagerness and networking skills wrt the faculty. Research work at faculty level has increased in amount after mandatory research requirements though the quality has not risen appreciably.Master's programmes have certainly seen more placements. I'll talk about placements in detail in a later section.The degree awarded has been changed from BE to BTech.2. Quality of educationThis is a very important aspect because one of the many ostensible reasons given for changing DCE to DTU had been to 'improve the quality of education.'However, from the major changes section you can glean that the overall quality of education has come down.The current trend is that the non-core soft branches, i.e. Computer Science, IT, Math & Computing (an underhand trick to increase intake in computing really, M & C requires highly specialised faculty and facilities which are currently not up to the mark) Software engineering are genrally okay, BUT FOR ONE REASON ONLY: these branches require minimal input in terms of infra.Recently, many respected industrial experts refused to hire students of automobile engineering for lack of proper training facilities for these students and an undefined structure in the syllabus of the branch. The college's nifty solution: Change the name of the branch to mechanical, VOILA!Generally, you'll have a tough time becoming a skilled engineer in core fields, i.e. in Electrical, Mechanical, Production and Civil because the college does not have adequate infrastructure. You'll have to be highly self motivated as most of your collegial studies will be totally theoretical with any practical knowledge gain predicated on:1. working for a project under a knowledgeable faculty.2. arranging for industrial trainings yourself (some HODs and faculty might help with it)3. By joining a respectable technical team (one where Le Pabbu-the VC does not interfere directly)There are some excellent professors in all departments though and if you are one of those people who can handle the very real Indian administrative bureaucracy culture that exists in this college, then you can even get a few things done for yourself. After all, there are indeed a few good things available here:1. Biodiesel Lab: the central facility for biodiesel in the northern region2. Dspace3. Power Electronics lab4. Robotics labThe worst possible thing that can happen in core branches however is the constant meddling the syllabus and lack of individual choice, growth and electives (more on that later.) I personally saw the syllabus of electrical engineering changed at the beginning of 3rd,4th,5th and 6th semester in order to create visible differences between Electrical Engg. and Electrical & Electronics Engg.There is little to no emphasis on practical and technological training and more on just attending lectures in order to clear examinations: What I am trying to say here is that the education scenario here is much the same as in any good public school - it is frankly a school and not a university.Branch wise break-up:1. Mechanical Engineering: good faculty, average infra facilities, coursework okay, amount of effort needed is reasonable2. Electrical Engineering: A handful of the faculty is exceptional, most are way below average, severe mismanagement of teaching resources (though that will hopefully change with the appointment of Professor Madhusudan as the HOD).A lot of hardwork required due to: Large syllabus and weird faculty tantrums. Little to no infrastructure availability. The LIC and power electronics faculty and facilties are good. (with the bespectacled lab guy there the most helpful and resourceful person I ever met). I have often used these labs and was never refused for equipment.Most of the time will be spent in rote learning and hand-written assginments. The emphasis on genuine creativity is very very low and this is true for all branches.The syllabus is as yet vaguely defined.3. Electrical & Electronics Engineering:Same as above, except for a few more electronics side subjects. Once again, the emphasis is on rote learning and clearing exams and you won't really become much of an engineer until you fight on your own.4. Electronics & Communication:Subject matter is good, but once again the emphasis is on rote learning. To be really good you'll have to be self motivated. The ECE department however does avail its students various external opportunities to learn.Light workload, the examinations are relatively easy. Good branch if you intend to pursue masters outside india.5. Soft branches (Software, IT, Computers Science):Light workload, easy examsThe syllabus is generally well defined and relevant to industry.As with any other non-IIT college, you'll have to be self motivated if you think of yourself as a person beyond a coding or a non-tech job, i.e. if you really think of yourself as a highly motivated individual willing to push the boundaries, you'll receive little help from your coursework.6. Civil EngineeringLight coursework, easy exams, good placements (although I hear conflicting stories about Civil placements, but industrial requirement is certainly there).No drafting courses in any of the semesters (except the first year where everyone has a mandatory manual drafting course)Teaching in civil is often erratic, a lot of it is off the industrial requirements. The HOD is a very learned man.7. Automobile Engineering:Totally hazardous choice, the branch is currently in total limbo.8. Production Engineering:The conditions are pretty similar to mechanical.NOTE: IF QUALITY OF EDUCATION AND LEARNING WITH EMPHASIS ON REAL ENGINEERING IS WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING FOR, DON'T ENROL IN A CORE BRANCH IN DTU.9. Engineering Physics:It is actually a fun branch with a very diverse coursework - one good enough to obviate the need for electives. Around 70% of the course work is congruent with electronics and communication so it is a good alternative for those who would like to pursue electronics but don't make the cut-off for ECE (damn this weird system of branch first, talent later).10. Bio-Tech Engineering:Highly theoretical in how it is being run at DTU. But you'll get good grades so if you want to pursue master's from outside I'd say go for it. Plus the current industrial requirement for BioTech grads is good so that works out too. Don't expect too much innovation though, unless you are willing to go above and beyond the rest of your peers.11. Polymer and Chemical Technology:Light coursework, easy but lengthy exams. LOTS OF TIME TO PURSUE YOUR INTERESTS! Very theoretical, rote and exam oriented in how it is taught here. Faculty is adequate, the enrolment is generally low so faculty student ratio is better than the dismal ratio all over the college - this means you get to have more lively discussions with the faculty if the faculty is not a snob and not very egotistic.12. Environmental EngineeringVery similar to civil in terms of quality of teaching and learning. Coursework is generally light but very theoretical. The faculty is below average, but it is easy to score with a reasonable amount of effort.13. Mathematics & Computing:Introduced only in 2012 so can't say much. Rumour is that it would be hard to justify the obtuse teacher:student ratio if seats in CS were increased so this is a dummy branch just for that.Coursework and Electives:After the formation of DTU, there was a major shuffle in the coursework. Essentially, old subjects were merged, a sixth subject was added in each of the the first four semesters (DCE had five in the first six, four in the seventh and three in the eighth) with reallocation happening on the fly if the current third years of a branch groaned under the load. So essentially, this restructuring was an exercise in gobbledygook which only caused pain and discomfort for most students. Why?1. Increased workload: Think about it, college is a time for independent development yet your time is being scuttled with added workload. The worst part is that a lot of it is only theory and no real substance. So all you end up doing is mugging for one extra paper.2. What difference did it make: What you normally would have studied in fourth year, you are now studying in the third and so forth. This is good right? You get to learn more stuff in the fourth year, right? Nope, sorry. What happens is that without addition of good quality faculty, increased branches and subjects results in lower quality of pedagogy. So you end up - mugging for a paper!3. Subjects are still changed on the fly. So you're never really sure what you'll end up studying.Electives: Most good institutes have electives starting from the second year itself. DTU, like DCE, follows the pattern of offering electives only in the fourth year. This works for some and not for others, so suit yourself.There are two kinds of electives: open and common, one of each.Under open elective, you can select any available subject (however, if most of your classmates select other electives and your elective doesn't have enough students, you'll have to change your elective, period)Under common elective, the entire class decides on one elective. Tyranny by majority, anyone?It still won't matter however as due to scheduling problems and other such irks, they'll offer you the first available faculty member and you'll be reading the topic he/she teaches.3. ExaminationExaminations are conducted twice every semester: mid semesters and end semesters. The exam papers are totally what you would expect from a school: theoretical in nature with questions that would ask you to define and explain stuff rather than questions that will make you think for yourself and help you become better at your job. Rote learning rules, any kind of deviation from expected answers is frowned upon. The emphasis is on printing down what you remember from the book and lectures, and not HOW AND WHY.The funny part is students end up complaining if a paper asks for applied concepts. I suppose that happens when you are not used to using your knowledge at an abstract rather than regurgitation level.The back and improvement rules are pretty wobbly so avoid these pitfalls at all costs (refer to part 1)4. PlacementThis college is a pawn shop. You come here, grind your stuff for about three years in order to get placed at a good company. This is what the college has come to be and this is what most students coming here expect to get; or rather want from their lives.The institute can hardly be called a place for learning with most people's dreams ending at getting a job that pays well and not really being about a good education that will add value to and enrich their lives.However, the college has good placement statistics, please refer to: Delhi Technological University - Delhi College of Engineering - Opps! for more.Like all things known in mass media, statistics are prone to lies and omissions.Edit: Placement is a highly economic phenomenon. If the demand is there, hiring will take place.5. FacultyFaculty is a real enigma. A lot of the members of the faculty are a diabolical bunch: Highly egotistic, lacking in knowledge yet very critical of genuine student enquiry, They all love ass kissers.Most of the newer faculty, hired over the past 5 years, is total crap.Even a lot of good faculty members are very stolid in their world view. They are like grumpy people unwilling to adopt to the changes in the modern world around them, unwilling to accept the openness and speed of change of the modern world - both in terms of technology and sociological mindsets.There are indeed, however, a few gem of faculties. You should thoroughly research the members of the faculties of the branch you intend to pursue, by finding more about them on the internet. In EE,/EEE from the top of my head: Prof. Madhusudan, Prof. Pragati Kumar, Prof. Vishal Verma.6. Campus and Location,The campus is Beatific and well maintained. The streets are nice, the road drainage system is quite good. The architecture is majestic, especially if seen from an aerial view. The floor space index is however abysmally low. All buildings have no more than 4 floors. It beats me as to why buildings are not built keeping future need for room and space in mind.The entire campus is replete with greens and there are lots of parks which lend themselves beautifully to the utility and structure of the campus.The open air amphitheatre is delectable, look here:​​The library and knowledge park are one of the few saving graces of an otherwise decadent education scenario.The library is well stocked and new useful books are added at regular intervals. If one gets out of the rut of following just the suggested course-books and goes forth to explore, there are myriads of good books to be found on every technical topic. The non-technical section, though not very vast, has some books that are rare to find now.Knowledge Park is essentially a collection of offices, a conference table and computers connected to a very high speed internet connection. The accessibility is however, low, with access to B.Tech students granted on patronizing or on being members of a college project team.Hostels:Hostel buildings are well, hostel buildings. Only one hostel boasts of a power backup (though power cuts are very rare). They are modest, to say the least. The shared bathrooms can be a pain, especially in boys hostel where most people have no sense/regard for cleanliness and hygiene. A lot of rooms have seepage, peeling plasters and other such 'normal' problems Incidentally, the hostel authorities treat you like scum (most of the time) and the hostel administration think that hostel residents are supposed to be referred to as 'inmates' (technically an inmate is someone jailed at a well... prison, medical ward,etc.) The girls' residential quarters have a curfew time of 9PM while the boys' residential quarters have no such restrictions. All male students, however have to be inside the college premises by 11PM, officially. All hostels have an ethernet based internet connection which acts as any normal LAN. The college however acts as big brother and denies access to anything useful if it remotely violates the outdated sense of immoral modesty. So most sites like Youtube, social networks and even linux software portals are blocked (though any decent proxy would get around that). The speeds are decent and overall the network is good.UPDATE: The new OIC of Hostel Office is a royal B****D. Everything with him is an ego issue. An abysmal pain! (Dr. Pushpendra Singh, I think all you need is a shaved anus and a willingness to put out to get a PhD at DTU.)The institution provides decent preliminary medical care.The gymnasium facilities are the deplorable. The sports facilities are nothing to write about either. There is a field, two outdoor basketball courts, an ill maintained football field and a 'cemented' thingy called the 'lawn tennis court'.All residential areas have badminton courts with proper turfs. A few hostels have ping-pong tables. There is a sports complex facility which however remains forever locked (like it's some treasure that must be saved from filthy little humans) so I don't know what's in there though I suspect it's a pool that fallen prey to disuse. A new sports building (more like a single floor large room) was recently built for indoor sports facilities, but it remains mostly locked except during the annual sports meet. (It has an indoor basketball court, table tennis, etc.)UPDATE:the old sports complex building i suspected of housing a swimming pool had none. It has been renovated and made into a gymnasium. It has odd timings, even then always opening late and closing early, with utter disregard for utility to students. It is not even big enough to accommodate the rush it saw when I was still at DTU.The new indoor sports facility had started to see more footfall in the evening.Food: The mess food isn't a grand affair. It's better than what your parents had if they lived in a government hostel but you'd be amiss to expect anything above edible and an occasional delight or two. It's still better than a lot of government hostels, from what I have heard.Canteen: The college has very many canteens: The central cafeteria: or the Mech Canteen, Nescafe, Mic-Mac and a stall in the Electrical block.The canteen food is decent. The prices have been notoriously increased over the last two years, with something now costing double than what they used to. Okay, some of it is justified under 'inflation' but a lot of is just barefaced profiteering. e.g. If the cost of cooking a plate of dosa goes up by Rs.2, the prices are nonchalantly increased by Rs. 5.The surroundings: The surroundings are turgid. There's a stationery and books store (Future Point: it is a monopoly, and therefore the store commands higher prices than your Nai Sarak, Daryaganj and Ber Sarai), a few pop and mom stores, juice store, fruit vendor and two recharge shops smack in front of the gate. The college is located on the posterior of Rohini sector 17. Essentially it is located in a semi-urban deluge. All boys' hostel have somehow come to be located near a source of noise (read: temples that will blare their megaphones for 72 hours straight starting from the night of your exams), especially the Aryabhatt or T1 hostel cluster. Sector 17 Rohini is abut the college and it has all the shops you are going to need for all kinds of needs. The more adventurous type can venture to the malls located on the inner ring road near the Rithala Metro Station. There are lots of eateries in and around sector 16 and 17. The localities are choc-full of students living as renters, with local dwellers being a blend of West Delhi and East Delhi kind. The people, though not as stocked, well dressed and good looking as south Delhi folks, are usually genial and friendly and much more helpful. The bus connectivity is decent, and the nearest metro station Rithala is 3.5km or ten rupees away. An extension to the yellow line (which ends at Jehangirpuri) is being built which will connect people directly to the yellow line which incidentally, is currently 6km or 70 rupees away(by auto, 10 by bus if you will board one).7. AvenuesOwing to its popularity and a combination of other positive factors, the college does attract a lot of talent, though the institution does mostly squat to nourish and engender it.The biggest strength of the institution, undoubtedly are its students. Some of the students here are individuals with a heightened sense of being and do actually make a difference to the world around them. It is ironic then, that the administrative department treats students like scum.The college has very many technical and non-technical societies (more on that later) to choose from.There is a decent confluence of like-minded people who can easily start something of their own if they are up for it.There is about decent exposure to the current and the latest happenings in engineering and technology; though one must be discerning enough to know which ones are worth one's time. Some really good opportunities will sneak up from under you if you aren't paying attention but then that's true of everything in life.8. Extra Curriculars and SocietiesThe college has lot to offer in terms of the very many technical societies and non-technical interest one can pursue, but this is all on paper. The ground reality however, is that most societies are like treasures in a dump. Even if joining one works out for you, you'd still be in a dump. This is something very personal to one's behaviour and belief in organised crime so this is rather irreverent.On the sports front, the college is genial, and that is saying a lot. Team sports can be a pain as getting into any team involves a substantial factor of who you know.The college has the usual mix of non-technical organisations like MUN,AISEC, etc. This is again a very personal choice as to what you'd rather be a part of.All I can say is there is an appreciable quantity of things to do.There is however, one thing I'd like to add: Most fourth years students would recommend against becoming a paid member of any society and I must say they are right. There are no extra benefits that you'll avail as every journal, conference, activity, etc offered is equally accessible for everyone and a rupee or two you'd save as a member for workshops would be far lower than the amount you'll eventually save by not paying for society memberships.Refer here: http://www.dce.edu/web/Sections/Life/culturalsocieties.php9. Interdisciplinary Studies: Non existent, frowned upon by most faculty members (this little devil is seen during student projects where you'll admonished for doing something absolutely brilliant in electronics if you are say, a polymer student).10. Management:The level of management control is high and the administration is (like i have said before) despotic. Babu culture is highly prevalent. Social engineers (those with good inter personal skills) can overcome this problem with their glib behaviour. There are a lot of arbitrary 'official' charges. e.g. You'll be charged a Rs. 200 'fine' for asking for a bona fide certificate.Someone did not allegedly say that DTU is the most corrupt university in North India.11. Students' Union activitiesThe process of students' union formation was changed after the severance from the Delhi University.The allotment of the top students union position: The President, The Vice President, The Secretary and the Treasurer is allegedly rigged with candidates unsuitable according to 'he who must not be named' removed through one technicality or the other. The past two students' union have resulted in catastrophe, seen most visibly in the sports meet (called ARENA) and the cultural festival (Engi-fest, now know as the Engi-farce).12. Culture And Crowd:In my personal opinion, the crowd factor saw a drastic dip with my batch, reached an all time low in 2K11, shot up somewhat in 2k12 and has generally eased out to a permanent lower level than before, though not by more than say 10%.You'll find all kinds of people here: Dumb people doing crazy stuff, excitable people, good looking people, not so good looking proles,etc etc.The biggest minus point of the crowd factor, however, is the cloistered and bigoted mindset of a lot of people here. The quality of communication skills that people possess has seen an unprecedented hit. A lot of people getting enrolled here have a very eerie set of beliefs which includes: misogyny fanatic religious allegiance, narrowed view of the world around, etc.Having said that, the college is after all in Delhi and if you look out, you'll find birds of your own clique. So if you're a plain old rich snob or a social enthusiast, you'll find your peers eventually.To show for culture, the college has a cultural fest called the Engifest followed by annual technical festivals of various societies. Please read about culture here:DCE ComplimentsDCE ConfessionsH3_October_2011.pdf13. Research and Technological Advancement:Faculty level research has picked up in the last two years.The most interesting development work is undertaken by the various project teams in college. A lot of times however, this is just hype, as I have said before.The college has an uncanny habit of resting on past laurels and discarding (or even totally junking) old developed works once they have served their purpose of getting enough publicity for the college and 'he who must not be named.'All said and done, the college does perform useful research and more opportunities are available for under-grads now than before, especially those willing to partner a faculty member in a project.Some notable college teams are: Team UAS DTU, Team Motus, Team AUV.14. Miscellaneous: Opportunity & Equity, Quality of Life, Non-Technical Outreach,Contribution to SocietyIn terms of opportunity, it's really up to the student to stand up for his rights. Other students would rather ridicule and dissuade you than help you if standing up to the authority (for wrongdoings) for your ideals is what you'd rather do. Like I said, this is practically a school and not a college.THe jugaad system and chalta hai stuff works just fine in DTU, with people being able to sneak into project teams - without putting in an ounce of work - through contacts (don't want to name any names here).Quality of life will be fairly good. I mean you would be living in Delhi, with all the myriad opportunities the metropolis provides. The hostel charges are nominal (at least they used to be for my batch), and if you don't indulge in very many things requiring extra effort, life would still be nice.Non-technical outreach, I think, is limited to the students' entrepreneurial spirit. Some students would tell you that societies like SIFE (students in Free Enterprise) really work for non-technical outreach but it is a farce. Don't take my word for it though, do your own research.A lot of people work for social upliftment in groups. e.g. The Yes+ cult of DTU. Though they can be very obnoxious, and they are sneaky liars (they say they lie for a good cause, well...) they still do a lot to help others around them. Many of these volunteers help nearby dwellers and children of orphanages, you get the drift, they are voluntary social workers - swayamsevak.UPDATE: I have had my fair share of run-ins with THE ADMINISTRATION. From my personal experience I can tell you it is a royal pillar-to-post hand in ass race. But I must talk about the VC.The VC, in bullets then:He will generally act on personal e-mails sent to him.He has a very sadistic way of solving some problems.He will definitely talk your ear off with his noble dealings and great achievements.If done tactfully, a lot of personal level student problems can be sorted with his help.If you want to kiss ass, he's your go to guy, intermediate input, max output.Don't mess with him unless he's your family friend, you're from the Congress parivar, you got the dough (catch the drift)FINAL VERDICT - WHY YOU SHOULD BE HERE/WHY YOU SHOULDN'T BE HEREAlthough the review i believe is exhaustive, I may have missed out a few things, so i suppose to clarify them as the case may be.Having said that, my Final Verdict is:Hind sight is like a hangover after a night of binge drinking - it may teach you to pace yourself for the future, but it's still a headache.Selecting which college to go to is a decision that will bear on your life for a long time after you have received your degree and said adios to your alma mater. Far too many of us select colleges on the word-of-mouth without doing any actual research as to how suitable the place we'll be going to is for our growth and aspirations.Yes, a lot of you won't get into the IITs BITS (All the campuses - they have better facilities and better teacher:student ratio for god's sake!) and for better or for worse, your numskull won't come round the fact that engineering isn't the only vocation on earth. Hell, more than half the engineer grads don't even end up doing engineering stuff in their jobs. So you should know exactly what are good reasons and what are bad reasons to come to DTU:WHY YOU SHOULD BE HERE:If you don't mind living like a school kid, and just mugging for exams and getting through things works for you so long as there is a placement at the end of the tunnelIf all you want is a career/job in computing and have got through to the soft branches (CS/IT/Software)If your parents are loaded and you just want an education in DelhiIf there's no place better that you can go to.If you are hell bent on staying in Delhi and won't go to NSIT or IIIT or NIT-Delhi.If you plan for a master's and are from non-core branchesIf you like to kiss assIf you get a top 2K rank and think you'll slog day and night like a school kid because you want a job.If you don't know what else to doIf you suffer from a chronic case of brain damageIf you are like that uncool kid who thinks it's cool to be in DTU.If you want to chill in hot hot Delhi.If you want to do an MBA eventually.If you are Chuck Norris.If you are a sadomasochist.If all you got through to is IP University.WHY YOU SHOULDN'T BE HERE:If you want a real education, and if you want to learn. DO a BSc. from DU, would work out better.If you want to be in a core branch and want to work hands on without having to beg for everything. ALso if you want good infrastructure for core engineering.If you can't stand nepotismIf you have a boyfriend/girlfriend hereIf you want to take IAS/IES/GATE coaching in Delhi. You can do that everywhere else, respect yourself.If you want to do an MBA eventually.If you're smart.If you don't like the Indian Babu culture.If you've never been here and someone else told you about DCE. It's not DCE any more! Do your research!If your parents think this is a cool college.If you can think beyond the trapdoor of placements.As always, this is my opinion as an active student here. This is a review, and not to be taken as a be all and end all advice. You should do your own research, see things for yourself and decide for yourself. Being from EE myself, i can't be totally fair to other branches so you should have a chat with someone who's here before coming here.Useful links:What practically feasible changes would you like to see in DCE/DTU?What are some of the worst viva experiences in DCE?Who are some of the better professors in DCE?Who is the worst professor in DCE?EDITS:The useful links were added later.I had mentioned about the Power Electronics and Analog electronics lab earlier, refer Chank's comment below. I have made changes regarding that.I have also corrected a few grammatical errors.I have marked other edits as 'UPDATE'.

Racial profiling has been proven to exist in America in recent decades. Of course it was common when there was little if any racial equality. As widespread as racial profiling is, targeting the lower economical class in America by police is a major concern as well. Law enforcement officials understand individuals with limited incomes will most likely be unable to challenge unlawful actions carried out by these officials.We saw law enforcement officials nationwide join in the CIA, FBI Cointelpro stalking/ assassination operations. These operations were carried out for decades in secrecy as these agencies as well as local, state, federal officials, the criminals they brought into this crimes ring, participated in committing just about every crime imaginable, stalking, assaults, fabrication of evidence, false imprisonments, drugging, poisoning, vehicle tampering, blackmail, slander, defamation of character, false psychiatric evaluations, break ins, murder. These agencies infiltrated the mainstream media and used this source to cover up their crimes as well as to spread propaganda and disinformation. This was a psychological warfare operation as well as a war on black America. These facts were exposed, proven and are admitted operations that took place decade after decade.COINTELPRO - WikipediaSeries of covert, and often illegal, projects conducted by the U.S. FBI COINTELPRO memo proposing a plan to expose the pregnancy of actress Jean Seberg , a financial supporter of the Black Panther Party , hoping to "possibly cause her embarrassment or tarnish her image with the general public". Covert campaigns to publicly discredit activists and destroy their interpersonal relationships were a common tactic used by COINTELPRO agents. COINTELPRO ( syllabic abbreviation derived from Counter Intelligence Program) (1956-1971) was a series of covert and illegal [1] [2] projects conducted by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) aimed at surveilling, infiltrating, discrediting, and disrupting domestic American political organizations . [3] [4] FBI records show COINTELPRO resources targeted groups and individuals the FBI deemed subversive , [5] including feminist organizations, [6] the Communist Party USA , [7] anti–Vietnam War organizers, activists of the civil rights movement or Black Power movement (e.g. Martin Luther King Jr. , the Nation of Islam , and the Black Panther Party ), environmentalist and animal rights organizations, the American Indian Movement (AIM) , independence movements (such as Puerto Rican independence groups like the Young Lords ), and a variety of organizations that were part of the broader New Left and unrelated groups such as the Ku Klux Klan . [8] In 1971 in San Diego , the FBI financed, armed, and controlled an extreme right-wing group of former members of the Minutemen anti-communist paramilitary organization, transforming it into a group called the Secret Army Organization that targeted groups, activists, and leaders involved in the Anti-War Movement, using both intimidation and violent acts. [9] [10] [11] The FBI has used covert operations against domestic political groups since its inception; however, covert operations under the official COINTELPRO label took place between 1956 and 1971. [12] COINTELPRO tactics are still used to this day and have been alleged to include discrediting targets through psychological warfare ; smearing individuals and groups using forged documents and by planting false reports in the media; harassment; wrongful imprisonment; and illegal violence, including assassination . [13] [14] [15] [16] According to a Senate report, the FBI's motivation was "protecting national security , preventing violence, and maintaining the existing social and political order". [17] Beginning in 1969, leaders of the Black Panther Party were targeted by the COINTELPRO and "neutralized" by being assassinated, imprisoned, publicly humiliated or falsely charged with crimes. Some of the Black Panthers affected included Fred Hampton , Mark Clark , Zayd Shakur , Geronimo Pratt , Mumia Abu-Jamal , [18] and Marshall Conway . Common tactics used by COINTELPRO were perjury, witness harassment, witness intimidation, and withholding of evidence. [19] [20] [21] FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover issued directives gohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COINTELPROThe CIA and FBI used their infiltration of the media to influence political opinion in America, they targeted anyone that stood in their way, spoke out against government, corporate, police corruption. They targeted civil rights leaders, political activist, environmentalists, feminist movement activist, animal rights activist, any civilian they chose to launch a terrorist like criminal campaign against.When exposed the FBI/ CIA simply stated these operations were shut down, at the same time the FBI immediately began destroying evidence of their crimes nationwide. With none of the criminals held accountable, no action taken to remove any of the participants from their positions in power in law enforcement, FBI. CIA, local, state, federal officials,USPS, this criminal syndicate of course returned to carry out these operations in secrecy. Growing more powerful and influential year after year. With the creation of Homeland Security, the National network of Fusion Centers, the passing of the patriot act, these operation grew in size and scope dramatically. These are now known as the CIA, FBI, Homeland Security Cointelpro targeted individual gang stalking operations.Not only has black America long been targeted by the police, FBI, CIA, we find that blacks as well as minorities, and the lower economic class in America has also been targeted in the unethical human experimentation programs that have ran constantly in America, year after year, for more then a century. The barbaric crimes and murders committed in both of these programs are constantly exposed, the targeting, torturing, experimentation on, and murdering of innocent civilians admitted, proven, and carried out year after year with none of the criminals, institutions, universities, corporations that participate ever being held accountable for their crimes. No prosecutions, no trials as we saw in NAZI Germany when the same type of barbaric experimentation took place, no action except for inaction.Unethical human experimentation in the United Stateshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unethical_human_experimentation_in_the_United_StatesThe FBI, CIA, Homeland Security Cointelpro Targeted Individual Gang Stalking operations are now combined with the unethical human experimentation programs, though we saw the drugging and poisoning of civilians in both programs, we find with these operations and programs combined a all out assault on innocent human life. Agencies, corporations, institutions, universities, law enforcement, the American Psychological Association (which is proven to also have taken part in the CIA torture program,) all participants in targeting, torturing, stalking, drugging, poisoning, murdering innocent civilians.Report Claims American Psychological Association Supported Torture PolicyFirst time A.P.A. investigated in relation to interrogation programhttps://time.com/3841576/american-psychological-association-torture/The targets are the same, as well many innocent civilians who were not reporting government corruption, corporate corruption, standing up for the rights of others and for the rights of American civilians found in the Constitution of the United States. We find patriots are targeted, as members of the tea party were targeted by the IRS, we now find conservative America facing the same threats as the still controlled mainstream mefia continues its seventy year old psychological warfare campaign directed by the CIA and FBI as was exposed in the 1970’s. Just as the patriot act was passed to enable the targeting of patriots, we find legislation passed to aid these agencies in their campaign to spread disinformation and propaganda and influence the political opinion of American as well as political elections.IRS targeting controversy - WikipediaQuestions of scrutiny based on political themes The logo of the Internal Revenue Service In 2013, the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) revealed that it had selected political groups applying for tax-exempt status for intensive scrutiny based on their names or political themes. This led to wide condemnation of the agency and triggered several investigations, including a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) criminal probe ordered by United States Attorney General Eric Holder . Initial reports described the selections as nearly exclusively of conservative groups with terms such as "Tea Party" in their names. According to Republican lawmakers, liberal-leaning groups and the Occupy movement had also triggered additional scrutiny, but at a lower rate than conservative groups. The Republican majority on the House Oversight Committee issued a report, which concluded that although some liberal groups were selected for additional review, the scrutiny that these groups received did not amount to targeting when compared to the greater scrutiny received by conservative groups. The report was criticized by the committee's Democratic minority, which said that the report ignored evidence that the IRS used keywords to identify both liberal and conservative groups. In January 2014, James Comey , who at the time was the FBI director , told Fox News that its investigation had found no evidence so far warranting the filing of federal criminal charges in connection with the controversy, as it had not found any evidence of "enemy hunting", and that the investigation continued. On October 23, 2015, the Justice Department declared that no criminal charges would be filed. On September 8, 2017, the Trump Justice Department declined to reopen the criminal investigation into Lois Lerner , a central figure in the controversy. [1] In late September 2017, an exhaustive report by the Treasury Department's Inspector General found that from 2004 to 2013, the IRS used both conservative and liberal keywords to choose targets for further scrutiny. [2] [3] In October 2017, the Trump Administration agreed to settle a lawsuit filed on behalf of more than four hundred conservative nonprofit groups who claimed that they had been discriminated against by the Internal Revenue Service for an undisclosed amount described by plaintiffs' counsel as "very substantial." The Trump Administration also agreed to settle a second lawsuit brought by forty-one conservative organizations with an apology and an admission from the IRS that subjecting them to "heightened scrutiny and inordinate delays" was wrongful. [4] [5] Background [ edit ] Tax exemption and donor anonymity [ edit ] United States federal tax law, specifically Section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code ( 26 U.S.C. § 501(c) ), exempts certain types of nonprofit organizations from having to pay federal income tax. The statutory language of IRC 501(c)(4) generally requires civic organizations described in that section to behttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IRS_targeting_controversyJustice Department settles with conservative groups over IRS scrutinyThe U.S. Justice Department has reached a settlement with dozens of conservative groups that claimed the Internal Revenue Service unfairly scrutinized them based on their political leanings when they sought a tax-exempt status, court documents showed.https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-tax-conservative-idUSKBN1CV1TYOne of the most spoke of experiments being carried out in these operations is the assault of civilians with military grade high tech micro weapons. These weapons admittedly inflict pain, they cause sleep deprivation (which is a noted form of torture,) they cause heart palpitations, they cause a wide array of health issues reported by thousands and thousands of survivors . As well we find reports of American diplomats being assaulted with these same weapons and Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne stating public ally that they would be used on American civilians. I can personally attest to the physical no torture, pain, mental abuse that these weapons are capable of producing.Nonlethal weapons touted for use on citizensNonlethal weapons such as high-power microwave devices should be used on American citizens in crowd-control situations before they are used on the battlefield, Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne said Tuesday.https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna14806772US officials reportedly considered using a 'microwave weapon' that can cause second-degree burns to deter migrants at the Mexico borderThe Active Denial System is billed as "nonlethal," but tests show it can cause severe burns. It was last deployed by the US military in Afghanistan.https://www.businessinsider.com/officials-considered-use-of-microwave-weapon-migrants-report-2020-8Weaponizing EMFs: How the Soviets Attacked the US Embassy in Moscow | GaiaDuring the Cold War, the Soviets successfully attacked the US Embassy in Moscow with electromagnetic and radio frequencies. 50 years later, we're doing the same to ourselves with cell phone towers, smart meters, and 5G.https://www.gaia.com/article/how-the-soviets-weaponized-emfs-during-the-cold-warU.S. Diplomats Are Sick With a Mysterious Illness. It May Be From a Microwave Weapon.Is Russia behind this?https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/weapons/a34897718/us-diplomats-sick-microwave-weapon-report/They are also used as part of research carried out by DARPA, DARPA has contracted this research out to many institutions and universities as well and many of the same i other have been contracted to conduct this research are found to have repeatedly taken part in the unethical human experimentation projects of the past, John Hopkins University is one. It should be noted, John Hopkins University is also locates just sixty miles from the CIAs medical division headquarters located at the bio warfare lab at Fort Detrick. John Hopkins also releases all of the statistics for Covid 19.Fort Detricks as well as being the CIA medical division headquarters was the headquarters for the past MK Ultra experiments, the home of the 9/11 anthrax said to be released by a scientist there, and a participant into research for the Covid 19 vaccination as is DARPA.The research DARPA is conducting is related to their N3,brain bio, and neural link programs. These programs are trying to create a wireless AI Computer, Human Brain interface using microwave EF, RF and EMF fields. This research is building on the sixty year old technology found in Allan Freys Microwave Auditory Effects experiments. In 1961 Allan Frey was successful in transmitting audio via microwaves to the test subjects cerebral cortex. The test subjects could successfully repeat nine out of ten words transmitted. We find this widely reported by survivors of the FBI, CIA, Homeland Security targeted individual gang stalking operations and this is known as V2K (voice to skull) technology. We also find many of the mass shooters reporting these same assaults, reporting that they believe the intelligence agencies were carrying out these assaults, as well as reaching out to agencies such as the FBI to report this before the actual shootings occur.As far as the shooting go, Homeland Security was created to address threats to domestic America, this agency’s funded with hundreds of billions of dollars per year to accomplish this, the national network of Fusion Centers was created to share information between all police agencies (which homeland security gained control of) intelligence agencies, etc. Any individual such as the Florida Airport shooter, Sandy Hook shooter Adam Lanza, individuals who weee well known by the FBI, homeland security such as the capital rioters that garnished the media’s attention at not only these riots but also at Antifa and BLM riots should have been watched under authority given to these agencies which removes common rights to privacy from Anerican civilians who pose a threat to domestic America. These incidents should never have happened if these agencies were competent in carrying out the agenda they were created to carry out. Domestic violence, civil unrest, racial unrest, mass shooting incidrnts have all rise dramatically starting on just about the date Homeland Security was created, the patriot act was passed, the fusion centers were established.It is also worth noting the Antifa riots, Capitol riots, BLM riots all were attended by thousands of participants, it is odd we find the same individuals gaining mainstream media (which was proven to be used for disinformation and propaganda purposes and to influence domestic issues and the political course of America) attention.We find not only law enforcement officials taking part in the current operations, but fire, EMS, USPS, as well many corporationsare reportedly participating, such as AT&T who has a 6.5 billion dollar contract with the NSA, Amazon, Facebook, youtube, Twitter, google, etc. This could explain any person who speaks out against corruption, not following the narrative set by a media which is proven to have been infiltrated, anyone targeted trying to spread awareness of these crimes, quickly having their accounts infiltrated, manipulated, shut down, videos banned, as these agencies once again try to cover up their growing crimes.BREAKING EXCLUSIVE: We Discovered Where the Post Office Likely Got Their List of Conservatives to Spy OnToday it was reported that the US Postal Inspection Service was spying on conservatives in America.  We believe we discovered where they got their list of conservatives to spy on.  Today we found out that the US Postal Service is spying on Americans who just happen to be conservative. WTH? Postal Service is Running a…https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/04/breaking-exclusive-discovered-post-office-likely-got-list-conservatives-spy/Below are links to the Most publicized case of gang stalking, Rick and Cindy Krlich has their stalking and harassment begin after they angered the Fire Chief in the town where they reside. The involvement of Fire Departments nationwide has been reported for decades, it is thought the participants are trained through citizen corps. I have also encountered stalking by the fire departments and have what appears to be stalking behavior directed at me on video as well as 50–70 videos of the same harassment used on Klrich’s and others targeted in these cointelpro operations for decades.Video: Couple Claims Entire Town Has Turned Against ThemRick and Cindy Krlich say horns have been honked 5,000 times by people driving past their house.https://abcnews.go.com/2020/video/couple-claims-entire-town-turned-23574799The Rick and Cindy Krlich StoryWhat you will see here, Dear Reader, is a chronicle of spite. Undeserved, uninterrupted, unyielding spite, triggered by one man's belief that he could rely on the legal system to guide him through a simple real estate transaction. What Garrick Krlich got, instead, was intimidation, frustration — and spite. Krlich is a small contractor who lives unostentatiously in Hubbard, Ohio's East Hill neighborhood. Over the years, he has managed to acquire surrounding properties, older homes like his that he turns into well maintained rental properties. He makes a decent living, isn't greedy for more, and has been, overall, quite contented with his life. Until the Clemente house next door became empty. Until the noises in the night began. For more than four years now, the raucous sound of horns blowing has shattered the quiet of the night in the Krlich's neighborhood, disturbing not only Krlich and his wife, Lucinda, but surrounding residents as well. The Krlichs lie awake, listening ... waiting ... and then come the sounds of the roaring engines, the screeching tires — and the horns. Horns that seem to be screaming "Go away! Leave! Never come back!"http://krlich.com/Below: Harris County Fire, (short clip from youtube video where I was backing out of parking spot with camera rolling to record daily stalking, I saw fire trucks and knew what would happen so I pulled back into the spot and headed in their direction recording the events.Below: Horn honking videos taken as I traveled to different cities and counties across the state of Texas.Keith LankfordAbout Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features Keith Lankford - YouTubehttps://youtube.com/channel/UCrbReW7FCgTqX0xhrqOuWhgMy 24/7 stalking had in 2013, at the height of my research into what I viewed as Homeland Security and police corruption. I was compiling this research into a website I had created and it was quickly gaining views. I had had my cell phone hacked today many years prior to this. There are many witnesses to both the stalking and the hacking of my phone, most people that called me I informed of the hacking for you could hear the clicking and voices of others as we talked. This was well known by everyone in contact with me. Months before the 24/7 stalking began, I realized many individuals had infiltrated my internet data connections. In 2013 my house was raided by 35–40 state and federal agents using a warrant directed at a tenant of a mother-in-law apt in a separate residence on the property I owned. The following day As I started my truck to leave my residence, 4–5 cars lining the street also started and they lined up behind me following me everywhere I went. In stores individuals would follow me, at cashier check outs, plainclothes officers would slap their badges down on the counter as they waited in line behind me. The 24/7 year after year assaults had begun.The Anchorage police department participated in this and after I fled to Houston Texas the Harris County Sheriffs department participated. The Harris county sheriff’s department were actually running joint exercises and drills in the subdivision where I had purchased a home when I had a Harris county deputy begin parking in front of my home daily, blocking me in my drive if I tried to leave, exiting his vehicle and trespassing on my property, approaching me as I backed into my home telling him to get off my property, he was trespassing, I was in fear for my life! This went on for ten days straight before he trespassed again and I took measures to defend my property and myself. He left at this time and my house was raided over 36 hours later, door broken down, arrested on charges filed using a falsified statement issued by this officer. The police audio and video will prove my innocence after what will apparently be a 4–5 year legal case.All personal belongings stolen when jailed, all brand new appliances, door left wide open, not unusual for I had suffered constant theft, vehicle tampering, constant break ins while I slept or if I left my residence, druggings, poisonings, food tampering, vandalism, arson all while the Harris County Sheriffs department watched, patrolled 24/7, in my view, stood look out and participated in all of these crimes as it was proven law enforcement officials participated in the very same crimes for decades before the original operations were exposed.I was forced to sell my home after being released from jail on bond, at 54 years old I faced my first criminal charge, had spent four months in jail on false charges, had seen the stalking by this deputy continue as soon as I returned to my residence, he would drive by flashing his lights and sirens to intimidate me further, it did, fearing another set up by this department with a long record of criminal conduct as well as setting up and murdering civilians I took a hundred thousand dollar loss so I could quickly flee.Houston police embroiled in scandal after 'lies' found in no-knock warrant that led to fatal raid on alleged drug houseA married couple was killed and four officers were wounded in the drug raid.https://abcnews.go.com/US/houston-police-embroiled-scandal-lies-found-knock-warrant/story?id=60991293Soon after release from jail I started to attend targeted justice meetings in Houston. The survivors of these operations have started support groups at this time in almost every start in America. In the Houston area we try to keep in close contact with each other, as well many have chose to reside together so they have witnessed to the crimes being carried out against them.Months later I can in Contact with Sarah Degeyter. Sarah’s Stalking has started many years before as well, she has endured most of the normal crimes, stalking, assault, break ins, druggings, poisonings, vandalism, vehicle tampering, police involvement, etc, she had documented her years of assaults when in 2020 she was residing in Houston Texas. At this time the 24/7 surveillance which all survivors report was continuing, she diligently tried to trace those who infiltrated her cellular connections, data connections, online accounts, wifi connections. At this time she had traced the IP addresses found to be on her online accounts to the residences surrounding her. Her property was constantly trespassed on as she had documented, and it was thought some of these operations involved the individuals at these residences. One of these residences was linked to a ex Harris county police officer. Soon after she traced these IP addresses, her RV was broken into while she was there. She had time to call both 911 and her brother David Degeyter who also called 911. The windows were broke out of her RV by three men who entered her resindence, beat her, and raped her at gunpoint.After the assault which lasted over 45 minutes with the Harris County Police department failing to respond to these 911 calls, the the rapist demanded she turn over her cell phone as well as her ““black briefcase,” these criminals had no prior knowledge to her having a black briefcase so this was a odd request. This is where she kept her documentation of the crimes committed over the years. They were not able to find this briefcase and fled, stealing her truck and crashing it into a house a few doors down where days before she had taken pictures of her rapist dealing drugs. No arrest have been made.After this assault the stalking of course continued, Sarah fled from Houston to Fort Worth Texas, hundreds of miles away where this stalking instantly began again. This is when I came into contact with Sarah Degeyter.Below: Pictures Sarah took of some of the activities she had encountered for years, she perceived hacing individuals surrounding her in cars everywhere she went, taking her picture, gawking at her, making comments, and harassing her to be stalking. It looks like stalking to me as well, but of course I am used to the same activities which have gone on for many years in many states.Oddly enough, shortly before fleeing Anchorage Alaska in 2017 after being massively drugged, poisoned, constant break ins began, theft began, vehicle tampering, windows broken out of my home, my truck was also stolen. It was found by the Anchorage Police Department, across town, in front of the residence of a former renter who I suspected was one of the individuals who had drugged me.My 24/7 stalking had in 2013, at the height of my research into what I viewed as Homeland Security and police corruption. I was compiling this research into a website I had created and it was quickly gaining views. I had had my cell phone hacked today many years prior to this. There are many witnesses to both the stalking and the hacking of my phone, most people that called me I informed of the hacking for you could hear the clicking and voices of others as we talked. This was well known by everyone in contact with me. Months before the 24/7 stalking began, I realized many individuals had infiltrated my internet data connections. In 2013 my house was raided by 35–40 state and federal agents using a warrant directed at a tenant of a mother-in-law apt in a separate residence on the property I owned. The following day As I started my truck to leave my residence, 4–5 cars lining the street also started and they lined up behind me following me everywhere I went. In stores individuals would follow me, at cashier check outs, plainclothes officers would slap their badges down on the counter as they waited in line behind me. The 24/7 year after year assaults had begun.It might surprise some to know the FBI has no problem purchasing properties surrounding innocent civilians for little or no reason, that individuals in this agency are involved in stalking/ assassination operations. But these are proven documented facts. These operations once again were carried out for decades in secrecy committing these very same crimes.we find in the famous case of Ruby Ridge the FBI has sent millions of dollars, purchased properties in a remote location to surround Randy Weaver and his family, had the military conduct hours of flyovers, set up a network of 24/7 surveillance. This went on for years before 14 year old Sammy Weaver went outside and his dog was shot dead in front of him, he saw men in camouflage in the woods who had fired the shots and fired back at them, turning to run to his home. He was shot dead, his mother rushed out to her son with her baby in her arms, unarmed, she was shot dead. The crime the weavers has committed was owning to guns that had barrels which were 1/8 inch shorter then allowed by federal law.Ruby Ridge | American Experience | PBSA riveting account of the event that helped give rise to the modern American militia movement.https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/ruby-ridge/Above: The Weaver families remote cabin.Below: Sammy Weaver before he was murdered.Below: Randy Weaver and wife before she was murdered.We also see the FBI action in WACO Texas when they assaulted the Branch Davidian Compound. The FBI launched this raid using over eighty federal vehicles, tanks and helicopters only weeks after David Koresh has reported to the local police he was being stalked by federal agents. The simple act of waiting until he left the compound again to arrest him on firearm violation charges could have prevented the deaths of close to eighty civilian men, women and children who burned to death. David Koresh was labeled a child molester, this is a common practice used by the FBI and is seen in their cointelpro operations. This compound was bombarded with lights and loud noise as well as microwave weapons that were used to disorientate the civilians in the compound. They played loud music as well as terrifying sounds such as rabbits screaming as they were being slaughtered during this 51 day siege.Project MKUltrahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_MKUltraHomeland Security Drills: Sandy Hook Starting 2010Homeland Security Drills: Sandy Hook Starting 2010 Governor Dannel P. Malloy | Home About Us Programs & Services Contact Us � Emergency Management Homeland Security State Response Framework Telecommunications CEO/EMD Disaster Preparedness Public Information Strategic Planning and Grants Legislative/Govt. Relations [�] ? Read the rest of this entry...http://web.archive.org/web/20130730085635/http://myfavoritemason.com/sandy-hook/homeland-security-drills-sandy-hook-starting-2010/Oddly enough we also find Homeland Security holding joint exercises and drills with the Harris County Police in the Texas subdivision I resided in when the I was set up by the Harris County Police using fabricated statements and falsely imprisoned, once again both methods widely used in previous Cointelpro exercises. My 24/7 stalking began in 2013 at the height of my research into the Sandy hook shootings when the FBI participated in a raid on my property in Anchorage Alaska using a warrant directed at a tenant (Steve Landers) who I had rented a garage apt to in a separate residence on the property.It’s not that I ever stated Sandy Hook was a false flag operation in my research, I just noted a lot of circumstances surrounding this event that made absolutely no sense. The website created ““myfavoritemason” was basically a place to compile information, a lot of interesting information was put on this website as well as information that was questionable, all the information on the Sandy Hook Shooting was supported by police reports, police audio, EMS reports, videos of the scene. As with the thousands of 9/11 videos and pictures that used to be available on the internet using simple search terms, 99% of these videos and pictures are no longer available, videos gone, accounts shut down, blocked, manipulated as all of my accounts were closed, banned, manipulated, shut down as the FBI, CIA, Homeland Security stalking, terrorism began.In the below PDF File From Kirkland Productions, we find many past victims or individuals that have been associated with School Shootings, Columbine, Virginia Tech, Sandy Hook, the Gabrielle Gifford shooting, as well as Ex FBI, Police, Homeland Security, etc employees also connected to these events.GINA KIRKLAND Polesetsky (KIRKLAND PRODUCTIONS) is a graduate of the Gavin de Becker Advanced Threat Assessment and Management Academy. This is where we find the NSA, DOJ, CIA, Police, etc links.GALVIN DE BECKERSecurity companies to the wealthy say that while Zuckerberg’s expense is high, it’s not unprecedented. They said many companies allocate security expenses differently to minimize the reported number. And they said many private companies run up big security tabs that never get publicly reported.“The average American might look at that price tag and say ‘my gosh,’” said Mark Haught, president of Gavin de Becker & Associates, a leading security firm to celebrities, billionaires and public figures. “But you’re talking about the safety and security for you and your family and key executives who help run a massive company.”GALVEN DE BECKER & ASSOCIATES: Archived LinksHow We Protect Our Clients Our People Join Our TeamTraining Services Resources Blog Contact UsGDBA is a National Security Service-Provider whose clients include:http://web.archive.org/web/20210126071820/https://archive.vn/T7DXghttp://web.archive.org/web/20210126071820/https://web.archive.org/web/20200509171032///www.kirklandproductions.com/http://web.archive.org/web/20210126071820/https://www.targeted.one/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/kirkland-kpcomedy-2018-2019-1.pdfKIRKLAND PRODUCTIONS, INC.6711 Katella Avenue, 2nd FloorCypress, CA 90630 Change Service Requested PRST STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID LOS ANGELES,CA PERMIT #4848Kirkland Productions is an agency specializing in entertainment, training classes & workshops, and cultural & educational programs, serving corporations, theatres, private buyers, the military, community organizations, and colleges & universities across the country. We pride ourselves on offering speakers, programs,and entertainers with the highest level of professionalism for our customers. When you hire your entertainment through Kirkland Productions, you receive our personal attention to guarantee your program will be a great success. Kirkland Productions is a member of the National Association of Campus Activities (NACA).Kirkland ProductionsX Slider Background Settingshttp://www.kirklandproductions.com/http://web.archive.org/web/20210126071820/https://web.archive.org/web/20130604192138///www.kirklandproductions.com/Daniel Jewiss //www.kirklandproductions.com/dan-jewiss.htmlWe can see by the endless list of gun rights groups, charities and foundations that are linked to the Sandy Hook School shooting family members, many who are employed at Kirkland Productions along with family members, police investigators, principals, teachers from various school shootings throughout the nation, this gun violence campaign is a well organized and funded effort which is directed by agencies or individuals purposefully directing these organizations to influence public opinion, the same directive seen in Cointelpro operations, with a direct link to the same agencies that run the current Cointelpro targeted individual gang stalking operations, as well the DOJ, FBI, CIA, local, state and federal officials, law enforcement agencies nationwide, criminals, criminal informants, contractors were all involved in the prior operations, as was the media which was proven to be used as a source of disinformation and propaganda to cover up the crimes committed where we saw it was the goal to manipulate public opinion through acts of terrorism, assaults, assassinations, intiltration, creation and manipulation of groups or organizations in order to influence public opinion and further the goals of these intelligence agencies. The current goal is Gun Control.The NDAA Legalizes The Use Of Propaganda On The US Public1948 propaganda Santa Flickr/x-ray delta one The newest version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) includes an amendment that would legalize the use of propaganda on the American public , reports Michael Hastings of BuzzFeed . The amendment — proposed by Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) and Adam Smith (D-Wash.) and passed in the House last Friday afternoon — would effectively nullify the Smith-Mundt Act of 1948, which explicitly forbids information and psychological operations aimed at influencing U.S. public opinion. Thornberry said that the current law “ties the hands of America’s diplomatic officials, military, and others by inhibiting our ability to effectively communicate in a credible way,” according to Buzzfeed. The vote came two days after a federal judged ruled that an indefinite detention provision in the annual defense bill was unconstitutional. Lt. Col. Daniel Davis, who released a highly critical report regarding the distortion of truth by senior military officials in Iraq and Afghanistan , dedicated a section of his report to Information Operations (IO) and states that after Desert Storm the military wanted to transform IO "into a core military competency on a par with air, ground, maritime and special operations." Davis defines IO as "the integrated employment of electronic warfare (EW), computer network operations (CNO), psychological operations (PSYOP), military deception (MILDEC), and operations security (OPSEC), in concert with specified supporting and related capabilities, to influence, disrupt, corrupt or usurp adversarial human and automated decision making while protecting our own." IO are primarily used to target foreign audiences, but Davis cites numerous senior leaders who want to (in the words of  Colonel Richard B. Leap) "protect a key friendly center of gravity, to wit US national will" by repealing the Smith-Mundt Act to allow the direct deployment of these tactics on the American public. Davis quotes Brigadier General Ralph O. Baker — the Pentagon officer responsible for the Department of Defense’s Joint Force Development (i.e. Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines) — who defines IO as activities undertaken to "shape the essential narrative of a conflict or situation and thus affect the attitudes and behaviors of the targeted audience" and equates descriptions of combat operations with standard marketing strategies : For years, commercial advertisers have based their advertisement strategies on the premise that there is a positive correlation between the number of times a consumer is exposed to product advertisement and that consumer’s inclination to sample the new product. The very same principle applies to how we influence our target audiences when we conduct COIN. Davis subsequently explains the "cumulative failure of our nation’s major media in every category" as they continually interviewed only those senior U.S. officials who had top-level access, even as the officials given that clearance were required tohttps://www.businessinsider.com/ndaa-legalizes-propaganda-2012-5AFFIDAVITSGeral SosbeeSworn Affidavit of FBI Special Agent, Geral Sosbee. Mr Sosbee is a Texas attorney and has documented his ordeal on his website at Geral W. Sosbee vs. fbi, Whistle Blower, ex-FBI Agent of the United States of America Mr Sosbee confirms that the FBI is involved with organized gangstalking and Directed Energy Weapons. This affidavit is valid in any courtroom, however you can obtain an original from the court case.https://www.targetedjustice.com/uploads/1/1/6/3/116323993/geral_sosbee_affidavit2_2014.pdfTed GundersonSworn affidavit of Ted Gunderson, former FBI Chief. Mr Gunderson confirmed the FBI's involvement with organized stalking and the Targeted Individual program. This affidavit is valid in any courtroom, or you can obtain an original. Video shows Gunderson speaking about CIA criminal activity.https://www.targetedjustice.com/uploads/1/1/6/3/116323993/ted_gunderson_affidavit.pdf(Note that the government criminals have blurred the video. A few years ago, it was very clear.)FBI Chief Ted Gunderson, oversaw 26 FBI offices, signed an affidavit under oath on April 26, 2011 in federal district court. In Labella v. Federal Bureau of Investigation et al Case No. 1:2011cv00023, he stated that the FBI was involved with illegal targeting, including:Organized StalkingHarassmentBreak-insIllegal Spy CamerasFinancial SabotagePoisoningMurderDrug Set-Ups, and moreAffidavit of William Binney, former NSA Technical Director"The allegations in the complaint are true and correct: Defendants (NSA and US Govt) are intercepting, accessing, monitoring, and storing the Plaintiff's private communications. I have knowledge of this information, based on the following facts..."https://www.targetedjustice.com/uploads/1/1/6/3/116323993/binney-affidavit-2017-07-05-final.pdfTargeted Justice for Targeted IndividualsTargeted Individuals Class Action Lawsuit, Latest information on Gang Stalking, electronic harassment, microwave satellites, organized stalking, Terrorist Watchlist, CIA, FBI, NSA, Directed Energy Weapons, Schriever Air Force Base, Vircator microwave weaphttps://www.targetedjustice.com/Credible Sources:This list shows 31 Medical Doctors, PhD Scientists, and former government agents that agree with our claim, that the U.S. government is using an illegal program of microwave targeting against civilians. We encourage and support all Whistleblowers to come forward with their information. Some of us are proud Whistleblowers and Political Activists, and would gladly do it again,Dr John Hall, M.D. and authorDr Katherine Horton, PhD Oxford Univ. ScientistDr Robert Middlebrook, PhD ProfessorDr Harold Mandel, M.D.Dr Daniel Lebowitz, M.D.Dr Max Williams, PhD, Professor & State DeptDr Barrie Trower, PhD government ScientistDr Michael Hoffer, M.D., Univ of Miami​​Dr Colin Ross, M.D.​Dr Ed Spencer, M.D.Dr Sue Arrigo, M.D.Dr Douglas Smith, M.D., Univ of Penn.Dr Terry Robertson, M.D.Dr Robert Duncan, PhD former CIA engineerDr Doug Rokke, PhD government Scientist​Dr Eric Karlstrom, PhD ProfessorDr Nick Begich, ScientistDr Paul Batcho, PhD government scientistDr Paul Marko, PhD PsychologistDr Robert Steele, former CIA analystDr Ben Colodzin, PhD Psychologist​Dr Curtis Bennett, ProfessorDr Corkin Cherubini, authorDr Sean Andrews, ScientistWillam Binney, NSA WhistleblowerKirk Weibe, NSA Whistleblower​Karen Stewart, NSA Whistleblower​Carl Clark, CIA Whistleblower​Kevin Shipp, CIA WhistleblowerMark Phillips, CIA WhistleblowerJohn DeCamp, Army intelligence WhistleblowerNSA Whistleblowers William Binney & Kirk Wiebe speak on Targeted IndividualsNSA Whistleblower Karen M. Stewart interview with Targeted Individuals and Ella FreeEdward Snowden talks about targeted individualsIt is not enough that millions of Americans are now aware these Cointelpro operations never ceased and have been ongoing for close to eighty years, thousands and thousands of innocent civilians are being tortured smdaily in these psychological warfare operations. We need the help of all Americans to research, share and spread information on these operations. Until we see the criminals responsible for carrying out these decades of crimes justice has not been served. Until the officials serving in our law enforcement agencies nationwide are removed from their law enforcement positions and prosecuted for taking part in these crimes, there is no justice. Until we see the lawyers and judges held accountable for the judiciary corruption found present in the past operations and taking part in the current operations, our justice system is corrupted from the bottom to the top.

I wrote a PDF years ago about this. Still relevant:Table of ContentsPage 2 Table of ContentsPage 3 Holiday Gifts for the HomelessPage 13 101 Gift Suggestions for The HomelessPage 18 Who Are the Homeless and How Did They Get That Way?Page 20 Federal Definition of Homelessness Page 21 Famous Homeless People Page 25 Four Kinds of Homelessness Page 30 Panhandling Etiquette Page 33  Safety & Security Page 34 Why Homeless for the Holidays?Page 37 Angel Food Ministries Page38 Mark Horvath - Making the Invisible Visible - Invisible People TVPage 43 Hope HousePage 41 Gods Pit Crew Page42 Run Tellman Run. Tellman Knudson - Running Barefoot Across America to Raise $100 million dollars for Homeless YouthPage 43 Homeless Youth Page44 Resources Page 48 Copyright NoticeAlong with finding a safe, warm place to sleep every night, finding a safe, clean place to shower daily or even weekly is very difficult.Typical places to shower include health clubs, public parks, beaches, offices that provide gyms or showers for their employees and universities. Most of the working homeless, particularly those mobile ones, join a gym so they have a place to shower, so they can rent a locker to keep their towels and toiletries, and so they have a place to go at night.Many places offer limited memberships, often for $25 or $30 a month (some for $150 a year and no monthly fees) that allow members to work out three times a week. If you have a church group, fraternity, club or organization that wants to help, consider buying or matching (paying half) of a health club membership for a family or individual. Not only will a health club membership give the person a chance to work out, exercise, and be around other individuals, theyll be able to stay clean, feel good and get the positive feedback and access to networking they can use to get back on their feet.Many health clubs will require that the individual has a “permanent address,” so you may have to make arrangements to provide one, to get a Post Office Box, or to convince the club owner that the member in question is “in transition.”If you belong to an organization that has a building, camp or access to showers, consider offering shower access to families or individuals on at least a weekly basis.CleanlinessNext to personal cleanliness, clean clothes, pressed and presentable for work, are the most difficult to come by for the homeless. Some “drop-in” centers or shelters have washers and dryers, but its often difficult to get your laundry done when youre not staying there.Weekly laundry bills at public laundromats can be expensive, often running $20 to $30 a week for laundry detergent and the cost of washers and dryers ($.75 to $3.00 to wash and the same or more to dry a load of laundry).A couple of ten-dollar rolls of quarters, small bottles or packages of laundry detergent and fabric softener make excellent gifts. If your local dry cleaner offers gift certificates or offers washing by the pound services, consider giving the gift of clean clothes. If you belong to a gym, a church, or other organization with washers and dryers, consider having one day a week where a family can do their laundry.If the homeless family is someone you know, trust or work with, or maybe is a coworker or neighbor, offer your homeonce or twice a month for them to do laundry, have a meal, shower, and get ready for the week to come. If youre not comfortable doing that, take up a collection and put the person or family up for a night or two in a local hotel. In many small towns, hotel rates may vary from $35 to $75 a night.What few people realize is how much work it is to be homeless. Everything that used to be in ONE place, is now in 10. Not only do you have to go to the laundromat, the grocery, but you have to do it daily if you dont have a place to store your things (like a car, camper or van). If you have a family, laundry and dirty clothes can be a nightmare - and a huge expense. The tendency when theres only enough money for food, gas or laundry, to let the laundry go.Once the clothes become soiled, dirty, rumpled, smelly, it becomes close to impossible to keep a job or get a job. You feel depressed. You feel worthless and every time you catch a glimpse of yourself in dirty clothes those feelings are increased. A shower and clean clothes can totally elevate the mood of a homeless person. Having access to regular facilities to stay clean and have clean clothes can make a huge difference to the person struggling to get off of the streets. Laundry detergent is expensive, especially in the small bottles and packets that the street dwelling homeless must use. Those living in a vehicle fare better. They can get to the laundromat, clean and store clothes in bags in the car and even use a dry cleaner for work clothes. But it's very expensive.Give the Gift of GroomingGood grooming is often the first thing to go when youre homeless. Giving the gift of grooming can be as simple as a gift certificate for a haircut.Chain salons such as Fantastic Sams, Supercuts and other mall salons offer a shampoo, cut, and style for between $13 to $20. Many have specials during the week, such as $10 for mens haircut on a certain day.Check with your local salon and see if you can arrange to purchase a quantity of gift certificates. If youre worried about the recipient selling the certificate, then simply make sure the certificate has a place for the persons name and print a disclaimer on the certificate that the person present a photo ID when redeeming the certificate. COST: $10 to $20Yes. Many shelters DO have days where haircuts and shaves are free, but for the working homeless, or those who do not use shelters or are homeless and fear shelters, those haircuts aren’t an option.It’s not an elitist thing, but the reality of families not familiar or reluctant to venture in an area of town where they dont feel safe, or dont understand how the system works.The $10 or $20 they would spend on a haircut is better spent on food, gas or other items. But being clean, well-groomed and presentable is part of getting and keeping a job.If you know how to cut hair, consider a day of hair cutting at a local church as well as a shelter.Light It UpSolar Powered LED Light Cap (Home - Go Fast And Light)One of the most aggravating things to keep track of while homeless is batteries and flashlights. This solar-powered cap eliminates that aggravation. Not only does the cap act as protection during the day, but the solar panel on the bill charges an LED light for use at night. It makes it easier to read, to organize your things, to find your way in the dark and for kids, to help them keep their fear of the dark at bay. No worry about batteries burning out if they fall asleep either. It recharges the next day.COST: $16.95 (Home - Go Fast And Light) to $24.95If youre not a cap wearer, there are also LED lights that clip onto your eyeglasses or reading glasses. If you dont wear glasses, try the headband version. Lightweight, portable - most fit in a pocket, great lights. The LED bulbs last 100,000 hours. The solar rechargeable cap is best, but even the lights that take batteries are inexpensive - usually a dollar or two at most Dollar Stores, up to $24 at camping stores.Money Pocket BeltPickpockets lost wallets and other hazards make carrying money on the street dangerous. Give the gift of increased security with a money pocket belt. Allows the wearer to keep big bills, important personal information like social security cards etc. in a place most thieves won’t think of.To remove money and keep the “secret” of the belt secure, use a public restroom or take it off in your vehicle or other private location where no one can watch, remove your money, replace the belt.COST: $11.95 to $19.95Security BeltIf a regular money pocket belt doesnt have enough room for your bills, passport, personal papers etc, there are a variety of styles and colors of security belts that both men and women can wear under their clothing.COST: $12.95 to $16.00Whether a person is living in their car, a shelter, couch surfing with friends or in a hotel, a light-weight bag, carry-all or suitcase is an ideal gift.Not only will a bag hold a weeks worth of clothing and toiletries, its a lot less likely to draw attention to someone on the street than a garbage bag would.A bag keeps clothes clean, dry, folded and accessible. For someone using public transportation or walking, a bag with wheels and a handle is a lot easier to walk with.Teen-agers in particular are more likely to hang onto a bag or backpack since its an item their peers will also have. Prices range from $10 to $75.If youre giving it as a Christmas or holiday gift, consider filling it with socks, gum, snacks, a lightweight fleece blanket, gloves, a portable alarm clock and a variety of toiletries - toothbrush, toothpaste, soap in plastic soapbox, shampoo, sani-wipes, a roll of toilet paper, packages of kleenex, lip balm, washcloth, etc.COST: $10 to $75Consider adding several small bags inside the larger bag to hold items like makeup, toiletries, personal effects, or medications12-Volt AppliancesIf you know someone who is homeless and living in their van, truck or car, consider a gift of 12-volt appliances.Oven-to-GoThe Burton “Oven-to-go” is available at Online Shopping for Electronics, Apparel, Computers, Books, DVDs & more for about $29.00, and at a variety of stores, truck stops, and RV stores for $29 to $54. Prices will vary from store to store. This unit will cook anything from pizza to stew and runs off the vehicles battery through a cord that plugs into the vehicles cigarette lighter.12-Volt Electric Blanket and Battery GuardFor truly cold nights, its hard to beat a 12-volt electric blanket. Pair this gift with a device like the “Battery Guard” that alerts the driver with a low-battery charge so their vehicle battery doesnt die.COST for Blanket: $29 - $54COST for Battery Guard: $17 to $3412-Volt Electric Razors12-volt Electric Razors make it easier for those living in a car or van to shave without resorting to public restrooms. Cost for grooming appliances ranges from $11 to $24, again, depending on where you shop.COST: $22 to $4212-Volt Hair Dryers12-Volt hair dryers can double as window defrosters, a major issue when condensation fogs up windows when youre sleeping in a vehicle.COST: $11.95 to $18.9512-Volt Beverage HeatersA 12-Volt beverage heater can heat baby food, a bottle of babys milk, tea, coffee, soup, water or any liquid. Cost varies from $19 to $34.COST: $24 - $44Head -To-ToeSocks and Foot Care ProductsFor the homeless living on the street, theres no greater gift than new, clean socks. Heavy white cotton is the best, but all socks are welcomed as layering silk or polyester socks with cotton helps prevent blistering.Put two or three pairs of socks into a quart-sized zip-lock bag with a pair of toenail clippers, foot powder and band-aids, several packets of alcohol swabs. Foot care is critical - and often difficult when living on the street.COST: About $1 to $5 per pair of socks (more for wool or hunting style socks). Foot power, clippers and alcohol swabs would also cost less than five dollars.Pre-Paid Cell PhonesMost cell phone carriers offer pre-paid cell phone plans. Phones cost from $20 to $200 and pre-pay plans allow the user to pay for the minutes they need or use as they go. Cricket, Boost, Trac Phone and others are good. Make sure the cell phone has an alarm function as well as a clock. Virgin phones I have had dont have that function and an alarm is critical for a homeless person. The less they have to carry, the better.Having a cell phone allows the homeless 24/7 access to friends, family, support, emergency services, and helplines. Without a cell phone number, many people find it difficult or impossible to get a job interview, let alone a job. Many jobs require employees to have a phone so they can be contacted by their employer. If you belong to a group or organization that wants to make a difference, consider buying a pre-paid phone and pay for minutes. If you chose to discontinue your support you just stop paying. The person with the phone can then pay for their own minutes. There are no contracts to sign and no connection fees.COST: Some plans, like Boost, offer unlimited, anytime minutes with no roaming fees, and unlimited texting and walkie-talkie for $50 a month. Other plans, including pay-as-you-go 10 cents a minute http://planshttp://beckyblanton.comare also possible. Foror http://homeless4theholidays.comthe person looking for work or with a family, the unlimited plan is the best buy. 101 Gift Suggestions for the Homeless/Working HomelessThese are gift suggestions for a range of homeless people - from the addict or mentally ill person on the street (socks, shoes, coats, blankets), to the family youve heard about at work, church or from a friend who recently lost their home in the mortgage crisis, or was laid off and has moved into their van, car or a trailer.While some gifts might seem odd to give, dont forget that a coworker or good friend who has been laid off and become homeless, or single mother, or teenager struggling to get through school would appreciate the gift. Being homeless doesnt mean your life and needs stop. You still have to eat, shower, wash clothes, get your hair cut, stay warm (or cool in summer), get to work, or find a job, keep a job or care for your children and family, or your pets.If you dont want to give gifts, then give $2, $5, $10 or more each month on your electric or utility bills. Your local utility company has programs in place for a one-time payment program to help keep the power on for needy families in the event of a crisis (job loss, car broke down, medical issues that kept them from making utility payments). This is an excellent way to help PREVENT homelessness since research shows it is easier to KEEP someone in a home than a shelter.2. Laundromat Tokens or Dry Cleaning certificates3. Grooming - hair cut or shave4. Solar-powered baseball cap with reading light5. Money belt (security)6. Equipment bag or gym bag, suitcase7. 12-Volt Appliances (stove, coffee pot, hair dryer)8. Personal Toiletries (toothbrush, toothpaste, soap etc)9. Socks10. Prepaid Cellphone11. Toys for children in homeless families12. Coat13. Backpack14. Small LED flashlight15. Flip-flops (for public showers)16. Hand sanitizing gel17. Sunglasses18. Bug Spray19. Net-book20. Rain gear21. Clothing (sweaters, sweat pants, work clothes)22. Stamps for mailing letters, bills, job applications23. Foot powder and nail clippers24. Blanket or sleeping bag25. Cigarette lighters26. Candy bars27. Beef Jerky28. Non-perishable food items like tuna, pudding, applesauce, diced fruit etc29. Movie tickets30. Gift cards to a restaurant, grocery31. Motel room for the night or for a week32. Health club membership - Planet Fitness is $10-$20 a month33. Laundromat tokens34. Gloves and Knit Caps or Hats35. Watch36. Portable alarm clock37. Sewing kit38. First aid kit with items for foot blisters39. Foster care for their animals if they have them40. Payment on a small storage locker or a safe place they can access personal items41. Tooth cleaning at their dentist or a dentist42. Over the counter medications such as aspirin, cough syrup, vitamins, Pepto-Bismol43. Pre-paid gift card for gasoline44. Snack bags with raisins, gum, cheese and crackers, candy, cookies45. Tax services - offer to help them fill out their tax forms or pay for a service to do it46. Hand and/or foot warmers47. Electric socks (yes, they do work)48. Handheld tear gas for women for self-protection49. Inflatable pillow50. Sleeping pad (as used for camping) Sleeping Bag51. Post Office Box ($24 to $40 for six months)52. Bus pass53. Subway or Metro pass54. Parking place. If your church or business can allow a person or persons to park in your lot overnight (arrive after 6 p.m. and leave before 8 a.m.) please do. Yes, there are legal issues and liabilities associated with this, but California businesses are doing it, so a lot of the groundwork has been done.55. Car parts and maintenance items - like oil, windshield wipers, anti-freeze.56. Tune-up57. Brake work and other mechanical work on a vehicle a family depends on for shelter or work.58. Coaching in how to do your best in a job interview59. Financial coaching - how to set up a budget - or better yet, pay or help pay for the person to attend Dave Ramseys Financial Peace University ($59 to $99 for life)60. Tutoring for kids61. Pay for an “After-school Program” for homeless children62. Thermal underwear (tops and bottoms)63. Pay for medication (Wal-Mart offers $4 generic for many meds. If the homeless person is on non-narcotic medications arrange with your local pharmacy to cover medications up to a set dollar amount.64. Diapers65. Baby food and formula66. In rural areas, a fishing license and fishing gear (many homeless still do fish for food)67. Donate your meat to “Hunters for the Hungry” or, if youre not a hunter, donate money to help fund the meat processing fees. In Virginia, a contribution of 20-dollars will process 1/2 a deer (25-pounds of venison), 40-dollars will process 1-deer (50-pounds of venison), and 80-dollars will process 2-deer (100-pounds of venison).68. A Flip camera so they can record and blog and tell their own stories.69. Pocketknife (Swiss Army with fork, spoon)70. Email or mail them regular notes of encouragement and support71. Leatherman tool (has basic tools, screwdriver, pliers etc.)72. Gel shoe inserts73. Nicorette gum for smokers trying to quit who have already been using it & cant afford it.74. Water bottle75. Packages of presweetened Kool-aid or other drink mixes in individual servings76. Inspirational literature - Small new testaments, Chicken Soup for the Soul books, or any inspirational (doesnt have to be religious) books. Childrens books.77. Pens, pocket-sized notebooks for helping keep track of things to do, lists etc.78. Pocket calendars so they can keep track of appointments, job interviews etc.79. Resume help. If they dont have a resume, help them create one or create one for them.80. Manicure or pedicure81. Order a food box from Angel Food Ministries (http://angelfoodministries.com)82. Pet food83. School supplies for teens/those attending college84. Portable or camping cookstove85. Portable or camping fry pan (handle folds for storage)86. Battery-powered fan (small personal fan or larger)87. Pay for flu shots or school shots for families with kids88. Belt with inside zippered money pocket (Money pocket belt)89. Construction weight garbage bags. These are the VERY heavy duty trash bags that contractors use on job sites to hold industrial weight trash. Theyre almost impossible to tear and make great bags for the homeless who prefer to use them. They are also excellent bags for covering a sleeping bag or for using as a rain coat. Buy them by the box and hand them out singly or in threes and fours. Available at any Lowes or Home Depot90. Emergency candles91. Sterno for cooking/warmth92. Solar-powered baseball cap (built-in LED light charged by solar cell)93. Clip-on reading light94. Mosquito netting (camping stores)95. Hair Scrunchies, both for women and children96. Bottled water97. Snuggie or other fleece wear for warmth in cars, shelters98. Car or other vehicles such as van, trailer99. Bicycle with basket or means for holding personal items100. Bandanas and handkerchiefs101. A variety of small zippered storage bags to hold makeup, toiletries, and other items.Believe it or not, this is NOT an exhaustive list. Hundreds of organizations around the country are using their creativity, insights, compassion, and gifts to find ways to create jobs and income opportunities for the homeless, to find ways to earn money to donate to the food banks and homeless shelters around their county, and to make a difference. It happens one person at a time.Don’t think you have to save all the homeless. Talk to an agency, or the director of a homeless shelter, to the YMCA or YWCA in your area, to womens shelters, to rape crisis shelters and counselors, and find JUST ONE PERSON you can help and focus on. Involve your friends or coworkers or neighbors and sponsor a homeless family - make sure they have the job help, the transportation, etc. they need to get back on their feet.In some communities, there are organizations that have “transitional housing” or “foster housing,” where a homeless family or person is screened and placed in a home, apartment or with a family who will work with them on life skills training or other issues while they work their way towards independence.Don’t overextend yourself. Get in this for the long haul and dont get burned out. If youre a teacher, teach kids that sometimes bad things happen in life and talk about homelessness in a positive way - as a life lesson for what can happen no matter how you plan for it not to. Teach respect. Have your students experience “homelessness” by letting them “live” in a box in the classroom. Older teens can spend the night in a parking lot at their school or church (supervised of course) to experience a bit of what being homeless is like.There are college courses that have students spend 24-hours on the street to see what homelessness is like. Experiencing even a few hours as “homeless” will change your perspective.I encourage you to go a week without showering in your own home, but finding places around town where you must shower. Put yourself in the shoes of the homeless (without the full risk) for a night. Sleep in your car in the driveway. Dress in old clothes and push a shopping cart around downtown. If the reactions of others doesnt shock you, the awakening will make you more compassionate for sure.Who Are The Homeless And How Did They Get That Way?No one plans to become homeless. It happens. They may see it coming, or fear it, or find themselves spiraling towards it as a result of bad decisions, or unexpected events, but no one sits down and says, “Gee, I think Ill go be homeless and destitute for a year or so.”Yes, there are people who opt to travel, to live out of a van, to drive across country on an adventure, another kind of “homeless.” But no one in their right mind wants to live on the street, moneyless, starving, cold, hot, lonely, attacked, belittled,and disrespected.The homeless become homeless because people become addicts. The majority of active alcoholics will eventually lose their families, their jobs, their loved ones,and everything they own - unless theyre independently wealthy and somehow manage to retain their financial independence.Drug addicts - the same thing. Addiction destroys. Stay addicted long enough and chances are very good you’ll become homeless.If you have a mental illness, or physical illness and are unable to work, to pay your bills, your rent, your mortgage, you will eventually become homeless if you cant find someone who will meet those obligations, or you cant find the program, welfare, or part-time jobs where you can afford some sort of shelter.If you lose your home to fire, flood, tornado,or a hurricane, you will become homeless - perhaps for a night, or a week or a month until you can find a new home. But if you dont have the financial resources to do that, or a family to fall back on, chances are you will become homeless as well.Anytime you get upside down with your bills (you owe more than you can pay and cannot meet your rent or mortgage payments) you will become homeless. You may have a fight with your spouse, boyfriend, girlfriend,or significant other and have the police tell you to leave the residence for a night, or a week.You may run away from home, or away from an abusive spouse or parent. You may have a medical condition where your medication costs more than your rent and you have to choose whether to live in an apartment and die, or live on the streets and have your medication. Tough choices.Are you starting to get the picture now? You may be a college student who cant afford an apartment, dorm,or room and continue to stay in school. One day you hear about someone who lived in a van and never paid rent all through school. Do the math. You can pay a semesters worth of classes for what it costs to rent a place. All of a sudden it makes sense to move into your car - until you do.You may be a construction worker, truck driver, a traveling salesman. You get behind on your bills and opt to give up your apartment to save money. You live in a hotel most of the time anyway, why not? Then one day you lose your job and cant afford to keep staying in hotels. Youre suddenly homeless.I've met doctors, lawyers, engineers, and computer programmers living in their vans. The doctor said his wife had frozen all his bank accounts and credit cards in divorce and all he could do was sleep in the van until he figured out what to do (days maybe). He didn’t want his friends to know, so the van and a week of homelessness was a solution.Women escaping an abusive spouse, teens running away from abusive parents, all have very good reasons for living in their cars,and becoming homeless. Few women in those circumstances have the financial base to simply leave and start a new life. Most have been kept from having jobs - especially jobs where they could earn a living wage.I’ve met women on disability and oxygen who lived in their van so they could afford their medication.Families, fathers,and mothers with children, both parents lose their jobs, are laid off, and rather than risk a cross-country drive to another area to look for work, they stay in the same town - hoping to find another job. After all, they reason, they have unemployment and three months emergency funds. But the savings they have runs out and they find themselves living in their cars.The common perception is that all homeless people are mentally ill, addicts,and alcoholics. The attitudes of some shelter workers, used to seeing a majority of homeless who are addicts, perpetuates that.The media doesn’t bother [until lately] to point out that people are homeless as no result of their own decisions in many cases [the economy], or because they made poor decisions, or made the best decision they could at the time.So yes, there are homeless people who are addicts and mentally ill, or are criminals and sex offenders. But there are families, children, students,and women who become homeless because it was the best or only option they had. Before you condemn all homeless - find out their story.If you have been homeless at one time, share your story. You, more than anyone else, can help others understand it can happen to them as well. In the following pages are facts and info about the homeless and a few of the thousands of organizations that are helping the homeless.What is the definition of “Homeless.”In Title 42, Chapter 119, Subchapter I, of the United States Code, homeless is defined as: §11302. General definition of homeless individual(a) In general For purposes of this chapter, the term “homeless” or “homeless individual or homeless person” includes—1. an individual who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence; and2. an individual who has a primary nighttime residence that is —1. a supervised publicly or privately operated shelter designed to provide temporary living accommodations (including welfare hotels, congregate shelters, and transitional housing for the mentally ill);2. an institution that provides a temporary residence for individuals intended to be institutionalized; or3. a public or private place not designed for, or ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings.STEVEN PRESSFIELD“It is one thing to study war, and another to live the warriors life.”         - PressfieldAny military man/woman knows his name, especially the Marines. Steven Pressfield is the author of what most military experts, officers and non-coms call the military bible, the book, “The Gates of War.”Pressfield, a Marine and author was also once homeless – living in his Chevy van with his cat. He struggled to the top of his field, but is firmly planted there after writing “The Gates of War, The War of Art, and The Legend of Bagger Vance, among others. His website, his philosophy and his books are well worth the read.CARY GRANT:This Oscar-winning actor slept rough on the streets of Southampton, England during a summer in his youth at the time of World War I. (According to the book, Cary Grant: A Biography, by Marc Eliot, 2004)On page 31: “Archie then volunteered for summer work as a messenger and gofer on the military docks, often sleeping in alleys at night if he didnt make enough money to rent a cot in a flophouse.”JIM CARREY:Jim Carrey, actor, writer, producer, nd comedian is no stranger to van dwelling or homelessness. Jim lived out of a VW van in various locations across Canada with his older brother John Carrey, older sister Rita Carrey, and his parents Percy Carrey and Kathleen Carrey as he was growing up.Also camped in a tent with his family in the backyard of the home of his older married sister, Patricia.KELLY CLARKSON:Grammy Award-winning singer; American Idol television talent show 1st-season winner 2002 Kelly Clarkson was once homeless. Clarkson lived out of a car and in a shelter, with her female roommate, after a major structural fire forced them out of a 71unit apartment building in West Hollywood, California in March 2002.In an interview with Inside Edition television news magazine, September 5 2002, her roommate, fellow Texan, actress/singer Janet Harvick was quoted as saying, “It was really, really rough because we had just moved here, and we had just moved in on the day of the fire. We knew nobody here—I mean nobody, so the night of the fire, the next day, and night, we stayed in our car.”US Weekly magazine, September 23, 2002; print story: “My apartment [building] burned down; my car got towed twice, recalls Clarkson, who, with nowhere to go, lived in a homeless shelter for several days.”DJIMON HOUNSOU:Djimon Hounsou is a West African-born (Beninese) Oscar-nominated actor and model.Before being discovered and becoming an actor, however, Djimon slept on the streets and in subways near the Eiffel Tower for two years beginning at age 13 before being discovered and offered a modeling contract.DAVID LETTERMAN:This Emmy Award-winning television writer, comedian, author and host of the television talkshow Late Show with David Letterman spent time living out of his Chevy pickup truck while struggling to establish his career.CHRIS GARDNER:Hes not worried about money now. But once upon a time multimillionaire stockbroker (net worth $65-million (2006)) Chris Gardner couldnt afford a room for himself and his young son. Now hes an author; stockbroker and multimillionaire.The 2006 movie “The Pursuit of Happyness,” starring Will Smith, was based on his life. He slept in subway stations, trains, bathrooms, and a church-run shelter in California with his son.MARTIN SHEEN:Emmy Award-winning actor,director and producer; slept in New York City subway while a young struggling actor. Ramón Gerardo Antonio Estévez, (born August 3, 1940) better known by his stage name Martin Sheen, is an actor best known for his performances as Captain Willard in the film Apocalypse Now and President Josiah Bartlet on the television series The West Wing. As well as the critical acclaim he has received as an actor, he has become known as an activist. Born and raised in Ohio, United States, with Irish and Spanish parents, Sheen is also an Irish citizen.He is the father of actors Carlos Irwin Estévez (Charlie Sheen), Emilio Estévez, Ramón Estévez and Renée Estévez, and is brother of the actor Joe Estevez.HILLARY SWANK:In 1989, when she was 15, Swank and her mom packed up their Oldsmobile Delta 88 and, with just $75, headed to Los Angeles. They lived in the car until a friend [eventually] gave them a place to stay. Swanks mom used a pay phone to book her daughter for auditions. (Readers Digest)FourKindsOfHomelessThere are four kinds of homeless people. There are the alcoholics, and drug addicts. There are the mentally ill. There are what I call the “Life Happens Homeless,” those who are homeless because of situations or circumstances in their lives - loss of a home, job or family etc. and there are the homeless who are homeless by choice.“ We have a home. We just don’t have a house to put it in. ”-unknownThe addict is usually easy to spot most stay high or intoxicated. Without professional intervention and a desire to get clean, most will die on the streets. There have been many who have overcome their addiction and gotten off the street. So they are not hopeless. But its a long, hard, painful road for most.Addicts and AlcoholicsMentally IllHomeless drug addicts and alcoholics become homeless because of their addiction, or those who are already homeless become alcoholics and addicts because they are homeless.When youre down and out, depressed and hurting from life on the street, the temptation to drink or drug your pain away is strong.According to Mike Nichols, “40 to 50 percent of the estimated 744,000 people who are homeless on any given night have a serious mental illness.They suffer from a variety of Axis I mental disorders which include: Anxiety Disorders, bipolar disorder, clinical depression, and schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorders, and severe personality disorders.Between 150,000 and 200,000 of the homeless have schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. This is the equivalent to the population of any of these cities:• Dayton, Ohio• Des Moines, Iowa• Fort Lauderdale, Florida• Grand Rapids, Michigan• Providence, Rhode Island• Richmond, Virginia• Salt Lake City, UtahMike is bipolar and has an anxiety disorder himself and blogs about mental illness and the homeless at his blog:Anxiety, Panic & Health - Living with Health, Wellness and WholenessAlong with the mentally ill are sexual predators - homeless because they cant find anyone who will rent to them, or homeless because they cant afford an apartment because they cant get a job because they are sexual predators. State laws often allow even violent and dangerous sex offenders to register as homeless as long as they give an area where they sleep.Life HappensWhat if your spouse beats you and you run away. Or, you lose your job, you’re diagnosed with a terminal illness or cancer, or something that requires medication that costs more than you pay in rent each month. You have to choose between medication and a place to live.“Being homeless is not a crime someone commits.It’s a condition someone experiences.”- Becky BlantonOr, your car breaks down and you cant afford to repair it or buy a new one and you lose your job. Youre laid off and eventually evicted or forced to move out because you cant afford rent. Maybe youre one of the thousands of teenagers whose parents kick them out because they cant afford to feed you.Maybe you graduate from college and cant find a job and friends get tired of your couch surfing. Maybe youre in an abusive relationship and decide to leave, even though you cant afford a place of your own, either with or without a job.More than 20,000 teenagers “age out” of the foster care system every year. About one quarter will become homeless.Life happens. And, when it does, homelessness is often the result. Parents die, yourNot only do these 18-year olds lose their home, their medical benefits,and the support of the foster-care system, they’re released into a world for which they are little prepared and have little or no family support to fall back on for guidance.The reasons for “Life happens homelessness” ranges from job loss, foreclosure, illness, abuse or natural disaster - fire, flood, earthquake (Katrina for instance), domestic abuse, the economy, stock market failure, falling victim to identity theft, bad investments, and so on.Homeless By ChoiceWhile it may be inconceivable to some, thousands of homeless people are homeless by choice. This homelessness can last for days, weeks, months, years or a lifetime.Some of these homeless are adventurers - living out of a camper or van or car while they travel the country in search of work, or while they surf, play or camp.In states like Oregon, Washington and California there are many surfers (wind surfers and ocean surfers) who live out of their vehicles.Another population of those homeless by choice, are “Van-dwellers.” They live in their vans or cars and “city camp,” by parking on city streets, in parks, at Wal-Marts, or rest areas or wherever they are able to blend in.They work at being invisible, making their vehicles as stealthy as possible so they can live, work, eat and sleep on the streets without being hassled by police or otheragencies. They are often able to afford an apartment or home, but chose not to live in one. The lure of the road and the lifestyle appeals to them.Some apartment and home owners may even be “Van dwellers” part of the year, living out of their vehicles to save money while they travel.Students at many colleges may opt to live out of a van to save housing costs while in college. They keep a locker on campus, shower and eat on campus while attending classes, but sleep in their car.Musicians, construction workers, truck drivers,and those with jobs that keep them on the road most of the year may also choose to be homeless, living out of a hotel or their vehicles.At the other end of the spectrum are the homeless who dont want to come off of the street and dont want to be “helped” into an apartment or even a shelter. Some may be mentally ill, and some just dont want the responsibility of having to hold down a job and keep up an apartment. The hand-to-mouth existence of living on the street is preferable to having regular employment.The Face of HomelessnessHomelessness is the worst stigma in America, worse than being fat, than being unemployed, than being a person of color, than being mentally ill or being a criminal. Homelessness is the equivalent of being all those things at one time.http://beckyblanton.com or http://homeless4theholidays.com bully you, attack you, humiliate you and treat you as a non-person.But homelessness is no respecter of persons. Racially, the mix is almost equal. The very rich are as susceptible to “losing everything” as anyone else.A person who would never be cruel or vicious to a stranger often feels like its okay to lean out a window and scream “Get a job!” to a homeless person.Dont believe it? Ask Simon Cowell, judge for “American Idol.” Simon once lost everything at the age of 30 when the company that owned Fanfare went bust. He said, “I effectively lost everything and had to move in with my parents.”He was lucky. Many of those who do lose their homes have family to move in with until they get back on their feet.The point is, even being a millionaire doesnt ensure you wont or cant become homeless.And once homeless, society labels you as despicable, criminal, insane, lazy, worthless, filthy and non-human creature imaginable in the eyes of most Americans!Yet - the week before you were homeless you may have been an engineer making $100,000 a year, or a computer programer or a police officer, or an attorney, or a writer, or artist, or nurse.In a flash you become totally “less than” and suspicious. If you cant maintain an apartment or house, people reason, you must be untrustworthy, and criminal. And somehow that seems to make it okay for others toThose window hanging, bullying bastards are just that. They dont realize that 40-50 percent of the people they are screaming at are mentally ill and not capable of getting or holding down a job. They dont realize that the chances are very good that they know someone who is homeless, or has been homeless.While violence against the homeless can come from anywhere, statistics show that white males are the most common predators of the homeless - beating, killing and abusing them.Part of the reason this is possible is because Americans have permitted the homeless to become less than human. Our society perpetuates the stereotype that the homeless are worthless, stupid, criminal and not valuable.In seeing the homeless as an infestation or problem to be eradicated instead of solved, police and governments become part of the problem.Yes - half of the homeless on the streets today are mentally ill. Many are sexual predators, many are criminals. Treat them as such.http://beckyblanton.com or http://homeless4theholidays.com Arrest them for crimes, put them in facilities, warehouse them or deal with them for the behavior they exhibit, but not simply because they are homeless.Being homeless is not a crime someone commits. Its a condition someone experiences.And remember the other 50 percent - the working homeless, those who have jobs, or lost jobs and are looking for jobs and simply no longer have a house or apartment. Or, as one woman put it, “We have a home. We just dont have a house to put it in.”They are the families, the women, the men and the children who have lost their home for a variety of reasons and are struggling to survive on the streets.They want desperately to not be homeless. Many of them find temporary shelter in the homes of family or friends. They “couch-surf,” staying with friends or families for a night, a week, months or years at a time while they save money for a car, an apartment or or look for a job.Many are working, or looking for work. But on a minimum wage salary, it is very hard to save money for an apartment deposit, first and last months rent, a utility deposit, or a car to get to and from work. Since most dont have health insurance, medical bills, medication and health needs may take up a large portion of their income.Chances are they lost their car if they lost their jobs making it even more difficult to get another job, or to get a job that pays well enough to save money. Many dont have the financial skills or know-how to save or to make wise financial decisions.More than that, start pushing your local governments for affordable housing. Its the number one reason for homelessness among the working homeless or working poor. And its third behind addiction and mental illness for homelessness in America.http://beckyblanton.com or http://homeless4theholidays.com panhandlingetiquette“Should I give a panhandler money?” I say “No.” Dont do it. Others will say “Yes,” be compassionate.“How should I deal with panhandlers?” is often one of the first questions I hear when I talk to people about my year as a homeless person. They either assume I “panhandled” or asked for money at some time, or they wonder if I did. I never did. I worked full-time. If I ran out of money, as I often did, I did without - without food, without gas, without showers or whatever I wanted or needed until pay-day. I might feel differently if Id had to panhandle.So I am not an expert on panhandling or panhandling etiquette. I know that I preferred to work, or do without, as did most of the other working homeless I encountered.That said, I will tell you that the homeless people I met who did panhandle, were willing to share their tips about how to be good at it, with me. Most of the tips involved how to pick out “easy marks” and those most likely to give money; and how to avoid being beaten up by other panhandlers. My impression is that while there are definitely some people who need the money for gas, whowill use the money for food or a hotel room, the majority won’t. Its up to each of us to decide who to trust and who not to trust.The majority of the people I met who panhandled admitted they used the money for alcohol or drugs, and only occasionally for food. They bragged about making from $50 a day to $400 a day.I could pass those tips along about how they did it, but most involved scams, how to cheat, how to lie, how to con. But then again, these are people with nothing, doing what they can to literally survive. I cant judge them, but I can tell you what I would do.People who ask me this are really asking, “How can I say no? Should I say no? Is it safe? How much should I give? How do I know theyre not going to use it for alcohol or drugs? or Will they try to rob me if I say no, of if I only give them a few dollars? Will they keep pestering me for money every day if I give them money one time?”I think guilt is a major motivator for our even thinking about what to do. We feel guilty for having so much whenhttp://beckyblanton.com or http://homeless4theholidays.com others have none, yet we also dont want to give money that will only be used for alcohol or drugs.Who are we to judge? The fact is, I believe most of the money you give the average, aggressive panhandler will be used for drugs or alcohol. Thats coming from a former homeless woman who never panhandled, but did extensively interview and talk to those who did.That said, I believe your interaction with any panhandler puts you at personal risk for your own safety. Those who panhandle tend to be mentally unstable, on drugs, or addicted or mentally affected in some way. I think you take your life in your hands, particularly if youre a woman, elderly or disabled, to interact with the homeless who approach you on the street, asking for money. A lot of people will disagree with me. Why this ebook if Im saying dont give to people on the street? Because Im being practical.The bigger the city, the more aggressive the panhandler and the more likely you are to agree with me. I think your money is better spent through donating to a charity that feeds, houses and clothes the homeless, that deals with their addictions. I guarantee if youre homeless you know within a week where the shelters are.Within a month you know where all the food banks are and how to work the system. I worked because I could - I was fortunate enough to find work. I dont know what I would have done if forced into the circumstances so many of the homeless are in. I dont. Given that the majority of the street homeless are mentally unstable, likely to beinfluenced by drugs more than social norms or mores, its up to you of course, but be careful.Treat them with the respect, tone and attention you would anyone, but say no and keep walking. Dont stop. Dont engage. If you have been homeless, worked with the homeless, are in a group of people and you want to stop and engage a homeless person, thats up to you. You have an idea of what to look for, what youre getting into. Theres a difference between going up to a homeless person and engaging with an aggressive panhandler.Homeless are people with no permanent address. Some have mental health issues, some are sexual predators and some are addicts. Some work, some dont. Some are looking for work. Theyre not bad because theyre homeless. Theyre not dangerous because theyre homeless. Some of the homeless definitely act like animals, but so does a large part of society who do live in houses. Rise above the urge to scream “Get a job!” Be respectful. But understand.....Aggressive panhandlers WILL try to engage you in conversation to make you stop. Dont. You may get an angry response, but thats their problem, not yours. Just dont engage them. If you do encounter a homeless person you know, believe or think is “safe,” or legit and feel compelled to give to them follow these rules. Do NOT pull your wallet out in front of them and sort through your stash to find an appropriate denomination to give them.If they say, “I need money for gas,” then offer to follow them to a gas station and fill their vehicle up for them. Ifhttp://beckyblanton.com or http://homeless4theholidays.com they say its for food, get them a sack of sandwiches instead. The fact is, most of the time the money is for drugs. If you feel comfortable aiding their habit, go for it.Phil Elmore, a ghost-writer (The Executioner series) and martial artist who lives in New York state, is even more adamant than I am about security and protecting yourself from the aggressive panhandler. He has written a free, and very strong report on how to protect yourself from the homeless aggressor.Aggression among panhandlers is growing, as evidenced by many cities who are passing stronger laws and arresting panhandlers whose requests for change borders more on robbery and intimidation. My opinions are also colored from having graduated from a police academy in 83 and having worked security for Wackenhut, for several corporations and in large cities.If you truly want to help the homeless living on the street, go through a social worker, organization, shelter, church, or a group or individual who has experience working and interacting with the homeless. Yes, there are people out there who really can use your help, so make your contributions where theyll help the most - go through an organization or group who best knows the homeless.But dont toss your common sense out the window. Those homeless who depend on street theatre, or playing music for donations - are not the aggressive panhandlers Im talking about. Be as cautious with the homeless as you would any stranger. Being in need doesnt make someoneliving on the streets more safe, and quite often makes them less safe.There are a lot of sad, defeated homeless people on the street. Help all you can, but be safe when you do.http://beckyblanton.com or http://homeless4theholidays.com safetyandsecurityIf youve ever been approached by a homeless person asking for money, begging for a handout, or being aggressive, verbally abusive or demanding for any reason, chances are youre not likely to feel a lot of compassion for the homeless. While the “invisible homeless” work, remain largely, cleaned, clothed and dont beg, they arent the homeless the public usually sees.Phil Elmore, who says he has been soundly criticized for his stance that people need to protect themselves from the homeless, stands by his PDF about how to defend yourself from the homeless. I agree with him. A police academy graduate and one who has lived and walked among the homeless, Ive seen extreme mental illness, aggression, and violence among the homeless who live on the street. While there are a lot of assaults on the homeless, there are a lot of assaults and crimes among the homeless on other homeless.Homeless women are raped, beaten, and victimized more than anyone realizes - and few will report the assaults because of fear of the police response or non-response. Phil writes:“According to Healing Hands, the publication of the HCH Clinicians' Network that I cited earlier, 84% of the homeless are single men ages 25-54. (Another 9% are over 55, while just 7% are between 19 and 24). Men comprise 77% of single homeless adults, but only 15% of adults in homeless families. (Also, if you care about the race breakdown, 41% of homeless adults are white, 40% are black, 10% are Hispanic, and 8% are Native American.) About one-third of homeless men are veterans — but that's the same representation as found in the population at large, so the myth of the homeless vet is just that, too.Stop and think about those statistics for a moment. The overwhelming majority of the homeless are single males aged 25-54. According to the Department of Justice and the Bureau of Justice Statistics, single males in that age range (especially those 35 and younger) were among the most likely groups to commit violent crime. That means the very group that makes up most homeless people is also the demographic group most likely to assault you.”Elmore is a martial artist and professional writer whose work has appeared in a variety of print and virtual publications. He is not a lawyer, a police officer, or a member of the military. He is a private citizen who believes your rights to your life and your property are inalienable.The publisher of The Martialist™: The Magazine For Those Who Fight Unfairly, Phil has published numerous books about self-defense. These include the Paladin Press titles Street Sword and Flashlight Fighting, as well as the http://Booklocker.com text Shorthand Empty Hand. For more information, visit Phil online at http://www.philelmore.com and http://www.themartialist.com.Why Homeless 4 The Holidays?In March 2006 I was a newspaper editor at a small town paper in Colorado. My father had died of brain cancer that February, and after a stressful month at work I decided to quit my job, travel and freelance while grieving and dealing with his death.For a lot of reasons, is death hit me hard. Not only had he been my father, he had been an abuser. I was awash in grief and anger and emotion with his death.My story, as it was written and as it first appeared in design mind, a magazine published by the global innovation firm frog design, http://designmind.frogdesign.com, is at the end of this catalog if you haven’t read it yet.Anyway after having experienced homelessness“Like war, firsthand, I became deeply empathetic with the plight of the homeless, particularly with the working homeless, but also the disabled, the mentally ill, and families and children.My father’s one regret in life was that he had worked until the end, and had never traveled and done the things he wanted to do. I vowed not to do the same.So I bought a 1975 Chevy Van, put everything in storage, took my Rottweiler and my cat and moved into the van. At first things were great, but then everything went wrong.Things didn’t work out as I thought they would. The result was a year of homelessness for me as I refused to give up my pets, and chose to live in the van instead.homelessness is an economic battle, not a moral one.”- Becky BlantonI’ve since learned that this year over 1 million teenagers will experience homelessness.Every 24 hours, 13 of those homeless young people will die alone on the streets. But it doesn't have to be this way. You can make a difference. You can save a life.That’s what this catalog is for showing you what you can do to make a difference in the lives of the homeless-many of whom really are just like you - with families, jobs, and dreams.http://beckyblanton.com or http://homeless4theholidays.com Unlike you they lost their home in the mortgage crunch, got scammed, were slammed by the stock-market, laid off, had a family member suffer a devastating illness, or like many teens and those in foster care - hit their 18th birthday and lost their foster family due to state and federal laws.They don’t need or want a handout. They want a helping hand. There’s a difference.Last September, 9/9/09 Tellman Knudson started running barefoot 3,200 miles across America. He is now crossing one of the 50 states between Battery Park, NYC and Santa Monica, CA.His goal is to raise $100 million to donate to the shelters, organizations and on-the-ground volunteers across the country that help homeless teens get food, get shelter, and rebuild their lives.Tellman will/has run 3,200 miles barefoot by the time you’re reading this... but he needs your help to help provide for the homeless youth across America.Mark Horvath, homeless twice himself, started his executive career at the top.He was once responsible for the worldwide distribution of Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy; Married with Children; 21 Jump Street, plus many other syndicated shows. His video distribution has changed dramatically.Now, with just $45, a laptop, a camera and social media, Horvath wants to show that knowing homelessness exists is just half the problem; the other half is showing how we can help.We all suffer as a result of this country’s greed and drive to deny low-income housing, small square-footage housing, and regulations that prevent or discourage alternative energy, off-grid living and lifestyles that do not feed the county, state and federal coffers.Like war, homelessness is an economic battle, not a moral one. The causes of homelessness are strongly related to the economics not of the homeless, but of the county, state and federal agencies that create it.Regardless of the causes, focusing on solutions rather than blame is most critical. Finding alternatives, providing food, shelter, water, showers, jobs and counseling is most critical now.As a reporter every holiday I covered the stories of volunteers who “give up” their holiday to spend the day dishing out turkey and mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie and warm socks to the “poor, unfortunate homeless.”The focus is usually on the volunteers, rarely on the homeless, except to get a quote about how grateful they are for a hot meal. How stupid. But it makes people and viewers/readers “feel good” and so this story repeats itself around the country.I thought it was time to do something different. And this is it. I hope you find it enlightening and helpful.I am NOT asking for money or donations. I am asking you find and support an organization in your town or city that feeds, houses or helps the homeless. If there’s not one, then start one.We’re all in this together. As the economy and Bernie Madoff showed us - ANY of us could be homeless at any time. Help change the perception of homelessness while you still have a home, a job, a family and hope.There’s no guarantee that you or someone you know will never be homeless. But there’s a good chance that you or someone you know could become, even for a few days, homeless.AngelFoodMinistriesAngel Food Ministries provides food relief and financial support to communities throughout the United States. The program began in 1994 with 34 families in Monroe, Georgia and has grown to serve hundreds of thousands of families across 35 states.Each month's delivery (for $30 per box) includes both fresh and frozen items with an average retail value of approximately $60. Generally, each box can help feed four people for about one week or a single person for almost a month. There are no limits on the boxes a person may receive, and no applications to complete.Sample Menu ($30 for all the items below)* 4 lb. IQF Leg Quarters * 4 oz. Beef Back Ribs * 1 lb. 80/20 Lean Ground Beef * 2 lb. Breaded Chicken Tenders * 1.5 lb. Bone in Pork Chops (4 x 6-oz.)* 1 lb. Ground Turkey * 18 oz. Stuffed Manicotti (Cheese) * 12 oz. Smoked Sausage* Betty Crocker Seasoned Potatoes * 7 oz. Cheeseburger Dinner * 16 oz. Green Beans * 16 oz. Baby Carrots * 2 lb. Onions * 1 lb. Pinto Beans * 1 lb. Rice * 7 oz. Blueberry Muffin Mix * 10 ct. Homestyle WafflesinvisiblepeopletvAbout Mark Horvath and http://InvisiblePeople.tvMark has over 30 years of leadership, management and marketing experience with the last 14 years being in the nonprofit sector.He now uses his media and non-profit reach to self-fund his http://InvisiblePeople.tv project to offer a voice to America's homeless.Mark Horvath gives homeless people a voice, a face and hope. Once homeless himself, not once, but twice, Horvath started his executive career with the worldwide distribution of Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy; Married with Children; 21 Jump Street, plus many other syndicated shows.Horvath's Hollywood executive background is in stark contrast to the role he finds himself in now. He was once responsible for the worldwide distribution of some of America's best-loved TV shows. Now, with just $45, a laptop, a camera and social media, Horvath wants to show that knowing homelessness exists is just half the problem, the other half is showing how we can help.So hes back on the streets, talking, interviewing and video-taping the real stories of the homeless. And he posts them on his blog, http:// http://invisiblepeople.tv. Marks Road Trip U.S.A. tour is cosponsored by Ford, Hanes and Whrrl, but is always looking for more sponsors.He is always looking for corporate and individual sponsors to help him get the message of the homeless out to the world.If youd like to contribute to Marks programming, contact him here:Contact Information Mark Horvath http://InvisiblePeople.tv 213.245.1519 [email protected] once heard a story about a homeless man on Hollywood Blvd. who really thought he was invisible. But one day a kid handed the man a Christian pamphlet. The homeless guy was shocked and amazed, “What! You can see me? How can you see me? Im invisible!”It isn't hard to comprehend this man's slow spiral into invisibility. Once on the street, people started to walk past him, ignoring him as if he didn't exist… much like they do a piece of trash on the sidewalk. Its not that people are bad, but if we make eye contact, or engage in conversation, then we have to admit they exist and that we might have a basic human need to care. But it's so much easier to simply close our eyes and shield our hearts to their existence.Invisible People TVby Mark Horvath(CC) Randy Stewart, http://blog.stewtopia.com.I not only feel their pain, I truly know their pain. I lived their pain. Youd never know it now but I was a homeless person. Fourteen years ago, I lived on Hollywood Blvd. But today, I find myself looking away, ignoring the faces, avoiding their eyes and Im ashamed when I realize Im doing it. But I really can feel their pain, and it is almost unbearable, but it's just under the surface of my professional exterior.For years I’ve used the lens of a television camera to tell the stories of homelessness and the organizations trying to help. That was part of my job. The reports were produced well and told a story, but the stories you see on this site are much different. These are the real people, telling their own, very real stories… unedited, uncensored and raw.The purpose of my vlog (video blog) is to make the invisible visible. I hope these people and their stories connect with you don’t let go. I hope their conversations with me will start a conversation in your circle of friends.After you get to know someone by watching their story, please pause for a few moments and write your thoughts in the comments section, or maybe email them to a friend and link back to my vlog. By keeping this dialog open we can help a forgotten people.The invisible guy didn't intend to become homeless. I didn’t plan on living on the street. Everyone on the streets has their own story, some made bad decisions, others were victims, but none of them deserve what they have been left with, and it is a reflection of our own society that we just leave them there.Please always remember, the homeless people youll ignore today were much like you not so long ago.HopeHouseHomeless children are one of the most neglected and vulnerable populations on the streets. The average age of a prostitute in the USA is 12 years old. Often, children turn to prostitution to escape the streets. Or, they are kidnapped and forced into the sex trafficking trades.Emily Fitchpatrick is helping those children change their future and avoid a life on the streets. Fitchpatrick, the director of Hope House in Asheville, North Carolina, isn’t a just an “I want to help,” kind of person. Shes been in the rough places victims and addicts go.She recovered from alcohol and drug addiction nine years ago and became determined to help others do the same. Fitchpatrick said she believes God can help her rescue women who have fallen prey to sex trafficking.While sex trafficking crimes have gotten national attention, Fitchpatrick says “People think this (sex trafficking) happens in other countries, and they dont want to see that it happens here,” said Fitchpatrick. But it does.To learn more about On Eagles Wings Ministries, which runs Hope House, visit http://www.emilyfitchpatrick.com. OEW is not a church, it is a parachurch ministry made up of individuals from several denominations in the Christian faith.Email us at emily@emilyfitchpatrick.com Write to: PO Box 9737, Asheville, NC 28815 Toll-Free Help Line: 1+ 877-276-8023There are food banks and disaster relief crews, but perhaps none is as well known in Virginia and across the Southeast as “Gods Pit Crew.” More than 300 volunteers respond to major disasters around the country, bringing food, clothing, medical care, counseling, construction workers,and all manner of help to those who have become homeless and displaced through natural disasters. They now post the videos of their assistance efforts on YouTube, but you can also read about their relief efforts at their website:God's Pit Crew is a non-profit, faith-based, group of volunteers who wish to serve others in their time of need. The mission of our disaster relief team is, with God's help and direction, to fill needs and bring healing to hurting people. One goal is to teach and demonstrate Service, Teamwork, and Self-esteem into the lives of young people.Since its first mission in May of 1999, God's Pit Crew has delivered over 4 million pounds of supplies into areas that have been devastated by natural disasters such as floods, tornados, and hurricanes. They have responded to 33 major disasters in 11 different states. They've worked side-by-side with people who have lost everything, helping them to restore their homes, their hopes and their dreams. The organization has its own trailers, trucks and tractor trailer rigs to haul supplies wherever they are needed. To view the crew in action watch their videos at:God Tube (http://www.tangle.com/godspitcrew) or at YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/godspitcrew).They are a non-profit organization and accept donations from around the country for their work. Theyre also always looking for volunteers so they can expand their reach. While their work is with people who have been displaced and are homeless due to natural disaster, the most compelling thing about this group is their perspective of the homeless they work with as people in need...as are all homeless actually. They tackle things on a community wide level, showing those displaced that recovery is possible, that people do care.Read more about them at: http://www.thegodspitcrew.org/runtellmanrunby Tellman KnudsonThe people who set outrageous goals are usually the only ones who meet them. That includes Tellman Knudson, who started running across country to raise $100 million dollars for homeless youth.miles home again after practice.The running strengthened his muscles and corrected his femoral antiversion. In two years Tellman was breaking school records and competing for the state title.Tellman has never really cared what people said was possible or not. He had plans and dreams and goals and hasnt let anything stop him.Tellman grew up in Enfield, NH, a self-admitted geek with ADHD and a crippling leg condition called femoral antiversion.The condition made it difficult even to walk. As with any thing that makes a kid different, the bullies noticed Tellmans condition and he was picked on constantly.He struggled in relationships with his divorced parents and took refuge couch surfing in friends homes.“The people who set outrageous goals are the only ones who keep them.”He learned that with persistence and dedication he could overcome anything. It stuck. Tellman worked his way through college by selling home-made salsa from his dorm room.After focusing on the narrow field of Altered States of Awareness, Brain Waves, and Peak Performance at Marlboro College, Tellman launched a series of 5 different businesses that all struggled and eventually closed. But he didn’t lose the lesson. Tellman gathered a lot of valuable insight from his failures.Tellman success came when he set out to market his products on-line. He relentlessly pursued experts in the field of internet direct marketing and acquired an advanced skill set and insight that proved to be marketable.- Knudson SupporterIn a scene right out of Forrest Gump, Tellman decided to try out for the cross-country running team in high school. It was ugly – he could barely run a quarter of a mile. But Tellman found solace in running and he threw himself into it, running 7 miles to school in the morning and then 7 home.He launched “Listcrusade,” a successful attempt to develop an email list of 1 million people. This established Tellman as a successful on-line marketer. Now companies and individuals pay Tellman to provide consulting and insight for their web-based direct marketing campaigns. Tellman is now CEO of http://overcomeeverything.com and several other internet direct response marketing companies. He is still highly ADHD, but thrives on the challenge of solving multiple problems and starting new ventures.Homeless YouthMore than one million teenagers will experience homelessness this year. Every day 13 of those teens will die on the streets. Thats almost 5,000 teenagers.Some are homeless because of the death of one or both parents. Some run away from abusive home situations. Some have been kicked out of the house because their parents cant afford to feed/clothe them, or cant manage them.Some are kicked out of the home because their parents find out theyre gay or pregnant. Some will run away with a boyfriend and end up breaking up and afraid to go home. Many of them couch surf with friends, or sleep in their cars - all while attending school.Unlike the streets, school is a safe, warm place to be for 8-10 hours a day. They can be with friends and aren’t hassled by police. they also tend to not eat well, or get the sleep they need or do as well on the tests they need to pass to graduate.In Massachusetts, teens used to receive a cash payment of $303 each month while they were in school, but former Governor Mitt Romney vetoed that benefit nd now teens in Massachusetts are on their own.For teens with no job history, no street smarts, nd no support or understanding, the options for them on the street are few - prostitution, drugs, drug dealing,and crime.Some will join the military, but the majority are left to their own resources to find work, an apartment, to build credit,and to maintain a home - often on minimum wage.Teens who are also pregnant, or are single mothers have an even harder time. Many will marry just to get off of the street.Homeless ResourcesThe National Alliance to End HomelessnessThe National Alliance to End Homelessness is a nonprofit, non-partisan, organization committed to preventing and ending homelessness in the United States. Their website offers information, statistics, tools, training, data and research, state by state data on homelessness. Its considered one of the best resources on the web for information about the homeless and ways to make a difference.http://www.endhomelessness.org/The Homelessness Resource ExchangeThe Homelessness Resource Exchange is a one-stop shop for information and resources for assisting people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. The HRE provides direct links to information on HUD's housing and homeless programs, links to other federal agencies' homeless assistance programs, a direct link to HUD's http://HMIS.Info website; CoC grant application materials, Frequently Asked Questions, e*SNAPs, a calendar of homelessness training events, and a feature to locate assistance organizations near you.http://www.hudhre.info/The Ugly Quilt ProjectSince 1985 “My Brothers Keeper Quilt Group” has been making quilted sleeping bags for the homeless. The group is comprised of individuals and groups who want to help the homeless by making emergency sleeping bags from recycled fabrics and distributing them free to people who are cold on the street. Their only goal is to help the homeless on the street be warm until other groups and organizations “can help or heal them.” Email Address: [email protected] BROTHERS' KEEPER QUILT GROUP R.R. #1, Box 1049 Hop Bottom, PA 18824 (570) 289-4335http://beckyblanton.com or http://homeless4theholidays.comhttp://www.uglyquilts.org/ Hunters For The HungryHunters for the Hungry is a non-profit organization that distributes deer donated by hunters, processes the meat, and then gives the meat to food banks across each state. The food banks in turn distribute the meat to families and individuals who have shown a need for it. Every state has its own organization and contact information. Please Google “Hunters for the Hungry” and your state to get your local contact information.f youre not a hunter, donate money to help fund the meat processing fees. In Virginia, a contribution of 20 dollars will process 1/2 a deer (25-pounds of venison), 40 dollars will process 1 deer (50 pounds of venison), and 80 dollars will process 2 deer (100 pounds of venison).Homeless Helping Homeless (HHH)Homeless Helping Homeless is the voice of the homeless. Since 2001, members of the homeless community have, through HHH, advocated and organized politically for themselves. Facilitated by the Urban Ministry Center as part of the Community Works 945 project, HHH demonstrates civic concern, honesty, and genuine commitment by and on behalf of the homeless in Charlotte, NC.http://www.hhh945.blogspot.com/Artists Helping The HomelessArtists Helping The Homeless is a non-profit 501c3 public charity organization that raises money through Art to help individuals who need a new beginning. They sell art created by members and donate a portion of the proceeds to provide opportunities for those less fortunate. Their major initiatives include providing housing and serving meals weekly at the park in Kansas City where the organization is based.http://www.artistshelpingthehomeless.comhttp://beckyblanton.com or http://homeless4theholidays.com Three years ago, I was living in a van with Rottweiler and a housecat in a Walmart parking lot in the US. By July 2009, I was speaking at TEDGlobal in Oxford, England.Physically, the journey from “homeless” to an international stage was a rough one, but the emotional and mental challenges were greater. I was one of the lucky ones.We all make bad choices. But when I decided to quit my $50,000-a-year job as a small town newspaper editor in 2006 to deal with my fathers recent death from cancer, I had no idea I was deciding to become homeless.I thought I was doing something good for myself by taking time off to travel and see the country. My father, a man who had physically, emotionally, and sexually abused me throughout my childhood, had died in February of that year, and his passing hit me hard.No matter how much youre told about how the death of an abuser may affect you, no one can prepare you for it. So when that emotional storm hit, I ran. I retreated into the one world I felt safe in — camping and traveling. I told myself I was “taking care of me.” How wrong I was.Although I was freelancing, and sometimes working a second part-time job, the co-workers, employers, police, and http://beckyblanton.com or http://homeless4theholidays.com people around me considered me homeless and “less than,” because I lived in my van and not in an apartment. At a time when I needed friends, encouragement, and understanding, I got harassed, shunned, and shamed. For more than a year I bathed in employee showers and truck stops, washed up in public restrooms, parked in different lots each night to avoid police hassles, and struggled to keep my clothes cleaned and presentable, and my job intact.I sweated in the heat, froze in the cold. When I was sick, I used a bucket and trash bag for a toilet. I went without food so I could afford gas, and I risked my health, safety, and security every day.The only difference between me and my former colleagues at the newspaper was that they paid a mortgage or rent on a home. I paid rent on a storage unit.My depression deepened, and eventually, someone referred me to a homeless health clinic. I went. I hadn’t bathed in three days. I was as smelly and depressed as anyone in line; I just wasn’t drunk or high.When they realized that, several of the homeless men, including a former university professor said, “Why are you really here? You arent homeless.” Other homeless people didn’t see me as homeless, but I still did. The professor listened to my story and said, “You have hope. The real homeless dont have hope.”At some point, someone told me that the journalist Tim Russert had included an essay I wrote about my father before he died in a new, best-selling book. At first, I laughed. Was I a writer or was I a homeless woman? I went into a book store and found Russerts book. I stood there and reread my essay and cried. I knew then the answer to my question. I was a writer.The National Alliance to End Homelessness estimates that 2.5 to 3.5 million people — about the population of Denver, Colorado — experience homelessness each year in the United States. That includes 600,000 families and 1.35 million children. Many of them live in a family vehicle because they are able to find and maintain a job, or had a vehicle before their crisis hit.Studies show the most economically efficient way to end homelessness is to prevent it in the first place. The most common cause of homelessness is a lack of affordable housing; it accounts for 50 percent of all reasons given.Emergency assistance (including rent or mortgage and utility assistance), which helps provide time-limited housing subsidies until families become financially stable, can help prevent homelessness and is more financially effective than getting someone off the street.So instead of handing a homeless person $5 or $10, contribute $10 or $20 to your local energy company when you pay your utility bill each month. It will go towards helping someone keep the home they already have. Donating to businesses or groups that can provide car repair, transportation, rent,and food, or medical care to people in need can also help.Rather than volunteer at the local soup kitchen on Thanksgiving and Christmas, why not help set up a crisis clinic or donate time at a free health clinic?Pity isn’t a solution. Practical, political expediency is. Providing safe parking, allowing the homeless to use public resources such as parks, showers, transportation, and libraries will help thousands of families get off the streets or out of their cars quicker. Getting your local government to decriminalize homelessness is harder than spending the morning at a soup kitchen, but the payoff is so much greater.After realizing I had a skill I could use, I moved back home to Tennessee, alternated between living in my van and couch-surfing with friends, and I started writing. By the following summer, I was a working journalist, winning awards,and living in my own apartment, no longer homeless or invisible.Its superficial, but society equates having a permanent address and a permanent structure to live in with having value and worth as a human being. I used to not believe that society was so superficial.I believe it now..“This article first appeared in design mind, a magazine published by the global innovation firm frog design: http://designmind.frogdesign.com/Copyright Notice (c) 2009 Becky BlantonThere are NO affiliate links in this documentThis ebook is Copyrighted 2009 by Becky Blanton. All rights reserved. You may distribute it freely and in its entirety or may quote freely from it as long as you attribute the quote or quotes to the ebook.You may give it away from your website, send it to friends, email it or post it to any group. You may NOT sell it or bundle it with items that you are selling. You may quote from it, read it, refer to it on Blog Talk Radio or any other venue. The point is, the information should be distributed as far and freely as possible in order to help as many people as possible. I only ask that:When quoting from the story “The Invisibles,” please use the following language:“This article first appeared in design mind, a magazine published by the global innovation firm frog design        http://designmind.frogdesign.com/When quoting from any other content please use the following language:“This information/quote/photo first appeared in Home 4 The Holidays, an ebook copyrighted and published by Becky Blanton of http://beckyblanton.com.The reason for this request is so other people can find the information you quote or use by getting the book in its entirety. Quoting the above and providing a link to the site u, allows them to do that.The website, http://homeless4theholidays.com is a site dedicated to information about homelessness, resources for the homeless and links to a variety of sites about homelessness.I have attributed, credited and linked all information, photos and information in this ebook to their proper authors and photographers under the “Fair Use Act.” Unless otherwise indicated, information about each individual was written by that person, or taken directly from their “about” page on their website and lightly edited to fit space requirements for this book. This is not an end-all, be-all book. Its an introduction to the problem of homelessness along with some basic information, resources and links to other sites that deal more exhaustively with homelessness than I alone can. I hope you find it helpful!http://beckyblanton.com or http://homeless4theholidays.com For more information about homelessness, how to survive on the streets, how to live out of your vehicle, laws, resources, and other tips on getting out of homelessness, finding food sources etc. visit our website: http://homeless4theholidays.comhttp://beckyblanton.com or http://homeless4theholidays.com AcknowledgmentsNo great thing happens without the help of many, many people. My journey from homelessness to TED to “Homeless4theHolidays,” (both this book and the website) was possible because of a hand up from dozens, if not hundreds of people. From the folks at http://Yahoo.com, where I won the laptop Im writing this on; to Smugmug, the most wonderful photo hosting/storage site in the world; to Phil Hamby and Denice Thibodeau who let me couch surf for weeks and fed me; to David Benjamin Knopp who designed the cover of Homeless 4 the Holidays and my websites and logos “for the cause,” (he so rocks as a person and graphic artist); to Jodi Kaplan, Jule Kucera, Bernd Nurenburg, John Furst (who has been a steady rock, mentor, source of inspiration and email marketer for me); Patty Newbold, and Judy Vorfeld, for their edits, suggestions, patience, inspiration and guidance; to Bonnie Larner for a place to park the van; to all the members of Seth Godins Triiibes and to Seth Godin himself, who blogged about traffic magnets and helped push the vote. To Daniel Pink, who held the contest for Johnny Bunko that grabbed my attention, and got me to TED. To Ed Brenegar, who joined me in the Johnny Bunko contest and became a friend; To Megan Elizabeth Morris and Marty Whitmore who created the Johnny Bunko comic book, and who blog about my experience. And to all the folks at TED. And to my agent, Colleen Mohyde (the full-length book is coming) for her patience and belief in me.To anyone reading this who is homeless, or struggling or fearful. Dont give up hope. Hope is all you might have, but its all you need to get out.If you work with the homeless, have compassion for them, or donate to them, thank you. As Christ said, “If you do it to the least of these, you have done it for me.” Regardless of your beliefs, or non-beliefs, compassion is the gift that keeps on giving. Thank you for your work, whatever it may be. You are making a difference.Merry Christmas“This book is packed with great ideas that can make a real difference in a homeless person's life. The suggestions are practical, realistic, and inexpensive solutions (not just handouts). Bravo!”Jodi Kaplan, Kaplan CopyDo you have a heart for the homeless? If so, this ebook will help you put your money where your heart is. Beautifully blended with wisdom and wit, and lavishly sprinkled with creativity.“Homeless for the Holidays” is the eBook of choice for every agency supporting the needs of the homeless, and every publication that roots for the homeless.Judy Vorfeldhttp://beckyblanton.com or http://homeless4theholidays.com