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Sectarianism in Glasgow takes the form of religious and political sectarian rivalry between Roman Catholics and Protestants. It is reinforced by the fierce rivalry between Celtic F.C. and Rangers F.C., the two Old Firm football clubs.[1] Although a 2003 Survey from Glasgow City Council indicated that people clearly believe "sectarianism is still prevalent in Glasgow", members of the public appear divided on the strength of the relationship between football and sectarianism.Sports clubs are a focal point for religious communities, more so for (Irish) Catholics than Protestants.[2] Sectarianism in Glasgow is visible in the rivalry between the supporters of Glasgow's two main football clubs, Celtic and Rangers, collectively known as the Old Firm. One study showed that 74% of Celtic supporters identify themselves as Catholic, whereas only 10% identify as Protestant; for Rangers fans, the figures are 2% and 65%, respectively.[1] At Rangers' Ibrox Stadium, the Union Flag and Ulster banner are often displayed, whilst at Celtic Park, the Irish tricolour prevails.[1] During the late 19th century, many immigrants came to Glasgow from Ireland, of whom around 25% were Protestant and around 75% Roman Catholic. The foundation of Celtic, a club with a distinct Irish Roman Catholic identity, was crucial in the subsequent adoption by Rangers of a Protestant, Unionist identity.[11] From the early 20th century onwards, it is described by prominent Rangers figures that Catholic players were not knowingly signed by the club,[12] nor employed in other prominent roles as an 'unwritten rule'; however, no official document from the club has ever been produced to prove this.[13][14][15] Particularly from the 1970s, Rangers came under increasing media pressure to change their stance,[16] despite several of the club's directors continuing to publicly defend the position.(Credits - Wikipedia)Roger LevesqueDecember 6, 2002EDGE PaperCeltic vs. Rangers: Catholicism vs. ProtestantismMost European cities can boast of a professional football (soccer) club and a competitive rivalry with a neighboring team. However, Glasgow, Scotland is the home of one of the oldest and most heated rivalries in the world. Two of the most prestigious football clubs in Europe, Celtic and Rangers, both call Glasgow their home. The cross-town rivals first met on the pitch on February 28, 1888. At that point, "none of the 2,000 spectators at the game could have guessed that they were present at a historic occasion, for that evening marked the first of what was to become the most famous, long-lasting – and bitter – sporting rivalry in the history of football" (Murray 4). Almost a hundred years after the inaugural match, the conflict between fans came to fruition when Celtic and Rangers met in the 1980 Scottish Cup Final. Immediately following an entertaining and relatively problem free match, built up tension exploded into violent riots before anyone had even le! ft the stadium. Celtic supporters, excited after the victory, rushed the field to celebrate with their beloved players. Angered by the loss and the expression of joy shown by their nemesis, Rangers fans also rushed the field. However,…There was no question of celebration in the minds of the fans who invaded from the West end of the ground. They had violence in mind and no sooner was it offered than it was returned with enthusiasm. The brutal and disgusting scenes which followed as bottles flew and drunken supporters charged and counter-charged from one end of the field to that other, brought disgrace upon the two clubs concerned, upon Scottish football generally, and were an affront to Scotland as a nation (Murray 196).The riots after the 1980 Scottish Cup Final acted as a springboard for the conflict between Celtic and Rangers. Before that game, the extent of the tension between the two groups had gone unrealized. However, the truth behind the violence on the field that day continues to plague the rivalry today.Despite the age-old on field rivalry, the tension between Celtic and Ranger supporters runs much deeper than what takes place on the soccer field. The conflict between the fans has erupted into violence on many occasions, with games between the two clubs ending in some of the worst riots and greatest tragedies in sporting history. Despite the tension created through competition, the origin of hatred between clubs and fans is not just the result of bad tackles and endless taunting. Soccer in Glasgow has become a public stage for sectarianism, the religious bigotry that has plagued Scotland for hundreds of years (Murray xi). The very foundations of the two Glasgow football clubs are built on the religious division between Catholicism and Protestantism. Traditionally, Rangers supporters are Protestant while Celtic fans support the Catholic Church. Sectarianism in Scotland emerged after 16th century reformations of the Church of Scotland (Sanders, Origins ! of Sectarianism). At the beginning of the 16th century, Scotland was a piously Catholic nation. Despite strong devotion to the Catholic Church, educated Scots began to look beyond Rome and its doctrines, seeking more personal forms of a spiritual experience. The emergence of the influential John Knox and the circulation of Lutheran books expressing the Protestant ideas of Martin Luther gave those searching for more something to embrace. When the Reformation initially split the Church into Catholic and Protestant factions, Scotland took its first step in the transition from a once Catholic country to a country having a Protestant majority (Renaissance and Reformation). Even though Protestant support had almost completely wiped out Catholicism by the beginning of the 19th century, support for the Catholic Church would soon retake its place in Scottish society. It did this with sheer numbers as Irish Catholics were forced to move to Scotland because! of the great potato famine in Ireland. Not only did the potato famin e increase the number of Irish Catholics in Scotland, but it also increased the bitter feelings on the part of a threatened Scottish Protestant population (Sanders, Origins). This tension would only grow with time .Problems continued in Glasgow as more and more Irish Catholics looked for refuge in Scotland. Since families left Ireland because of famine, they arrived in Scotland with almost nothing, just the clothes on their backs and the hope to make a new life. With more people in the same space, fierce competition erupted between the two groups. Protestants found themselves competing directly with Catholics for jobs, often losing out, as Irish Catholics were willing to work harder for longer periods of time at lower wages (Sanders, Origins). The Glasgow shipyards epitomized this struggle as Catholics tried to get work in an industry that had traditionally been controlled by the Protestant population. While some industries hired Catholics in order to obtain cheaper labor, some remained loyal to Protestant only policies. Rangers football club adopted the Protestant only policy early on in the team’s development. A major proponent of the Protestant only policy, Rangers maint! ained it for 116 years and was eventually one of the last to see the policy go. Because of the unfortunate circumstances that brought them to Scotland in the first place, the Catholic community also found itself failing to meet the respectability standards laid down by the Scottish Protestant community. Protestants frowned upon the Catholics blue-collar way of life, as well as certain Catholic policies on divorce, contraception, mixed marriages and what they saw as the desecration of the Sabbath. Rangers actually refused to play soccer on Sundays (Sanders, Origins). It was small differences like these that pushed the two religious groups to hate one another.Even though Scotland provided better conditions than a famine stricken Ireland, Irish Catholics found that 19th century Glasgow was not as pleasant as they had hoped. In addition to living in extremely poor conditions in a highly industrialized city, oppression and abuse plagued the Irish Catholic community as well. Struggling to settle into their new community, Catholics found that Protestants did everything they could to make life more difficult for the newcomers. Because of these obstacles, leaders in the Catholic community recognized the need for something to help their people settle into their new home. Their savior was soccer. Celtic Football Club was initially founded in November 1887, and then officially established in 1888 to raise money for a Catholic charity, the Poor Children’s Dinner Table. Leaders of the Catholic community hoped that the team would also help maintain people’s interest and devotion to the Catholic faith. This was so impo! rtant in a time where Protestantism and the possibility of a better way of life tempted even the most devout Catholic supporters (Sanders, Celtic FC). Despite its beginnings as a vehicle to promote Catholic support, over time the Celtic Football Club moved away from the religious foundations on which it was based. Although an 1895 resolution suggested that the team introduce a limit on the number of Protestants allowed into the team, this was rejected and the club has since remained open to all faiths. By not practicing any form of religious exclusion, Celtic quickly became one of the most successful football teams in the country.Glasgow Rangers had a very different beginning than its counterpart Celtic. Formed in 1872, Rangers Football club’s initial connection to Protestantism, like many other football clubs at the time, was not much more than that they were made up of Protestant players. In addition to this, Rangers immediately found support and created strong links with the world of shipbuilding, a predominately Protestant profession at the time. However, despite these connections, Rangers’ association with Protestantism was pushed to the forefront until after the formation of Celtic. With Celtic’s strong ties to Catholicism, Protestants in Glasgow wanted a team of their own. Conflict and competition between Catholics and Protestants in the shipbuilding industry naturally pushed Rangers to take that role. "Given the anti-Catholic feeling at the time, it is no surprise that Celtic’s success was not well received. Scottish society demanded a Protestant team to redress the balance! and it was Rangers who emerged as suitable candidates" (Sanders, Glasgow Rangers). Unlike the movement of Celtic away from its Catholic roots, Rangers supporters seemed to embrace Protestantism and the conflict between the two Glasgow sides. It was not until the 1960’s that sectarianism forced itself into the public spotlight. The combination of several events re-ignited the conflict at the foundation of which Celtic and Rangers are based. First, a former Rangers player publicly announced the club’s Protestant only policy, a policy they had kept since the formation of the club. The discrimination angered Catholics, mostly because their club had no such policy. When questioned about the policy, vice Chairman of Rangers Football Club Matt Taylor stated that he felt the policy was "part of our tradition…we were formed in 1873 as a Protestant boys club. To change now would lose us considerable support" (Sanders, Glasgow Rangers). To keep the policy meant! to promote sectarianism. Shortly after this decision, Rangers suppor ters openly practiced this racial bigotry. In the opening moments of a football match in 1963, Rangers fans jeered during a minute silence taken for the assassinated Catholic U.S. President, John F. Kennedy. Supporters of Catholicism were furious with this blatant act of bigotry. Even local papers, indifferent of the tension created by sectarianism, were embarrassed by the Rangers indiscretion. Ian Archer of the Glasgow Herald was even quoted as saying, "as a Scottish football club, they [Rangers] are a permanent embarrassment and an occasional disgrace. This country would be a better place if Rangers did not exist" (Sanders, Glasgow Rangers). The Catholic community fully supported this statement.In Glasgow, violence and abuse have gone well beyond football hooliganism. No longer can people view the conflict solely as football fans rioting after an exciting victory or a heartbreaking defeat. Cara Henderson realized this at age 15 when her boyfriend was murdered for supporting the wrong team. On October 7, 1995, Mark Scott was murdered by sectarianism.On the day that he would die, Mark Scott's mother urged him not to wear his Celtic top in case it brought him trouble. Zipping his jacket to cover the green and white hoops, the 16-year-old schoolboy had laughed. "Don't worry, Mum," he said. "They don't do that kind of thing any more." But they did, and hours later Mark had his throat cut by a man who picked him at random from a group of Celtic supporters as they walked home from a match through a Protestant area of Glasgow. His jacket was still zipped (A Game of Two Halves).The Mark Scott tragedy is one of many that have plagued the rivalry between Celtic and Rangers in the recent years. Like Scott, people were not aware of the level of seriousness that which sectarianism had reached. It took a personal tragedy and the love for a lost friend to prompt action. Cara Henderson was so motivated by the killing that she launched "Nil By Mouth", a campaign to put an end to sectarianism in Scotland. In 1999, four years after her friend’s murder, Henderson took it into her own hands to increase awareness and stop the violence on the streets of Glasgow and throughout all of Scotland. Recognizing that the problem existed in the way that people thought, Henderson devised a program to improve education and increase awareness of sectarianism. Addressing the murder of her friend, Henderson thought that, "when that Rangers fan stepped out from the pub doorway and looked into the crowd of Celtic fans he didn't see Mark the schoolboy, Mark the brot! her, the son, the friend...he saw Mark the Fenian, Mark the tim..." (Sanders, Old Firm Supporters). With the help of others, Henderson launched her anti-sectarianism campaign with the following objectives:To inform the general public about, and promote through education and awareness of, the problems of sectarianism and bigotry within Scottish societyTo promote the integration within Scottish society and the celebration of cultural diversityTo encourage people to respect all cultures and to resist sectarianism, racism and bigotry in any shape or formTo encourage everyone to take responsibility for their own attitudes and language, recognizing that this will help to change our societyTo raise awareness of the damage, violence and death in our society resulting from sectarian behavior (Sanders, Campaigns).With increasing support from Rangers, Celtic, a series of schools, employers and political parties, Nil by Mouth has gained recognition and support in both the Catholic and Protestant communities. With the recruitment of public figures, Nil by Mouth hopes to become more influential as it appeals to wider audiences. Henderson herself has appeared in a series of debates broadcast on television and over the radio encouraging people to abandon sectarian behavior. Nil by Mouth’s publicity campaign extends beyond the spoken word in a series of posters displaying anti-sectarianism sentiments through the harsh realities of its consequences. These posters, released in mass quantities in 2000, included a picture of a gravestone with the words "don't be a die hard" below and a face covered in stitches with the slogan "sectarian jokes can have you in stitches." Both were accompanied by the phrase "sectarian behavior can lead to violence and death" (Sanders, Campaigns). A strong ! start in the campaign supporting anti-sectarianism has given people like Cara Henderson hope for a peaceful future.Great strides have been taken in order to improve education and increase awareness of the conflict in Glasgow. However, to the extent at which sectarianism has plagued the supporters of Celtic and Rangers, and the rest of the country for that matter, it is not something that is going to disappear overnight. Changing peoples’ attitudes, especially those that have grown out of such strong belief systems like Catholicism and Protestantism, is not going to be easy. The competition between the two football clubs will make the movement away from sectarianism even more difficult. Even with today’s increased awareness, supporters from both clubs still chant sectarian songs during matches. Even though most people may sing to support of their respective club, the roots of the songs represent discrimination and religious bigotry that began even before the establishment of the two clubs. Until people make a serious commitment to put an end to sectarianism, like Cara Henderson,! others may find themselves losing loved ones simply because of the color of a shirt.123-year old marriage of unsurpassed passion(Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) - FIFA.com) 10 May 2001RODDY FORSYTH is the Scottish football correspondent for BBC Radio Sport (England) and the Daily Telegraph (England) in Glasgow.Possibly nowhere in the world is there a rivalry which can surpass that of Celtic and Rangers. There are local or national feuds which come close and, from time to time, exceed the collision of blue and green in Glasgow, but Celtic-Rangers is the oldest and the most durable.Rangers' history stretches back almost to the beginning of football as a properly codified game. The club was founded in early 1872 by a group of lads from the Highlands of Scotland who settled on a name for their team by looking through a list of English rugby clubs and agreeing on Rangers.Rangers were by no means the principal club in Scotland during their early years; that distinction belonged to Queen's Park, who were so superior that Scotland sometimes called upon all or most of their players for games against England, Ireland and Wales. Queen's Park also established the passing game in football, displacing the dribbling style of the English pioneers.But in 1888 the Scottish Football League was formed and the game became professional in Scotland. Queen's Park remained amateur and began to lose status and influence. The year before Celtic were founded by a Marist Brother known as Walfrid, with the main object of raising money for the poor of the east end of Glasgow. The club had deep roots amongst the immigrant Irish community from the start and retains a sizeable support in Ireland, north and south to this day. Celtic played their first game at Celtic Park (sometimes known as Parkhead) on 28 May 1888 and beat Rangers 5-2.SeriesThe 2nd episode of the Great Derby series is dedicated to the battle for supremacy between the two great Glasgow clubs, Rangers and Celtic, the oldest Derby in football history. In the June issue FIFA Magazine will take a look at the arch rivals in Rio de Janeiro, Flamengo and Fluminense.The rivalry gathered pace as Queen's Park stubbornly disdained the professional game (even now they remain the only amateur team in the leagues of Scotland or England) - and Scottish supporters began to seek a 'native' team who might prove a match for a Celtic side which had immediately become a force in the game.Rangers were the obvious choice. They played on the west side of Glasgow, Celtic the east. Rangers had been founded by Highland Presbyterians and drew much of their support from the Protestant community, Celtic from the growing Irish and Scottish Catholic population. So the rivalry was cultural and religious but it remained friendly for the better part of 30 years.Many sporting cartoons commented on the money-making capacity of the two clubs, and in 1909 money was at the root of a riot when the pair met in a Scottish Cup Final replay at Hampden Park. But the factions were not fighting each other. The result was again a draw but there was no extra time and this time the 61,000 crowd refused to move. The word spread that the game had been fixed to generate a lucrative third game and the two supports united to storm the pitch, fight the police and set fire to the payboxes. There was no third game and the cup was withheld.Running battles in GlasgowAfter the First World War ended, the Irish war of Independence broke out and animosity between Celtic and Rangers supporters became deep rooted, especially when the mainly Catholic south of Ireland became independent in 1921 and the small, largely Protestant north remained in the United Kingdom.Violence became a byword when the sides met, with running battles in the city after Glasgow derbies. Celtic had always been a club with a distinctly Catholic ethos but never stopped signing Protestant players. Rangers did not knowingly sign a Catholic for 70 years. Sectarianism, however, was undoubtedly good for business and the pair drew colossal crowds at a time when Scotland set world attendance records, with gates of well over 100,000 commonplace.The clubs dominated Scottish football and then became forces in the wider world. Rangers reached the final of the European Cup Winners' Cup three times between 1961 and 1972, beating Dynamo Moscow in Barcelona on the third occasion. Celtic went one better and became the first British club to win the European Champion Clubs' Cup, overcoming Inter Milan 2-1 in Lisbon in 1967 under their legendary manager, Jock Stein. Three years later Celtic set a European Champion Clubs' Cup crowd record of 136,505 when they beat Leeds United, champions of England, at Hampden Park. However, they lost the final itself to Feyenoord in Milan.The mid to late 1970s saw both decline as European powers but bad blood continued between them, culminating in the Hampden Riot of 1980 when fans of both sides fought on the pitch after Celtic had beaten Rangers 1-0 in the Scottish Cup Final. By this time, though, Scotland in general had become a far more tolerant and secular country than half a century previously and the two clubs were roundly condemned for what was seen to be a national shame.In 1986 there was a revolutionary development when Rangers appointed the former Liverpool and Scotland midfielder, Graeme Souness, as player manager. He immediately exploded the restrictive Scottish wage structure and began to import outsiders. Most significantly, backed by a new chairman, David Murray, he signed Maurice Johnston, a Catholic Scotland striker who had previously played for Celtic.Rangers so wrongfooted Celtic at this time that for the next twelve years they won every championship but one, which Celtic took in 1998. The pendulum has begun to swing back, though, as Celtic have revived under the former Nottingham Forest and Northern Ireland winger, Martin O'Neill.19 goals in four gamesNon-Scottish players now predominate at both clubs yet, if anything, the derby meetings are even more supercharged than before. This season goals have been scored at a manic rate, almost as fast as red and yellow cards have been brandished. Scottish clubs meet four times in the league each season. Celtic won the first derby 6-2, Rangers replied with a 5-1 victory and in the most recent encounter Celtic won 1-0, but four days earlier Rangers had lost 3-1 in the Scottish League Cup semi final -19 goals in four games.In the two back-to-back games four players were shown the red card by the referee. There was bound to be an increase in the number of foreign players sent off in the derbies, simply because they now outnumber the Scots. On the other hand, these players arrive with only the vaguest knowledge - if any - of the background to this division, yet in derby after derby newcomers are overwhelmed by the atmosphere and reason flies out the window.It is hard, even for a seasoned observer, to know exactly what to make of it all. What we can say for certain about Celtic-Rangers is that this volcanic rivalry magnifies everything to do with these clubs. For better or for worse, in sickness and health, this 123-year old marriage of unsurpassed football passions continues to prove that, as the song says, you can't have one without the other.Thanks for A2A.

Politics‘My whole town practically lived there’: From Costa Rica to New Jersey, a pipeline of illegal workers for Trump goes back yearsTrump rails against illegal workers. His 'Summer White House' was built by them.For years, Trump's golf club in Bedminster, N.J. relied on undocumented workers from Costa Rica. These are their stories. (Video: Dalton Bennett, Jesse Mesner-Hage/Photo: Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)By Joshua Partlow ,Nick Miroff andDavid A. FahrentholdFebruary 8 at 2:58 PMAt his home on the misty slope of Costa Rica’s tallest mountain, Dario Angulo keeps a set of photographs from the years he tended the rolling fairways and clipped greens of a faraway American golf resort.Angulo learned to drive backhoes and bulldozers, carving water hazards and tee boxes out of former horse pastures in Bedminster, N.J., where a famous New Yorker was building a world-class course. Angulo earned $8 an hour, a fraction of what a state-licensed heavy equipment operator would make, with no benefits or overtime pay. But he stayed seven years on the grounds crew, saving enough for a small piece of land and some cattle back home.Now the 34-year-old lives with his wife and daughters in a sturdy house built by “Trump money,” as he put it, with a porch to watch the sun go down.It’s a common story in this small town.Other former employees of President Trump’s company live nearby: men who once raked the sand traps and pushed mowers through thick heat on Trump’s prized golf property — the “Summer White House,” as aides have called it — where his daughter Ivanka got married and where he wants to build a family cemetery.“Many of us helped him get what he has today,” Angulo said. “This golf course was built by illegals.”Dario Angulo at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J. (Courtesy of Dario Angulo)Dario Angulo with his cattle in Santa Teresa de Cajon. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)The Washington Post spoke with 16 men and women from Costa Rica and other Latin American countries, including six in Santa Teresa de Cajon, who said they were employed at the Trump National Golf Club Bedminster. All of them said that they worked for Trump without legal status — and that their managers knew.The former employees who still live in New Jersey provided pay slips documenting their work at the Bedminster club. They identified friends and relatives in Costa Rica who also were employed at the course. In Costa Rica, The Post located former workers in two regions who provided detailed accounts of their time at the Bedminster property and shared memorabilia they had kept, such as Trump-branded golf tees, as well as photos of themselves at the club.The brightly painted homes that line the road in Santa Teresa de Cajon, many paid for by wages earned 4,000 miles away, are the fruits of a long-running pipeline of illegal workers to the president’s course, one that carried far more than a few unauthorized employees who slipped through the cracks.Soon after Trump broke ground at Bedminster in 2002 with a golden shovel, this village emerged as a wellspring of low-paid labor for the private club, which charges tens of thousands of dollars to join. Over the years, dozens of workers from Costa Rica went north to fill jobs as groundskeepers, housekeepers and dishwashers at Bedminster, former employees said. The club hired others from El Salvador, Mexico and Guatemala who spoke to The Post. Many ended up in the blue-collar borough of Bound Brook, N.J., piling into vans before dawn to head to the course each morning.Their descriptions of Bedminster’s long reliance on illegal workers are bolstered by a newly obtained police report showing that the club’s head of security was told in 2011 about an employee suspected of using false identification papers — the first known documentation of a warning to the Trump Organization about the legal status of a worker.Other supervisors received similar flags over the years. A worker from Ecuador said she told Bedminster’s general manager several years ago that she entered the country illegally.Eric Trump, a son of the president who runs the Trump Organization along with his brother Donald Trump Jr., declined to comment on the accounts by the former workers. Bedminster managers did not return requests for comment.The company’s recent purge of unauthorized workers from at least five Trump properties contributes to mounting evidence that the president benefited for years from the work of illegal laborers he now vilifies.[Trump’s golf course employed undocumented workers — and then fired them amid showdown over border wall]It remains unclear what measures Trump or his company took to avoid hiring such workers, even after he launched a White House bid built on the threat he says they pose to Americans.Amid Trump’s push for a border wall, there has been little public discussion of how U.S. employers — including the president himself — have generated demand for unlawful workers.White House officials did not respond to requests for comment.Eric Trump has said he and other senior Trump Organization executives did not know the company hired illegal workers, noting that the employees used falsified documents.“We have tens of thousands of employees across our properties and have very strict hiring practices,” the company said in a statement in December. “If any employee submitted false documentation in an attempt to circumvent the law, they will be terminated immediately. We take this issue very seriously.”People wait on the roof of the Bedminster club for the arrival of President-elect Donald Trump on Nov. 18, 2016. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)President Trump speaks during a meeting with business leaders at the Bedminster club in August. (Carolyn Kaster/AP)'It's been a very open secret'Over the years, the network from Costa Rica to Bedminster expanded as workers recruited friends and relatives, some flying to the United States on tourist visas and others paying smugglers thousands of dollars to help them cross the U.S.-Mexico border, former employees said. New hires needed little more than a crudely printed phony green card and a fake Social Security number to land a job, they said.Some workers described Bedminster as their launchpad to buy homes and start businesses. Others remembered it as grueling labor under bosses who were demanding, even bigoted — and who at times used the workers’ illegal status against them.After the New York Times in December reported about two housekeepers without legal status who worked at Bedminster, the Trump Organization fired at least 18 employees at five golf courses in New York and New Jersey, part of what Eric Trump has said is “a broad effort” to identify unauthorized workers. An additional undisclosed number were fired from Bedminster, former employees said.[Purge of undocumented workers by the president’s company spreads to at least 5 Trump golf courses]“Our employees are like family, but when presented with fake documents, an employer has little choice,” Eric Trump told The Post last month.“This situation is not unique to Trump Organization — it is one that all companies face,” he added. “It demonstrates that our immigration system is severely broken and needs to be fixed immediately.”As president, his father has repeatedly called for a crackdown on illegal immigration.“No issue better illustrates the divide between America’s working class and America’s political class than illegal immigration,” Trump said during his State of the Union address Tuesday. “Tolerance for illegal immigration is not compassionate — it is cruel.”But the lax hiring practices at Bedminster and other Trump properties described by former employees — including some who said their supervisors discussed their fake documents — stand in sharp contrast with Trump’s rhetoric.Trump meets with state leaders at the Bedminster club in August. (Carolyn Kaster/AP)While other top-tier U.S. golf courses adopted the federal government’s E-Verify system to check the immigration status of potential hires, the Trump Organization is only now planning to implement it throughout its properties — even though then-candidate Donald Trump claimed in 2016 he was using it across his company.Of 12 Trump golf courses in the United States, three of them — in North Carolina, Southern California and Doral, Fla. — are enrolled in the E-Verify system, according to a federal database. Eric Trump said that “a few” other clubs, including a Trump course in the Bronx, use a private vendor to screen new applicants.[Trump’s company plans to expand check of employees’ legal status following report that it hired undocumented workers for years]The government has offered employers electronic verification services since 1997 and introduced the E-Verify system in 2007 to allow companies to screen new hires online. Nearly 750,000 U.S. employers are enrolled in the program, according to the latest government figures.ClubCorp, the nation’s largest operator of private golf and country clubs, has used E-Verify for all new hires since 2012, according to company executives.Trump last year proposed making the E-Verify program mandatory nationwide, calling it one of his immigration policy priorities.What Trump has said about E-VerifyPresident Trump’s company now plans to institute E-Verify after repeatedly calling for employers to use to program in 2016. (Taylor Turner, JM Rieger/The Washington Post)Employers have an obligation to verify an employee’s eligibility to work in the United States and can face a range of civil and criminal penalties for hiring illegal workers, according to immigration lawyers. When an employee submits documents such as a permanent resident card or Social Security card, employers have a responsibility to examine those documents.If an employer pays payroll taxes for an employee whose name does not match their Social Security number, the Internal Revenue Service or the Social Security Administration may send the employer what’s called a “no-match” letter.Such a letter does not trigger any immigration proceedings or require the employer to fire the employee. Instead, it alerts the employer to ask the employee to resolve the problem by correcting the government record, said Anastasia Tonello, president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.In Bound Brook, a majority-Hispanic town where many of the area’s blue-collar workers live, the presence of illegal workers on Trump’s staff was widely known, according to people in the community.“It was far more systematic than two or three housekeepers,” said Joyce Phipps, executive director of Casa de Esperanza, a legal aid organization for immigrants, who said she has had several clients who were Bedminster employees. “It’s been a very open secret.”Costa Rica native Marco Gamboa Fallas, during his time as a groundskeeper at the Bedminster club. (Courtesy of Marco Gamboa Fallas)Marco Gamboa Fallas stands in front of his home in San Jose, Costa Rica. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)Answering the callSanta Teresa de Cajon is little more than a ribbon of road set amid coffee farms and cattle pastures on the flank of 12,500-foot Mount Chirripo. Young men zip along on dirt bikes, running errands up and down the mountain.For those growing up here, as elsewhere in Central America, the risky trip north to the United States can mean seed money for a decent life.Juan Carlos Zuñiga left Santa Teresa to make that journey in 2002. At the U.S.-Mexico border, he said, he scaled a 10-foot fence and jumped into Nogales, Ariz. He bought his first fake documents in Las Vegas — adopting the name Juan Lara — and hopped on a flight to New Jersey.Zuñiga had a cousin who worked on a horse farm in genteel Bedminster Township. A nearby property needed workers, his cousin told him.Trump had purchased the 520-acre Lamington Farm, with its brick manor house and rolling horse pastures. The estate was once owned by John DeLorean, an automobile engineer who invented the namesake sports car.“This is a special place,” Trump told a crowd of some 100 people gathered in October 2002 for the groundbreaking ceremony, according to the Courier News.At the time, the Newark Star-Ledger reported that Trump was lavishing money on the project, “flying in masons, carpenters, landscapers and bulldozer operators from around the world and housing them on-site.”Some of the first Costa Ricans hired to build Trump National Golf Club Bedminster — Zuñiga, Angulo, and their Santa Teresa neighbor Abel Mora, among others — remember it as punishing work. They labored from dawn until late evening, seven days a week, raking and hauling mountains of earth moved by heavy machinery and shaping it into golf holes.Construction is in progress at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster. (Courtesy of Juan Carlos Zuñiga)The clubhouse of Trump National Golf Club Bedminster on Nov. 18, 2016. (Carolyn Kaster/AP)“It was rake, rake, rake, the whole day,” Zuñiga said.There was also seeding, watering, mowing, building the sand traps and driving bulldozers, mini-excavators and loaders — all while they earned about $10 an hour or less, they said.Around that time, a licensed heavy equipment operator in central New Jersey would have received an average of $51 to $55 per hour in wages and benefits, according to union officials at the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 825 in the nearby town of Springfield.As the golf course took shape, more hands were needed. Bosses told Zuñiga and his friends to bring workers. The town of Santa Teresa answered the call.Donald Trump wields a golden shovel at the 2002 groundbreaking of Trump National Golf Club Bedminster. (Zuma Press/Alamy)Mariano Quesada, an early greenskeeper at the club from the village, rented out a duplex in Bound Brook to several other Costa Ricans. His wife, Angela, said she would wake up before dawn to cook breakfasts and lunches for as many as 22 people on the Bedminster maintenance staff.The laborers were coming not only from Santa Teresa de Cajon, but also from other parts of Costa Rica and around Latin America. Before long, so many were working on the course — more than 100, by workers’ estimates — that Zuñiga’s cousin began charging workers for rides to Bedminster. He had two vans in circulation morning and night. When that wasn’t enough, he bought a used school bus, Zuñiga said.“For me, moving to the U.S. wasn’t a very drastic change,” said Mauricio Garro, 36, who worked in maintenance at the golf course for five years until he returned to Santa Teresa in 2010. “My whole town practically lived there.”To get a job at Trump National, the Costa Ricans — as well as Guatemalans, Salvadorans and Mexicans who were employed by the club — would purchase fake green cards and Social Security numbers in Bound Brook and neighboring towns.These were easy to come by. Sandra Diaz, a housekeeper from Poas de Aserri, Costa Rica, got photos taken at Walgreens and paid a friend of hers $50 for fake papers. Ana Vasquez, an immigrant from El Salvador who bused tables in the club’s restaurant, went to neighboring Plainfield to buy her phony Social Security card alias, “Yohana Pineda.”Before going to her interview, Vasquez asked a friend if the club would hire people who used fake documents.“I thought, ‘This is a place with a very famous owner,’ ” she recalled. “My friend said there was nothing to worry about. She told me, ‘They don’t care.’ ”'We don't have good papers'Several former workers said that managers in housekeeping and maintenance were well aware their documents were fraudulent — but hired them anyway. Housekeeper Gilberta Dominguez said her manager filled out her application in 2016 because she didn’t speak English.“And I said, ‘Listen, we don’t have good papers,’ ” Dominguez, of Oaxaca, Mexico, recalled telling her manager. “She said, ‘It doesn’t matter; don’t talk about that.’ ”In 2005, Zuñiga said, he decided that it was better to be working at Bedminster under his own name in case he got hurt on the job. He purchased new fake documents and turned those in to his supervisors. Juan Lara was suddenly Juan Carlos Zuñiga. His bosses didn’t flinch, he said.“They were making jokes about the Social Security cards in the office, because they looked so fake,” he recalled. “They would joke that my name was Juan Lara at the beginning.”In 2011, Hank Protinsky, then the club’s head of security, was warned by local police that an employee could be using fake papers, according to a police report obtained by The Post through a public records request.The worker’s status was discovered when the Bedminster Township Police Department investigated a hit-and-run accident on the course and questioned a man identified as the driver: a club employee working under the name Reinaldo Villareal.When Officer Thomas Polito spoke to Villareal, he “told me that his real name was Fredis Otero and that he was working under a false name and social security numbers,” Polito wrote.Otero, a native of Colombia, told police that he had arrived in the United States as a cabin steward on a cruise ship and walked off the ship when it docked in Miami in 2010. He obtained a three-month vacation visa, then bought a fake Social Security card and U.S. permanent resident card and used them to get hired at Trump’s course, according to the report.Polito wrote in the police report that he told Protinsky his employee “may be using a false name and government documentation.”The head of security gave the police officer a copy of Villareal’s employment application, which showed that while his resident card listed his first name as “Reynaldo,” his application spelled it “Reinaldo,” the report said.Police arrested Otero and contacted U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement about his case. ICE confirmed Friday that it took custody of Otero and that he left the United States in August 2011.The Trump Organization did not respond to a request for comment. Protinsky — who has since left the course — declined to comment.Other former workers said their jobs at Bedminster, along with Trump’s popularity with local law enforcement agencies, afforded them a degree of protection despite their immigration status.One former kitchen staffer from Ecuador still carries an ID card with her name and photo that says she is a “supporter” of a foundation that provides scholarships to the children of New Jersey State Police. She said she got the card at a golf tournament the charity held at Bedminster. The foundation did not respond to a request for comment.Mariano Quesada, then a greenskeeper, drives at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster. (Courtesy of Mariano Quesada)Quesada poses for a portrait near Santa Teresa de Cajon in January. (Dalton Bennett/The Washington Post)At times, rifts between legal employees and those without papers were occasionally laid bare in front of the managers.Emma Torres, a housekeeper from Ecuador, said that in mid-2015, she complained to the club’s general manager, David Schutzenhofer, about a supervisor who blocked her from taking a lunch break and frequently berated her for not speaking English.During the meeting, she said Schutzenhofer asked her if she was going to file a complaint with the state labor department. Torres told him that would be impossible.“I told him no, because I didn’t have papers,” she said.Trump had recently launched his presidential campaign, vowing to build a border wall. Torres said she asked Schutzenhofer why Trump spoke so harshly about immigrants.“This is just politics,” he said.Torres stayed at the club but was reassigned to the kitchen.The Post contacted Schutzenhofer and two dozen current and former managers at Bedminster — including those identified by the workers as their supervisors — and asked if they were aware that the club employed people without legal status. Most either declined to comment or did not respond.One former groundskeeping manager responded only by sending The Post an animated image of Trump saying, “I have great relationships with the Mexican people.”Another former manager, who confirmed working closely with both Zuñiga and Garro, said, “I think everyone was in the dark. We all assumed they were legal.” That manager spoke on the condition of anonymity to preserve relationships in the golf industry.Ed Russo, an environmental consultant who worked on the Bedminster project and was remembered by one of the Costa Ricans as a supervisor, declined to address whether he was aware illegal workers were hired for the project.“Are you documented?” Russo asked a reporter. “You’re not going to get anything from me.”Over the years, Trump family members have emphasized their deep involvement in properties that carry their name.“People think of Trump as being just a face, just a brand,” Eric Trump said in a 2011 promotional video about the company’s golf courses. “We design every single tee, every fairway. . . . We pick the carpets. We pick the chandeliers. There is not one element of these clubhouses which we don’t know about it. You name it — we’re involved.”Franklin Mora, who said he worked without legal status at the Bedminster club, poses for a portrait near Santa Teresa de Cajon in January. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)A hat worn by a former worker at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster is displayed in a home in San Jose, Costa Rica. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)A former Bedminster worker in San Jose, Costa Rica, holds golf tees from the club. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)Abel Mora, a former greenskeeper, is pictured in Santa Teresa de Cajon. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)'We had to be invisible'Donald Trump himself was an imperious but mostly distant figure for the illegal workers, who in the early years at Bedminster would be told to make themselves scarce when “the big boss” would arrive by helicopter.Groundskeepers would stay inside a converted horse barn used to store tools and machinery or go into the woods to wait, they said.“When he arrived, we had to hide,” said Alan Mora, a former greenskeeper who helped build the driving range and who now works as a security guard at a resort hotel in Santa Teresa. “We had to be invisible.”On days Trump dined in the club’s restaurant, Vasquez said she and five other Spanish-speaking women working illegally at the club in 2004 and 2005 were sent upstairs by their supervisor to fold napkins and buff the glassware, and kept out of sight.“They would tell us it was because the restaurant was hosting an important event, and only the workers who could speak English could be there,” she said.Trump was also known for his occasional largesse. The housekeepers who cleaned his villa noted neat stacks of $20, $50 and $100 bills on his bedside table, which Trump would dole out as tips as he golfed or strolled the grounds. He would sometimes warmly greet employees and compliment them as he inspected their work.Trump’s election did not bring any added scrutiny to his workers’ immigration status, former employees said. Torres said superiors kept her name and those of other workers without legal status off a list of people to be vetted by the Secret Service before a Trump visit to the club in 2016.Another former employee who arrived in the United States in 2018 on a tourist visa and worked as a groundskeeper said his manager only asked for his nationality in preparation for a Trump visit. He told him that he was from Costa Rica.Groundskeepers were given a general warning not to bring drugs, weapons or explosives to work, a request he found amusing.“It was very light security, very normal,” said the employee, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he hopes to return to the United States. “Here in Costa Rica, to enter someone’s home, they would ask for more. They want you to identify yourself. Over there, that didn’t happen.”Former Bedminster worker Dario Angulo rides his motorbike to visit another former employee of the club who lives in Santa Teresa de Cajon. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)Many of the Bedminster workers from Costa Rica lived in Bound Brook, N.J., piling into vans each morning for the 30-minute drive to the course. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)A divided workforceThe long-standing presence of unauthorized workers at Bedminster created a culture in which employees were stratified by immigration status and English-language proficiency, former employees said.At the top were the professional staff and senior managers who spoke little or no Spanish. Below them were mid-level supervisors who were often immigrants themselves and able to converse in both languages.Many without legal status told The Post they did not receive health benefits, while they heard other colleagues did.Groundskeepers would work through storms, snow and glaring sun with little protection.One rainy day in 2007, Zuñiga said, he and other greenskeepers staged a one-day strike, refusing to leave a maintenance building until supervisors agreed to pay them for sick days.The maintenance manager eventually conceded and offered rain jackets to the greenskeepers. Some of the longer-serving staff members were offered health insurance, too.“This was the first protest by the Hispanics,” Zuñiga said.Franklin Mora, who quit after a year on the grounds crew, said that his manager would mock his limited English and spoke harshly to the Hispanic employees. The manager required them to set their mowers at a pace that required them to jog to keep up in a fashion he viewed as humiliating.“They treated us like slaves,” he said.The experience left Mora so bitter he said he wouldn’t return to the United States even as a tourist.Still, others remain hopeful they will get to go back to Bedminster as part of a seasonal workforce that swells every spring.In Santa Teresa de Cajon, some former Trump workers recall their New Jersey years as a rite of passage — not unlike military service or leaving home for college. They learned to cook their own meals, clean up after themselves and endure freezing winters and homesickness.“The golf course is the best thing that has happened in my life,” said Angulo, who now earns his living raising cattle.He said he didn’t care much for Bound Brook or other U.S. cities he visited, but he loved tending to the golf course and dreams of going back one day to see the place “that taught me how to work hard.”This time, he said, he would like to go as a tourist.Dario Angulo said his Bedminster experience “taught me how to work hard.” (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)The entrance to Trump National Golf Club Bedminster in January. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)Alice Crites and Jonathan O’Connell in Washington; Lori Rozsa in West Palm Beach, Fla.; Kim Kavin in Bedminster, N.J.; and Ismael Lopez in Costa Rica contributed to this report.

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