From all of us who work tirelessly to assist the Homeless, we want to say "THANK YOU, NOAH" for your unbelievable effort!
1,800-mile trek focuses on homeless Noah Rattler Day is proclaimed to honor Houstonian
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle
Homeless activist Noah Rattler says he's never been in a hurry.
After starting college in 1996, he said, he played around for two years before getting serious about his studies, and took a decade to earn two degrees, in mechanical engineering in 2004 and in physics in 2006.
Similarly, he took his time in his recent effort to dramatize the plight of the homeless.
On Aug. 4, after 134 days on the road, Rattler finished an 1,800-mile trek from Houston to Los Angeles to start "a national movement that is dedicated to ending homelessness, not just fighting homelessness, and making sure people are no longer on the streets."
Rattler, 29, was honored Saturday by about 100 family members, friends, South Park neighbors and advocates for the homeless at the Girls and Boys Academy on West Bellfort. And Mayor Bill White declared Saturday Noah Rattler Day.
The native Houstonian announced a $1 million fundraising campaign for SEARCH, a nonprofit agency that offers an array of programs for Houston's homeless. SEARCH claims Houston has 14,000 homeless, more than a third of them children.
"The mission is to engage the community, get everyone involved who cares and open up the compassion in the hearts of the apathetic ... and make it a community effort," he said.
Two years ago, Rattler began riding with SEARCH mobile outreach volunteers who distribute food, clothes and hygiene kits to the homeless. His experience moved him to do something.
"Noah is an inspiration because he has the passion and he has taken it across the country," said Shelly Cyprus, the founder and president emerita of SEARCH.
Leaving Houston on March 24, Rattler reached Dallas and turned westward for a journey called "A Walk In Their Shoes." Most days, he walked 20 miles. For the first 10 days, he carried a 50-pound backpack with food, his laptop, camera, sleeping bag, tent, hammock, poncho and a tarp.
After Dallas, he was trailed by a camper driven by friend Jari Fuller. She went a highway exit ahead of his route, making sure he showed up every few hours to replenish his water.
The going was tough. Rattler burned a foot on the pavement in the 120-degree heat of the Mojave Desert. The fridge didn't keep food cool, so they made Ramen noodles and vegetable stir-fry meals on a propane stove, sometimes throwing in summer sausage or Spam.
"It was very hard. It was a lot of sitting and waiting. And once we were in the desert, there were swarms of flies," said Fuller, 30, a University of Houston graduate student studying social work. "We" included her toy poodle, Princess. "It was a really, really good experience — and the scenery was just gorgeous."
They passed through Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California and saw the Painted Desert, the Petrified Forest and the Grand Canyon.
Rattler is still waiting for the feeling to return to the two smallest toes on his right foot, but he can go outside and tell time by the position of the sun.
He feels like he can walk to the South Pole — and with his "save-the-world
"After my feet stop hurting, I'm back on the pavement," he said.
