“It was good here. It was safe here.”

Hey, thanks for serving our country. 

Now don't let the door hit ya where the good lord split ya.....

MILLEDGEVILLE
Veterans left homeless due to state budget cuts

By MARK DAVIS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sunday, November 30, 2008

This is moving day. Michael Seamands’ cramped home for the past five years is no longer his. The landlord, the state of Georgia, says he has to go.

He has packed cleaning materials, clothes, the model airplanes he assembled in the quiet afternoons at the Georgia War Veterans Home domiciliary.

The Lawrenceville resident accepts the moving orders with the stoicism you’d expect from someone who patrolled the Vietnamese jungles 36 years ago. Some things you cannot change, Seamands said; you get your orders and head out.

“It was good here,” said Seamands, 58, an Army veteran who served in Vietnam from 1970 to 1971. “It was safe here.”

The domiciliary’s closing is proof that few programs are safe from state budget cuts in this cramped economy.

On Aug. 1, Gov. Sonny Perdue sent a memo to the state Department of Veterans Services, which operates the home. It ordered the agency to devise plans to cut expenditures by 6 percent, 8 percent and 10 percent for the rest of this fiscal year and the next.

The department took a “real, real hard look” at its domiciliary care here, said Len Glass, the department’s assistant commissioner for administration.

The program, he said, cost the state $2.7 million annually. By cutting it for the rest of this fiscal year — it ends June 30, 2009 — the department would deduct $1.7 million from its $25 million budget. It would represent more than a 10 percent reduction for the next fiscal year, he said.

Officials also looked at other numbers. The 81 residents, Glass said, represented far less than 1 percent of the state’s total veteran population, estimated at 760,000.

In late August, Glass came to the domiciliary and delivered the news: The men, who’d fought in World War II, Korea and Vietnam, had to find a new home by the last day of November.

“It was a very difficult decision for us,” he said. “Nobody disliked this more than we did.”

‘All about money’

The domiciliary occupies two floors of the Pete Wheeler Building, an X-shaped structure a couple of miles south of downtown. Its foyer is a reminder that residents earned the right to be here. Glass display cases contain Nazi uniforms, medals and other paraphernalia that returning servicemen brought back to Georgia after World War II. Its walls feature patriotic signs, paintings and news clippings from decades ago.

It was the sort of place Seamands needed when he arrived in June 2003 after a divorce and job loss. Residents had to be war veterans who had a medical problem but did not require nursing care. The building was quiet, the food OK. And it was free.

“This place was pretty packed,” said Seamands, declared 40 percent disabled after he broke his back in 1974 during an Army night-training patrol. “I was extremely relieved to find this place.”

Seamands, who said he was homeless for a year before coming to Milledgeville, settled in one of the domiciliary’s single rooms. It was just big enough to accommodate a bed, 21-inch TV, folding table, various snacks and household goods. He moved to “a penthouse suite” when one became open.

The “suite” covers about 145 square feet. It features a bedroom and an adjacent room where Seamands has spent the past few years assembling models of World War II airplanes, military vehicles and boats. He also has a passion for crossword puzzles.

The room is proof that he is a veteran and proud of it. His alarm clock looks like a Willys jeep; it wakes Seamands with “Reveille.” On the bed’s bookcase headboard is a model troop truck, so lifelike it appears to have trundled off a dusty road.

The space has served him well, Seamands said. It was quiet, the sort of place preferred by someone who’d tracked Viet Cong in the leafy dark.

When he learned the domiciliary was closing, Seamands said, he was “stunned.” That made way for anger, which lingers.

“It’s all about money,” Seamands said.

Everyone has found a new home; on Friday, few were left. Some moved to more intensive care facilities at the veteran’s home. Many more are gone, aided by state and local agencies in finding new homes.

Seamands has an apartment about two miles north of his old quarters. With two bedrooms, “it’s huge.”

Seamands will dip into his disability pension to pay $119 of the $370 monthly rent. U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs subsidies will pay the rest, he said.

Friday, Seamands was ready to go — he thought.

He paused and took in his safe place with a fond glance — the models, the boxes waiting to be moved, the jeep that will play “Reveille” in another place.

“It will be OK,” he said. “I’ll have to make that new apartment my safe zone.”

But let's face it. The mayor isn't going to create a housing trust fund in the near future.

Like most conversations Nashville has that are related to housing for the poor and those experiencing homelessness, lots of great ideas with very little forward progress.....

Nashville's poor must wait for housing trust fund
Gail Kerr

Much of the hostility against building the next Habitat for Humanity neighborhood comes from residents who said they were tired of all the low-income housing being built in one part of town.

But Habitat can only buy land that they can afford. And in many Nashville neighborhoods, a hunk of land would just be too expensive.
Advertisement

Wouldn't it be cool if there was a trust fund for housing, an endowed interest-bearing account that would give developers of affordable housing more choices?

That's the idea behind a two-year push by the Rev. Bill Barnes, a longtime neighborhood activist who believes one solution to poverty and homelessness is having enough places for people to afford to live.

"Housing is so key to everything," Barnes said. "Having a roof and walls impacts your health, children's education and so much more.''

To get money from such a fund, developers or nonprofits would file an application. There would be criteria.

"You would have to be very careful about the quality of the housing, but also very careful about the location of the housing," Barnes said. "You've got to have a mix."

He's met with Mayor Karl Dean, who was receptive. But a housing trust fund isn't the top priority for this administration. Education and public safety are.
Agency to head up inventory

So Barnes wants a simple start: "All I'm looking for is a really modest, simple study of what our unmet needs are."

Using that, a trust fund would be created using private donations and grants, and perhaps some sort of dedicated funding source. And yes, that would be a sticky wicket.

"It makes a lot of sense," Metro Councilman Eric Cole said. But the reality is "you've got to have a dedicated source to begin putting revenue into that. That's the real trick."

That could be a real estate transfer tax, he said, or "one of these arcane fees either at the local or state level. The current economic situation is going to make it very hard to use political capital to direct funding to this purpose. That's unfortunate, because this is when folks are in the most need of generating affordable housing."

Cole said the Metro Development and Housing Agency has agreed to head up the kind of inventory Barnes is talking about, so that is a good first step.

Barnes points out there are now 600 such housing trust funds in other parts of the country. Mayor Dean, he said, has shown himself able to raise money quickly. Dean was able to collect $2 million in private donations in just two months for new teaching programs he wants to bring here.

But let's face it. The mayor isn't going to create a housing trust fund in the near future. There's too much other big stuff he's promised to tackle, like a dedicated funding source for public transit.

It sure would make a good re-election campaign promise, though.

Gail Kerr's column runs on Sundays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Reach her at 615-259-8085 or gkerr@tennessean.com.

“It feels great.”

The best Thanksgiving, birthday and Christmas gift I could ever get is to hear all my friends from Tent City happy they are in a new home.....

Tent City residents find new homes for the holidays

By Jennifer Brooks • THE TENNESSEAN • November 28, 2008  

After long years on the streets, some of the homeless residents of Nashville’s Tent City finally made it home for the holidays.

“It feels great,” said Dewey Marsh, looking around the snug apartment that replaced the riverside campsite that had been his home since 2001. “It’s a whole lot different. There are no rats, no bugs, I’m out of the rain.”

Out of the rain and into newly renovated apartments in a converted motel annex off Murfreesboro Road, Marsh and a small group of his former neighbors in Tent City are neighbors again. This time, it’s a neighborhood where everyone has the comfort and safety of four walls and a roof, a bed, a fully stocked kitchen and hot running water.

“It’s been so good, we’ve been so blessed by all the homeless outreach people,” said Barbara Blanton, who spent two long years in Tent City and hopes never to return again.

Her new apartment is spotless and already showing homey touches. There are silk flowers in vases and photos on the refrigerator. She’s put in job applications at every shop within walking distance, and she’s looking forward to a trip to the Salvation Army to pick up a couch, television and a few more comforts of home.

These homes came after months of work by the staff of Park Center, a Nashville outreach group that has been working to find homes for Tent City residents before the city makes good on its threat to shut the camp down. Finding places that would take both Tent City residents and their pets had been one of the major roadblocks.

For Marsh, a veteran who has spent years on the streets, it took a visit to the psychologist to get his pet approved. The therapist ruled that having a pet to take care of would be good for his emotional health and wellbeing.

A tiny puffball of a kitten bounded across Marsh’s living room Friday, batting at a bottle cap. He reached down and scooped it up, introducing the cat as Furby and running an affectionate hand down its back.
“He’s real good company to me,” he said, setting the cat down again to chase its improvised toy. “He’s pretty neat. He loves to sit in my lap and purr. He’s real jumpity.”

Volunteers from the Southern Alliance for Animal Welfare help out with pet food and veterinary care. Marsh is even going to get a few cat toys to give Furby something to chase besides bottle caps.
Park City and its sister outreach agencies are also providing material and emotional support during the transition from homelessness to home.

One of the best parts of the move, residents say, is the fact that they still live together, six units in a row. There’s a built-in support network of friends who understand exactly what their neighbors are going through.

On Thanksgiving Day, everyone gathered in the far unit, at Harold LaBelle’s place, joined by friends who haven’t yet made it out of Tent City. Before dawn, their new stoves were firing up, slow cooking a turkey in one apartment, a ham in another.

Everyone pitched in with side dishes: stuffing, sweet potatoes, turnip greens, green bean casserole, pumpkin pie.

They ate, they watched the Titans game, and then some headed across town to Tent City for a prayer service and another meal with their friends still living outside.

This is a season when people think of the less fortunate and share what they have with the have-nots. This year, for the first time in a long time, Harold LaBelle found himself in a position to give.

Everything he had back in Tent City — his tent, his wood-burning stove, all the things that made living outside a little more bearable in the cold of winter and the heat of summer — he gave away to his homeless friends.

Looking around his apartment — where friends from the camp were sprawled comfortably on the bed and floor, watching a college football game on his new TV — he smiled.

“I guess I’ll be staying here,” he said.

Contact Jennifer Brooks at 259-8892 or jabrooks@tennessean.com.

"The federal government, through its base closure laws, requires that communities overseeing a base closure dedicate part of the land or money made off it to homeless causes."

This may have incredible potential to assist with the homelessness problem in this area, and I suspect, given what it costs to live and work in this portion of California, there'll be a whole lotta new homless folks wandering around this region before our economic downturn has run its course.....

Concord leaders debating homeless accommodations on weapons station land
(photo courtesy City-Data.com)

By Tanya Rose
Contra Costa Times
Posted: 11/28/2008 10:01:37 PM PST

CONCORD — City leaders are debating how to accommodate some of the county's homeless population on the shuttered Concord Naval Weapons Station.

City Council members are trying to decide whether Concord should put $25 million into a trust for homeless services and housing throughout the county, or instead approve a plan for 260 "homeless" housing units on the former military base. The federal government, through its base closure laws, requires that communities overseeing a base closure dedicate part of the land or money made off it to homeless causes.

Amie Fishman of East Bay Housing Organizations told the City Council on Monday she favors the "homeless" units be spread among 12,000 units of proposed affordable housing units on the base.

"This doesn't serve the entire need countywide, but it puts a dent in the need," she said, noting that homeless people should be able to stay in the units until they can get on their feet, with no stringent time limits.

"We urge you to not settle for $25 million," Fishman said.

A trust, regardless of how much goes into it, would be funded through development.

The cost for housing and services at the base will likely be around $78 million, including construction, operation and maintenance over two decades. Of that total, $23 million would go to building the 260 units.

Councilman Mark Peterson said he liked the idea of a large food bank on weapons station land, and an employment center to help the homeless in their job searches. Others liked that idea, too.

"We're struggling with whether to build actual housing units versus a trust fund," he said. "We're trying to figure out the best use of money. I just need more information before making a decision. How many families would be supported by the units versus (by) the money?

"My gut reaction is that the trust fund is a better way to approach it because it's immediate, rather than five or 10 years out," he said. "And we're not only meeting needs in Concord, but in Clayton, Martinez, Walnut Creek and Pittsburg. Do 260 units really meet the needs in all those places?

"Yet we have the experts here telling us that people only stop being homeless if they have permanent housing, so I'd just like more information."

There are about 4,000 homeless people countywide, and in a given year 10,000 to 12,000 utilize services offered by soup kitchens, food banks or the like, said Councilman Bill Shinn.

"We have to be careful when we talk about the homeless — they're not under bridges and peeing on trees," he said. "That's a stereotype."

Shinn said he liked the idea of a trust fund, but wanted to make sure $25 million, which is the staff recommendation, would be enough money.

Councilman Guy Bjerke said he supports the trust fund idea because it would bring relief as early as 2010, which is when the Navy is expected to transfer the land.

"But I also know that when homeless housing providers are competing for land in the open market, they generally lose," said Bjerke. But this land might be had at a discount or even for free, he said, through the federal base closure process.

"Simply giving them money doesn't give them an advantage in the free market. But I also recognize that more often than not, development tends to produce one-time dollars (developer fees) at a point of sale but it doesn't generate ongoing revenue. So I struggle with the concept of moving forward with a project that has ongoing (maintenance and operation) expenses. We need to figure out a way to meet those ongoing obligations."

Councilwoman Laura Hoffmeister also said she liked the trust fund idea, but perhaps balancing that with some standard housing out on the base.

"It's a balancing of needs with other development opportunities," she said.

"If we say great, we're going to build all these units out there, then maybe we don't get as much open space as we wanted. All these things are trade-offs — we can't just keep piling up out there."

"He just seemed to be one of those people who fell through the cracks. He had money, but not enough to live in Nyack."

Touching.....

Starbucks shrine created in honor of homeless customer
Posted 5h 55m ago

Enlarge	By Randi Weiner, The Journal News
Employees and patrons of the Nyack, N.Y., Starbucks left mementos and prayers in honor of Fleming Taylor, a homeless man who frequently sat in this chair.

 

NYACK, N.Y. — Nearly every day during the past year, Fleming Taylor walked into the Starbucks on Main Street as the doors opened, sat in the same purple velvet chair, read and discussed what was in The Wall Street Journal with other regulars, and left only when the store closed in the evening.

 

Now the chair where the 62-year-old Taylor sat is cordoned off with black ribbon and filled with bouquets and notes announcing his death.

Orangetown Police Lt. Joseph Holahan said about 10:45 a.m. Wednesday, officers were sent to 80 1/2 Main St. in Nyack after someone reported a man's body in the stairwell. The death did not appear to be suspicious. Holahan said he could not confirm the man's identity because it was unclear whether all his relatives had been informed.

Starbucks employees and acquaintances, however, identified the man as Taylor, and said he apparently was homeless and lived beneath the stairs where he was found.

Since then, the chair where he sat has become a small shrine, visited by those who knew Taylor and a point of interest in the coffee shop for those who didn't.

 

"I'm a regular Starbucks customer, and I think it's very nice," said Dan Rostan, 56, of Nyack.

Mark Horwitz, assistant manager of the Starbucks store, said Taylor was a quiet and well-mannered man who was a fixture at the coffee shop.

"Lots of college students used to chat with him. He was very friendly, very warm-hearted. People in town would buy him a Starbucks gift card and he won $40 on a single-dollar lottery ticket. He paid for everything, he was a paying customer," Horwitz said. "He just seemed to be one of those people who fell through the cracks. He had money, but not enough to live in Nyack."

Starbucks employees learned of Taylor's death Wednesday, and one, Keyla Santiago, asked to do something in his honor, Horwitz said. That's when the shrine was created. People have been adding to it since.

Lydia Meehan, Mallory Merryman and Jonas Black, 14-year-olds who knew of Taylor through the employees, were among several people who left mementos on the chair.

"He really was just a quiet guy," said Black of Nyack. "It's interesting that lots of people care about someone like him. People like this in different cities just slip beneath the radar, and nobody knows about them. It's nice that in Nyack, everybody is treated as part of a big community family."

Oleg Khaghani, 47, of Valley Cottage and Gene Homicki, 62, of Nyack, knew Taylor for years. Both men said he was a gentleman who didn't publicize his homelessness.

"If any single word described him," Khaghani said, "it was 'dignified.' "

Salvation Army officials said this year has been a difficult one for all of their programs. During the current tough financial times the demand from those in need has doubled.

And no end in sight anytime soon.....



Feeding Effort For Homeless Grows

Posted: Nov 28, 2008 10:19 PM

Video Gallery <1> Feeding Effort For Homeless Grows 2: 09

Salvation Army Says Many More Seeking Help

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Salvation Army hit the streets bringing Thanksgiving dinner to hundreds of Nashville's homeless.

The meal came a day late, but the wait was worth it.

For someone who's homeless, the holidays include a wish list that's much different than most.

It's a list of necessities such as a place to sleep and something to eat.

On Friday, the Salvation Army made one of those a reality.

Surviving the streets means expecting the unexpected. But every Friday night at 6 p.m. under the Jefferson Street Bridge nearly 200 of Nashville's homeless have a routine.

"Yeah it has special meaning.  I'm getting to see my fellow people," said one man.

Dani Amendola and dozens of Salvation Army volunteers started the routine.

Cooking and serving hundreds of hot plates every Friday night. 

"I like doing this for fun.  And love coming out and getting the opportunity to cook for the homeless," he said.

"There's more gratitude in this group under a bridge than I might see or hear about on a day-to-day basis," said Mike Servais, executive director of marketing and resource development at the Nashville Area Command of The Salvation Army.

On the day after Thanksgiving, perhaps the meal means more.

"They're my friends so tonight made my Thanksgiving," said one man.

"So many good things, but we're all just so blessed to be alive," said Ward Shroeder.

With more Middle Tennesseans losing work, losing their homes and struggling to survive veterans of this night say the line is getting longer.

"I'm going to say there's a lot of new ones. Most that's here right now I don't know," said one regular.

And they don't know who will be waiting in line next week. The constants are the truck, the volunteers and the Friday night routine. 

Salvation Army officials said this year has been a difficult one for all of their programs. During the current tough financial times the demand from those in need has doubled.

The problem is donations are drying up.
Salvation Army volunteers started serving Friday night meals for the homeless three years ago.

"A homeless man was found frozen to death in Paris early Friday, the sixth homeless individual to have died of the cold in the Paris area in the past month"

I'm sure we'll see something similar in the US, especially this year, as more folks - espeically "first-timers" to the streets- eke out am existence in an alley somewhere....

Sixth Homeless Man Dies In Paris

Posted : Fri, 28 Nov 2008 12:33:30 GMT


Author : DPA
Paris - A homeless man was found frozen to death in Paris early Friday, the sixth homeless individual to have died of the cold in the Paris area in the past month, France Info radio reported. Reacting to the report, President Nicolas Sarkozy called for immediate action.
"We must act so that no one else dies of the cold in 2008. It's a scandal," Sarkozy said.
The body of the 55-year-old man was found on a sidewalk in the fashionable Fourth Arrondissement, not far from the Place de la Bastille, a site popular with tourists.
On Wednesday, Housing Minister Christine Boutin had provoked outrage among civil rights organizations by demanding a law that would allow authorities to force homeless people into shelters during bad weather.

Sarkozy said Friday that one could not force anyone to go to a shelter "if he does not want to."
The French president suggested that the homeless person should be convinced at least to look at the bed and food he would be provided in the shelter. "If he doesn't like it, then he can go," Sarkozy said.

"My guess, given the usual time-lag factor, is that the super-inflation snap-back will occur six to eighteen months from now."

Kunstler elucidates on the coming storm....

The Clusterfuck Nation Chronicle:

James Howard Kunstler
Commentary on the Flux of Events

~ Published every Monday, est. 2001
Though Citicorp is deemed too big to fail, it's hardly reassuring to know that it's been allowed to sink its fangs into the Mother Zombie that the US Treasury has become and sucked out a multi-billion dollar dose of embalming fluid so it can go on pretending to be a bank for a while longer. I employ this somewhat clunky metaphor to point out that the US Government is no more solvent than the financial zombies it is keeping on walking-dead support. And so this serial mummery of weekend bailout schemes is as much of a fraud and a swindle as the algorithm-derived-securities shenanigans that induced the disease of bank zombification in the first place. The main question it raises is whether, eventually, the creation of evermore zombified US dollars will exceed the amount of previously-created US dollars now vanishing into oblivion through compressive debt deflation.


My guess, given the usual time-lag factor, is that the super-inflation snap-back will occur six to eighteen months from now. And the main result of all this will be our inability to buy the imported oil that comprises two-thirds of the oil we require to keep WalMart and Walt Disney World running. At some point, then, in the early months of the Obama administration, we'll learn that "change" is not a set of mere lifestyle choices but a wrenching transition away from all our familiar and comfortable habits into a stark and rigorous new economic landscape.

The credit economy is dead and the dead credit residue of that dead economy is going where dead things go. It came into the world as "money" and it is going out of this world as a death-dealing disease, and we're not going to get over this disease until we stop generating additional zombie money out of no productive activity whatsoever. The campaign to sustain the unsustainable is, besides war, the greatest pitfall this society can stumble into. It represents a squandering of our remaining scant resources and can only produce the kind of extreme political disappointment that wrecks nations and leads to major conflicts between them. I don't know how much Mr. Obama buys into the current adopt-a-zombie program -- his Treasury designee Timothy Geithner was apparently in on this weekend's Citicorp deal -- but the President would be wise to steer clear of whatever the walking dead in the Bush corner are still up to.

All the activities based on getting something-for-nothing are dead or dying now, in particular buying houses and cars on credit and so it should not be a surprise that the two major victims are the housing and car industries. Notice, by the way, that these are the two major ingredients of an economy based on building suburban sprawl. That's over, too. We're done building it and the stuff we've already built is destined to loose both money value and usefulness as the wrenching transition goes forward.

All this obviously begs the question: what kind of economy are we going to live in if the old one is toast? Well, it's also pretty obvious that it will have to be based on activities productively aimed at keeping human beings alive in an ecology that has a future. Once you grasp this, you will see that there is no reason to despair and more than enough for all of us to do, so we can recover from the zombie nation disease and get on with the next chapter of American history -- and I sure hope that Mr. Obama will get with the new program.

To be specific about this new economy, we're going to have to make things again, and raise things out of the earth, locally, and trade these things for money of some kind that we earn through our own productive activities. Don't make the mistake of thinking this is optional. The only other option is to go through a violent sociopolitical convulsion. We ought to know from prior examples in world history that this is not a desirable experience. So, to avoid that, we really have to put our shoulders to the wheel and get to work on things that matter, and do it at a scale that is consistent with what the world really has to offer right now, especially in terms of available energy.

In my view -- and I know this is controversial -- a much larger proportion of the US population will have to be employed in growing the food we eat. There are many ways of arranging this, some more fair than others, and I hope the better angels of our nature steer us in the direction of fairness and justice. The prospects of a devalued dollar imply that we very shortly will not be able to get the all the oil-and-gas based "inputs" that have made petro-agriculture possible the past century. The consequences of this are so unthinkable that we have not been thinking about it. And, of course, the further implications of current land-use allocation, and the property ownership issues entailed, suggests formidable difficulties in re-arranging the farming sector. The sooner we face all this, the better.

As the fiesta of "globalism" (Tom Friedman-style) draws to a close -- another consequence of currency problems -- we'll have to figure out how to make things in this country again. We will not be manufacturing things at the scale, or in the manner, we were used to in, say, 1962. We'll have to do it far more modestly, using much more meager amounts of energy than we did in the past. My guess is that we will get the electricity for doing this mostly from water. It may actually be too late -- from a remaining capital resources point-of-view -- to ramp up a new phase of the nuclear power industry (and there are plenty of arguments from the practical and economic to the ethical against it). But we have to hold a public discussion about it, if only to clear the air and get on with other things, namely the new activites of alt.energy. But I would hasten to warn readers (again!) that we'll probably have to do these things more modestly too (don't count on giant wind "farms"), and that we are liable to be disappointed by what they can actually provide for us (don't expect to run WalMart on wind, solar, algae-fuels, etc).

In any case, we're not going back to a "consumer" economy. We're heading into a hard work economy in which people derive their pleasures and gratification more traditionally -- mainly through the company of their fellow human beings (which is saying a lot, for those of you who have forgotten what that's about). Our current investments in "education" -- i.e. training people to become marketing executives for chain stores -- will delude Americans for a while about what kind of work is really available. But before long, the younger adults will realize that there are enormous opportunities for them in a new and very different economy. We will still have commerce -- even if it's not the K-Mart blue-light-special variety -- and the coming generation will have to rebuild all the local, multi-layered networks of commercial inter-dependency that were destroyed by the rise of the chain stores. In short, get ready for local business. It will surely be part-and-parcel of our local food-growing and manufacturing activities.

I hate to keep harping on this -- but since nobody else is really talking about it, at least in the organs of public discussion, the job is left to me -- we have to get cracking on the revival of the railroad system in this country, if we expect to remain a united country. This is such a no-brainer that the absence of any talk about it is a prime symptom of the zombie disease that has eaten away our brains. Automobiles (the way we use them) and airplanes are utterly dependent on liquid hydrocarbon fuels, and you can be certain we'll have trouble getting them. You can run trains by other means -- electricity being state-of-the-art in those parts of the world that do it most successfully. I know that California just voted to create a high-speed rail link between Los Angeles and San Francisco. It's an optimistic sign, but it shows more than a little techno-grandiose over-reach. High speed rail would require a mega-expensive re-do of the tracks. We need to scale our ambitions for this more realistically. California (and every other region of America) would benefit much more from normal-speed trains running every hour on the hour on tracks that already exist than from a mega-expensive, grandiose sci-fi program that might not get built for ten years. The dregs of the Big Three automakers can and should be reorganized to produce the rolling stock for a revived railroad system.

Even amidst the financial carnage underway right now, the public is enjoying a respite from high-priced gasoline, but it is due to be short-lived. As I've already said, we are in danger not just of oil prices going way back up again, but of losing access to our supplies from the exporting countries. In other words, we're just as likely to face shortages as high prices, and soon. Oil shortages are certain to produce a political freak-out here unless we get our heads screwed on right -- and this means that Mr. Obama had better prepare quickly for a comprehensive action plan in the face of such an emergency (which has to include a robust public information initiative).

In the meantime, Mr. Obama must dissociate himself from all activities aimed at the care-and-feeding of zombies. Mr. Obama is correct that there is one president and one government at a time, and since this is the case in reality, he must avoid being contaminated by the choices they make as their clock ticks out. Obviously, world markets might be more disturbed if Mr. Obama were to step up and actively contradict everything that is being done to cultivate zombies right now. He is in a very delicate position. But being a man of intelligence and sensibility, he may successfully navigate this rough passage.

That this melt-down is building straight into the Christmas holidays is one of those accidents of history that leaves one reeling in wonder and nausea. The cable networks better be prepared to bombard the public with round-the-clock showings of It's A Wonderful Life, because they're going to need all the moral support they can get as zombies stalk through the silent night, holy night.

"There will be no freedom from want. The only thing we might now hope for is freedom from fear. Even that is a distant state of mind."

"We are entering a recession the likes of which we haven't seen in about three decades or perhaps longer. Since the last time the economy fared so poorly, changes in the unemployment compensation system, coupled with a transformation of the labor force to include vastly more part-time and low-wage workers, have left a majority of workers unprotected by this basic benefit."

America Out of Work

By Marie Cocco, Washington Post Writers Group. Posted November 27, 2008.

Unemployment is soaring and it may be March before we feel the first dollar of an Obama recovery plan.

WASHINGTON -- There will be no freedom from want. The only thing we might now hope for is freedom from fear. Even that is a distant state of mind.

It is not just the wild fluctuations in the stock market, the water-cooler jokes about retirement accounts that are now 201(k)s. It is the incomprehensible dithering of our current president through his lame-duck period, his bizarre refusal to give approval to any economic package that aided anyone or anything that is not a big bank or a Wall Street financial institution.

This delay may well be the scariest development of these frightening times.

What are the reasons for President George W. Bush to have blocked the post-election congressional effort to make a down payment on an anti-recession program aimed at job-creation and sending money to the squeezed states, which must balance their budgets while struggling with ever-rising demand for basic services such as Medicaid and what remains of the program we used to call welfare? Bush has argued, at various times in the past few weeks, either that such a package isn't really necessary or that it might be possible if it were tied to a long-term trade deal with Colombia. The reasoning tortures the mind.

Besides inheriting an economic crisis of historic proportions, President-elect Barack Obama must make up for the squandered time. But at the earliest, it is likely to be at least February or March before the first dollar of an Obama recovery plan is felt.

This is a national disgrace.

Consider, for example, that one of the leading indicators of poverty -- a rise in the number of people eligible for food stamps -- climbed 10 percent between August 2007 and August 2008. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, which studies the impact of federal policy on the poor and working class, one in five children already receives food stamps, a rate that is comparable to the recessions of the early 1980s and the 1990s. Advocates for the poor are expecting that a record number of Americans will be receiving food stamps once new numbers are tallied over the coming weeks.

And we aren't deep into this recession yet. Economists believe that unemployment will climb to 8 percent or even 9 percent next year.

As it happens, right around the time we became politically enamored of de-regulating whole industries -- and so prepared the ground for the current economic morass -- we also became politically obsessed with shrinking the social safety net. It was too generous, the thinking went, and had to be made less so to encourage work and discourage dependency.

We are entering a recession the likes of which we haven't seen in about three decades or perhaps longer. Since the last time the economy fared so poorly, changes in the unemployment compensation system, coupled with a transformation of the labor force to include vastly more part-time and low-wage workers, have left a majority of workers unprotected by this basic benefit. "Unemployment benefits cover a smaller set of workers than they did in the late 1970s and early 1980s," says Sharon Parrott, director of welfare reform and income support research at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Fewer than 40 percent of unemployed workers now are eligible for benefits.

And we haven't yet tested -- not on this scale anyway -- what really happens to the welfare-to-work system when there is no work.

Welfare revision was a signature cause of the 1990s, a centerpiece of President Bill Clinton's drive to remake the Democratic Party's image and a relentless demand of congressional Republicans determined to dry up what they considered wasteful social spending. Basic cash assistance to the poorest families has shrunk substantially since the 1970s and 1980s. In most states, adults who have no children and are not disabled are ineligible for any aid. Single mothers who may have lost their jobs now have time limits on the number of months they can receive public assistance. To cope, Parrott says, "they'll double up, they'll live with friends, they'll move from house to house, which is very bad for kids."

We have lavished hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars on the financial masterminds whose collective genius has brought us these desperate times. Some of those taxes were paid by the now-unemployed workers who don't qualify for benefits. Having socialized the financial system, there is no excuse now for failing to repair the social safety net.

Marie Cocco's e-mail address is mariecocco(at)washpost.com.

“I’m willing to give something a shot, because I’m about ready to lose my life out there on the streets,”

(Note:  HAPPY  THANKSGIVING, ALL!  I'm writing from Shreveport, Louisiana today and working off of a dial-up connection, hence the reason for such sparse posting the last couple of days -it's also the reason no pics are included with this post.  Heading to Huxley Bay, TX  tomorrow, then returning to Nashville on Monday or Tuesday.  I hope everyone has the best holiday they can and look forward to returning home with a couple of coolers of bass and crappie fillets....)

I'm thrilled Judge Eisenstein is trying to find "creative" sentences but in my feeble, pickled noggin, coming at it from the back end is kinda like putting a very small finger into a large hole in the dyke.  

Many of the folks who come into his courtroom have a very long road to travel before they are even able to integrate into what you or I might consider "normal" society.  From a lack of a basic education to minimal and menial job skills to ridiculously easy access to mind-bending drugs and life-destroying alcohol, so many of the seriously downtrodden look at the daunting task of trying to straighten out their lives and are simply overwhelmed with the amount of effort - and more importantly, resources that are needed and involved - that they  lose all hope. 

Nothing worse than feeling trapped in one's own existence.... 

Not only do they not know where to turn, they don't have what so many of us often have taken for granted; someone - like a parent or family member - who can lend them small but continuous helping hands that lift them from the street, point them in the right direction, assist them with staying on course and then provide the resources to actually get beyond the chains of ignorance, illiteracy, drug addiction and poverty and start making it on their own.

I've heard the good judge talk about many of the folks needing this very kind of assistance, and there's no doubt he's right.  

Unfortunately, the truth is that the cost to do something of this nature for every single person who needs it might end up being almost half of what we spent on the Iraq war, and I've yet to meet a politician who would throw away our hard earned tax dollars on such "frivolous" spending as trying to offer the poverty stricken a real helping hand from the gutter.  

Maybe this new administration will be different, but I'm not going to hold my breath....

Judge launches pilot program to help homeless

By: Nate Rau, nrau@nashvillecitypaper.com

Posted: Wednesday, November 26, 2008 12:55 am

Faced with a month-long jail sentence for a series of citations ranging from criminal trespassing to public drunkenness, “John” walked gingerly to the podium in General Session Judge Dan Eisenstein’s courtroom two days before the Thanksgiving holiday and vowed to do whatever he could to stay off the streets and out of the county lock-up.

“I’m willing to give something a shot, because I’m about ready to lose my life out there on the streets,” John said.

Eisenstein already knew John’s standing in the world. He had been arrested for an array of similar in the past and kept finding his way into the turnstile that is the criminal justice system for Nashville’s homeless.

Instead of sending John back to jail, which likely would have merely been a stopgap before a return trip to his courtroom, Eisenstein offered him a deal. Eisenstein would suspend his sentence for 30 days and put John in touch with mental health professionals who could provide him with therapy and medication.

The offer also included a bed at a local shelter and a caseworker to keep track of his progress.

“Now, I don’t want to see you any more,” Eisenstein said, offering a warning to John. “I’ve seen you here several times. I’m trying to help you, but you have to help me help you.”

The arrangement worked out between John and Eisenstein is part of an effort by the judge to offer help to the chronically homeless instead of ordering another costly jail sentence. When a homeless individual comes in front of Eisenstein he directs them to shelters, medical care, mental health help and other services.

Before the homeless person even appears in court, Eisenstein’s administrative assistant Sandra Campbell attempts to contact their family. Sometimes Campbell tracks down a relative out of state who is surprised to learn their loved one is even alive. In cases like that, Eisenstein provides the person with a bus ticket, paid for by private funds, so they can be reunited with their family.

Sometimes the family member is unable or unwilling to offer any help. During Eisenstein’s alternative sentencing docket this week, three of the seven homeless people appearing before him were reconnected with their family.

“I don’t want to go back to jail. I want to go home,” said “Roxie,” facing a series of charges, after learning her mom would be picking her up the next day.

Program could be expanded

Earlier this month, the Downtown Quality of Life Committee produced a seven-page report detailing initiatives Metro could enact to make life better for those who live in Nashville’s urban core. Although some of the suggestions were cosmetic – better street lighting and parking options – many are directed at addressing Nashville’s homeless problem.

The committee was formed after a controversial Council proposal earlier this year to essentially legislate away panhandling by homeless people in the city’s urban core.

When that failed, the committee began meeting to come up with tangible efforts to help Nashville’s homeless. According to Councilman Erik Cole, who served on the committee, part of the issue is consolidating services — finding a one-stop shop where the homeless can receive the services they need.

Of all the suggestions offered in the committee’s final report, Cole said Eisenstein’s creative sentencing program is the one he would like to pursue first.

“What we need to do is work with existing sentencing, but also provide services if there are organizations that can help,” Cole said.

Eisenstein said he intends to extend his program beyond alternative sentencing and bus tickets to family members.

With financial help from the Nashville Downtown Partnership, Eisenstein plans to launch a pilot program that offers stable housing and potentially jobs as well.

“We’re going to take five people off this docket and Downtown Partnership has agreed to sponsor it and we’re going to be the anchor,” Eisenstein said. “We’re going to help with housing, help reuniting them with family. If they need mental health help, medical help, we’ll do that so that if they’ll have one place to come back and that’ll be through the Downtown Partnership and me. It’ll be more organized.

“You can’t look at the homeless problem as one issue. You have to take each person as they are. It has to be person-to-person.”

Proactive approach encouraged

In addition to Eisenstein’s program, the committee has encouraged a proactive approach to helping the homeless as well.

Eisenstein connects those who agree to alternative sentencing in his docket to a nonprofit group called Park Center. Outreach Project Coordinator Will Connelly includes that individual in a study he’s conducting that calculates an individual’s vulnerability index.

Connelly asks the homeless individuals a series of questions regarding their history on the streets, their substance abuse struggles and their health history. A high score means a person has a high probability of dying on the streets.

The Park Center sends staff onto the streets to conduct the interviews, take photos of those who cooperate and compile a database.

“We’re trying to get in touch with people and instead of saying to our guy who goes out in the streets, ‘OK go to Riverfront Park and find people,’ we tell him to find these 12 people and he’s got their photos and information,” Connelly said.

Cole said the committee determined that a proactive approach like Eisenstein’s program and the Park Center’s outreach efforts would be the best way to go. The question is how Metro can get behind the new initiatives.

“We try to appeal to people on two levels,” Connelly said. “The first is to appeal to their heart and say, these people have issues they have a high probability of dying on the streets.

“The second is to appeal to their logic and say, this is an issue that’s costing money and being proactive actually saves money in the long run. I think what the judge is doing is commendable. He’s trying to be creative and he’s trying to help.”

Editor’s Note: This story uses aliases for the homeless individuals who cooperated with the alterative sentencing program.

"Miss America Kirsten Haglund is honorary host as the city's Rescue Mission serves traditional Thanksgiving meals"

Blecch. 

Spare them the circus already and just get them some good food, instead.....

Here she comes, Miss America, to feed NYC homeless

22 hours ago

NEW YORK (AP) — Here she comes, Miss America, with a roasted turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes and a pumpkin pie for New York City's homeless.

Miss America Kirsten Haglund is honorary host as the city's Rescue Mission serves traditional Thanksgiving meals, provides gospel entertainment and raises awareness about homelessness.

Haglund says participating in outreach missions has always been a part of celebrating the holidays for her, whether with her family in suburban Detroit or through her church youth group.

Organizers say volunteers scheduled to help Haglund at the lower Manhattan mission include Kathie Lee Gifford and police Commissioner Ray Kelly.

There's a national effort by rescue missions to serve 500,000 meals this week.

"I believe there exists a unique and viable opportunity here to raise a considerable amount of funding for the purposes of constructing low-cost affordable housing for the poor. "

I was recently chatting with a gentleman, Richard Aberdeen, who'd posted a great music video on YouTube about Homelessness in America and I suggested he do something closer to home, since Nashville's homeless situation seemed to be worsening by the minute.  

He explained to me that not only had he thought about the idea, but that he'd even written the mayor with a plan to assist with procuring some affordable housing in our fair city.  To prove his point, he sent me the letter that I have included in its entirety below.  


Now I may not know much about Nashville, being here just a couple of short years, but I know enough about music to know that if musicians get involved with some cause, it's usually a pretty successful endeavor (think FarmAid, LiveAid, and SARS, for example).  I also believe that there are plenty of musicians out there who've had it pretty rough, spent many a night on the street and struggled to pay the rent - if they were lucky enough to have a place that required a rent payment - and ate Top Tamen and beans before they made it big.  


I'm reasonably certain more than a few big names would be willing to suit up and jam for a good cause, if only we could get a message to them that we are in desperate need of their help. 

I wonder whether Mr. Aberdeen's letter will catch the eye of anyone who could make this plan a reality, since it doesn't appear that the mayor was too interested....


By the way, the vid that caught my eye and got me talking to Mr. Aberdeen is at the bottom of this post.....


(Email response from Mr. Aberdeen)
Steve, here is a copy of a plan that has been distributed to several people in Nashville, including the mayor. You can print it out and distribute it or email it to anyone you think might be interested in helping make this happen.

Honorable Mayor Karl Dean,
Vice Mayor Diane Neighbors,
City Council of Nashville

AFFORDABLE HOUSING FOR NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

As would be expected, the significant cost for providing adequate affordable housing for the poor is a primary concern to the city. This proposal seeks to address and alleviate that concern by offering a viable alternative to such a project being funded at city expense.

Because the City of Nashville has a vested interest in the popular music industry and
likewise, because the music industry is inter-twined with the greater Nashville community, I believe there exists a unique and viable opportunity here to raise a considerable amount of funding for the purposes of constructing low-cost affordable housing for the poor.

The City of Nashville, in conjunction with the ownership of LP Field, could join with prominent music artists who call the greater Nashville area home and host a weekend benefit concert in the stadium, perhaps beginning on a Friday evening and ending on Sunday afternoon. A video film could be made of the event, along with a double CD release, which could be marketed both in traditional retail outlets on a national level and via the internet, on both a national and international level.

There are several name artists who have been actively involved with many charitable and civic events conducted in the Nashville area and I believe that if civic and community leaders would get behind such a project, that many artists would be more than willing to participate in such an organized event. Both local business leaders and larger, corporate sponsors could be brought in to underwrite the cost of security, distribution and promotion.

Because of fairly recent modern communication advances—the internet, Ipods, cell phones and other similar wireless devices—sales of videos, CDs and song downloads from such an event could total many millions, as well as it could be shown as a primetime special on network television and perhaps, in theaters. The City of Nashville could thus, obtain more than enough funding to provide low-cost housing for impoverished people in our area. A model low-cost program could charge one-third of a participant’s total income and require that they actively seek employment if not elderly or severely disabled, thus guarding against significant abuse and providing incentive for those with enough income to move on into private sector housing.

Additionally, the Nashville music industry and city would be setting an example of what could be done in other states that various popular music artists call their home. There are many music artists and other entertainers who have displayed a certain affinity for their own state or city of residence and it could encourage some of them to conduct a similar benefit for a large city in their own home state. Likewise, it could greatly encourage both children and adults on a national level, to come to the aid of America’s impoverished citizens in a unique way that does not rely on tax-payer funded, city and state coffers.

Sincerely,
Richard Aberdeen
Freedom Tracks Records
richard@freedomtracks.com
 800-992-8084

Walkers, recruit your own sponsors — as many as you can.

Walk for the Homeless (“Walk-A-Mile In MY Shoes”)

When: Saturday, December 13, 2008

Time: Register from 8:00 A.M. — 8:45 A.M.

The WALK begins at 9:00 A.M.

Where: The WALK will begin at the Shelby Pedestrian Bridge at LP Field and end at Riverfront Park.

How: Walkers, recruit your own sponsors  —  as many as you can. The suggested minimum is $20.00 per mile per sponsor because the WALK is only one mile (Walk-A-Mile In My Shoes), however, you are encouraged to get the largest donation possible from each sponsor. Collect all donations in your registration envelope prior to the event and bring the donations to the WALK on December 13, 2008.

What: Organizations that participate in the WALK and solicit sponsors will earn 70 cents on every dollar raised and will receive a check from the Metropolitan Nashville Homelessness Commission made payable to the participating organization for the agency’s portion of the funds raised. The first 200 registration forms submitted on the day of the event with $25 or more will receive a 2008 Walk for the Homeless T-Shirt designed by one of our homeless citizens.

Prizes: A grand prize will be awarded to the individual and the agency who raises the
most money. (Money must be turned in before the WALK begins.)

Information: For more information, additional registration forms, or to become a
sponsor, call Clifton Harris at (615) 252-8451 or by email at:
walkforthehomeless@nashville-mdha.org or visit our website:

www.nashvillesroadhome.org

Please make checks payable to MDHA (Metropolitan Development Housing Agency)
c/o Walk for the Homeless in the memo section of your check and send all donations to:

MDHA

C/O Metropolitan Homelessness Commission

701 South Sixth Street

Nashville, Tennessee 37206

You may download and print Registration Forms For 2008 Walk For The Homeless Walk-A-MileInMYShoes at MDHA's

website: www.nashvillesroadhome.org

Now look at me. And it could be you -- any middle-class person who goes to work today could be walking out the door of a foreclosed house in a couple of months."

If you're one of those folks who think that all homeless people are drunken losers, freeloading their way through life, boy are you in for a surprise when homelessness hits you.  

Never happen, you say?

Don't be so sure.....

We should all be concerned about the future because we will have to spend the rest of our lives there.  ~Charles F. Kettering

Foreclosures, delinquencies skyrocketing among 'prime' borrowers

Nationwide, 3.07% of prime mortgages were in foreclosure or at least 60 days late in the second quarter of this year, easily topping the previous record of 1.97% set in 1985.

By E. Scott Reckard
November 24, 2008

By this year, the bleeding housing market had drained the equity from Judy Jones' home in Murrieta, but her life still seemed secure. She had a government job, after all, and a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage at 5.875%, unlike the shaky, variable-rate loans of many of her Inland Empire neighbors.

Then her employer, the city of Corona, decided to deal with the economic slump by eliminating 112 positions, including Jones' job as a code enforcer. Last month, at age 61, she joined a surge of once-solid borrowers who no longer could afford their mortgages.

"Every week at church, somebody else is out of work," Jones said. "I've been a homeowner a long time -- the last 10 years as a single mother -- and I never missed a payment. Now look at me. And it could be you -- any middle-class person who goes to work today could be walking out the door of a foreclosed house in a couple of months."

Jones' concern is well-founded. Although soaring defaults on subprime loans and other dicey mortgages are a well-known cause of the country's financial crisis, delinquencies and foreclosures now are skyrocketing among "prime" borrowers -- people with good credit histories who documented their incomes when applying for their relatively straightforward

mortgages.

Nationwide, 3.07% of prime mortgages were in foreclosure or at least 60 days late in the second quarter of this year, the latest period for which the Mortgage Bankers Assn. has figures, easily topping the previous record of 1.97% set in 1985.

In California, with a jobless rate topping 8% and home prices down more than 40% from their peak and falling, the situation is significantly worse, with 4.15% of prime loans seriously delinquent. That far exceeded peaks of about 2.6% reached in the recessions of the 1980s and 1990s.

The epidemic of bad loans and lost homes among prime borrowers has only worsened since the second quarter ended, according to other, more recent data.

By putting more foreclosed homes on the market, the trend is likely to further depress housing prices, intensify the mortgage-related crisis afflicting the financial system and exacerbate the recession most economists believe is already underway.

"We should be really worried," said Stephen C. Levy, director of the Center for the Continuing Study of the California Economy, a private research firm in Palo Alto.

And as home prices continue to fall, delinquent borrowers are more likely than ever to end up in foreclosure.

"During the rising market, if you lost your job, got sick or your marriage failed you always had a parachute: Sell the house, pay off your mortgage and have something left to start again," said consumer finance expert Elizabeth Warren, a professor at Harvard Law School. "Or sometimes you could use your home equity line of credit to get by."

But now, for most people, "that parachute has gone up in flames," Warren said.

In California, delinquencies on prime mortgages could increase for years, said Christopher Thornberg, founder of consulting firm Beacon Economics in Los Angeles.

One reason, he said, is that home lenders became so complacent during the housing boom that they did little to qualify borrowers besides having computers check a few facts.

" 'Prime' lost a lot of meaning in the insanity of the last few years," said Thornberg, who was one of the first experts to foresee the housing downturn.

To be sure, the damage has been greatest in subprime mortgages, the high-risk loans tapped heavily during the go-go years by borrowers with the worst credit, the heaviest debt loads or the lowest down payments (and sometimes all three of those).

In August, more than 43% of subprime loans nationally were in foreclosure or at least 60 days late in paying, a rate nearly double that of August 2007, according to First American CoreLogic's LoanPerformance unit, which tracks 82% of all U.S. loans.

But problems with prime loans are increasing as fast or faster. About 7.5% of prime jumbo mortgages -- high-quality home loans too large to be sold to government-backed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- were at least 60 days late or in foreclosure, according to LoanPerformance. That was more than three times the level of a year earlier.

As a result, prime loans account for a larger proportion of foreclosures than they did in August 2007.

In Murrieta, Jones said she never wanted anything other than a safe, prime loan. She has worked nearly nonstop since she was 19. She moved from El Cajon to Murrieta in 2005 with her adult daughter, who provided $20,000 of the $80,000 down payment on the new three-bedroom home.

With property values still rising, they took out a second mortgage for home improvements in 2006, a 15-year loan for $40,000 with a fixed interest rate of 9.25%, bringing their total mortgage debt to about $355,000. Between her salary in Corona and her daughter's work at a preschool, the $2,276 in monthly home loan payments was manageable.

Jones, whose recent duties in Corona included badgering the owners of foreclosed homes to maintain the properties, had survived a round of city layoffs this spring but was not so lucky when Oct. 2 arrived.

"I came in that morning and I was gone by 10 a.m.," she said. To make things worse, her daughter recently had been laid off from the preschool.

Jones figures she owes about $100,000 more on the mortgages than her home's current value. She said she notified Bank of America Corp.'s Countrywide unit, which funded both loans, soon after she lost her job -- the approach the lender urges troubled borrowers to take.

But the Calabasas lender declined to talk about changing the loan terms so long as she was current on payments, she said. So she intentionally missed an Oct. 15 deadline, then called Countrywide again and asked for help.

The lender offered to reduce her total payment to $1,500 for three months, adding the difference back to her loan balance, she said. But when Countrywide said the arrangement would damage her credit score, she declined the offer, dipping into her savings to make the full payments.

Asked for comment early this month, Countrywide didn't dispute Jones' account. Representatives of the lender called later that day with a better offer. Jones said late last week that she was working with Countrywide to finalize a deal that would lower her payments for three months -- with an option for significant, longer-term modifications.

Levy, the Palo Alto economist, said stories like Jones' and the ominous mortgage delinquency trends illustrated the "critical importance" for the economy of having lenders work to keep troubled borrowers in their homes.

"The only practical help in sight is to get as many of these potential foreclosures modified as possible, so they come off the market," he said.

Reckard is a Times staff writer.

scott.reckard@latimes.com

the Boulevard Bolt distributes the proceeds of the race to local agencies that serve our fellow homeless in the Nashville area

Unfortunately, I'll be in the tiny burg of Huxley, Texas during Turkey-day and won't be able to participate, but that's no excuse for you!

Nashville's homeless are real winners of Boulevard Bolt

BY DIANE S. KUHN • NOVEMBER 24, 2008

Tennessee Voices

Despite chilling temperatures during the early morning of Thanksgiving, Nashvillians of all ages always seem to turn out for the annual Boulevard Bolt, a five-mile run/walk down Belle Meade Boulevard that benefits the homeless.

Although each of the participants have their own reasons for participating in the race, including working off their impending Thanksgiving meal, the real story of the Boulevard Bolt lies where the proceeds go.Each year, the Boulevard Bolt distributes the proceeds of the race to local agencies that serve our fellow homeless in the Nashville area. Most of these agencies are small and severely underfunded. They provide food, medical and psychiatric care, respite and housing to our neediest neighbors.

This year, the proceeds will be used for such needs as an electronic entry system for a homeless family shelter, a new oven for a free meal program, and a new dishwasher for a soup kitchen.

The Boulevard Bolt was started by members of The Temple-Congregation Ohabai Sholom, Immanuel Baptist Church and St. George Episcopal Church, all of whom had the great idea that Thanksgiving could be more than just a big meal.

This year's race marks its 15th anniversary, with more than 8,000 participants expected to participate. To date, the Bolt has raised more than $1 million for the homeless.

So thanks again to those who are planning to show up on the cold, early morning of Thanksgiving to participate in the Boulevard Bolt. Although the runner who passes the finish line first will win the race, the city of Nashville will be the real winner.

Diane S. Kuhn lives in Nashville. For more information, go to www.thebolt.org.

"With temperatures below freezing on Saturday, the churches had to follow a city rule requiring faith-based shelters to be open at least five days a week - or not at all. "

"On Saturday, the city Department of Homeless Services said there is plenty of space at other shelters to accept all those who have been sleeping in the churches."

And pray tell, how are folks supposed to, A.  hear about these locations, and B. get to them once they do hear about them?  


The bureaucratic bungling is just breathtaking.....

NY churches ordered not to shelter homeless

By VERENA DOBNIK | Associated Press Writer

November 22, 2008

NEW YORK - Twenty-two churches have stopped providing shelter to homeless New Yorkers on city orders.

With temperatures below freezing on Saturday, the churches had to follow a city rule requiring faith-based shelters to be open at least five days a week _ or not at all.

Arnold Cohen, president of the Partnership for the Homeless, a nonprofit that serves as a link between city officials and shelters, delivered the news to the churches several weeks ago that that they no longer qualify.

As a result, hundreds of people now won't have a place to sleep, he said. 

The city's emergency shelter network contract requires sites to operate at least five nights a week. The 22 churches have limited resources, since they operate their homeless beds using mostly volunteers.

On Saturday, the city Department of Homeless Services said there is plenty of space at other shelters to accept all those who have been sleeping in the churches. The spaces include four new faith-based sites where the number of beds combined with availability amounts to a greater total number of nights for people to stay, said Homeless Services spokeswoman Heather J. Janik.

There are now about 250 beds in churches, mosques and synagogues. They're close to drop-in centers where people receive other services including food, Janik said.

"This city is investing more than ever to make sure people have a place to lay their heads at night," she said, adding that the number of faith-based and other types of shelter beds will increase by 50 percent in the next fiscal year to more than 1,000.

On Saturday, the city was under its Code Blue Cold Weather Emergency Procedure that takes effect when temperatures drop below freezing. About three dozen outreach teams in vans were ready to respond around the clock to reports of homeless people outdoors or in the subways. Police and Department of Parks teams also perform homeless outreach.

New Yorkers are asked to call the 311 city hot line when they see homeless people. They may request a callback if they'd like to know what action was taken.

Patrick Markee of the Coalition for the Homeless nonprofit advocacy group disputed the city figures showing an increase in beds. He said the city proposes to close down the drop-in shelters overnight.

"That's a net loss," he said, adding, "However you cut it, there will be less shelter for the street homeless at a time when the economic downturn is causing more homelessness."

Janik said drop-in centers provide only "folding chairs," not beds. "That's unacceptable and we think there are better programs and ways," she said.

____

On the Net:

Department of Homeless Services: http://www.nyc.gov/html/dhs/html/home/home.shtml