A 're'cycling NEWS article....(get it)

An article from the St. Augustine Record, dated October 31, 2008

"A total of 1,238 homeless people live in St. Johns County. Of that number 251 are children. 210 are veterans. The only shelter, the St. Francis House, provides 28 beds. In August 2008, a group of teens brutally beat three homeless men under the 312 bridge.

A recent city law has made it illegal for homeless people to sleep anywhere at any time out in the open forcing them to camp miles away from employment opportunities. Threats of violence and death are a daily occurrence. The time has come to push these crises out of the darkness and into the forefront of public consideration.

The first St. Augustine "March of the Impoverished" will begin at 5 p.m. Nov. 10 at the visitor information center on Spanish Street. It will end at the Plaza de la Constitucion with a free feast and general festivities. The objective of this event is increased visibility of the hidden problems rampant in St. Augustine and growing nationwide, such as the inequality of wages, severe lack of assistance programs, and socio-political marginaization of impoverished people.

Volunteers from local advocacy group Food Not Bombs are organizing and providing support for the march, in conjunction with People United to Stop Homelessness (PUSH), the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), local churches and faith-based organizations, small businesses, and the community at large.

The keynote speakers of the assembly will be the impoverished citizens themselves, voicing their own concerns for their own circumstances. Anyone in the community who wishes to participate is welcome. Information on making donations or volunteering can be obtained at MarchoftheImpoverished@yahoo.com.

Illegal substances, weapons and classism are strictly prohibited.

Children and pets are velcome."

... that should be fun

How United Way is Telling you to Handle Homeless....Things

If we were lying to ourselves, this is who we would be:

Home > Plans & Initiatives > STOP Panhandling
Stop Panhandling Atlanta
Panhandling is not the answer.

You lose because panhandlers often use your money to support their addictions to alcohol and drugs. They lose by continuing these destructive behaviors rather than seeking help. The more you give your change to panhandlers, the more their lives don’t change.

Food is readily available for those in need, as well as shelter and other support services. Supporting local organizations that provide these services is the best way to help. A donation of $100 can provide one week of transitional housing with intensive professional services for someone in need.

Invest in long-term solutions by giving your financial support and volunteering your time to help local organizations and service providers. To learn more about alternatives to handouts, please call the Ambassador Force of Downtown Atlanta at (404) 215-9600.
Responding to Panhandlers

* Asking for money is illegal anytime in Downtown Atlanta, and after dark throughout the City.
* If you would like to report an illegal panhandler, please call the Ambassador Force of Downtown Atlanta at (404) 215-9600. Of course, if you feel threatened or if the panhandler shows aggressive behavior, immediately call 911 for police assistance.
* If you encounter a panhandler, always walk away with certainty and confidence.
* Make eye contact and acknowledge the person with a nod. Choose to respond politely, and simply say “no” or “sorry”.
* If you want to offer panhandlers something, consider bottled water or food gift certificates rather than money

* * * * * *

This is a perfect example of who we are NOT, and how NOT to see the homeless people around you.

Inversehalo's prime directive to helping those who are homeless is to provide them with hope, friendship, and charity, not to look down on them as failures who are only going to squander any mercy thrown their way. The homeless are not sub-human things who are to be ignored and despised.
When we lose our ability to see ourselves in the meekest of our kind, then we are losing sight of who we really are.

People United to Stop Homelessness(P.U.S.H.) & Inversehalo & R.C.O.V.

On Tuesday the 8th, Ms. Croix and myself attended a city council meeting in St. Augustine beach. Certain individuals including an angry R.C.O.V. member and members from P.U.S.H. were there discussing how to properly take care of the homeless people in the St. John's county area. Overall, they spoke about how improper censuses were done by the city and UNF; that only reported half of the total population of homeless in the county. According to Ms. Lawrence, the total count of men, vets, women, and CHILDREN was somewhere around 1600.

That's amazing to me.

I personally solicited Inversehalo's assistance to help with the task of compiling a complete and accurate count of people in the St. John's county area (we can accomplish this while handing out R.C.O.V. packs). Also, we were told of two different accounts in the Hastings area where homeless people were being used as slaves and being transported from a farm here to a farm in North Carolina.....

Previous Inversehalo members should find this familiar, this was something to do with our Human Trafficking project....

If anyone would like to help with the census in St. John's county there will be a training class done by P.U.S.H.
If anyone would like to help with the slave farms please contact Mr. Malik or Ms. Croix.

Selamat,
Aramal Malik

Below is the Video Presentation that was presented for P.U.S.H.

INVERSEHALO: R.C.O.V. - Survival Packs

This is a perpetual project found in our R.C.O.V. department; which is specialized as an outreach and advocacy group for the homeless. These bags contain materials necessary for people to 'survive' in our urban areas. Each 1gallon Ziploc bag includes (but is not limited too):

-Hand Sanitizer
-2 different size bandages
-High protein snack foods
-Vitamin supplements
-A bottle of water
-Deodorant
-A piece of paper and pencil
-An Inversehalo:R.C.O.V. pamphlet on urban survival

These bags are individually $5.00 to create and are worth every penny. If you would like to donate funds or materials please see our main web page for details.