I was walking down a back street in Hollywood and ran into a small group of men and women setting up their tents for the night. Cushan and I started to talk. He was telling me that he is moving on up because he has the big tent. Cushan is homeless in Los Angeles.
One of the sights that always messes me up is when I happen to witness a person experiencing homelessness setting up an area to sleep for the night. In this great country of ours, people should not be sleeping on the streets – ever!
Cushan used to live in Detroit, but after 9/11, he lost his job at the airport and faced many challenges that resulted in him living on the streets! Even though he has been homeless for three years, he believes he has a bright future in front of him.
https://www.facebook.com/invisiblepeopletv/videos/10155467158026038/
Jana slept on the sidewalk in Los Angeles last night. She has been homeless a little over three months now. Jana’s husband of twenty-two years was shot and killed. She was the housewife and shortly after her husband’s death, she lost their home!
The good news is Jana is soon to go into housing! The trouble is, last night roughly 28,000 people in the City of Los Angeles were in some state of homelessness and we need more housing!
Angelenos can help end homelessness this Election Day. Vote YES on Proposition HHH to build as many as 10,000 permanent supportive housing units in Los Angeles. For more information and to learn why Invisible People supports Prop HHH please visit https://medium.com/…/the-faces-of-l-a-homelessness-a3118f37…
https://www.facebook.com/invisiblepeopletv/videos/10155453105611038/
Last Saturday six Margiis from the Denver unit with Didi Anudhyana and two visitors prepared 140 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. We fed them as well as 150 bottles of water and 113 oranges, 100 apples and 100 bananas to Downtown Denver’s homeless, which now includes many elderly and kids in addition to veterans, mentally ill and addicted persons. The homeless population in Denver is constantly growing.
Food for All DC from Stone Soup Films on Vimeo.
AMURT received its fourth grant from the U.S. government’s Emergency Food and Shelter Program for its Food For All program in Washington, D.C. The grant helped AMURT provide emergency groceries to 80 poor households a week in 2009. Many of our clients, especially the elderly and those with disabilities, are home-bound, so we deliver groceries to their homes. The Food For All program is helpful for social workers who know where to turn when a poor client shows up in their offices.
Most people do not think of Washington, D.C. as being a place of poverty. However, according to U.S. census data for the year 2008, 16.9% of District residents live below the poverty line. That translates into a lot of people struggling to make ends meet.
AMURT’s Food For All program has been assisting such people with emergency food needs for the past fifteen years. 1n 2001, especially after September 11, the demand for our services increased dramatically. The Hotel and Restaurant Employees Union, for example, were struggling to support 4,000 recently unemployed members. We provided food for fifty union families every week until they found other resources.
- “Food For All was a lifeline – it was the only organization helping us on a regular basis.” – Jorge Rivera, Relief Coordinator, Hotel and Restaurant Employees Union.
Many clients come to us after life takes an unexpected turn for the worse. Jose Ortega injured his hand and was unable to work for two months, throwing his family into a crisis. Food For All provided weekly food baskets for the Ortega family so they could focus their resources on paying rent and utilities. Now Jose is back to work and our services are no longer needed.
Support this program with a donation or take the challenge to help mange the volunteer based program.
Mama D’s Kitchen Los Angeles
Every Sunday early morning there is a long line of people waiting close to the corner of the 5th St and San Pedro St in Los Angeles, an area known as Skid Row. People are full of expectation for an old white Ford van arriving with the materials for their breakfast. They get their plastic bags to keep snacks, and a spoon to enjoy their milky cereal. They also get miscellaneous fruit, Starbucks pastries, and fresh bread and bagels from Panera. Welcome to MamaD’s Kitchen.
AMURT has been involved with the hunger problem amongst the poor and the homeless in Los Angeles for the last 25 years. Our breakfast feeding through Mama D’s Kitchen is legendary amongst the folks of Skid Row. It makes a huge difference in their lives. The program is maintained entirely by volunteers and public donations. Donate for this project