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Gainesville Votes to End Meal Limit Chad Smith
The campaign to end Gainesville’s soup-kitchen meal limit scored a major victory Thursday after the City Commission voted unanimously to repeal the controversial code in favor of a three-hour window in which anyone can eat. Opponents of the 130-meals-per-day cap on soup kitchens filled the City Hall auditorium, sitting through a number of items before theirs was finally heard. Indeed, advocates for the homeless and opponents of the meal limit have been frustrated with how long it took for the petition to repeal the limit to reach the commission. That boiled over when Pat Fitzpatrick, an outspoken advocate and three-time commission candidate, started an outburst during another item, asking why it couldn’t be heard earlier. “We’ve got a lot of people that want to talk about hungry children,” Fitzpatrick said before a police officer escorted him from the auditorium. Of the 21 people who did speak, 19 were adamantly in favor of the petition. Timothy Ray, a 72-year-old retired social worker, said coming off the “great recession” and with the economy still in dire straits, “none of us … can be sure we won’t find ourselves homeless and hungry.” “I pray that you will bring our community to a higher moral ground than we’ve been lo these many months,” Ray said, referring to the span that the city has been enforcing its 130-meal limit laid out in Section 30-111 of the city’s codes. In 2009, the city started enforcing the limit after complaints from a downtown developer that the St. Francis House, a shelter and soup kitchen on South Main Street, was feeding more than 130 people a day. St. Francis House, the only institution regulated under the limit, filed a petition earlier this year to lift the cap and exchange it with a three-hour time frame. The time limit was a point of contention for some advocates, but most felt it was a good compromise. In March, the City Plan Board, a resident advisory board, approved the petition, sending it to the commission for a vote. On Thursday, the commission gave its seal of approval
with a 6-0 vote; Commissioner Randy Wells was absent. The city attorney’s office will now draft an ordinance that the commission will have to approve in two more votes. Then St. Francis House will have to apply for a permit under the newly adopted ordinance. Kent Vann, the shelter’s executive director, said he would submit his application with the city next week so it can move ahead as soon as the commission casts its final vote. Asked about the perceived slow process for the commission to hear the petition, Vann said the time was necessary to get all the stakeholders on board and build consensus among commissioners. “We needed that,” he said. After Mayor Craig Lowe signaled his support for the petition last month, it became clear there were enough votes for it to pass. But advocates were cautiously optimistic. They let loose after the vote Thursday, erupting in ap-
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We’ve got a lot of people that want to talk about hungry children
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(Continued on pg 6)
KCNC/CNN.
Homeless man puts his music on iTunes
A homeless street musician in Denver is becoming an Internet star. One of his performances is getting hundreds of thousands of hits on YouTube and his album of cover tunes is rising high on the iTunes singer-songwriter charts. David Dred Scott moved to Denver 16 years ago for the music scene. He does what he loves full time but income from the streets is inconsistent. “I’ve come out here, set up, played, broke a string, made a dollar and left. I’ve come out here and played and made $300,” he said. Tyler Ward stumbled onto his talent one day walking down the street and with the help of an outreach group, they recorded his music and put it up on iTunes. Scott’s talent generated almost $2,000 in the first two days. “[The] end goal is just to get his music heard. He’s a talented dude. Let’s just get his music heard,” Ward said. It may not be enough to get him completely off the streets but it’s a start. “I’d like to make enough to have a comfortable living. I believe my music is good so I should be able to make a decent living off of it,” Scott said. Scott’s album of cover tunes, “Live From 16th Street Mall,” sells for $3.99 on iTunes. Proceeds are used to buy food and clothing for Scott, but he does not get cash directly.
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The Homeless Voice October 2011
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The Homeless Voice October 2011
Our Homeless Voice readers:
The Homeless Voice October 2011
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The Last Resort Homeless Shelter By Te-Erika Patterson I have been a resident at the Homeless Voice shelter in Hollywood, Florida for over 4 months. I became homeless on purpose on April 11, 2011 in order to teach the readers of my women’s empowerment website, MySavvySisters.Com that they can overcome their biggest fear of losing everything. I wanted to show them how to survive an extreme life transition or loss by researching and exposing survival skills, resources and the mental strategies for success. I gave away everything that I owned and terminated my lease so that there would be no turning back once I began this project. I planned to catalogue my journey to rebuilding my life and pull other women with me by organizing a job fair specifically for homeless women. I planned to sleep in a park but was told by the police that I couldn’t sleep there. I wandered over to the Homeless Voice Homeless Shelter and asked for help. They gave me dinner and a mat to sleep on. I’ve been sleeping here ever since. While I am here I have had the opportunity to speak with many of the residents about their lives in the shelter. These are not your average crisis transition homeless people. Most residents of the Homeless Voice Homeless Shelter, have made the reformed motel their home. It wasn’t my plan to explore homelessness, my plan was to showcase how to rise from it, but what I’ve learned shocked me and enlightened me; homelessness is actually a lifestyle for many. How can homelessness become a lifestyle? It seems to be a plateau that many can rest in or rise from, depending on their personal desire. It becomes a lifestyle once the homeless person becomes comfortable in understanding that there is little responsibility and surprisingly, there are more compassionate people in the world that care about those who they deem less fortunate. I have stood on the median for 8 hours a day, clad in my bright yellow vest, holding my donation bucket. I smile and I wave and I ask for donations and many empty their ash trays full of change into my bucket. Most days I collect at least $100. People care. Many people do. Entire agencies are built around the promise of helping the less fortunate, but none do it to the degree that the Homeless Voice Shelter does. Most of the residents of the Homeless Voice shelter are disabled, mentally ill or drug & alcohol addicted. Some of the residents are simply down on their luck and in need of a place to recuperate after an extreme loss. As I sit here and look around, I realize that these are the misfits of society. No other shelter will have them. No program will help them. They cannot re enter society’s workforce on a consistent basis for a number of reasons. They either lack the physical or mental capacity, they have been aged out of their professions or they cannot find an opportunity to work due to a
‘There is a miracle in this mess-’
past criminal history. Of course, there are those whose recreational addictions take priority over their personal well-being. These are the people who have fallen into the cracks of society. Their families have turned their backs on them due to the extreme demands of caring for a person with mental illness or substance addictions. They can’t afford to live in an assisted living facility on the disability and SSI checks they receive. Their lack of insurance won’t afford them the medical attention they need. They sit and wallow in their misfortune day in and day out, smoking cigarettes and bickering like jealous siblings. They can’t rise up out of this situation, they have no idea how. Who cares for them? The community does and Sean Cononie does. I’ve watched him go into his personal wardrobe and pull out clothes for a young man who is overweight and can’t find anything in the donations bin that will fit him. I have seen him provide shelter to desperate families who need a safe place to sleep at night. I have heard that many question what the shelter does with the money from the able bodied vendors who are required to sell the newspapers on the corners. I have heard that there is speculation about what really goes on in the shelter. I’m not surprised. People have a tendency to criticize and reject the unfamiliar. Most people refuse
what I’ve learned shocked me and enlightened me; homelessness is actually a lifestyle for many.
On Spirituality I was with a friend the other day and he was telling me how his life was becoming one big fear to the next. He was afraid he may lose his job because of a weak economy, he was afraid his wife would leave him, for a whole lot of reasons, he was afraid his children were going to turn to drugs and alcohol and their lives would be ruined. He was afraid the world was going to end and on and on it went. I left him feeling exhausted, and I kept thinking, what is it that has so many of us in the grip of fear? For many of us our fears are based on unreal or unrealistic circumstances. Some of the fears my friend has could happen, but all of them? All at once? It seems to me that most of what we fear is in the future, not the present. Jesus tells us in Matthews’s gospel to not worry about tomorrow for there is enough to worry about today. That is perhaps the answer to end all of this worrying of future events that we have no control over. If we could separate in our mind strategy from worry, preparedness from panic. Can we understand dangerous situations and be prepared to deal with them, and by doing so, reduce our own need to worry? I think we can. I know a young woman who works in a rough part of town, and was scared to go to her car alone after work. Co-workers of hers had been attacked in the parking lot before so her fears
to see the good in life. That is the difference between myself and most others- I am always on the lookout for miracles. From what I’ve seen, the mission to rescue has been fully realized by this shelter. There is a miracle in this mess and Sean Cononie, regardless of his flaws and inconsistencies, is holding the magic wand. Note from Editor Sean Cononie: This outside view of the Homeless Voice / John McCormick Homeless shelter by a reporter who became homeless on purpose is a way of understanding what we do. Read her words carefully. While she states that many are disabled either medically or mentally, addicted to drugs, or cannot work, she also states that the able-body goes out to work selling this paper you are reading now. Experts who have worked with the homeless and the chronic homeless estimate that it takes two to three days of rehab or life skills to change that person back to the will of wanting to be more productive even with their little or major disabilities. It works the same way as depression, once a person falls into the trap of depression they are not just cured over night. It takes time. We start by giving them little chores to do each and every day. It may be crushing a few cans to recycle or bringing up the mail to the operations department. It is important for staff to make them feel good when they complete each task. Even giving the person a little allowance allows that person to start the practice of capitalism.
Hacking for the Homeless
were justified. She decided to take a class on self defense and also encouraged some of her friends to do the same. She is still cautious, but much more confident in potentially dangerous situations. As I write this article hurricane Irene is bearing down on the Eastern Seaboard. I live on a barrier island and am definitely in harm’s way. I am evacuating. There are times in life when flight is smarter than fight. I am afraid of the power of a hurricane and what it might do to my family, so we will leave. A simple decision to move to higher ground and no worry. I pray for all of you to not let anxiety and fear control your life and I ask for your prayers in return. Peace and all good, Deacon Bob
Richard Winton “This is not just a brutal attack against another human being, but an attack against human rights,” the rambling letter says, demanding the prosecution of the five Fullerton officers reportedly involved in the beating of Thomas during a routine check on a car break-in report. The Fullerton Police Department said warnings that the hacker-activist group Anonymous would attack the department’s website represent a “credible threat.” The hackers vowed to attack the police website in response to the death of homeless man Kelly Thomas during a confrontation with officers. Police Sgt. Andrew Goodrich said Sunday that the department has reached out to the “appropriate authorities” to deal with the hacking threat. The website seems to be working fine now, Goodrich said. The city said Saturday night it had deployed its information technology staff to secure computers and electronic communications and monitor the systems for any intrusions. No sabotage or disruptions had been reported, Goodrich said. “Like most municipalities we are very electronically integrated and have a significant number of computers and computer systems,” Goodrich said. “It’s definitely something we are taking seriously and doing everything we can to make sure our facilities are secure.” In a letter sent to the police department and distributed on the Internet, Anonymous said “Operation Fullerton” would avenge the death of Thomas by treating the department’s technology systems “with as much mercy as was shown Kelly Thomas.”
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Study Suggests but Doesn’t Prove Link Between Coffee and Longer Life Salyann Boyles Coffee drinkers, rejoice. While you might be using it for a “pick-me-up,” coffee may also be extending your life. Whether you are on a first-name basis with your barista or simply refueling from the office coffee pot during the day, new research suggests that drinking coffee, even in large amounts, might help you live longer. Coffee drinkers in the study had slightly lower death rates than non-coffee drinkers over time, whether their drink of choice had caffeine or not. The findings do not prove that coffee is protective, but they strongly suggest that drinking coffee in large amounts is not harmful if you are healthy, researcher Esther Lopez-Garcia, PhD, of the University of Madrid, tells WebMD. Among women, drinking two to three cups of coffee a day was associated with an 18% reduction in death from all causes, while drinking four to five cups was associated with a 26% reduction in risk. The risk reduction in men was smaller and could have been due to chance. “We can’t say from this one study that coffee extends your life, but it does appear that it doesn’t increase the risk for death for people who are healthy,” she says. Coffee, Caffeine, and Health The evidence pointing to health benefits for coffee continue to grow, with studies linking regular consumption to a decreased risk for cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and even health conditions like Parkinson’s disease and colon cancer. But some studies also suggest that drinking caffeinated coffee is associated with an increased risk for heart attack and stroke in people who already have heart disease. The American Heart Association concludes that the research linking caffeine to health risks is conflicting. The group concludes that moderate coffee consumption, defined as one or two cups a day, “doesn’t seem to be harmful.” The few previous studies that have examined the impact of regular coffee drinking on mortality have also
been conflicting, Lopez-Garcia says. In an effort to clarify the issue, LopezGarcia and colleagues from the University of Madrid and Harvard University analyzed data from 84,214 women who participated in Harvard’s Nurse’s Health Study and 41,736 men who participated in the companion study involving male health professionals. None of the participants had cancer or heart disease at enrollment, and all completed dietary and health questionnaires every two to four years that included questions about coffee consumption, other dietary habits, and smoking status. During 18 years of follow-up in the men and 24 years of follow-up in the women, roughly 4,500 deaths due to heart disease and 7,500 cancer deaths occurred. An additional 6,000 deaths were due to other causes. After controlling for other risk factors such as weight, diet, smoking status, and disease status, the researchers concluded that people who drank coffee were less likely to die than those who didn’t during the follow-up, and that the risk reduction was attributable to a lower risk for death from heart disease. No association was seen between coffee drinking and cancer deaths. The researchers conclude that the finding of a “modest” allcause and heart disease death benefit for coffee consumption deserves further study. The research appears in the June 17 issue of the journal Annals of Internal Medicine. Coffee Benefits Explored It has been suggested that coffee may protect against heart disease by reducing inflammation. Coffee has also been shown to lower blood sugar levels, which could have a beneficial effect on diabetes risk. For many people, coffee is the main dietary source of beneficial plant compounds known as polyphenols, which are powerful antioxidants, says coffee researcher and chemistry professor Joe Vinson, PhD. “The antioxidant properties may or may not be the mechanism at work here. We can’t really say,” he tells WebMD. Vinson says the newly reported study offers the best evidence yet linking coffee with a lower risk of death. “This was a very rigorously designed study, and the findings are very intriguing,” he says.
The Homeless Voice October 2011
Drinking Coffee May Extend Life
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Drinking two to three cups of coffee a day was associated with an 18% reduction in death from all causes
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Homeless Students Pushed to Succeed Dallas school system bolsters children without a fixed address Bill Zeeble At least one million children in the United States experience homelessness each year, putting them at increased risk for problems with their health, safety and education. Without a fixed address and with their family facing financial problems, homeless students often have difficulty registering for school, getting to class, having the proper supplies and finding a quiet place to do homework. But a school district in Dallas, Texas, where nearly half the students are homeless, is helping those pupils are overcome the odds. This past summer, single mother Angela Arnold moved halfway across the United States, from North Carolina to Dallas, Texas, with her 9-year-old son Jordan. A veteran mortgage lender who’d been laid off, she expected to quickly find a new job here, where the economy’s better. So she rented a room by the week in an extended-stay motel. That was more than six months ago. When she enrolled Jordan in her neighborhood school, Arlington Park Learning Center’s counselor told her she was considered homeless. “I’m like, ‘Homeless? What do you mean homeless? I’m not homeless,’” says Arnold. And, like I said, I’ve never been put in a situation such as this. He said, ‘Well it’s a homeless program you’re in because you don’t have a permanent address, you don’t have a residency. I thought ‘Wow, OK.’” Arnold is still looking for work while managing with her unemployment check. She is one of more than 100 Arlington Park parents con-
“At least one million children in the United States experience homelessness each year,”
sidered homeless. The small school with 246 mostly black and Hispanic students sits close to Interstate 35, a busy highway. The county hospital, a women’s shelter and several extendedstay hotels, where the rooms have small kitchens, are also nearby. “We have a lot of children coming from the hotels and motels out on 35,” says Mark Pierce, who runs the school district’s homeless education program, including the one at Arlington Park. “So we have a lot of kids there. Every single day we get new kids from the hotels and
(Continued on pg 10)
Homecoming at the Homeless Shelter
him and we opened up a homeless shelter. He went from the emergency phase (The part of the shelter system “Code three to Mom Beachers’ room, Code three to Mom Beachers’ room”- a loud and scared sounding voice that is free) then after a while when we got his benefits and he went to a Transitional Part of the shelter system came over the PA system. There they came, the first responders of COSAC, formally homeless people who have (The part of the shelter that is paid for by the client from their welfare check for housing.) Then comes the loving taken a first responder, AED and oxygen administration course at COSAC where they got certified to work a real system, where we love them and they love us. This is where they establish a place called home and their little medical emergency. Next came Hollywood paramedics and there she went out on a stretcher. Mom Beacher was area becomes a place where it is their space where they can put pictures up and have their own pillow and TV. on the way to the Emergency room to see exactly what was wrong with her. Her friends, the staff, and the medics A lot of people do not understand that once a person gets past the emergency shelter they can move up to what were all concerned about little Mom Beacher, the little old lady who gave out more kisses than the girls at the is considered affordable housing for the poor. This is the transitional part of the system. In Virginia’s case this docks kissing the sailors goodbye at war time. is where she could not live on her own with her small check but because we share costs or group some private After several trips to the hospital and a broken hip, Mom Beacher would find herself living at a nursing home for insurance funds together a person has a home. But a home is not a home simply because of a bed and a TV. A the next few months. She was not happy at all, for each time one of the staff or one of her friends came to visit her home becomes part of a person, in Virgina’s case her home is seen over and over by the hugs and kisses she at the nursing rehab center, she wanted to leave with them to return to the shelter. One time she followed the staff extends to the staff (the moms and dads of the shelter.) member to the car walking just as fast as she could with walker in hand. She made it almost to the car and tried In times like today it is impossible to live on your own with a retirement check that is small. A lot of times other her best to go home with them. However the staff member talked to her about getting better so she could come emergencies come up like having to get medication that is important instead of paying their rent. Or they have one back to the shelter. One would think, why would someone want to come back to a homeless shelter? However emergency where they lose a little money and won’t be able to eat for the reaming part of the month. The biggest the shelter becomes home for many of the people they service because the clients know they have some issues and reason a person on welfare becomes homeless is weekly rents. Many seniors or people with disabilities who pay they want a place where they can live their life with others around them that care. Also there is the friend factor; weekly rents become homeless on the fourth week of the month because they can’t make it or they overspend. So the friend factor becomes the stability for their refuge and their need to coexist with others who also may need a giving them a home with spending cash and services is a perfect match. In our population we have special people little help. According to Sean Cononie, the founder, he explains it like this. who may find it hard to have roommates and many would just pack up and leave if a conflict arose in a roommate “These people come to us all alone, sick, frail or just so unhappy from going to one place to the situation- so we become the roommate referees where we resolve the conflict or the violation of next. They do go to great programs that help them but then their time ends and the support they house rules. As one could imagine the longest part of our day is solving conflicts. had, the friends they met are gone after 90 to 180 days and then they become all alone again. Mom Beacher was in a nursing home, trying to recover and time went on. Staff and friends made weekly trips to see her and in some cases was a few times a week. As we felt that she felt They get depressed. They come here to a shelter that takes steps that no other shelter takes, they see us the staff going to visit someone in ICU then they hear the staff on the PA system asking the I thought you were never we abandoned her we made more trips to see her. Then when our Operations Manager also had clients to pray for so and so. Then at times when it is critical they take part in a staff meeting go to the same nursing home for a knee replacement to recover with physical therapy, Virginia coming back, it is so good to about is it time to DC the Vent, (disconnect the ventilator) after the doctor tells me it is time to started to feel that the word “ Home” in “Nursing Home” was not her home and she wanted to make a decision. They see us arguing with doctors and the care they should get in the hospitals. to see you Ma, I missed come back home. So we started to work with the Rehab people at the nursing home to see when At times they see me telling a doctor on the phone not to DC the Vent- that we want more time for would be ready for discharge. After a few weeks she was ready to come home. We arranged you and now my day is she them to see their friends or more time to see if they can recover. Yes at times they hear a doctor for home health care and Physical Therapy where her nurse comes and she gets follow up care perfect. tell me, they will not recover and it is not right to leave them on the Vent. Then a few weeks later with her recovery for her hip by the therapist giving her the therapy she needs to thrive. they see the decision we made was correct because so far three of the three times I decided not to We went to pick her up upon discharge and she was able to walk out of the nursing home on DC the Vent the clients remain living a normal life and have so for over three years. Then at times her own two feet. She had the biggest smile in the world and her whole way home in the car she that we all know it is time for us to care for them while the Hospice people do their stuff they see kept on saying I got to go to CVS and the Dollar Store to get some things. When we landed at the the client their friends come back to our hospice area and now they know they can go and visit complex she about ran out of the car and her first words were, “I need to walk up to the CVS to their friend, sit with their friend and tell their friend they love them. They hold their hand; give water via a sponge get some stuff to fix me up so people see just how pretty I still am.” We had to stop her to tell her that it was too to the lips of a dying homeless person. And the best part of it all is to see us all praying holding hands of the sick far of a walk for now and that it might be better to walk up to see Lynn, first and get her walker and make the trip person and then the persons heart beat stops and their response is, ‘Their death was a good and painless death.’ later. CVS was just a little too far for her to walk on her first day home. She finally agreed she would go in a few They all see the love exchanged between us all. Then a few days later they see about 100 people go to a cafeteria days. I am sure her face and her smiling muscles got a bigger workout than her hip her first day back. that now has flowers, pictures of the deceased person, a cross, and little special things that their friend loved or In the first few hours of her arrival, she went from one friend to the next and all she could give out was her famous had that all these things now converted a cafeteria to the COSAC Church where their friend had a proper service. hugs and kisses. She grabbed another old timer and when she went to hug him tears came from both of their eyes. COSAC becomes their home. A home is filled with love and then there are arguments and there are punishments They reached out and grabbed each other and Mr. Eugene Harrison (The Old Timer) said to Virginia, “I thought and there are hugs. Some programs say to a client ‘I am sorry Mr. or Mrs. Doe we have to discharge you.’ Here you were never coming back, it is so good to see you Ma, I missed you and now my day is perfect.” And yes tears we take every step not to discharge a person and these steps sometime cause conflict and some yelling in the office. came from some of the staff member’s eyes. We had a hard time deciding who cried more in tears as if we could But as I always say to the client, Mr. or Mrs. Doe you may hate me now but I guarantee you that you will love me have measured them it would have been over a gallon of tears the day Ma Beacher came back home. You see, later. I think the most touching experience I have seen here is when a client’s family member dies or they just found when you see these two beautiful people both elders grabbing for each other and then hugging and kissing on the out that their mom, dad, brother or sister died a few weeks ago and they did not attend their funeral because they cheeks it is why it is home for many of them and then when you hear the words exchanged between them you see lost contact with their loved one and then a memorial service is done for them at the COSAC church. To see 50 their home also is in their hearts. people at the shelter attend a memorial service for another client because their brother died is the most touching For the day went on and Mom Beacher was now still doing what she did best, but this time it was like the sailors thing you will ever see in life. Here we have people that most people in their world write off as just being bums who were now heroes who were coming home and she greeted each friend with the recipe of love- a hug, a kiss all get together and give comfort to another person so they can have closure and prayers for their salvation.” on the cheeks, a friendly smile and the words she said ended her recipe for what makes a home a home. “Welcome The Homeless Voice, The COSAC Shelters, both divisions of the John McCormick Homeless Shelter is made Home Mom Beacher for we LOVE YOU SO!” from the finding of a man named John McCormick. John came in as our first with no funds, no one to care for Written By Staff Reporter
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Happy to be home, Mom Beacher hugs some of the staff
The Homeless Voice October 2011
The Homeless Voice October 2011
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Gainesville votes to end meal limit (Continued from pg 1)
Gainesville City Planning Manager Ralph Hilliard, left, and Kent Vann, executive director of the St. Francis House, seen here back in March during the City Plan Board meeting about the meal limits for the homeless. The board ultimately voted for a second time to recommend the limit be lifted, (their first attempt was in 2009.)
plause and cheers, which are against the commission’s rule. “I knew it was going to happen,” Lowe said. “That’s OK.” Parking proposal denied The commission on Thursday rejected a staff proposal to eliminate free parking downtown. With public reaction strongly against the proposal, commissioners voted 6-0 to send most of it back to the Recreation, Cultural Affairs and Public Works Committee for more research. The recommendations, stemming from a 2-yearold study by a consultant, called for installing meters at the city’s free, on-street parking spaces and expanding enforcement times from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. Many downtown shop and restaurant owners opposed the proposal, saying it would kill business. Cliff Nelson, the owner of the Paramount Grill, said the issue stemmed from a lack of affordable parking for downtown employees. That’s why city staff and the consultant observed employees occupying a significant chunk of free spaces that could be used by customers. Mayor Craig Lowe said he thought those plans were more suited for a larger city and were “far more than is called for at this time.” “It may be that we get to that point, and I think we all want to get to that point,” Lowe said, referring to growing downtown.
Broward’s newest homeless: Job seekers from out of town Tonya Alanez
Derrick Jackson left behind a home, a girlfriend and a $14-an-hour job in Columbus, Ohio, in hopes of landing a better paying maintenance job at Florida Power & Light, where a relative works. The job never materialized and Jackson found himself selling newspapers for the Hollywood homeless shelter that took him in. He is putting away $100 a week in hopes of regaining his footing. “It only takes one catastrophe to put you here,” said Jackson, 41, who left his job of seven years about a month ago and has never been without a roof of his own over his head. “You don’t know that after the next hurricane or storm, it could be you selling these newspapers.” Northerners lured by promised jobs make up the newest type of client seeking help at Sean Cononie’s Homeless Voice shelter on Federal Highway, one of the only ones in Broward that takes in out-of-towners. They are also showing up at Palm Beach County shelters, said Claudia Tuck, division director of the county’s Human and Veteran Services. “We’re loaded, and it’s all new faces,” said Cononie, who has been working with the homeless for nearly 15 years. “A lot of them are coming in being promised employment. It doesn’t pan out and they’re homeless.” Because they come and go, Cononie says he can’t say exactly how many such clients he has housed in the last year, but said he has seen two or three in any given week. Despite a 9.6 percent unemployment rate here, they desperately wanted to believe they would get work, he said. “There is no typical homeless individual anymore,” said Tom Pierce, director of the Florida Office on Homelessness in Tallahassee. “It’s crossing all segments of our society. People who used to be middle class and working who never saw homelessness, it could be hitting them tomorrow.” Case in point, in 2010, more than 43 percent of the estimated 57,643 homeless in Florida were experiencing it for the first time, state figures show. Homeless shelters nationwide are now filled to capacity year-round, whereas they used to fill up solely during winter months, said Michael Stoops, of the National Coalition for the Homeless in Washington, D.C. And cuts in funding, private and public, have led to
an uptick in shuttered shelters. “The situation is dire,” said Stoops. “It’s likely to get worse before it gets better. People sound and seem to be a lot more desperate than they have been in the past.” South Florida saw its highest homeless numbers in 2007, with an estimated 11,376 in Broward, MiamiDade and Palm Beach counties combined. The combined 2010 estimate stood at 10,133. The causes range from job losses to foreclosures, mental health issues to disabilities, as well as alcohol and drug addiction. Cononie said his clientele usually consists of the most chronic homeless, those kicked out of traditional shelters and who hospitals don’t want. His controversial style is equal parts tough love, confrontation, conflict, reasoning and affection. He deploys dozens to sell The Homeless Voice newspaper at South Florida intersections and divvies their take 40/60. “I don’t ever believe a person should have a free bed,” Cononie said, although he frequently makes exceptions. “Capitalism promotes them to do better.” Cononie runs his shelter and seven smaller transitional housing facilities solely on donations and the earnings brought in by selling the newspapers. Even he is feeling the economic pinch. After holding steady for the last few years, cash donations in the last week fell by about $1,500 and newspaper and check donations took a combined hit of about $3,000 in the last two weeks, Cononie said. Jackson, turned away by county-run shelters because he was not a Broward resident, said the Hollywood shelter has been a godsend. But he doesn’t want to grow too comfortable there. “I fear becoming dependent on somebody else for my existence,” he said. “I’m not that person. I don’t want to be that person. I want to stay sharp, and stay on my toes, and stay hungry, so I could move on.”
“You don’t know that after the next hurricane or storm, it could be you selling these newspapers.”
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Hypercoagulation: Excessive Blood Clotting
The Homeless Voice October 2011
FamilyDoctor.org What is hypercoagulation? When you get a cut, your body stops the bleeding by forming a blood clot, which is a thickened mass of blood tissue. Substances in your blood called proteins, work with tiny particles called platelets, to form the clot. Forming a clot is called coagulation. Coagulation helps when you are injured because it slows blood loss. However, your blood shouldn’t clot when it’s moving through your body inside your blood vessels. The tendency to clot too much is called hypercoagulation (say: hi-per-co-ag-u-layshun). It can be very dangerous. Why is hypercoagulation dangerous? A clot inside a blood vessel is called a thrombus. Sometimes the thrombus can travel in the bloodstream and get stuck in your lungs. This kind of clot (called a pulmonary embolus) blocks blood from getting to your lungs. A pulmonary embolus can be lifethreatening. A clot that blocks a blood vessel in the brain can cause a stroke. A clot in a blood vessel in the heart can cause a heart attack. Blood clots can cause some women to have miscarriages. All of these conditions can also be life-threatening. What causes hypercoagulation? Certain proteins in your blood are supposed to keep your blood from clotting too much. Some people do not have enough of these proteins. In other people, these proteins are not doing their job properly, or there may be extra proteins in the blood that causes too much clotting. Some people are born with a tendency to develop clots. This tendency is inherited (which means it runs in your family). Certain situations or risk factors can make it more likely for your blood to clot too much. These situations include the following: * Sitting on an airplane or in a car for a long time * Prolonged bed rest (several days or weeks at a time), such as after surgery or during a long hospital stay * Surgery (which can slow blood flow) * Cancer (some types of cancer increase the proteins that clot your blood) * Pregnancy (which increases the pressure in your pelvis and legs and can cause blood clots to form) * Using birth control pills or receiving hormone replacement therapy (which can slow blood flow) * Smoking How does my doctor know I have a problem with hypercoagulation? Your doctor might think that you have a problem with hypercoagulation if any of the following are true: * You have relatives with abnormal or excessive clotting * You had an abnormal clot at a young age * You got clots when you were pregnant, were using birth control pills or were being treated with hormone replacement therapy * You have had several unexplained miscarriages If your doctor suspects you have hypercoagulation, tests can check the protein levels in your blood. The tests will also show if your proteins are working the way they should to properly clot your blood. Can hypercoagulation be treated? Yes. Several medicines can thin your blood and make it less likely to clot. Some people with hypercoagulation only need to take blood thinners when they’re in a situation that makes them more likely to form clots (such as when they are in the hospital recovering from surgery, when they are in a car or airplane for a long time or when they are pregnant). Other people need to take medicine on an ongoing basis for the rest of their lives. Your doctor will decide what treatment is right for you. What medicines are used to treat hypercoagulation? The two most common blood thinners are called heparin and warfarin. Your doctor will probably give you heparin first, because heparin works right away. Heparin must be injected with a small needle under the skin. Once the heparin begins to work, your doctor will probably have you start taking oral warfarin. Warfarin takes longer to begin working. What are the side effects of these medicines? Both medicines can cause you to bleed more easily. If you cut yourself, you might notice that the blood takes longer to clot than usual. You might also bruise more easily. Call your doctor if you have any unusual or heavy bleeding. Warfarin has a stronger effect on some people than on others. If you take warfarin, your doctor will want to check you often with a blood test that shows how well the warfarin is working. Some other medicines can increase or decrease the strength of
warfarin. Ask your doctor before you take a new medicine, including over-the-counter medicines, vitamins and herbal supplements. Also, talk to your doctor about foods you should avoid while taking warfarin. If you’re pregnant, you should not take warfarin. Warfarin can cause birth defects. Instead, you must use heparin until you deliver your baby. If you want to get pregnant and you’re already taking warfarin, talk with your doctor about changing to heparin. Sexually active women who take warfarin should use birth control. Note from Editor Sean Cononie: Let’s say you take a long trip on an airplane and you suddenly notice that one of your legs is all swollen or let’s just say for no known reason or injury you see that your leg is all swollen, what should you do? Let’s say you’re at home and you notice that one of your ankles or legs is all swollen and you did not sit on an airplane for hours and you know you did not get hurt, what should you do? It is simple, for any unknown reason your leg swells go to the Emergency Room right away and have them test you for a blood clot. This includes a blood test and an ultrasound of the blood flow in that area or that leg. If they do not do both of these tests, do not be afraid to tell the doctor you want them, not just his opinion. He cannot look at your leg and say to you that you are OK go home and if he does, just tell them to call you an ambulance to take you to another hospital. No doctor wants to be known for a patient having to call an ambulance in his ER. These days ER docs do not always play aggressive. I will probably get some calls from some upset doctors on this, but I did my research by calling three ER’s and all three of the nurses said if this happens to them they would force the doctor to do his or her job. Plus I spoke to one of my own doctors and I only see doctors who have lots of doctors as patients and my doctor told me, it is a “shoe in” for these two tests to be done. Did I mention that at first I Sean Cononie was loved by Hospitals for about the first five years of helping the homeless because I took their homeless out of the hospitals saving them money and I cleared their ER’s of homeless people just looking for a place to stay. But now that I see how it really works in ER’s they hate me as if I am the enemy. I still love them, they try their best and are over worked and it is very stressful and when they work to save a persons’ life GOD BLESS THEM ALL, the nurses too. Also lets remember one thing and this is really important. If you sit for long periods of time, at work, at home, or take a trip on a plane or a car it is very important to try to get up for a few minutes every hour. If you cannot re position yourself many times taking some pressure off of your bottom and try to straighten your legs on and off. This too will help. If you are a big person, try to move around as much as possible and get up out of that seat and do not sit for long periods of time.
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A pulmonary embolus
can be life-
threatening.
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Gina Shaw
Sleep deprivation takes a toll on your mind, body, and overall health in ways that may surprise you. Research shows that chronic lack of sleep is linked to colds and flu, diabetes, heart disease, mental health, and even obesity. So it’s natural to ask: Does getting adequate sleep protect you from illness? The answer: It helps. “Sleep is a quiescent period where the cells are doing a lot of repairing. Your hormones act differently when you’re asleep, and your immune system as well,” says Lisa Shives, MD, DABSM, founder of Northshore Sleep Medicine in Chicago. “If your immune system is out of whack, you can’t fight off illness --and I would venture to say that you can’t repair your cells very well, either.” Here are five key health problems that research shows are worsened by lack of sleep and may be improved by getting at least seven hours of sleep a night. 1. The Sleep Link to Colds and Flu When you’re sleep deprived, you often feel “worn down” -- and that’s a clue that your body is vulnerable to infection. “Not getting enough sleep makes you more vulnerable to picking up illnesses and not being able to fight them off,”says Donna Arand, PhD, DABSM, clinical director of the Kettering Sleep Disorders Center in Dayton, Ohio. “What’s going on is your immune system is degraded.” The less sleep you get, the weaker your immune system is, leaving it less able to fight off colds, flu, and other infections. Studies have even found that being sleep deprived can affect our response to vaccines. Since your immune response is suppressed, the body is slower in response to the vaccine to build up sufficient antibodies to fight off the disease.
2. The Sleep Link to Heart Disease drunk. Former President Bill Clinton recently confessed that he “We also know that people who are sleep deprived thinks lack of sleep had a lot to do with his recent hospitalizahave very poor judgment when evaluating their own tion to unblock a clogged artery. “I didn’t sleep much for a performance. They think they’re doing well on memmonth, that probably accelerated what was already going on,” ory or eye-hand coordination tests, but they’re not,” Clinton said. says Arand. “The memory is also slightly degraded He’s probably right. “When you don’t get enough sleep, you when you’re sleep deprived, and gets worse the more have an inflammatory response in your cardiovascular system deprivation you have.” -- in the blood vessels and arteries -- and that’s not a good 5. The Sleep Link to Obesity thing!” says Arand. “We see the same thing in hypertension. Can not getting enough sleep really make you fat? If that sleep deprivation continues long term, chronic inflamSeveral studies over the past decade point to a link bemation has been linked to things like heart attack, stroke, and tween sleep deprivation and obesity -- in both adults diabetes.” and children. In one study, people who slept five hours 3. The Sleep Link to Diabetes per night were 73% more likely to become obese than The key underlying problem in type 2 diabetes is insulin resisthose getting seven to nine nightly hours of sleep. In tance, where the body does not make proper use of this sugarfact, one study found that lack of sleep was a bigger processing hormone. Guess what? contributor to childhood When you’re sleep deprived, your than any other facResearch shows that chronic lack obesity body almost immediately develops tor. of sleep is linked to colds and flu, conditions that resemble the insulin Nobody knows exactly resistance of diabetes. diabetes, heart disease, mental health, why this might be, but “In one study of young, healthy some research has pointed and even obesity. adult males, they decreased their to hormonal imbalances as sleep time to about four hours per the culprit. For example, night for six nights,” says Arand. “At the end of those six lack of sleep has been linked to lower levels of the nights, every one of those healthy young men was showing imhormone leptin, which reduces hunger. paired glucose tolerance, a precursor to developing diabetes.” The good news in all this is that you can repair the Another study found that people in their late 20s and early 30s damage from inadequate sleep fairly quickly. “The who slept less than 6.5 hours per night had the insulin sensitivsystem is very quick to respond,” says Arand. “For ity of someone more than 60 years old. example, the young men in the diabetes study re4. The Sleep Link to Brain Function and Mental Health turned to a normal state of glucose tolerance after just If you’re chronically sleep deprived, you may think you’re a few nights of regular sleep. Many of these condistill driving safely and performing well at your job, but you’re tions will repair themselves -- unless, of course, you probably wrong. Studies have found that people who aren’t get so chronically sleep deprived that you’ve caused getting enough sleep drive just as unsafely as someone who’s permanent damage to your health.”
The Homeless Voice October 2011
The Healing Power of Sleep
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The Homeless Voice October 2011
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Homeless Students Pushed to Succeed (Continued from pg 5)
motels.” There are at least 5,000 homeless students in Dallas schools. Pierce says families find themselves in that situation for a variety of reasons. “A family living with another family, because they’ve been evicted, because they’re fleeing from domestic violence, because they just weren’t able to afford their housing anymore, and just gave it up and moved in with somebody, they’re homeless.” The school district gives their children breakfast, lunch and weekend snacks, and provides transportation between the hotels, motels and shelters. It helps parents too, by offering free city bus passes. Arnold is grateful for the help she receives. “If it wasn’t for the program they have here, with the clothes, the uniforms they provide, the book bags, because all our things are in storage.” Her 4th grade son, Jordan, says he loves his new school, but not the hotel. “I wish we were going to have a house to go in. I like Texas better because they have more schools, art schools. It’s kind of good here, because it’s so, it’s so just good to me. It’s all good to me in every way. And then all the teachers, they just want you to have a good day. That’s why they’re so hard on you.” They’re ‘hard’ on the students, says Arlington Park Principal Nikia Smith, because they want them to excel, adding that homelessness is no excuse for low expectations. “The expectations for learning are still there, and expectations we’ll get them close to the level of proficiency for testing as any of our students who’ve been here all year is still a very big thing we have to deal with,” says Smith. But homeless students have more than academic issues to deal with, says firstgrade teacher Jacqueline Smith. It’s difficult for their parents to worry about school supplies when they’re not sure where their next meal is coming from.
“I needed to adapt, adapting to where I realized I had to go out sometimes and buy the comb, buy the brush, buy the lotion. Have it in my drawer,” she says. “They come and their hair wasn’t combed. I had to comb their hair. I had to have wipes, ‘Go in the bathroom and wash your face.’ In a way, I became mom.” Smith expects to stay at Arlington Park until she retires, because she says, these students are like her kids. That personalized attention might be paying off. The school’s rank among Texas schools - based on student performance on math and reading tests keeps improving. Principal Nikia Smith says it’s not the child’s fault a parent is out of work, on drugs or in jail. But their home situation shouldn’t affect what happens at school. At Arlington Park, she says, students will learn and everyone will defy the odds so they can shine.
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The Homeless Voice October 2011
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