Advocates Speak Out!!!!! After reading an article printed in The Washington Examiner, we felt the need to express our concerns. Hopefully, you will also see that the issue of poverty includes all of us.
Reason to Fight
By Robert Warren
There is always that feeling out there that people need to stop asking for help, because, we just can’t afford to do anything more. After reading an article that was published in the Washington Examiner I picked up that feeling. Being an advocate and a lifelong D.C. Resident, I sometimes feel the Examiner could be a little more caring to put it nicely. The article in question entitled End of Liberals in the District. Other words in the article can give one the thought the people who need help, in the District are always asking for something, and when you give it to them they don’t know what to do with it. Before testifying before D.C. councilman Tommy Wells at a scheduled public hearing to review operations at the homeless shelter located in D.C. General Hospital. Listening to the staff of Families Forward testify, the thought came to mind the are people really getting fat off the homeless. I don’t know if that was true but, they all were big people. I do believe we don’t have money to waste just for people to have jobs. Those of us so-called begging bleeding heart liberal advocates, that in some cases don’t receive a dime for the work they do, don’t deserve the comments made by Ms. Barras. Maybe she should mau mau her way over, and volunteer some of her time with her conservative friends and help to make people lives better. I forget that’s what the President & Mrs. Obama have been saying. With the way the economy is right now, we all have to volunteer our time to help those in need. But, as usual some only offer words of gloom and doom to those in need of our help. The 5 year plan to end homelessness in the District of Columbia gives hope that we all can come together. I know that won’t be easy with so many people in the homeless community not having trust in the Mayor and the Local Government. The plan is to provide services the advocacy community and service providers have been wanting for a long time. Like most plans it can only work if we all come together and get behind it. There is an opportunity with this plan coming together to really help make people lives better. You can see a lot of thought has gone into changing people lives and making their homelessness as short as possible. Being the Focus God willing, we be able to do the job. The cost is always the number one reason people find a reason to fight for those in poverty.
Robert is a member of The People for Fairness Coalition.
Governmental Detachment
By Joaquin Turley Jr
The recent article posted in the Washington Examiner touched on how the D.C. budget is dwindling before our very eyes and cannot pay for every cause. Some funding for some programs has been cut. I understand we are in a recession, times are hard, and the government cannot always swoop in and save the day. How can we as human beings not help one another in this most desperate time in history? This proves that the human condition is a selfish one, but when do we stop and finally pay attention to something other than ourselves? This type of article shows the mentality of America as a whole, because the government spends yearly cash on things it can do without but cannot help the homeless. This sort of detachment from the people is a scary one. There are people struggling for the essential things we all need to live life. Things that most people take for granted on a daily basis. How is it bad to give these necessities to people who cannot afford it? The government has to understand that this is what advocacy groups for the homeless are asking. They don’t want this money, they need it for healthier conditions of life. Give money, so these humans can live in the same basic conditions all the rest of us may take for granted.
Joaquin also attends Morgan State University.
Why Name Call
By Reginald Black
After reading an article in the March 25th edition of The Examiner, I felt the need to speak out for the advocates of the homeless. Ms. Josetta Barras wrote “ Advocates for the homeless who think they can Mau Mau officials into funding year-round shelters for an endless number of families and individuals should thing again.’’ These words seem to speak to every person that is homeless, or those who would see it end. These same advocates for the homeless go out to feed the many encampments. They also provide clothes and medical services. The advocates this writer spoke of have also have been homeless or are experiencing homelessness. There will always be those who call the advocates for the homeless beggars, but while they name call. It is the advocates who are giving ideas and attempting solutions to the problem. Check out our new writing coach Lee McAuliffe Rambo. 35 years as a print and broadcast journalist working for media outlets in Paris, New York, Los Angeles and the District.
The Red Casanova
By David Rubin
Rarely will you find governments dishing out a great deal money for public usage. The Red Casanova was an East German SSD spy called Carl Heifmann, who defied this norm in 1959. It was Carl’s intelligence and sexagenarian ace moves that softened the government to open up. These are constants that rarely change.
David volunteers and is writing his own novel.
Reggie’s Reflections – Girlfriend???
By Reginald Black
I was now staying with a childhood friend. Getting back to normal was harder than I thought. Things went smoothly until one night I overheard the question “Doesn’t he some girl he can stay with?” This would imply I have a girlfriend. How is that possible? What is it about a man that promotes the idea that he is tied to someone? I walked around confused the next day. It threw me for a loop, does everyone that see me assume this? I asked around the chat room and the resounding response was there is someone for everyone. But what did this mean? And who was it for me? The questions kept piling up until it strained my mental searching for an answer. The idea of some distant fan intrigued me, but there was no telling if that was true. So how could a homeless man have a girlfriend? I couldn’t figure it out, but each day you learn something new.
Reggie hosts The Writer’s Group Meeting.
