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Fade to black – Is government leveraging homeless agencies out of business? Thursday, March, 4, 2010
Is politics the problem or the solution to homelessness? Monday, March, 1, 2010
Why do you hate in the name of God? Monday, February, 22, 2010
Cardboard is for shipping, not for housing Thursday, February, 18, 2010
Throw the bums out—RPG game re homeless should be sent back Monday, February, 15, 2010
Down-sizing affordable housing could increase the reduction of homelessness Thursday, February, 11, 2010
Down and exploited in Beverly Hills - Is TMZ.com exploiters? Monday, February, 8, 2010
Is marriage the solution to poverty or is it the cause of poverty? Saturday, February, 6, 2010
Book on homeless man and Los Angeles journalist is highlighted by Long Beach Book Week Thursday, February, 4, 2010
Why homelessness is decreasing while hunger and poverty is increasing
Monday, November, 2, 2009
Is The UN Special Rapporteur In America To Embarrass Us?
First of all, what the heck is a “rapporteur”? Well, it’s a French word for a person appointed by a body (in this case, the United Nations) to investigate an issue (in our case, housing).
This week, the United Nations Special Rapporteur will be in Los Angeles to investigate the state of housing, as part of a national tour.
We all know that the world media has been writing about how the American economy has ravaged average families and adults. To the point that people are losing their jobs and their homes.
Despite the announcement from the latest L.A. County survey that homelessness in the county has been reduced by 38%, most people working on the front lines know that more and more people are at risk of, or are actually becoming homeless.
So this international body is studying the housing and homeless crisis in America. Does it sound like the United Nations is investigating some banana republic that can’t take care of its own citizens? Sort of.
Is it justifiable? In our case, at least one percent of the population is living on our streets. The statistic doesn’t sound like a lot, but the number of people homeless in one of the wealthiest countries on earth definitely is puzzling. Most people outside of America scratch their heads when they see Americans living on our streets like we are some Third World nation.
The amount of resources our country possesses compared to the amount of people living on our streets certainly doesn’t make sense. I guess that is why the United Nations wants to investigate.
Personally, I think it is embarrassing. Others might be angry. But if this is what moves a country to seriously house homeless people, then I am for it.
The UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing will be leading a Town Hall meeting today, November 2nd, at 6 p.m. at the California Endowment Center in downtown Los Angeles.
(Pic from http://theinvisiblehand.typepad.com)
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A Third Wave Of Addressing Homelesness Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Civil Overestimation Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Body Found In A River Near Long Beach Friday, February 26, 2010
Nationwide Vacant Property Takeovers Throughout May 2010 Friday, April 10, 2009
Vacation Time--But Not For The Blog
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Linda Valverde & General Dogon The authors have lived and worked in Central City East—commonly known as Skid Row—for a combined thirty years. During all of our decades of living in Los Angeles, neither of us had ever heard of gentrification until about five years ago, when we became members of the Los Angeles Community Action Network (LA CAN). Now it seems that gentrification has become a common household word in cities throughout the United States, and nowhere more than downtown Los Angeles. When redevelopment really took off in downtown L.A. in 2002, LA CAN and our allies created five principles for fair redevelopment. We wanted to see our neighborhood revitalized, not gentrified. The principles were....
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