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Theological disagreements over homosexuality are causing a divide within a downtown ministry that serves the poor, homeless and lonely. Martha’s Table, through which eight churches have provided Sunday afternoon worship and meals for the needy at First Congregational Church, is losing three of the churches because of the issue of homosexuality, even though the ecumenical ministry takes no position on it, said the Rev. Matt Laney, pastor of First Congregational. Agape Christian Church and Word for Life Church of God plan to withdraw from Martha’s Table at the end of the year, and Centerpoint Church (formerly Third Reformed Church) has...

LONDON – A cold alley in central London is a far cry from a palace — but it was the spot Prince William chose to sleep to highlight the plight of homeless British teenagers. ... "I hope that by deepening my understanding of the issue, I can help do my bit to help the most vulnerable on our streets."

It’s simple really: feed the hungry, the homeless, and the forgotten. Matthew 25:35 says, “For I was hungry, and you fed me.” It has always broken my heart to see the people on the street corner holding their “Will work for food” cardboard signs. More times than not, I have given them money. Then I began to think, I could do something more for them. I could do something more practical. I could help feed them. I could be part of the “Give us this day our daily bread” thing. I know many people who say these people may be...

A sign reading "Welcome to Obamaville Colorado's Fastest Growing Community" appeared at a homeless tent city in Colorado Springs this week. You probably didn't hear about it because outside of two Colorado television stations nobody found this newsworthy. By contrast, when word got out in March of a tent city in Sacramento, California, news media couldn't get enough of the story. Is it because that happened so soon after Inauguration Day that it could easily be blamed on George W. Bush, and that given the name given to this area that's no longer possible?

Residents of Colorado Springs, Colo., have a mystery on their hands: Who came up with the idea to erect a sign reading "Welcome to Obamaville" on the site of a homeless tent camp in the city? The sign, which was visible from the Cimarron Street ramp to Interstate 25, clearly conveyed a political jab at rising unemployment under President Barack Obama, for it read in full, "Welcome to Obamaville – Colorado's fastest growing community."

Someone has put a lot of thought into a welcome sign that may surprise you, it's in front of a homeless camp off I-25 in Colorado Springs. Its message, "Welcome to Obamaville, Colorado's fastest growing community." Despite repeated calls no one could answer the question, who put up the sign? To some homeless the sign's message says enough. Mark Limonez, a homeless man living in "tent city", says the sign doesn't make him feel good about trying to get back on his feet. "Guys are trying to work but there's not enough work out there, so they go pan handling...

A NYC man sets up a hidden camera to see where his missing food was going. He thinks his g/f is lying about midnight snacks. The terrifying conclusion: a homeless woman has been living above his kitchen.

When we sit down at the Thanksgiving table this week I am quite certain there at least a few feelings that swoop up and tug at our conscience. However we intend to celebrate this ceremonial coming together of family and friends, there is the distinct possibility that something may be missing from the table. It could be the representation of the gift of thanks from our last Thanksgiving. Just what is that gift of thanks that may be a distinctly distant memory? It could be the true meaning to what we are giving the credit for our thanks. Is it...

<!-- body { font: 12px Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; } --> Local Man Claims Responsibility For Own Problems Select messages from # through # FAQ [/[]\] The People's Cube -> The Daily Truth #1: Local Man Claims Responsibility For Own Problems Author: Opiate of the People, Location: People's Republic of NJ, USA, EarthPosted: 11/7/2009, 10:42 pm    — In an odd exposé that has left the worlds of politics and academia abuzz, a local homeless person revealed yesterday that he only blamed himself for his failures. The incident occurred near the dumpster behind the Shop Rite store in Brooklyn, when Willard Kookish, formerly of 435 Subprime...

Homeless in kebab cannibal inquiry Published Date: 15 November 2009 By Guy Faulconbridge RUSSIAN police have arrested three homeless people who are suspected of eating a 25-year-old man they had butchered and then selling bits of the corpse to a local kebab house. Suspicions were raised when dismembered parts of a human body were found near a bus stop in the outskirts of the Russian city of Perm, 720 miles east of Moscow. Three homeless men with prior criminal convictions have been arrested on suspicion of setting upon him with knives and a hammer. The victim died in the onslaught...

Vice President Biden made a surprise visit to a homeless shelter in Washington DC on Friday to help serve lunch to dozens of homeless men. Biden dropped by the Father McKenna Center, a homeless shelter a few blocks away from the U.S. Capitol building that serves around 100 men during the day. It also offers counseling for substance abuse and an HIV/AIDS initiative. Dressed casually in a black baseball cap, sweater and khakis, Biden put on rubber gloves and an apron to help distribute fish sticks. Biden said he was there because “you've got to remind yourself that but for...

UN investigator accuses US of shameful neglect of homelessUN special rapporteur says wealthy US ignoring deepening homeless crisis while pumping billions into bank rescues Chris McGreal in Los Angeles guardian.co.uk, Thursday 12 November 2009 15.12 GMT A United Nations special investigator who was blocked from visiting the US by the Bush administration has accused the American government of pouring billions of dollars into rescuing banks and big business while treating as "invisible" a deepening homeless crisis. Raquel Rolnik, the UN special rapporteur for the right to adequate housing, who has just completed a seven-city tour of America, said it was...

During the Clinton reign, posters and bumper showed up stating 'America...the only place where a veteran sleeps in a box and a draft dodger is in the White House.' This was meant as a statement against the way that returning heroes are treated. We notice them in every large city and encounter them in every town. But, in this fast paced society, we don't see them. We cross the street.....

Raquel Rolnik, the Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing, is assuming the role of a global community organizer, with the U.N. acting as the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) on steroids. This is part of a gradual encroachment on American sovereignty. The United Nations should not be in the business of organizing radical American interest groups to stir up trouble within our borders.

Memories of children crying over confiscated Christmas toys still upset the Rev. Tom Hill. Hill, a former Giving Tree volunteer, also remains baffled by the diapers. There were boxes and boxes in storage, he said, and yet Giving Tree Director Libby Wright resisted handing them out to mothers in her program. Wright often said food was in short supply when she sought donations, Hill said, even after he discovered Wright was storing large amounts in one of her organization's homes. Wright declined an interview request for this story. Hill, who now runs his own food program for the homeless, said...

No description needed. I bet a whole bunch of people who voted for Obama are thinking "I sure the hell hope I'm not just left with change after Obama's done with me." The hopium is wearing off and like a really bad hangover, waking up is often a very unpleasant but sobering process. Only crazy idiots continue to get hammered and keep going through this self-induced punishment and somehow expect 'next time it'll be different.' It won't. Wake up. Sober up. Don't be stupid like this again. We're taking back the country in 2010. "NY23!" It starts here! This is...

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Police in Philadelphia say a homeless man sleeping in a trash bin wound up in the back of a garbage truck and was killed by the vehicle's compactor. Investigators say the truck collected the contents of the trash bin at about 4 a.m. Wednesday in North Philadelphia. The truck's driver activated the compactor a little later. Police say the driver told officers he thought he heard someone say, "Yo! Yo! Yo!" but did not know where the voice was coming from. He heard the cry again, fainter, at his next stop and alerted authorities.

LOS ANGELES — A homeless man was arrested and charged with arson for starting a tiny blaze in August near the spot where a gigantic wildfire erupted several days later, killing two firefighters, homicide detectives said Monday. Babatunsin Olukunle, 25, is the strongest lead to date in the arson investigation stemming from a fire that destroyed 89 homes, burned 250 square miles of national forest and killed two firefighters when their truck plunged off a road. It was one of the largest fires in Southern California history.

The first night after she surrendered her house to foreclosure, Sheri West endured the darkness in her Hyundai sedan. She parked in her old driveway, with her flower-print dresses and hats piled in boxes on the back seat, and three cherished houseplants on the floor. She used her backyard as a restroom. The second night, she stayed with a friend, and so it continued for more than a year: Ms. West — mother of three grown children, grandmother to six and great-grandmother to one — passed months on the couches of friends and relatives, and in the front seat of...

Women's rights groups have slammed a Miss Homeless contest in Belgium that ended when a 58-year-old woman won the first prize of a rent free flat for a year. Miss Homeless finalists /Europics Therese Van Belle, 58, beat nine other finalists in the contest who will now all go back on the streets. Organiser Aline Duportail said the competition was meant to draw attention to the plight of the homeless. But woman's rights activist Jacqueline Aubenas said: "I am outraged. These girls that turned into puppets parodying their own life is an absolute pathetic." The contest was judged over...

Oklahoma is getting about $12 million to fight homelessness in the state. Funds will be used for the Homeless Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program, which targets those who are newly or nearly homeless and are having trouble coming up with this month's rent, are behind on their utilities, or need help with a car payment. OKLAHOMA CITY -- A common criticism of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has been that too much of the money is going to support or expand social programs. No wonder, then, that some people roll their eyes over the fact that $1.5 billion in...

Union City police say a homeless man sleeping in a recycling bin barely escaped with his life after the container was emptied into a compacting truck. Union City police Lt. Kelly Musgrove says the man was nearly killed when he and the rest of the contents in bin outside a Taco Bell were emptied into the truck. Musgrove says before the truck driver hit the compact button, he heard the man screaming and banging from inside the truck. "He's lucky the employee was not listening to loud music," Lt. Kellly Musgrove told the San Jose Mercury News. The homeless man...

The 25-year-old Nigerian national was reportedly seen tending a small blaze about six days before the Station fire started in the same area. Los Angeles County sheriff's detectives hope to question a man who was spotted tending a small fire in the vicinity of the Station fire almost one week before that deadly blaze erupted in the Angeles National Forest. At a news conference Monday, homicide detectives requested the public's help in locating a 25-year-old homeless man who was caught "feeding" a small, uncontrolled fire in the early afternoon of Aug. 20 -- six days before the start of the...

The city of Detroit has turned away thousands of people who lined up Wednesday for a chance to receive stimulus money set aside for homeless and low-income residents. Wednesday at the Cobo Hall was the last day for Detroit residents to get an application for Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program stimulus money. The city said an overwhelming 50,000 people came to the center seeking money that was promised to keep low-income residents from losing their homes and finding temporary housing for the homeless. The massive crowds created a fire and safety hazard and forced the Detroit Police Department to...

Heather Mac DonaldThe Truth About Policing and Skid Row Summer 2009 proved that poor people’s best friend is the LAPD, not homeless advocates. 28 September 2009 The homeless industry on Los Angeles’s Skid Row lost its final shred of legitimacy this summer. Three murders and their aftermath exposed the advocates’ opposition to assertive policing as dangerous, hypocritical posturing. Los Angeles officials should reorient their funding priorities in light of the lessons of the summer of 2009. For 25 years, Skid Row constituted a real-world experiment in the application of homeless-advocate ideology. The squalor that engulfed the 50-block district just...

Looking for the perfect gift for the little girl who has everything, from her own pet llama to dramatic ski and swim vacations? If the little girl happens to be Chrissa, a character in the American Girl doll series, a homeless friend may just be the perfect accessory. And if you're a real little girl, wouldn't you just love a homeless friend, too? Or, better yet, a homeless friend doll, for a mere $95? Gwen, a limited-edition doll, is part of the backstory for Chrissa (what, you didn't know dolls had backstories?), who proves her worth by standing up for...

San Antonio, TX - San Antonio Living Show - Entertainment Stories -- Homeless 'American Girl' doll part of new collection

(CBS) Tammy and Troy Renault Look like any middle class couple, but someone else is living what used to be their home. Almost everything they own is in storage, reports CBS News correspondent Seth Doane. Now, home for the Renaults and their four kids is a campsite - a tent and a borrowed trailer. Troy said that how they ended up there is Economics 101. When he lost his job with a construction company and had trouble finding work on his own, the bills piled up, and everything else came crashing down. "You go from 'do you pay your lights...

 Now days, being homeless is more competitive than ever. Only the most clever and creative signs are going to get people to let go of their precious spare change. This makes for some pretty awesome homeless dude signage.                                                  

LOVEBIRDS Steven and Kathryn share a well-organised home in bustling Las Vegas. They have a neat, if compact kitchen, a furnished living area, and a bedroom complete with double bed, wardrobe and bookshelf featuring a wide selection including a Frank Sinatra biography and Spanish phrase book. And they make their money in some of the biggest casinos in the world. But their life is far from the ordinary. Because, along with hundreds of others, the couple are part of a secret community living in the dark and dirty underground flood tunnels below the famous strip. Rather than working in the...

Sacramento police arrested 17 homeless residents at their "safe ground" campsite this morning, including one advocate for the homeless. Rev. David Moss, a Methodist Minister, was taken into custody along with other campers, charged with illegal camping, Sacramento police Sgt. Norm Leong said. A press release by Loaves & Fishes early morning claimed Sister Libby Fernandez, executive director of the Loaves & Fishes homeless services group, was arrested together with other campers. But later Sacramento police clarified that she was only detained for a short period when police arrived to search the camp. Only those who had been previously cited...

A gravelly campground off Interstate 40 in central Tennessee is a last refuge for a hodgepodge of Americans: Here you can get a $275-a-month camping spot with a 30-amp electric outlet and a scratchy Wi-Fi signal emanating from “the bathhouse” down the lane. “It’s my permanent home – for now,” says Terry Lee Ballard, who says he runs a small record label from his “tent condo,” which is replete with “redneck engineering” such as a tent-flap air-conditioning unit. As cities from Sacramento, Calif., to Tampa, Fla., debate the merits of tent cities to house newly homeless people (many of them...

Men accused of having sex on stranger's lawn They are accused of lewd conduct near the beach. LAGUNA BEACH Police arrested two men today on suspicion of having sex on a stranger's lawn. The incident occurred in broad daylight, police said, in the 1000 block of Gaviota Drive, which is a neighborhood of multi-million-dollar homes near Thalia Street Beach, on the ocean side of Coast Highway. Police Sgt. George Ramos said the home's owner called police at 12:57 p.m. to report that the men had just finished having sex and had walked off. "We were able to locate them within...

Wednesday, August 26, 2009Police say transient stole truck, 19 guns to acquire more beer By Mike Peters Maybe if he just hadn't run through the power lines in north Greeley. Or maybe if the burglar alarm just wasn't set at Big R. Or maybe if the cop hadn't Tased him five times. Maybe today, Cruz Marceleno would have what he wanted all along: beer. Instead, he's in jail. In one of Greeley's biggest burglaries, a homeless Greeley man is accused of stealing a truck, some generators and 19 guns — including six assault rifles — for a total of nearly...

A Sacramento attorney who has championed the rights of homeless people is opening his private property to campers who need a place to sleep at night. Mark Merin, who for years has challenged the city's and county's treatment of the homeless, is leasing a parcel of land in downtown Sacramento to an association of people seeking to establish a legal "safe ground" campsite. Three advocacy organizations are leading the "safe ground" effort. Merin would not disclose terms of the lease but said the vacant lot is on C Street between 12th and 14th streets and should accommodate 20 to 30...

They found him dead one morning Just a bum from off the street Tattered clothes upon his shoulders Ragged shoes upon his feet

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Last summer, police responding to complaints about campfires under a highway overpass found dozens of homeless people living on public land along the Cumberland River. Eviction notices went up -- and then were suspended by Nashville Mayor Karl Dean, a Democrat, who said housing for the homeless should be found first. A year later, little has been found -- and Nashville, with help from local nonprofits, is now servicing a tent city, arranging for portable toilets, trash pickup, a mobile medical van and visits from social workers. Volunteers bring in firewood for the camp's 60 or so...

MOBILE, Ala. — City officials want to dismiss a public lewdness charge against an 81-year-old woman accused of urinating in a public park when she couldn't make it to a bathroom. Municipal prosecutors in Mobile filed a motion Wednesday to throw out the charge against Lula Mae Battle. The request came amid a public outcry over the arrest of Battle, who suffers from incontinence problems. "Thank you, Jesus. Glory, Hallelujah!" Battle told the Press-Register newspaper after learning of the city's motion. Municipal Court administrator Pete Peterson said Thursday the judge would likely rule on the city's motion to throw out...

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., responds to question during a news conference after a visit to the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless' Stout Street Clinic in Denver, Colo., on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2009. Pelosi says boisterous protests at Democrat-sponsored health care promotions this summer won't derail a massive health overhaul looming when Congress returns to work next month. (AP Photo/Ed Andrieski)

<p>On 04 August 2009 the PGR will undertake the delivery of a casket flag from Michael Alan Gare's military honors, completed here in CA, to his daughter in FL. We will transfer the flag from rider to rider like a pony express. We will start on 04 Aug 2009 at 0900 PDT.</p>

Members of the FARC used a homeless woman as a human bomb to attack a police station in the south of Colombia, authorities say. The woman was sent to deliver a package at a local police station that exploded when she arrived. The woman died and fourteen others were injured, authorities say. According to police sources, the bomb was given to the woman by guerrillas of the FARC's 'Mariscal Sucre front' who activated the bomb when the woman arrived at the target. The woman died immediately.

Bloomberg Administration Initiative Provides One-Way Ticket Anywhere As Part Of Plan To Save On Shelter Costs Homeless Advocates Blame Mayor For Increase On Streets In Past Year NEW YORK (CBS) ― It is said that you can't go home again, but that is exactly what New York City officials want some homeless families to do. The city will buy one-way tickets for families in shelters who have a place back home to live. They call it "Project Reconnect." Ruby Davis, who has been homeless since 2006, has firsthand knowledge of Project Reconnect. City Officials offered her and her family tickets...

New York City is buying one-way plane tickets for homeless families to leave the city. It's part of a program by Mayor Michael Bloomberg's administration to keep the homeless out of the expensive shelter system, which costs $36,000 a year per family. More than 550 families have left the city since 2007. All it takes is for a relative to agree to take them in. The city employs a travel agency for domestic travel and the Department of Homeless Services handles international travel. City officials say there are no limits on where a family can be sent and families can...

NEW YORK — New York City is buying one-way plane tickets for homeless families to leave the city. It's part of a program by Mayor Michael Bloomberg's administration to keep the homeless out of the expensive shelter system, which costs $36,000 a year per family. More than 550 families have left the city since 2007. All it takes is for a relative to agree to take them in. The city employs a travel agency for domestic travel and the Department of Homeless Services handles international travel.

NEW YORK — New York City is buying one-way plane tickets for homeless families to leave the city. It's part of a program by Mayor Michael Bloomberg's administration to keep the homeless out of the expensive shelter system, which costs $36,000 a year per family. More than 550 families have left the city since 2007. All it takes is for a relative to agree to take them in. The city employs a travel agency for domestic travel and the Department of Homeless Services handles international travel.

NEW YORK — New York City is buying one-way plane tickets for homeless families to leave the city. It's part of a Bloomberg administration program to keep the homeless out of the expensive shelter system, which costs $36,000 a year per family. More than 550 families have left the city since 2007. All it takes is for a relative to agree to take them in. ~ snip ~ Families have been sent to 24 states and five continents, mostly to Puerto Rico, Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas. City officials say none of the relocated families have returned to city

Here's a little news to dampen your day: Our city is downright mean. So says the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty in a new report called "Homes Not Handcuffs" that tracks the criminalization of homeless people in 273 cities nationwide. San Francisco is ranked seventh, up (down?) from 10th last year. Berkeley ranks 10th. The very meanest cities are Los Angeles; St. Petersburg, Fla.; and Orlando. The rankings were based on the number of anti-homeless laws, how strongly those laws are enforced and the general political climate toward homeless people. The report slams San Francisco for citing people...

More Families Are Becoming Homeless Largest Increases in 2008 Came in Rural and Suburban Areas, Study Finds Alexi Mostrous Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, July 12, 2009 Louis Gill doesn't like to turn anyone away. The director of the Bakersfield Homeless Center in California has taken to laying out cots and mattresses between the shelter's 174 registered beds to cope with the rush of homeless families brought to his doors by the financial crisis. "Last year, we saw a 34 percent increase in homeless families and a 24 percent increase in homeless children," he said. "Why do we go beyond...

Louis Gill doesn't like to turn anyone away. The director of the Bakersfield Homeless Center in California has taken to laying out cots and mattresses between the shelter's 174 registered beds to cope with the rush of homeless families brought to his doors by the financial crisis. "Last year we saw a 34 percent increase in homeless families and a 24 percent increase in homeless children," he said. "Why do we go beyond capacity? Because in a just society a child should not have to sleep outside or in a car." Gill is a frontline witness to the change in...

MUSKEGON, Mich. (WOOD) - Daniel Nichols, who accidentally ran over his 5-year-old son while the boy lay sleeping in a tent, says the state is threatening to take away his children. A Muskegon County Department of Human Services worker visited Nichols' wife Thursday at the hospital, where his son is recovering, and told her a campground was no place for children to live, Nichols told 24 Hour News 8. "She went to the hospital and told my wife that she doesn't think it's acceptable for us to be staying in the campground, which we weren't staying in the campground, we...