help end homelessness

O God, as Naomi and Ruth journeyed from one land to another seeking a home, we ask your blessing upon all who are homeless in this world.

You promised to your chosen people a land flowing with milk and honey; so inspire us to desire the accomplishment of your will that we may work for the settlement of those who are homeless in a place of peace, protection, and nurture, flowing with opportunity, blessing, and hope. Amen.

Vienna Cobb Anderson

for displaced families who lived at the Gulf Coast and lost everything in Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

If anyone needs more information for themselves, family or friends please let me know.

I can help get them back into a new home.

to contact the United Way for housing and food for you and your family if you find yourself homeless!!!

I learned this watching Dr. Phil today. It seems that he and his father were homeless when he was 15 living in their car for a while. He is very empathetic to the situation that is increasingly growing in our country.

I know first hand the terror of not being well enough to take care of the rent. I was fired from my job while recovering from brain surgery and evicted. As a widow I was my sole support at the time. I had no idea where to turn for help.

Luckily I had family to help me. It was a scary situation and it was just me. I can only imagine what it would do to a parent trying to keep their family together.

I will support the United way effort to help the homeless. I am a strong activist to find ways for us to care for our middle class falling through the cracks of our system in employment, housing and medical care.

goes any one of us who live a paycheck away from total financial ruin or in the path of a hurricane, tornado,flood, earthquake or tsunami.

Families are ripped out of their homes due to bad health, losing their jobs, domestic violence or the just plain bad luck of a random fire.

None of us are immune to this happening to us in our lifetime. Some are just luckier than others.

My businesses are based on second chances without making people pay extra high prices because they are poor or in transition. We can make a difference and stop the insanity if we try.

I read recently that there are over 1600 homeless teenagers enrolled in public highschools in one city of prominence in our area. This city claims to be the fun center of the Dallas Fort Worth metroplex.

While enticing major corporations to move their businesses to their fair city they have cut their budget for homeless shelters and housing projects by $500k for this year. This single action closed down the people who were helping these children.

I could rage against the machine but actions speak louder than words. Let’s not let this happen where we live!

Recently there was a documentary on PBS about a non-profit group that takes abandoned houses, fixes them up and then gives them to homeless families. This allows them to integrate back into neighborhoods and become a part of the community.

Since we have a glut of vacant homes in this country this sounds even more reasonable than buidling new ones even though Habitat for Humanity is one of my favorite organizations.

That doesn’t happen often here.

Everytime it does the local news media has headline articles about the plight of the Homeless.

The social do-gooders speak of finding them before they freeze to death.

Where are these concerned citizens the rest of the year???

One way I can actually think globally and act locally is to become a strong advocate for affordable housing !

Working in my vocation of real estate and finance is being one of God’s children helping to end a despicable situation. If I do not continue the fight how could I possibly ask others to make a difference in their communities ?

On the news this week they said that after doing research they found that 99% of the homeless pan handlers on the streets of Dallas have criminal records.

This is not surprising considering it is against the law to give them money for food or shelter. How are they supposed to survive?

The police run them off to their cardboard boxes hidden away from the nice people or they arrest them for a night in jail. At least there they get 3 hots and a cot but also a criminal record.

Isn’t there a better way?

Having worked all of my life trying to help people get homes it is appalling to me to see street people without shelter or food.

Our cities are filled with homeless families and children that depend on the kindness of strangers for their basic needs. There are thousands of exisiting vacant housing units available for immediate occupancy owned by our government, HUD and/or Fanniemae.

But as long as “fat cats” like Ameriquest use fraudulent practices to make more money from those who can afford to pay the piper for a roof over their heads there will continue to be vacant homes and senseless overbuilding destroying our very existence.

It is time to have the courage and dignity to take care of our own. We have plenty of resources.
See: http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/13693153.htm