exactly, there are alot of ppl who needs this charity money, guess we need to cater for our own first before branching outside the country

I live in Sacramento where I blog Sacramento Homeless blog. Early last December, night termperature dipped into the mid-20s -- very very low for our metropolis. At least one man died downtime. Meanwhile, members of the despicable homeless organization Safe Ground were put up a expensive hotel for the whole of winter by our Mayor Kevin Johnson while the rest of us competed for shelter space and the winter-shelter budget was severely cut.

Sacramento continues to be backward outback so far as treatment of homelessness is concerned, despite our mild weather.

MH- this is OMG horrible!~ thank you for your ongoing vigilance and for keeping our attention focused. We do need continue to be a benevolent country. but, we must never, ever forget our own...those who live in our communities

As I write this, city officials in Colo Springs are discussing a "no camping" ordinance - vote Feb 9. There is snow on the ground...and, it's going to get colder this week...
"CO Springs Considers No-Camping Ordinance" http://bit.ly/b503C0

I am nearly speechless with sadness at these photos. Alcoholism is a disease; people need treatment, not harsh judgment. It is unfortunately a very common practice in our culture to "blame the victim" of crimes and disabling conditions.

Many homeless people prefer life on the street to cruel and harsh treatment by poorly trained, coercive and sometimes even abusive homeless "housing professionals."

For example, we do not expect animals in shelters to be let out at 7:00 AM to forage for themselves on the streets all day long in harsh climates. Many shelters routinely do this to human beings under the guise of requiring them to "look for jobs."

Perhaps we need a Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to People (SPCP) modeled after the SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals).

Most of them dont want our help.Only legislation and forces treatment may be considered.Is it moral and justified always?

You can call what u want, bottom line is treat people as you would want to be treated; query- if every1 in ur life treated u & ur circumstances the way u treat a homeless "PERSON", how would ur life be?? Sure u sit back and say i give 2 organizations that are geared to help, but then u don't even acknowledge the person u pass on the streets.
Greatness is a common thing, found in common people from common places, who simply do uncommon things. Namaste

I am so in agreement with you. We will send billions of dollars to foreign countries and people are hungry and homeless right here. We freely give food, shelter and clothing to strangers. Yet in America we put our people through degrading processes to get those services. Our country created a large number of these helpless people. Companies down-sized, corporations went bankrupt because of bad management or corruption. Hundreds of thousands of Americans lost their jobs. But are we so freely helped. No. We have to fill out a myriad of paperwork, jump through a thousand hoops, and then hope we "qualify" for assistance. In the midst of all this, big corporate execs are STILL giving themselves huge bonuses. We should be singing "God FORGIVE America".

The poor have seldom been so ignored, despised and neglected in our country. Where is the main-stream media, the Catholic Church (I'm a Catholic), not to mention the Democratic Party on this issue? People need to be forced to confront this issue, whether they like it or not.

Mark,

This is a very stirring story. Am glad you continue to do what you do. Here at Sunny Acres we understand the need...and although there are parts of this program that may not suit everyone, people have not only a place to be but a place to call home.

I have been inspired enough by volunteering at Sunny Acres to convince one of our local churches into becoming a 'warming shelter' at night for the homeless in my area on cold and rainy nights. It has been a very rewarding experience and relatively easy to get up and running once I found a Pastor willing to host.

Anyone moved by what Mark has posted here that would like to open a 'warming shelter' in your area can email me and I will be happy to share how we did it along with the basic rules and 'guest agreement' we use for people who come in. This is not difficult folks, it just takes persistence and the willingness to adjust our priorities some.

For a relatively small town I have been able to procure over 40 volunteers in a matter of a few weeks to show up at night (all night) to provide oversight and security for those who stay. It is a very rewarding experience. Interestingly enough, most who are willing to help are those who have either been homeless themselves or are in some stage of recovery from alcohol and/or drug addiction. There is a community of folks like these in every city, you need only tap into them. Now there are other community members becoming inspired and wanting to get involved.

Matt Lombardini
sunnyacres.ca@gmail.com
www.sunnyacresca.com

My good friend Richard lost both his legs just below the knees to frost bite 3 yrs ago sleeping outside Toronto City Hall in an April cold snap. He still sleeps outside in the same place - in his wheelchair. Tonight it will be -20 degrees in Toronto with over 100 sleeping outside. How long can this go on?

OH my God, I used to see wandering homeless dogs on the streets and cry, OMG, who would have thought in America we would come to see our people....homeless....sick...without help....hungry....and no food....somethings are wrong, very wrong....