Homeless Kids: Far & Near
Far: 700 children are among the homeless folks who call LA’s Skid Row “home.” One of those kids made a documentary about it. See his story here.
Near: Preliminary numbers from HPCGC’s annual homeless count indicate that the number of homeless children in Guilford County schools has gone up considerably since last year. A full report is due Feb. 9th.
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“No place like home”
The News & Record has an editorial today about homelessness and the upcoming Housing Summit. Cool. 
Caveat:
“On Wednesday volunteers began their annual census of the homeless population in the county. They‘ll reveal most of the specifics at a Feb. 9 retreat.”
“Volunteers” and “they” refer to the Homeless Prevention Coalition of Guilford County (HPCGC), which was not mentioned, sadly. 
Important part:
Our homeless friends have been getting increasing attention in the media recently — TV, radio, newspaper, blogs. Awareness is part of the process of change.
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We Count Because They Count
Today, the Homeless Prevention Coalition of Guilford County (HPCGC), of which I’m a member, did our annual Point in Time Count of those who are experiencing homelessness in our community. We counted at shelters and soup kitchens, day labor agencies and libraries, under bridges and in the woods, in the schools, and more.
The count began at 5:00 a.m. and we finished the last count about 9:00 p.m. I saw and hugged and talked with homeless friends I hadn’t seen in a good while, and I met new friends. I heard good stories about folks who have gotten off the streets, into housing, doing well. Love that!!
This was a sobering day because we counted so many folks who are homeless, and in so many places, and in so many situations. This was a good day because in counting those folks, we got to let them know that we count them because they count to us.
The shelters and overflow shelters are full tonight. There are folks sleeping under bridges, in cars, in abandoned houses and buildings, and in the woods. We know we weren’t able to count them all. But they all count!
Note: The numbers from today’s count will be tallied and released in early February. You’ll read it here!
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Thank You, GPD CROs!!
Thank you so much to all the Greensboro police officers who did the Point in Time (homeless) Count with us today!!
Community Resource Officers Tepedino, Mcdonald, Combs, Anderson, Roberts, Ryan, Smith, Tunstall, Heinrich and Gardner (if I left anybody out, y’all let me know, I’m going by the schedule!) took us to do the outside counts in each of their divisions. Their help was invaluable and we appreciate them so much.
Thank you to Officer Tepedino, who coordinated GPD’s participation, and to Chief Bellamy who graciously assigned us these officers. And a special thanks to Officer Ryan, who I was teamed up with today.
Greensboro has awesome cops. God bless them all.
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Video From Homeless Count
Go to WFMY’s web site (this page) to see an article and news footage from today’s Point in Time Count of the Homeless. Or click here for just the video. (WMV file)
Pink jacket is me. 
[Update: This video is no longer available on WFMY’s site. :(]
Long day. Good day. More later…
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Tomorrow Is The Big Day!!
Tomorrow, Wednesday, January 25th, is the 2006 Point in Time Count of the homeless in North Carolina. The Homeless Prevention Coalition of Guilford County (hpcgc.org) is gearing up for our local count.
Our first counts begin at 5:00 a.m. at staffing agencies where homeless folks go to get day labor jobs. We’ll count all through the day at places where our homeless friends eat and hang out. We’ll also count at shelters and transitional housing facilities. And we’ll count homeless kids in the school system. In the evening, we’ll do outside counts at places where our homeless friends sleep.
Want to know more? Visit our web site: http://www.hpcgc.org/
Disclaimer: I’m an active HPCGC member. (Which is probably already obvious.)
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Attacks on Homeless Rise
While crime is down nationally, attacks on the homeless are increasing - dramatically. Michael Stoops, of the National Coalition for the Homeless, spoke to reporters in the wake of recent violence in Florida. Two homeless men were badly beaten and one was killed by teenagers with baseball bats. Stoops notes:
“There’s an alarming increase nationwide in homeless beatings… They’re the one remaining group that people can target.”
Explanations given by homeless-beaters range from “I don’t know” to “for fun.” Let’s just call it what it is. Evil.
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