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Last Wednesday night, my friend Deb and I went to the ER at Wesley Long with a Community Dinner guest. He was having DTs really bad and he wanted help. He told us that he wouldn’t make it through another winter on the street. We hoped to get him into a detox and then into a residential rehab. He was ready and willing. But he kept telling us that it wouldn’t work — that every time he’d tried to get sober, they’d detox him for a couple of days and then put him back out on the street without sending him to a rehab program. He said, “To them, I’m just a poor, homeless drunk.” We assured him that wouldn’t happen this time. (But apparently, we were wrong.)

Read more on Discharged: No Help For Homeless Alcoholic…

>> The Applicability of Housing First Models to Homeless Persons with Serious Mental Illness (PDF, 209 pages); U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Policy Development and Research, July 2007

Read more on HUD Report: Housing First For The Homeless Mentally Ill…

From Dayna, at Into The Hood:

“I recently met a new student at UNCG and was excited to hear that she had hooked up with a church in Glenwood that was starting a youth choir that would be open to neighborhood kids. Shortly after our initial discussion, she recruited volunteers to hand out flyers at InterVarsity. After IV, she asked me if I thought it was safe to go door to door. I assured her that it would be fine, and gave her a few pointers (i.e. avoid stray dogs, etc.). I asked her if they would provide transportation, as many of the parents either don’t have cars or work various shifts, so might not always be able to drop off/pick up their kids.

Read more on A Church For Kids In “Nicer-Looking” Houses…

The 2007 Greater Greensboro CROP Walk for hunger will be Sunday, October 14th. The walk begins and ends at First Horizon Park. Registration is at 1:30 p.m. and the walk begins at 2:30 p.m.

Read more on 2007 Crop Walk…

>> See all my Bus Tour photos, with descriptions, here.

Who called the cops on the Bus Tour? Keep reading to find out…

Yesterday was the Greensboro Housing Coalition’s fourth annual Healthy Homes Bus Tour. The City inspections department issued rental occupany certificates for 7,000 units in the past year, for a total of 20,498 (out of about 32,000 rental units) thus far. There are 7,694 substandard housing units in Greensboro and in the past year, 3,120 abandoned vehicles were removed by the City and 52 condemned houses were demolished. (Stats from Butch Simmons, director of Engineering & Inspections Dept., City of G.)

Read more on Cops Called On Bus Tour…

News Release from Mental Health Association in North Carolina:

U.S. Senate Passes Mental Health Parity

September 20, 2007 (Raleigh, NC) – Two days ago on September 18, the U.S. Senate made history by passing the Mental Health Parity Act (S. 558) by unanimous consent – an incredible victory for mental health! The bill provides full parity for mental illness and substance abuse. The House must still pass the bill before it goes to the President for signing.

Read more on Mental Health Parity Passes Senate…

Yesterday was the annual Healthy Homes Bus Tour. We heard a lot about lead poisoning. And I’ve been reading more on the web this morning. The relationship between lead poisoning and crime is disturbing.

Read more on Lead, Crime & The Poor…

“I went out to dinner with my friend Elizabeth the other night and found myself sitting next to one of her graduate student assistants. We introduced ourselves and he said ‘Aren’t you Elizabeth’s friend that runs that house with all the artists and activists?’” — Liz Seymour

Read more on Guess Who’s Blogging!?!?…

Updated with video below.

I attended today’s mayoral candidate forum with Yvonne Johnson and Milton Kern at Holy Trinity Church. Here’s a summary of what the candidates had to say, in response to questions from the audience:

Read more on Johnson v. Kern: A Candidate Forum…

It’s that time of year again. My youngest is selling Attractions books to raise money for his school. Pages #2 and #3 here list the places and the amounts of the deals offered. (Lots of good stuff.) Twenty-five bucks each.

Read more on Shameless Sales Pitch…

NPR’s Housing First: A Special Report is “a yearlong special reporting project by a team of NPR News radio and Web journalists… explor[ing] why it’s so difficult for Americans with special needs to find good housing — and how the lack of housing often stymies their efforts to join, and flourish in, the mainstream of society.”

Read more on NPR: Housing First: A Special Report…

1.) up early and got my youngest to school early, too (wow)
2.) worked on the computer for a while
3.) ran errands and did my Bible study while waiting at an appointment
4.) went to the grocery
5.) did laundry
6.) made a new dinner that everybody liked
7.) cleaned the kitchen
8.) did a 45-minute run/walk listening to 80’s music
9.) alone in the house (briefly) while all my kids are out doing good things, I’m dancing and singing to NightRanger on the iPod
10.) stopping to blog about it, because this is a really good day and good days should never be taken for granted
11.) back to dancing…

Read more on A Really Good Day…