My friends at Food Not Bombs in Greensboro serve vegetarian meals to the homeless three times each week. But a “hunters for the hungry” program in Georgia takes a decidely different approach to feeding the needy, filling soup-kitchen and food pantry freezers with deer, wild hog and squirrel. Reaction is mixed:
Read more on Hunters for the Hungry…
As the City of Miami considers a ban on panhandling, Jackie Dowd says, “[T]heir real problem seems to be that Miami’s laws against aggressive panhandling are not being enforced.” Greensboro has a fairly strict panhandling ordinance, but we also have an understaffed and overworked police department.
Read more on Panhandling: Banning v. Enforcement…
From Today at the Mission:
…I’m looking for something else in a church. I’m looking for a place where a community of believers can grapple with scripture, can wrestle with what it means to be a Christ-follower in this sin-wracked, broken world of ours. I’m looking for a place where it’s all right to doubt, to worry, to fear, to celebrate, to dance and to sing – or not sing; where prayer is what we do, and not what we listen to someone else doing, where art is shared, where contemplation is possible, where worship is lived, where healing happens. I guess I’m really looking for a place where all the odd people like me who don’t fit anywhere else can be welcome and loved – which has to be said because wanting what I described…. well, that pretty much guarantees your dissatisfaction with The Program Driven Church ™; it pretty much guarantees you’ll be the odd one out Sunday morning.
Read more on A Place For Followers…
image credit: borazivkovic
I went to the annual ConvergeSouth Barbecue at David and Jinni Hoggard’s on Friday night. It was great to see my blogging friends.
At the end of the evening, Hogg asked if I wanted to take the rest of the food (there was lots left!) to feed some of our homeless friends. Since it was Friday night, the NightWatch team was already out, so I called and they sent the van by to pick up the food. I’ve since heard from the night’s team leader that the barbecue was a big hit with our friends and much appreciated!
Read more on Hogg’s Hog Feeds The Homeless…
The City of Greensboro’s new loitering ordinance, ostensibly aimed at controlling downtown’s late-night crowds, is claiming other casualties — it’s clearing “the block” at Lee and Eugene. This block is home to Greensboro Urban Ministry (the largest homeless services provider in Greensboro) and its Weaver House night shelter.
Read more on New City Ordinance Clears The Block…
A U.S. Senate committee has passed a bill with significant (and good!) changes to federal funding for homelessness. The bill must also pass on the Senate floor.
Some of the changes include adding people who are “doubled-up” (homeless and staying temporarily in the homes) to the federal definition of homelessness and expanding the federal definition of “chronic homelessness” to include families.
Read more on Senate Considers Significant Changes In Federal Homeless Funding…
San Francisco found a novel approach to ridding a hillside park in an über-affluent neighborhood of its resident homeless population. The city spent $15,000 on a herd of goats, which ate away the thick underbrush that hid the encampments where the homeless folks slept and hung out. The homeless people left. Neighbors hope this means an end to campfires, dirty needles and trash.
Read more on Goats Chase Away Homeless Campers…
News release from Guilford Center:
Front row (left to right): Joe Fortin, Cassandra Durham, Vivian Armstrong, the Honorable Sue Burch, Alicia Kaplan, Katie Poulos, Lelia Moore, Michele Forrest, Vanessa Blackwell, Back row (left to right): Lieutenant Thomas Hanson, Jackie Lucas, Roslyn Rope, Ben Aalbers, Jim Young, Paul Nagy, and Charles Coffey. Not shown: Wheaton Casey.
Read more on Local Substance Abuse Training Academy Graduates First Class…
Homelessness 101: Watch where you walk when you’re doing street outreach with people who sleep outside. (Hint: No bathrooms.) I forgot to share this golden rule with a friend, so I offered to clean his shoes for him. As I cleaned, I thought about my recent conversations with some folks who are struggling with how to balance compassion and accountability as they deal with sanitation issues (and the accompanying health hazards) from homeless people who are living on their organizations’ property.
Read more on Don’t Read This While Eating…
Greensboro’s Food Not Bombs feeds homeless people three times a week. On Mondays evenings, they serve dinner at the Central Library, downtown. On Tuesday and Thursday evenings, they serve at St. Mary’s, at Tate and Walker, near UNCG.
Read more on Help Food Not Bombs Build A Kitchen And Feed The Homeless…
In her post, “Talking Trash,” Liz Seymour asks:
“Which is more important: feeding hungry people or the law? If you ask yourself the question over and over again it becomes like that little place on the wall where the paint has buckled. Curious, you pick at the bubble one day and discover that the plaster underneath is cracked…”
They’re asking (and answering) that question down in Florida, too. A member of Orlando’s Food Not Bombs has been found not guilty on charges that he violated a city ordinance against feeding the homeless. FNB members in West Palm Beach also continue to feed the homeless, despite the recent passage of a city ordinance against it there, as well.
Read more on Feeding The Hungry Or Following The Law?…
National Depression Screening Day is Thursday, October 11, 2007. Learn more about depression here.
Info about free screenings, from the Guilford Center:
The Guilford Mental Health Awareness Coalition is sponsoring Community Depression Screenings, FREE of charge, on OCTOBER 11, 2007 at four locations in Greensboro, High Point and Jamestown:
Read more on National Depression Screening Day…