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A News & Record article about homeless camps in the path of the Downtown Greenway elicited the usual negative comments about homeless people. One of those who responded with truth (and grace) was a friend of mine, who’s been homeless in the past. The only experts on homelessness are people who’ve been homeless. His comment was worth blogging:

Read more on Expert: Homelessness not a choice; your response is…

Ben Holder hasn’t been blogging as much recently, and I’m happy about it. Because I know why he’s been away from The Troublemaker. In his own words:

“I’m too busy to blog. I’m renovating houses, putting unemployed people to work, and feeding homeless people in my kitchen.”

Read more on Why I’m happy that Ben Holder’s not blogging…

Picked up the donated coffee from Port City Java (thank you!) and juice from our supplies at Salvation Army and then got to the HIVE. Lenslinger from Fox8 was there and Amanda Lehmert from News & Record. But not many homeless folks. So Tim and I went and got Grace’s van and headed to the library to pick up some folks. We got back with a vanful and Marsha was pulling up with some recently housed friends. Pastor Willis Johnson (Shiloh Baptist) was providing an update on the day center committee’s progress when we came in. Dianne Bellamy-Small is here. Ed Whitfield is going to facilitate the discussion.

Q. “Is the voice of the [currently/formerly] people… going to be heard?”

Pastor Johnson gave a very long answer that started with acknowledging that homeless people will not have a vote on everything and won’t like every decision. Pastor Johnson used the phrase, “going from a movement to an institution,” which, quite frankly, sounds my alarm bells, and “those who are our neighbors, those who are indigenous to this reality,” which I think means, “homeless people.” Referring to the structure committee’s suggestions for the make-up of the board, and having a certain number of homeless people on the board, he said, “Those are all things that we’re going to have to have real conversations about.”

Read more on Liveblog: Day center meeting at the HIVE…

A friend and I stopped by Blogging Poet Billy Jones’ house on Tuesday afternoon, where he was waiting for the Bicentennial Torch Run to pass through. We went to Billy’s to pick up a bicycle that he repaired and was donating for another friend who needed transportation, after recently moving from homelessness to housing.

Read more on Santa Billy’s bike and chicken farm…

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…

I spent some time with Liz today. Being around her makes me want to be a better person. To be kinder, calmer, stronger, bolder, braver. To be more peaceful, more loving, more aware, more active. To be a better listener, a better advocate, a better friend. To talk less, listen more, judge less, love more, react less, think more. Liz Seymour inspires me. I wish that you all knew her. And I hope that you all have someone like Liz in your life.

Read more on Liz Seymour Inspires Me…

“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!?!?…

Via Ed:

The N&R has posted Joe Killian’s “The story behind the story,” about his investigation of the gang story that ran in Sunday’s paper.

I should start by saying that my writing about “the gang problem” was sort of a divisive thing — even in the N&R office. There were reporters and editors who thought (and were not shy about saying) that they thought the whole thing was being trumped up…

Read more on Rebel With A Keyboard?…

Update: Well, I thought I was done, and then there was this. OK, the break starts (again) now…

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The cousins are coming! It’s that time again. My big (but tiny) sister and her husband and all the kids (the cousins!) will be here soon, and we’ll begin our annual extended family summer break. (There are already a bunch of us here in Greensboro, plus the folks down east.) I’m planning to do NOTHING but hang out with the whole huge family (grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews, and of course, my own kids!) for the next couple of weeks. No computers. No telephones. No work. Just family. And Jesus! Summer break. (We’ll probably go visit some of our homeless friends, though, because they’re family, too.)

Read more on Summer Break!…

From the new blog of the North Carolina Coalition to End Homelessness:

“Often, agencies providing shelter to the homeless don’t realize that they fall under the Fair Housing Law or the American Disabilities Act. But in fact, whether you are providing short or long term shelter, chances are one of these laws apply to you.”

In order to be compliant with the law, shelter staff must give disabled persons access to programs, and cannot use questions about disability (physical or mental illness, including alcoholism) during the intake process to screen a person out of the program — but, after accepting the disabled person into the housing program, shelter staff may then ask questions about disability, in order to determine service needs and offer reasonable accommodations. The article also discusses the difference between “reasonable accommodations” and fundamental program changes. Much more in the article, including links to further resources.

Read more on Fair Housing Laws & Homeless Shelters…

Draft.Blogger.Com — “a special version of Blogger where we try out new features before we release them to everyone” — killed the five-year old Blogger blog of Kevin Barbieux, aka “The Homeless Guy.” Fortunately, Kevin had been trying out WordPress, and had exported most of his Blogger posts to his Wordpress blog.

Read more on Blogger In Draft Killed “The Homeless Guy”…

Zack Exley:

“A new dimension is creeping into the role of religious leadership in America: blogging…

… podcasting sermons doesn’t require a change in the way religious leaders lead. They’re just recording the sermons they’re already giving.

Read more on “Preacher/Pastor/Podcaster/Blogger”…