ChosenFast.com » video | ChosenFast.com http://chosenfast.com news and info about homelessness and related issues in Greensboro, NC Fri, 25 May 2012 00:04:28 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 “How He Loves Us,” sung by a vagabond at a homeless tent city in Greensboro http://chosenfast.com/2012/04/28/how-he-loves-us-sung-by-a-vagabond-at-a-homeless-tent-city-in-greensboro/ http://chosenfast.com/2012/04/28/how-he-loves-us-sung-by-a-vagabond-at-a-homeless-tent-city-in-greensboro/#comments Sat, 28 Apr 2012 05:14:34 +0000 Michele (CM) http://chosenfast.com/?p=6655   ... > read more]]>

Melissa and I met a new friend at the Freeman Mill tent city on Friday while we were doing StreetWatch. Jeffrey told us that he’s not homeless, “just a vagabond”, and he played and sang music for us and let me film him. The first thing he played was, I think, Ben Harper (top video). But what captivated me and spoke to my soul, was his rendition of “How He Loves Us” (bottom video). He shared with us about his journey in life, and let’s just say, the words of “How He Loves Us” (lyrics below) fit his story… and mine. God is good. I am grateful.

“How He Loves Us” lyrics, by Kim Walker

He is jealous for me
Love’s like a hurricane,
I am a tree
Bending beneath the weight of
His wind and mercy
When all of a sudden, I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory
and I realize just how beautiful You are and how great your affections are for me.

Oh, how He loves us so
Oh, how He loves us
How He loves us so.
(x2)

Yeah, He loves us
Oh, how He loves us
Oh, how He loves us
Oh, how He loves.
(x2)

We are His portion and
He is our prize,
Drawn to redemption
by the grace in His eyes
If grace is an ocean, we’re all sinking
So heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss and my heart turns
violently inside of my chest
I don’t have time to maintain these regrets when I think about the way

He loves us,
Oh, how He loves us
Oh, how He loves us
Oh, how He loves
(x2)

Yeah, He loves us
Oh, how He loves us
Whoa, how He loves us
Whoa, how He loves.

Yeah, He loves us
He loves us
He loves us
He loves.

Yeah, He loves us
Whoa, how He loves us
Whoa, how He loves us
Whoa, how He loves

He loves us,
Whoa, how He loves us
Whoa, how He loves us
Whoa, how He loves

]]> http://chosenfast.com/2012/04/28/how-he-loves-us-sung-by-a-vagabond-at-a-homeless-tent-city-in-greensboro/feed/ 0 To leave the woods, Brad needs a job! (video) http://chosenfast.com/2011/10/07/to-leave-the-woods-brad-needs-a-job-video/ http://chosenfast.com/2011/10/07/to-leave-the-woods-brad-needs-a-job-video/#comments Sat, 08 Oct 2011 02:05:27 +0000 Michele (CM) http://chosenfast.com/?p=6015 Update, 11/20/2011: Brad has a job!

Meet Brad. He lives in a homeless camp, but wants to move inside before winter. To do that, he needs a job. He has lots of skills and experience, which he talks about in this video. Please watch and share.

]]> http://chosenfast.com/2011/10/07/to-leave-the-woods-brad-needs-a-job-video/feed/ 0 Mark: “I’m in MY house” http://chosenfast.com/2011/01/21/mark-im-in-my-house/ http://chosenfast.com/2011/01/21/mark-im-in-my-house/#comments Fri, 21 Jan 2011 05:44:30 +0000 Michele (CM) http://chosenfast.com/?p=4793   ... > read more]]>

 

Mark

I just got off the phone with Mark. He started his new job earlier this week and moved into his apartment today. When Audrie and I met him while doing StreetWatch in 2009, Mark was living in a homeless camp. He eventually left the camp and had several different housing arrangements before returning to the camp briefly recently. But tonight is the first night that Mark will spend in his very own place since 2004. He’s excited and grateful. He said to me, “I’m in MY house.” ;) I’m grateful to his new employer and landlord, Ed, for giving Mark this opportunity. And to God, the giver of all good things.

 

If you’d like to help Mark, here are some things he mentioned that he needs:

  • dishes, glasses, utensils
  • pots and pans
  • TV
  • towels
  • lamps
  • welcome mat

» Keep reading “I’m in MY house” at StreetWatch on Facebook.

» Previously:  (Video) StreetWatch: Mark, back at the homeless camp, looking for work

]]> http://chosenfast.com/2011/01/21/mark-im-in-my-house/feed/ 0 Some homeless sleep in chairs at packed Greensboro shelter http://chosenfast.com/2010/12/15/some-homeless-sleep-in-chairs-at-packed-greensboro-shelter/ http://chosenfast.com/2010/12/15/some-homeless-sleep-in-chairs-at-packed-greensboro-shelter/#comments Wed, 15 Dec 2010 22:47:00 +0000 Michele (CM) http://chosenfast.com/?p=4669   ... > read more]]>

As the weather gets bitterly cold, Greensboro Urban Ministry’s Weaver House is packed with homeless people desperate to stay warm. The shelter has beds for 100 people, but recently there have been as many as 65 additional people seeking shelter at night. Some sleep on mats on the floor in the lobby area, but there are only so many mats to go around, so others sleep on blankets and chairs.

“I’ve worked here at Weaver House for seven years and this is the largest numbers that I’ve seen in a while,” said Tammy Davis, case manager at Weaver House.“

» See News2 video or continue reading”Homeless Sleep on Floor, Chairs At Overcrowded Shelter”

Note: The 165 homeless people at Greensboro’s Urban Ministry’s Weaver House shelter is in addition to the 100+ homeless people in winter emergency (WE) shelters located in seven Greensboro churches. And those numbers are homeless adults only. There are separate shelters for homeless families. (And for a number of reasons, there are still homeless people outside.)

]]> http://chosenfast.com/2010/12/15/some-homeless-sleep-in-chairs-at-packed-greensboro-shelter/feed/ 1 Guest post: Mark, no longer homeless in Greensboro http://chosenfast.com/2010/07/21/guest-post-mark-no-longer-homeless-in-greensboro/ http://chosenfast.com/2010/07/21/guest-post-mark-no-longer-homeless-in-greensboro/#comments Wed, 21 Jul 2010 16:53:05 +0000 Michele (CM) http://chosenfast.com/?p=3798   ... > read more]]> Mark Stinson

Mark Stinson

This is a guest post from my friend, Mark:

Hello,I’m Mark Stinson I was once a Homeless man here in Greensboro,N.C.. But now I’m living in and Oxford house and I’m sober an Off the street’s. Thank’s to the Help from my now Loving friend’s and family of StreetWatch G-Boro.. I’m also a memember,and love speaking on behave of Them and homelessness. If I can be of any help please let me know. mstinson60@yahoo.com Thank You!

Mark is also on Facebook. And he appears in this Fox8 video on Facebook (no longer available on Fox8 site). The woman who appears in that video is also housed now. :)

]]> http://chosenfast.com/2010/07/21/guest-post-mark-no-longer-homeless-in-greensboro/feed/ 4 WGHP Video: Homeless & living in the woods http://chosenfast.com/2009/12/12/wghp-video-homeless-living-in-the-woods/ http://chosenfast.com/2009/12/12/wghp-video-homeless-living-in-the-woods/#comments Sat, 12 Dec 2009 10:21:08 +0000 Michele (CM) http://chosenfast.com/?p=3269

FOX8′s Roxanna Haynes came along with me and Derek Dunham on StreetWatch.

]]> http://chosenfast.com/2009/12/12/wghp-video-homeless-living-in-the-woods/feed/ 0 Video of Cotton: 16 years homeless & disabled, “Brutal and senseless” http://chosenfast.com/2009/10/05/video-of-cotton-16-years-homeless-disabled-brutal-and-senseless/ http://chosenfast.com/2009/10/05/video-of-cotton-16-years-homeless-disabled-brutal-and-senseless/#comments Tue, 06 Oct 2009 02:54:57 +0000 Michele (CM) http://chosenfast.com/?p=2772   ... > read more]]>
[video link]

From Mark Horvath at InvisiblePeople.tv:

“Brutal and senseless.”

This is how Cotton describes homelessness. It might just be the most succinct and heart-breakingly accurate explanation I’ve heard in a long time.

Cotton is homeless and disabled. She lives in a tent in Greensboro, NC. If that’s not bad enough, she has been living this way for over 16 years….

Cotton is one of my favorite people. She tells it like it is. She’s tough as nails, but she’s surprisingly generous and thoughtful. (Remember the planters she gave me and Audrie?) She’s funny and real. She’ll make you laugh out loud one minute and bring you to tears the next. She’s smart. She keeps a stack of books by her bed, and when she finishes a good one, she offers it to you to read.

Cotton

Cotton

Cotton’s life story takes more than three minutes of video to tell, and like most everybody else I’ve ever met, her story has a lot of layers. But you can simplify it down to this: She’s a disabled woman living in a tent in the woods, and something’s really wrong with that.  The Greenway will soon be coming through the woods she’s camping in. There ought to be a way to get Cotton out of those woods and into a place of her own — before the bulldozers come.

This video was made by Mark Horvath during the Greensboro stop of the InvisiblePeople.tv Road Trip USA, sponsored locally by Quaintance-Weaver, and donors Ed Cone, Salvage America, and RecycleBills.com. Thank you, all!

]]> http://chosenfast.com/2009/10/05/video-of-cotton-16-years-homeless-disabled-brutal-and-senseless/feed/ 2 Video: Jimmy, homeless in Greensboro http://chosenfast.com/2009/09/22/video-jimmy-homeless-in-greensboro/ http://chosenfast.com/2009/09/22/video-jimmy-homeless-in-greensboro/#comments Tue, 22 Sep 2009 22:14:18 +0000 Michele (CM) http://chosenfast.com/?p=2722   ... > read more]]>

Jimmy is 69 years old. He’s worked all his life, and is a military veteran, but now, at retirement age, he is living in a tent in the woods.


[video link]

Jimmy says that he’s eligible for Social Security, but doesn’t have the identification he needs, including his DD214, to get Social Security retirement benefits. Since this video was made in July 2009, my friend Deb, a NightWatch team leader, has been helping Jimmy get some of the help he needs.

Mark Horvath filmed Jimmy at one of the camps on the Mitchell property off Spring Garden Street. All of the people living in homeless camps on that property will be displaced during the next phase of construction on the Greenway. We welcome your prayers for them, and any thoughts you might have on relocating them. It is our understanding that most of the local housing programs that might be able to assist them are currently full. If you know of housing options, or if you can help Jimmy or any of our other friends at the Mitchell camps, please respond in the comments.

This video was made by Mark Horvath during the Greensboro stop of the InvisiblePeople.tv Road Trip USA, sponsored locally by Quaintance-Weaver, and donors Ed Cone, Salvage America, and RecycleBills.com. Thank you, all!

]]> http://chosenfast.com/2009/09/22/video-jimmy-homeless-in-greensboro/feed/ 0 Awareness-raising teens to sleep outside where homeless can’t http://chosenfast.com/2009/05/14/awareness-raising-teens-to-sleep-outside-where-homeless-cant/ http://chosenfast.com/2009/05/14/awareness-raising-teens-to-sleep-outside-where-homeless-cant/#comments Thu, 14 May 2009 22:15:03 +0000 Michele (CM) http://chosenfast.com/?p=2147   ... > read more]]> gno-backOn Friday night, May 15th, hundreds of area youth are expected to sleep outside at Grace Community Church on Lee Street to raise awareness of homelessness, in an event sponsored by New Jerusalem Cathedral (see video). They will sleep in safety, protected by Greensboro police officers, on the same grounds that church leaders voted to post with “no trespassing” signs last year, in response to large numbers of homeless people sleeping on the property.  Irony.   (Grace also housed dozens of women inside this year, in a winter emergency shelter.)

Thoughts from a friend:

“Usually the cop would do the opposite of that. They wouldn’t stand there and watch you and make sure you’re alright. They’d run you away… [The youth are] gonna be there with all their friends, in one spot. They’re in a fenced-in area. That ain’t nothing like being homeless… I understand what they’re trying to do and instill in their minds, but that’s not how it is.”

So, to recap: Youth groups are sleeping outside at the church on Friday night to raise awareness of homelessness, but if actual homeless people try to sleep there on any night, they can be charged with trespassing.  Isn’t that… well, kind of wrong, somehow??  (OK, I’m trying not to get stuck in “justice mode”…  moving on… )

The great part: While these young people probably won’t have their own authentic experience of homelessness on Friday night, they will have a unique opportunity to focus their time, their energy, their thoughts and their hearts on some of the realities that our homeless brothers and sisters face every day.  This could be a life-changing event for the participants.  I’m praying for all: for eyes to see and ears to hear, and for God to grow in them His own heart for the poor.  Go and be a blessing to the homeless in Greensboro and around the world!

Update: This event was planned to take place in a park, but when the location didn’t work out, New Jerusalem asked Grace if they could do it there.  Grace said yes and their youth were also invited.  I posted about this because I found irony in doing a homeless simulation in which people did things that homeless people actually can’t do.  But I very much appreciate their desire to raise awareness of homelessness.

People I know at New Jerusalem are very involved in local homeless efforts, including the day center, housing for chronically homeless people, the homeless coalition and the partnership to end homelessness,  and they’ve told me that homelessness is a priorty for their church, as well.  Grace has focused on serving the homeless for many years, and current ministries include: Grace currently provides a weekly meal for 200+ people; a HUD voucher program that houses the homeless; and winter shelter for women.

]]> http://chosenfast.com/2009/05/14/awareness-raising-teens-to-sleep-outside-where-homeless-cant/feed/ 3 WXII: Homeless Concerned About Cuts March On City Hall http://chosenfast.com/2009/04/22/wxii-homeless-concerned-about-cuts-march-on-city-hall/ http://chosenfast.com/2009/04/22/wxii-homeless-concerned-about-cuts-march-on-city-hall/#comments Wed, 22 Apr 2009 05:25:32 +0000 Michele (CM) http://chosenfast.com/?p=2091 Homeless Concerned About Cuts March On City Hall
Source: www.wxii12.com

GREENSBORO — Several of Greensboro homeless residents are calling on the City Council to continuing funding agencies that provide assistance. Tuesday, April 21, 2009…

» full story, with video, on WXII

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