Re: Intro from a newly homeless in NYC

Tom Boland (wgcp@earthlink.net)
Sat, 28 Nov 1998 21:37:27 -0400 

Curtis wrote in his Intro post to HPN:

>I am a Quaker, a member of the Brooklyn Monthly Meeting of the Religious
>Society of Friends for 6 years now. I have been involved with their Peace &
>Social Action Committee for 5 years and am the meeting liason for the
>Friends Committee on National Legislation. I also cook for my meetings
>monthly "community Dinner" which we prepare on the Last Sunday of each
>month for ANYONE who wishes to come and get a good meal. We serve
>restaurant style.

Thanks for your post, my brother.  May you find stable housing and peace of
mind.  Like you, I too live on the edge of homelessnesss.

Can you delay or prevent your being evicted soon, Curtis?  (Does anyone on
HPN have suggestions?)

What's up with homeless people in New York City?  Do the "quality of life"
street sweeps continue in the business districts?  What's happening to
folks losing welfare and to low-paid workers?

As one who feels called to live simply and to witness for peace and
justice, I find hope in the work of Society of Friends, although I'm not
myself a Quaker.  Cambridge (Masachusetts) Friends Meeting, for our first
few years,  hosted the weekly consensus meetings of a secular group I
helped launch in 1089, called Bread & Jams.

We started out feeding beans and rice in a local park (Cambridge Common).
In 1991, we incorporated as a nonprofit.  Still going strong despite
periodic "consensus meetings from hell", we have a Center for
Self-Advocacy, van service, TV show and weekly vegitarian dinner, all free
and open to all.

Our housing and outreach programs went for two years , until recently (when
funds for these projects, mainly from HUD, ran out).  Sadly, we've helped
too few people find homes again.  But at least us homeless folk hereabouts
have our own social action and mutual aid groups, Bread & Jams among them.

We have nine staff who make from roughly seven to ten dollars hourly, all
but one homeless or formerly homeless.  We also have volunteers, who often
get hired if money comes in to pay them.

Bread and Jams members make all key decisions, including programs, budget,
staffing and rules for participants.  Our key rules from the start have
been: no threats, fights, drugs or alcohol.

Within these limits, we have wide personal freedom to speak our minds and
to choose our own life-paths and collaborations.  This puts our
street-roots style in sharp contrast with "warehouse, work and punish"
style too often replicated in human service agencies and non-profits.

>I have been a member of "New
>Civ" , which is in Ventura, CA., hosted by Leon Vickman, for about 10
>years. I do not know if this is the same org, as I've seen a few "New
>Civ's" on the net.  This one started out as an M2M about 20 years ago when
>it finally went into an action phase and Inc'ed.

Curtis, I'm not familiar with "New Civ".  What are the URLs for their sites
on the Internet?  Please tell us more about their aims and projects.

>Academically my areas of interest are food waste composting, environmental,
>health, welfare reform and welfare rights issues.

You'll find people here on HPN list who share these interests (plus the
fact that we've all been homeless or are homeless now).  You would also
find kindred spirits on the Rainbow Family list and the Food Not Bombs
list.  Both groups help homeless people "on the ground" of the city streets
and the national forests.

May you find permenant housing soon, Curtis, and find welcome here on HPN.
-- Tom




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