Chance Encounter

The community I live in is a relatively affluent one.  Not Gross Pointe or East Grand Rapids, but the rate of free and reduced price lunch in the schools is roughly half of the state average.  According to the real estate web site for Trulia Realtors, the average listing price for homes in my zip code is currently $357,000.  Only four of 133 homes currently listed for sale are listed for under $100,000.  The average is no doubt pulled up since seven homes, all with Lake Michigan access, are listed at over $1 million.  The median home listing (normally a better indicator of the community since a few very expensive homes can skew the data quickly) is still about $230,000-$240,000.

However, within the community are pockets of poverty.   Approximately, 29 percent of the children last school year qualified for free/reduced price school lunch.  There are areas of trailer and migrant housing.   As mentioned above, there are homes in the district which are valued at less than $100,000.  Some are much less.

My point is that poverty exists here.  But I wasn't really thinking about that when I went to the public library recently.  I wasn't thinking about the fact that many people don't have access to not only medical care, but dental and vision care as well.  This lady was my reminder:

Chance Encounter

Walking into the library entry 
my thoughts are on the book 
needing to be returned 
and the new one I hope to check out.
But I see kneeling there
a woman who also notices me 
as she tries on a discarded pair of glasses 
from the box marked:"Lions Donations."


Her search much more urgent
than feelings of embarrassment 
so she continues, as do I 
to deposit my returned book 
in the slot next to her.

Perhaps ten minutes later 
after checking out a new book 
on the life of Darwin 
I exit where
she is still kneeling in the entry 
scrounging through the box
trying out nearly every pair.
Alone.

So, with sadness in my eyes 
I pass her by again. 
She looking for better sight. 
Me, for human evolution 
and dignity. 

Hunger Action Week challenge to West Michigan: Can you live on $4.37 per day?

You spent about $30 on food for the week. But it's only Thursday, and most of the food is gone. You won't be able to buy any more for two days, meaning a few pieces of bread and peanut butter will be your Saturday and Sunday meals.

How is your stomach going to feel by Sunday night?

Area food assistance agencies want you to know.

The organizations are challenging people to live on $30.59 cents during Hunger Action Week from
Sept. 14-20 as part of the "HunGRy?" program. That weekly total breaks down to $4.37 a day.

http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2011/09/hunger_action_week_challenge_t.html

Pow Wow Celebrates the Harvest and Pokagon Way of Life

Musician Jason Wesaw says the Pokagon band of the Potawatomi has gathered around this time of year for generations to celebrate the harvest and all that the land provides to help them maintain their way of life. And for 27 years, the Pokagon have held the Kee Boon Mein Kaa Pow Wow, which takes place this weekend in Dowagiac.

“Kee Boon Mein Kaa literally means ‘I quit picking huckleberries,” Wesaw says.

Pokagon Cultural Associate Andy Jackson says huckleberries and the pow wow itself hold great significance to Pokagon families. Jackson recalls going to look at the old huckleberry patch with her grandfather

http://wmuk.org/arts-and-more/select/314309/

Invisible Americans (the Poor) Get the Silent Treatment

It’s just astonishing to us how long this campaign has gone on with no discussion of what’s happening to poor people. Official Washington continues to see poverty with tunnel vision – “out of sight, out of mind.”

And we’re not speaking just of Paul Ryan and his Draconian budget plan or Mitt Romney and their fellow Republicans.  Tipping their hats to America’s impoverished while themselves seeking handouts from billionaires and corporations is a bad habit that includes President Obama, who of all people should know better.

http://billmoyers.com/2012/08/24/invisible-americans-get-the-silent-treatment/

Michigan Poverty Law Program's New Self Help Law Site

The Michigan Poverty law Program has developed (and is continuing to develop) a new self-help legal web site. The site includes self-help information for Michigan civil (but not criminal) legal matters. 

Their new web site is:

http://www.michiganlegalhelp.org/

New Anti-Panhandling Law In Detroit Garners Support from ACLU

Panhandlers who ask for change from people who are waiting in line for food, at an ATM or who act overly aggressive could be fined and face jail time under a new city ordinance set to go into effect (in Detroit) next month.

A panhandling ordinance was approved July 31 following a request from the Detroit Police Department. The city has lacked an anti-begging ordinance since 1996 when a Recorder's Court judge affirmed an earlier decision that struck down a one-sentence ordinance that said anyone who begs is guilty of a misdemeanor.
The city joins at least two Metro Detroit communities that have changed their anti-panhandling laws.

The new Detroit law is more specific, repealing the invalidated version and spelling out what a person can and can't do when asking for money. And it's gathered an unusual ally — the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan. The ACLU sued the state last year over a longstanding statewide law that prohibits begging — which the ACLU says is overly broad and unconstitutional. A judge's ruling is pending.

"All over the country, courts have recognized that begging in a public place is generally protected by the First Amendment because it's a form of solicitation for charity," said Dan Korobkin, ACLU of Michigan staff attorney. "Detroit ought to be commended in taking steps to improve their city code when parts of it are either outdated or have fallen behind the times in terms of protecting constitutional rights."

From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120821/METRO01/208210360#ixzz24BtLHCpc

Inocente: An Award Winning Tale of a Talented Young Latina Who is Homeless/Undocumented

Inocente is the story of a 15 year old young lady, Latina, who is a talented artist.   She is homeless and undocumented.  It aired on MTV Friday evening.

The 3 minute trailer for the program follows:



The full program which runs about 40 minutes, excluding commercials which bring it closer to an hour, can be viewed on-line at:

http://www.mtv.com/videos/inocente/1691887/playlist.jhtml#series=2211&seriesId=36900&channelId=1

Kalamazoo homeless encampment cleared out at site of future brewery

The type of homeless encampment that was cleared out on the future site of a brewery along the city's downtown riverfront is nothing new in Kalamazoo, officials say.

Public safety officers had approached homeless people camping in woods on the northeast edge of downtown Kalamazoo about a month ago, telling them they could not stay, Brian Uridge, Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety assistant chief, said. Officers offered information on local resources to help them and about two weeks later city crews went in and dismantled the camp.

"Our goal is obviously not to go in and take enforcement action," Uridge said. "Our goal was to work with the people that were in that situation and hopefully offer them services."

http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2012/08/homeless_encampments_not_a_new.html

If You're Ready, Come Go with Me

A classic from the Staple Singers for your weekend listening pleasure:

If you're ready  
If you're ready now 
If you're ready, yeah 
Come on, go with me
No hatred 
Will be tolerated
Peace and love  
Will grow between the races

Chicago Dream Relief: NBC Chicago Estimates 50,000 Waiting in Line

The turnout for Wednesday's Dream Relief workshop in Chicago was so strong that organizers began turning people away.

The line of undocumented students wrapped around Navy Pier and at one point across the Chicago River to apply for deferred action to allow them, at least in the short-term, not to worry about deportation. As many as 50,000 lined up for the program, according to estimates.

Following a major immigration policy change about two months ago, the Dream Relief workshop helps children who were illegally brought into the United States apply for a work permit and even a driver's license.

Five thousand people initially signed up for the workshop, and as the 9 a.m. start time came and went, the crowds kept filing toward the lake. Organizers said they would be able to provide full services for 1,500 people today and partial services to another 6,000.

http://ht.ly/cZKPT

View more videos at: http://nbcchicago.com.