Each year as we enter the new year we report on what has happening during the preceeding 12 months and it is one of excitment and hope for the future of this project of ours.  We continue to grow our backpack program which now feeds a total of 103,950 meals during the year and hope to get 5 new homes off and available for homeless families at a price that even if they are homeless they can afford.  There is a great deal of poverty in this city of ours, but despite that, it is a good city with a great deal to offer people. 

We trust that 2019 will be a banner year and one that will allow us to show what a small cadre of people dedicating themselves to the homeless issues facing so many in our city can accomplish.  So Happy New Year and I hope it will be a new beginning for so many people.

Exciting News

Last Wednesday at City Hall, in the offices of the City Council President, we had a meeting with several Department Heads to discuss a plan that we have been working on for a considerable period of time.

With the help of Architect, Mr. Jay Orr, AIA we were able to put together several architectural renderings of converting 40' steel containers into homes for the homeless.  While this concept of converting these containers into housing, especially if you are an advocate of Tiny Homes, you are aware of such conversions being accomplished in the past. 

This housing fits on plots of land owned by the city of Baltimore, where houses have been demolished due to their deteriorated conditions and will be filled in with these retrofitted converted containers with suitable space for a family of three.  Utilizing the concept of keeping the neighborhood fabric in line with other houses within the area, we simply created houses that fell within that plan.  These converted houses look precisely like every other Row Houses that Baltimore is famous for, so neighborhoods will be pleased to have them in their neighborhood. 

We propose that the conversion process will move ahead at $75. per square foot, well below the national average for a new home and will feature a single bathroom, two bedrooms and kitchen and dining area.  One of the bedrooms can have a sofa convertable to a bed for the evening and the other bedroom will have bunk beds with 9' ceilings, a back yard and parking pad, with a small wrap around porch in the front, all of which is consistent with our neighborhoods in the city.

Detroit had previously been involved in the Tiny Home concept, but they were built for the suburbs and this new design will be an urban development. 

These will not be rental units, but rent to own units after a suitable period of time and the Homeless Services Department will offer wrap around services to the new owners of this property to assist them into transitioning into home ownership.  They will come and visit the new owners and work with them so that learn about home ownership, working within the neighborhoods and just existing in a new home of their own.

At the end of the meeting all were in agreement to move forward on this project and we hope soon to see these homes being set up and having people that have been forced into a homeless condition be able to move forward with dignity and respect.

The need continues

Each year I am amazed that the problem of homelessness continues to grow and grow.  Despite the efforts of many people, foundations and groups attempting to curtail the ebb and flow of the homeless, the numbers continue to pile up.

I met a younger man today who was clipping some hedges across the street from my house and engaged him in a conversation to ascertain if he wanted to make a few dollars doing the hedges of St. John's UMC next to my house.  At the age of 75 I am getting a little old to take out the clippers and do it myself and I would like the area to look a little nicer for our residents.  We talked for a moment and he told me that everything is getting worse, with the fears of not having Social Security and no chance to save money for the future.  I mentioned that at running our weekend survival kit that we were hoping to do our part to bring about positive changes for the homeless children in our city of Baltimore.  He thanked us and said that what hedge did we want clipped and we showed him the area that required the services.  He said that he would give us a card of an individual who would do it for free and I explained to him that we would prepared to pay a nominal amount, but he wouldn't hear of it.  What a wonderful person to offer to assist us in this need which has shown me once more that there are good people out there who are willing to go the extra step to help a neighborhood and people who just need a little help.  That really impressed me and made me think that we need to tell the world about these people who will do these things, because unfortunately few will.  I fully intend on paying him something for his work, but to him I want to say publicly, "thank you kind person.  This man is not rich, nor does he know anything I would presume about drop down economy that states if you give to the rich, the poor will received benefits.  He just is doing what he believes is right and that is what we all most do to make sure that homeless children and their families are fed on a regular basis.  We don't really need these large banquets where a family gets two meals a year and the supporter says to themselves what a nice person I am, what we need in this country is a continuous flow of food being given to the homeless to ensure that they are fed on a daily basis.

We need to take poverty as a Father or Mother takes the work of raising a family and make it our overall concern and do better to make sure that the children, who are the future, have an opportunity to grow and develop.  We must now as a nation rise up above this reckless government that is only supporting the richest of the rich and say NO MORE.  We cannot stand idly by and do nothing, because when we say NO MORE and do something we may just save a child so that they can be the future of our country.  So the next time you hear, see or know of a homeless people, reach deeply into your pockets and give just some of the money to make their lives a little better.

Merry Christmas and many thanks for allowing us to feed more homeless children

The title on this post really represents what we need to say and that is Merry Christmas and through the generosity of so many groups of people we are reaching more and more homeless within the city of Baltimore.  It is because of you, the contributors that we have managed to grow and we still need to grow more, but let's take credit for a moment and thank ourselves.  So thank you one and all for what we have accomplished this year and here is my hope that we can double that figure next year.

Need to increase the amount of children being fed

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

As you know we have been providing food for 300 people over the weekends when schools are closed and there is not an availability of homeless children to eat.  This project started five years ago and needs to grow as the needs grow all the time.

We have another blog site which outlines our program, has a few videos and friends that support our effort.  The address of this is "feedinghomelesschildren,blogspot.org" and is currently open for your viewing.  As we enter the new school year we need to reach out again in order to get additional funding so that we can increase the number of people we service.  Please check out the blog site and if you can afford to do so follow the instructions listen therein and make a contribution today.

Thanks for your help in eliminating some of the sorrow that parents have to face each weekend when there is no food available to feed their children.

2016 Practitioners Leadership Institute Summit - sponsored by the Council for Urban Families

Yesterday, we completed a three-day leadership institute summit at the Baltimore Harbor Hotel in downtown Baltimore.  We had people at this summit from all over the United States and it was three days of intense education on our part.

We were able to meet and talk with people about how they arrange their programs, where they find their funding opportunities and because of kindness of the Council of Urban Families we were introduced to the movers and shakers of the industry who provide a multitude of services to every segment of our society.

Pam and I are considered novices with respect to these issues within our society but we were met with respect and kindness from each and every member of this group of people, of which there were many involved in fantastic projects throughout the country.  We had the opportunity to sit down and explain our weekend backpack "survival" kit to so many people and were requested to contact them again and keep in contact with them.

We are getting recognized as an example of what can be accomplished if people simply want to do something positive for their society and people are now considering utilizing the information that we have developed during these last five years to introduce these backpacks in their communities.

The people at the Council for Urban Families could not have been kinder to us during our training and learning experience and the work that they are doing in the community has received acknowledgement from President Obama.  It was a privilege for us to attend and learn so much more and we plan on using what we have learned to ensure the growth of our program so that no homeless child goes hungry.

So in closing, we have developed a new slogan, "HAVE BACKPACK WILL TRAVEL".

Success at the B'more Healthy Expo

I am pleased to report that last Saturday we had a very successful day at the "B'more Healthy Expo". With our staff of volunteers we were able to get set up in time for all of the activities that took place and met so many wonderful people.  We talked with the Boys Scouts of America who advised us that they would be in contact with us about our "Adopt-a-School" program where an organization can adopt a school within their area and provide food to the homeless population based on our program.
This means that after a short period of time learning how we prepare the backpacks and the food that is placed therein, along with introducing the organization to the schools, they can start their own program.  This allows us to get food to other areas that are not being serviced.  We met with a Financial Adviser who wants to get his company involved in the program, thus getting us additional funding to further the program.

We met with so many people that want to be a part of this program and have  learned so much from our interactions with others that we are so pleased that we had this opportunity to spread the word far and wide as the need is great in our State.

We have been introduced to others who are now actively assisting us in getting further training about how to proceed our program in the future, which means that we will be able to assist others.  One of the things that I have learned during the time that we have been providing food for the homeless children of this city is that people want to help and will help when called upon.  I have seen poor people make contributions of $1 and $5 and do it with a smile on their face which encourages us to continue this program.

Our personal thanks to Dottie Campbell, Edwin Hopkins and John Shaia our volunteers for the day and for their assistance to make the exposition time at the Convention Center in Baltimore a great day.