Today - we have more homeless Vietnam vets than died in the conflict.

Such sad and terrible statistics. What will our future hold as a country?

More of the same if we don't do something.

I wonder where our "support the troops" President is on this issue? Pretend it doesn't exist? Or, since these men and women are no longer troops, they don't need our support? This issue will probably end up just another in a long list of disasters during this President's watch.

Homeless vets is an excellent example of how soldiers are not given the support they deserve upon leaving active duty. So much lip-service is paid toward the honor that past and present soldiers represent and embody. What a shame!

It is estimated that there are 80,000 to 95,000 homeless children in California.

In absolute terms, there are more homeless children today in California than ever before. The percentage of children who are homeless is greater today than at any time since the Great Depression

43% of homeless children are molested; 66% are violently abused.

Homeless children are 12 times more likely to wind up in foster care than housed children.
Over 20% of homeless children do not attend school at all.
When in school, homeless kids are twice as likely to repeat a grade or be suspended.
Homeless children go hungry twice as often as other children.
Homeless children have 5 times more stomach and diarrhea problems, and 4 times as much asthma.
Homeless children are reported in fair or poor health twice as often as housed children.

http://www.housingadvocates.org/default.asp?ID=170

What about Redding and Shasta County ?

http://redding.com/news/2007/mar/27/more-suffer-street-county/

There is Hope .....

Sacramento –Senator Denise Moreno Ducheny’s (D-San Diego) Senate Bill (SB) 303 was approved by the Senate Transportation and Housing Committee

Along with a diverse list of California organizations supporting the Housing Affordability Act The California State Firefighters Association, PORAC (Peace Officers Research Association of California) and Father Joe’s Ministries of San Diego were among the SB 303 supporters which attended the hearing to urge its passage.

SB 303 aims to reverse the trend of California’s housing supply falling far behind the ever-growing demand. It is this imbalance that economists say is one of the primary reasons for the runaway prices in California’s housing market that make homes unaffordable for much of the state’s workforce. SB 303 is designed to ensure responsible planning, require full compliance with environmental laws and boost affordable housing for all income levels, Ducheny told the committee. Local and regional governments will maintain control of the current process for determining how much housing is needed (Regional Housing Needs Assessment, RHNA) and where it will go. Now, however, the land will be zoned when the site for housing is chosen by the local community.

“More certainty means lower prices,” Ducheny said. “People who build our homes, people who keep our communities safe and teach our kids are still being priced out of the market. Our local governments have the right and responsibility to plan for places for people to live. We just want them to go the extra step of making sure that their process provides places that are truly appropriate for the housing they’re planning,”

Mathew Packard, vice president of Father Joe’s Villages, testified that his group’s charitable organizations work with the homeless, under-employed and people with AIDS among others.

“The Housing Affordability Act recognizes that all communities have a role to play in providing housing that all Californians can afford,” said Packard. “It is an important contribution of this bill that it recognizes that those on the lowest economic rungs must be included in our vision of the future: not with handouts, but with a chance to live a life they can afford and continue to be an essential part of our communities.”

Other organizations supporting SB 303 include the California Business Roundtable, AFSCME, California Council of Churches Impact, California Black Chamber Foundation, Major Builders Council, California Affordable Housing, Inc. and the California Council for Environmental and Economic Balance.

http://dist40.casen.govoffice.com/index.asp?Type=B_PR&SEC;=%7B3A828B7E-9F32-431B-A6F1-32C67AF694FD%7D&DE;=%7BE64942C4-D5BB-446F-B44C-0F3404E8FC4E%7D

E-Mail the Governor---Support SB 303 !!

http://gov.ca.gov/interact

Bill Analysis

http://info.sen.ca.gov/pub/07-08/bill/sen/sb_0301-0350/sb_303_cfa_20070601_154702_sen_floor.html

www.reddingloavesandfishes.com

Homeless Vets? Oh yes. Thank you for another "reveal" of the sordid underbelly of the beast. Mental illness in veterans? It is a reliable example of hidden casualties endemic to cultures of violence that glorify and promote violence /war/punishment in the name of freedom, honor, democracy,theocracy, security or fill-in the blank. Or perhaps for God or Allah or Mom and apple pie or fill-in-the blank. The need for war is carefully preserved and nurtured by justifying reasons for war.( power, greed,religion,resources, fear,etc) Teach peace. Volunteer in the shelters. Subvert the system. Educate children.

Well, this seems like a VALID argument to NOT have women in combat..!!! What do you think men will do when they have NOT seena woman in months, and then she is laying there at night NEXT to them..? HMMMMM Nature my friends,. and the women keep asking to go BACK.. what gives..????

"If combat means living in a ditch, females have biological
problems staying in a ditch for thirty days because they
get infections and they don't have upper body strength. I
mean, some do, but they're relatively rare. On the other hand,
men are basically little piglets, you drop them in the ditch,
they roll around in it, doesn't matter, you know. These things
are very real. On the other hand, if combat means being on an
Aegis-class cruiser managing the computer controls for twelve
ships and their rockets, a female may be again dramatically
better than a male who gets very, very frustrated sitting in
a chair all the time because males are biologically driven to
go out and hunt giraffes."
Newt Gingrich

Just another shining example of our wonderful president's determination to support the troops. I think it was he who said in a speech at Walter Reed that "we owe them all we can give them, not just when they are at war, but when they come home". Well boys and girls, I guess this is all he's got to give.

It's for the oil, what else?

"The number of chronically homeless people across the United States has dropped by 11.5 percent thanks to an increased focus on providing counseling and housing..."

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/11/08/BARGT85O9.DTL&type;=politics

"Advocates for the homeless said they expected a decrease on the national level, given the government's increasing emphasis on permanent housing instead of temporary shelters."

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/11/07/homeless.drop.ap/