The Yellow School Bus Project

The Yellow School Bus Project:
Helping Homeless Kids Get Ready For School
By: Yvonne Vissing, PhD

As the end of summer approaches and the first days of school draw near, most kids look forward to going shopping for new school supplies. They arrive at school wearing new shoes and clothes, with backpacks bulging with binders, new crayons, and shiny protractors slung over their shoulders. But this reality is not necessarily shared by homeless students.

Homeless children don’t get megashopping sprees to buy markers, pencils, loose-leaf paper, and insulated lunch boxes. Parents who can’t make ends meet are unable to take their kids to the mall for new polar-fleece sweaters, designer shirts or capri pants. Handme-downs, second-hand clothes, and recycling of last year’s wardrobe are the norm. Parents may hope the school will provide the supplies students need for classroom use, but kids know better - those kids who don’t have their own supplies have to borrow them or do without.

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The Law West of Canal Street

I went to sleep again last night listening to the stories and horrors of Katrina. I watched through bleary eyes as fellow Americans begged for their lives. I looked down at my own 8-month-old baby, laying next to me, asleep and almost cried for them, but at the same time was so thankful it wasn't me.

I can't imagine what I would do. Would I steal? Absolutely. Would I be violent? I don't know - if you threatened one of my children, you bet your ass. I look at these people, suffering, dying in the middle of America and wonder - if the majority of these people were white, would they still be there? I doubt it. In fact, if the majority of people had been white, I think the buses would have shown up before the storm hit.

And what about that? Why didn't we evacuate these people before the storm hit? We knew that a lot of these people didn't have cars or money. Because it's not as dramatic as when you have to go in and save them from their rooftops?

Many say, "well, why didn't they leave? They had ample warning." Ample warning is great if you also have ample cash.

As for the looting and the violence - it's horrid, but is it really all that shocking? These people are desperate - they haven't eaten in days and President Bush is saying, "I have a zero tolerance policy for looting?"

These people have been abandoned - in America. I'm not shocked by the violence and looting - I'm shocked that these people are still in New Orleans wandering around in filth.

The New York Times reported one scene: "John Carolan was sitting on his porch in the thick, humid darkness just before midnight Tuesday when three or four young men, one with a knife and another with a machete, stopped in front of his fence and pointed to the generator humming in the front yard. [One] said, 'We want that generator.' [Carolan responded] 'I fired a couple of rounds over their heads with a .357 Magnum . . . they scattered. You've heard of the law west of the Pecos? This is the law west of Canal Street.'"

Looting Understandable

I, along with everyone else, have been watching Hurricane TV and I am so tired of hearing anchors "shocked" by people who are looting. I am more stunned that the National Guard and police is getting so involved in it. It's hardly shocking and it's completely understandable.

These are not people who are looting for the thrill of it. These people need things. They need diapers. They need baby formula. They need food, water and whatever else. I have yet to see someone walking down the street with a new plasma screen TV and if I did, I would laugh.

Do the news reporters who act so horrified by the looting really expect that these people can go to the ATM, grab some cash and then buy the items they need? Last time I looked, there were not any big trucks rolling through New Orleans with supplies.

Let's see, if I'm sitting on the front porch of what's left of my house and my children are wet, crying and hungry and the store down the road has food and water...do people really believe I'm not going to go and get what they need? Of course I would - and you would too if you had to. This is survival 101, folks. This is life at it's most basic and I think reporters need to get off these people's backs.

These are the people who were too poor to leave town in the first place and now we're going to act self-righteous because they dare to take toilet paper from a K-Mart. I don't think so. It's every person for themselves down there - people are watching their neighbors and family die and we're going to get upset over a few cans of Chunky Soup? Don't we have better things to be concerned about?

Homeless named to Nashville board

The Mayor’s Office has named Howard Allen, Kevin Barbieux and Kathy Buckner as the homeless representatives on the Mayor’s Homelessness Commission, which will meet 9 a.m. Wednesday at the Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency (MDHA) Training Center, 1419 Eighth Ave. North.

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Superdome holds thousands of poor, homeless and frail

By Mary Foster

The Associated Press


NEW ORLEANS - For as many as 35,000 of this city's poor, homeless and frail, just getting into the massive Louisiana Superdome and hunkering down was the hardest part.

The sickest among them didn't flee the 160-mph wrath of Hurricane Katrina on Sunday so much as hobble to safety on crutches and canes; some were carried on stretchers. Others lined up for blocks, clutching meager belongings and crying children as National Guardsman searched them for guns, knives and drugs.

"We just took the necessities," said Michael Skipper, who pulled a wagon loaded with bags of clothes and a radio. "The good stuff -- the television and the furniture -- you just have to hope something's there when you get back. If it's not, you just start over."

Then Katrina's rain began, heavy and steady, drenching hundreds of people still outside, along with their bags of food and clothing.

Eventually, the searches were moved to the Superdome floor, where some people wrapped themselves in blankets and tried to sleep. In the medical area, people in wheelchairs lined the corridors. Hundreds of others sat on the loading docks, their possessions around them, waiting to be taken elsewhere.

National Guard Gen. Hunt Downer estimated that 25,000 to 35,000 refugees were in the dome, although arena official Doug Thornton said it was closer to 9,000 in the stands, with more on the floor.

The dome, with its bare floor and stadium seats, is likely to end up their home for the next few days as the hurricane hits and the region deals with its aftermath.

"They told us not to stay in our houses because it wasn't safe," said Victoria Young, 76, who sat amid plastic bags and a metal walker. "It's not safe anywhere when you're in the shape we're in."

More serious cases had to be taken to other cities in Louisiana for medical care.

"There are some conditions we just can't handle here," said Dr. Kevin Stephens, head of New Orleans' health department. "Like dialysis. We can't do that, and they'll be here three or four days, so they'll need it before then."

The stadium provided few comforts but at least had restrooms for the refugees and food donated by charities.

"They may be here for a while," said Gen. Ralph Lupin, the National Guardsman in charge of the shelter. "The electricity will be out after the storm; streets will be almost impassable. So once they get here, they'll have to stay for the duration."

Guardsmen made able-bodied people clasp their hands behind their backs while they patted them down, feeling the seams and hems of clothing, then ran metal detectors over them. The backpacks, suitcases and plastic grocery bags that held their belongings were searched.

Louisiana Superdome

Opened: Sept. 28, 1975

Cost: $134 million

Main arena: 166,180 square feet

Seating: football, 69,703; expanded football, 72,003; arena concerts, 20,000; basketball, 55,675; baseball, 63,525

Escalators: 42

Elevators: 15, including one for freight

Restrooms: 102

Other facts: One of the NFL's largest stadiums; home to the New Orleans Saints; annual events include the Nokia Sugar Bowl, the Bayou Classic and the Essence Music Festival.

SOURCES: www.superdome.com; www.stadiumsofnfl.com

Homeless Haven to Close

Another homeless shelter bites the dust...read the article.

It's more common than you think

I was homeless once, with my three children who were under 5 at the time. It didn't take long to become homeless, but it took me a while to get out of it. And I didn't abuse drugs or alcohol and I wasn't abused by my ex-husband. I simply didn't have enough money to afford a place to live.

And it's more common than you think. All kinds of people are homeless or are on the verge of becoming homeless. It's a terrifying experience and I have never fully gotten over it. I was ashamed of this experience for a long time. I wouldn't tell anyone about it. I glossed over that part of my life. But I've learned since then, and since writing my book, that there are thousands of people just like me out there. And I've gotten to know some of them.

What I find most interesting, is that many of the country's homeless live in rural areas, like I did. This article details the story of several folks in Northeast Iowa who face homelessness in a very unlikely place. Many officials in small towns refuse to believe that there are homeless living among them - mainly because, I think, that they don't have people living in boxes in their town commons or panhandling on their Main Streets.

Homelessness exists in all areas. And as the cost of housing continues to rise, more and more families will be left living in their cars or seeking room at shelters. I am shocked when I read the classifieds and see what even the smallest apartments are commanding for rent. And the requirements to get into some of these places is staggering. Perfect credit scores and references. It's almost impossible to come up with the rent and security deposit and if you do, you have to go through a lengthy application process. How many people who have lost jobs or faced serious medical problems have perfect credit. If you've been homeless, how are you to get references? And subsidized housing is nearly impossible to get - particularly in rural areas.

And then there's child care. With the cost of child care being at least $100 per week per child, some families can't afford to have both parents work and still pay the bills. What's the point of working if all of your money goes towards paying someone else to raise your child? I'd rather stay home with my kid.

So what's the answer? I don't know yet. Free daycare certainly would be a start - and I'm working on that. But there must be some way to get people in a home and one of these days I'm going to figure it out.We are the richest country in the world after all.