By Estelle E. Goulet
What is this bond that keeps us near
That makes me call you sister dear?
That keeps us close across the miles
and wants you near when there are trials
If we were strangers that would meet
on some busy crowded street
Would you by chance glance my way
or a friendly greeting say
So it’s not your face or cheerful smile
That keeps us close in spite of miles
It’s not your wit or grace unique
Nor your mind that brightly speaks
A bond much more than looks or words
Something in our blood, a gentle surge
Of love, which lets us share these common traits
and never shakes this bond of faith
That makes me call you sister dear…
By Tom Deighan
This is a story about irrational fear. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is the label for it.
In 1995, my life changed drastically through an incident of big rocks being thrown through the front window of my apartment. My bed was in the other room. I did not realize at first what had happened. All of a sudden loud voices and noises caused me to be fearful. It wasn’t until later that the diagnosis came.
My friend Eric had warned me that he had grown a beard. At Logan Airport, returning from Oregon, his beard scared me. Actually it was an episode of terror. It was hard to equate 20 years of friendship with this reaction. Continue reading ‘The Trauma Experience’
Published in
April, 2011 in
News.
By Melissa Howard
Starting on March 15th, there was action taking place on the steps of the State House, letting people know that the winter homeless shelters will be closing. From April 15th to May 31st.
There will be a number of people looking for a safe and warm place to sleep at night. Rhode Island Homeless Advocacy Project wanted to let our State lawmakers beaware of
this issue.
RIHap wants to make people aware that there will be 136 people out on the street once these shelters close and they will not have a place to go. With the shelter systems full already, there will be no room for anyone else. Continue reading ‘The End is Near’
By Sean Trott
We say the conditions of our shelters are poor
but yet they remain unchanged
We need action not words for our state to be rearranged
We need suitable housing with available funding
and money to spare
We need more people to witness homelessness firsthand, in order for them to care
We need speakers to speak highly of our community,
not to put it down
Because in the homeless community,
Harrington is the best place in town
It smells good, it’s clean,
and they let us watch movies on a flat TV
The staff is great; they treat us like people,
and they respect me for me
They shake my hand and always answer me with respect
It goes a long way, when all you’ve ever known is neglect
So what do we do now in this crucial time of need?
I propose we forget the existing trees
and plant a new kind of seed
Let’s grow a fresh tree that will work on all branches
And leaves of success, will blossom
in the form of chances
Because chances are what homeless people really seek
Until they receive proper chances,
their future appears bleak
Uncertain and confused they are left to feel hopeless
Why do we look down on these people
who suffer being homeless
These are the strongest people I will ever know
There is no extent to surviving
that they would refuse to go
Imagine one day you wake up and everything is gone,
the house, car and money
I bet then you would take a step back and say homelessness really isn’t funny
Let’s be true, you couldn’t make it out there
coming from your place
Now look at a homeless person
and see the determination on their face
These people, these human beings are soldiers
in a war of the true American way
The rich get richer and the poor become homeless,
day after day
The American dream is only available to those who are born in the right circumstance
And those born into broken homes…let’s face it,
maybe 1 or 2 even have a chance
But yet they wake up every day and choose,
not to die, but to live
And all they ask is,
Does someone have a chance they could give?
Give them a chance to show us what they can really do
Because in my eyes they are much stronger
than not only me, but also you
They cannot be defeated; they continue to fight
in these horrible conditions
Change will come when people in our position
start making better decisions
Help these people instead of
forgetting that they even exist
Because they are out there every day
clinching their fists
Ready to fight another day,
hopefully another night to survive
Wondering which shelter, if any,
could they pick out to hide
Well I tell you I am a new force that
will make change in this world
And I (God willing) with time,
will show you these oysters hold pearls
Outside rough, and inside we are all beautiful,
but not the same
How good does it make you feel when someone remembers your name?
I was told as a teen that supported my Homeless mother
That there is no limit to the lengths you go to protect your sister, mother and brother
I suffered and sacrificed a life of my own,
with no second thought
Because people deserve homes and these fights
have to be fought
Well my story is out there and it’s a success story
in my eyes
I will fight for the homeless, through every single sunrise
So I ask you today to allow homeless people
the chance to really start living
Let’s take a chance and plant the tree that grows the Branches of a New Beginning
Published in
April, 2011 in
News.
By Dennis Boisvert
As thousands of foreigners struggle to flee a war torn Libya and as fighting escalates in that country, the price of gas in the US is going up even though Libya’s oil out-put is less than 2% of the world’s daily supply.
OPEC, The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, is ready to make up that shortage and on March 8, agreed to do so. So supply and demand are met but gas prices keep going up. It is fear and the turmoil in the Middle East that is sending the price of oil up. What had started off as a popular uprising sweeping across the Arab world has turned into a Civil War in Libya and this has increased political instability and uncertainty in the Middle East?
Protests against Gaddafi’s rule started on February 15 with two hundred demonstrators in front of police headquarters in Benghazi with arrest of Fathi Teabil, a rights activist. That sparked widespread protest. Continue reading ‘Libya’s Civil Unrest and U.S. Gas Prices’
Published in
April, 2011 in
Columns.
By Joseph Perry
Shelter constituents say: A lot of things had to go wrong that created the mess in our lives.
Case managers to constituents: I don’t want you to go from one problem to another.
Shelter constituents must be able to turn their lives around and reveal the best of who they are and what they aspire to be.
Constituents must put mistakes behind them. They can’t change the past and can’t change any thing that has happened, but they have the opportunity for a fresh start. It depends on whether they are willing to learn. A few more life lessons won’t cure their problem, but will create improvement. Continue reading ‘I Will Survive’
Published in
April, 2011 in
News.
By William K. Harter
Before and during the 20th century, Harvard University in Cambridge, MA has been considered one of the top five universities in the USA. It also is one of the most expensive to attend. It is located in Harvard Square, an area of one-way streets, mix of small stores, bookshops, restaurants and such, geared to the wealthy and college students. Because of heavy foot traffic, the subway entrance to the square is also the gathering place for the homeless and panhandlers.
Daily from November 15 to April 15 there is a shelter called Harvard Square Homeless Shelter. The shelter brings together students of one of the world’s wealthiest and most prestigious university with its neighbors, who struggle to survive.
The shelter is at University Lutheran Church. The church is not affiliated with Harvard, but is surrounded by the university. The shelter was started in 1983. Continue reading ‘Where the Elite Meet to Treat the Homeless’
By Erik Gould
Paul Bajnotti was a wealthy nobleman and diplomat from Turin Italy. Visiting Providence in 1875, Bajnotti meets Caroline (Carrie) Brown, the younger of two daughters of Nicolas Brown II, for whom Brown University is named. Bajnotti quickly falls for Carrie, seeing in her eyes “openness and sunshine”. His love is reciprocated and the couple weds in 1876.
For the next 16 years they live in Paris, Rome and in Turin, with visits back to Providence. In the fall of 1892 Carrie contracts the flu which escalates into pneumonia. For eleven days she lies in her bed, wracked with fever and chills. At last Carrie is unable to overcome her illness and she dies on April 6, 1892. Her husband who was by her side throughout the ordeal is left “sorrowing and heart-broken”. Continue reading ‘Who Was Paul Bajnotti?’
(A Bipolar perspective)
By Andrew Spooner
As we walk and talk
We want
But we are looking from the outside
As we walk the streets we try harder
We want
We are looking from the outside
As we work
We want
We are looking from the outside
As we play
We have the same joy you have
But we are looking from the outside
As we run
It gets easier
Because God is on our side
By Tom Deighan
It used to be a good slice of the pie. Do you remember the days of Pell, Pastore and John Chaffee? When the State budget was tight, all of a sudden federal funds were there. Today, it is a different story. Sometimes the city or business has to find it’s own answer to this problem.
Ripta is one example of this situation. Over the years the federal money would be there and then it would be eliminated. On October 4, 2010 Ripta introduced new hybrid buses and hybrid trolleys. They are powered by clean diesel hybrid electrical propulsion systems, that reduce emissions, save fuel, and are smoother and quieter than conventional buses or trolleys.
They run off gas and batteries. This not only reduces air pollution, but noise pollution as well, which improves the environment for Rhode Islanders. Continue reading ‘A Slice of the Pie’
My name is Cassandra Tribe and I think the simplest thing that can be said about me is that I wear a lot of different hats.
I came to volunteer at Street Sights after finding them online one night when I was looking for a way to give back to the world from some of what I feel I have been blessed with receiving. Blessings are not always gilded things; sometimes it is the scorched and tarnished ones that have the most worth. The issue of homelessness is one I care about deeply, both from my own experience with poverty and homelessness and as the human rights activist I have become. I am a staff writer, technical advisor, style queen, and help deliver the newspaper.
I am also a poet, video artist, writer and essayist. I am the founder of LoveandWords, the Little Flower Presents, founder and senior pastor of Grace Independent and director of holistic-e-care. Continue reading ‘Meet the Staff: Cassandra Tribe’
Published in
April, 2011 in
News.
By William K. Harter
What does Newport have in common with New York City, Denver and New Orleans? It is learning to resolve the homeless problem through a non-traditional “Housing First” program.
“This has been my collaboration. It’s been one of the most exciting, spontaneous efforts I have seen in my career,” said Don Boucher, Program Director of Housing First Rhode Island.
James Winters of the Newport police made a 48-minute documentary on homelessness. As winter approached in early November, the film was shown at Channing Memorial Church’s Action Committee on Housing and Homelessness. Sally Hanchett and Betsy Dees co-chair the committee. Betsy said, “The film inspired me to pursue a solution to find a safe, warm place for some of Newport’s 12 to 16 identified homeless individuals.” Checking around, a fund was found for “helping the poor and needy in Newport.” They applied and got a $5,500 grant. Continue reading ‘Hope for the Homeless in Newport’
By Melanie Rae
I watch the branches sway in the wind.
Never broken… only allowing to bend.
I take in this lesson with vigor,
Forgetting a tree is not human.
Published in
April, 2011 in
Columns.
By K. Sherman
Legislation pending in the Rhode Island Senate would make it easier for homeless individuals to obtain driver’s licenses and state-issued identification cards from the Division of Motor Vehicles.
Senator Harold Metts, a Democrat who represents Providence in the Rhode Island Senate, introduced the legislation in February. Known as Senate Bill 220, it would require all applicants for driver’s licenses and identification cards to present an identity document, a document with the applicant’s signature, and two documents providing proof of residency in Rhode Island.
Some documents, such as a passport, can be presented under more than one of these categories. Examples of identify documents include a birth certificate, a passport, or a valid driver’s license from another state. Continue reading ‘Legislation Aimed at Helping Homeless’
Published in
April, 2011 in
News.
By Cassandra Tribe
It seems fitting that the last installment of this series comes at the end of the International Month of the Woman. The homeless population in the past few years has undergone a period of rapid growth and a demographic change from primarily men, to mostly women and women with children. This change is not addressed on local, national or international levels.
“The main reason for homelessness among women and their dependent children is poverty,” says Dr. N’Dow, who is also Assistant Secretary General and head of the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat), based in Nairobi, Kenya. “Women are doubly disadvantaged by their need to earn a living while providing care for family members and running households.”
Of the estimated 1.3 billion people living in poverty around the world, 70 percent are women and girls. Women and girls are also the fastest increasing group of impoverished, a process called “the global feminization of poverty.” Continue reading ‘School for Shelter: The Problem with Women’
By Jerry Badessa
Drowning in murky waters, trying to survive by staying afloat;
I cry out…God throws a lifeline. The clouds open as a smile
appears on my face. The clouds depart with my sorrow. As the
falling leaves that hang heavy with iced dew. Every Autumn
brings me pain. Praying the gladness is still in my heart. Deep
as embers that will one day burst into Flames of Freedom.
Longing for the joy of outside fragrances that rise outside…
wild grass, green and misty. A sick man’s house has no wine to
warm him. Only his dreams found on the pillow, for nowhere
else do they exist. Even in my dream world I can feel them,
empty and awake. For even in my waking world, they have
disappeared. If only I could alternate my Dream World with my
Waking World, then I would not have to loom in which is Fantasy,
or which is Real.
By Mathew P. Flaherty and William Harter
I was diagnosed with a mental illness in the 60s. My symptoms started at 11 years old. I could not get out of bed, comb my hair or take care of myself. Eight years later, when I was 19, they diagnosed me as schizophrenic. My doctor said it was just one of those illnesses that happen, like a broken leg. Schizophrenia is not an illness easily diagnosed.
People who have mental illnesses are sometimes told it is all in their head and you are imagining what is happening to you. I wish that were the case. It is not something you can wish away—you have to face it and deal with it.
A psychiatrist examined me and I was admitted to the IMH on Dec. 17, 1975. I was there four months, and then went to a shelter.
It was a long, hard fight. I look at the position I’m in and it could have been much worse. Many people with mental illnesses are victims of crime and violence. Continue reading ‘Success Story: Mathew Flaherty’
Published in
April, 2011 in
News.
By JoAnn Dyes
Dental is available for pregnant women and children under the age of nineteen by appointment only on Fridays. If you miss an appointment you will have to wait six months for another appointment.
New at the health center: there is psychiatrist 4 hours a week. There are hopes to expand services for the homeless who have substance and/or underlying mental health issues.
This makes the health center at Crossroads an integrated primary care clinic to serve the homeless community. Providence Health Center at Crossroads is a primary health center service for adults experiencing homeless.
A homeless person is defined as an individual without permanent housing who may live on the streets, staying in a shelter, mission, single room occupancy facility, abandoned building or vehicle.
The goal is to manage the health needs and chronic illnesses for homeless patients including referrals to specialist when necessary with 50 hours of operation per week and devoted staff.
By JoAnn Dyes
We begin
As starlight and moonbeams
We grow
To flesh and bones
We age
With sunshine and wisdom
We depart
As ashes and stardust
Published in
April, 2011 in
News.
By Melissa Howard
On March 28, at the Crown Plaza in Warwick, advocates, state represents, including Governor Lincoln Chafee and other organizations, gathered for Rhode Island Coalition’s annual luncheon.
The ceremony was hosted by Mario Hilario, of NBC 10. There were greetings from the Mayor of Warwick, Scott Advedisian and also from Governor Chafee.
The key speaker was Laura Green Zeilinger, of the US Interagency Council on Homelessness, Lead Regional Coordinator. She spoke of how beneficial the program ‘Open Doors’ would be, in the fight to ending homelessness in the state of Rhode Island. Open Doors, was part of the President Obama’s 10 year plan to ending homelessness that he introduced last year. Ms. Zeilinger congratulated Governor Chafee for restarting the Interagency Council on Homelessness, which fell by the wayside in 2009. Continue reading ‘RICH Annual Luncheon’
By Estelle E. Goulet
