It was an opinion piece signed by Mar-Quetta Boddie, Rebecca Callahan, Keith Stahl and Fred Berry AND "the view of 11 other members of the Continuum of Care for the Homeless" It was entitled "Second Chance Village is not a solution to homelessness" and was written on July 11, 2018. I often focus on Mayor […]

The extreme suffering the street brings is a constant hum. Hunger, isolation, hatred, beatings, rape, torture. And then death. It's constant. A constant hum of grinding suffering. It doesn't have to be this way. But it is because our society has put up invisible walls of classism. Make no mistake, America has untouchables. People like […]

In 2014 Arnold Abbot, a 90 year old man, was charged with feeding the homeless in public in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Those "do not feed laws" in Fort Lauderdale still exist. Mayor Jack Seiler told WPLG, "Just because of media attention we don't stop enforcing the law. We enforce the laws here in Fort Lauderdale." […]

You can buy nearly anything on the black market. Food. Phones. Laptops. Clothes. Tools. Video game consoles. The prices for those kinds of things are unbelievably low. I've seen a Nintendo Switch that retails for $300 sell for $40. A Craftsman breaker bar that retails for $35 sell of $5. High end cell phones in […]

There have been a couple local activists getting some heat recently for being less than ethical in their social giving. This, I think, is shocking to the person in the cross hairs of these accusations. It also throws a wet blanket on the good feelings of supporters. Martin Luther King was often accused of incredible […]

I sometimes have to remind myself that there is a cherry red Tesla convertible hurdling RIGHT NOW into the distant asteroid belt of our solar system. It will likely fly through space for millions of years. Elon Musk did that with the SpaceX Falcon Heavy Rocket. "With 27 engines, the Falcon Heavy is capable of […]

This week I got word that "the church" across the street from where we have our dumpster located wants us to move it. It's not on their land. It's across the street from them. But having to look at it apparently is too much for their sensibilities. The problem with the dumpster is that people […]

There's a high profile homelessness "expert" who is against these tiny houses that are popping up all over the country for homeless people. Barbara Poppe, who coordinated federal homelessness policy for most of Barack Obamas presidency, said she believes the development of slums is a real risk and that some of the ramshackle camps used […]

I can make no promises as to what is about to be vomited on this page or if I'll have the energy to clean it up afterwards. I guess shock is a good word. I'm still in shock. Last week, I and many incredibly hard working homeless people dismantled everything we created over the last […]

I always cringe a little when people tell me I have a "big heart." It's something I hear fairly regularly. But it's definitely not how I see myself. When they say it I imagine Forest Gump. A well meaning mentally challenged individual. It is also always followed by advice on how I need to counteract […]

It's hard to compete with the writings of a guy like Paul. Hell, it's hard to compete with any of the great leaders of humanity. I feel like a tool when I compare my writings and thoughts to someone like Martin Luther King Jr. His understanding of philosophy and religion crush my own. And then […]

I went to bed with this message ringing in my head last night: I suspect this person didn't care for my piece on where I stood with drug dealers. This message amuses me because it was a rather big deal for me to take the public stand I did in that post. I told these […]

If you haven't checked it out, I HIGHLY recommend Dan Carlin's podcast, "Hardcore History." You can pick any of them. They are all great. When I think of how society treats homelessness today it reminds me very much of how much of the world went into fighting World War I. Blueprint for Armageddon I is […]

People are pissed. I don't need to quote any social media comments for you to imagine how people feel about Austin Texas' new law which would permit the city's homeless population to sleep or camp in any public area. There's a picture of a tire store that has homeless people's stuff in front of it: […]

There are a couple reasons I enjoy spending time with prostitutes. First, they often lift my spirits. Their job is to make a person feel better. It's a skill that is actually quite rare and not as easy as you might think. They are just good at making people feel good. For the record: I […]

We are never going to get off the dime if we can't break down the issue of homelessness in Akron Ohio. The position of Mayor Horrigan's office is that no one needs to live in a tent in Akron Ohio.  We are unlike all other cities in America because we have housing for any homeless […]

One of the more embarrassing and amusing aspects of doing this homeless work is I honestly believed the city was going to thank me. I thought they'd come by and say something like, "there are some things we like and there are some things we don't like, but thank you for contributing to this challenging […]

A friend of mine came to our homeless village recently. She said she was literally shaking after reading some of the things people said about the homeless and me. Humans that feel sheltered by the anonymity of social media say some pretty shocking things. "They are all drug addicts." That's the number 1 thing people […]

I saw this really interesting video on how Facebook and Twitter trigger us emotionally: It reminded me of how we are all paid off by drugs. We are all addicted to dopamine and opioids. Social Media Triggers a Dopamine High According to a study of Australian consumers by San Francisco-based media-buying firm RadiumOne, social media […]

I have a great deal on my mind today. Transition is like that. What we knew and could count on is gone. What is in front of us is uncertain. This space of transition is very uncomfortable for most people. But for me it seems to be my natural habitat. I think we are often […]

It seems taboo to think about, much less discuss, any religion that is not our own. Protestants don't read Thomas Merton. Catholics don't read Rick Warren. Atheists refuse to explore any God-based religion at all. I can almost guarantee this post will be met with comments on Facebook that I am not accurately understanding God, Jesus […]

I love politics. Dementia runs in my family. I tell my wife that if that ever happens to me just put me in any room of your choosing with C-SPAN running 24/7. I'll be fine. I've had a couple people come to me and ask if I was thinking about running for mayor or city […]

This is a picture of Donnie. Her husband died. His pension ran out. She lost her house. She is now homeless. This rain. 40 degree rain is the worst. And it just felt unrelenting this week. I think it was Wednesday where every minute of the day was this deep gray drizzling cold rain. A […]

This is the editorial I am commenting on here: Beacon Journal/Ohio.com editorial board: Sage Lewis goes to court It's likely that link will break soon. Their content management system typically pulls these offline at some point. ********************************* I once had a neighbor who hated me. I mean.... wouldn't look at me, wouldn't talk to me. […]

I was talking with a homeless friend of mine this past week. He said, "I know you don't like Trump. But Trump is the best thing to ever happen to you." Look at this gun sales chart: The best thing that can happen to the gun industry is a Democratic president. These trends are very […]

I'm not the kind of person other people typically entrust to important jobs. "Loose canon" is a common phrase I've heard to describe me. But for some reason, Debra Manteghi, the Program Manager of Project RISE, the only group in Akron solely dedicated to homeless children, has appointed me to the position of Chair for their Auxiliary […]

So let me break this down for you: Let's say you are a homeless kid. Good news! There are programs to help you get a place to live.  Let's say you are a homeless kid that wants to go to college. No more housing help for you! The IRS says you are no longer eligible […]

I have another campaign coming up so I wanted to get my finances together. (I'll tell you more about it soon.) But I wanted to post where we are with our money. In a nutshell: The Shoes for Homeless Kids program has raised $1310. We've spent $1068.82. We have $241.18 available. The Socks for Homeless […]

How much money do you think the national government spends on helping homeless kids? Before you guess, let me give you some budgets the government does spend money on: Printing Costs ($930,000,000) Maintaining Vacant Buildings ($175,000,000) 118 Medical Clinics that never existed ($35,000,000) European Legislators ($2,600,000) I get it. America is a big place. It's […]

I got an email last night from Debra Manteghi, the Program Manager for Project RISE: the only group in Akron that solely focuses on homeless kids in the Akron area. They organize an "adoption" of families for Christmas. The idea is that a family "adopts" another family and gets them presents for Christmas. Debra emailed me […]