Covenant House International’s Post

One of the many highlights of this year is Titi's story: a mother of 6 who's survived homelessness & DV, and now helps other families who've experienced the same. "My goal now is to continue building a career in human services and let others know about the programs that have helped us come this far... I hope that other mothers like myself are able to find help like the help that found me." Read Titi's story in her own words, and find ways to support future success stories: https://lnkd.in/gV_-NVMZ

"Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on Earth” —Muhammad Ali Yesterday my morning didn’t start off the greatest. 😏 When feeling a tad down, I usually turn to the universal principle of reciprocity. The principle goes something like this: ➡️ If you’re feeling down… lift someone else up. 🤗 ➡️ If you want love… give love. ❤️ ➡️ If you want knowledge… give knowledge. 📚 Why? Giving is receiving turned inside-out, dahling… …And so, at least once monthly, I try my best to volunteer at a homeless shelter. 🙏 “Hey, Elsa from ‘Frozen’ is back to see us!” one of the mainstays joked. From at-risk youth to the elderly, shelters and covenants provide shelter to the shelter-less. 📿 Without fail, offering a helping hand to others helps us, too. And so, the more I live... the more I’m convinced of this: ➡️ “Kindness” is just a fancy word for knowing we’re all in this together. In short, if you’re ever feeling “down,” always remember the best way to help yourself is to help someone else. After all, 💡 When you help someone, you help make them feel good — which helps make you feel even better. Cheers to making all your dreams come true! 🥂 #spreadlove #lifelessons #kindness #motivation

My comment is by no means a suggestion that this is dementia related. But please consider… This post makes me immensely happy and sad all at the same time. Happy for G now having received help, but sad because older adults on our streets are growing in number. (At least as I see it… and I would appreciate Scott Kerman’s professional confirmation if I’m right.) Their needs are different and more difficult to meet - especially as many may be experiencing neuro cognitive degeneration and have no awareness and unable to help themselves. I think often that this could have been my dad with young onset behavioral variant #frontotemporaldementia. His alcohol consumption and laser focus to get it any way possible and he had severe impulse control. We just kept rescuing him from jail and unsafe behaviors. I know others who have shared similar stories as mine. I believe that the number of people with undiagnosed young onset dementia on our streets, shelters and incarcerated is high. If you have no consistent access to care, you certainly aren’t seeing neurologists, getting MRIs or PET scans, - so a diagnosis is improbable. And what would you even do with a diagnosis if you had one? You need wrap around services and support specific to this population. But ohhhh the systems and the beaurcracy! My family had a diagnosis after over a decade of growing symptoms that started in his early sixties— and even then we spent years begging for help - misdiagnosed as mental illness and substance use disorder. This situation upsets me greatly. If it takes 3.6 years on average to diagnose FTD, and that’s only for people with the means to pursue it, and FTD being the most commonly diagnosed dementia under sixty, typically striking in the age range of 45-60, we have to find ways to address this. Thank you Blanchet House & Farm for not giving up on G. And yes, I agree, it shouldn’t take this long or be this difficult. 😔 #earlyonsetdementia The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration (AFTD)

#d is both a philosophy and and action mandate. I have to tell you the story of how I came to know Goddess Matula through my writing friend Genius Turner As a writer on Medium - one of my greatest pleasures is connecting with unique folks who have a hot take fueled by kindness and the #PartnershipParadigm. That’s how I came to connect with Genius. He’s a talented writer and intuitive manifester - making the most of a challenging origin to rise up and spread the parsed out truth of The Genius Mindset: His specialty? Cutting through the BS of the modern world with an intersectional scalpel, and a style all his own. He’s also a popular writer on Quora and a psycho-spiritual weaver who doesn’t pull any punches. He’s also very real. Goddess Matula is his talent manager. And lest you be distracted by her physical beauty and his too-good-to-be-true name, let me tell you. These folks are as magical as they appear on first glimpse. Who am I? A hippie earthy 48 year old intellectual with poetic tendencies. And yet, the energetic support I get from these folks is 100% real. So when Goddess talks, I listen. I guarantee she’s more than a pretty face. When Genius writes, I read it. The truth he spits goes deep into the real. And that’s where we meet. In the real. After all the BS of the world today, is that not what you’re craving? I sure am. So take note when Goddess speaks. It’s deep and beautiful all at once. Let’s take care of each other. Let’s recognize the spiritual plyometrics of the game. Nothing else will do. #onelove #appreciation #real

Black homelessness is much more sensitive to changes to Black unemployment than white homelessness is to white unemployment. Underlying this difference are the racialized conditions which make Black residents more at risk of unemployment leading to homelessness. Longstanding racial wealth disparities mean that white individuals more often have family members to lend financial support during periods of hardship. Featured voices: “My name is Juanita Johnson. I grew up here in Peoria, Illinois. I am 46.” “At the time when I was homeless, I had four children. We stayed here, the shelter, twice. My kids was not happy at all here. They was embarrassed, you know, because they were going to school and then the bus will come and pick them up. They were scared to get on the bus because all the kids would see them, like, ‘You staying in a shelter, you staying--’ So that was really hard for them. It was hard for me to watch them go through it.” Please register for our upcoming event to learn more. https://ow.ly/19mN50Teqjc Read the full report here. https://ow.ly/Hgf850Teqj7 . . . #blackhomelessnessreport #blackvoices #chicagohomelessness #homelessness #policy #chicago #irrpp

Housing is more than four walls: It's a sense of safety & belonging. A place to call home. Joining in our work = helping children, youth & families experiencing homelessness get what they need to thrive. Let's put those values into action. Give today: https://ow.ly/aYvU50QkrJN

You probably imagine who you’d want caring for your kids if something happened to you. 👪 But if you don’t put your plans on paper, the final decision of who will care for your kids, raise them, and manage their money if you die or become incapacitated is left up to a judge who doesn’t know them or your family. ⚖️ Read this week’s blog to learn more. 💻 👀▶️ https://lnkd.in/gCqh9y2X #starsialawny #estateplan #estateplanninglawyer #personalfamilylawyer #nypersonalfamilylawyer #nymom #nydad #trustsandwills #probate #legacybuilding #familylegacy #adulting #assetprotection #livingwill #powerofattorney #kidsprotectionplan #incapacityplanning #nyparents #lifeandlegacyplanning

I learned some things on my sabbatical working with the homeless that might interest you. 1. Many people are vulnerable to homelessness. I worked with a young music pastor that was in a car wreck and in a comma for six months. He lost everything during this time and was without any solid family support. How would you fare if you didn't have a payday for 6 months? 2. Modern street drugs are absolutely devastating. There are thousands of stories of people that tried fentanyl or meth a single time and spiraled into uncontrollable addiction. What ever your politics, for love of your fellow man, work to lessen the availability of these poisons. There is an economic term "Supply makes its own demand", and this is very true for modern drugs. 3. It is not all hopeless. First hand I observed many hardened convicts, former addicts, and folks with hard luck get on their feet again and prosper. But it takes good programming and sometimes tough love to help reach their goals. Finally, in my humble opinion, giving to homeless ministries and organizations is a very rewarding investment. However, take time to understand the organization because not all organizations get successful results. I am biased here, but strongly endorse the House of Refuge Sunnyslope. Here is their website if you want to support a good organization. https://lnkd.in/gR2daZZ8

We have solutions! We have to brave enough to implement them and bold enough to invest in the things that may not have an immediate ROI. We have to fight poverty. We have to increase the quality of education and quality of life of Memphians. We have to intervene in the communities with highest concentration of crime and we need to have enforcement of our laws. This requires every Memphian to do their part. This requires every Memphian to make sacrifices and critical investments. This requires every Memphian to love others and put the community above their own self interests. This requires a city to be radical. We can do it. We must do it or we will not survive. When we find our own well-being in the well-being of our city, we will understand what it means to truly thrive.

Dive into the heartwarming story of a homeless man and a homeless cat who find solace in each other's company. This touching tale is more than just a story; it's a gateway for meaningful conversations about homelessness, loneliness, and the incredible bond between humans and animals. Perfect for teachers and families, this book serves as a compassionate starting point for discussions on how we can better support both homeless individuals and animals. Let's use this story to open up dialogues on empathy, kindness, and the vital role of companionship in our lives. @Kathy Christensen #homeiswheretheheartis #bookrecommendations #empathy #homelessness #animalcompanionship #educationalreads #heartwarmingstory