Vol.2 No.

October 2012

The Spare Changer

Our mission is simple: To inform the uninformed, to entertain, and most importantly
to foster pride and self- respect within and among the unsheltered homeless here and throughout the country. We do this by proffering something to you, our valued reader. Your donation, in this time of increased budget cuts to social services, narrows the gap between basic needs you and I may take for granted, but which remain unmet by social service agency funding and the truly courageous efforts of the sheltered and un-sheltered poor. It is better to give than to receive, says The Bible. We say it is even better when we can give something back. Enjoy The Spange

Political Platforms & Poverty What Can We Do to Really Make a Difference? One Vote One Difference
By Lawson Contributing Editor staring you in the face. You spend your waking time figuring where to get food for free, where to sleep where you are safe or simply not seen, where to keep your belongings, how t stay neat and cleanall the while trying to keep your spirits up and of course how to avoid being stereotyped, looking the homeless look. diametrically opposed: Each understands the problems we have, and there are many across the board, but in terms of social justice and reform, the problems are seen and defined quite differently, depending on fundamental beliefs and values

To the chronically homeless, Im not sure that

a Democratic Party win will make much difference to this community of singles and families that should have voted in their own best interest as a voting bloc, but did not. I am sure that budget cuts, government spending curbs and machinations in legislation and public policy were the cornerstone on both parties vote for me campaigns. When you are down so low, it seems like up to you, you cannot recognize opportunity to rise above your station, often with opportunities and resources

In this Issue: Local

homeless tell a little about survival in winter and what you can do as a volunteer helping to staff homeless shelters including the Interfaith rotating Winter Shelter of Davis and Davis Community Meals Winter Shelter. Claire Shermans compassion and greater teaching experience illustrates why she has earned my vote for School Board and why her unfunded grass roots campaign has not asked for your money in The Vote for Children.

Cuts from everything from public education to

non-profits serving the sheltered and unsheltered poor are still on the chopping block..at least still on the table, but when you are homeless you dont have the presence of mind to think about these things. But just because you dont think about them, it certainly doesnt mean the outcome of this election didnt affect you. The political parties have rarely in history been so 1

Vol.2 No. 2 Sarah Zacharias, advocate for the homeless disabled returns with some thought provoking satire. Oh, and some very, very moving poetry, My Spirit Splashes! Richard Cipian, Student Advocate, appeals for the opening of Lockers for the Homeless, a long-time TSC project still on the shelf. Parick Giri reprises My One Rant, Robert Selman is Tellin It Like it Still is, teen-aged Jessica shares the Homeless Realities, and Kevin describes the art and science of Dumpster Diving Hot and Cold. Associate Pastor Bill Habicht of Davis Community Church describes his outreach ministry to Youth Volunteers for the IRWS!

October 2012

People have to eat. People have to have viable

health care opportunities. Those are facts. Denying these truths is to say just die out. People dont just die out, because when you are starving, there really is no morality; people do what they have to do to survive. Some will turn to crime, a double hit on society since the victim loses and the tax payer loses; taxes have to be levied to house and feed and correct the behavior of prisoners. Some people have a moral structureor dont have the couragethat allow them to commit crimes to live. I see dumpster divers scavenging and using or selling recyclables others dont want, often recycled cans and bottles, just as often other household goods, some even resellable on Craigs list. Some people panhandle on our streets. Heck, some even make crafts, ly music, hustle odd jobs or just panhandle outside our restaurants, convenience stores, shopping center super market or thoroughfare medians. Youve seen them

issue, like Abortion, or Gay Marriage, or oil drilling or domestic job creation. You can at least say you took a stand for whatever reasonI do not believe the chronic homeless can say that. When you vote for your family, for your business for the preservation of you idea of America, you vote for the homeless as well. You vote for the elderly, for the imprisoned, for the disenfranchised, for the future of all, not just yourself. And therein lay the bugaboo. Therein lay the dilemma. What to do when one seems to come in conflict with the other. Thats a lot of weight (two-thirds of eligible voters not voting) on a third of the voting population.

This country has seen painful cuts in

education and social services for years, and the only difference between what will be and what could have been for the homeless, particularly homeless families with children is who is considered sacrifice-able; who is consideredexpendable. I for one am not prepared to say I cannot afford to live, therefore I do not deserve to or If my children cant afford an education they dont deserve one. The new GOP of today is prepared to say just that, and a re-elected President Barak Obama is not. I ask you: Where in the middle do you stand in this Civil War II?

You go to the streets and ask homeless-looking

people, or people you know to be homeless first hand if they voted and they will tell you no, for every excuse you can dream off: I dont have an address. It doesnt make any difference; politicians are all alike. Ive encouraged homeless people I know locally to vote. I even went online to a larger audience, many of who were in a position to round up the homeless in their communities, get them registered and give them a non-profit resource center address to receive ballot information and polling locations. Ill never know how successful I was in this effort of course, but the effort underscores my dismay if no disgust at the failure of this

If you are asked for whom you voted for and why,
will you be able to say you voted for Romney because he will reduce my taxes? Will you be able to say you voted to re-elect President Obama because he is in the mold of FDR, of Truman, of Kennedy, of Bill Clinton? At least you will be able to say, perhaps, you voted on the basis of a single 2

Vol.2 No. 2 demographic to rise up and be counted in a social-economic struggle I like to call Civil War II. everyday. Or dont, but behave that way. You would too, or die of terminal moral conviction Aside from whackos, poverty cause crime. That simple people

October 2012 afford it more. Simplistic? Sure, but inaccurate? NopePeople want to work! People certainly want to do something that earns them a living and also has some value. That value is greatest if the job allows some self-worth. So with cheap labor continually outsourced to developing countries, the prospects grow slimmer and slimmer; for people who are poor now, the hope grows dimmer and dimmer. Vote for this, do you? Not I!

These people may be ignorant, but they are not

stupid. Outreach was the key to simply handing the win to President Barak Obama: The chronically homeless poor, the elderly, women and college student demographics could have made this election a landslide victory.

Make no mistake, an Obama re-election does

not mean social-economic collapse will be thwarted in 4 more years. We may still collapse. We certainly had begun to after the Bush years, especially compared to the Bill Clinton years. The most fiscal of conservatives will tell you that. (He wasnt even invited to the Republican National Convention, remember? A Congress that didnt want to work with him in compromise has slowed our recovery every step of the way. Today, even the most moderate of conservatives will admit such was the plan the day he first took office. Today, nobody on either side disputes our countrys recovery was stilted by the very forces that claimed--all campaignlong--that President Obama failed to come through with his promises for Change.

Editors Comment: A question

really: Did you watch the Final 2012 Presidential Debate between Mitt Romney and Barak Obama? I saw a clear win on both style and substance...Barak's steak sizzled. Couldn't help but laugh at the smug of a fake smile Romney presented while Obama drove home key reasons to reelect him. You saw it

Does your household earn $250K yearly? You are

probably closer to the estimated median of $47,000. So I ask you, when you heard you would have your taxes, these same taxes tht help to support our losers in The Game of Life survive without committing crimes or just dying out for want of the ability to support themselves without welfare, reduced by 20%, did that sound good to you? Did you think what that would mean in terms of social services? Not only by the government, but also by non-profits and faith communities that pick up the slack, that narrows the gap between what people basically need and what they can earn without help? Did you think about how you and your children, and their children, and what kind of a society they would grow up in? Did you think about what I said earlier, that there is no morality when you are starving. The homeless think about that

As I predicted, Mitt Romney's only play (after

going for the Queens Gambit, gaining power but losing position; the old Rope- a Dope, the straight- up Okie Doke) was to try to out-Obama, Obama. He parroted d Obamas vision for the future of this country expressed in 2008 and continued with consistency for the past year. The guy, again, was forced to sound like a Born Again Democrat. Moderator did well...format was perfect for Barak, and he spoke last on key issues... needless to say he called Romney on his flip flopping ways. Truth is, he went

Just like people who dont vote though I think

they should, you have to admit its been hard to know which direction to go. The math of one of the candidates seems to have said we can make it if we let those that cannot survive just die outand the other says no, we dont have to do that. We just have to charge people who can 3

Vol.2 No. 2 for the jugular as predicted; although it looks to me the debaters had an agreement to not hit each other hard on jobs... Obama could have driven Obstructionism in Congress home like a Giant home run with the bases loaded... He also made it clear to the American people the Romney we all know now is no *ahem* "champion," of the middle nor other working classes. Facebook. It read: The Food Stamp Program, administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is proud to be distributing the greatest amount of free meals and food stamps ever. Meanwhile, the National Park Service, administered by the U.S. Department of the Interior, asks us to Please do not feed the animals. Their stated reason for the policy is because the animals will grow dependent on handouts and will not learn to take care of themselves. This ends todays lesson.

October 2012 the equal opportunity curtain will then fall on all of us dependent victims, the one sub-cabal of those 47% who believe they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you name it that will be most impacted will be children.

Thats right, folks: Children. Nobody likes to talk about this inconvenient
truth. Maybe because they dont want other people to know that they see this as the natural evolution of an increasingly socially Darwinist society. Maybe its because they dont want to contemplate how to act locally if the government gives itself absolution from thinking globally (or at least nationally). And maybe its because the Davis School Board aint seen nothin yet and doesnt want to.

I make no bones about my personal biases or

my reasons for them; I have been saying this for several months now, lamenting the Shrinking of the Middle Class, of all the working classes. I dont want to see your grandchildren begetting grandchildren repaying loans for their education on the hourly salaries earned by working for the Wal-marts of today. No upward mobility. No American Dream for them. I do not want to see this emergence of 21st Century Feudalism. Do you?

My husbands revulsion of this, to which

he immediately posted in response, was met with equal and swift condemnation of him, not just from his classmate but others writing in who said there was nothing in the posting implicitly tying animals to people. Apparently intolerance doesnt look good when you wear it on your sleeve (or post it on your Facebook page).

The Vote for Children

By Claire Sherman Mother and School Board Candidate

It is a sad commentary that the primary

beneficiaries of the Food Stamp Program are mothers and children. It would be much easier, and much more politically correct, if we could just let the men who dont pay income taxes starve on the streets. But the easier way to ingratiate the wildlife nutritionists among us is to let Mr. Romneys budget proposals become law. Although 4

Well, guess what? I want to talk about it. In reality, we dont really know what
maelstrom is coming our way next. Hurricane Romney? Possibly. Typhoon NIMBY? Present and accounted for. The defeat of Proposition 30 and Measure E? Unknown.

While contemplating writing for The Spare

Changer, my thoughts immediately turned to a viral posting my husbands former classmate recently shared on

Vol.2 No. 2

October 2012 School Board for sale get your School Board here! Is it any wonder that the heavyweight endorsers in town: the Enterprise, the Davis Teachers Association, and the Davis Democratic Club have all endorsed one of these three candidates? Are you surprised to know that the local politicians proffered their endorsements before the filing date for all candidates? want to see a School Board that pays more attention to and seeks advice from people in their own neighborhoods, and not just those who have the time and energy to show up at chambers in the evenings (which is exactly when many working parents get home and need time with their children). I want to learn more about the challenges facing families with children who are living precariously on the margins. If the powers that be (or, by proxy, voters) decide to further exsanguinate public schools, then I want to see how we can work with some of the thirty thousand-plus students at UC Davis to help out in our classrooms.

What I do know is that while we deferentially focus

our attention on turning the top 2% of students based on a culturally biased exam into 25% of the students, we leave 75% behind. When a Davis school is designated as Program Improvement, parents exercise their right to pull their kids and place them in a higher achieving school (too bad for the ones that stayed) otherwise known as white flight. We rightfully pride ourselves on our children who are high achieving and go on to universities, but with limited resources weve turned our back on kids whose aspirations may not be as lofty in societal terms but deserve just as much out of life as everyone else. And what of the children whose parents dont have stable residences, and sometimes get pulled from schools mid-stream to return to their home countries?

Isnt it rather ironic how the two candidates (Jose

Grande and I) who lack both the financial resources and power endorsements have by far the most experience teaching from elementary/secondary schools to universities. In a parallel universe, one might think that nobody knows more about education than educators, that nobody knows better what children in a classroom need than educators, and that nobody knows more about running a school district than educators. But thats in a universe far, far away.

If we have to increase class sizes, let it be in the

high schools in classes for collegebound students theyll be getting used to it soon enough; this way more personal attention can be given to the students at the elementary school who really need it or, better yet, what about college-bound high school students taking courses at the community college or UC Davis? If the high schools cant provide for all their needs, then why not? No Child Left Behind has become bureaucrat-speak for assessment, but if my campaign means anything at all, its that we have to be cognizant of every childs needs. This recognition isnt happening now. http://goo.gl/ndwFw

Why arent these issues being discussed

more in public? Is it because the people with the money and the power are risk-averse or that they just dont want to rock the indigenous boat?

Heck, even the on-line Davis Vanguard, which

purports to be The Investigative Eye of Davis, has one of these top three candidates as a Featured Sponsor.

Look closely at the financial disclosures for

the School Board Race: three candidates have spent close to (or more than) $10,000, while two (including yours truly) have scarcely spent anything. Davis

Like it or not, we can run but we cant hide

from these pressing issues. I 5

Vol.2 No. 2 8% Increase in number of low birth weight babies

October 2012 About 23.8 million children lived in single parent families in 2009. Of these children, 5.2 million lived with cohabitating partners.
% children born to single parents 35

*Editors Comment:
Education and Upward Mobility go hand in hand even as poverty among our children breaks that bond. Below is an excerpted November 2011 submission from Richard Sequest and erstwhile amateur videographer for and benefactor of The Spare Changer for those of us that like statistics. I submit you will not like these.. From 2000 to 2008 the percentage of low birth weight babies born in the United States increased by 8%, from 7.6 percent to 8.2 percent. Babies weighing less than 5.5 pounds at birth, according to the study, have a high probability of experiencing developmental problems and short and long term disabilities and are at greater risk of dying within the first year of life.

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By Richard Sequest
(Excerpt November 2011, TSC) If you are born into poverty you will probably end up in poverty. And if you end up in poverty you stand a better chance of becoming homeless. The Annie E. Casey Foundation spent two decades studying childhood poverty in the United States and concludes: Children who grow up in low income families are less likely to successfully navigate lifes challenges and achieve future success.
Kids Count, 2011

29
200020052009

Positive Trends
They are far and few between, but yes, there were some glimmers of positivity in the statistics I have been covering this past year. Again, referring to the Annie B. Casey Foundation study, here are a few areas of progress: The infant mortality rate decreased by 1% between 2000 and 2007. The child death rate decreased by 14% from 2000 to 2007. The teen death rate decreased by 7% from 2000 to 2007. The teen birth rate decreased by 15% from 2000 to 2008. The percentage of teens not in school and not high school graduates decrease

There are several alarming trends contributing to child development delays and the general steady decline in economic well-being for children and families at the lower half of the income distribution. Three trends in particular stand out:

10% more children are being born to single-parent families. Children growing up in single parent families, says the study, typically do not have the same economic or human resources available as those growing up in two parent families. 6

Vol.2 No. 2 by 45% from 2007 to 2009. To end on another positive but somewhat contradictory note, chronic homelessness appears to have stabilized in the United States. According to federal statistics the number of chronic homeless in the U.S. has decreased by 11% from 2007 to 2010. Why, in the face of the Great Recession and all the other negative homeless trends this should be the case, is an open question. Maybe it is because people who are chronically homeless eventually find their way to shelter, or maybe they just know how to hide better. Whatever the case, this is certainly the best homeless trend I have come across this past year. Chronic Homelessness in the US In poverty and other misfortunes of life, true friends are a sure refuge. Aristotle 384-322 BC There is something about poverty that smells like death. Zora Hurston 1891-1960 term problem and it is worthwhile to note two main points they emphasize : The Two Generation Strategy If youre born in poverty, you will probably end up in poverty. 3rd Grade Reading Ability If a child doesnt have a reading ability by the 3rd grade, they will probably fall behind. What have others said about poverty?

October 2012 1884-1924

*Editors Comment: Like

analogies, I dont know that statistics ever prove anything; they are always subject to interpretation, but they do serve to illustrate quite nicely, dont they? I believe in fresh ideas and creative funding approaches and a responsible accountable and, compassionate school board. Claire Shannon has my vote.

Famous Quotes
In a country well governed, poverty is something to be ashamed of. In a country badly governed, wealth is something to be ashamed of. Confucius 551-470 BC

HS Student Leaders of Tomorrow TODAY!

By Pastor Bill (Reprint Nov 2011 TSC)

Hello. My name is Bill Habicht. Im a pastor at Davis

Community Church and a volunteer at the Interfaith Rotating Winter Shelter of Davis (www.interfaith-shelter.org).

Over the last several years, I have worked

alongside and learned from many great leaders in the Homeless Services sector. Ive stood in awe as I watched Bill Pride and his amazing staff at Davis Community Meals develop programs that move individuals out of a state of homelessness. Ive witnessed the transformation of lives through the ministry of Cindy Burger, Robb Davis and the volunteers at Grace-in-Action. And Ive seen how a community can come

Solutions
The increase in childhood poverty and povertys correlation with homelessness is cause for alarm. Organizations like the Casey Foundation are working out strategies to address the long-

My favorite: I thank fate for having made me born poor. Poverty taught me the true value of the gifts useful to life. Anatole France 7

Vol.2 No. 2 together, thanks to the leadership of Andrea Gero, Julie Harlow, Willa Pettygrove, Linda Scott and others, to provide shelter and hospitality to anyone in need during the winter months at the Interfaith Rotating Winter Shelter. Without a doubt, the Davis community cares (and cares deeply) about those living homeless! dedicated program focused on developing their innate leadership abilities; a program that is more than just a presentation in school, or a charity event. I believe our high school students are ready for an intensive experience that equips them with the skills and knowledge to actually LEAD programs like the Interfaith Rotating Winter Shelter.

October 2012 Health First Aid certification through the Yolo County Dept. of Mental Health, and have begun intensive training in preparation for the shelter. If thats not an accomplishment, I dont know what is! Adults from the wider Davis community have been invited to help develop these students gifts as and serve as mentors.

While I have seen many great adult leaders

tackle the issue of homelessness and poverty, what continues to astound me are the Youth that are making a very real impact. I often think of Zoe Bock who worked almost every evening at the IRWS check-in table; and Kalley Thompson who did everything in her power to help a mother and her three young daughters at a local shelter; and Tayler Stone who, once again, led a gift tree project for low-income children. There are countless other high school students who have given in ways that often go unrecognized.

In January of this last year, a high school student

approached me and said, Isnt there something more I could be doing? I mean, I work at the shelter regularly, but I think I can do something more. Out of that conversation, the idea surfaced that maybe whats needed is a leadership institute. Six months later, I found myself sitting in a circle with a group of high school students and watched as they actually designed a leadership program for themselves!

At this point, Im serving as a resource for the

high school students and helping to support their vision of the program. But I know that there are other adults out there with greater skill and expertise than I in leadership development. So, Im extending an invitation to TSC readers to join the youth in this venture. There are multiple points for involvement; from serving as part of the leadership team to teaching a single class to becoming shelter teammate with 1-2 high school students during their internship at the IRWS. The job of an adult leader is to resource and to teach and to help the high school students develop their leadership gifts.

I believe these high school students are

poised to become serious and impactful community leaders not of tomorrow, but of TODAY. They have shown, through ingenuity and dedication, the ability to become powerful agents of change in Davis, particularly in the area of homelessness. The only thing that is missing, in my opinion, is a

These students have come together to form

the Youth Leadership Institute (http://bit.ly/YouthLeadership), a year-long program that equips them to become community leaders through hands-on experience and education. Theyve set up a High School Internship program with the Interfaith Rotating Winter Shelter, scheduled guest speakers, participated in Mental 8

See the presentation this group has put together:

http://bit.ly/YouthLeadership. You can join the students at any meeting!

Join us and consider how you might help form our

future leaders!! Wednesdays @

Vol.2 No. 2 6:00pm, in the Davis Community Church and Sundays @ 4:30pm at DCC. If you would like additional information, please feel free to contact me: Bill Habicht at bill@dccpres.org (530) 753-2894 x105 1) A woman who had an abortion in her 3rd trimester to fit into a particular dress OR to go on a cruise OR because she got tired of being pregnant.

October 2012 nation to be at war or not at war. 6) A rich person who runs a business in America who got rich without using any of the following: public roads, public schools, the internet, anything invented by NASA (yes this includes Velcro), a bank loan backed by the FDIC, or paper money. (*Special note: For a bonus prize bring me a creature that fits the previous qualifications for #6 AND runs a business that pays their workers such that NONE of them use food stamps.)

Jennys 10 Most Wanted

By Sarah Zacharias

Alright folks, I want you to do me a favor. Next

time a nutty right-winger says that they actually know or have seen any of the following mythological creatures, or if you yourself believe that you have, please help me verify this by contacting me immediately. Please remember that every stipulation of each creature must be met.

2) A person legally living on welfare (defined as the program TANF - Temporary Aid for Needy Families) for more than 5 years, who does so without performing any mandated work search AND has no disability AND who somehow affords at least two of the following: recreational drugs, acrylic nails, vacations, OR expensive property.

(To be fair, I will also accept an individual who uses the Food Stamp portion of their state issued EBT benefit card to actually purchase alcohol or cigarettes at the counter of an established business in the United States - to verify this I will need a receipt.)

7) A parent who had 10 or 12 children SOLELY for the purpose of receiving a huge tax return in April of every year.

I don't want to see any jack rabbits with

antelope horns duct taped to their heads. I don't want to hear about a finding that you think meets the qualifications for #2 unless that creature meets ALL the stipulations either, so check your facts carefully. That said, a serious Jenny reward is offered for the capture and presentation of any of these mythological right wing creatures:

3) An accredited scientist who can refute the fact that the glass in windows on our cars or greenhouses act like carbon dioxide and react to infrared radiation. 4) A gay person who threatened the sanctity of the institution of marriage solely by seeking to be married to the person they love. 5) A single enlisted person responsible for the ability of our 9

8) A person who purposely committed a crime AND purposely got caught specifically to go to college while in prison, and for no other reason. This must be the declared motive in a court of law, or in a notarized deposition from the offender for me to accept this creature.

9) A fisherperson who tells and has always told the truth about every fish they've ever caught in public AND in private setting. This includes, but is not limited to: size/species of fish, bait used to catch fish, date, time, and other pertinent details.

Vol.2 No. 2 10) Jackalopes must be brought in alive as it is difficult to determine if they are real when taxidermied. Photos and other representation of the creature, including specimens of canned Jackalope milk will not be accepted as evidence. To qualify as a Jackalope the creature must be a jack rabbit with naturally occurring horns or antlers. Two antlers must be present to make positive identification. homeless families go? Where homeless men and women go? Where their children sleep? Or how they manage to? Where they keep their belongings? How they decide how they supplement whatever legal means they have to eat, travel, communicatehw they stay clean and dry? Ever wonder where they are when you dont see them? Ever wish you didnt see them when you do? Ever think what The United States President now will do? Or what you can do? What you can do Today.

October 2012 means us working together regardless of our Faiths or our perceived differences.

This is really about Compassion. And this is

about Community Responsibility. This is about Homelessness in a community, in a country, so rich there just shouldnt be any homeless, not in winter, that dont want to be, that dont choose to be, and even these people are either saving money so they can afford housing one day or are so disenfranchised they dont want any more of organized society than realities of life on this planet forces upon them. (There was a time when that statement would have read and even these people are either saving money so they can afford housing one day, or they are so hopelessly disenfranchised they dont want any more of organized society than realities of life on this planet forces upon them. I know this first hand...)

IF you can positively identify any of these

mythological creatures, please contact me immediately. I will help you document them so that the rest of the world will understand that the right-wing, and your friendly neighborhood fisherman, are not ALL compulsive liars. In the meantime I suggest we try living our lives in a reality where these 10 myths remain understood to be myths and conduct ourselves accordingly; except maybe in the case of Jackalopes and half honest fisherman, because I kinda like them.

The Interfaith Rotating Winter Shelter of Davis

begins its 6th season in November as thousands of Winter Shelters throughout the country will also do. No matter where you are, now is the time to get on board for this particular much needed community effort.

Budget cuts for nonprofits are deep and they

will grow even deeper, placing the care of the homeless even more squarely on the shoulders of our faith communities everywhere. This means an even greater need for volunteers from the community. This means college and High school students, their parents and friends. This means our civic leaders and businessmen and women. This means their staff and the friends and colleagues of their staffs. means you and your friends, your neighbors and theirs. This 10

So what would you be doing as an IRWS

volunteer? What if you volunteered as a family? As a staff? As a congregation? As a college student or service club or civic organization? What would you do as a scout troop or volleyball team or middle school class? What would you do? How could you help if only for one evening between now and the end of the cold weather season?

Winter Wear and Tear

By Lawson

Ever wonder what homeless people do

when the rain starts? Where

Vol.2 No. 2 You could do lots! And you will get as much as you give. earYou can offer understanding as well. This helps the homeless feel like home.

October 2012 week or evening? Then you are needed, and likely you will have the most fun! I say this because ypu will be face to-face with tired, often wet, and always hungry and appreciative people who always have a smile on their face. Guests are now face-to-face with you, and they know you are here because you want to be, because you care, and you because you know they know without you, there could be now Rotating Shelter. Guests depend on you. No greater reward for a volunteer than to see the smile you put on the faces of the guests, save maybe the dinnertime conversation

From a Volunteer perspective, you would first

sign up on line for attend an orientation and training with emphasis on guest interaction. Depending on the duties you select, you would soon meet for more specific orientation and training. (You cant really teach compassion, you either have it or you dont. You got that far, so you are pre-qualified!) Just remember homeless people are no different from you in that the homeless need respect, compassion for their struggles and emotional support for their efforts in meeting lifes challenges and everything else will fall into place, I promise.

You may volunteer as a Shuttle Driver, a very

important responsibility because although the guests make their own way to The Friends Meeting House on the corner of 5th and L at 5:00 p.m., as a matter of olicy they are driven to the host site for that particular week, whether it be close (Davis Community Church for example) or far (The Unitarians Church or first Baptist.)

The guests are also returned to this same

location, although Jack-in-the Box is often an alternate because it is often on the way, always close by, and the only homeless friendly location that is open, dry and sells affordably priced coffee in the rain. You will have a special coordinator for this very critical volunteer group. The size of your vehicle is not critical though obviously a van is helpful, as this shuttle service requires two or three Drivers on any given (early!) morning or (early!) evening for which you can spar the time and gas. You will need insurance of course, though IRWS has its own of course. Please Volunteer as a Driver.

While perhaps not as essential as setting up cots,

handing out sleeping bags or answering a question or providing a routine service request, just talking, engaging with the guest in ways that affirm the homeless community is in fact a part of your community is vitally important in making your own commitment s valuable as it it valued. The Interfaith Winter Shelter of Davis system is all about harm reduction, safe harbor, a feeling of belong, not belonging. It is all about, again, community.

Some of the volunteer needs include assisting

food preparation and service, which also includes sitting down and sharing meals and conversation, if you have the time, energy and compassion. You have so much to offer; expressed interest and a reminder their homelessness is temporary; encouraging guests to keep the faith, to keep hope alive and, frankly, that mainstream society still has its rewards; still has something worth returning to. You will soon question and perhaps see many have forgotten this little something you and I take for granted. Mostly you have a kind

Do you enjoy cooking? How about food prep, or

willing to just help with serving (and sharing) the hot meals provided by host sites for a given 11

Over-night IRWS Volunteers will be the

greatest need at the Interfaith Rotating Winter Shelter of Davis of Davis, and so I urge you to put in a few over-nighters as well.

Vol.2 No. 2 This duty is particularly suited to students who can just as well study, read, or otherwise quietly occupy yourselves. Singles and couples, even groups are strongly urged to join. As with all the duties, you will not be alone, since someone remains awake at all times. As with all the different duties, the ones Ive tried to recall and describe here, there will be additional service-specific training, there will be a supervisor from that particular host site Congregation. After meals, a movie and lights out @ 10:00p, there is really little to do beyond listening to people snore, seeing to it no one goes out for a smoke break after lights out. Guests are bone tired by now. Remember what their days are like, and you see right now what I mean. the Intake Center back at 4th and L., The (Quaker) Friends Meeting House.

October 2012 quick note with questions, concerns or interest you may have. Well see if we can point you in the right direction for you. thesparechanger@hotmail.com

The Intake Center needs you too! There is

special additional training for this role as well, of course; your duties there are just that: Intake. You meet and greet, sign them in, do behavioral assessment and confirm their suitability for shelter at the host site. When we (The founding Board of Directors) considered the merits of Host Site Intake vs. a Central Intake, we thought everyone would be best served if the guest arrived to the same place each night.

Editors Comment: So whats

it really like to be homeless in winter? How cold is poverty? As I see it there are two kinds of affordable housing: The kind the un-sheltered poor can afford, and the kind they cannot. Clearly, the affordable variety for the sheltered poor is a daunting predicament, as it involves a long and lengthy waiting list, say for a section 8, or for a similarly priced community subsidized development; these are few and far between for a variety of reasons. There are many barriers to housing for the homeless including the minimum income requirements, the credit check fees, the qualification that the applicants rent not exceed an arbitrary percentage mandated by the median income of the neighborhood. Since the number of available units of this kind far is far exceeded by the number of applicants, not to mention the number of individuals and families that need the units, just the thought of paying the fee for each application to rent (@ 30 dollars) is daunting if not impossible. Sheltered poor in Davis are living in a transitional program, beautifully custom tailored to the needs and goals of each individual, and coordinated by a case manager. These people have an opportunity to save whatever income they

The Friends Meeting House of Davis offered to be

a Central Intake Facility, and we knew this would be much better than giving the major responsibility of determining whether a guests behavior is acceptable to staff (and other guests) after they arrive to the shelter host site for that week. Behavioral Screening for unacceptable substance abuse and/or mental health disabilities that might be expected t cause problems for staff and guest are identified at Intake each evening on night by night, case by case bases.

Volunteer as one of the over-nighters? I make

this a personal plea, because not everyone can be away from their families during these hours and this is no less true for that weeks host site volunteer staff. This is no less true for IRWS Core Members (the work horses of IRWS). It is no less true for its Board of Directors who every year must otherwise do more than their share of over-nighters as this duty is the most problematic. Remember, you can volunteer for as many or as few as you like. Oh, and you are up and at em, too; reveille, coffee, chores and Snack-to-go, because Morning Drivers will be there soon after to return your guest to

Join us!
Editors Note: The Spare
Changer of Davis would very much like to hear from you; just a 12

Vol.2 No. 2 receive, SSI, unemployment benefits, disability payments, recycling cans, you name it, and can take as long as 18 months. Waiting lists can take longer than that.

October 2012

Id like to see monies made available to these

people, set aside until their name comes up on the waiting list, and distributed only then..And Id like to see it without raising taxes, but by raising the consciousness and sense of community responsibility in the subsidized housing neighborhoods. We must take care of our own, too.

I view starving students as sheltered

poor also, and although their situation is unique in that they are not homeless in the classic sense, we know they are compromised nevertheless; they often study at night and sleep where they can (like dorm lounges) and go to class on campus during the day. At the very least, they are living two, four or six to a dwelling. Often two to a room.

zones on church and private property. Yes, the legalities, hygiene maintenance and security problems may seem un workable, by Ive every confidence that a community, especially one as progressive and Davis, and woodland AND West Sacramento, could see this done.

Editors Note: For the winter,

we got this, but what about for the rest of the year? Poverty and homelessness are not seasonal, so compassion cannot be.

The un-sheltered poor are my gravest concern.

They are the most vulnerable. They are the teens, particularly the females. They are the singles with mental health issues that prevent them from seeing their way through the maze of the government benefit application process, and the waiting time for that. They are the homeless that have taken the easy way out: drugs and alcohol and panhandling for change to get them through the day. And they are the ones, single and families, that are Homeless The Hard Way, living day to day, an apparent normal life by taking advantage of The DCM Resource Center by day, and sleeping outdoorsin places that have become all but an open secret by now.

Tellin It Like It Still Is

By Robert

While The University pretty much takes care of

its own, those students that fall through the crack may not have fallen if housing more suitable to their goals and lifestyle, if you can call the life of a starving student a life

I can tell you first hand the church shelters are

a lucky place to be. With the recent cold weather, and the rain, its a blessing; you know to have a place every night that is warm and friendly, ahh, and safe place to lay my head down at night. The services I receive every night start at intake at 5 oclock.

And then there are the families with two, but more
often only one, provider, living paycheck to paycheck with no room for the unexpected. These are sheltered poor who struggle daily to put the A in affordable. Wait out the waiting list. Save for first and deposit, and hustle in every imaginative way to keep a roof over the heads of their children.

By the time I get to the shelter at night, all the

staff and the volunteers make me feel 100% welcome. Ahh, and the meals there? They actually spoil me. There hasnt been one night where we had a bad meal. Last night we had, at the Davis Community Church where well be for a week, for dinner that night, they made us tacos, fresh,

I am proud to see our churches and Synagogues

open their doors to the unsheltered poor during the winter months, and a 24hr drop in center during the summer, as well as official Unsheltered homeless 13

Vol.2 No. 2 with all the fixins. For dessert we had hot peach cobbler fresh from the oven, with whip cream put on top. Theres nuthin bad I can say about the Interfaith Rotating shelter Program. I say its all goodbecause its been all good. It has given me somewhat of appositive structure in my life, uhh that bein from sleepin on the streets and sometimes not knowing where Im gonna sleep that nightand all the stress entailed with that.

October 2012

Wake-up time is 5:30 in the a.m. I get out of my

sleeping bag to start another brand new day. I say its a brand new day because it is. We have a little chore which isnt nuthin compared to what they are givin us. They make us fresh hot coffee in the morning, which Ill drink about three cups gotta have my wake-up and caffeine. It is what it is, I like to say and thats all it is these days Im happy to say. And they always have pastries in the morning before leave, which we get after we get checked off on our chores. And sometimes by surprise, uhh, we get a complete hot breakfast. Like this morning; an egg casserole!

After the meal, after having my stomach full with

all of the delicious food they serve, I usually go back to my cot, and I usually fall asleep early. Bein my age, uhh, I tend to get tired morethan young people. Uhh, I usually crawl into my warm sleeping bagonto my cot, and I usually go to sleep before lights out at ten oclock. But there are a few around me that watch a video which they show every night there, before the lights go out.

basically, its lettin the community know whats going on in the homeless community and the community as a whole, the way we see it. I usually put in about three or four hours a day interacting with people in the community. Theres one or two people that will buy me another cup of coffee (ha! Ha!) and theres usually one or two that pass me by and say Good morning Robert! And that makes me feel good. And it makes me feel like Im doing something good here in the community distributing this publication

This winter shelter program is gives me a

chance to get my feet back on the ground and to do some positive things in my life. This doesnt mean I gonna conquer the whole world, but really speakin, Im now settin small-time goals, like savin a little bit of the donations I get each day so I can get into a place by the time the program ends in March.

Usually though, there isnt time for a hot breakfast

meal, because theres usually something going on at the church that morning. About 6:30, we are transported back to Intake, the Quakers Friends house at 4th and L or Jack-in-the Box, which is my final destination. Ill sit and drink more coffee and plan out my day

The atmosphere there is real calm and

peaceful, and we dont normally have that many problems between us; everybody normally gets along with each other when were in there and, bottom line, we usually have a good time. I would say most people there are real grateful for this program we have in Davis, and all the services they provide.

Editors Note: Chances are you

received this copy of the Spange from Robert himself, and you can see how he is just a great human being. He loves his community, loves the role he has taken upon himself to play in it and, above all, you can see the love he has for you. To see him, you wouldnt think he was homeless at all, would you? Hopefully, this time next year he wont be, although I do hope he will continue to distributeand write more

About 8 oclock I normally go over to

Starbucks on F Street downtown to distribute The Spare Changer... The Spare Changer is a monthly publication, uhh, given to me, so I dont feel like Im begging because Im giving something back. To me, its very educational and informative and and 14

Vol.2 No. 2 oftenfor The Spare Changer of Davis.

October 2012

I am homeless in Davis unsheltered, except for my

medium sized two man tent. Im staying with a friend in it right now, until I can afford to buy my own, or until October, when I have a chance to stay at the H Street Shelter (Davis Community Meals) Transitional Housing Program. It is a 18 month stay, and will give me more stability. Its hot in Davis, but even in the cold season, one of the down sides is how people look at me.

Editors Note: My friend Robert

Selman is housed now, in Woodland, living clean and sober. Thank you for everything, Robert!

black, thigh level, and very, very warm. Not very good for summer, but I needed it that winter. The jacket is gone now; it got ripped when I caught it on something while working.

Dumpster Diving Hot and Cold

By Kevin

I usually start between seven and eight a.m. If I

start in the evening, itll be about 6.pm., for about two hours. I dont want to wake people in the morning, or disturb people who may be tired from work or have to go to bed early. I dont feel like its a bad thing that Im doing though; Im doing it t help me get by until I find work or go out on day labor assignment.

Dumpster diving for me, ok, is something that

helps me in many, many ways. One way is when I cant afford clothing. When the students graduate school, they throw out clothing which is good; not too worn out. I wash them when I can. Another way is I find electronics and things. Like CDs and movies that I can sell at Armadillo or Tower Records and make a little money for food, bus tickets to get around, and be able to go find work. Another reason is to go and do recycling, collecting aluminum cans, plastic and glass.

They just look at me like, well, you know, they

make me feel like Im not a person. They say its private property and tell me to get out, and I do. They ask why dont you get a job? theyve never been homeless, and they dont know how hard it is to get back on your feet once you get down so far. I leave if they tell me to leave, of course. I dont see how they could be saying that, when theyve never been homeless.

When I collect recyclable goods, I

borrow a bike cart from a friend if I can, or I grab a few plastic bags, fill them up and ride on my bike with them to the recycling center on Covell and Anderson at the outer edge of the Sav-Mart parking lot. There I separate the glass, plastic and cans and put them into separate large blue recycling buckets. The man working there weighs them, puts the weight number into his computer and it prints out a recycling check that at take to the cashier in the supermarket who cashes it.

I ride my bicycle around apartment

dumpsters. I go anytime I have time, when Im not doing other things to better my life, such as day labor, canvassing door to door if they have things I can do around their house or yard; anything I can do to make money.

One of the best things Ive found while dumpster

diving is a real expensive jade necklace. It had jade stones all around, with a carved out jade figure of an Inca Indian. I found it last August in a dumpster on Sycamore Lane. I sold it to female friend of mine that collects jewelry. She sells those at swap meets in Sacramento, Rancho Cordova, and Folsom. And there was this really good coat; it was 15

Depending on how long I recycled, or how

much recycling there is on that day, I make anywhere from ten to

Vol.2 No. 2 twenty dollars. This is in the course of about four hours usually. Theres a reason for that: I dont hog it all, so that other homeless people can have a chance to get some, and buy what they need also. Thats what Ive been hearing on the street lately; that other people are not getting anything and that some are getting it all. I try to make what I need for the day, and if I make twenty bucks Im happy. I try to make at least enough for breakfast and dinner, and if I need my cosmetics like too the paste, shampoo and deodorant. Something I really need in the summer time; anytime really. close on the weekends and at 2pm during the week. This means that if I get dirty or get odors from things that are in the dumpster at night, or when the Resource Center is not open, I can only clean up so much until the next day it is open. One other drawback is that you may find dirty diabetic needles, or needles used by people who use drugs. If it sticks me or pokes me I have to go to the hospital, because whoever used it may have some kind of disease. Also, broken glass or sharp pieces of metal have cut me in the past. Thats why I finally got me a thick pair of leather gloves. I have to be careful.

October 2012 and an effective step to help the homeless help themselves. Looking neat and clean makes finding and keeping a job a lot easier! What is wonderful about this very publication that you are reading is that it attempts to educate different population strata's on the phenomenon of homelessness. True to all age groups who are reading this issue of The Spare Changer is the phenomenon of adolescence. We can all recall when we were 13 and first beginning Junior High School. We all wanted to fit in and be with the in group of students.

One of the drawbacks though is when you go to

recycle and open up a plastic bag; you often get one with cat litter, dirty diapers or spoiled food. You get it on your hands if you dont have gloves. I havent always used gloves but I finally got some. You dont smell too good when you get some of that stuff on parts of your body or clothing. Get one that is leaking and it can spill on your shirt and all down your pants. Theres not always a place to take a shower when that happens, but you can go into a public bathroom and wash your hands and parts of your body; and maybe change clothes. The

Open the Homeless Lockers!

By Richard Cipian

Some students were classified as athletes, some

were the smart nerds, and others were the outcasts. The group we were in was based on our clothing and our hair styles; we begged our parents to get us the clothing that would allow us to avoid being described as an outcast and to be described as one of the cool kids sporting the new Adidas. We worked hard in high school to earn high enough grades and high scores on the Scholastic Achievement Test to gain admission to prestigious universities.

Lockers for the homeless have already

been built, let's use them. I believe everyone in our society has either been affected by social judging or judges others. Poverty contributes to a cycle of poor life choices which cut off employment opportunities for some and can lead to homelessness for others.

Davis Community Meals Resource Center at

1111 H Street has showers, and they come in handy, but they

The stigma that our homeless face from job

interviewers makes securing employment a challenge. Providing lockers for our homeless is a simple, humane 16

My senior year, I was judged competent as a

student and high achiever when I shared my University of California admission results with other members of the senior class who also had been admitted

Vol.2 No. 2 to good schools. For some reason dressing nice and getting into a top to middle tier University of California campus was a ticket to high school popularity or at least social acceptance by middleclass peers- whatever that means. Social judging holds true for students in university and those in the work force. Extracurricular opportunities open up to the students who show themselves as competent, clean attractive looking and motivated and the same hold true for employment opportunities. many challenges to shaping up and getting into Advanced Placement Programs.

October 2012 business if they would hire such a homeless person. Managers of the restaurant would wonder if a homeless person would be a dependable employee. Managers for other job opportunities may wonder if homeless people really have skills that can be applied on the job. Looking homeless in front of a job interviewer can eliminate any chance the homeless or even housed but poor person has to getting the job. Homeless people may not have the clothing required to impress an interviewer or for the job itself.

Our public schools have poor teacher to

student ratios which only leads to the students from the middle class and perhaps a few highly motivated poor kids to be pushed by teachers to attend college. For the other social outcasts, the focus may be to get these students to graduate and sometimes this is a challenge. And If we throw foster kids into the equation, the odds of these kids going to college and becoming full participants in a democratic society are reduced.

A child in poverty lives in a household where the

parents are working minimum wage type jobs and struggling to make ends meet for the household unit. Poverty creates stress in the household unit between the parents. The child of a poor household may not have good role models who promote attending universities- the ticket to social mobility in our society.

There are a few local social services like the

Short Term Emergency Action Committee in Davis that help the poor trying to become employed by providing a limited supply of clothing vouchers through Right and Relevant. The demand however for the assistance provided far exceeds the resources available.

20% of academically qualified foster youth

attended some sort of college-compared to 60% of high school students not in foster care (Wolanin, T. (2005). Higher Education Opportunities for Foster Youth: A Primer for Policymakers. Washington, DC: Institute for Higher Education Policy). Disability and mental illness can also perpetuate homelessness.

A youth who has to deal with living in a

chaotic household unit may rebel from the social structure and turn to alcohol and drug use to numb the pain. A child who has to live in a single parent household with a drug addicted mother and a social identification at school as a poor social outcast may motivate the child to fit in with other social outcasts at school who also turn to drugs and alcohol as a way out of the pain. These students face

Hiring a homeless person is a way to help,

but too many employers are put off by the homeless concept. We as a society acknowledge the need to help but we often run from the uncomfortable. Homeless people want to work and some of them are the hardest working, dependable and intelligent people I know. To deny a population that has dealt with struggle a gateway to employment is inhumane.

The homeless face challenges to employment.

What food establishment anywhere in America hire would hire a homeless person as an employee who had to store their belongings in the restaurant? The restaurant would fear a loss of 17

Vol.2 No. 2

October 2012 homeless people can drop off their sleeping bags and personal belongings into a locker and walk around clean if they grab a shower at the Davis Community Meals Resource Center. Homeless people can apply for jobs and actually do well at getting an interview and passing it because they are qualified. Then a homeless person can get an apartment or at least get into a transitional housing program using the job as evidence to show that the client is motivated. I have seen homeless people who have been fortunate to gain employment, actually finding an apartment and stay employed. It can be done.

Providing lockers for our homeless is a simple,

humane and an effective step to help the homeless help themselves. Those people who initially stood in the way of a wonderful locker program for the homeless of Davis should be ashamed of themselves. The homeless will be forced to carry their belongings with them all over town and be questioned by police for appearing homeless.

*Editors Note: TSC has not

given up hope for its Lockers for the Homeless Project. Stay tuned.. *These last two submissions are both reprints from June 2005, our third issue. It was eight pages then The first from 17yr. old Jessica, a troubled teen who wrote and distributed as a TSC Client Vendor, and only wanted a new Cruiser bicycle. She got it! The other from Patrick. Each has long since moved on to better things. I like to think The Spare Changer had a little something to do with helping do that.

A group of people congregated in a public

park with sleeping bags and bicycles by their sides are an open target for surveillance by law enforcement and nearby NIMBYs (Not In My Back Yard). When a police say they do not profile a homeless person prior to an officer questioning a homeless person before an act of crime has been committed, they may be lying. Police officers are human and do judge even if it is implicit in nature.

Homeless Realities
By Jessica

But by refusing them lockers for the homeless, we

just perpetuate the cycles of discrimination and stigma for the homeless. As a result homeless people with no jobs and economic opportunity may be forced to drink away the pain that being homeless brings forth- only to be arrested by law enforcement and incarcerated for some Open Container infraction. I say Open the Lockers for the Homeless instead!

I am not homeless anymore because I worked

hard to get myself back on my feet.

I thank God every single day for helping me do

this. I dont really know what religion I should be; all I know is that I stayed at a church for many months until I met my boyfriend. They were really nice to welcome me while I was staying there, and I appreciate it. There are homeless people still on the streets living at the same church that I stayed at, and they wish that they could get into a shelter.

Officers patrol areas known for high rates of

crime and check for warrants on homeless people that are congregated in public parks during daylight hours out of no provocation. I have seen this first hand many times in Sacramento and once in Davis.

Editors Comment: I couldnt

agree with you more, RC. Unfortunately, even after the MOU was rescinded, DCC was forced to capitulate to a very few number of neighbors and agreed not to open them on their property. 18

If we provide lockers for our homeless,

Vol.2 No. 2

October 2012 them are people that you stay away from because they are so stuck on their misery of homelessness that they want to make everyone around them miserable. Thats only, like, one in ten people.

The problem is that the

homeless shelter in this area is full, and overwhelmed with the number of people popping up homeless. It could happen to anybody. They could lose their job, get kicked out of their house, or just come to Davis in hopes of finding a better life. A lot of homeless people stay clean and sober because they know that there is something better out there for them, and its only a few homeless people that give us a bad reputation. The way I was raised I would walk right past a homeless person and pretend that they didnt exist because they were dangerous, dirty people.

But what about those who don't? What about

those who are working a job that pays only the minimum wage? What about people who are on State/Federal Disability? What if you are not a student and are not getting grants and loans?

They stay mostly in good spirits, and from what

I saw, a lot of homeless people only drink to numb their pain because its the only thing that hasnt thrown them away yet. They literally give up on life and want to drink themselves to death. That is a sad, sad way to live life.

Sure, there is lowincome housing but only a

certain amount, definitely not enough to meet the high demand. How can the needs of these folks be met?

I definitely learned a hard life lesson when I

actually started becoming friends with the homeless people because I was now one of them. They embraced me like I was a part of their family; made sure that I ate even though they were low on food.

My One Rant
By Patrick Giri

There is a solution out there, but how to find it?

Housing has always been my one rant about Davis. Don't gt me wrong, I like this town...it's very nice and quiet. The crime rate is low. 99.9% of the folks I see are nice and polite. Housing though, has been very, very expensive since the late 70s...I pray for those who are making minimum wage. I pray for those on Disability: May God Bless them with abundant housing!

I only have one rant.

Just one, I promise. I grew up here and housing used to be semi-affordable back in the late 60s and early 70s. Now, the housing scene is completely different. It seems that you cannot find a one-bedroom apartment under $750! This is, in my humble opinion, a lot to pay for one bedroom. Need I mention two or three bedrooms? These prices may be cheaper than those in the Bay Area, but one needs to have a well paying job, preferably well above minimum wage, in order to make ends meet. This is fine for those who do.

There were a lot of people helping when I was

on the streets, people who knew that I was the youngest one and wanted to do whatever they could for me. I had a VERY interesting experience while I was on the streets and I know from experience now that a homeless person is completely harmless, there are a lot of them with gentle hearts and yes, some of

Homeward Bound
By Rayshell

The kind of place where All Is right. A shadow in the day of Night No more tears just Continuance throughout All Of these years.

19

Vol.2 No. 2

October 2012

The rain may fall and The Sun will shine and Shadows Will always Reflect the Times The sake of righteous Trust We see. The contrast of belief That Shelters our minds In depth of Moral value. Let us believe to partake In The chance that let us portray what we see. Life as we perceive. To behave in practice of Actual measures that we Conceive. Let us be comforted. Let us be free. Let us find home. So we can believe

in sulfur spray that shoots from faithful geysers and the soothing calm of cool running mountain waters Clinging like little wisps of moss growing slowly on unmoving river stones I remember that time and water always all ways find a way to flow Reaching with all ten fingertips, grasping for a taste of heaven and I see myself in the lips of trout that break surface reaching for low buzzing insects kissing the unknown above Scrambling awkward in my humanity like misty bouncing water droplets springing off of heavy boulders and fragile ferns alike as they tumble the waterfall Like every drip of rain, and every snowflake that ever fell my being wants nothing
20

but the soothing saltiness of the ocean to wash my sins away my spirit splashes in the grace of rain on sage carried by prairie winds

Next Issue: Enrolling

members of our Homeless Communities:

My Spirit Splashes!
By Sarah Zacharias My spirit bathes in rivers oceans still ponds little tidal eddies and the grace of rain on sage carried by prairie winds Godly waters leak inside me drip by drip hollowing out the caverns of my soul with something holy the spiritual promise

(Courtesy Political Humor By Daryl Cagle W/ Thanks to Gary McCoy)

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