Guest Post: It’s My Pain

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2015 is a year to take action!

2015_Poem

A Poem by Linda Meyer

In my life I’ve been sad to hear, 
those that don’t care about others, their message is clear. 
“Pick yourself up by your bootstraps” I hear them exclaim,
they care naught for my circumstances, I cannot; It’s my pain.

When you’ve no money, no address, no phone,
no one will hire you, you’re out on your own. 
In this time of high technology, when most businesses hire from online,
having no computer, I can’t put in applications. I haven’t got a dime. 

No transportation to go to a job, no housing, no address, leaves me in a lurch.
So I sit here, and you watch me with wary eyes from your perch,
You assume I committing a crime, just by sitting on a bench.
You assume I’m an addict due to my aromatic stench.

I don’t have a home, no shower, no clean clothes,
For it is I and those who are like me that you do your best to loathe.
Your unwanted assumptions are my cross to bear,
I wonder if you really see me, if you could really care.

Humanity needs to come full circle, to care about each other,
It wasn’t that long ago you see, but now no one wants to bother.
The tribes of the past, used to share and make sure all were taken care of,
No one went hungry, or unsheltered, or unloved.

A lesson for humanity should be given once again on the range,
the ones who are oppressed are the ones who can make change,
but only if we all stick together, regardless of our lot.
We only have each other, and that is all that we’ve got.

So fight for all humanity, against the hoarded greed,
With kindness and fairness, we can all be freed
from this giant rat race, we can live together, and amend
and let the planet heal from our wars on each other, and be better humans once again.

Top 5 Moments for NCH in 2014

  • Actress Susan Sarandon spoke out against violence towards people experiencing homelessness. Ms. Sarandon voiced her support of our work protecting homeless individuals from hate crimes at a Congressional briefing in June, which followed the release of our annual Hate Crimes report.

 

  • The international media joined the conversation about food-sharing laws following the publication of our new report on food-sharing restrictions. We were able to use this attention to target Fort Lauderdale, the most recent city to pass a ban on food-sharing in public. We worked with Arnold Abbott,  the world-renowned homeless advocate, to mount a petition that has gathered more than 100,000 signatures opposing the city’s interference with groups feeding the hungry.

 

  • The National Campaign for Youth Shelter was officially launched. In June, nearly a thousand  advocates and homeless youths gathered in NYC’s Washington Square Park to rally for additional resources for young people. To date, more than 75 partner organizations have joined on to support this work.

 

  • We had our most successful Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week ever. Working with 450 schools, student groups, faith-based organizations, and community groups, we coordinated more than 1,000 events that offered opportunities for an estimated 65,000 people to get involved in the fight against poverty.

 

  • The voices of those who have experienced homelessness were heard! Our Faces of Homelessness Speakers’ Bureau has spoken 265 times in the past year, reaching a combined audience of 16,600 people. We believe that individuals living in poverty are some of the best advocates and deserve to have a leadership role in any organizing effort on their behalf.