Has Pres. Obama said anything about helping the homeless?

[dixiegrrrrl]

I have been seraching but cannot find anything where he talked specifically
about providing food, shelter, aid for the millions out of work, out of benefits Americans.


And is it my imagination or has Congress been very very quiet about this problem also?
Governors of the states??

ANYONE talking about it????

Perhaps I missed it during yesterday's power outage?
Anyone got a link?

[heli]

1. Conservatives angry over Michelle Obama's trip to homeless shelter

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2009/03/06/cellphone_photo/index.html

Friday, Mar 6, 2009 13:45 EST
Conservatives angry over Michelle Obama's trip to homeless shelter
The latest target for right-wing outrage is a possibly homeless man seen taking a cellphone picture of the first lady.
By Alex Koppelman

It seems Michelle Obama can't even do a good deed without inspiring some outrage on the right.

The first lady visited a Washington, D.C., homeless shelter on Thursday, bringing fruit collected in a White House food drive and serving some of the shelter's clients. That alone isn't objectionable, of course. But some conservatives -- sparked by a blog post from the Los Angeles Times' Andrew Malcom -- are in a tizzy over an Associated Press photo that shows a man taking a picture of Obama using a cellphone....

[Demeter]

4. And since then, Crickets

No, it isn't on the radar. Unless you are worried about Goldman Sachs employees being able to pay for their second homes, and private school tuitions, and such.

[Kahuna]

6. Homeless programs are administered by local governments. nt

[WhiteTara]

5. Republicans are such weasels

Especially homeless people need cell phones. Just because they are on the streets doesn't mean they should be unable to communicate as well.

Thanks for the post and welcome to DU.

I think that the Obamas' personal care and concern for the homeless is very admirable. Here is what the President has done to help on a much broader scale.
http://www.endhomelessness.org/section/policy/legislature/mckinney_vento

[lonestarnot]

7. You are too kind to those pugs.

[heli]

9. Thanks!

I'm sure homelessness was a problem the Obamas encountered in Chicago.

[PeaceNikki]

2. Ever? Yes...

http://speakunited.org/blog/elizabeth+curtis/2009/03/obama-discusses-homelessness-during-his-second-prime-time-press-confer">Obama Discusses Homelessness During His Second Prime-time Press Conference

http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/usa/President-Obama-Tribute-Martin-Luther-King-Jr--81989987.html">Obama and First Family Observe MLK Day, Serve Food to Homeless

[dixiegrrrrl]

15. The first link you shared is from Mar. 2009.

when, in answer to a question, "President Obama acknowledged the value of the work that is happening now, and all that still needs to be done. He said that he expected a shift in thinking so that everyone in Washington and beyond would agree that "it is not acceptable for children and families to be without a roof over their heads in a country as wealthy as ours."

Not exactly policy. And things are much worse now.

My concern is although funds have been legislated:
The House approved $1.85 billion for the programs in its FY 2010 legislation.
A conference committee must now meet to iron out the differences in the two versions.

to service agencies that help the homeless ( and thus the agencies themselves are dependent on the poor remaining poor in order to continue getting money to provide services)

when the economic situation was this bad back in the 30's, FDR created jobs.

The majority of jobs being created now is via the military.

[CBR]

3. Please look in to the Homeless Prevention and

Rapid Rehousing Program that was passed in the ARRA. Great program...

[babylonsister]

8. Google works! $3.1B made available to fight homelessness - from Obama's Stimulus Bill

http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20090220/capcol20_st.art.htm

[Demeter]

10. To Fight Homelessness, America Needs Jobs--Manufacturing Jobs

Anything else is just a Potemkin village.

[babylonsister]

11. I was responding to the OP. The question didn't have anything to do

with manufacturing or jobs.

I'm sure if someone is homeless, any help would be welcome.

[Mira]

18. I'm glad you found that Babylonsister.

I would give you a heart, but you don't need another one.
Congratulations on being so loved.

:)

[Tailormyst]

12. I often wonder how the people in the WH can sleep at night

Especially when its cold out and the streets and parks surrounding including the withing view of them, are filled with homeless, desperate people. Pulling into DC at dawn for my first march was a devastating reality punch in the gut. Homeless people everywhere,in September,sleeping on steps, benches, heating grates. A city filled with millionaires who hold all the power and they pretend not to see the unwashed masses.

[Demeter]

13. Good Question

Nixon at least had the honesty and troubled conscience to get drunk and roam the halls at night, interrogating the presidential portraits.

[WhiteTara]

14. which is why the Obamas' personal care

is so important. I know the pukes have no shame, but at least they are more visible now.

[Odin2005]

16. SHHH!! the super-poor don't "exist" anymore. you have to talk about the "middle class"...

...or else you are a Commie class warrior who hates America and loves nonexistent "Welfare Queens"!

[asdjrocky]

17. I thought he was going to mandate that homeless people buy houses?

[ipaint]

19. Not much compared to the bailout for the leisure and elite classes.

"Declining wages have put housing out of reach for many workers: in every state, more than the minimum wage is required to afford a one- or two-bedroom apartment at Fair Market Rent.1 (National Low Income Housing Coalition, 2001). In fact, in the median state a minimum-wage worker would have to work 89 hours each week to afford a two-bedroom apartment at 30% of his or her income, which is the federal definition of affordable housing (National Low Income Housing Coalition 2001). Thus, inadequate income leaves many people homeless. The U.S. Conference of Mayors' 2005 survey of 24 American cities found that 13% of the urban homeless population were employed (U.S. Conference of Mayors, 2005), though recent surveys by the U.S. Conference of Mayors have reported as high as 25%. In a number of cities not surveyed by the U.S. Conference of Mayors - as well as in many states - the percentage is even higher (National Coalition for the Homeless, 1997). When asked to identify the three main causes of hunger in their city, 83 percent of cities cited poverty, 74 percent cited unemployment and 57 percent cited the high cost of housing. (U.S. Conference of Mayors 2008)."

http://www.nationalhomeless.org/factsheets/who.html

These statistics are older and the problem is much worse today.

More and more working and unemployed people are living in their cars, vans and trucks. Cities in California and Washington have been setting up safe parking lots for folks who can't afford to rent because of either low payed work or unemployment. Most shelters are run like prisons so living in a vehicle is preferred by many.


Credit crunch forcing US middle classes to live in their cars

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/26/usa.creditcrunch


Last Refuge for the Homeless: Living in the Car


"It's no fun living in your car," says Mike, a lighting specialist in the Los Angeles entertainment industry who has been out of work for a year. One of his last jobs was the Academy Awards show. "I don't have a job right now, in part because of my situation. Did you know that 50% of people who are homeless and living in their cars have jobs?" He keeps his vehicle registration current and parks his van on side streets on L.A.'s west side and in the San Fernando Valley. "You want to park where it is safe and inconspicuous. Not a busy street where someone might plow into you, and not a place where the bums will bother you," Mike says. "If the police hassle you, they'll impound your car and you'll lose everything. I don't want to find out."

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1963454,00.html


This problem will explode when the emergency unemployment compensation programs run out for people. Jobs aren't coming back in any real numbers for years. Unemployment benefits won't last forever.