“True integration,” as Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “will be achieved by true neighbors who are willingly obedient to unenforceable obligations.”

Opportunity Center Visual Update. . .

Charles

Several weeks ago I met Charles on "the porch" where I sit on Thursday afternoons.

He impressed me then as a very smart, self-aware man.

"Today, Larry, I have a peaceful spirit.  That has not always been the case, back when I tried to 'act like God,' I was very, very different" he informed me in that first meeting.  Funny how deep folks seem to go immediately out there on the street.  No time for wasted words or small talk.  Tough reality only, please.

Last week when I saw him, he had a real problem.  His bike, the only source of transportation that he had, had two flat tires.  Charles picks up work wherever he can.  He stays in a night shelter or under a bridge, rides his bike to work where he cleans things up and catches out on odd jobs. Or, at least he did until recently.

It was an easy thing to help him get his tires fixed.

During that process, I asked him what he did for work.

"I do anything I can find to do," he said. "But, it's gotten lots harder.  Over in Deep Ellum they are telling us 'We can't hire people like you anymore.'  I told them, I don't know what you mean.  My name is Charles and I'm just here to work."  

It seems the Deep Ellum Association doesn't want homeless persons in their area, even if they are there to work.

Just one more example of why housing is so important.

Lots of people think shelters provide "housing."

Funny though, business owners and employers don't consider shelters "housing."  If they did, some of my homeless friends like Charles would be hired.

We've got to do better.

We've got to get people like my friend Charles into homes.

He has transportation.

Now he needs an address.

"If I had a home, Larry, I could get my little granddaughter out of foster care," he told me.

But, then, that's another story altogether. A story that breaks this granddad's heart.

Frustrated student. . .what do you think?

By now lots of people have seen this video that went viral from Duncanville High School here in the Dallas area.

 Excuse a couple of the words, but I'd like to know what you think of this young man's commentary/reaction to his his teacher.

 Few things are more important than getting public education back on track.

 

Immigration Reform in Committee

The U. S. Senate Judiciary Committee leads the current discussion regarding immigration reform.  To see a listing of the committee members click here.

The 18 members of this committee are considering possible amendments to the bipartisan “Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act” that was introduced a few weeks ago.  

The amendment process is incredibly important: it provides the opportunity to make improvements to the bill before it goes to a vote, but it also provides an opportunity to introduce elements to a carefully negotiated compromise bill that could cause bipartisan support to be limited going forward.

If one of your senators is a member of this committee, I urge you to contact him/her and express your support for comprehensive immigration reform, and ask that it be wrapped up this coming summer for the sake of the millions of people who are adversely affected by current policies.  

So many of our neighbors need the relief that strong reform would provide.  

Gerald Britt, VP with CitySquare speaks up. . .

To hear Rev. Gerald Britt, CitySquare VP of Public Policy and Workforce Development, respond to calls for the firing of Dallas Independent School District Superintendent, Mike Miles click here.

Worlds Apart!

Last Sunday, I spoke to the folks at The Hills church in North Richland Hills, Texas.  It was really good being with the church led by my friend, Rick Atchley.

My sermon, "Worlds Apart" can be seen below:

Little Hen

To a proud granddad, this is pure genius and delight!

 Henry loves to sing!

 I love to hear him.

 Enjoy!

Bottom Line Banner on Dallas Morning News front page yesterday!

CitySquare will host singing sensation, Diana Ross on Friday, September 13, 2013 as a part of our 25th Anniversary in working with neighbors to overcome poverty in the Metroplex.

 Mark you calendar today! 

  Sponsorship options are available!

Welcome to the Opportunity Center, neighbor!!!

This week on Tuesday morning, volunteers from Pepsi, Albertsons, and Feed the Children joined CitySquare to distribute several tons of nutritious food products to several hundred families.

The effort's two-fold mission was to assist working families with their food needs and to introduce our neighbors to the location of our new Opportunity Center on Malcolm X Boulevard.

The effort was a huge success!

At the busiest time of the morning, cars stretched from our front gate all the way down Malcolm X to Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard!

It was a great morning among friends!

CitySquare Work Paths "Build 4 Success" graduation. . .a crude snippet!

The video captures, in a very unprofessional manner, just a snippet of the most encouraging graduation exercises for CitySquare's most recent Build 4 Success class, a 14-week, 310 hour course in hard skills construction training.

This spring's class was a truly great one.

These graduates will be stepping up into living wage jobs thanks to the high-level training they received and of which they took full advantage!

What a great group!

And, again, forgive my crude video.  I just had to give you a glimpse.

As we move forward, employment training will occupy more and more of our time and resources.

ACU at CitySquare

AmeriCorps and learning service

Service

We have many goals for our AmeriCorps programs: help 3,000 children do better in school, provide 20,000 children with meals during the summer, provide food for 5,000 families through our food pantry, and recruit 500 volunteers to help expand impact. 

We have one unmeasured goal that in many ways we view as our most important accomplishment: instill in AmeriCorps members an ethic of service that extends beyond their short term with us. Member surveys and comments to us suggest we do a pretty good job at this goal.  However, every now and then we are presented with broader proof that we are reaching our goals.

Today a former member dropped by to let us know that she was tasked with a class project in her “Psychology of Poverty” course.  She had the option to do research and write a paper or she could do an action project.  She choose an action project.  

Drawing upon her tenure as a summer AmeriCorps member, she decided that she wanted to do two things: raise funds and recreational equipment to support the summer enrichment activities of our Food on the Move program and also raise awareness of poverty and childhood hunger. 

She enlisted the help of a few classmates and the management of SportsAuthority.  She set up a table at a local Sports Authority, who supported the project by donating 20% off coupons to be given out.  Her only visuals were a few 8 1/2 by 11 pieces of paper taped to the table and a homemade 3 sided cardboard sign – like the kind kids use for science projects.

Her team welcomed everyone as they entered the store and for those that stopped, they talked about not just the need in Dallas, but also about the solution.  And she asked them to help with the solution by donating funds or sports items like balls and jump ropes.  Over the course of two, four hour days this AmeriCorps Alum raised $900 in cash and received another $100 in sports equipment.

We have a need for both in our summer program; and we will put the funds to their intended use: buying more balls and jump ropes and sidewalk chalk…and hula hoops. But our greatest need was met by her actions – the need to have more citizens committed to a lifetime of service and attachment to their community.

Dr. Keven Vicknair

Director 

CitySquare's AmeriCorps team

Sunday assignment

Step one:  read Revelation 18

Step two:  ponder each word and phrase, underlining the most interesting words and phrases

Step three:  summarize the chapter in one sentence

Questions:

1)  What dominates the reason for the great agony and mourning in these words?

2)  What is the place/position of great wealth in this part of the story?

3)  Is economic power a problem here?

4)  In what way do various actors "commit fornication" in the story line?

5)  Is the focus of this chapter sex or economics?

6)  What role does wealth and economic power play in this story of failure and defeat?

7)  What does the chapter seem to reveal about God's attitude toward wealth and its power?

8)  Where are "the poor" in this vision of the community in question?

Finally:  what is the "takeaway" for you?

Public sold out!

National leaders need to listen to the public about simple, common sense gun control.

 Whatever the intention of the framers of the Second Amendment, I believe we can agree it did not include the right of mentally ill persons, violent criminals or people listed on a terrorist watch list to bear arms.

 Why, none of those people could even join a "well-regulated militia"!

 In keeping with that spirit, here's how the dollar bounces in the U. S. Senate.

Let me tell you, this behavior doesn't play well in the inner city where I live.

Nice job, President Bush!

The Daily Beast reports some good news about national progress in ending homelessness for those trapped in the most extreme poverty.  Very encouraging report that highlights the vital nature of permanent housing.

Fewer Homeless, a Bush Legacy

by David Frum Apr 29, 2013 4:00 PM EDT

Spencer Platt/Getty Images

My CNN column focuses on a major domestic policy achievement by George W. Bush: combating homelessness.

Have you noticed that homelessness isn't worse? Here we are, living through the most protracted joblessness crisis since the Great Depression -- and surprisingly, fewer people are living on the street.

The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development reported that the number of the chronically homeless declined by 30% between 2005 and 2007. You might have expected the numbers to spike again when the financial crisis hit but no. Since 2007, the number of chronic homeless has dropped another 19%.

A broader measure of the number of homeless counts the number of people living out of doors on one randomly chosen night. That broader measure has also improved through the economic crisis. Between January 2011 and January 2012, homelessness among veterans dropped by 7%.

To what or whom do we owe this good news?

In very large part, we owe it to the president whose library opened in Dallas last week: George W. Bush.

For three decades, we have debated what causes homelessness and how to deal with it. Is homelessness a mental health problem? A substance abuse problem? A problem caused by gentrification and urban redevelopment? Or something else again?

The Bush administration substituted a much simpler idea -- an idea that happened to work. Whatever the cause of homelessness, the solution is ... a home.

Read the entire report here. 

Solutions and Self-Interest

So, what if everyone in the nation enrolled in Medicare?  How would that work?

Typically, when someone asks a question like that, immediately naysayers begin to push back, calling the idea absurd and/or cost prohibitive.  Or, people laugh and walk away.  Data flies around.  Conversations turn tense.

Today, I'm wondering why.

The nation faces a health care crisis both in terms of cost and public health outcomes.

Growing numbers of people believe the solution is not that complex to imagine.

The problem revolves around the existing self-interests of powerful groups.  This reality produced the compromise response that is the unwieldy Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as "Obama Care."

But, honestly, there is a better way.  A way to further curb expenses, as well as a way toward much improved public health results.

Read on!

Cut loose imagination. . .

No such thing as a "bum". . .human first!

Service to country. . .country to serve?

Change will come. . .

Great socks!

This is just a great photo!

I love President George H. W. Bush's choice in stockings!

Radical reinvestment needed in South Dallas Fair Park

Got to say that I'm waiting for the day I can watch a presentation like the one below that envisions radical investment in South Dallas Fair Park.

 Maybe I won't live that long, but there is no reason the quality of the presentation and the vision of the final product for the benefit of people and community couldn't match this one that sets out a major reinvestment plan for the old Valley View Center in, where else, North Dallas.

Why couldn't something like this happen in Fair Park, our city's most neglected treasure?

 

More good news from CitySquare Community Health Services!

Recently, I received the message below from Leigh Allen, our practice administrator at CitySquare's Community Health Services.  The good news continues to pour in on the quality of the services we offer our neighbors who are also our patients.  We strive to create a user-friendly medical home for everyone who comes through our doors.  It turns out that the "family atmosphere" we offer is an important part of the healing work we do.  Enjoy!

Leadership:

I wanted to share this wonderful email announcement of the TMF Physician Quality ImprovementAwards.  

All the providers in . . . the CitySquare clinic were recognized!  

We were able to achieve this award because of the hard work that previously went in to obtaining our Level 3 Patient Centered Medical Homes recognition.  

I am proud of [our] CitySquare team.  They deserve to be recognized and we will celebrate at the clinic level with a lunch or “dessert” day. 

Carpe Diem!

Leigh Allen, Practice Administrator

CitySquare – Community Health Services

Regressive tax systems crush the poor. . .

Check out a slice of this provocative essay:

Practically the only tax that could rise was the one that hurt the poor the most: the sales tax. And rise it did, throughout the Deep South in the late 19th century, then spreading into the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida and the rest of the region in the 1960s and 1970s. Even liberal politicians weren’t able to buck the tide — just ask Bill Clinton, who as governor of Arkansas urgently sought new revenue to improve his state’s ailing schools and found the sales tax was the only politically viable option.

If this were just a history lesson, we could set it aside. It isn’t. In the last 30 years, these trends have only gotten worse. Southern states have steadily increased the tax burden on their poorest citizens by shifting the support of the public sector to sales taxes and fees for public services. After California voters passed Proposition 13, which capped property-tax increases, in 1978, Western states began to move in a similar direction. Sales taxes on clothing and school supplies and fees for bus fare and car registration take up, of course, a far bigger slice of a poor household’s budget than they do from the rich.

To get an important historical perspective on tax policy at the state level, as well as essential understanding as to just how our tax system hurts the weakest among us in Dallas, click here and read the entire report.

Dr. King's fight for economic justice--Taylor Branch and James Cone

Taylor Branch's books about the American Civil Rights Movement are classics.

 I was fortunate enough to sit in the classroom during seminary with James Cone.

 Both men command our attention, especially today.

 Watch and then react.

We are Boston. . .

Hunger spreading in USA

I've been a huge fan of Bill Moyers for years.  I recently read the following interview regarding the challenges associated with hunger in America today.  

Going to Bed Hungry

April 5, 2013

by Theresa Riley

The United States is the world’s wealthiest nation, yet we still have families and children who don’t have enough to eat. We caught up with Joel Berg of NYC’s Coalition Against Hunger to learn what it means to be food insecure and what we can do to ensure that no child goes to bed hungry.

Theresa Riley: What does it mean to be “food insecure”? How many American children now live in “food insecure” households?

Joel Berg

Joel Berg: Food insecure means families don’t have enough money to regularly obtain all the food they need. It means they are rationing food and skipping meals. It means parents are going without food to feed their children. It means kids are missing breakfasts. And, ironically, because healthy food is usually more expensive than junk food, and because healthier options often don’t even exist in low-income neighborhoods, it means that food insecurity and obesity are flip sides of the same malnutrition coin, so food insecurity may actually increase a family’s chance of facing obesity and diabetes. Fifty million Americans, including nearly 17 million children, now live in food insecure homes.

Read the entire interview here. 

The false promise of neutrality

If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. 

-- Desmond Tutu

What's up with guns, anyway?