Not everyone agrees

Not everyone agrees with me. 

No surprise there. 

Last week The Dallas Morning News published an Op-Ed essay of mine dealing with the Cliff Manor situation in North Oak Cliff and the benefits of Permanent Supportive Housing in eliminating chronic homelessness in a city like Dallas.  You can read my opinion here. 

Earlier this week, Jeff Herrington, co-founder of the Fort Worth Avenue Development Group, wrote a reply or, better, a rebuttal of sorts to my opinion.  You can read his opinion here. 

One of the truly great things about our society, culture and nation is the fact that we can hold to different opinions and freely argue our points of view.  It's really nice when that can happen in a civil manner.  As a nation, we've always been a little rough around the edges when it comes to civility, but the instincts remain with us even when we don't follow the values of our "better selves."

Last Monday evening I attended the public hearing to "discuss" the Cliff Manor project.  About 500 people showed up for the meeting that turned into a rowdy, loud, at times disrespectful venting session.  The targets of the anger and frustration included the Dallas Housing Authority and Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance.  The plan to move 100 formerly homeless, disabled persons, many senior citizens, was opposed from start to finish.  Those backing the plan were shouted down.  Even Mayor Tom Leppert, who tried to help moderate the crowd, was interrupted and disrespected. 

Despite pleas and claims to the contrary, the truly forgotten constituents in the entire evening were the homeless men and women who need and hope for decent places in which to live. As I said in my opinion piece, when the homeless find permanent homes, they no longer behave like homeless persons because they are not any longer! 

There were several brave, homeless persons at the meeting.  A group of the homeless greeted people as they entered the hall.  As the very ugly meeting unfolded, I wondered what they were thinking and feeling.  It felt to me that the meeting was a referendum on the humanity and the value of the homeless.

At one point the thought crossed my mind, "What would happen if the homeless poor in Dallas got organized to really be in a position to advocate for better lives and living conditions?" 

Certainly, it was a night of free speech, even if much of the civility of the evening evaporated.  I continue to be thankful for that gift.  And, we'll continue the argument, the debate with our friends and for the sake of our friends.  Hopefully, we'll hang on to a civil spirit and heart.  The process is one of our rarest and most important gifts as a people.

Affirmation of Permanent Supportive Housing

Yesterday, I enjoyed the honor of speaking to a senior adult luncheon at Wilshire Baptist Church here in Dallas.  My dear friend, Dr. George Mason serves the church as pastor, a position he has held for over two decades.  I really respect the church and George.  Wilshire is a great place and I always enjoy being there.

At the end of my presentation, during a short Q & A period, a woman stood up and, with tears in her voice, she told the group that her 41-year-old son, who had been homeless of several years, was now living in our housing at CityWalk@ Akard.  She shared a bit of his struggle and her enduring concern for him.  She told about how stable his life had become since moving into our housing.  She informed the group that he was enrolled in community college and was training to be a paralegal.  She was so grateful and her soul beamed through her words. 

After we dismissed, a man approached me with tears in his eyes.  He shared that he had lost his job, experienced health issues and became homeless over a period of time.  He told me that he lived at CityWalk too.  I was amazed to find people so close to us at this event. 

I left feeling so good about our housing efforts.  I also had another experience to share about the power, effectiveness and hope that accompanies the development of and access to Permanent Supportive Housing.  The people who live in our building demonstrate what can happen when in lives when given a simple chance to begin again. 

I pray the day will come when our city and its various neighborhoods come to understand the truth of what we're experiencing every day.

DREAM Act needed NOW!

Eric Balderas is the latest student to make the case for immediate passage of the DREAM Act.  Fortunately, Balderas' case has been temporarily resolved so that he can remain at Harvard University to complete his education.  Still, he has absolutely no assurance that he'll be able to remain in the United States to serve and to build the nation he has called home since he was 4-years-old.


Check out the NPR report on his case:

Undocumented Harvard Student Faces Deportation

by The Associated Press
June 11, 2010

An undocumented Harvard University student is facing deportation to Mexico after being detained by immigration authorities at a Texas airport, the students said Friday.

Eric Balderas, 19, who just completed his first year at Harvard, said he was detained Monday by immigration authorities when he tried to board a plane from his hometown of San Antonio to Boston using a consulate card from Mexico and his student ID.

"I'd made it through before so I thought this time wouldn't be any different," Balderas said Friday in a phone interview with The Associated Press. "But once ICE picked me up I really didn't know what to think and I was starting to break down."

Balderas, who previously had used a Mexican passport to board planes but recently lost it, said he became despondent and thought he was being deported to Mexico immediately, only to be released the next day. He said he has a scheduled July 6 immigration hearing.

"All I can think about was my family," said Balderas, who doesn't remember living in Mexico.

A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman, Mark Medvesky, confirmed that Balderas was released and said his hearing will likely be in Boston.

Harvard officials immediately threw support behind Balderas.

"Eric Balderas has already demonstrated the discipline and work ethic required for rigorous university work, and has, like so many of our undergraduates, expressed an interest in making a difference in the world," said Christine Heenan, Harvard's vice president of public affairs and communications.

The case also sparked a buzz on social media sites and among student immigrant activists who see the Balderas situation as the ideal test case to push the proposed DREAM act — a federal bill that would allow illegal immigrants a pathway to citizenship via college enrollment or military service.

To read the entire report click here. 

To sign a petition in support of the DREAM Act click here. 

The time is NOW to act to save an entire generation of students in whose lives we been investing for years. 

Walking Cities

What would city life be like if we could actually walk to most of the places we needed to visit during the day?  What if urban design moved in a direction that minimized the need for automobiles?  What if we actually found new and effective ways to really know each other again, all due to the manner in which our lived environments were designed and built?  What if renewed communities were built with this sort of human intentionality? 

Working downtown forces these questions on me.  How can I take the rail more often?  How about my bike?  Who are my neighbors out there on the street? 

Pursue these ideas visually with a simple click here. 

Cool and hope-filled visions! 

The Black Eyed Peas: One Tribe

A forgotten tune heard and enjoyed at Gracie's recent dance recital.

Good words.

Good wisdom.

True stuff, whether we recognize it or not!

Poverty and the wickedness that creates it. . .

Job 24

The wicked remove landmarks;
they seize flocks and pasture them.

They drive away the donkey of the orphan;
they take the widow’s ox for a pledge.

They thrust the needy off the road;
the poor of the earth all hide themselves.

Like wild asses in the desert
they go out to their toil,
scavenging in the waste-land
food for their young.

They reap in a field not their own
and they glean in the vineyard of the wicked.

They lie all night naked, without clothing,
and have no covering in the cold.

They are wet with the rain of the mountains,
and cling to the rock for want of shelter.
There are those who snatch the orphan child from the breast,
and take as a pledge the infant of the poor.

They go about naked, without clothing;
though hungry, they carry the sheaves;
between their terraces they press out oil;
they tread the wine presses, but suffer thirst.

From the city the dying groan,
and the throat of the wounded cries for help;
yet God pays no attention to their prayer.

There are those who rebel against the light,
who are not acquainted with its ways,
and do not stay in its paths.

The murderer rises at dusk
to kill the poor and needy,
and in the night is like a thief.

Andrew Jackson and equal protection

President Andrew Jackson made the following remarks during a speech regarding his veto of the controversial national bank bill that had passed by the Congress in the summer of 1832.  Jackson's view of the proper role of government is worth consideration.

"It is to be regretted that the rich and powerful too often bend the acts of government to their selfish purposes.  Distinctions in society will always exist under every just government.  Equality of talents, of education, or of wealth cannot be produced by human institutions.  In the full enjoyment of the gifts of Heaven and the fruits of superior industry, economy, and virtue, every man is equally entitled to protection by law; but when the laws undertake to add to these natural advantages artificial distinctions, to grant titles, gratuities, and exclusive privileges, to make the rich richer and the potent more powerful, the humble members of society--the farmers, mechanics, and laborers--who have neither the time nor the means of securing like favors to themselves, have a right to complain of the injustice of their Government.  There are no necessary evils in government.  Its evils exist only in its abuses.  If it would confine itself to equal protection, and, as Heaven does it rains, shower its favors alike on the high and the low, the rich and the poor, ti would be an unqualified blessing."

from American Lion:  Andrew Jackson in the White House, by Jon Meacham, page 210.

Dallas Morning News publishes Op-Ed essay

The Dallas Morning News published my Op-Ed piece in this morning's editons of the paper.  Here's a taste of my point of view: 

I think I understand the feelings, including the fears, of the folks who live in north Oak Cliff around the now controversial Dallas Housing Authority property Cliff Manor.


Our housing authority recently teamed with Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance to open 100 apartments at Cliff Manor for use by the chronically homeless, who overcrowd the city's homeless assistance center, The Bridge. Neighborhood reaction fell into the familiar pattern we've come to expect when it comes to housing homeless men, women and children.


Just ask these Oak Cliff property owners and residents what they fear, and they'll recite a familiar list: Loitering. Petty crimes and misdemeanors. Public intoxication. Public obscenity (usually related to absence of toilet facilities). Panhandling. Threats to the safety of children.


Fears about crimes against children – or violent crime in general – are largely unfounded.


And the remaining fears relate directly to behaviors characteristic of people with no place to live. The obvious way to eliminate the offensive behaviors of the homeless is to provide them permanent places to live. Permanent housing serves as an amazingly effective intervention in the lifestyles of the chronically homeless.

Click here to read the entire essay.  Love to have your reactions.

Looking for a home. . .

More news this morning about the commitment of the Dallas Housing Authority to address the needs of some of the hardest to house residents of our community:  the chronically homeless. 

Carrying on the traditions and values of her predecessor, DHA President and CEO MaryAnn Russ recently publishes a request for proposals for several hundred special use housing vouchers.  A number of groups responded.  As a result, more homeless persons will leave our streets. 

The story here is all win for our community.  You pick the angle, it's all win.

Community return on investment:  Dallas spends over $50 million annually to maintain the status quo with our homeless population.  Providing housing and welcoming supportive relationships and services can be done for a fraction of that cost.  Public and private hospitals, especially in their Emergency Departments and mental health facilities; police, fire and EMS teams will be relieved.  Win!

Private housing developers return on investment:  Property owners with apartments to rent will now have tenants who will pay their bills, making the various developments more financially viable and successful.  Last time I noticed, that's how our economy works and grows.  Win!

Community environment, appearance and public health/safety return on investment:  People who live on the streets of Dallas are forced into difficult situations, many of which continually get them in trouble.  Where to eat?  How to pay for where to eat?  Where to go to the restroom?  Where to bathe?  Where to sleep?  How to work?  How to get started over again?  Where to receive phone calls?  How to get to a doctor?  Where to secure possessions?  Where to simply sit and rest?  The daily challenges of being out there are enough to make a person drink or even lose one's mind--both happen every day because people have no place to call home.  When people move into homes, our streets improve, as do the lives of the formerly homeless. Win!

Sadly, those who oppose our homeless neighbors moving into permanent housing operate out of a fear that is uninformed.  They look at homeless persons who live on the street without the benefit of a home and assume that the same persons, once housed, will look and react to life in the same manner as before finding a place to live.  Just isn't the way things work with almost 90% of the homeless across the nation who find real homes. 

Housing provides a "level set" experience for the "out-of-control life" on the streets of a place like Dallas. 

Our experience here certainly confirms the national research and lines up with the experience and reports of housing providers in other major urban areas. 

Providing permanent, supportive housing for the homeless addresses a daunting community problem in the most efficient, economical and effective manner possible.  Nothing to fear, except the temptation we all experience: closing our minds before examining the evidence. 

Housing, permanent housing for the homeless.  Nothing but a huge Win!  For everyone.

[To read Kim Horner's latest in this morning's edition of The Dallas Morning News click here.  Pay particular attention to the comments of Dallas City Council Member Jerry Allen.  Nice to hear a leader speak in such a reasonable manner!  Also, note the reaction from Frank Nuchereno, board chairman of the Vickery Meadow Improvement District.  Good to see that not all neighborhood groups oppose such efforts.  It seems that those who have experience with permanent supportive housing don't object to seeing more arrive in their neighborhoods.]

Local NPR station--KERA 90.1--reports on CDM health clinic and Project Access

Yesterday, KERA 90.1 FM, our NPR station here in Dallas ran a great report on the dilemma facing uninsured people when illness strikes. 

The work being done by Central Dallas Ministries was featured prominently in Bill Zeeble's compelling report.  Both our Community Health Services clinic and our involvement in Project Access Dallas were included in the report. 

To listen to the story click here. 

After you check it out, do me a favor and pass it along! 

"How are you, Sir!"

I don't know why I always seem to see situations like I'm about to describe. But, I do.

Last week, I walked into a Downtown bank to do some business. 

At the teller counter I noticed two bank tellers.

One's station was closed, but the man behind the "This Window is Closed" sign appeared to be filling a quasi-security role, sort of watching over the station of the other teller. 

Ahead of me, an older gentleman approached the counter.  He carried a worn backpack.  He wore relatively shabby blue jeans.  He could well have been homeless.  He appeared to be cashing a check or breaking a larger bill into a small amount of change.  The off-duty teller watched him with great interest.  He never looked at me.

As he stepped up to the service desk, the teller looked past him and said to me, "Be with you in a moment, Sir." 

Of course, I assumed that is how things worked there.  A line forms.  When it is your turn, you receive service.  It occurred to me that the teller felt the need to explain why he was forced to serve the poor, homeless-looking gent first. 

I replied, "Not a problem at all." 

When the customer--that's what he really was--finished his business and turned toward me to walk away, I said to him, "How are you, Sir!"

Before the man was able to get out what turned into a muted response to my greeting, the teller, assuming I was speaking to him, interrupted our encounter and said, "I'm doing fine.  How's your day going?"

The customer, the man to whom I directed my inquiry, looked at me and said simply, "Hello."

You may think me overly sensitive, judgmental or seeing/hearing things that are the product of my weird mind.  But, I have to tell you, I don't think so.  Not at all.

The man ahead of me had little money, and he looked the part. 

I had plenty of money, and I was dressed in clean, pressed, relatively new clothing.

He was black.

I am white.  

I had an account. 

He didn't. 

Surely, no one would be expected to greet him with respect. 

It's just the way things work, right? 

As I left the bank, the story continued. 

I got into my car and drove up Main Street back toward my office.  As I pulled away from the curb, I spotted the man on the sidewalk just ahead of me.

He delivered the cash he had received in the bank to a man seated in a wheelchair. He handed him the backpack and began pushing him up the sidewalk.  Clearly both were homeless. 

Both are no less men than the bank tellers and me. 

Both worthy of my respect and courtesy. 

Why does money and appearance and status matter so much to us?

Why do we fear the poor? 

When will we learn?

Environmental Justice

Scripture reading for this Sunday:

Deuteronomy 20:19-20

If you besiege a town for a long time, making war against it in order to take it, you must not destroy its trees by wielding an axe against them. Although you may take food from them, you must not cut them down. Are trees in the field human beings that they should come under siege from you? You may destroy only the trees that you know do not produce food; you may cut them down for use in building siege-works against the town that makes war with you, until it falls.

(New Revised Standard Version)

John Wooden (1910-2010)

John Wooden was arguably the greatest basketball coach of all time.

But, beyond that, Wooden was clearly one of the greatest teachers of all time. Just listen to his players years after they played on his teams. Listening to Wooden is no waste of time.

Sign posted at a bp gas pump. . .photo w/o comment!

CDM's AmeriCorps team: Food on the Move

Throughout this summer until school resumes, Central Dallas Ministries (CDM) will deploy a large part of its Ameri-Corps team and half of its Summer Lunch Program resources in a partnership with PepsiCo to bring Food on the Move to a number of inner city neighborhoods in Dallas County.  Part of PepsiCo's Food for Good initiative, our partnership intends to provide up to 500,000 meals to over 10,000 additional children during the summer, school break. 

Food on the Move is the only mobile food delivery program in the nation operating at this scale.  PepsiCo's involve-ment makes mobile delivery possible for children who are not involved in site-based summer programs.  The trucks deliver to apartment complexes, city parks and other high density gathering places for children who are often unattended by adults.  The genius of Food on the Move is that it takes the food to those places where children live and play during the normal course of their day. 

During the school year, over 19,000,000 children participate in the free and reduced rate school lunch program, another Department of Agriculture program.  However, during the summer months, that number drops to approximately 2,500,000 participants.  The USDA is committed to closing that hunger gap for low-income children.  Food on the Move provides a workable, scalable model that could be rolled out nationally.  Such a move is our hope as we work to perfect the process here in Dallas this summer.  PepsiCo is engaged in a similar effort this summer in Chicago in a partnership with Catholic Charities.

In addition to Food on the Move, CDM administers a contract with the Texas Department of Agriculture that serves over 125 summer program sites with another 500,000 meals.  This summer is the first full season that the mobile delivery program has been operational alongside the more traditional program, site-based approach.

A typical stop on the Food on the Move routes sees a team of AmeriCorps members arriving 30 minutes before the meal delivery to gather and organize the children at the location.  PepsiCo delivers the meals and our AmeriCorps team remains after the delivery team leaves.  During the concluding half hour, our team conducts recreational, social and educational activities and invites the children to return at the same time the next day and bring friends with them.  This process repeats itself at 20 sites each day. 

To get a feel for how Food on the Move works click here to view a CBS Channel 11 news report on the effort. 

Expect additional updates throughout the summer!

Wyatt gets his swings in. . .I smile

If you know me at all, you know I have to talk about my grandchildren long and often! Having four now turns out to be a real hoot, and on a regular, no, routine basis.

Baseball season is here and my oldest grandson, Wyatt, is playing hard and working hard at the game. Couldn't make myself not share these images and this short video.

The Big Short

Seeking a better understanding of the Wall Street collapse?

Wondering what was behind the almost complete financial failure of the nation's economy?

Then, you need to take a look at Randy Mayeux's very helpful synopsis of The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine by Michael Lewis.

Just click here to find Randy's very helpful work.

Randy Mayeux presents extremely valuable book synopses on the first Thursday of each month (noon Highland Park United Methodist Church--on campus at SMU) and on the third Thursday of each month (noon First United Methodist Church Downtown at Harwood and Ross).  Join us for a noon-time refresher.  We're always out before 1:15 p.m.

New national priority?

So, what do ya think?  Maybe we need alternative energy plans?  How does our current approach help the planet or the poor?

Wild Ride at Indy 2010

Forgive me, but as I've confessed here before, I love auto racing. I remember as a boy listening to the Indianapolis 500 on the radio. Not much worse than listening to a car race without benefit of video, but I did and I loved it. I could picture the cars. I could hear the roar of the engines. I could feel the speed.

So, this year's finish at Indy was especially amazing with Mike Conway's spectacular crash. Here it is. . .with video and sound!

The Invitation

Not long after I arrived at Central Dallas Ministries, I found a copy of "The Invitation" by Oriah Mountain Dreamer. Inspiring words.  Great, tough questions.  The stuff for authentically framing a life and a life's mission, or so it seems to me.

What do you think?

The Invitation
Oriah Mountain Dreamer

It doesn't interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing.


It doesn't interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dream, for the adventure of being alive.


It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon. I want to know if you have touched the centre of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life's betrayals or have become shrivelled and closed from fear of further pain.


I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide it, or fade it, or fix it.


I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own; if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, be realistic, remember the limitations of being human.


It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me is true. I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself. If you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul. If you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy.


I want to know if you can see Beauty even when it is not pretty every day. And if you can source your own life from its presence.


I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand at the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, 'Yes.'


It doesn't interest me to know where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up after the night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone and do what needs to be done to feed the children.


It doesn't interest me who you know or how you came to be here. I want to know if you will stand in the centre of the fire with me and not shrink back.


It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you from the inside when all else falls away.


I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.

[This post is dedicated to the memory of Frank Edward "Eddie" Wilson my best friend growing up.  His memory still shapes my life.  His too soon passing still hurts.]

Dallas long on generosity study finds

Dallas is among the nation's most charitable communities.  Most of us who have worked in the non-profit sector for any time at all know this is true. 

Read The Dallas Observer report on these findings here.

Kirk Franklin, 2010 A Night to Remember guest, featured on CNN!

Mark it on your calendar: the evening of Monday, October 25 at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center, Central Dallas Ministries will present "A Night to Remember 2010" with renowed gospel artist and theologian, Kirk Franklin!

Did you see Mr. Franklin on CNN recently? He spoke in connection with the new book he's written, The Blue Print.

Check this out:

Empathy lagging for younger folks

Dean Smith, our leader at Urban Connection--Austin, sent me the following article describing how recent research discovered that young people lag behind previous generations in terms of empathy for their fellows who experience difficulty. 

In my opinion, the most disturbing finding of the research was the fact that the young generation today is more individualistic than any in the recent past.  Not a good sign for the development of meaningful community action among this population.

I'd love your reactions after you've read the report.

Generation me students have less empathy than 20 years ago

The modern-day "Generation me" students are more selfish and less empathetic than two decades ago, claims new research.
By Richard Alleyne, Science Correspondent
Published: 6:00PM BST 28 May 2010

Students used to be about all about holding sit-ins and rallies in order to fight for the rights of others.

But now they are too engrossed in their own lives to care, claims new research.

According to psychologists, undergraduates are fast losing the ability to empathise with other people.
Researchers reviewing surveys of empathy found that they have lost almost 40 per cent of the ability since the 1980s.

The study, presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Psychological Science, analysed a number of surveys involving almost 14,000 college students over the last 30 years.

"We found the biggest drop in empathy after the year 2000," said Sara Konrath, a researcher at the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research.

"College kids today are about 40 per cent lower in empathy than their counterparts of 20 or 30 years ago, as measured by standard tests of this personality trait."

Ms Konrath analysed the findings of 72 different studies of American college students conducted between 1979 and 2009, with fellow graduate student Edward O'Brien and undergraduate student Courtney Hsing.

Compared to college students of the late 1970s, the study found, college students today are less likely to agree with statements such as "I sometimes try to understand my friends better by imagining how things look from their perspective" and "I often have tender, concerned feelings for people less fortunate than me."

Ms Konrath said that many people refer to the effect as the "Generation Me" which is one of the most self-centered, narcissistic, competitive, confident and individualistic in recent history.


To read the entire report click here.

D Magazine, Race and Dallas

So, Wick Allison, top guy at D Magazine. certainly not known as a liberal or socially "on the edge" rag in these parts, published a stunning essay in his June 2010 issue on race and the rich in Big D.  His questions and his concerns should be addressed by political and religious leaders.  In fact, Allison calls both groups out on the matter.  Here's how he begins: 

Why are the Best Neighborhoods in Dallas Still Segregated?

The homogenous Park Cities, Preston Hollow, and Greenway Parks could hurt the city's future.
by Wick Allison
From D Magazine JUN 2010

Tom Leppert, Dick Davis, and Bill Seay are the three mayors of the four most prestigious neighborhoods in Dallas: Preston Hollow, Greenway Parks, University Park, and Highland Park. These neighborhoods—still, in 2010—are almost entirely lily white. In Dallas, usually we talk about race and the poor. It’s time to talk about race and the rich. Race is the one thing that could derail Dallas from becoming the nation’s No. 1 center of corporate headquarters.

In 2009, New York had 94 Fortune 500 companies, California had 98, and Texas had 118, of which 46 are in North Texas. If a relocation decision is based purely on costs, taxes, convenience, and labor, Dallas wins hands down. But as we found with Boeing, other factors can come into play. Would a CEO move to downtown Dallas if his top executives only felt comfortable living in Trophy Club or Grapevine? Why not go to Atlanta instead?

It’s time to face some serious questions. Why don’t successful upper-income black families live in the most affluent neighborhoods nearest downtown Dallas? If it is because they don’t feel comfortable raising their families there, why don’t they?

To read the entire essay click here. 

I understand not everyone is so keen on Allison's questions and point of view.  I'm proud of him.  It's a conversation long overdue in this city.  What do you think?

Wind

What would it be like for the U. S. to achieve environmentally responsible energy independence? 

What if we no longer needed to rely on imported crude oil? 

What if all off-shore drilling could stop because it wasn't needed? 

What if our transportation was fueled by natural gas?  What if our homes were powered by wind and solar sources? 

I can already here the boo birds singing their same old song of "That's impossible, boy!" 

Maybe today. 

But not forever.

My friend, Dr. Tommy Bush is working on the problem at his place in White County, Arkansas. 

To watch the video clip on his progress just click here.

Church

"Lord, if I thought you were listening, I'd pray for this above all: that my church set up in your name should remain poor, and powerless, and modest. That it should wield no authority except that of love. That it should never cast anyone out. That it should own no property and make no laws. That is should not condemn, but only forgive. That it should be not like a palace with marble walls and polished floors, and guards standing at the door, but like a tree with its roots deep in the soil, that shelters every kind of bird and beast and gives blossom in the spring and shade in hot sun and fruit in the season, and in time gives up its good sound wood for the carpenter; but that sheds many thousands of seeds so that new trees can grow in its place. Does the tree say to the sparrow 'Get out, you don't belong here?' Does the tree say to the hungry man 'This fruit is not for you?' Does the tree test the loyalty of the beasts before it allows them into the shade?"

-Philip Pullman's The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ, posted as a comment by Casey McCollum, a reader of this page.

Forgotten, alone, dying. . .

Received a call yesterday from a social worker at one of our major hospitals here in Dallas. 

She described the plight of a homeless man hospitalized in the end stages of colon cancer.  The man needs nursing care as he travels through the last days of his life.  The hospital and the social worker are attempting to find the care he needs.  Hospice has agreed to take him as a patient at no cost, but he must find a place to live. 

A complicating factor relates to his social security number.  The one he has does not match the name linked to it in government records.  Those charged with his care are working on that as well.  The man was born in New York, so, for the record, he is not an undocumented immigrant. 

The man's request is to simply find a safe, clean place to step out of this world into the next.  We'll keep working on that, possibly in one of our buildings or in a nursing facility that will work with us.  I'm grateful to the social worker and to the hosptial for taking care of this forgotten, dying man who is so very alone. 

His situation reminds me of the difficulty so many face today as they try to make it through life on our streets.

Survival rate better snapshot on poverty

Last week a front page story published by The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that to survive in Philadelphia without public assistance a family of four would need to earn $59,501.  That earnings number is up from $53,611 that was reported to be the "survival" pay scale in 2008. 

The report and the study behind it substantiate what we see here at Central Dallas Ministries.  Simply because a family is earning wages that places them above the artificially low federal poverty line (about $22,000 a year for a family of 4) does not mean that they can survive and certainly not thrive.  People without skills to earn a living wage need guidance and partners who will help them craft a plan for life that includes enhanced skills development, counsel about public benefits and encouragement from a community that regards them as neighbors and real friends. 

Here's how the Philadelphia report begins: 

Study: To survive, family of four needs nearly $60,000
By Alfred Lubrano
Inquirer Staff Writer

To survive in Philadelphia without food stamps or other government assistance, a family of four needs to make nearly $60,000 a year - a hard-to-fathom "sticker-shock" number that shows how expensive life has become.

According to a study being released Thursday, two adults with one preschooler and one school-age child have to take in $59,501 a year to live on a bare-bones budget in the city. In 2008, the same family of four needed $53,611 to make it in Philadelphia.

That's the word from the Self-Sufficiency Standard for Pennsylvania, a highly respected University of Washington analysis that comes out every two years.

The problem is that nearly 62 percent of Philadelphia households take in less than $50,000 a year, according to census data analyzed by Dave Elesh, a sociologist at Temple University.

Life is pricier in the suburban counties, where the same-size family needs to take in even more money to survive without assistance. Salaries must range from $62,543 in Delaware County to $71,846 in Bucks County for a family to achieve self-sufficiency. A similar study for New Jersey in 2008 put the self-sufficiency incomes at $60,912 in Burlington County, $49,739 in Camden County, and $56,752 in Gloucester County.

A family of four is considered poor if it makes $22,050 a year - the federal poverty level.

That measure, which has been used for nearly 50 years, has long been criticized as failing to take a full measure of what it costs to live in America.

To read the full story click here.

10 things you need to know to live on the streets. . .

Here is one of The Nation magazine's famous or infamous "Ten Things" columns.  Thanks to my friend, Don Williams for directing me to it. 

If you care about homelessness and homeless persons, you must read this one!  Just click here to do so.

As always, I'd love to hear your reactions.

Charlie Mae Ransom, friend, leader, community champion. . .

Last Thursday evening Charlie Mae Ransom, Central Dallas Ministries Board Member, passed away. 

Ms. Ransom lived in the Roseland Homes Community for well over 60 years.  She championed the rights and the cause of her community like no one else.  She ushered us into Roseland Homes, along with the voice and vote of her good friend, Walter Travis, in 1996.  She has been my dear friend since those early days. 

Janet Morrison, Director of Education Outreach at CDM and leader of our After School Academy at Roseland Homes, put together the photo collections below.  Enjoy them and remember her.





To read Janet's moving tribute to Ms. Ransom click here.  We will celebrate Ms. Ransom's life today in her memorial, homegoing.