Ivan is a homeless child. Ivan Doesn't eat three meals a day. Do you care???

[Sapphire Blue]

******* For Moochie, Ivan & Billy *******: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x52252

[etherealtruth]

1. Yes I do care!

[RestoreGore]

2. Thank you so much

My God, how can we not care for our children here? I will be donating to the link in your post and will post this on my site. It is truly a tragedy that we spend so much on war that we have none left to feed our own. No child should ever go hungry anywhere in this world. I swear, the horrors of this are simply overwhelming, and the indifference to it even more so. Thank you again.

[rubberducky]

3. The story of these children in Camden

was unbelievable. That this is going on the US is shameful. Think, how many cities could this same story be repeated in?? Greed seems to be the name of the game. Where are all the pro-lifers?? OK, these children have been allowed to be born, now what?? God, how I hate thier hypocracy.

[Double T]

4. Yes, I do care...........

specially when our government spends half a trillion dollars on death and destruction wars, when it could be HELPING to insure that NO ONE on this planet has to go hungry.....ever.

[xchrom]

5. the things we should be caring about.

[Bluerthanblue]

6. Ivan is richer

in what is valuable- what is precious (his dear Mother's name) than many people I've known.
That doesn't ease the gnawing hunger in his tummy-
That doesn't give him a roof to shelter him
or heat to warm him
clothes to cover his body
or safety from the dangers of his neighborhood.

He DOES have a Mom who holds his hand while walking him to school- giving him room to be afraid, giving him license to cry without being bad-mouthed or called a wuss- giving him a chance to be the vulnerable child that he is. He does have a Mom who re-assures him that she will never leave him with people who won't accept him (though she won't be able to always keep that promise)-

But it is SO wrong. SO SO wrong that people in America don't have access to the basics of life, without having to break the law (we treat our incarcerated people better than our homeless, which isn't saying much) or sell their souls.

What I saw in the show last night that pained me the most, was the little boy who was asked what he would want if he could have 'anything'- and he didn't have an answer.

This little guy was like Ivan once- he believed- he possessed hope- now, at what? 9 10 years of age, he is broken.

And Moochie pocketful of someday's is running low.

I DO care.
I do what I can, and it is woefully inadequate.
We cannot abandon each other.
We ARE all connected- we all suffer in the end.

"...And I'm so tired of all this suffering,
and all these glimpses of the end-(you know it's useless to pretend)
That's all the voice keeps saying, you'll go right on suffering.
.. until you've found some kind of friend-"*.......

We all need each other. It IS up to each one of us.

peace
blu


(*my favorite Jackson Browne lyric)

[bobbolink]

7. There is another organization which is doing good work, mentoring

children from 8-13 and seems to be making good progress.

I just googled it, and couldn't locate the one I'm thinking of. I'll look it up, and post here, if others are interested.

This is something that could be done in *every* community!!

[hashibabba]

8. Yes, I care! Thanks for posting this, I missed the earlier one. eom

[WindRavenX]

9. the poor are invisible

It's really tragic :(

[bobbolink]

11. Yes, we are.

And speaking up makes us lightening rods, including with "progressives".

It's very painful. :(

[WindRavenX]

14. yeah, I've seen a lot of attacks on poverty as being "class warfare" and not a "winning" issue

It's tragic.

I know you've been through a lot, and your perspective means a lot. I enjoy your posts.

People need to realize that the poor are people just like everyone else and deserve the same amount of dignity as the next.

:hug:

[bobbolink]

23. Thank you so much for your support reply! You don't know how much that means!

I've had some really ugly things said to me, from "progressives", while battling this depressing state of poverty. It's really hard to be in a situation that just isn't "sexy" enough to warrant attention.

Your posts here have really lifted my spirits... finding others with warm hearts is always a boost!

:pals:

[Zhade]

10. #5

NT!

[nam78_two]

12. K&R.nt

[Nikki Stone1]

13. Camden, NJ is the poorest US city?

I missed the program; I was working that night.

[WindRavenX]

15. yup

NJ is also one of the wealthiest states in the union-- I grew up in Northern Jersey and some of the counties up there are unbelievably wealthy.

But in the middle and lower parts of the state, poverty grips many.

[bobbolink]

18. THank you for your perspective. That program was sooo good, for educating people.

I hope it has the same effect as the book on Appalachia did in the 60s!

Can you add more to what you saw in this program?

[WindRavenX]

19. I didn't see the program, but if it's talking about NJ....

...NJ, and like many of the cities on the megalopolis of the east coast (Boston, Philly, Hartford, NYC,Philly, etc), have very striking segregated parts of the city where ghettos are accepted and are not acknowledged. NYC in particular has some absolutely crippling poverty issues, but it is often not addressed because the more cosmopolitan areas of the city get a majority of attention. The Bronx is one of the poorest areas in the country, and the needs of the children w/ respects to basic needs like food are often never addressed.

I mean, how many people understand that the meals provided at school in programs like Head Start are sometimes the biggest, most nutritious meal of the day--or in some cases, the only meal they get?

[bobbolink]

22. The new Appalachia!

Yes, for many children, the school lunch may be the only meal they get.

Also, many Indian Reservations are desperately poor.

Yet, how many Dem activists are taking up this cause?

Thank you for adding to this!

The only gripe I have at all about that program is that it's so much easier to focus on the children.

The adults are suffering greatly, also. What are we, chopped liver?

Thanks for your faithfulness on this issue! I hope to see lots more of you in the future!

:pals:

edited to say-- I did record it. If you'd like me to send you a copy, please let me know. This needs to be shared around!

[Nikki Stone1]

20. I had no idea.

It's near Philadelphia. Isn't that pretty poor?

[WindRavenX]

21. yes

Southern Jersey has MANY cities that have absolutely astounding poverty levels.

Same as Connecticut and MA-- many counties are in the top 10 in wealth, and many are also in the bottom 10.

[bobbolink]

16. Another good resource for helping poor children--www.caym.org

This is a mentoring program, and I've heard good things about what it accomplishes in communities.

For those who would rather act locally, check to see if your community has an arm of this, and if not, to consider organizing one.

As the social worker to told me about it said, "After 30 years as a social worker, I can tell you that the only thing that heals is love."

[EFerrari]

17. K&R

[AbbyR]

24. I live and work in Southeast Arkansas

Supposedly the poorest region of the country. I look at the children, and many of them look - I don't know how to describe it - just unwell. I am going back into teaching in this area because I want to help give the kids a future, but how does a hungry child pay attention? We have the money to kill children in Iraq, but we don't have the money to feed our own. It's sick.

[dropkickpa]

25. One of the things from the show that struck me

was when they were explaining that (due to the changes in welfare laws, the "get people off welfare" changes) Ivan's mom couldn't qualify for housing etc. because she has to show a huge effort to find a job, which you can't get without an address, and which, in job starved Camden for someone who admits they are barely literate, is pretty much impossible. When I went on cash assistance and food stamps (on top of the medicaid I was receiving), I was told that I had to fill out a minimum of 15 applications a week AND attend seminars. I got out of that because I was in school 40 hrs. a week and my Dr. wrote a letter to them explaining that I was unable to work due to PTSD. I increased the aid I needed (had just been receiving medicaid) after I quit my job due to 3 armed robberies in 7 months. My caseworker was an angel who understood that I was working towards finding a career that would get me out of the system by going to school.

I have no idea what I would have done if I'd had to fulfill those requirements on top of staying on top of my schooling. I barely got to see my daughter as it was, and those seminars were 3 nights a week (when was I supposed to fill out all of those applications???). I maxed out my student loans to help cover my bills, $5,000 more than I'd have needed to take out otherwise.

MANY of the changes in the welfare system leave those MOST in need of help with nothing. The system is fucked, and got fucked even more by those who continue to believe the racist bullshit "welfare queen" propaganda thought up by the Reagan administration. I spent hours upon hours in the welfare office, and not ONE person I ever met there said "I love being on welfare". Most of what I heard was people who were humbled and ashamed of their circumstances and were trying as hard as possible to improve their situations, but were hit with stumbling blocks left and right. If you earn just $5 over the allowed income limit, you lose all benefits, so you end up being forced to make a choice between food or heat or rent (I HAVE had to make this choice. Luckily I was able to call on family to help out a little). Even now, when I am doing moderately better, I regularly have to choose the less healthy options when grocery shopping because 5lbs of white rice lasts longer and is much less expensive than 1lb of spinach, a loaf of white bread is half the price and has twice the slices of whole grain, and on and on.

Lots of people make jokes about "college students diets" (ramen, ketchup on crackers, etc), but I don't know if they realize that this type of diet is the norm for a LOT of families in America. I hope a lot of people watched this program and had their eyes opened up to what's happeing all around us. The poor are the least glamorous of causes, but it is how we treat the humblest among us that shows what kind of people we really are, and we (as a nation) aren't looking too good.

[bobbolink]

28. Your reply here deserves it's own thread!!

What you have said about the whole Welfare mess needs to be driven home! There are waaaay too many "progressives" who haven't a clue about what you've described here.

I hope you will seriously consider posting a thread on this!

Thanks!!! :thumbsup:

[bigwillq]

26. My mom watched that last night

and said she had to turn it off. She was getting so upset at how much poverty there is.

So today she went out and brought some canned good and other things to the local soup kitchen.

[Kurovski]

27. Kick(nt)