Conference Highlights Effective Public and Private Sector Strategies for Meeting the Needs of Transition Age Homeless Youth
SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(MARKET WIRE)--Jan 13, 2009 -- Larkin Street Youth Services, San Francisco's leading provider of housing and support services for homeless and at-risk youth, will host leaders from more than 150 local, state and national youth service community agencies at its first Conference on Youth Homelessness held in San Francisco. The theme this year is "Mind the Gap: Effective Strategies for Meeting the Needs of Transition Age Youth." "Mind the Gap" will be held at the Palace Hotel at 2 Market Street on Thursday, January 15th.
"Mind the Gap," Larkin Street's first Conference on Youth Homelessness, brings together policy makers, youth service advocates, private and public sector service providers and agencies to share knowledge, new approaches, tools and best practices for better meeting the growing gap between demand for services among transition age (16 to 24) homeless and at-risk youth as well as the diminishing safety net of resources serving this vulnerable population.
"The timing of our first conference on youth homelessness couldn't be better, as all of the organization faces growing demand for our services while now contending with seriously constrained resources," noted Sherilyn Adams, executive director of Larkin Street Youth Services. "By bringing strong, seasoned youth services leaders together, we can better help each other network, develop joint solutions and share best practices across the entire youth services community."
An introductory plenary session, "Who Are Homeless Youth and What Are Their Needs?" will set the stage for the day by providing a comprehensive overview of the issues and needs of homeless youth. Panelists from national, state, and local organizations will provide their perspectives on homeless youth subpopulations, service needs, and strategies to address these needs. The opening session will be moderated by Adams and includes: LaKesha Pope from the National Alliance to End Homelessness in Washington, D.C.; Heather Dearing from the California Coalition for Youth in Sacramento, Calif.; and Rachel Antrobus from the Transition Age Youth Initiative, San Francisco.
Additional workshops at the one-day conference will address specific advocacy, policy and planning, along with resource issues associated with transition age youth program development, implementation and support including: Creating a Wider Net: Building an Advocacy Strategy for Homeless Youth; Meeting the Needs of Marginalized Populations: Queer Youth; More Than Just A Roof: Effective Housing Models for Homeless Youth; and many more.
Two additional workshops will feature a panel of transition age youth who have been involved as clients in youth service programs. These young people will share their unique perspectives on the issues they and their peers face as homeless and at-risk youth.
For additional information about the "Mind the Gap" conference, please visit www.larkinstreetyouth.org or contact Kathie Lowry, chief development officer at Larkin Street Youth Services at (415) 673.0911 ext. 301.
About Larkin Street Youth Services
Founded in 1984, Larkin Street Youth Services is a globally recognized nonprofit leader providing innovative and effective housing, medical, social and educational services for at-risk homeless and runaway youth ages 12-24 across 25 programs and 13 sites in San Francisco. Seventy-four percent of youth who participate in the full continuum of services at Larkin Street exit street life. For more information, please visit www.larkinstreetyouth.org.
Contact:
Media Contact:
Nicole Garroutte
ngarroutte@larkinstreetyouth.org
(415) 673.0911 ext. 305
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Swat Team conducts food raid in rural Ohio
On Monday, December 1, a SWAT team with semi-automatic rifles entered the private home of the Stowers family in LaGrange, Ohio, herded the family onto the couches in the living room, and kept guns trained on parents, children, infants and toddlers, from approximately 11 AM to 8 PM. The team was aggressive and belligerent. The children were quite traumatized. At some point, the “bad cop” SWAT team was relieved by another team, a “good cop” team that tried to befriend the family. The Stowers family has run a very large, well-known food cooperative called Manna Storehouse on the western side of the greater Cleveland area for many years.
There were agents from the Department of Agriculture present, one of them identified as Bill Lesho. The search warrant is reportedly suspicious-looking. Agents began rifling through all of the family’s possessions, a task that lasted hours and resulted in a complete upheaval of every private area in the home. Many items were taken that were not listed on the search warrant. The family was not permitted a phone call, and they were not told what crime they were being charged with. They were not read their rights. Over ten thousand dollars worth of food was taken, including the family’s personal stock of food for the coming year. All of their computers, and all of their cell phones were taken, as well as phone and contact records. The food cooperative was virtually shut down. There was no rational explanation, nor justification, for this extreme violation of Constitutional rights.
Presumably Manna Storehouse might eventually be charged with running a retail establishment without a license. Why then the Gestapo-type interrogation for a 3rd degree misdemeanor charge? This incident has raised the ominous specter of a restrictive new era in State regulation and enforcement over the nation’s private food supply.
This same type of abusive search and seizure was reported by those innocents who fell victim to oppressive federal drug laws passed in the 1990s. The present circumstance raises the obvious question: is there some rabid new interpretation of an existing drug law that considers food a controlled substance worthy of a nasty SWAT operation? Or worse, is there a previously unrecognized provision(s) pertaining to food in the Homeland Security measures? Some have suggested that it was merely an out-of-control, hot-to-trot ODA agent, and, if so, this would be a best-case scenario. Anything else might spell the beginning of the end for the freedom to eat unregulated and unmonitored food.
One blogger familiar with the Ohio situation has reported that:
“Interestingly, I believe they [Manna Storehouse] said a month or so ago, an undercover ODA official came to their little store and claimed to have a sick father wanting to join the co-op. Both the owner and her daughter-in-law had a horrible feeling about the man, and decided not to allow him into the co-op and notified him by certified mail. He came back to the co-op demanding to be part of it. They refused and gave him names of other businesses and health food stores closer to his home. Not coincidentally, this man was there yesterday as part of the raid.”
The same blog also noted that the Ohio Department of Agriculture has been chastised by the courts in several previous instances for its aggression, including trying to entrap an Amish man in a raw milk “sale,” which backfired when it became known that the Amish believe in a literal interpretation of “give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away” (Matthew 5:42)
The issue appears to be the discovery of a bit of non-institutional beef in an Oberlin College food service freezer a year ago that was tracked down by a county sanitation official to Manna Storehouse. Oberlin College’s student food coop is widely known for its strident ideological stance about eating organic foods. It seems that the Oberlin student food cooperative had joined the Manna Storehouse food cooperative in order to buy organic foods in bulk from the national organic food distributor United, which services buying clubs across the nation. The sanitation official, James Boddy, evidently contacted the Ohio Department of Agriculture. After the first contact by state ODA officials, Manna Storehouse reportedly wrote them a letter requesting assistance and guidelines for complying with the law. This letter was never answered. Rather, the ODA agent tried several times to infiltrate the coop, as described above. When his attempts failed, the SWAT team showed up!
Food cooperatives and buying clubs have been an active part of the American landscape for over a generation. In the 1970s, with the rise of the organic food industry (a direct outgrowth of the hippie back-to-nature movement) food coops started up all over the country. These were groups of people who freely associated for the purpose of combining their buying power so that they could order organic food items in bulk and case lots. Anyone who was part of these coops in the early era will remember the messy breakdown of 35 pounds of peanut butter and 5 gallon drums of honey!
These buying clubs have persisted and flourished over the years due to their ability to purchase high quality organic foods at reduced prices in bulk quantities. Most cooperatives have participated greatly in the local agrarian economies, supporting neighborhood organic farmers with purchases of produce, eggs, chickens, etc. The groups also purchase food from a number of different local, regional and national distributors, many of them family-based businesses who truck the food themselves. Some of these food cooperatives have become large enough to set up mini-storefront operations where members can drop in and purchase items leftover from case lot sales. Manna Storehouse had established itself in such a manner, using a small enclosed breezeway attached to their home. It was a folksy place with old wooden floors where coop members stopped by to chat and snack on bags of organic corn chips.
The state of Ohio boasts the second largest Amish population in the country. Many of the Amish live on acreages where they raise their own food, not unlike Manna Storehouse, and sell off the extras to neighbors and church members. There is a sense of foreboding that this state crackdown on a longstanding, reputable food cooperative operation could adversely impact the peaceful agrarian way of life not only for the Amish, but homeschoolers and those families living off the land on rural acreages. It raises the disturbing possibility that it could become a crime to raise your own food, buy eggs from the farmer down the road, or butcher your own chickens for family and friends – bustling activities that routinely take place in backwater America.
The freedom to purchase food directly form the source is increasingly under attack. For those who have food allergies and chemical intolerances, or who are on special medical diets, this is becoming a serious health issue. Will Americans retain the right to purchase food that is uncontaminated by pesticides, herbicides, allergens, additives, dyes, preservatives, MSG, GMOs, radiation, etc.? The melamine scare from China underscores the increasingly inferior and suspect quality of modern processed institutional foods. One blog, commenting on the bizarre and troubling Manna Storehouse situation, observed that:
“No one is saying exactly why. At the same time the FDA says it is safe to eat the 40% of tainted beef found in Costco's and Sam's all over the nation. These farm raids are very common now. Every farmer needs to fully equipped [sic] for the possibility of it happening to them. The Farmer To Consumer Legal Defense Fund was created just for this purpose. The USDA just released their plans to put a law into action that will put all small farmers out of business. Animals for the sale of meat or milk will only be allowed in commercial farms, even the organic ones.” December 3, 2008 7:09 PM
There were agents from the Department of Agriculture present, one of them identified as Bill Lesho. The search warrant is reportedly suspicious-looking. Agents began rifling through all of the family’s possessions, a task that lasted hours and resulted in a complete upheaval of every private area in the home. Many items were taken that were not listed on the search warrant. The family was not permitted a phone call, and they were not told what crime they were being charged with. They were not read their rights. Over ten thousand dollars worth of food was taken, including the family’s personal stock of food for the coming year. All of their computers, and all of their cell phones were taken, as well as phone and contact records. The food cooperative was virtually shut down. There was no rational explanation, nor justification, for this extreme violation of Constitutional rights.
Presumably Manna Storehouse might eventually be charged with running a retail establishment without a license. Why then the Gestapo-type interrogation for a 3rd degree misdemeanor charge? This incident has raised the ominous specter of a restrictive new era in State regulation and enforcement over the nation’s private food supply.
This same type of abusive search and seizure was reported by those innocents who fell victim to oppressive federal drug laws passed in the 1990s. The present circumstance raises the obvious question: is there some rabid new interpretation of an existing drug law that considers food a controlled substance worthy of a nasty SWAT operation? Or worse, is there a previously unrecognized provision(s) pertaining to food in the Homeland Security measures? Some have suggested that it was merely an out-of-control, hot-to-trot ODA agent, and, if so, this would be a best-case scenario. Anything else might spell the beginning of the end for the freedom to eat unregulated and unmonitored food.
One blogger familiar with the Ohio situation has reported that:
“Interestingly, I believe they [Manna Storehouse] said a month or so ago, an undercover ODA official came to their little store and claimed to have a sick father wanting to join the co-op. Both the owner and her daughter-in-law had a horrible feeling about the man, and decided not to allow him into the co-op and notified him by certified mail. He came back to the co-op demanding to be part of it. They refused and gave him names of other businesses and health food stores closer to his home. Not coincidentally, this man was there yesterday as part of the raid.”
The same blog also noted that the Ohio Department of Agriculture has been chastised by the courts in several previous instances for its aggression, including trying to entrap an Amish man in a raw milk “sale,” which backfired when it became known that the Amish believe in a literal interpretation of “give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away” (Matthew 5:42)
The issue appears to be the discovery of a bit of non-institutional beef in an Oberlin College food service freezer a year ago that was tracked down by a county sanitation official to Manna Storehouse. Oberlin College’s student food coop is widely known for its strident ideological stance about eating organic foods. It seems that the Oberlin student food cooperative had joined the Manna Storehouse food cooperative in order to buy organic foods in bulk from the national organic food distributor United, which services buying clubs across the nation. The sanitation official, James Boddy, evidently contacted the Ohio Department of Agriculture. After the first contact by state ODA officials, Manna Storehouse reportedly wrote them a letter requesting assistance and guidelines for complying with the law. This letter was never answered. Rather, the ODA agent tried several times to infiltrate the coop, as described above. When his attempts failed, the SWAT team showed up!
Food cooperatives and buying clubs have been an active part of the American landscape for over a generation. In the 1970s, with the rise of the organic food industry (a direct outgrowth of the hippie back-to-nature movement) food coops started up all over the country. These were groups of people who freely associated for the purpose of combining their buying power so that they could order organic food items in bulk and case lots. Anyone who was part of these coops in the early era will remember the messy breakdown of 35 pounds of peanut butter and 5 gallon drums of honey!
These buying clubs have persisted and flourished over the years due to their ability to purchase high quality organic foods at reduced prices in bulk quantities. Most cooperatives have participated greatly in the local agrarian economies, supporting neighborhood organic farmers with purchases of produce, eggs, chickens, etc. The groups also purchase food from a number of different local, regional and national distributors, many of them family-based businesses who truck the food themselves. Some of these food cooperatives have become large enough to set up mini-storefront operations where members can drop in and purchase items leftover from case lot sales. Manna Storehouse had established itself in such a manner, using a small enclosed breezeway attached to their home. It was a folksy place with old wooden floors where coop members stopped by to chat and snack on bags of organic corn chips.
The state of Ohio boasts the second largest Amish population in the country. Many of the Amish live on acreages where they raise their own food, not unlike Manna Storehouse, and sell off the extras to neighbors and church members. There is a sense of foreboding that this state crackdown on a longstanding, reputable food cooperative operation could adversely impact the peaceful agrarian way of life not only for the Amish, but homeschoolers and those families living off the land on rural acreages. It raises the disturbing possibility that it could become a crime to raise your own food, buy eggs from the farmer down the road, or butcher your own chickens for family and friends – bustling activities that routinely take place in backwater America.
The freedom to purchase food directly form the source is increasingly under attack. For those who have food allergies and chemical intolerances, or who are on special medical diets, this is becoming a serious health issue. Will Americans retain the right to purchase food that is uncontaminated by pesticides, herbicides, allergens, additives, dyes, preservatives, MSG, GMOs, radiation, etc.? The melamine scare from China underscores the increasingly inferior and suspect quality of modern processed institutional foods. One blog, commenting on the bizarre and troubling Manna Storehouse situation, observed that:
“No one is saying exactly why. At the same time the FDA says it is safe to eat the 40% of tainted beef found in Costco's and Sam's all over the nation. These farm raids are very common now. Every farmer needs to fully equipped [sic] for the possibility of it happening to them. The Farmer To Consumer Legal Defense Fund was created just for this purpose. The USDA just released their plans to put a law into action that will put all small farmers out of business. Animals for the sale of meat or milk will only be allowed in commercial farms, even the organic ones.” December 3, 2008 7:09 PM
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
America's Homeless Children
More Than One Million Homeless Children
• At least 1.35 million children are homeless during a year’s time.
• One any given day 800,000 people are homeless in the United States, including 200,000 children in homeless
families.
• Families with children are among the fastest growing segment of the homeless population.
• Most children living with homeless parents are very young (42% are under the age of 6 years).
• Family homelessness is increasing. Requests for emergency shelter by families have increased every
year since 1985, with an average increase of 20% in 2002.
(Burt, 2001; Burt, Aron, Douglas, et al., 1999; National Coalition for the Homeless, 2002; U.S. Conference of Mayors, 2002)
Homelessness Hurts Children
Homelessness Makes Children Sick
• Homeless children get sick twice as often as other children. They have:
- Twice as many ear infections.
- Four times as many asthma attacks.
- Five times more stomach problems.
- Six times as many speech problems.
- Twice as many hospitalizations.
• Homeless children go hungry twice as often as other children and 25% of homeless children report eating less
after becoming homeless.
(National Center on Family Homelessness, 1999; Sandel, Sharfstein, and Shaw, 1999; Institute for Children and Poverty,
1999)
Homelessness Wounds Children
• Every day, homeless children are confronted with stressful, traumatic events. Within a single year:
- 97% of homeless children move, many up to three times.
- 22% are separated from their families to be put in foster care or to live with relatives.
- 25% have witnessed acts of violence within their family.
• Homeless children have many more mental health problems than other children.
- More than 20% of homeless preschoolers have emotional problems serious enough to require
professional care.
- 47% of homeless school age children have problems such as anxiety, depression, or
withdrawal, compared to 18% of other children.
(National Center on Family Homelessness, 1999; Institute for Children and Poverty, 1999)
Homeless Children Are Not Receiving The Services They Need
• Despite their multiple and complex needs, homeless children are not receiving the services they need. For
example:
- Nearly 20% of homeless children lack a regular source of medical care and 15% rely solely on
hospital emergency rooms.
- Less than 1/3 of homeless children who need help for their emotional problems are receiving it.
- Only 50-60% of homeless families are enrolled in Medicaid, although most are eligible.
- Only 71% of homeless families receive Food Stamps or WIC, although most are eligible.
- Only 37% of homeless children receive services that help them with enrollment,
attendance, and success in school.
- Only 15% of homeless children are in preschool programs, less than half the rate
of all children nationally.
Monday, December 1, 2008
Lighthouse Wisdom
"Darkness reigns at the foot of the lighthouse"
~ Japanese Proverb
Since Ancient times, Lighthouses were used to mark dangerous coastlines, hazardous shoals and reefs, often in inaccessible locations.
They exist because storms exist.
They symbolize safety, guidance and Integrity.
Sometimes in our lives, we find ourselves in difficult places. But the truth is that it is not about you. It is about the bigger picture.
It is about understanding the purpose of being a Lighthouse.
As Lightworkers, we are the Light in the dark. The Lighthouse Call is the opportunity to shine your Light for others. Maybe the only light they will see is coming from YOU…
This is the work you came to do and it is not going to be forever in a place you don't want to be. This is the Mission of a true Lighthouse…
Much Metta,
Humanity Healing
www.humanityhealing.net
Humanity Healing Yahoo Group
Humanity Healing Social Network
Email: contact@humanityhealing.net
Monday, November 24, 2008
Humanity Healing Self-Mastery Program
Weekly Attitudinal Tools
"The greatest revolution of our generation is the discovery that human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives"
~ William James
Every action connects us with the internal need to bring to life that which we wish to evoke within our own beings and own our lives.
When we choose to be mindful, our actions and reactions create an aura that brings both serendipity and good fortune to our lives.
This statement is based upon the ancient Universal Law of Attraction.
"One can have no smaller or greater mastery than mastery of oneself "
~ Leonardo da Vinci
64 weekly exercises and meditations specially designed to help individuals bring the essence of their heart to the minimal practices of daily life.
The course will be free to all members of our Social Network
Humanity Healing Social Network
The Program starts on Monday, 24 November 2008
Join us!
Much Metta,
Humanity Healing
www.humanityhealing.net
Humanity Healing Yahoo Group
Humanity Healing Social Network
Email: contact@humanityhealing.net
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Humanity's New Earth
"Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens. "
~ Kahlil Gibran
We must create our Future now,
Together as one Humanity forever.
We must find sustainable solutions, create new perspectives, and open a new future.
Together we can!
Working together... with our creative Intention,
We can create a New Earth.
The time is NOW!
Humanity Healing is proud to share with you our latest video featuring the song:
One World
by Darren Wolbold
http://spaceeagle.co.uk
Humanity's New Earth
Much Metta,
Humanity Healing
www.humanityhealing.net
Humanity Healing Yahoo Group
Humanity Healing Social Network
Email: contact@humanityhealing.net
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Trunk Hustlers & Lush Radio Teams Up To Help Families For The Holidays...
TEAMS UP TO HELP FAMILIES THIS HOLIDAY SEASON"
Check out lush radio online at www.blogtalkradio.com/lushradioonline also check out her community www.lushradiothemovement.ning.com, www.lushradio.blogspot.com Also check out "TrunkHustlers" What's your hustle? Come tell them your hustle and network with us at www.trunkhuslers.com also www.trunkhustlers.blogspot.com
Online DC Radio Host "Lush" CEO of Street Queens (The Movement) & Lush Radio Online a online networking and support community have teamed up with Trunk Hustlers to provide familes with food and clothes this holiday so if you are a family or know a family in need or maybe would like to contribute to organizations who really care about there own the contact us.
DC RESIDENTS CONTACT: THE ABOVE LISTED NUMBER or ceolushradioonline@gmail.com
VA RESIDENTS CONTACT: (757) 224-3581 or trunkhustlersinc@gmail.com
WE CARE........................... DO YOU?
Check out lush radio online at www.blogtalkradio.com/lushradioonline also check out her community www.lushradiothemovement.ning.com, www.lushradio.blogspot.com Also check out "TrunkHustlers" What's your hustle? Come tell them your hustle and network with us at www.trunkhuslers.com also www.trunkhustlers.blogspot.com
Online DC Radio Host "Lush" CEO of Street Queens (The Movement) & Lush Radio Online a online networking and support community have teamed up with Trunk Hustlers to provide familes with food and clothes this holiday so if you are a family or know a family in need or maybe would like to contribute to organizations who really care about there own the contact us.
DC RESIDENTS CONTACT: THE ABOVE LISTED NUMBER or ceolushradioonline@gmail.com
VA RESIDENTS CONTACT: (757) 224-3581 or trunkhustlersinc@gmail.com
WE CARE........................... DO YOU?
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
"Oporation We Care" We Care Do You???
Oporation We Care - Our Mission
Hampton, Newport News, Maryland, Washington, Virginia/DC, United States
We are an organization comprised of a few caring individuals dedicated to change. We exists to assist the less fortunate and underprivileged individuals while networking with like minded organizations dedicated to change.
For more information please go to www.oporationwecare.blogspot.com
Monday, November 3, 2008
Close To My Heart.....
Steve Gooch, Host of The Voice of Humanity Healing Network, conducts the interview via podcast with Daniel Kobialka, internationally acclaimed violinist, composer, lecturer and Ambassador of the House of Creation for the Humanity Healing Network. Daniel Kobialka has been at the forefront of contemporary classical music for the best part of the last half century. Daniel is, however, much more than just a significant and world-renowned musical presence. He is a man with a heart and a mission to help transform the lives of others through the expression and cultivation of love in the world via the conduit of his music. It is an honor and a pleasure to have had the opportunity to interview Daniel and to talk to him about his thoughts and feelings on the place of music within the broad spectrum of healing methods. Please click the link below to listen to this ground-breaking interview: The Voice of Humanity Healing
Much Metta,
Humanity Healing
HH Links:
Humanity Healing Network Website
The Voice of Humanity Healing Blog
Humanity Healing on Facebook
Yahoo Group Humanity Healing
Humanity Healing Foundation on Ning
Click here to join HumanityHealing 
Friday, October 31, 2008
Humanity Healing Suicide Prevention Program
In every life there are times when events seem to spiral out of control, when you feel like you cannot cope with the pain associated with these events. These may be the break-up of a relationship, the fear of not being able to provide for loved ones because of a traumatic event such as losing one's job or home, a feeling of helplessness, or the loss of hope to name a few reasons.
The two primary forces in life are love and fear. Thoughts of suicide occur when the fear of pain exceeds the individual's love of life.
"Suicide is not chosen; it happens when pain exceeds resources for coping with pain."
Humanity Healing is a family of ordinary people from all backgrounds and walks of life. We are not professionals but we are people who have experienced what you are going through and want you to know that you are not alone and that we care about you.
No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent.
~ John Donne
Humanity Healing is developing a Suicide Prevention Program and has compiled a downloadable e-booklet on how to recognize and help someone who is at risk. Please visit the Suicide Prevention page in the House of Counsel on our Main Website:
http://humanityhealing.net/House/OfCounsel/Suicide.htm
Please download and share with our Blessing.
If you would like to participate with the Humanity Healing Suicide Prevention Team, please visit us at:
http://humanityhealing.ning.com/group/suicidepreventionteam?x=45&y=13
We will also be hosting a teleconference to discuss the program. Please join us!
Sunday, 2 November 2008
8:00 PM EST (7:00 CST, 5:00 PST)
Number: 1-270-696-2500
Access code: 707110
Much Metta,
Humanity Healing
www.humanityhealing.net
Humanity Healing Yahoo Group
Humanity Healing Social Network
Email: contact@humanityhealing.net
il
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Starbucks Blues....
Starbucks Blues
Lean times and labor pains are tarnishing the coffee giant’s image.
By Liza Featherstone, Slate Magazine
October 29, 2008
Fall is pumpkin-latte season for those who can still afford to indulge, but for some Starbucks workers, it's been a season of discontent. The coffee giant has recently responded to hard times with scheduling changes that are likely to inflict misery on its employees. These policies seem sharply at odds with Starbucks' reputation for social responsibility but make sense in the context of the company's record as an employer. Curiously, the coffee retailer's benevolent image seems most fragile at the moment that the company's best days seem to be receding into the past...
Read full article: http://www.thebigmoney.com/articles/saga/2008/10/29/starbucks-blues?page=0,0
Daniel Gross
Organizer
IWW Starbucks Workers Union
www.StarbucksUnion.org
Ph:(917) 577-1110
Fx:(917) 591-6128
dgross@iww.org
Lean times and labor pains are tarnishing the coffee giant’s image.
By Liza Featherstone, Slate Magazine
October 29, 2008
Fall is pumpkin-latte season for those who can still afford to indulge, but for some Starbucks workers, it's been a season of discontent. The coffee giant has recently responded to hard times with scheduling changes that are likely to inflict misery on its employees. These policies seem sharply at odds with Starbucks' reputation for social responsibility but make sense in the context of the company's record as an employer. Curiously, the coffee retailer's benevolent image seems most fragile at the moment that the company's best days seem to be receding into the past...
Read full article: http://www.thebigmoney.com/articles/saga/2008/10/29/starbucks-blues?page=0,0
Daniel Gross
Organizer
IWW Starbucks Workers Union
www.StarbucksUnion.org
Ph:(917) 577-1110
Fx:(917) 591-6128
dgross@iww.org
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Humanity Healings....Suicide Prevention Program..
Suicide Prevention program: SUICIDE IS NOT CHOSEN; IT HAPPENS WHEN PAIN EXCEEDS RESOURCES FOR COPING WITH PAIN. We are looking for volunteers
Suicide Prevention program (Latin suicidium, from sui caedere, to kill oneself) is the act of terminating one's own life. Many dictionaries also note the metaphorical sense of "willful destruction of one's self-interest" .Suicide may occur for a number of reasons, including depression, shame, guilt, desperation, physical pain, pressure, anxiety, financial difficulties, or other undesirable situations. The World Health Organization noted that someone commits suicide every 40 seconds thus making it one of the leading causes of death in the world. There are an estimated 10 to 20 million non-fatal attempted suicides every year. WIKIPEDIA SUICIDE IS NOT CHOSEN; IT HAPPENS WHEN PAIN EXCEEDS RESOURCES FOR COPING WITH PAIN. Suicide Prevention Program is Free and easy to implement.
(Based in the model from Suicide.org )
www.humanityhealing.ning.com
www.humanityhealing.net
Humanity's Healing..."The Women's Center Project"
The Woman's Center Project has at its heart the layering of energetic and spiritual healing, as well as Life Coaching, to current methods to provide a more holistic approach to healing victims of domestic violence and family abuse.
One of the first projects explored by the Humanity Healing Team after this organization was founded was to develop a program to assist in the healing of victims of domestic violence and family abuse. There are many centers that offer a safe place to stay, medical and legal assistance, and crisis counseling. There are not far fewer that promote healing on other levels, such as energetically and spiritually. Humanity Healing was created from the belief that by layering alternative healing modalities and spiritual counseling with traditional practices, a more holistic and complete healing could occur.
While it is a long-term goal to create a safe haven where individuals can come and stay during the healing process, it has never been our goal to open a long-term care facility. We have also come to realize that we are missing the opportunity to help those in need now, while we search for funding to open a physical Center. As a result, we are restructuring how the Domestic Violence and Family Abuse Program will operate.
There are many facilities that currently exist and there is no need to "reinvent the wheel". Instead, Humanity Healing will concentrate on training and developing Teams that can travel to existing shelters and work as consultants within the existing structure to promote a deeper level of healing. Teams will consist of Life Coaches to help plan a Path and teachers of Energetic Healing modalities such as Reiki, meditation, and practices such as Qigong and Tai Chi, to help Heal, Ground and Center those in need.
We are currently working on guidelines and training tools for our Teams to use for both helping the victims of domestic violence and for approaching the Centers that currently exist to promote the value of a more holistic approach. If you would like to participate in your area, or have ideas that would be of value; please consider joining this Group and help develop this program.
Much Metta,
The Humanity Healing Team
****For more information...***
www.humanityhealing.ning.com
www.humanityhealing.net
What deoes RAK means??
Random Acts Of Kindness
Three things in human life are important.
The first is to be kind. The second is to be kind. And the third is to be kind.
**By Henry James**
"You are here to serve others, to be a light for them, to participate in their lessons and to help heal humanity. You are also here to serve yourself, to heal your karma, to enable your soul's growth and reconnect to the Source. Your challenge is to find a balance between serving others and yourself so that you can accomplish the tasks that you established for yourself in this lifetime and even go beyond that. How you view your role in serving others is an important part of this process."
Just like a sunbeam can't separate itself from the sun, and a wave can't separate itself from the ocean,
we can't separate ourselves from one another.
We are all part of a vast sea of love, one indivisible divine mind.
Marianne Williamson
"Blessed are those who can give without remembering and take without forgetting."
**Elizabeth Bibesco
"To love a person is to learn the song that is in their heart
and sing it to them when they have forgotten."
**Thomas Chandler**
"Kind words can be short and easy to speak but their echoes are truly endless."
***Mother Teresa ***
www.myspace.com/randomactskindness
www.humanityhealing.net
www.humanityhealing.ning.com
Three things in human life are important.
The first is to be kind. The second is to be kind. And the third is to be kind.
**By Henry James**
"You are here to serve others, to be a light for them, to participate in their lessons and to help heal humanity. You are also here to serve yourself, to heal your karma, to enable your soul's growth and reconnect to the Source. Your challenge is to find a balance between serving others and yourself so that you can accomplish the tasks that you established for yourself in this lifetime and even go beyond that. How you view your role in serving others is an important part of this process."
Just like a sunbeam can't separate itself from the sun, and a wave can't separate itself from the ocean,
we can't separate ourselves from one another.
We are all part of a vast sea of love, one indivisible divine mind.
Marianne Williamson
"Blessed are those who can give without remembering and take without forgetting."
**Elizabeth Bibesco
"To love a person is to learn the song that is in their heart
and sing it to them when they have forgotten."
**Thomas Chandler**
"Kind words can be short and easy to speak but their echoes are truly endless."
***Mother Teresa ***
www.myspace.com/randomactskindness
www.humanityhealing.net
www.humanityhealing.ning.com
Monday, October 27, 2008
Introducing the 12 houses of Humanity Healing...
The Structure of Humanity Healing
There is an old axiom that says that to solve a problem; you must first define the problem. "Healing the Heart of Humanity One Soul at a Time" is a very broad and far-reaching mandate because each individual's needs are different. We decided the best way to approach "Healing the Heart of Humanity" on large scale while still focusing on "One Soul at a Time" was to organize our focus into different facets of the problem and bring individuals in those areas of expertise together to make a difference. Just as the Flower of Life is built from twelve individual arcs to form the sacred geometry of the whole, the community of Humanity Healing is built around Twelve Houses that we believe define the areas where individuals can find their own Path to Healing and through them, Humanity as a whole.
The Houses of Humanity Healing are based on ten Gifts of the Spirit (Healing, Faith, Compassion, Wisdom, Hope, Creation, Counsel, Knowledge, Justice, and Reconciliation) and two Fruit of the Spirit (Kindness and Peace). While the terminology "Gifts of the Spirit" is based on Christian teachings, these concepts span many religions and spiritual practices, as well as non-theistic ethical systems. Humanity Healing believes these Gifts of the Spirit are the inheritance of all humanity.
www.humanityhealing.net
www.humanityhealing.ning.com
What happened to SHILO??.. There back....
PRESS RELEASE
Highway Fever,
"In High Gear"
Wednesday, October 15, 2008….Clear Diamond Records, One BAR Records in association with Highway Fever, announce the upcoming release of an all brand new truckers album, containing fresh never before recorded songs to honor the lifeblood of America, The American Trucker. Production of this project is set to begin in early January and is scheduled for a national release. Highway Fever is working hard to kick off the tour at the annual truck show in Louisville Kentucky, in March of 2009.
The album will consist of brand new songs recorded by some of the various state and regional favorite artist, covering all genres of music from straight ahead country, to good old southern rock, that is sure to be a must have for all truckers and music lovers alike. Never before have so many wonderful artist, writers, and musicians come together to honor the American Trucker in the way this album is sure to do. Shilo Band is one of the leading bands in the project. www.shiloband.com Along with Aly..an, you can check this hot new female duo act out at www.alyanmusic.com , For more info and listen to a few of the songs that will be on the album check out www.highfever.net.
For more information contact:
Frank Milstead 317-557-6722
highwayfever1@hotmail.com
Terry Wooley 615-712-1289
onebarrecords@yahoo.com
Saturday, October 25, 2008
See My Work You Will Know My Heart.... Ginc/V. Gomez Designs
To better explain the mind behind v.gomez designs please read - “The truly creative mind in any field is no more than this: A human creature born abnormally, inhumanely sensitive. To them... a touch is a blow, a sound is a noise, a misfortune is a tragedy, a joy is an ecstasy, a friend is a lover, a lover is a god, and failure is death. Add to this cruelly delicate organism the overpowering necessity to create, create, create - So that without the creating of music or poetry or books or buildings or something of meaning, their very breath is cut off... They must create, must pour out creation. By some strange, unknown, inward urgency they are not really alive unless they are creating.” -Pearl Buck "PERHAPS IF YOU SEE MY WORK YOU WILL KNOW MY HEART." g inc is more than just a clothing line for the people. g inc is more than just a t shirt or a hoodie. when u buy an article of clothing at g inc you are not just a buck. when u buy a piece of g inc you in turn become part of a sub-culture. a sub-culture that we the people control. g inc is all about going with what feels good at that moment and wearing it like a model. g inc is a lifestyle. your lifestyle - my lifestyle. g inc is a brand that is known but not well known. (not yet anyways) g inc started with one logo. one shirt. one guy. one dream... located in upstate new york (rochester) g inc designs brings only the hottest designs colors and touches to the same ol same ol mass produce clothing lines out there. bring us your old and well make it your new... come in bored and leave entertained... I am Victor Gomez and this is my empty canvas. My soul brought to you in form of fashion and scent. My heart brought to you in form of design. Stop through either the shop or the website and make g inc a part of your lifestyle.
www.myspace.com/ginclab
www.myspace.com/ginclab
Thursday, October 23, 2008
MAKE A COMMITMENT TO PEACE.... CLICK ON THE BANNER...
www.humanityhealing.net
www.humanityhealing.ning.com
www.humantiyhealing.org (coming soon)
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Monday, October 20, 2008
Congrats to Jaunte-Jacobs for snagging a spot at the BET Hip-hop Awards Show...
Hello and hope all is well. Just wanted to take this time out to say congrats to Jaunte-Jacobs on snagging a performance at the BET Hip-Hop Awards preshow. It's about to get crazy.
Much Love,
Prina
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