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Something to think about..
What do you call the homeless?
Do you call them, the needy, the deprived, or maybe the disadvantaged
or even the underprivileged. Or do you say they are on the skids or even call them bums. Some people say they are the destitute
or impoverished. What most people do not say or think is brother, sister, mother or father, grandmother or grandfather! Everyone
has a story.
In every community, city, province and Country there are people that
do not have a place to call home, men and women, children, and even families. They are real people, with names and faces.
They are people with lives, past, present and futures.
Many people think that it is their own fault, that they live on the
street, or that they choose this. Did you ask them? Remember every one has a story. Many people also think that there is nothing
that they can do, or why should I help.
There must be a change of thinking. Everyone can do something to help.
A little kindness goes along way. If each person does a single kindness each day, what a better World we would live in! And
giving compassion will always bring self fulfilment. Just because you are not well off does not mean that you can not help.
These are just a few examples of things that people could be doing.
- you can talk to them as equals, for we all have the same makings
- why not buy them a cup of coffee, I'm sure most of us will not miss
a cup of coffee
- give them the respect they deserve, we are all human
- maybe you have blankets that are not being used
- do you have items around the house, that you keep saying that maybe
one day I will use that
- do you have a job to be done, mowing your lawn, maybe fixing a fence
etc... why not hire someone that could really use the money.
These are just a few examples of things that people could be
doing.
We all as human beings must remember, that we are human beings, with
hearts, feelings and emotions!
We all need love, friendship and kindness.
So here is Something to Remember...
Everyone has a Story!
Written by Flipper
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Just who are the homeless? You might be surprised by the
diversity of situations that lead to a person or family becoming homeless. In Canada, a major contributor to homelessness
is poor health. At least one quarter of the people who are homeless suffer from physical or mental illness. People
with HIV/Aids are a significant percentage of this client group.
About one quarter of the homeless population is employed either
full or part time. Often, these are the working poor, unable to earn enough to maintain an apartment or home.
Addictions account for about a quarter of the homeless population.
This can be to alcohol, drugs or gambling or a combination of these.
Many of the homeless have left a community where they were not
able to find suitable employment in order to find work in another community/province. Upon arrival at their new community,
they find that they are unable to immediately afford security deposits and rent, leaving them homeless for a time. Another
significant group are persons fleeing abuse or violence.
In addition to the “absolute” homeless, there are also
many “at risk” for homelessness. Many people, living paycheque to paycheque, are only one paycheque away from homelessness.
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This is a list of celebrities and other prominent and famous individuals who have experienced being
homeless for a brief or extended period at one time in their lives, either as children or adults. If available, the location
of where the person slept at night is indicated in parentheses. "Camping" refers to homeless camping, not recreational camping.
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John Drew Barrymore . . . actor; father of actress Drew Barrymore
(streets/shelters). |
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John Green Brady (John G. Brady) . . . governor of Alaska
1897-1906 (streets of New York City during his childhood; sent west on one of many "orphan trains," accompanied on this particular
trip by future North Dakota governor Andrew Burke). |
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Buddha (Gautama Siddhartha) . . . religious leader; source
for Buddhism; Enlightened One in the Buddhism religion (outdoor camping). |
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Drew Carey . . . Emmy Award-nominated actor-writer-producer-comedian;
best-selling American author (star of the television series The Drew Carey Show) (car) (source:
Entertainment Tonight, May 23, 2002; birthdays segment, co-host Mary Hart: "Which star of The Drew Carey Show
once lived out of his car? |
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Jim Carrey . . . actor-writer-producer-comedian (yellow VW
van in various Canadian locations with older brother John Carrey, older sister Rita Carrey, and parents Percy
Carrey and Kathleen Carrey/outdoor camping in a tent with his family in the backyard of the home of his older married
sister, Patricia Carrey).
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Bobby Driscoll . . . Oscar-winning actor (as child
star); the original voice of Walt Disney's 1953 Peter Pan animated movie (died alone of a heart attack at age 31 in
a vacant tenement building in New York City).
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George Eads . . . actor (one of the stars of the television
series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation) (car, in Los Angeles while a struggling actor).
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Philip Emeagwali . . . supercomputer scientist; lecturer;
one of the pioneers of the Internet (refugee camps and abandoned buildings with his family during his childhood in Nigeria/streets
of Washington DC). |
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Cary Grant . . . . Oscar-winning actor (streets of
Southampton, England during a summer in his youth at the time of World War I) (source: book, Cary Grant: A Biography,
by Marc Eliot, 2004, page 31: "Archie then volunteered for summer work as a messenger and gofer on the military docks, often
sleeping in alleys at night if he didn't make enough money to rent a cot in a flophouse.").
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Cheri Honkala . . . human rights advocate; American author;
playwright; mother of actor Mark Webber (streets/vacant buildings/homeless shelters, with her son). |
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Harry Houdini . . . magician; escape artist; paranormal investigator;
Hungarian-born American author (streets/outdoor camping/temporary shelters; left home at age 12 in search of work and traveled
for two years on his own, making his way from Wisconsin to Missouri and settling finally in New York City).
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James Byron Huggins . . . best-selling American author;
journalist; former police officer (car/camping in the woods after using his life savings to help religious freedom activists
in Romania). |
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Jesus of Nazareth (Yeshua of Nazareth) . . . religious leader;
source for Christianity; the Christ; God and Savior in the Christian religion (outdoor camping/temporary shelters).
"The
foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head." Matthew
8:20, Luke 9:58). |
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David Letterman . . . Emmy Award-winning television
writer-comedian; talk-show host; American author (host of the television talk-show Late Show with David Letterman)
(red 1973 Chevy pickup truck).
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Jim Morrison . . . singer-songwriter; poet; lead singer and
lyricist for the 1960s rock band "The Doors"; Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee (with The Doors) (rooftops/cars/under the
pier at Venice Beach, California/friends' couches).
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Charles Sanders Peirce . . . Harvard University-educated
genius scientist; mathemetician; logician; philospher; American author; first psychologist elected to the National Academy
of Sciences. (homeless and destitute for a time later in life, relied on charity from friends).
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Sally Jessy Raphael . . . Emmy Award-winning television
talk-show host; American author (car).
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"Colonel" Harland Sanders . . . businessman; founder-spokesperson
of the "Kentucky Fried Chicken" fast-food restaurant chain (homeless at age 10 when his mother remarried and he left home
due to altercations with his stepfather/car as an adult; slept in the backseat nightly because he could not afford lodging
as he traveled around the United States and Canada, sometimes with his wife Claudia, trying to sign up restaurants to use
his special fried chicken recipe for a franchise licensing fee).
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William Shatner . . . Emmy Award-winning actor-director;
best-selling Canadian-born American author (truck bed camper for a time due to financial difficulties after the 1969
cancellation of the television series Star Trek, in which he starred). |
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Martin Sheen . . . Emmy Award-winning actor-director-producer
(New York City subway while a young struggling actor). |
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Leroy Skalstad (Leroy Allen Skalstad) . . . photojournalist;
disabled Vietnam war veteran (streets of Milwaukee, Wisconsin). |
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Hilary Swank . . . Oscar-winning actress (car/one
of two air mattresses on the floor of a friend's vacant house at age 16 with her mother after the two moved to Los Angeles
from Washington state by car).
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Shania Twain . . . Grammy Award-winning singer (homeless
shelter in Toronto, Canada in late 1978 at age 13 with her mother and siblings, as recalled in the book: Shania Twain:
The Biography by Robin Eggar, 2005; Shania: "We drove to Toronto and went to a shelter. We finally got fed every day.").
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John Woo . . . Chinese-born film director (Mission Impossible
2, Broken Arrow, Windtalkers, etc.) (outdoor camping/crude shelter; homeless at age seven along with his family after
a major fire in Hong Kong on Christmas Day 1953 destroyed his home and those of 50,000 other residents: "There was a big fire.
We were homeless for a year. We lost everything.").
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Remember everyone has a Story!
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Let's Laugh and Love
As we grow up, we learn that even the one person that wasn't supposed to ever let you down probably
will. You will have your heart broken probably more than once and it's harder every time. You'll break hearts too, so remember
how it felt when yours was broken. You'll fight with your best friend. You'll blame a new love for things an old one did.
You'll cry because time is passing too fast, and you'll eventually lose someone you love. So take too many pictures, laugh
too much, and love like you've never been hurt because every sixty seconds you spend upset is a minute of happiness you'll
never get back. Don't be afraid that your life will end, be afraid that it will never begin.
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UNEXPECTED KINDNESS
The unexpected kindness,
From an unexpected place.
A
hand outstretched in friendship,
A smile on someone's face.
A word of understanding,
Spoken in an hour of trial.
Are
unexpexted miracles,
That make life more worthwhile.
We don't know how it happened,
That in an hour of need;
Somebody
out of nowhere,
Proved to be a friend indeed.
For
God has many messengers,
We fail to recognize.
But He sends them when we need them,
For His ways are wondrous and
wise.
So keep looking for an angel.
And keep listening to
hear,
For on life's busy crowded streets
You will find God's presence near.
poem by Helen Steiner Rice
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