by pnn

ALABAMA

ARISE

P.O. Box 612 Montgomery, AL

36101

Phone: 334-832-9060

Fax: 334-832-9061

Birmingham Health Care for the Homeless Program

712 - 25th Street,

North Birmingham,

AL 35203

Phone: 205-439-7201

Fax: 205-458-3383

Email: judunning@cs.com

ARIZONA

Phoenix Consortium for the Homeless

902 West Culver Phoenix,

AZ 85007-1907

Phone: 602-253-6905

Fax: 602-253-6972

Primavera Foundation, Inc.

3232 E. Third Street Tucson,

AZ 85716-5545

Home: 520-325-5876

Fax: 520-881-6818

Email: gpackard@azstarnet.com

ARKANSAS

Women's Project

2224 Main St. Little Rock,

AR Phone: 501-372-5113

Northern CALIFORNIA

Listed/Ulisisted In 2001 Phone Book

Alternative Family Services

(L) 25 Division Phone: 415-626-2700

American Indian Child Resource Center

(UL) 522 Grand Ave.

Oakland, CA 94610

Phone: 510-208-1870 Email: aicrc@aicrc.org

Applied Research Center

(UL) 3781 Broadway

Oakland, CA 94611

Phone: 510-653-3415 Fax: 510-653-3427

Ella Baker Center For Hunman Rights

(L) Samantha R.ext.24 Bay Area Police Watch Project Jazzman De La Rosa
ext.26

- The 3rd Eye Movement)

- Judie Appel ext.23 (Names, Extentions contiue on Phone message)

1230 Market St. P.M.B.409

San Francisco, Ca. 94102

415-951-4844

Fax: 415- 951-4813

Website HumanRTS@Ellabakercenter.org e-mail HumanRTS@Ellabakercenter.org

Back On Track Tutorial

(L) 1399 Mcallister Phone: 415-346-9316

Bay Area Legal Aid Foundation

(415)982-8399

Bay Area Literacy (BALit)

A consortium of library-based literacy programs in the Bay Area. Our programs, which you may know as Project Read, Berkeley Reads, Project Second Chance, Write to Read, and more, all offer free, confidential tutoring for adults wishing to improve their reading and writing skills. Programs are located in communities throughout the Bay Area, and operate out of public libraries. Millions of Bay Area residents could benefit from these services that enable them to realize their professional and personal goals, and participate more fully in their communities (voting!).

The toll-free hotline is 1-888-740-READ, and our web site is www.literacynet.org/balit.

BOSS - Community Organizing Team Third Floor

(L) 685 - 14th Street

Oakland, CA 94612

Phone: 510-663-6580

Fax: 510-663-6584

Bread, Work and Justice(Johna/othan?) Community of Correspondence


(UL) Phone: 510-465-9914

California Child, Youth, and Family Coalition

Youth Crisis Line: 1-800-843-5200 (L)

Californians for Justice

(L) 1611 Telegraph Ave. Suite 206

Oakland, CA 94612

Phone: 510-452-2728

Fax: 510-452-3552

Center for Young Women's Development

695 Market St. Mission(L)

San Francisco, CA

Phone: 415-977-1980

Central YMCA of San Francisco

220 Golden Gate Ave.(L)

Phone: 415-855-0460

Child Care Inclusion Challenge Project

Phone: 415-343-3334(L)

Children's Council of San Francisco

Phone: 415-243-0700 (L)

575 Sutter Street. San Francisco CA.

Child Care Referral: 415-243-0111

Coalition for Ethical Welfare Reform

459 Vienna Street (L)

San Francisco, CA 415-239-5099

Community Action Now (CAN)

1581 - 20th Avenue

San Francisco, CA 94107

Phone: 415-759-7669 Web: www.cansf.org

*CopWatch

Phone: 510-548-0425

CTWO

1218 E. 21st Street

Oakland, CA 94606

Phone: 510-533-0923

Fax: 510-533-0923

Email: mtoney@ctwo.org

Disabled Advocates of Minorities Organization (DAMO)

(L) 415-695-0153

DrawBridge (L)

PO Box 2698

San Rafael, CA 94912

Phone: 415-456-1269

Fax: 415-456-3284

Email: arts4home@aol.com

East Bay Community Law Center

Phone: 510-540-4848

Family Rights and Dignity

415-346-3740

Family Self-Sufficiency Program

Phone: 415-345-0126

Families With A Future

100 McAllister Street

San Francisco, CA 94102

Phone: 415-255-7036, ext. 320

Fax: 415-552-3150

Web: www.fwaf.net

Haight Ashbury Free Clinic

1440 Chinook Ct Treas Is

San Francisco, CA

Phone: 415-487-5638

Haight Ashbury Food Program

1525 Waller

San Francisco, CA

Phone: 415-566-0366

Holy Family Day Home
299 Dolores Street
San Francisco, Ca 94103
Free Childcare spaces available now for children age 2-5 years old.Must be toilet trained.To qualify: family must be certified homeless and be working towards employment or educational goals.For more information, call (415) 861-5361.

Homebase (Senter For Common Conserns)

870 Market St. (L)

San Francisco, Ca. 94102

Phone. 415-788-7961

Homeless Prenatal Program

Phone: 415-546-6756

Just Cause

Oakland 1-510 464-1011

Legal Services for Prisoners with Children

100 McAllister Street

Phone: 415-255-7036

Email: lspc@igc..org

Lifetime

2065 Kittredge Street Suite E

Berkeley, CA 94704

Phone: 510-452-5192

Fax: 510-452-5193

Email: dspatz@hotmail.com

Living Wage Coalition

955 Market St. 11th Floor

San Francisco, CA 94103

Phone: 415-243-8133

Fax: 415-243-8628

Mission Agenda

2940 - 16th Street Suite 204

San Francisco, CA 94103

Phone: 415-436-9707

Fax: 415-436-9170

Email: magenda@energy.net.org

Media Alliance/Raising Our Voices

(415) 546-6334

Mission Anti-Displacement Coalition

Phone: 415-431-4210

Mildly Ill Childcare Program

Phone: 415-821-0411

San Francisco Bay Area Chapter of The National Lawyers' Guild

Phone: 415-285-1055

Parents United for the Needs of Children (PUNCH)

Phone: 415-357-4674 (?)

People Organized to Demand Economic Right

Phone: 415-431-4210

POWER 32 -

7th Street

San Francisco, CA 94103

Phone: 415-864-8372

Fax: 415-864-8373

Prison Activist Resource Center (PARC)

PO Box 339

Berkeley, CA 94701

Phone: 510-893-4648

PUEBLO(?)

1920 Park Blvd.

Oakland, CA 94606

Phone: 510-452-2010

Fax: 510-452-2017

Email: peopleunited@igc.org

Respite Care Program & Infant Care Program

Phone: 415-821-1300

Salvation Army Adult Women's Shelter

Phone: 415-292-2585

San Francisco Coalition on Homelessness

468 Turk Street

San Francisco, CA 94102-3606

Phone: 415-346-3740 x306

Fax: 415-775-5639

Email: coh@sfo.com

SHAC (Senior Housing Action Network)(L)

Housing Rights Committee of San Francisco

1370 Mission Street, 3rd Floor

San Francisco, CA. 94103

Phone: 415-398-0527

Fax: 415-703-0186/

shac9@hotmail.com

Single Parent Network

Phone: 415-387-3684

Supportive Parents Idependent Network

4069 30th Street

San Diego, CA 92104

Phone: 619-285-1003

Fax: 619-285-1019

Talk Line

Phone: 415-387-3684

(For Emergency: 24-hour Hotline)

The California Association for Health, Education, Employment, and Dignity,
Inc.

Phone: 415-642-9886

Email: caheed@caheed.org

Third Eye Movement

Phone: 510-632-1195

Vineyard Workers Services

PO Box 166

Glen Allen, CA 95422

1-707 933-0897

Email: vws@vom.com

Whitney Young Child Development Center

Phone: 415-821-7550

Women's Economic Agenda Project (WEAP)

Phone: 406-543-2530

Fax: 510-986-8628

Email: weel@montana.com

Young Women's Work Project

Phone: 415-974-6296

Southern CALIFORNIA

Acorn

Suite 25 1010 S. Flower

Los Angeles, CA 90015

Phone: 213-747-4211

Fax: 213-747-4221

Email: caacornia@acorn.org

Los Angeles Coalition to End Hunger & Homelessness

Suite 339 548 S. Spring Street

Los Angeles, CA 90012

Phone: 1-213-439-1070

Home: 626-577-5615

Fax: 213-439-1080

Email: HN1674@handsnet.org

COLORADO

Colorado Coalition for the Homeless 2

100 Broadway

Denver, CO 80205

Phone: 1- 303-293-2217

Fax: 303-293-2309

Email: JP@coloradocoalition.org

Denver Grassroots Leadership

Denver, Colorado

1-303-753-1370 (Denver Leadership Conference)

CONNECTICUT

Mothers for Justice(not) Some Christian Org.

168 Davenport

New Haven, CT 06519

Phone: 1-203-777-7848

Fax: 203-777-7923

Vencinos Unidos

PO Box 260 268

Hartford, CT 06126

Phone: 860-236-1295

Fax: 860-236-8071

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Center for Community Change (CCC)

1000 Wisconsin Ave. NW

Washington DC 20007

Phone: 202-342-0567

Fax: 202-342-1815

National Low Income Housing Coalition

Suite 610 1012 - 14th Street, N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20005-3406

Phone: 202-662-1530

Home: 703-683-8639

Fax: 202-393-1973

Email: sheila@nlihc.org

National Partnership for Women and Families

Phone: 202-986-2600

Fax: 202-986-2539

FLORIDA

Florida Coalition for the Homeless c/o Office of Justice and Peace

134 E. Church Street

Jacksonville, FL 32202-3130

Phone: 904-358-7410

Fax: 904-358-7302

Email: peace@cxp.com

Miami Workers Center

16375 NE 18th Ave. #315

North Miami, FL 33162

Phone: 305-919-7222

Fax: 305-919-7665

Email: miamiproject@hotmail.com

Minority Families Fighting Wages

6020 NW 13th Ave. #9

Miami, FL 33147

Phone: 305-919-7222

Fax: 305-919-7665

Email: miamiproject@hotmail.com

GEORGIA

Center for Human Rights Education

Phone: 404-344-9629

Empty the Shelters

Atlanta, GA 404-589-1333

GA Citizens Commitee

on Hunger Nine Gammon Ave. SW

Atlanta, GA 30315

Phone: 404-622-7778

Fax: 404-622-7992

Email: hungercoalition@mindspring.com

Georgia Human Rights Union

Phone: 404-622-7778

Project South NIne Gammon

Avenue SW Atlanta, GA 30315

Phone: 404-622-0602

Fax: 404-622-7992

Southerners for Economic Justice (SEJ)

Nine Gammon Ave.

Atlanta, GA 30315

Phone: 919-682-6800

Fax: 919-682-6502

Task Force for the Homeless

Second Floor 363 Georgia Avenue, S.E.

Atlanta, GA 30312-3139

Phone: 404-230-5007 x118

Home: 404-659-2590

Fax: 404-589-8251

Email: abeaty@mail.homelesstaskforce.org

Union of the Homeless c/o Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless

363 George Avenue, SE

Atlanta, GA 30312-3139

Phone: 404-230-5000

Home: 404-688-1755

Fax: 404-589-8251

by Irma Jean Lewis-Epps

Micro- economics. I don't want or need this word to be defined
for me by a dictionary. I live this everyday on the money I recieve
from San Francisco's Dept. of Human, Services (D.H.S.) also known
as WELFARE. I am defined by D.H.S. , along with my daughter, as
a single-parent head of household, plus one. Technically we represent
a unit of two, therefore we are entitled to the micro-economically
deprived sum total of $493.50 per month. We spend every waking hour
(as the parent this is my task) attempting to make this amount last
from momth to month. This can only be done on paper as a matter
of theorectical application. On my block we smilingly refer to it
as a waste of paper.

Tonight my child and I are once again in search of someway to
survive another day. We are part of a fortunate few being given
the opportunity to participate in government subsidized program
that will ,eventually help us transistion off welfare to work. This
particular program is the Bay are IDA collaborative program. The
East Bay Asian Local Develpoment Corporation is comprised of thirteen
different organizations that serve low-income individuals . The
main idea is to help all of us low-income and close to no-income
set up a savings program. The way the system is set up now you can
easily be penalized for having any savings, IDA's are attempting
to change that way of thinking.

George Loew was the E.B.A.L.D.C. representative at the orientation.
Along with the basic information he was dispensing he also intimated
that there may be cause to plant seeds of hope. IDA's can be used
for job training or education, business start-ups, up to $600 and
first-time home ownership (not all participants will qualify), up
to $1,920. At this meeting we get information as well as applications
to be filled out in order to determine eligibility. Now of course
all of us low slash maybe no-incomes know about forms and the absolute
need to first determine eligibility, after which if we meet the
necessary requirements we proceed to the next step which is to make
an appointment. If we make it to the next appointment, we bring
along with us the filled out forms to a one on one meeting with
E.B.A.L.D.C. If accepted into the program you attend five weekly
sessions on money management, attend other training specifically
related to your individual goal. For those of us trying to stretch
our meager monthly income the concept of savings is so strange and
alien that we truly need the assistance of others to familiarize
us with something left over to be "saved". At this point we are
then shown how to open an Individual Development Account at a designated
financial institution ,make monthly deposits and attend monthly
"peer savers" club meetings. This is a good idea.

As we all know by virtue of it's being a good idea, it does not
have a snowballs chance in hell of being actualized. They are presently
compiling the statistical data necessary to present to government
(on the Federal level)the need for this program, a.k.a. enough numbers
to get funded. Now back to reality, word on the street is that knowledge
is power. I say power is an action , Knowledge is only power if
you use it. What happens if not only you don't use it cause you
don't know it, but you are having trouble confirming it cause you
never heard it. In order to have acess to this program you must
be referred through one of the thirteen organizations comprising
E.B.A. L. D. C. As soon as I get a list of them all you will be
the first to know. I am presently a part of Poor magazines WE WILL
BE HEARD NEW MEDIA JOURNALISM STUDIES PROGRAM. If I were not a part
of this program I would not have ever heard of IDA's. In my particular
class there are less than a dozen students , fortunately for us
chosen few Poor Magazine is enpowered to allow us entrance into
the hallowed halls of participation (if we meet the eligibility
requirements) . If you don't have acess to the knowledge, you sure
as heck won't be using it, and you can trust me on this one , you
will lose out on a lot by not knowing. In this program your personal
savings held in an IDA account are matched by the Bay Area IDA Collaborative
Program, two dollars to every one dollar you save. Your matched
savings are kept in a parallel account managed by the IDA Program.
You will recieve monthly statements from your banking institution,showing
your personal savings & fromthe program showing your earned match.
You will also recieve matching funds for savings used towards your
designated savings goal. If you have any questions pertaining to
IDA's contact George Loew at (510)287-5353 ext.436, or e-mail Gloew@ebaldc.com.

As I sat there listening small rays of hope began to tinge the
edges of my reality. Not those big rays you may associate with sunshine,
but tiny tingles along the edges because along with them came the
realization that only a hand full of us will be able to take advantage
of this cause only a few of us know. So my real contribution to
the cause will be to let you know that in order to get info on how
to get a referal , reach out to Poor Magazine attn. Lisa Gray-Garcia.
CAll (415) 863-6306 and ask Lisa about IDA's . It has been my experience
that it costs a lot to be "poor" in San Francisco and now thanks
to Poor Magazine I have taken another step away from low-income.

by Leroy Moore

As a Black disabled man, I can not rely on Hollywood to represent me! Although Hollywood may be learning about people with disabilities and it already has had years upon years to learn about Black culture and how to represent Black people, Hollywood has not connected the two into one: Black disabled people. I was really excited to see movies with disabled themes and actors playing disabled roles, but when I concentrated on what has been coming out of Hollywood I realized that the movies have looked like the dominant culture.

Before the mid 90’s I could count on one hand the movies that had a Black actor or actress in a lead disabled role, and they were not portraying disability in a positive and empowering light. On the other hand, there have been many movies with White actors and actresses playing positive disabled roles.

Lately, Hollywood has been cashing in on disabled people.There is a lack of diversity in roles, however. Nine times out of ten, White disabled people are enjoying this newly found fame while Blacks and other disabled minorities are nowhere to be found, or are cast in negative roles such as drug dealers or gang bangers, as portrayed in "Boyz in the Hood" and "Slam." Check out the characters and themes in movies like "Children of a Lesser God," "Rain Man," "Born on the 4th of July," and in last year's "The Other Sister,""Theory of Flight," "At First Sight" and "The Mighty." These characters and themes are uplifting, inspirational and they are positive. The 1992 movie "The Waterdance" features diverse characters in disabled roles, but the two main characters represent the balance of good and bad. Compare Wesley Snipes' character to the one portrayed by Eric Stolz and you will find out how Blacks and other minority characters in disabled roles are shaped and viewed in Hollywood.

Recent documentaries on the lives of disabled characters are receiving more attention. In 1999 a local disabled writer won an Oscar for his documentary "A Breathing Lesson: The Life and Work of Mark O'Brien." This was a great movie, but I am still waiting for a documentary about a disabled minority in an empowering and positive role! Hollywood seems to be learning about disabled people, disability culture and arts. Hollywood has yet to realize that the disability rights movement and the new disability culture is still lacking diversity thus leaving different perspectives, views and lifestyles out. When you watch these movies with disabled characters and themes, ask yourself: do they represent the whole disabled community, or only the dominant culture?

Recently, the skin colors are changing on the big screen and in small independent films. In 1999 the small but wonderful independent film "Compensation," by Zeinabu Irene, appeared at the 2000 Sundance Independent Film Festival, but hasn’t made it to most theaters yet. This drama is about the life of a deaf African American woman in the early 1900’s, paralleled with the life of another deaf woman living in the 1990’s. "Compensation" examines the relationships of young black couples in which the female is deaf and the male is hearing.

Another recent documentary tells the story of a Black blind man of San Francisco, blues singer Paul Pena. In "Genghis Blues," Pena hears this strange sound coming from his radio that turns out to be Tuvan throat-singers. Pena masters Tuvan throat singing, and then travels across the world to win a Tuvan contest, discovering a newly independent life.

On top of this, it seemed that last year was the year of minorities in disabled lead roles. Denzel Washington in "The Bone Collector" plays a New York City detective who becomes a quadriplegic after a near fatal injury in the line of duty. Washington is left with only his voice and movement in one finger. What is new and shocking is Washington is not a drug dealer and at the end he is still disabled and he gets the girl! Wow!

In the "Green Mile," a movie adapted from a Stephen King novel, Micheal Clarke Duncan plays a Black giant with some kind of mental disability. It is revealed during the film that he is really an angel with healing powers, but is on death row for the murders of two white girls. To put a black disabled giant in the role of an angel is a new way to think about how we view angels!

And how about the recent movie, "The Color of Paradise?"It is the only movie I know of that deals with traditional Asian culture and blindness.

The latest gossip in Hollywood days is about a film on the life and work of Frida Kahlo, a famous Mexican artist, activist and teacher who was disabled from polio and a bus accident.

The recent increase in disabled minority roles is great, but not surprising. Hollywood, like our society in general, has been realizing that disability is a part of life, White or Black. Recently actors, actresses and sports legends have entered the gates of the disabled community. Many think Christopher Reeves started this turn around in the focus of Hollywood on people with disabilities. In reality, we all know that there were many that came before Christopher Reeves, i.e. Richard Prayor with MS and soul singer Teddy Pendergrass, who was in a car crash in the early 80’s that left him paralyzed. And we can't forget the one and only Tony Cox, a Black actor who is a midget and has been around in show business for ten years. He has starred in over thirty movies and commercials, making his most recent appearance in the hit "Me, Myself & Irene," which came out last year.

Although today I see disabled minorities or minorities in disabled roles, it’s still far too few, and most are males with limited roles. Take Tony Cox: he has been in the business since 1977 but his part in "Me, Myself & Irene" is the only one in which he had a leading role and ends up with the girl.

The words of Tony Cox hit it on the nail. He was interviewed by the San Francisco Bay View last year. He said, "Hollywood in some ways maybe views us, African Americans, as invisible. The success of Denzel Washington is great! But how many Denzels you see in Hollywood?" I would like to add to Mr. Cox’s statement by saying, 'how many Tony Coxes, a Black disabled actor, you see in Hollywood?'

By Leroy F Moore Jr. 12\00

Founder & Executive Director of Disability Advocates of Minorities Organization, DAMO.

by Giovonna Willis-Barela staff writer, POOR Magazine

Loaves vs Lofts

by By DAVID ROHDE, NY TIMES ( courtesy of The Homeless People's Network)

A federal judge has upheld a Giuliani administration policy that allows police officers to arrest homeless people for sleeping in cardboard boxes in public. Judge John S. Martin Jr. ruled on Tuesday that a 1969 Sanitation Department regulation barring people from abandoning cars or boxes on city streets could be applied to homeless people sleeping in boxes.

The ruling, in Federal District Court in Manhattan, was a rare victory for the Giuliani administration in a series of court battles over homelessness. In February, a state judge blocked an administration effort to bar homeless people from shelters if they failed to meet work requirements and other welfare eligibility rules.

Judge Martin's ruling stemmed from a lawsuit filed by a homeless Army veteran, Augustine Betancourt, one of 25 homeless people arrested for sleeping in cardboard boxes in a Lower Manhattan park in 1997. Police held Mr. Betancourt for 27 hours, strip-searched him and issued him a summons after the Manhattan district attorney's office declined to prosecute him.

Michael D. Hess, the city corporation counsel, said Judge Martin's ruling was a victory for the city's crackdown on quality- of-life offenses. "We thought it was significant and important," Mr. Hess said. "It was a challenge to one aspect of the program, and we're gratified that the federal court has upheld the regulation."

But Douglas H. Lasdon, a lawyer with the Urban Justice Center who represented Mr. Betancourt, said he was dismayed by the ruling. "I think it's a dishonest and insensitive opinion," he said.

Mr. Lasdon said he had not decided whether to appeal. He and Eric Twiste, a lawyer who also worked on the case, said they were simply trying to prevent the city from improperly applying the regulation to homeless people.

The regulation is one of numerous laws and rules used by police officers to order homeless people off city streets or out of city parks. For example, Parks Department regulations ordering all people out of parks at 1 a.m. or barring camping without a permit are used more often by the police against the homeless.

The Sanitation Department regulation attacked in the lawsuit was used by the police to arrest fewer than 200 homeless people between 1993 and 1998, according to court documents. Mr. Lasdon said he decided to file the lawsuit after Mr. Betancourt walked into a legal clinic he was operating at a soup kitchen and complained about the arrest.

"I thought it was, at a minimum, important to show symbolically that quality-of-life enforcement had exceeded reasonable and legal limits," Mr. Lasdon said. "I was not trying to have any major policy changes from this one little case."

The sanitation code regulation at the center of the dispute is titled "Vehicles and other movable property." The section describing its intent reads: "The need for this legislation is indicated by the ever-increasing number of abandoned cars in the city of New York. The purpose of this section is to punish those persons who abandon and/or remove component parts of motor vehicles in public streets."

The regulation bars people from leaving "any box, barrel, bale of merchandise or other movable property" on city streets or erecting a "shed, building or other obstruction." It also blocks people from abandoning "any motor vehicle, not otherwise lawfully parked," on city streets.

When the Giuliani administration began its quality-of-life crackdown in 1994, it issued police guidelines with a new interpretation of the 1969 regulation. The ban on anyone erecting an "obstruction" on city streets could be applied to a homeless person sleeping in a cardboard box.

Mr. Lasdon argued that the rule was improperly applied to Mr. Betancourt and was part of an effort by the Giuliani administration to "oppress, threaten and intimidate" the homeless.

Judge Martin found that the city's interpretation of the regulation was reasonable, and he dismissed all but one of Mr. Betancourt's claims. The judge found that Mr. Betancourt had been improperly strip-searched. A lawsuit based on that claim alone, the judge ruled, could continue.

City officials said the arrests were necessary after homeless people who left debris in Collect Pond Park, across from the Manhattan Criminal Court building at 100 Centre Street, refused offers of shelter.

In an interview last year, Mr. Betancourt said he feared for his safety in city shelters and felt more comfortable on the street. After serving three years in the Army, he received an honorable discharge in 1987, then began a slow slide into homelessness. Mr. Betancourt, who said he suffered from depression and anxiety attacks as an adolescent, gradually cut off contact with his elderly parents. Odd jobs dried up after the stock market crash of 1987. In 1988, he lost a room in a cheap hotel. The 1997 arrest was Mr. Betancourt's first.

Mr. Hess said the administration's policies toward the homeless had succeeded. "It has improved the quality of life and the feeling of security people have," he said. "I think most citizens of the city, if they are walking in the park and they see some unknown figure sleeping in a cardboard box, they don't feel very secure."

Mr. Lasdon last had contact with his client several weeks ago. Mr. Betancourt, he said, remains homeless.

by Leroy Moore

As we sit back and reflect on the past year, we are proud of our accomplishments, and it’s time to take our work, talents, and voices to the next level. We’ve come a long way since the days of slavery, when we were killed because of our disabilities. But our struggles are not over.

In the 1990’s we witnessed the grassroots organizing and increased visability of Black disabled individuals and disabled minorities all over the world, who helped form the Black disabled movements in South Africa, the U.K. and now in California. All over California, newly formed statewide and local organizations for and by minority parents and minorities with disabilities are now established. For example, in 1997 Disability Advocates of Minorities Organization (DAMO) of San Francisco was born. Last year a statewide organization called Harambee Educational Council for African American advocates and parents of disabled youth and young adults held their first conference in Oakland and Los Angeles. As well, the first National Conference on Asian and Pacific Islanders with Disabilities was held in Los Angeles, and they are looking to hold the second conference in Oakland this year. Of course we can’t forget the only organization in California that advocates and supports the Hispanic disabled community and their families, LA FAMILIA Counseling Services of Hayward, CA. LA FAMILIA is the catalyst of this new growth of what I call the Minority disabled movement in California.

California has also seen in the last five years the talents and artistic voices of disabled minority poets and artists, from a Bay Area group called New Voices: Disabled Artists & Poets of Color to the emerging local talent of Idell Wilson. Wilson, an African American mother, poet and lecturer, wrote and self-published her book entitled "JIGSAW DREAM PUZZLE PIECES." This talented writer writes about her life as a low-income mother with invisible disabilities, who came out of homelessness and drug abuse to become a writer and lecturer. The Bay Area was blessed with the gorgeous voice and words of the late Celeste White, an African American mother, advocate, song writer and poet who passed away recently.

These contributions are just amazing, but we can’t rest! We need to take our organizing skills and talents to the next level. What is the next level? Here in the Bay Area, DAMO's new campaign called Building Friendships Celebrating Ability Campaign (BFCA) will reach neighborhoods with various educational, advocacy and artistic events and workshops. And although our accomplishments are incredible, in the Bay area many still don’t know that disabled minorities have a rich culture, history, and extraordinary talents.

On the other side, too many don’t know that disabled minorities have the highest rate of unemployment, face police brutality and street violence and are over-medicated in the mental health system. To add to this picture, disabled minorities and our issues are, nine times out of ten, not addressed in mainstream media or in our own ethnic media.

BFCA Campaign will be a platform for voices and issues that face disabled minorities in the Bay area. The main goals of this campaign are:
To empower other disabled minorities, to educate our communities and political arena in the San Francisco Bay area, and to keep alive the artistic talents and beautiful imaginations of our brothers and sisters who contribute so much to our struggle and who are still struggling or have passed away.

BFCA Campaign is only one avenue to take our work and talents to the next level. Everybody has a job to do. We also need our voices in the San Francisco political arena. It’s about time the School Board and other local politicians take on issues that face disabled students and other disabled minorities, who live in this city in a proactive stance. This is why I, Leroy Moore, am considering running for the School Board in the next election. But it doesn’t stop there. We need to be a part of the celebrations of Black History Month, Chinese New Year and Women's History Month, and other awareness-centered events. Our children should be able to click on the television and see a disabled minorities on sitcoms, or reporting the evening news. The next level of our work is revolutionary and bold, and necessary to keep our hard- gained achievements, to voice our minds and to make it easier for the next generation of disabled minorities. So as we ring in the New Year I ask you: Are you ready to take it to the next level?

By Leroy F. Moore Jr.
Founder &, Executive Director of Disability Advocates of Minorities Organization. DAMO
415 695-0153

by Joe

I’m a little ticked off at these tools I’m learning to use to get my words out to all of you. If you
have read my work, you’ll know its pretty eclectic. It
can range from enjoying a free meal to Hyper Science.

Think of Cloning, Genetic Engineering, Cybernetics, Nano-
molecular electronics-medical technologies, Cryobiology
Life Extension and Artificial Intelligence. Considering each of
these individually, it is already staggering to think of what they can do. Now mesh, combine them: That’s Hyper Tech,or Hypertechnology. The truth is, these and other sciences I dare not mention are rapidly merging.

The frustrating part is getting this on-screen, learning new software only to find glitches in this program that erases or hides
my work. Any other writers having similar problems?

In the old days, literally a hundred or a thousand years ago, we wrote
on paper where mistakes in sentence, words, and grammar errors made us tear up the paper and try again. Most of us learned, got better, made fewer mistakes. With the PC, its so much easier to scribble thoughts, but we can lose everything with an accidental press of the delete key.

Today’s Monday, February 12, 2001. My other work is on ‘Harvesting The Dead,” about a doctor taking already dead childrens' organs without
their parents' permission. I found out about this story through Reuters News Service and reporter Kate Kelland on Tuesday in London Jan. 30, 2001.

I found out that some French researchers really believe America had a clone in 2000. Possible, probable, who knows? Do I think it's possible... Damn Straight! It' also very possible that it's a smoke screen the French may be using to hide their own clone. Just a thought.

This is my “I don’t know what I’m doin' column.” Here we are in future, and the PC chews up all my work, making me do it over and over.
I should’ve stuck with my old Underwood or Royal typewriter. In fact, if
people are throwing them out, I still want one and maybe a long continuous roll of clean meatpacking paper so if a stream of Consciousness moods hits
I’ll be able to do a ‘Jack Kerourac.’ Wait a sec, my PC is the electronic equivalent! But I still would like to switch to the old style when I can.

The Future. Yeah, right. A few flying cars, the only hovercrafts are overgrown tugboats, BART is the closest thing to teleportation and it has trouble every time it rains. No vacations in space yet, and no jetpack.
But we have Craig Computers, the Human Genome is mapped, and life extension to possible immortality is no longer a joke. We have Cloning, Stemcell research and an international Space Station.

“Star Trek Voager” is about to end. “Star Trek
Wanderers" presents Will Wheaten traveling the starlanes without a spaceship. That hybrid Q girl and Q’s son and the evolved Kess, together or separately, are saving the universe, dimensions, timelines and each other at times.
Speaking of timelines, Star Trek’s Ships of the line “Tempest and an advanced “Enterprise,” a new Timeship that has a proud legacy to live.

I know, "He’s gone loopy again!" I say update some old, embrace the old.

by Leroy Moore

"Working 9 to 5S" Dolly Parton sang But I’m busting
my butt 24/7 "I bring home the baconS" Remember
that song I’m busting my butt keating leftovers.

People say what goes around comes around I1m
bustin1 my butt But no money is circling around me
Others say give and it will come back to you My closet
and heart are emptied But bills are all I have received.

Revolutionaries will die for the cause But what is the
real cause They are busin1 their butts for And striving
to death.

"Just give it time!" Tell that to my pocket and stomach
Tick tick tick tick Time is ticking and I am wasting
away physically and mentally

Bustin1 my butt for what Somebody ate my piece of
the pie The American Dream is a lie My life is like
Good Times

Busted my butt for that white paper so I get some
green paper But I was told I need more white paper So
I took out a loan

Now Uncle Sam wants some green paper for the white
I received

I1m bustin1 my butt But I1m still broke Stress out and
beat down Need to calm down before I have a stroke

DAMO1s 1st Annual Celebrating Ourselves

It was a beautiful day, not drop dead gorgeous. The
sun raised up on August 30th 2000 and DAMO1s staff
got busy. It was our first ever Celebrating Ourselves
Blasting Stereotypes on Visible & Invisible Disabilities
event at McLaren Park Amphitheater in San Francisco.

Walking like zombies, with sleep in our eyes, the
DAMO staff crowed into the kitchen to make one
hundred lunches, hang up posters and blow up
balloons.. All the obstacles we had run into for the last
three months of organizing this event , didn1t matter
on this sunny morning. Like they say in Hollywood
"the show must go on!". We descended on McLaren
Park Amphitheater at 9:00am. And oh my God did the
show ever go on!

ALike busy ants we covered the Amphitheater and turned
it into a rainbow of colors. Time was ticking away while
the sun beamed down on us helping us relax. The feet of
children and adults scrambled around the Amphitheater
decorating the stage and the seats. The show was
scheduled for 11:00-2:00 and we were doing good on
time. For entertainment we had a raffle and prizes, a live
DJ and dancers, a dance contest a poet, and yours truly
was the first disabled black clown. For refreshments we
had the lunches we packed plus 7UP and Frito Lays
donated three cases of soda and chips.

The gates opened and we waited for our audience. The
show stared at 12:00pm. (better late than never!). Idell
Wilson and I welcomed the crowd. The sun spilled over
the park and because of the heat I had to take off my blue,
red and yellow clown wig. The DJ did not waste any time
pumping up the crowd with our theme song. The whole
show was like climbing a ladder: the poets, artists and the
energy of the hosts with the hot licks of the DJ took
everybody higher and higher.

At lunchtime everybody mingled and got to know the
artists and the vision of DAMO. We raffled off toys,
Tupperware and we even had a disabled Barbie! The most
amazing element of the whole day was the children. Half
the audience was teens and children. They made the show
come together by dancing on stage and winning our
raffles. They danced with disabled poets and artists
without hesitation.

The show ended with a call for people to get involved in
Disability Advocates of Minorities Organization (DAMO).
We spoke of the emergency that disabled minorities are in
today and expressed our need for help.

One last note: this event could not have happened without
support from the Women1s Foundation, Bay Area
Homeless Program, LA FAMILIA, 7-up Bottling
Company, Frito Lays Company and all the artists and
poets who participated. A big special thanks goes out to
the staff of DAMO - especially Idell Wilson and her
children.

DAMO plans to make Blasting Stereotypes on Invisible &
Visible Disability an annual event! We1ll see you next
year!

By Leroy F. Moore Founder and Executive Director of
Disability Advocates of Minorities Org., DAMO

by Kaponda

Golden-clad rays from the fiery-rimmed, celestial globe ringed the city of Indianapolis, Indiana, as the moonlight had retired from another night of labor. The sunrise brought into full view the logo embroidered on the shirt of the man who culled me and one other man, Sam, from among the many men who were standing in the street waiting for work. It was the logo of the Ringling Brothers & Barnum & Bailey circus.

By the time the train cannonballed into the depot at Detroit, Michigan, Sam and I had become the spectacle on that dreary night in 1979. A band of circus cads had converged upon us for baneful sport. While I watched a sledgehammer quickly move toward the head of Sam, I split a 2”x4” object, that had been guided towards my temple, with my forearm. After the clowns, lion tamers, strongmen and other circus performers had retreated to their sleeping compartments, Sam and I collected our pay for our six days of labor and walked off into the Detroit moon.

Most day laborers will never experience the kind of hire-wire act that Sam and I had encountered when we were hired by the Ringling Brothers & Barnum & Bailey as laborers, while standing and waiting for work on the street in Indianapolis, Indiana. Most employers who hire people off the streets understand that we seek a clean and honest living through expenditure of physical efforts. However, there are those callous employers who exploit the labor of benign people standing on the streets of America.

If the registry of day laborers who have perished or contracted job-related illnesses at some back of beyond work site were opened for inspection, then the magnitude of danger would probably astound members of regulatory agencies like the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Short of walking off the job, there is very little, if anything at all, a laborer can do to avoid exposure to hazardous chemicals or accidents caused by unsafe working conditions and code violations.

Jose Escheddarillo has seen many of the schemes engineered by oppressive employers to extract the maximum efforts from day laborers without providing compensation equivalent to the labor. According to Escheddarillo, who, as a retired day laborer, has earned the recognizition as a living monument to the day labor industry, “a lot of employers have committed flagrant civil and human rights violations of health and safety work codes.” One of the founders of the San Francisco Day Labor Program, located at Franklin Square Park on 17th and Hampshire streets, Escheddarillo arrived in America in 1989, and, like the many other immigrants who have come before him, he wanted an opportunity to improve his life.

“I immediately realized as workers on the streets waiting to be hired,” continued the relic and current advocate of fair wages and working conditions for day laborers, “we were experiencing abuse from employers and people who were getting work from us. Back during the formation of the Day Labor Program, there were a lot of problems.”

The San Francisco Day Labor Program was created in 1990 by a collaboration of day laborers, neighbors and community service organizations. The program has provided a place where workers can find temporary and permanent work in a safe and supportive environment, without having to chase cars on the street. The San Francisco Day Labor Program also has provided free medical clinics, referral assistance, English classes and legal services to many of its clients in the Mission District. The San Francisco Day Labor Program offers these services to its clients and has developed a mechanism that allows a match between laborers who need work with employers who need laborers. However, like the offices of a circus, the Day Labor Program also currently operates out of two portable trailers that sit on a lot at Franklin Square Park.

Because Franklin Square Park is located a good distance from the original stretch on Cesar Chavez Street, where day laborers have been at the mercy of prospective drive-by employers for over 30 years, the San Francisco Day Labor Program has neither been able to prevent the continued exploitation of cheap laborers, nor provide laborers the protection from arbitrary abuses. However, the building which formerly housed Sears & Roebuck Company and more recently, the Employment Development Department, located right at Cesar Chavez Street, has invited bids from any employment-related, nonprofit who has expressed interest in relocating its business to that site. So, when I interviewed the Executive Director of La Raza Centro Legal, Anamaria Loya, I was surprised to discover that the proposal of the San Francisco Day Labor Program had been rejected by the master tenant of the building, the Department of Human Services.

“They were very hesitant and are basically saying that even though we are an employment-related nonprofit, they would not let us move in because the day laborers would not fit in with the other tenants,” stated Loya. But I was under the impression that day laborers have been at the Cesar Chavez Street corridor for over 30 years doing just that -- loitering! So I asked Loya to clarify her answer for this article? “The reason for not considering the day laborers for the hiring hall on Cesar Chavez Street,” continued Loya with a gracious tone, “is that they were afraid that the laborers would loiter around the building and were worried that the day laborers would not fit in with the other nonprofits....Who is so afraid of loitering? Men already gather along the street of Cesar Chavez. If we had a program there, then we would at least be able to help meet their needs. Our belief is that it is not that they [DHS] have a genuine concern, rather, we think they [DHS] have a disrespect for poor people because day laborers tend to be poor and homeless immigrants. I think it is just fear and disrespect of poor people.”

While everyone has been educated concerning the San Francisco Day Labor Program, employers continue to shop at the meat market where fiddle-footed laborers offer bargain-basement rates for their labor.

According to a letter publsihed in August of 2001, by the Director of the San Francisco Day Labor Program, Renee Saucedo, the new site on Cesar Chavez Street could address the concerns of loitering. “A location away from Cesar Chavez would be ineffective....,” states the letter and continues with “The relocation of the Day Labor Program is supported by many neighbors and organizations, including the Precita Valley Neighbors Association, the Southwest Mission Neighbors Association, St. Anthony’s Church, the SF Archdiocese, the SF Labor Council, the Bernal Heights Neighborhood Congress and other organizations.”

Since all the above-referenced community- and faith-based organizations have recommended the building at Cesar Chavez as the ideal site for the San Francisco Day Labor Program, I asked Anamaria Loya who at DHS actually rejected their proposal?

“The original person who rejected our proposal to use a portion of the building as a hiring hall was the Assistant to the Director of DHS....There was kind of a second rejection as well in that after we were initially rejected, we asked the mayor if he would lobby on our behalf and discuss with DHS our concerns, since DHS is one of the city departments under his watch. The office of the Mayor told us that ‘they did not have authority over their city departments.’”

The San Francisco Day Labor Program, after the rejections by DHS and the mayor put on a show of their own. It was the kind of feat that the master showman himself, P.T. Barnum would have applauded. Under the behest of La Raza Centro Legal, men and women, accompanied by the San Francisco media, marched into City Hall and demanded to know why the mayor had not provided support for the San Francisco Labor Program to move into the building where all day laborers could finally be centalized under one roof? But the lobbying efforts by La Raza Centro Legal did not stop with one action. Members of the Board of Supervisors were also contacted and responded with overwhelming support for the mission of the San Francisco Labor Program.

According to Loya, “the Department of Human Services has agreed to meet with us on Monday, February 12, 2001, concerning the possibility of moving into that site. Visits from Supervisors Chris Daly, Matt Gonzales and Tom Ammiano as well as phone calls from the office of the Mayor were instrumental in the decision to meet.”

On Monday, February 12th at 4:00 p.m., the Interim Director of the Department of Human Services on behalf of his department, expressed support of the San Francisco Day Labor Program in moving into the building on Cesar Chavez Street. Anamaria Loya, Renee Saucedo, two members of DHS and the director, Trent Rohr, discussed the concerns of the current owner of the building and how the San Francisco Day Labor Program would address those concerns. After the La Raza Centro Legal presents its proposal to allay those concerns the approval process will start.