HHH Member Debra Small featured in the news

A moving photographic account of Debra Small was feautured in the Charlotte Observer's Easter Sunday paper. Please take a moment to view the story and listen to the moving audio clips.:

http://www.charlotte.com/217/story/77898.html

HHH Members Travel to Raleigh for Conference

Group members Rob Weigle, Debra Small, Richard Lincoln and Liz Clasen traveled to Raleigh, NC for the state conference on homelessness. Members gained much insight into what is possible by learning from other communities' accomplishments. Highlights included learning about permanent supportive housing from Common Ground in NYC (http://www.commonground.org), the Serial Inebriates Program in San Diego (http://www.aemj.org/cgi/content/abstract/9/5/389), and the Community Voicemail System in Seattle (http://www.cvm.org/).

Staying at the swanky Holiday Inn Brownstone was also a highlight, though member Debra Small had a difficult time adjusting to sleeping on the TempurPedic mattress after almost a year under a bridge.

On Wednesday afternoon, we made our presence known on Jones Street by meeting with several state legislatures, including Representative Thom Tillis, Senator Bob Pittinger, and Senator Eddie Goodall.

Below:
Pic 1: Rob, Debra, Richard, and Liz striking a pose.
Pic 2: On an excursion to the mall, Debra got one of her nails buffed by Stella from Israel. We were so impressed, we bought the nail file and Liz and Debra stayed up late doing each other nails on Tuesday night.
Pic 3: Despite all the learning, the group had fun. Pictured here, Rob, Debra and Liz danced in the mall's fountain.

HHH Makes Voice Heard Uptown

http://charlotte.com/217/story/73522.html

HHH had a successful march uptown on Tuesday, April 3rd. We were welcomed with horn blows, puzzled looks, and curious questions. The march culminated at the county commission meeting, where members Claudia Moses and Richard Lincoln gave impassioned pleas. Afterwards, we celebrated with free pizza from Fuel Pizza (thank you, Lesley!) and processed our action. We give special thanks to the "housed" individuals who joined us, bringing with them bottled water, their families, and a commitment to ending homelessness.

See Richard Lincoln's speech below:

My name is Richard Lincoln and I am here today to ask for your support in ending Charlotte’s and Mecklenburg County’s epidemic homeless population.

I arrived in Charlotte on February 9th. As of that date, I became homeless and as of last night, I am no longer homeless, because a former homeless citizen who I met through the Rooms in the Inn offered me a place to stay. But I am one of the lucky ones who has worked very hard at getting into a safe and secure housing environment.

There are over a thousand of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County citizens that are still suffering and at the mercy of not only the elements but crimes of all kinds.

I had been a resident of Room in the Inn, which closed on Saturday night. On Sunday night, my last night before getting my safe shelter, I spent my night in uptown under a bus stop shelter. It was raining most of the night. I felt depressed and scared. I didn’t know if I was going to be run-off by the police, if I would be out in the rain, if I would be harassed due to other people’s poor behavior. Comparing my night outside with Room in the Inn, the situation was demeaning, dehumanizing and scary. Shelters are not the answer. Permanent Supportive Housing is, but shelter is an important part of the safety net.

So we are here tonight to ask, no we are here to plead with you, our elected officials, to be a champion in ending homelessness. To end homelessness, we will need affordable and supportive housing programs and services to assist in the transition from a homeless citizen to a productive citizen. The homeless community in the Charlotte, Mecklenburg County area will help support your efforts. Soon, the commission will be presented with the 10 year plan to end homelessness. We ask not only that you accept the plan, but that you are serious in implanting the plan.

I and our supporters will return, to show you the faces of those you are assisting in the essential fight for everyone to have a safe home.

Thank you and I look forward to together helping eliminate the word homelessness in Charlotte and Mecklenburg County and becoming a model community for the rest of the nation.

HHH Travels to Tennessee!

HHH Members Beverly Cowan, Rollon Washington, Teresa Wood, and Tommy Yarborough crowded in a mini-van with Liz Clasen and headed across the mountains to Nashville, TN. We met up with our sister group the Power Project and joined them outside the Government Center asking for the Mayor to support 200 Permanent Supportive Housing Units for the chronically homeless. While HHH members found a warm home on a friend's floor, 16 Power Project affiliates were arrested for sleeping out on the Government Center's lawn. We celebrated their release the next day after all charges were dropped. Teresa helped lead the singing that welcomed the out of their cells. Among the arrestees were Charlie Stroebel, the founder of Room in the Inn, theologian Don Beiswenger, and national activist Cheri Honkala.

HHH members enjoyed learning from the strategies of the Power Project and were impressed by their office set-up! We look forward to their promised visit to Charlotte.

On the way, the group found respite in Kingsport, TN for an evening.

Member Rollon Washington, also a poet, wrote the following poem about his time in the hills.

Silence of Peace
By Rollon Washington

Raging silence of quietness of silence of peace
In the land of Tennessee
Lying above and beneath the mountaintops and valleys
In stillness quests of the freshness of the entrance and purity of a new day
As I sit in peace capturing raging silence of the beauty of peace
Be still onto me

In quest of peace descending from above the mountaintops
And down in the valleys of the hills
Enrapturing view of my peace and serenity
Absorbing the gentle tranquility about the air
In stillness of that like the silence of the lamb
Being me in sight of my further view
Flying above from tree to tree
Birds fly in gentle flight
Awakened together by morning dew
As together we embrace as early birds catching the worm
And birth a new born day