Gaia: The Integral Pod - Embodiment - Serving the Mentally Ill Living On Our Streets

Re: Serving the Mentally Ill Living On Our Streets

http://singerseeker.gaia.com — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 23:23:09 GMT

My pleasure, Jayne,

Love,

Nicole

Re: Serving the Mentally Ill Living On Our Streets

http://jayne.gaia.com — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 17:44:16 GMT

Thanks for posting this Nicole. I commented to Jeff on his post about some possible ideas for connecting with other individuals who are homeless.

Many blessings,
Jayne

Re: Serving the Mentally Ill Living On Our Streets

http://aqalicious.gaia.com — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 17:02:49 GMT

That's really cool, Jeff. You might want to consider licensing your book through Creative Commons and/or publishing it in ebook format through Lulu.com or some other online publisher. Either option could result in more exposure for the book and more sales.

cheers,
Arthur

Re: Serving the Mentally Ill Living On Our Streets

http://transcend-include.gaia.com — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 15:49:12 GMT

Wow, great story!

Liz

Re: Serving the Mentally Ill Living On Our Streets

http://singerseeker.gaia.com — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 10:00:32 GMT

THE HOMELESS RIDE AGAIN!

Posted on Apr 4th, 2008 by soulshaper

I had a remarkable experience today I want to share with you. It involved me and a homeless man named Slim.

For years, I have seen Slim pushing his cart around the area where I live in Toronto. It is a big cart, almost like a caravan, filled with all kinds of mysteries. Whenever I would sit down to talk with him, I was startled by the positive energy that came off him. His energy was positive, his eyes alight. As we talked, I would notice others walk by, often racing to work or home. I noticed the discrepancy between Slim's energy and theirs. He was so positive, they seemed dreary and worn. Yet he was the homeless one. Or was he?

As I was in the midst of writing a book about spiritual homelessness, my discussions with Slim always stoked the fire of my inquiries. When I finished Soulshaping, I added him to my gratitudes section. He had made a big difference. And there was something between us, something...

The other day, I sat and talked with Slim at Starbucks. He likes to hang out there, meeting and greeting all the people he knows. Somehow the idea emerged- Slim could sell Soulshaping. It seemed preposterous at first. I was met with my own judgments about the homeless- "they don't want to work", "they will rip you off", "they are crazy". But I remembered my prior images of how this book would move into the world. When I refused a contractual offer for Soulshaping last summer, one of the key issues was my ability to buy the book for my own purposes- website, grass roots etc. The publisher refused that - it would be their book, not mine. The deal fell through.

Although I had no clear idea of how this book would move on a grass roots level, something was brewing inside me. I wrote Soulshaping through a grass roots lens- by the people, for the people, I-people. It was not about money or egoic satisfaction. It was about honoring my soul's voice and simultaneously elevating the lives of others, reminding them of their Essence. It was fine to move the book through a traditional distribution system, but something else had to happen as well. I needed more options.

I went home and got Slim 5 books. I brought them to him, and went home to sleep. When I came back to see him the next day, the books had been sold. He placed an order for 11 more. He was very focused. I brought them to him, and then saw him later in the day. He had sold another 3. All the books he has yet to sell are wrapped up in protective plastic, wrapped up with pride, and so as to protect them from the rain that falls onto his push cart.

I had given Slim money many times. He had accepted it, but he never looked happy about it. Today he looked happy. He had earned something for himself again, and he relished it. He let me know how many he planned to sell in the coming months, and what his financial goals were. For many years Slim has been studying the stock market. I called him "the push-cart guru." He seemed to know a tremendous amount about investing in the money markets. Now, instead of dreaming about it, he has a way to bring it on home.

After years of spiritual labor, I am delighted to stumble upon a situation that seems spiritually uplifted in every way. The book gets to those who resonate with it. I gain the satisfaction of honoring my calling by helping others. And my "St. Clair Avenue distributor" has a chance to re-build his self-esteem and save for a better reality. Wonder-full.

There is much learning here for all of us. First, let it not be said that homeless people don't want to work. Perhaps some are not in a state to do so, but many of them are and many of them want to. They just need an opportunity and someone who believes in them. They just need a gig. We should all start thinking about how we can provide them with that opportunity, however simple or humble it may be. Isn't that what unity consciousness is all about? Isn't that what it means to be non-separate? Second, this experience confirmed my own belief in basic human connectiveness. When we are left to our own devices, we are limited in our resources. Those eight books would still be sitting in a box if Slim and I had not connected. Instead, they have landed in the hands of those who need them because we crossed the barrier and made a human connection. We all need each other, and we all have something to offer, however simple it may be. Third, those of us who are on a spiritual path often get lost in the quest for egolessness. But we must also remember that there is a lot to say for self-esteem. The Eastern Quest for Oneness must be woven into the Western Quest for emotional health and self-love. Buddhists say "you have to become something before you becoming nothing....". In simple terms, this means that before we can evaporate into oneness, we have to build ourselves up. Handing Slim money may keep him alive, but giving him back his self-esteem is the key to his future.

Now I will turn my attention to finding ways to get this book into the hands of other homeless people, or individuals who are in difficult circumstances. If any of you have any suggestions, I invite you them to share them with me.

Today, everything looks perfect.

Re: Serving the Mentally Ill Living On Our Streets

http://riversong.gaia.com — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 08:33:06 GMT

I read a great blog, by Soulshaper this morning.... "the homeless ride again" and have failed to figure out how to link it to this thread. Arthur you know how good you are at this sort of thing!

Jane

Re: Serving the Mentally Ill Living On Our Streets

http://aqalicious.gaia.com — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 00:12:13 GMT

from http://www.boingboing.net/

Homeless people disguised as stranded tourists sleep on Heathrow's benches

Posted by Cory Doctorow, April 1, 2008 12:50 AM | permalink

Homeless people flock to London's Heathrow airport by the dozen, camouflaging themselves with Hawai'ian shirts and bum-bags and pretending to be stranded tourists so that they can sleep a warm night on an airport bench:

When TIME joined the outreach worker and police officers this week, the homeless people contacted included a man sleeping under his coat, another conspicuously hiding behind an open newspaper, and a woman clutching a duty free bag who insisted she was waiting for a flight, only to whisper when police were out of earshot: "I can't afford electricity; it's warm here; please, let me stay."
These men and women may seem to embody the English tradition of the plucky Dickensian Dodger, but it would be wrong to mistake their ingenuity for anything other than desperation, social workers say. Like those to whom the travel ads all around the airport appeal, Heathrow's homeless are also in search of escape: from debts, legal problems, family responsibilities. They often have mental health or substance abuse problems, and they often refuse help. During the day, some travel by public transport into London to beg, busk or take drugs, while others remain in the airport, sometimes scrounging food off sympathetic restaurant and cafe workers.

Link (Thanks, Marilyn!)

~~~

Re: Serving the Mentally Ill Living On Our Streets

http://aqalicious.gaia.com — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 20:55:06 GMT

Annie wrote a great introductory piece on Spiral Dynamics: Levels of Development

cheers,
Arthur

Re: Serving the Mentally Ill Living On Our Streets

http://aqalicious.gaia.com — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 16:24:18 GMT

You're welcome, Jayne. :)

BTW if anybody wants to hear Annie McQuade talk and get a glimpse of her delightful personality, she has a brief interview clip on the Falling Fruit website called A Crisis of Curiosity (damn, they stole the name of my forthcoming autobiography). It has nothing to do about homelessness, but it's still interesting and Annie-rific. :)

spirals,
Arthur

Re: Serving the Mentally Ill Living On Our Streets

http://jayne.gaia.com — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 01:16:20 GMT

That is very cool Arthur - thanks for sharing. I'll keep my eyes open when Google is ready to expand this service to other cities.

Re: Serving the Mentally Ill Living On Our Streets

http://aqalicious.gaia.com — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 23:23:42 GMT

from http://www.smartmobs.com/

Google partners with homeless shelter

Google is partnering with homeless shelters in San Francisco to distribute free phone numbers and voicemail accounts to those without homes, the company said Wednesday. The Internet giant is expanding a service that was started by Grand Central, a San Francisco-based start-up that Google acquired last year. Grand Central’s technology allows calls to be routed to a home, business, or cell phone using a single phone number. The service offers people a way to organize and unify their communications, a Google spokesman said.
Source: Marguerite Reardon, CNET’s News Blog, February 28, 2008

Re: Serving the Mentally Ill Living On Our Streets

http://aqalicious.gaia.com — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 18:33:06 GMT

see also Ken Wilber on Social Work (Jan 12th ISC call)

Is anybody on IIZaadz going to be taking part in this call? We have until Wednesday, January 9th - the day after tomorrow - to get in questions and possibly get to be on the call. I'd love to hear some of the folks who have participated in this excellent thread talk to the Big Bald Guy himself on the topic of social work. It's so relevant to this thread, and also to some blog entries being worked on for Integral News and Views. I'm looking forward to this one!

spiral out,
Arthur

Re: Serving the Mentally Ill Living On Our Streets

http://saidi.gaia.com — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 20:20:16 GMT

Roll on, Arthur. You rock!

Re: Serving the Mentally Ill Living On Our Streets

http://jayne.gaia.com — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 03:07:36 GMT

Thanks for that link Mark - I just dropped a note to him about his street retreat experience.

Jayne

Re: Serving the Mentally Ill Living On Our Streets

http://MarkII.gaia.com — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 02:22:34 GMT

This blog entry may be of interest: http://zencowboy.zaadz.com/blog/2007/10/detroit_street_retreat_snapshots

It is from Zencowboy. He promises to add some more about the experience later.

Mark

Re: Serving the Mentally Ill Living On Our Streets

http://jikishin.gaia.com — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 03:37:38 GMT

Thanks Jayne,

One trailor for Give Us Your Poor gave me a look at my former boss, Dorian, who now directs the state's Youth and Family Services Division. I can see that it is taking years to produce this documentary and that even parts taped one or two years ago contain the likes of a few people I see every month, one of whom I saw today.

I'm not going to watch the east coast segments tonight. I don't want to wander too far down Memory Lane now, but I'll make time for it when it serves my work or writing.

be really well,

Kerry

Re: Serving the Mentally Ill Living On Our Streets

http://jayne.gaia.com — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 02:09:27 GMT

Just came across an interesting project: Give Us Your Poor -

The Give US Your Poor mission is to create a revolution in public awareness, dispel myths and inspire action towards ending epidemic homeless in the United States. It works to affect change at the policy level, engage volunteerism and contributions at the individual and corporate levels through media, technology and education; and to funnel support to partner homeless organizations.

The Movie:

Never before has such a comprehensive look at homelessness in the United States been put to film. Give Us Your Poor is told in large part through the voices of homeless people. Some of them have found homes, but others are still homeless. Homeless people have been involved with the film at every stage of its production -- design, content development, fundraising, and promotion.

Empathetic, intimate documentary portrayals of homeless people and the circumstances leading to their homelessness, coupled with information and stories demonstrating working solutions for prevention and intervention, will provide the audience with the substance needed to grasp the dimensions of the homeless problem. The audience will learn that ultimately, there is hope.

Filming has already begun in New Mexico, and will include people and locations in Omaha, Boston, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. From the desert Southwest, up to the Northwest corner of the country, across the heartland of America, to the cityscapes of the East Coast, this demographic and geographic diversity will increase understanding of the many faces of homelessness.

Here's a link to two movie trailors:

Southwest Stories - http://www.giveusyourpoor.org/trailer/new_trailer.html
East Coast Stories - http://www.giveusyourpoor.org/trailer/trailer.html

The CD:

The CD project, is an eclectic collaboration involving homeless musicians and celebrity artists (such as singers Bruce Springsteen, Natalie Merchant, Jon Bon Jovi, Bonnie Raitt, Keb' Mo', Dan Zanes, Jewel, Pete Seeger, actor Danny Glover, Madeleine Peyroux, Buffalo Tom, Sweet Honey in the Rock, John Sebastian, Sonya Kitchell, Michelle Shocked, Mario Frangoulis, Mighty Sam McClain and actor Tim Robbins) produced and released by Appleseed Recordings (www.appleseedrec.com).

You can listen to clips from the CD at CD Baby.

Order the CD here.

Re: Serving the Mentally Ill Living On Our Streets

http://aqalicious.gaia.com — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 17:22:45 GMT

Liz and I recently watched the documentary Dark Days, about a group of homeless people who were squatting for years underground near train lines. We both had some reservations about it, but overall we enjoyed it and found it quite fascinating.

Here is a Youtube video of the first 10 minutes of Dark Days (This gives a much better idea of the movie than the trailer, which I link to below.)

Here is a clip from the movie of two guys who are like Cheech and Chong on crack (seriously). Here's another brief clip of them: Mr. Rusty does eat rats. And finally - last and definitely least - here's the trailer for the movie, which IMO gives a completely false impression of the movie, making it look like a cool rap video.

The wikipedia article on Dark Days gives some interesting background on the movie:

~~~~~

Dark Days is a documentary made by Marc Singer, a British filmmaker. The film follows a group of people living in an abandoned section of the New York City underground railway system. When he relocated from London to Manhattan, Marc Singer was struck by the number of homeless people he had seen throughout the city. Singer had befriended a good number of New York's homeless and later, after hearing of people living underground in abandoned tunnel systems, he met and became close to a set of folks living in The Freedom Tunnel community stretching north from Penn Station past Harlem. After living with them for a number of months, he decided to create a documentary in order to help them financially. The film's crew consisted of the subjects themselves, who rigged up makeshift lighting and steadicam dollies, and learned to use a 16mm camera with black & white Kodak film. Singer himself had never been a filmmaker before, and saw the production of Dark Days as a means of gaining better accommodation for the residents of the tunnel. The post-production process took years, as financial difficulties created delays, as did Singer's insistence of creative control to protect the tunnel residents.

During filming, Amtrak announced they would be forcibly evicting the homeless living in the tunnels. This announcement, plus the police presence backing the decision, prompted Singer and photographer Margaret Morton to go to the Coalition for the Homeless for help. Eventually, Singer and Morton managed to secure housing vouchers from the Department of Housing and Urban Development for the film's subjects, which enabled them to move out of the tunnels and into their own apartments.

The film features music by DJ Shadow, including excerpts from Endtroducing... as well as his album with U.N.K.L.E. Melissa Neidich was the editor of the film. Cinevision, a New York City camera shop, supplied Singer with cameras for the two-and-a-half years of filming. When Singer ran out of money for film, Kodak supplied free damaged film for the project.

Dark Days was released in 2000, and was nominated for several film festival awards. The film won many of these, including best documentary at the Independent Spirit Awards, best documentary / non-fiction film at the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards, Senior Programmer's Pick at the SXSW Film Festival Awards, and three Sundance Film Festival awards in 2000: the Audience Award for best documentary, the cinematography award for documentary, and the Freedom of Expression Award.

~~~~~

spiral out,
arthur

Re: Serving the Mentally Ill Living On Our Streets

http://Mascha.gaia.com — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 06:00:26 GMT

Annie: What I so appreciate about what you all have written here is that we are not discussing an ideal, or how we should feel, or how we might eventually feel, but how we do feel. I have to say it has helped me tremendously, and helped me feel less lonely.

thanks so much,
a

That's it. You said what I wanted to express. I don't want to go into how contact with the homeless makes me feel, except to say that I tend to bend over backwards to give what I've got every time. Quietly, I think to myself, "there but for some mysterious grace go I."

But when I read about your work, Annie, I want there to be a way to clone myself so that one of those selves can act like you. I admire you so much and I want to be better because of beings like you.

m

Re: Serving the Mentally Ill Living On Our Streets

Mon, 24 Sep 2007 23:36:10 GMT

thanks for these responses. Yes, I've heard Diane say that, and I agree, but I am also a firm believer in impermanence--that our feelings and thoughts change depending on the situation, the day, the year, our mood.

What I so appreciate about what you all have written here is that we are not discussing an ideal, or how we should feel, or how we might eventually feel, but how we do feel. I have to say it has helped me tremendously, and helped me feel less lonely.

thanks so much,
a