Tag Archives: homeless

Liz and Katy

Posted on by
3

I feel awful. I woke up with my throat burning and even though it’s better now, I keep getting hot flashes. Yuck. I have a feeling I won’t be going to work tomorrow.

That’s not why I’m posting, though. @juliebonnheath Tweeted about a homeless young girl and her mother who were evicted from their apartment. Liz and Katy have been through an awful lot. I’ve read through a little of each of their blogs and from what I gather, Liz is a single mom and the two of them have always just been able to make ends meet.

Right now they are just barely making it.

Their story is not uncommon. I think it really hits home with me because if it weren’t for my grandparents, my sister, parents and I would not have anywhere to go. We were evicted from our apartment over three years ago, suddenly and without warning. We didn’t have the money to get another place. We are still struggling and still don’t have a place of our own. If it weren’t for my Noni and Popi, we would be doing the same as Liz and Katy. They are literally living off of what people are donating to them, able to stay in a hotel only because of those donations. At first they were sleeping in their car — if they weren’t kicked out of whatever parking lot they chose to park in for the night.

Please, please help them however you can. Send a letter to lift their spirits. Send a few bucks to help them get groceries and stay in the hotel. Link to their blogs in your blog. Twitter their story. You can send them a note or some money at the following address:

Elizabeth and Katy Hughes
PO Box 111525
Campbell, CA 95011

Let’s band together and help Liz and Katy.

(Cross-posted to Scars Can Speak.)

You kissed me into ruins

Posted on by
Reply

I don’t know what it is lately, but I’m inspired by everything. I got another idea for some writing today. I’m going to write a series of ten short stories, maybe more if my muse sticks around. I was reading today’s stories on Rep-Am.com and one of them caught my eye. It was about the homeless in my city (literally right down the street from where I work, at that), and how they are living in tents. The area is dubbed Tent City, and there are hundreds of people living there. It’s kind of sad, yes, but I also think it’s kind of interesting that there is a whole ‘sub-culture’ kind of ‘city’ in my own. These people live there year-round. Apparently HUD is involved but not enough. I really hope something happens, to help these people.

Meanwhile my imagination is piqued, and all I can think about are the different kinds of people who live there.

One of those people–at least, I think so–came into my office earlier, ironically enough. He was kind of babbling and ranting, but what I did get out of it was that he was 60+ years old, “they” had kicked him out, the FBI was involved with helping him, so-and-so on Fox News Channel apologized for something, HUD was involved, and the rest didn’t make much sense. I’m assuming he was talking about Tent City or maybe an abandoned warehouse, and this Fox guy probably exposed the story and got him kicked out of where he was staying. It wasn’t really clear. But it’s kind of ironic, how I read the story on Tent City and then a homeless man (he was carrying a beat-up green duffel bag and looked kind of grungy, so I’m only assuming) comes into my office demanding that my boss and I call the Fox reporter and complain enough so he will “do something” instead of writing an apology letter.

If you’re lost, don’t feel bad. So was my boss and I.

Anyway, tonight is the NIN concert! We’re leaving around 4 because the drive will take about an hour and a half. I’m going to bring my camera and take mass amounts of pictures. Of course, because I’m bringing my camera, Murphy’s Law says I won’t run into any of the musicians. Still, maybe I can snag some pics of Mike and me. I’m just hoping all goes well tonight. He’s been in a bad mood lately, and things seem kind of strained–at least to me, anyway. He doesn’t seem to think so, so I guess that’s a good thing.

Between now and the time I meet him at his house, I have to: finish my shift, catch up on blogs, catch up on email, maybe do some laundry, catch up on Letters of Love and find something to eat for dinner. If you never hear from me again, it’s because I ran away with Trent Reznor.