Lisa Gieskes – Page 15 – Hunger, Homelessness & Poverty Task Force

Boston’s homeless seniors to get new housing

This will be the seventh affordable housing site for Hearth, an organization which provides affordable housing, medical and support services to elderly homeless and low-income individuals. This site is located at Olmstead Green in Dorchester.

A Philadelphia Homeless Man's Path to Entrepreneurship

”[Mr.] Mercado’s circuitous path to Philadelphia and business ownership isn’t a tale of entrepreneurship’s power to overcome homelessness, as tempting as that might be. Rather, it’s a testament to Mercado’s fortitude and Philadelphia’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, which he took advantage of at every opportunity to lift himself up the ladder of redemption.”

The Free Library of Philadelphia’s Business Science and Industry Department is part of this crucial entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Salt Lake Library aims to help homeless patrons

“Our mission is about connecting people to all sorts of information resources, many times in non-traditional ways.”

Growing Gaps Bring Focus on Poverty's Role in Schooling

“Upward mobility through the mechanism of a good education, which is a widely held value in this country that cuts across the political spectrum, is in serious jeopardy.”

Libraries + Technology =Helping the Poor

“Most (people) think that homeless people are all criminals, on drugs, alcoholics. They think we don’t try to get out of homelessness and that we aren’t successful at anything. Some (homeless people) have college degrees and because of the economy got laid off.”—AnnMarie Walsh

“When Walsh found herself homeless, she used the computers in Chicago’s public libraries to not only look for ways of getting out of her situation but also to share thoughts and worries about her day-to-day struggle, such as finding [a] hostel bed for the night. As her following grew, she began to receive tips on shelters or even gifts of warm clothes and blankets.”

Walsh will speak at the Arlington Heights Memorial Library on Jan. 29,2012.

Here's What The Wall Street Protesters Are So Angry About…

Source: Business Insider

Zuccotti Park raid wipes out Occupy Wall Street library

Over 5,000 books were seized when police cleared Occupy Wall Streeters from Zuccotti Park. To counter that move, protesters created OccupyEducated, an online reading list central to the movement.

International Day for the Eradication of Poverty

The United Nations General Assembly, by resolution 47/196, designated this day to the awareness and eradication of poverty and destitution in all countries.

This year’s theme is “From Poverty to Sustainability:People at the Centre of Inclusive Development.”
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Trying to win the war on poverty

Boston’s new anti-poverty program is producing positive results. It’s called Family Independence Initiative, or FII, a non-profit that started in San Francisco. “What we’re trying to do, is to say, ‘For the last 60 years, there’s been a war on poverty, and things have only gotten worse,’” Jesus Gerena, head of the Boston FII office, said. “So what can we do different and what did people do prior to be able to get people out, and help them to get out?”
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