Things are going great here in Arizona

Things are going about as well as can be expected. I have a place to sleep and access to regular meals. Access to some services has been limited as many resources were closed Thursday and Friday for Thanksgiving.

I had my Thanksgiving "dinner" during the lunch hour at the St. Vincent dePaul dining room here on the Human Services Campus (HSC). Several former professional athletes were there serving trays of food. Also, at least two local TV news crews were present, and the last thing I wanted was my bright and smiling face eating charity turkey and pumpkin pie on the 6 o'clock news for a potential employer to recognize and say "oh that guy's homeless." I ate quickly and got the hell outta there.

I want to provide frequent updates to this blog, but doing so is going to be a little hard, because the Lodestar Day Resource Center (LDRC)/HSC has NO WiFi service. How frustrating. In fact, I was frustrated to discover that a lot of nearby places in Downtown Phoenix have no wifi that I thought should surely have it, such as the Safeway store and the McDonalds location, both at 7th Street and McDowell. The only place I have free and clear access to wifi is pretty much the main library just south of Central and McDowell, and I can't visit there each day.

I'm writing the bulk of this on Sunday in the LDRC for upload Tuesday morning. I am pretty much out of clean clothes, so I will probably need to wait in line at Andre House to be one of the ten people who get to do a load of laundry (sounds like that process hasn't changed in eight years). (ed. note: I was #9 out of 10 slots to do laundry and I lined up two hours in advance. Laundry was clean, dried, sorted, folded and ready for pickup about 3:30pm, and done free of charge.) Tuesday I will try to get in line to see a job counselor at St. Joseph the Worker (ed. note, appointment made for Wed, AM), and hopefully here I will have access to community voice mail and computers so I can begin job searching in earnest. Thursday I have my first appointment with a case manager at CASS, and CASS has a resource room with computers for job search purposes as well.

Week before last I caught a horrible cold waiting in 30-40º temps outside "The Bridge", the homeless service center in Dallas, for an overnight seat in their Welcome Center. I am just NOW finally over that cold for the most part.

At CASS I am currently in what is called the "Level I" shelter, which is just about 200 men sleeping on mats on the concrete floor, with access to showers and a limited amount of hygiene items. Apparently once a client establishes a relationship with a case manager, s/he is eligible to get on the waiting list to be moved to "Level II" which is a large room with many cubicles, shared by two men in a bunk, with some enhanced ability to store personal belongings. Right now I am storing my belongings in the LDRC's "Bag n Tag" facility, which is simply a locked outdoor area with wooden cubicles to hold people's bags and luggage.

Biggest complaint about the LDRC so far:

The LDRC REALLY, REALLY needs substantial and extensive shower facilities for its guests. I do have my complaints about "The Bridge" in Dallas and they are many, but the one thing I DID appreciate was that the Bridge does have two sets of restroom/shower facilities for men and women: one set, indoors in the Welcome Center and the other, a park-like outdoor set off the main patio. The LDRC here in Phoenix would do VERY well to adopt this one aspect of the Dallas model. The restroom facilities here are frankly inadequate for the high volume of users that come through the LDRC each day.

My main need right now is to establish some sort of local voice mail service so I can add such phone number to my resume and start sending it out to potential employers. Without a local Phoenix phone number of some sort, I really cannot look for work. I do have Google Voice, but when my brother sent me money a couple of weeks ago, I was in Dallas and changed the Google Voice number from Houston to Dallas, thinking I was going to stay in Dallas. My brother sent me more money once I got help with a Greyhound ticket to Phoenix, but I needed to use that money for important things such as food for my trip, and some local bus fare and laundry once I got to Phoenix. (I'm still accepting donations so send me $10 and I can get that Google Voice number changed ASAP). Otherwise one of the agencies here can get me set up with community voice mail. I'll also look into some of those cell phones people can get if they are receiving food stamps, which I now am.

Things I am loving about being back in town:

Walking around and retracing the same steps I took in 2004 when I first came to Phoenix. Walking around the state capitol complex at 6am on a Saturday morning with no traffic. Standing in the middle of Madison Street outside the Phoenix Pioneer Cemetery looking up at the stars at 6am. Walking around Margaret T. Hance Park, some parts showing their age after all these years. Seeing the now-largely completed post-modern architecture of the ASU Downtown campus and remembering vacant parking lots and run-down ghetto-looking buildings on the site in 2004.

What I don't like: Having to walk around everywhere with no bus pass, it's putting a lot of wear and tear on my feet AND on my shoes (which I've had almost a year now, but they've gotten their biggest use by far in the last 2-3 weeks)

Other desires I have:

Getting a hold of some earplugs. It is a little hard to get sleep with about 100 men around you snoring.

Multivitamins. This past Saturday I had to temporarily remove my suitcase and laptop case from the baggage room in the LDRC for cleaning, and I had to take them into the CASS area. The security team at CASS confiscated my bottle of vitamins, because when I left Houston I consolidated two separate bottles of vitamins together - two different kinds - which made them suspicious. They did allow me to keep my aspirin, my ibuprofen and my Vitamin C.

$10 to change my Google Voice number to a Phoenix number. This will make it MUCH easier for me to apply for jobs locally right away.

How you can help:

Donate to my GoFundMe and ChipIn campaigns.  Even $5 will help me out.

It's great to be back in Arizona

As I am writing this, I am sitting on the fifth floor of the Burton Barr Central Library in downtown Phoenix. I arrived via Greyhound on Monday afternoon and after a combination of walking down Buckeye Road, a short bus ride, and a walk down Madison Street through the traditional skid row section of downtown Phoenix known as "the zone", I was able to check in to the Human Resources Campus and the Lodestar Day Resource Center (LDRC). Friendly, respectful attendants greeted me with smiles and good information. That evening I slept on a mat in the Men's Overflow Shelter (MOS) of Central Arizona Shelter Services (CASS). I was able to store my suitcase and briefcase in the "Bag 'n Tag" storage bin area next to the LDRC. Yesterday I met with a caseowrker with the Arizona Department of Economic Security (DES) and signed up for and received SNAP (food stamps) benefits (I had to take the bus to the food stamp office near 16th Street and Roosevelt and it was an hour of waiting in line and waiting for my name to be called - much like waiting at the DMV for a driver's license).

Last night I was on the waiting list for the main CASS shelter facility and lo and behold, I was called in. I have an assigned mat and apparently I am eligible for a shared cubicle if I follow my case managemt plan.

The Human Services Campus is a huge hub of activity and dozens upon dozens of people per hour were streaming through the LDRC.

Things are winding down in some ways because of Thanksgiving, but next week I have to meet with a case manager in the CASS facility to set up an action plan. I am also planning to meet with a job coordinator with a group in the LDRC known as St. Joseph The Worker.

The Salvation Army here in Phoenix is hosting its annual Thanksgiving dinner at the Phoenix Convention Centrer - I will advise on how those food

So far, things seem to be going about as expected and as well as possible. Later I will post some of my initial impressions of the LDRC as well as CASS, espeically since it's been eight years since my first visit!

On the road

As I am writing this, I am sitting in the Greyhound terminal in El Paso, Texas, waiting to reboard the bus that I boarded in Dallas yesterday afternoon, and which will take me to Phoenix. The trip has been pretty smooth and uneventful so far. Texas takes a LONG time to drive through, but we did it. The vehicle is one of the older buses, with no on-board wifi, and generally run-down in appearance and upkeep - as if that is a huge worry of mine.

My general plans once I arrive in Phoenix, early this afternoon, will be to check into the Human Resources Campus downtown, get a place to sleep, and take advantage of the case management and job search resources located there to get myself situated as quickly as possible. Now, the economy is (on the surface) not as strong as it is in Texas, but I have done some research and I think it might be relatively simple to find a fairly good job.

My bigger challenge, and this is ongoing, is to establish my freelance design and branding business. This will be done mainly online, and it's pretty dependent on the national and global economy.

Looks like it's back to Arizona

BREAKING MICHAEL NEWS: Dateline, Dallas, Texas, November 17 - A MAJOR DEVELOPMENT has happened in the past few hours in my continuing story. One of the readers of this blog has graciously agreed to cover the cost of my Greyhound ticket to Phoenix The ticket has been reserved and waiting for pick-up. I leave for Phoenix at 2pm tomorrow, November 18. If you want to contribute to my ongoing campaign, I will leave the goFundMe and ChipIn links up for a few more days. Any funds received will help me get a good footing in Arizona.

My thanks to the friend who stepped up, and stepped in to help a buddy in need of a fresh start.

IT WILL BE AWESOME TO BE BACK IN PHOENIX. More details as they come in.

Summer is over in North Texas!

After weeks of temperatures above 80 degrees, a cold front came through yesterday and temperatures plunged into the 40s. I spent the first part of my Sunday doing laundry at a laundromat on Maple above the Dallas North Tollway (and this because it is next to impossible to get a laundry slot at the Bridge unless you line up at 5 am), and going all the way back to the Bridge on the DART bus and train to try and put the clean clothes in my suitcase (but the attendants at the storage bin room wouldn't let me do so as I has somehow already used my four in-and-out times for the day), so I had to carry my clean clothes around all day (I was able to use the tote bag handed out at the HEB Feast of Sharing the previous week at Fair Park).

When I went to check in at the Salvation Army at around 3pm, it turned out that all the slots had been filled up by people who were let in during the very brief rain (the severe thunderstorms the meterologists were warning about simply did not happen). About 20 or so of us were turned away. So I had to go back to the Bridge and wait the entire rest of the day and evening before getting signed in by Dallas Police (they collected and ran our drivers' licenses/ID's this time as we shivered in the cold) and sitting in the chairs in the Welcome Lounge. I may have to do this all over again, tonight, if the Salvation Army is full again (something that's not possible to know until I actually try to check in this afternoon).

I am simply getting less and less impressed with Dallas and services here for the homeless, and I am NOT alone in my frustration. The Bridge was supposed to be the "answer" to help with the situation, but I am not seeing evidence of that as there is WAY too much competition to get into their transitional housing and employment readiness programs.

In 2004 when I moved to Phoenix from Las Vegas (and by extension my first stint in Dallas) the agencies charged with serving the homeless worked with relative efficiency and ease. People actually acted like they wanted to help and this was BEFORE the $25 million Human Services Campus opened up. Now, I am not confident that the economy in Phoenix has improved to the point where I can just waltz into a good-paying graphic design/production job, but if I can get myself to Phoenix and the Human Services Campus, it will get me off to the best possible start in my opinion.

Please help me get to Phoenix and contribute $5, $10, whatever you can spare to my crowdfunding campaigns:

http://themsrstory.chipin.com/relocation-to-arizona

http://www.gofundme.com/1h55l0

Thanks very much and your help is greatly appreciated.

My new life in Dallas so far

Wednesday and Thursday nights I stayed at the Salvation Army's Carr P. Collins Center on Harry Hines Boulevard. They normally charge their guests after a certain number of free days, but apparently during the winter season they waive this policy and allow anyone to come. Guests sleep on mats in the main TV lounge as well as the basketball gym downstairs. The main downside is that this facility is about 6 miles NW of downtown and the Bridge, where I had been staying, and where I was able to obtain a storage bin Thursday (and that was a very big help as I was free from lugging around my suitcase all over).

I was hopeful that the Bridge would be able to help me, but the case manager I met with told me their transitional housing/employment program is at 100% full capacity with no open slots right now. She really didn't have any other options for me. I was disappointed, but I am hopeful that if I can sleep at the Salvation Army at least for the next month, I might be in a position to research some transitional housing options in Dallas that might be similar to Magnificat House in Houston - a place where I can stay in a homelike environment and look for work, in exchange for community service activities and/or chores. Anyone in Dallas know of such a place? It needs to be on a major bus or light rail line and you must be willing to take me in as an unemployed professional actively seeking work.

Last night I was unable to stay at the Salvation Army because I ran out of money for a DART train pass to get there from downtown, so I had to stay overnight at the Bridge. Because there are no open spots in the transitional program (which is the only real way Bridge guests may sleep on a mat in the sleeping pavilion) I had to wait all evening until about 11:30 when a Dallas Police Officer signed about 25 of us in, and we were seated in the Welcome Center (the main TV lounge and day resource center) overnight, and we had to try and sleep sitting up, and not allowed to lay down at all. Needless to say, I got very little sleep.

My brother in California is going to send some money later today, and hopefully then I can get a train pass to go back to the Salvation Army.

I am still accepting donations. I am VERY reluctant to ask my brother to assist me as he has admirably done so almost every time I have been homeless, and this is a man with a wife and two young sons to look after. I need for the general public, the "blogosphere" and the "twitterverse" to step up and help a total stranger make it in this Great Recession.

Please look at my previous blog entries for my crowdfunding campaigns and consider giving $5 or $10 to the cause. If I raise $200 or more, I will go to Phoenix, Arizona on Greyhound, as it's my understanding and belief that the Maricopa County Human Services Campus will be a much easier place for me to get started and get back on my feet.

The only way I will remain in Dallas would be if I cannot raise the extra money for a bus ticket to Phoenix. I do think the economy in Dallas is a little stronger that Phoenix right now - but all bets will be off nationwide if the newly re-elected President and Congress cannot come to a compromise on a budget and avoid the "fiscal cliff" that will certainly put this nation back into recession. No one will be hiring then, or in a position to be a client of any freelance business I have.

ChipIn to send me to Arizona

In addition to the GoFundMe campaign I have also made a ChipIn campaign.

Moving on once again

***Update 11/7*** I am in Dallas, since Sunday, staying at the Bridge, which is Dallas' city homeless facility. It may be more difficult than I thought to get on my feet, as there is an extremely high demand for services for the homeless in this town, and to get those services there seems to be a high level of "hoops" to jump through, which is somewhat discouraging. I have a feeling that if I went to Phoenix it might be easier for me to get things started, but that depends on my raising the money to get there.

I have updated my GoFundMe page here, and your donations will be gratefully accepted.

At this point I will be relocating, at least on a temporary basis, to Dallas, Texas.

I just discovered that 1) I was not chosen for the job I was hoping to be hired for here in Houston and 2) I have a final, small paycheck coming from the call center job I left a few weeks ago, which will be just enough to cover a Greyhound ticket to Dallas and a couple of extra dollars. I plan to vacate my apartment on Sunday and head on up.

I will be homeless once I get there, and I'm looking into the best place to start off once I step off that bus. I was last in Dallas from the fall of 2002 to the spring of 2004, and I understand Dallas has undergone a few changes since then, most notably the expansion of DART light rail and some of the projects along the river downtown which I was anticipating while I was living there, and have now been completed.

Since I will be losing my apartment, I need to be in a city that has a good range of services for the homeless. Dallas, while not perfect, seems to have dramatically improved its services for the homeless population, and even 10 years ago they weren't doing that bad of a job. Houston's homeless services in comparison are unacceptably inadequate. Therefore, it's really not possible for me to remain in this city so long as the job market shows little promise of improvement.

I'm going to keep my GoFundMe page open if anyone wants to contribute to the "relocation" fund, and if I get enough donations I'll move on to Phoenix. I think the eventual long-term goal is to:

1. get enough donations on my Indiegogo campaign to start my own virtual design and branding business

2. operate that business from Phoenix.

I'll apply for full-time work, but I'm really not expecting much. No one seems to be doing a huge amount of hiring nationally and might not until after the elections or even after the first of the new year. This Great Recession is really, really starting to get old.

As you may know from reading this blog, I am no stranger to homelessness, and can adapt to staying in a shelter again, but I'm really frustrated that the economy seems to be shutting me out of being able to find quality, meaningful and good-paying employment. And I am by NO means alone in this. Half the people I have met over the years who are homeless were people who were part of the working class and middle class. Some had personal addictions that led to their situation, but others were normal people struggling to survive, that really had no other excuse for being homeless other than the fact that the job market and/or economy simply had nothing for them. Ultimately our nation and society needs to come to terms with that. The Fortune 500 companies need to stop worrying about the "fiscal cliff" and start worrying about how to absorb all the unemployed and underemployed, who are literally a powder keg of frustration waiting to explode in civil and social unrest which will make the Occupy movement look like a picnic, if this recession drags on a couple of more years.

There is no excuse for less than full employment in this country. NONE.

There is no excuse for large corporations paying less than their full share of taxes in this country. NONE

I'm going to have to think out of the box in order to support myself going forward, and technology is going to help me get there, even more than I am able to anticipate right now.