News anchors resign live on air

I admit, I have to admire what these Maine news anchors did, standing up for working conditions and ethics. Makes me wonder what the behind the scenes story is around there.

*** Sorry, I forgot that WordPress won’t allow the iframe tag to embed the video. I have an alternate way to do it but I will need to do it later from my computer. Please check back here or visit http://www.mediaite.com/tv/watch-maine-news-anchors-cindy-michaels-and-tony-consiglio-resign-live-on-air/.

Mom of 12 year old in Chicago needs help

Meet Lisha. She is homeless in Chicago with a daughter who is 12 years old. She is in desperate need of help with clothes, food, hygiene, obtaining employment, housing, to name a few. Her daughter also needs school supplies. She will accept any offer off employment. I talked to her about possibly being a vendor of Street Wise magazine to help a little with expenses and with her approval showed her to the Street Wise offices where she met office staff. I happy to say that she will attend an orientation soon. She has been sober from drugs for six months and obtains regular treatment. If you can help this mother and child in ANY form possible, please contact me! She has a mailing address available for her to use, as well as an email address. I will be happy to give this information to anyone who can help! Thank you so much!

UPDATE 12pm Aug 8, 2012:

Holy #RamonWOW! @Ramon_DeLeon of Domino’s in Chicago has offered pizza for this homeless family! Awesome and thank you, Ramon! Who else will step up to help?!

UPDATE 1:15pm Aug 9, 2012:

I have an offer of school supplies and bus fare by @trohner1 and @Ramon_DeLeon! She doesn’t know yet–I am at the @StreetWise_Chi office while Lisha attends Vendor Orientation. 

 

UPDATE 2:20pm Aug 9, 2012:

Awesome! @mafiahairdreser willl give a back-to-school haircut!!

 

Payback!

I made it to Cross & Crown’s MOH yesterday and picked up some mail. *GOOD* mail–not bills! One was a prescription discount card. The other was a prepaid credit card that can be reloaded from a Green Dot Money Pak, purchasable at most stores! Having this card will allow me easier access the money donated to my Pay Pal account. (fyi: Pay Pal is not currently working but I hope to have it going again very soon–for now, money can be donated through the Green Dot Money Pak.) Easier access to money means I will be able to purchase things I need: phone service, bus passes, shoes or clothing. If I receive enough donations, I will be able to focus not just on myself, but also other homeless individuals and networking activities. In the future I would like to have separate cards for personal use and helping the homeless. When its raining, have you any idea how much I hate to not invite a homeless person in to McDonalds or a store for coffee? There is so much that could be done for the homeless population that isn’t being done!

I wonder if the homeless community could go on strike? Go on strike for better services or to give up being homeless for a day. If you need a job done, you could go up to one of them who are on strike and hire them on the spot, giving them opportunity to not be homeless for a day. It would take some thinking out and creativity, but couldn’t something similar be done? What are you thoughts on helping to improve the quality of life of those who are homeless?

A mentoring program for the homeless?

This morning on my way in to the Arlington Heights Memorial Library one of the employees stopped and talked to me. He mentioned something that I have said before: there needs to be a mentoring program for the homeless.

New people arrive to homelessness every day. To whom can they turn for help? When I first became homeless, I didn’t know what to do, where to go. I didn’t know “the ropes” to being homeless. I got in my car and just sat there. I thought, “Now what?”. I finally drove with no real destination. When it got dark and I was tired, I didn’t know where it would be safe to sleep. I didn’t know how I would stay clean without being able to take a shower. I wouldn’t be able to cook.

The homeless such as myself can actually teach others how to survive homelessness! I also believe that non-homeless people can volunteer to mentor the homeless–for social skills or being a “e-pen pal”, job search skills, addiction recovery. Homeless people also have skills and knowledge that someone needs! Why is there not a job agency that matches homeless people with employers who are looking for new talent with the opportunity to help someone in need? Why does the homeless services agency not offer a program in which the homeless receive specialized job skills training to advocate for themselves and the agency by going to businesses themselves to inform them of homelessness and needs, and to ask them to consider helping the homeless with services, discounts, or job postings? Currently they have only a lawn care services crew during warmer months as “job training”. The job training services and others should be expanded!

There is so much that homeless people have to offer–to each other and their communities! We have a need to attack homelessness ourselves! Teach me and I will teach you. I  have mentioned some of these things and others to the local homeless services agency but they have not developed any new mentoring programs. We can still do this ourselves! Help me to create better opportunities for the homeless so we can build ourselves a new life!

Do you Butterfinger?! I got a job opportunity for you!

If you are extroverted and live, eat, and dream of Butterfinger candy bars all day and night long, are over-experienced with social media sites, have a camera/video phone, computer and internet, then you may want to consider applying for this Butterfingertastic position!  It sounds so awesome!  A more than perfect virtual opportunity for anyone!!

Do you feel equally at home on Facebook as you do out on the town? Do you Tweet as much as you talk? Do you shoot mini videos as fast as you can post your pics? Has the line between your offline and online life started to blur to the point you’re in two dimensions at once? If so, then you’re the perfect FUNtern for the Butterfinger FUNternship that lets you earn bucks for your bytes.

Click here to read more and apply for this job with Butterfinger!

Need a temp job?

Ever consider participating in clinical research studies? I just got an email–Spaulding Clinical Research in West Bend, WI needs volunteers–who will be compensated up to $2,000. Acceptable applicants need to be healthy non-smokers, age between 18-50 years old, and have a body mass index between 18 and 32. They screen applicants on June 10, 11 and 12th. Go to the Spaulding Clinical website or call (800) 597-4507 for more information!