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Kengi Carr
Hollywood, CA
I am 40 years old and I was homeless for 22 months after taking care of my Pops for 3 years until he died. During this time I began my 5th battle with cancer. April 2008 I was told I am HIV Positive and Sickle Cell has always been a huge battle for me.
Recent Activity
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Kengi commented on the article |I will say what i always have said and will continue to say on this subject. AND SINCE I have been through 22 months of homelessness i think I am more qualified then most to speak about things that face homeless people.
WE ALL need to do more and the OLD GUARD needs to be removed. It isnt working and has never worked. The only thing is has down well was make certain people rich and others worse off then when they entered homeless and yet we still ALLOW the old guard to run things and we still just blog about.
CHANGE REQUIRES WORK
GET TO IT -
Kengi commented on the article |
That is against the law and as soemone who suffered through 22 months of homelessness I know this isnt the answer and will only cause more problems for someone who is homeless.
Will you bail them out of jail and pay for court cost for breaking the law that YOU think is the best way?
Consider thinking of another way -
Kengi commented on the article |One more thing. I get so sick of reading or hearing and watching people who have no idea about homelessness other then what they have read talking about how to fix it or where to begin.
Why arent we talking to homeless people about what is needed? Why arent we on the streets or in inside the shelter asking "Hey what do you need?" or "what would help you most?" But that would be too much like right.
How do I fight homelessness? I do it the old fashined way. I care, I love and I ask how can I help you? and I dont ask places like missions and shelters either. I ask homeless people. If they say "I just want some socks" then thats what I provide. If they ask "Can you help me get into a drug treatment?" They I will work my ass off trying to find ne that will help them.
Howw do I fight HIV a disease I have and battle with no medical care. I raise my voice in protest at the lack of medical care for those who are poor and homeless. I am also riding in the 2009 AIDS/Life Cycle from San Francisco to Los Angeles. 545 miles over 7 days on a bike to raise funds t help find a cure for HIV and AIDS. I am not riding because I am IV positive. I am riding in support of Universal Health Care here in the US and for 7 people I know who have died from AIDS with no health care. I am riding because I could very well one day be one of the 7 people I know.
www.tofighthiv.org/goto/projectkengikat click on the orange box that says "donate to support Louis" I must raise $3000 in order to ride. I've set a personal goal of $10,000. All of money donated to my ride goes directly to the Gay and Lesbian Center here in Los Angeles. -
Kengi commented on the article |
I am also 40 and I never thought I would ever be homeless. I made the right choices, worked damn hard, made better then decent money, but not bein able to work for nearly 4 years while caring for my sick Pops and myself a cancer and Sickle Cell Patient paying most of the bills out of pocket before Blue Cross refused to pay at all. My checking and savings went fast.
I was homeless here in Los Angeles (Santa Monica) for 22 months. Became aware I am HIV positive in April 3, 2008 and if anyone says HIV isnt a death sentecne, they must have medical coverage. I dont, nor do I have a doctor for this disease, so for me and thousands of others who fight it alone, it is very much a death sentence.
Yesterday I went to a depostition for a formerly homeless family who was thrown into the street by Beyond Shelter along with their 9 month old child and the attorney tried to paint all homeless people as worthless and no good. This seems to be the thinking surrounding most programs that serve homeless people.
You are either a drunk, crazy, criminal or a drug user. Anyone else who is homeless and says they arent one of these is just a lair. At least this is what agencies will have us to believe.
"How many families have you helped get into housing Mr. Carr?" was the question I was asked.
In other words Beyond Shelter and Tanya Tull the owner can do whatever the hell they want to homeless people as long as she helps some families get into housing. It's ok to throw families with children into the street and dump their belongings into the garbage. They are homeless and who gives a fuck about homeless people?
I have very little or no respest for many of the agencies that are in place in here in Los Angeles County, which happens to be the homeless capital of the world. Their services are ore abusive, confrontational and downright disgusting. It is this nations shame that a woman says "I am safer on the streets then in a shelter" It is this nations shame that cities all over this nations passes laws and ordinances that make being poor and homless a crime.
Please dont go pointing your finger at Obama or his adminstration, this was a problem long before he came to live in the White House, so dont go putting that moneky on his back, not that he cant carry it, it's just not correct to do so.
CHANGE for homelessness start with each of us. YOU, YOU and YOU, so dont sit back at the end of four years and say "see he's done nothing" when you sat and did nothing to help besides make comments on blogs and who is and isnt in his administration.
I am happy to see middle class people hitting the streets. No I am not, just as I am not happy to see poor people on te streets, but maybe if more middle class were homeless then maybe things will be fixed. The current old guard isnt working. It never has and too many people are turning a profit runnning non-profits and acting like "I've done nothing wrong. I helped people get into housing, so what if I screwed over familes here and there and got paid very well for doing it. They are homeless remember."
Stop talking and get to work. Come out of places that do more harm then good and start some community action, grass roots work and bring real change to people who need it.
I started my outreach program while I was homeless and it is now two years old. It's grass roots and it does what it can, if we all just did what we could homelessness and poverty would begin to decrease. www.dosomethingsaturday.org and NO it aint no non-profit, I dont have money to buy my damn buss pass to get to my chemo therapy, so how the hell do I file for non-profit status with no money? I learned yesterday that what I do can be a crime and I could be thrown in jail for it. How freakin sad is that?
Tanya Tull and Beyond Shelter can throw people into the streets and treat them like crap because she is a non-profit and she has an upstanding reputation in the community, but me a simple formely homelessman who is sick better not try to do a damn thing unless I am a non-profit. Give me a fucking break. I will die for my organization and what it does and who it helps, so jail aint shit to me.
It's time for us to wake the hell up -
Kengi commented on the article |They will be there much faster if we all stop talking about it and begin working towards it and stop thinking that HE is the end all BE all the HUGE problems facing this nation.
CHANGE REQUIRES WORK FROM ALL OF US.
There are ways to comabt the problem and YOU can start that RIGHT NOW, get up and DO SOMETHING. It's really that simple -
Kengi commented on the article |
They will be there much faster if we all stop talking about it and begin working towards it and stop thinking that HE is the end all BE all the HUGE problems facing this nation.
CHANGE REQUIRES WORK FROM ALL OF US.
There are ways to comabt the problem and YOU can start that RIGHT NOW, get up and DO SOMETHING. It's really that simple -
Kengi commented on the article |
They will be there much faster if we all stop talking about it and begin working towards it and stop thinking that HE is the end all BE all the HUGE problems facing this nation.
CHANGE REQUIRES WORK FROM ALL OF US.
There are ways to comabt the problem and YOU can start that RIGHT NOW, get up and DO SOMETHING. It's really that simple -
Kengi commented on the article |
Prayers are great, but God calls people into action. Prayers are fine and dandy, but CHANGE requires WORK and prayer is only part of the LARGER answer.
So when you get up off your knees, get to work
AMEN? -
Kengi commented on the article |
My name is Kengi and this subject hits not close to home, it is home for me. After caring for my Pops for over three years and ten starting my 5th battle with cancer I lost everything Including my Pops who died in my home. April 3, 2008 I was told I have HIV and homelessness only got worse and the nightmare of HIV is never ending and if you think for somoene with HIV has it much easier as a homeless person, that isnt true at all.
98,000 people are homeless in Los Angeles on any givne night over 700,000 are homeless all over this nation. It's very clear to me that the old ways of dealing with homeless arent working and they never have. It's clear to me that because of being homeless for 22 months I now know that our government doesnt give a damn about low income families or people facing hmelessness. However i do know this, while our elected officals dont care, there are many people who do and many people who will stand up and support CHANGE that most of us voted for and ALL of us want, but few of us are willing to get off our asses and make happen.
While battling homelessness I starting a homeless outreach www.dosomethingsaturday.org I also created a blog network where i've filmed, blogged and talked about many issues I have faced but asked people not to consider me, but those who dont have the resources i have. www.projectkengikat.ning.com
I am currently training to ride in the 2009 AIDS/Life Cycle from San Francisco to Los Angeles over 500 miles to raised funds for HIV and AIDS, services that I havent been able to access for over 7 months. I am not riding for myself or the fact that I have HIV, I am ride in support of universal health care and to raise awareness for the thousands if not millions who fight this disease with no support and no health care www.tofighthiv.org/goto/projectkengikat
The more we talk about and find real solutions to the many problems like homelessness and HIV/AIDS and the more we stop being so judgmental and "Christain" and start working together to address issues and not just talk about them, the more we remove the old guard liek the salvation army, Union Rescue Mission here in Los Angeles and replace them with grass roots oranizations made up of people who truly care, then we will see the CHANGE we all want in this nation and in this world.
Change requires work, sacrifice, commitment, staying the course and standing up to the powers that be and letting them know, we are sick of this and you either fix it or get out of the way.
Obama cant bring this change by himself or his cabinet. It takes ALL of us. Obama showed us all thata the power is within ALL of us, we just have to tap into it. It took people not talking about CHANGE to get him to the White House, but people who believed in it, donated to it and worked towards it.
It's time for the old guard to be held accountable and it's time for us to start the inditements. The old way of handling this incresing problem of homelessness and health care is not working and it never has. it's time for the people who really have the power to stand up and demand better or pull your support away.
I dont know what I know about homelessness and how things really are, because i read it some place, or heard someone say it. i dont know what I knoe about health care and how there is no such thing as free quality health care just like there is no such thiing as CHANGE without HARD WORK.
It's really kinda of funny how I always get lead to this site. CHANGE.ORG I get here through a friend of mine who is someone who has quickly became someone I have a HUGE amount of respect for, because his actions speak louder then his words.
I can here for the first time where there was the outrange that PETA was going to give fur coats to homeless people in Washington at the Inuaguration. I saw things like "I dont think that's a good idea" and "PETA is just exploiting homeless people" at least during the so called exploytation (I cant spell) people where WARM which is more then they were doing.
We all TALK about change, but very few are will to MAKE CHANGE HAPPEN. I am glad I am standing with the very few who MAKE CHANGE HAPPEN.
Blessings, please check the links
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