Homeless Coast to Coast

 

First Posted: 11-22-09 07:42 PM | Updated: 11-22-09 11:44 PM

Rightardia comment:  The right wing will tell you about the welfare state in the US, but that has been gone since the Aid to Families with Dependent Children. In 1996, President Bill Clinton negotiated with the Republican-controlled Congress passed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act which drastically remade the program. 

Among other changes, a lifetime limit of five years was imposed for the receipt of benefits, and the newly-limited nature of the replacement program was reinforced by calling AFDC's successor Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). Many Americans continue to refer to TANF as "welfare." 

We've all read the disturbing statistics in the last few weeks. More than three million homeless people in America at any given time, including 1.5 million children. Six million seniors don't have enough to eat and 1.7 million children don't know where their next meal is coming from.

Poverty, joblessness, hunger and homelessness are rampant in America, to an extent not seen since the Great Depression. So, how come our lawmakers are not in crisis mode?

According to Diane Nilan, the 59-year-old founder and president of HEAR US, it's because these people live and work in relative obscurity. Homeless couples, families and children, aren't the visible homeless we see sleeping on the street corner or begging for change, she says. They're working individuals who've fallen on hard times; and they're living among us, all over the country.

In 2005, Nilan sold her house and car, and bought an RV. Over the next eight months, she drove over 20,000 miles through 34 states with her video camera. She conducted 75 interviews with homeless families across the country, ultimately culminating in the documentary series "My Own Four Walls."

Her goal: to wake up "clueless" congressmen to this problem and start a serious discussion on how America can do more to help those struggling to find shelter. Subscribe to the Rightardia feed: feeds.feedburner.com/blogspot/IGiu

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/22/diane-nilan-tells-homeles_n_367029.html

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