latest musings: redux

*Updated 2x*

Last night having been exhausted from pulling an all-nighter Monday evening and, also recently not getting either enough or good quality rest or sleep, I was finding myself falling asleep and so after a late supper finally went to bed.

However severe leg muscle cramps managed to disturb my sleep, this time just in the left leg and, as usual, the calve. Yet I went back to sleep, although struggled to do so deeply or long enough, only receiving about five hours.

While only still half asleep, since I have been pondering about how I have six (6) weeks left as of today until I have to move out of my ‘Winter quarters’ and if I do not have permanent housing or anywhere else to land by then will end up living houseless (aka homeless) yet again, the following poem were among my latest musings redux (*update 1*: posted embedded video of poem being read aloud):

homeless sneakers

restless thoughts
toss and turn,
without end
deep within
mind, body and soul
whether day or night,
about once again
becoming homeless

knowing the only
place to then call
home 24/7, will be
one pair of badly
worn out sneakers,
long overdue
for replacement

truth be told
however, those foul
footwear are in much
better shape, than the person
who will be barely
surviving inside them

whose remedy
will not be found
just by a new pair,
but within an abode
of their own,
one providing a permanent
roof and shelter,
under which to live
more restfully instead.

by Morgan W. Brown
Montpelier, Vermont
Sunday, June 18, 2006

[Originally posted, here; Sunday, June 18, 2006]

Speaking of sneakers, those I have are badly in need of replacement once again, which actually should have been replaced last year, however I was not able to afford it at the time. In fact, besides sneakers and because they help with both comfort and lessening of heat stress, I also need to buy a new pair of sandals as well. Although I should be able to afford such either by the end of the month or early next month on my own.

In addition, I am also hoping to get my bicycle out of storage and get it fixed and tuned up in order to put it back on the road. It has been in need of a new chain among other things, which should have been replaced last year, but could not afford it then either, yet think I have enough funds on hand to do it now.

Speaking of bicycling, if you have not previously done so, read my article about such published within The Independent — a Vermont publication for elders and people with disabilities: Where The Rubber Meets The Road (via Vermont Center for Independent Living: VCIL).

*Update 2*: Bought my new pair of footwear up at the Berlin Mall today, a pair of size 12 4E New Balance sneakers on sale for $39.99, originally priced at $59.95.

It was worth it being able to buy a pair that had the extra width, rather than those with regular width — which are never an exact fit.

They are a comfortable pair and, it is great to finally be rid of the old worn out pair, especially since my feet, legs and back had long been hurting as a result wearing them.

*Note*: added an embed of video of poem being read aloud; added another update with photo; last updated on Tuesday, May 19, 2009 at 8:03 PM (ET).

Big Dreams, Tiny Houses

Video Credit: Eva Sollberger, Stuck in Vermont, 7Days, here (11/19/2008).

Additional information as well as several related photos, here (via Tiny House blog; 11/22/2008).

Read more about Peter King as well as his Vermont Tiny Houses dream and projects, here (via Burlington Free Press; 3/7/2009).

My Housing Search blist: 2009

Housing Search 2009

Housing Search 2009

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Dear Mr. President …

The Sunday Times Argus included my letter to President(-elect) Barack Obama, which was published within today’s edition, as follows (here; 3rd of 3 letters posted).

Sunday, January 18, 2009
Times Argus
[Barre - Montpelier, Vermont]
Opinion section
Perspective
Dear Mr. President
Vermonters offer their thoughts to Barack Obama

[photo and photo caption; omitted]

Published: January 18, 2009

The Times Argus and Rutland Herald invited readers to address an open letter to President-elect Barack Obama in advance of his historic inaugural. Here are some of the responses we received:

[...]

Congratulations on your election as our next president.

There is a dire need to address the longstanding affordable housing and homelessness crisis within our nation.

The National Housing Trust Fund might prove to be an empty promise and not enough to address the need, not only because, as I understand it, the program would not begin drawing down monies until around 2010 or so, but now that the funding source was dependent on a stream from Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac, and those programs are in peril and have basically been taken over by the government, it remains to be seen if the funding will be there for what is required for building and growing the trust fund. This is neither good nor soon enough to address the problems at hand, either in the short or long term.

It is crucial not to make the errors of previous administrations, as well as Congress, and allow these problems to continue to be ignored. Nor it is enough to simply throw money at it in the manner as has been the case thus far.

What is required to address homelessness among all those in need is affordable housing. Due to the serious need and also limited resources, considering everything else the government needs to address during this time of economic crisis, and not being able to do everything needed, what helps most in helping people get and stay housed is affordable housing, as well as offering a menu of “voluntary” supports (i.e., without strings attached). Homeless shelters and transitional housing are not what works best and are only poor Band-Aid solutions, ones which cost lots of money and help only relatively few people.

Affordable housing needs to be understood as a crucial infrastructure need within the local community, county, state and nation as important and vital as roads and bridges are to the economic engine and vitality of our communities, counties, states and nation.

It is also important to keep in mind there is a dire need in rural areas, as well, and not just in urban areas. In fact rural areas have been seriously neglected for far too long.

Instead of going to Mars or worrying about the space station or other such boondoggles, let us prioritize housing as a fundamental right rather than either a privilege of those who can most afford it or a limited entitlement with never enough to go around to meet the need.

Both training and putting people back to work in building and repairing existing housing, including making it energy-efficient in all regards, would help provide needed jobs as well as the housing many are in need of, including those most in need as well as those whose incomes make it tough if not impossible to own their own or even rent an affordable residence.

With all this in mind, it might be good to also consider newer and better means of housing, including building various types of housing along the lines of what is termed as Katrina cottages, depending on the housing needs and family size. This sort of housing would be more energy- and cost-efficient, as well as take up less land, etc.

Rather than depending on the type of huge apartment or housing complexes that either the private or public housing community have long relied on, which are usually very expensive as well, housing along the lines of the Katrina cottages in the mix would also help lend to homeownership options, particularly for those like myself who subsist on limited incomes and are Section 8 housing choice voucher eligible, if only there were the affordable housing available to use such a voucher with.

One last thought on the subject is that people who live or formerly have lived homeless are not the problem, we are part of the solution. Thus one of the things that need changing is for programs and providers to stop doing stuff to or for us and to instead work with us at all levels and stages, including by having those who are or formerly were living homeless to be at the table in an equal and full manner as experts as anyone else from planning to implementation, whether it be at the systemic level or during the process of a person seeking help to address their needs. We often know best what works and what does not, although we are not usually used to being included in meaningful ways, except maybe merely as tokens whose opinions and input are typically ignored or dismissed.

With everything else your new administration will be duly focused on, please do not forget those of us in serious need of real, affordable housing opportunities sooner rather than later.

Thank you in advance for any consideration given to these concerns.

Morgan W. Brown Montpelier

My Citizen’s Briefing Book Contribution

Address Affordable Housing & Homelessness Needs Sooner Rather Than Later (via Citizen’s Briefing Book; Change.gov).

Additional information, here and, here.

President-elect Barack Obama Names Shaun Donovan HUD Secretary

*Updated*

12/13/08: President-Elect Obama’s Weekly Address

On December 13th, 2008 President-elect Barack Obama named Shaun Donovan as his Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.

[via YouTube, here; posted by ChangeDotGov (December 12, 2008); length: 5:02 minutes/seconds]

Additional information, here (via Change.gov) and, here (via NY Times).

Read Shaun Donovan bio’s here (via NY Times) and here (via NYC HPD).

fyi: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)

*Update*: A video of a speech given a year and a half or so ago by Shaun Donovan:

At the NY Society for Ethical Culture, Commissioner Shaun Donovan discusses NY City’s efforts to increase affordable housing

[via Google Video, here; posted by Charles Debrovner, NY Society for Ethical Culture (June 22, 2007); length: 44:14 minutes/seconds]

*Note*: posted an additional video clip; last updated on Saturday, December 13, 2008 at 8:46 PM (ET).

Ideas About How to Fix the Economy

*Updated* (with the usual edits)

Having revisited the Obama-Biden Transition Team Change.gov Website and, viewing the video of President-elect Barack Obama laying out key parts of the economic recovery plan (here), I followed the link for sending questions or ideas about how to fix the economy (here).

After viewing the short video featured on that page, I wrote and then submitted the following thoughts, insights, comments and ideas using the online submission form:

Re: Quickly and meaningfully work to address, both during the short-term as well as over the long-term, the dire affordable housing and homelessness crisis that has long plagued this nation over the last 30 years or so

There is a dire need to address the longstanding affordable housing and homelessness crisis within our nation.

The National Housing Trust Fund might prove to be an empty promise and not enough to address the need, not only because as I understand it the program would not begin drawing down monies until around 2010 or so, but now that the funding source was dependent on a stream from Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac and those programs are in peril and have basically been taken over by the government, it remains to be seen if the funding will be there for what is required for building and growing the trust fund. Even if it were, nothing would be coming from it until at least 2012 or later on. This is not either good or soon enough to address the problems at hand, either in the short or long term.

It is crucial not to make the make[errors] of previous administrations as well as Congress and allow the problems to continue to be ignored. Nor it is enough to simply throw money at it in the manner as has been the case thus far.

What is required to address homelessness among all those in need is affordable housing. Due to the serious need and also limited resources considering everything else the government needs to address during this time of economic crisis and not being able to do everything needed, what helps most in helping people get and stay housed is affordable housing as well as offering a menu of *voluntary* supports (without string[s] attached). Homeless shelters and transitional housing are not what works best and are only poor bandaid solutions, ones which cost lots of money and only help relatively few people.

Affordable housing needs to be understood as a crucial infrastructure need within the local community, county, state and nation as important and vital as roads and bridges to the economic engine and vitality of our communities, counties, states and nation.

It is also important to keep in mind there is a dire need in rural areas as well and not just in urban areas. In fact rural areas have been seriously neglected for far too long.

Instead of going to Mars or worrying about the space station or other such boondoggles as being above the housing needs of the citizens of our nation, let us prioritize housing as a fundamental right rather than either a privilege of those who can most afford it or a limited entitlement with never enough to meet the need.

In both training and putting people back to work in building and repairing existing housing, including making such energy efficient in all regards, this will help provide both needs[ed] jobs and the housing many are in need of, including both those most in need as well as those whose incomes make it tough if not impossible to own their own or even rent an affordable residence.

With all this in mind, it might be good to also consider newer and better means of housing, including building various types of [housing] along the lines of what is termed as Katrina Cottages depending on the housing needs and family size. This sort of housing would be more energy and cost efficient, as well as take up less land, etc.

Rather than depending on the type of huge apartment or housing complexes that either the private or public housing community have long relied on, which are usually very expensive as well, housing along the lines of the Katrina Cottages in the mix would also help lend to home ownership options, particularly for those like myself who subsist on limited incomes and are section 8 housing choice voucher eligible if only there was the affordable housing to use such a voucher and could use such a voucher toward a home ownership package.

With everything else the new administration is duly focused on, please do not forget those of us in serious need of real, affordable housing opportunities sooner rather than later.

One last thought on the subject is that people who live or formerly have lived homeless are not the problem, we are part of the solution. Thus one of the things that need changing is for programs to stop doing stuff to or for us and work with us at all levels and stages, including by having those who are or formerly were living homeless to be at the table in an equal and full manner as experts as anyone else from planning to implementation whether it be at the systemic level or during the process of a person seeking help to address their needs. We often know best what works and what does not, although we are not usually use to be[ing] included in meaningful ways, except maybe merely as tokens whose opinions and input is ignored.

Thank you in advance for any consideration given to these concerns.

Sincerely,

Morgan W. Brown
Montpelier, Vermont

If you have your own questions or ideas about how to fix the economy, make sure to submit them, here or, otherwise share your vision, here or, your story, here.

For those who might wonder if it would make any difference and matter to those within the new administration who will soon be taking power, it certainly cannot hurt to try, especially while they appear to be willing to listen and learn.

In addition, it certainly will not make a difference or matter if people do not try and share their concerns, stories, questions or ideas.

It is at least a place to start from, which is better than what usually happens, since people do not typically have any chance of being asked or heard about their concerns and ideas about their own government and the building of its agenda and policies.

fyi: National Housing Trust Fund (NHTF)

*Note*: made a couple of, mostly minor, edits for the purposes of clarification and readability; posted an embedded link to an informational page regarding the National Housing Trust Fund; last updated on Sunday, January 11, 2008 at 8:09 AM [ET].

Looming 2 Day Countdown

*Updated 2x*

This past Winter was my fourth such season to have been able to stay temporarily quartered for a significant length of time in one place.

Since it looks like my tenting gear will be put in use when I move of my temporary Winter quarters on Wednesday (June 18, 2008), I will be in dire need of the following three[five] new items asap, which I cannot afford (updated list; crossed out items already obtained and added two more items):

• medium backpack
• suitable sleeping bag
• sleeping pad
• water container
• flash light

When I mentioned my need to someone this evening, they offered to let me [check out and have] the first [two] items on my list, if they are what I am looking for, since they just happen to have such on hand and [with] little use for them [foreseen]. Am also working on a plan B in case those items do not work out and so I can get what I need to sleep out exactly three nights from now.

*Update 1*: Went into town (early Monday evening) to check out the first two items offered to me and now have both a new Summer-type of sleeping bag as well as a good medium-sized backpack. Still need a sleeping pad and it came to mind that I also am in need of both a new and quality water container of some type as well as a flash light that would fit my needs (i.e., function as well as being lightweight). Several people have offered items or options, among them someone within a human services program offering funds up to a certain amount yet enough so I can acquire those items I need. Thank you everyone (end of update #1).

*Update 2*: Found out Tuesday (6/17th) evening that I now have another day before I need to move out, which will be on Thursday morning (6/19th); yet Wednesday’s liveblogging session to be hosted on the Montpelier Matters blog is still on of course (end of update #2).

Would much rather have a permanent (read: long term), decent, quiet, safe, affordable apartment that would fit my needs though.

Then I could enjoy camping out as a vacation rather than for pure survival.

All this is of particular concern of course, especially given both the current state of my overall general physical health as well as mental/emotional/spiritual condition and well being, including in terms of energy and overall functioning — not to mention the higher stress levels and the limits placed on coping and endurance that go with the territory, I am very doubtful of my ability to survive the next four months until I can maybe hope to be temporarily housed again.

As I have mentioned more than once before, I am getting too old for this (I do not know how others do it). That said, somehow I remain hopeful and will try my best, even if that might not prove to be good enough to get me through.

Another hurdle had been what to do with those belongings of mine I cannot manage to either carry on me or keep on hand in some fashion. By chance this weekend the problem became resolved with half of my things ready access to is not required are being stored where I am already storing another item from last year. The other half are items access to can prove crucial when needed and will be stored safely elsewhere as well.

With all these things as well as systemic advocacy concerning these matters and the many others in even more need than myself in mind, if you have time and the inclination to do so, please help spread the word and also take part in a liveblogging event I am hosting on the Montpelier Matters blog on Wednesday, June 18th at 11:00 AM, here (follow link for additional information).

With apologies for not blogging much for a long time, particularly of a personal nature.

*Note*: Third paragraph slightly [edited] for the purposes of clarification and readability; posted an informational update following 3rd paragraph; also updated paragraph 2 and edited list with new or additional info; added a 2nd update & also updated the items needed list again; last updated on Wednesday, June 18, 2008 at 12:12 AM [EDT].

Subsidized Housing in the Town of Morgan, Vermont

Found this particular photo in the Picture Gallery (8 next clicks from first photo) available on the Website for the Town of Morgan, Vermont with a caption that reads [emphasis mine]:

Subsidized Housing in Morgan

For those who are not familiar with such, those are ice fishing shanties or houses on the frozen lake in the dead of Winter.

Times Argus Reader Poll: Should affordable housing be the Legislature’s top priority next session?

[cross-posted at Affordable Housing Matters in Vermont blog, here; as well as the Green Mountain Daily blog, here]

The Barre-Montpelier Times Argus currently has a reader poll available on the pages of their Website listed within the right-hand side-column that asks: Should affordable housing be the Legislature’s top priority next session? [scroll down the page and look for the poll listed under the Vent Zone].

If you are able to do so, please visit the site and cast a vote in the poll and also help to spread the word with others you know within the state whom might be interested as well.

Thank you.