Action de Grâce 2010: Je suis papa et je suis sans-abri

Par Un Jasmyne. Cannick

Most people don’t end up homeless by choice. Il ya habituellement une série d'événements malheureux qui finit par conduire à l'être sans-abri.

Daryl Brown Sr. qu'elle ne pouvait prévoir un an et demi auparavant que dans 2010 à la veille de Thanksgiving qu'il serais sans-abri, living in a Gardena motel with his two young sons ages 13 et 9. Black, mâle, high school graduate with steady employment, he took his baby’s mama to court and got full custody of his sons after she was unable and unwilling to care for them. But after being laid off from Home Dept following a back injury, unable to find another job because of a ten year old felony for possession of fraudulent checks, and having exhausted disability, he and his two sons are living in a one room motel in Gardena courtesy of a two week voucher from the County of Los Angeles.

So how does this happen?

Before reaching out to me via Twitter, Daryl told me that he’s placed dozens of calls around the county trying to find shelter and help for himself and two sons, only to find out that most of the services available are for women and children. He has yet to find housing for fathers with children.

His two sons, 13 et 9 year’s old and gifted, haven’t missed a day of school throughout this ordeal, something that Daryl is proud of. He says that he choose a motel in Gardena to be close to their school.

During the day while the boys are at school Daryl says that he goes to the public library to submit online job applications. He says that having a felony, ten years back, sur son dossier a été un obstacle à l'obtention d'un emploi, bien avant d'être mis à pied à partir de Home Depot, il avait bénéficié d'un emploi stable, y compris pour Southwest Airlines à LAX.

Il obtient environ $690 dans le bien-être et un autre $230 en timbres-mes alimentaires de mauvaise Californie prestations électroniques fraîches. Et même si le comté a offert de payer jusqu'à $550 de louer un nouveau lieu, il est difficile de mettre de l'argent pour la première et dernière sur un appartement quand vous payez $59 la nuit pour une chambre de motel et $230 pour trois personnes, dont deux garçons qui grandissent les obtient par à peine.
Daryl dit que pendant qu'il suit toutes les règles, le système n'est pas conçu pour les pères seuls avec enfants. Il ya la croyance que quand il s'agit de pères noirs sont absents en prison, dans les rues, ou tout simplement morts papas de battement.

Pour Thanksgiving un des conseillers scolaires de son fils lui a donné un certificat-cadeau à Carrow de sorte qu'ils puissent profiter d'un dîner de Thanksgiving parce que la chambre de motel qu'ils vivent en n'a pas une cuisine complète pour soutenir le dîner de cuisson.

Il ya beaucoup de choses à propos de la situation de Daryl qui me dérange et oui je sais que l'histoire de Daryl est l'un des milliers d'histoires de la façon dont les familles ordinaires qui ont été faire par, sont maintenant glisser à travers les mailles du filet. Mais la situation de Daryl illustre bien certaines des failles dans le système, surtout en ce qui concerne pour l'aide qui est disponible aux pères avec enfants vers les femmes avec enfants. Just doing a simple Google search of shelters or services available to homeless men with children and it’s clear that the resources don’t stack up when it comes to homeless helping mothers with children. Then add to that what we already know about the challenges of having a felony—no matter how old—on your record. If it was hard before this latest economic depression, it’s damn near impossible now.

D'autre part, let Daryl’s son’s go to school and say that they missed one meal and in comes to the Department of Children and Family Services—the bastard child of the same system that in all other areas for the most part has failed this father of two wouldn’t think twice about taking Daryl’s son’s away from him. And while some people might say well at least they’d have a roof over their head, the fact of the matter is, Daryl would still be unemployed and homeless making it that much harder to get his son’s back and his son’s would be going into a system that’s not designed for the success of Black children.

But what bothers me most of all is that Daryl and families like Daryl are missing in action in the national dialogue—thanks in part two John Edwards and Rielle Hunter. No instead, Washington continues to be fixated on saving the middle class, to which I always ask, from what? What happens to the families who fall out of the middle class? Where do they go and what exactly are we as a country doing about it? As I said in the beginning, most people don’t end up homeless by choice. Il ya habituellement une série d'événements malheureux qui finit par conduire à l'être sans-abri.

Thanksgiving is the American holiday where we are supposed to reflect on our lives and be grateful. We usually end up sitting around a table eating food that we don’t really need to be eating before passing out in a turkey induced coma in front of the television—keep it real. And while I know that L.A. is the homeless capital of America and there are a million Daryl’s out there, you’ve got to start somewhere so why not with Daryl Brown and his two son’s.

It wasn’t easy for Daryl to reach out to me, it was even harder for him to agree to sit down and tell me his story on camera—something that I asked him to do because I felt that no one could explain his situation better than him. But like with any father in dire need, pride takes a backseat.

All of us are struggling, some worse than others this holiday season. But for those of us who can give, no matter what amount, please help me in making sure that Daryl and is two son’s are not tossed out on the street this holiday season. And before you say that you can’t help—if you are reading this online while at work or in the privacy of your home and you know where your next meal is coming from and have some place to live for more than one night—you’re doing better than Daryl and a lot of other families in Los Angeles—so think again.

I’ve set up an online fund through Paypal for donations for those who want to donate online. For those who would like to make a donation directly to Daryl can do so by emailing him at dxb138@gmail.com or calling him at (310) 213-6132.

Like with Mitrice Richardson, I am going to stick this out with Daryl and his sons and see if through sheer goodwill from the community we can start their 2011 de rabais sur le pied droit et aider à sauver au moins une famille noire de glisser à travers les mailles du filet et être séparés par le même système que jusqu'à présent les a pas.

Contacter Daryl Brown

For those who would like to make a donation directly to Daryl can do so by emailing him at dxb138@gmail.com or calling him at (310) 213-6132.

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