So many things happening, and not happening. I guess it's all a process. Fortunately, I'm patient and persistent, but it's tough when you know you're trying to reach out and help people get a place to sleep. Just a couple of items before I get into what's happening this week. One, if you're new to this site, please read my first post, it has my mission statement and goals. That will help you to make more sense of what I've been doing here. Two, I don't know where the pic I posted came from, possibly from the National Coalition from the Homeless, but in any case, it seemed fitting. Anyway, on to the show. Here's what's up for this round of updates:I spoke at length with Oliver Shokouh, the man who founded the Love Ride. He had a lot of good ideas and insight, it was really an eye opener to talk with him. I really appreciate him calling me back and answering a lot of questions. Thanks Oliver, I hope I can make it out to the Love Ride this year!! I also heard back from Michael Stoops, from the National Coalition from the Homeless. He pointed me towards the Los Angeles Coalition to End Hunger and Homelessness, but so far, I've not been able to get in contact with anyone there. I also heard back from the Department of Defense, which was a pleasant surprise. They linked me up to a couple of Veteran organizations. They were quick to point out that they can't exactly endorse any particular group publicly, but it was nice of them even to respond, even if it was just the Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs ;)
I went about trying to contact local LA politicians as well. None of the Congressmen seem to want to talk to anyone outside of their District, so I went ahead and e-mailed all of the Los Angeles City Council members. So far, not a single one has responded with anything more but an automated e-mail, similar to the one I got from (newly re-elected) Mayor Villaraigosa. The exceptions to this is Councilwoman Jan Perry, who sent a personal e-mail saying she would look into it. Nothing new from her recently, but at least she took the time to read my blog. Thank you Ms. Perry! I also went ahead and e-mail The Governator, seeing how he's a Harley rider, but of course, no response as of yet.
On the national front, I contacted the National Veterans Foundation, and they did respond with an e-mail saying that they would look into it and get back to me asap. Phil Mangano, who is a key member of the US Council on Homelessness, also got an e-mail from me, but I haven't heard from them at all, I so wonder if the e-mail was just a public address and not a direct line. Just for the heck of it, I also sent an e-mail to President Obama, but I know I'll never hear back on that one.
I'm planning on going to an AMA Superbike race with my family this coming weekend in Fontana. I was thinking of maybe making some cheap "business cards" or something with this blog address and handing them out, but we'll see if I have time. It seems like an opportunity to get this idea out to a wider audience. We'll see how it goes.
In the meantime, here's an interesting article I found today
No comments:
Post a Comment