Subscribe to Dollars & Sense magazine. Recent articles related to the financial crisis. Why Not End Homelessness Now?Here is the press release for the 13th annual Homelessness Marathon, an annual overnight radio broadcast on homelessness and poverty. It is a truly amazing program--especially the moving testimony from homeless folks who call in or show up at the broadcast site. We encourage you to tune in for at least part of it. You can listen online or tune over the airwaves--it's carried on over a hundred radio stations across the United States and Canada. This year's marathon originate in Detroit. It starts in an hour and a half--tune in!BROADCAST TO ASK, "WHY NOT END HOMELESSNESS NOW?" 13th Annual Homelessness Marathon begins 7 p.m., EST, Tues. Feb 23rd and run for 14 hours until 9 a.m., EST, Wed. Feb. 24th "We have a mindset in this country that homelessness is a problem that can wait," comments Jeremy Weir Alderson, founder of the Homelessness Marathon, "but it's a dire emergency for the people who are homeless, a drain on our economy, and a stain on our national honor. We ought to solve this problem, and we could if we would only turn our attention to it." The Homelessness Marathon will address the problem of homelessness by speaking directly with homeless people, who will give their first-hand testimony on how they became homeless and the obstacles they face before they can be housed again. Hundreds of homeless people will be brought by bus (in rotating shifts) so that they can participate in this event and speak directly to the nation. They will be brought by shelters, advocacy groups, and grass roots organizations formed by homeless people themselves. The broadcast will feature, as well, such speakers as Senator Carl Levin; Ron Gettlefinger, president of the United Auto Workers; and two of America's most outstanding anti-poverty advocates, Cheri Honkala, director of the Poor Peoples' Economic Human Rights Campaign and Paul Boden, director of the Western Regional Advocacy Project. Prominent advocates from Detroit will participate, including Rev. Faith Fowler, director of Cass Community Social Services and Maureen Taylor, the state chairperson of Michigan Welfare Rights Organization. Experts from elsewhere in the country will also participate, including Kathleen Johnson, director of Katrina Relief in Mississippi and Mike Rhodes, editor of the Community Alliance newspaper in Fresno, California, arguably, the cruelest city in America towards its homeless citizens. The broadcast will originate from 12025 Woodrow Wilson St., a "green gym" recently opened by Cass Community Social Services for the use of its homeless clients. Detroit area radio stations participating in the broadcast will include, WHFR in Dearborn, the broadcast's host station; WHPR in Highland Park and CJAM in Windsor, Ontario. The Homelessness Marathon is a consciousness-raising not a fund-raising broadcast. There will be no on-air solicitations. More information about the broadcast can be found here; Acclaim for the broadcast can be found here; To donate to the Homelessness Marathon go here. Labels: affordable housing, homelessness, Homelessness Marathon, poverty Please consider donating to Dollars & Sense and/or subscribing to the magazine (both print and e-subscriptions now available!). Homeless take to the airwaves tonightThe 11th Annual Homelessness Marathon, a 14-hour national radio dialogue on poverty and housing in the US, will take place Wednesday night to Thursday morning, February 20-21. Originating this year in Nashville, the Marathon is a live, outdoor, broadcasting event featuring homeless people, advocates for the homeless and call-ins from the public. A broadcast booth is set up outside, with open mics for people who are out on the street in Nashville that night.The Marathon does not raise money for charity. Its mission is to raise consciousness, by covering a broad range of topics, speaking with experts, taking calls from around the country, and above all, by putting homeless people on the air directly. It is the largest broadcast on homelessness, and indeed on poverty, in the United States. The Marathon will be streaming live on the program's website, or find a radio station near you that is carrying the broadcast. If you miss the broadcast, excerpts from this and previous year's marathons are posted at the program's website. Read a Dollars & Sense article about the Marathon, from our Jan./Feb. 2007 issue. Labels: affordable housing, Homelessness Marathon, poverty, radio Please consider donating to Dollars & Sense and/or subscribing to the magazine (both print and e-subscriptions now available!). |
