Red's Wrap
Happiness. It's relative.
Category: Homelessness
Advent 10: Cruel Soup
I’ve spent so much time around really kind people in the past year or two that I’ve lost my edge. I’ve become a naive little flower in the poisonous garden of neighborhood politics. So I was taken aback as the first, then the second,… Continue Reading “Advent 10: Cruel Soup”
Advent 9: Hold Your Fire
Sit still, fold your hands Worms wriggle on their own hooks Tie themselves in knots
Hygge Friday Round-Up
Hygge (hue-guh) is the art of wintering gracefully. It’s about making the ordinary lovely and warm but in small everyday ways, intentional but undetectable. It’s a Danish thing. I have a Danish friend whose name is Marcia. She takes hygge with her wherever she… Continue Reading “Hygge Friday Round-Up”
Unconditional Soup
I’ve spent the last few weeks trying to convince people to give my little organization, Time of the Month Club, money to buy homeless women tampons and pads which, once used, will be heaved into some landfill along with disposable diapers and other unpleasant… Continue Reading “Unconditional Soup”
Eviction Notice Friday Round-Up
The folks camping at our local Tent City are getting the boot. Each one was handed a letter today from the State Department of Transportation (on whose land beneath the freeway they are camping) saying they have until October 31st to skedaddle. My usual… Continue Reading “Eviction Notice Friday Round-Up”
The Currency of Homelessness
I heard our local police chief refer to homeless people as an eyesore. An eyesore. Like a junkyard, like old wet carpet piled at the curb, like boarded up, burned out buildings on main street. Living breathing people seen as an eyesore. He wasn’t… Continue Reading “The Currency of Homelessness”
Last Night on Outreach
Last night on homeless outreach, a young woman came out from under a bridge. She was dressed in shorts, a camisole, and shower shoes with white athletic socks and had a thin blanket around her shoulders which she held tight to her chest as… Continue Reading “Last Night on Outreach”
I Know My Place
On the bus last night, doing outreach to homeless people in our town, bundling up hot meals in plastic bags, forgetting sometimes to include a fork because I always make at least one error when I am doing this work, I loved my colleagues… Continue Reading “I Know My Place”
On the Question of Homeless Photography
The homeless outreach group I work with has established a new policy asking volunteers to not post photos on social media of the homeless people we visit on outreach or their encampments. It was a tough call. Photos make homelessness real. A photo of… Continue Reading “On the Question of Homeless Photography”
Good Morning, OB
To the left of the stairs leading up to the pier at Ocean Beach in San Diego, there is an overstuffed couch. A couple of guys with heavy blond dreadlocks are sitting on the couch and smoking while others in various types of homeless… Continue Reading “Good Morning, OB”
Listen to Jan read her essay “Billy” presented on WUWM’s Lake Effect
Jan’s essay “At the Breakfast Bar” on WUWM Lake Effect
Jan’s essay “The Parish Hall,” on WUWM Lake Effect
“Fury Cannot Touch Me,” Modern Love, NYT, 9/29/11
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