Last night I was part of a miracle that I still cannot believe happened. I had to get up this morning just to watch the video a few times for it all to sink in. This miracle was broadcast to the world in real-time via social media. And to be honest Twitter played the biggest role in giving smiles to a homeless family’s first night in shelter system.

Instead of writing a bunch of words I thought I’d cut out a few tweets so you can see the miracle unfold just like everyone else did last night.

The winter shelter is no place for children so we drive families to a hotel and voucher them until we can find a more permanent solution. This single mom was living in a van with her 9 year-old son. When the city towed their van they lost EVERYTHING! I checked the family into hotel and then took them grocery shopping. Mom told me they desperately needed a change of clothes. Another woman at the shelter has an urgent need for clothes so I broadcast the needs via twitter.

Almost instantly Pastor Matthew Barnett from Los Angeles Dream Center sent me the following direct messages.

Because the only clothes this mother and child had were on their backs I didn’t feel we could wait another day. I searched the GPS on my phone and the closest store was Walmart. I tweet I was headed there. Soon I received this.

Pastor Matthew called me. He asked me to pick out a nice toy for the boy and suggested a Nintendo DS. The Los Angeles Dream Center is the church that helped me off the streets. Matthew Barnett has been caring for homeless people for over a decade. He knows people without housing cannot carry lots of stuff so a portable video game is a perfect gift. Even typing this now thinking about last night I get emotional. Last night I was a wreck!

I opened the Ustream app and started to broadcast over the net. Ustream cuts up the clips so I edited them together. The following YouTube video is what I broadcast from my phone last night.

Response was immediate and overwhelming. Here are just a very few:

My friend Kat Armstrong wrote a post even before we all got home. Please read her powerful post here.

For as long as I can remember I have hated this time of year. As a tradition I keep wherever I live ‘Christmas free’ to escape the holiday madness. No Christmas music, no Christmas decorations, and especially NO CHRISTMAS TREES! To reflect my holiday ‘mood’ I even change my avatar to the mean Grinch. While rushing to Walmart I must have been out of my mind and tweet that if someone helped this 9 year-old boy I’d change my avatar, and if someone helped the woman with clothes I’d get a tree.

I will be getting a tree this weekend! Merry Christmas!

Last night I learned that to see miracles one must be in a place where miracles happen – that place is helping other people.

Thanks to Union Rescue Mission and PATH Achieve Glendale for taking care of homeless families at the winter shelters around Los Angeles. Very special thanks to Matthew Barnett and everyone who donated to help give a little extra love this holiday season!

Almost 12 months ago Danny Brown had an idea. The idea was simple: for 12 months pick one charity each month and raise $12,000 (or more) for that charity. And thus, the 12for12k Challenge was born. I believe 12for12K Challenge is one of 2009’s most brilliant ideas.

But this month, instead of just giving money, Danny is asking that we all join together to do something a little different, a little risky, a little dirty. What that means is this month we are going to take real, tangible action to support our local homeless services. That’s right, the organizations in your town that are helping people get off the streets by providing health services, housing and jobs!

I am not a numbers person because the numbers are always off. It is nearly impossible to have an accurate point-in-time count of the homeless population. Plus, many people living in hotels or ‘couch surfing ‘are never counted. What I can tell you is that hundreds of thousands of people slept outside last night and even more slept inside our shelter systems. Very large percentages are families with small children.

For many, something as simple as a pair of clean socks or a hot cup of coffee to keep warm is all they want this holiday season. Of course, they need so much more. Which is why we are asking you to join the 12for12k Community in supporting the people who are fighting homelessness in your home town.

The 12 Days of Christmas Homeless Push is rather simple. We’ve come up with a starter list themed around the 12 Days of Christmas, only this is the 12for12k version. Please feel free to come up with your own list. And I encourage homeless service organizations to publish your own lists either on the 12for12k blog, 12for12k Community, or on your websites.

It’s up to you which ones you choose, although obviously choosing all 12 will make the biggest impact. And whatever you decide to do, record it. Photographs, videos, blogs, social networks – your choice. Sharing can only make more people aware and encourage more help – and that’s always a good thing. 12for12k will share your stories on our community, so please consider joining if you haven’t already.

So… on with the 12 suggestions.

1. Day 1. Contact your local homeless shelter(s) and ask what they need. Make a list and work from there.
2. Day 2. Gather 10 friends each (family, friends, colleagues) in preparation for Helping Day.
3. Day 3. Challenge these friends to a bake-off. Bake a bunch of homemade goodness – soup, stews, cookies, etc – ready for Helping Day.
4. Day 4. Clean out your closet (especially your husband’s, 12for12k wives!), and pack up all the old clothes that you find. Coats, socks, underwear, shoes, jeans – anything and everything.
5. Day 5. Go through your linen closet and think of what blankets, sleeping bags, duvets, etc, that you no longer need.
6. Day 6. Check your pantry – do you really need all these tins of soup or canned stew? Collect and store.
7. Day 7. Invite a homeless person for coffee. Go to a Starbucks or McDonald’s, buy a combo, sit and talk. Get to know the person behind the story.
8. Day 8. Go grocery shopping. Find 2-for-1 deals and buy what you can afford. Save the second item for Helping Day.
9. Day 9. Kids are homeless too. Collect all your childrens’ unwanted toys and box up. This includes books as
10. Day 10. Go to your local fast food/coffee house and buy a bunch of gift cards ready for handing out.
11. Day 11. This one’s an easy one – share with your networks what’s happening and get them involved.
12. Day 12. This is Helping Day. Go to a shelter, take everything you and your friends/family have collected, and help. One hour; six hours; all day – it doesn’t matter. Help – serve food; give out packages; talk to people; befriend someone. Simply put – be human to another human being.

For you party animals, maybe holding a 12for12k Holiday Party to support a homeless shelter is more your style. By all means make it happen! Here is an example of what people did in Lowell, Massachusetts.

Be creative, have fun, and let’s really get dirty this holiday season to help our friends and neighbors who don’t have a home. If you have any questions or are having trouble finding a homeless services organization ask the 12for12k Community or holler at me on Twitter.

Here are a few resources that may help:

• United Way’s 2-1-1 Information and Referral Search
• Homeless Shelter Directory
• Rescue Mission Directory
• What to Buy If You Are Homeless
• 35 Ways to Help the Homeless

photo of courtesy of MLFNOW

Last year I met Ben for the 1st time. He probably was the most energetic volunteer I have ever met. The location of our first encounter was Glendale’s Homeless Connect Day and it seemed like Ben was running the show – which in a way he was. Ben managed all the manpower for the day and was doing everything he could to make the day a success.

Ben is a volunteer leader (for a day gig he plays electrician) of ServeLA, a ministry out of Mosaic.

At first I was a little taken. I’ve worked in fulltime ministry for many years and usually churches just do their own thing. I am not saying that is bad. *cough* There are many great churches that have a huge impact on their community. But at the Homeless Connect Day ServeLA was helping the City of Glendale and all the other organizations involved – not just their own church community.

Taken from the ServeLA website:

What is serveLA?
We are a community of people who are committed to the future our city, striving to make whatever difference we can.

I love that! A church ministry going outside its own church body to help others is simply gorgeous! But we need more! We need ServeBoston, ServeCleveland, ServeChicago, Serve(insert your own city)!

As the economy gets worse we need to get better. One huge way we can get better is if more church leaders would be secure enough (ya, I went there) to allow their own church to build something besides their own church! I mean, we talk about community on Sunday morning then the rest of the week we only help build our own ministries. Yes, I know, your church may have bought a new basketball hoop for the local school. You may have even painted a mural. But then you went back to doing your own thing and won’t be back to help that school for 6 months or more. What I am talking about is a fulltime commitment to work with and serve the community outside of your church community!

So here’s the challenge. Assign someone to find events being held in your community, maybe even being held by another church, then have a team of people go serve those events doing whatever is asked – and without any agenda! Repeat daily! Now that’s a real church!

Since much of the recent traffic to this blog is coming from CNN I was going to wait until I posted a link. But tonight a friend mentioned the CNN story so I took another read. It all kind of hit me. I mean, here I am with no real resources except social media and look at all the amazing things that happened this year. I never ever thought I would visit Seattle yet I was there 3 times. 2 visits to New York City, over 26 cities and 11,263 miles by car. Actually, there is not enough time in the day to list all the adventures I’ve had this year! WOW!

I am so grateful for all the media exposure. Each post, every TV package, and every tweet help give a face and voice to people who have little influence. In rereading the CNN story and watching the CNN video (they are different) I can hardly even believe this is my life.

Read my story on CNN click here

Also honored Huffington Post listed me as one of the top twitter activists to follow.

After a year like this I cannot even imagine what next year will be like.

I was cleaning up some links today and noticed an old video has a new interface so I can finally embed. This last summer during the road trip I was flown to Seattle to speak at Gnomedex. While there the local NBC station followed me to one of my favorite places Nickelsville.

original link to news story here

WOW! Just WOW! I spent the last hour registering for South by Southwest Conference held in Austin this coming March 12 – 21st. I am honored to be selected to lead a ‘core conversation’ on the topic “social media for social change”.

It’s kind of scary stepping out like this. I mean, I don’t have money so booking a hotel is rather insane. But I’m reminded of last year when I was asked to speak at my first national conference. I was asked in November yet the event was not until May. As most of you know I was very close to homelessness myself back then. I accepted that invitation fully expecting to have to cancel because I would be on the streets. Interesting that although my financial situation has not changed I have spoken at several national events this year! That’s why I am saying “WOW” over and over again!

SXSW is a huge deal so of course I accepted. In fact, the format of ‘core conversation’ is a perfect fit for me. I am like crazy excited! I have no idea how I am going to get there or how I with come up with rent money that month – who cares – it’s SXSW and I’m jumping in head first!

I turn 50 years old on March 13th. I made a promise to myself that on my 50th birthday I would jump out of an airplane. Too me, skydiving is a perfect fit to celebrate this crazy life I’ve lead for half a century, and it would be a real miracle on my part to actually go through with it. Well, I guess just being able to afford a plane ticket to fly to Austin will be my perfect fit miracle.

Thank you SXSW for believing in me and a very special thanks to everyone who supported me. Especially Heather Meeker and the Whrrl team. I didn’t even know what SXSW was until they suggested I submit a panel.  And my favorite foodie Babette for adding me with the rest of the ‘cupcakes’

I am truly grateful.

Two days ago the Glendale Winter Shelter opened. Some of you may remember last year I helped supervise a bus stop to support the winter shelter. Too me, the first night was bittersweet. It was like a family reunion in a way seeing so many of my friends from last year. I get a warm and fuzzy feeling knowing I am part of a team that will provide a safe place, hot shower and warm meal for the next 3 months. But so very sad knowing most spent the last year living outside homeless, and there really is not enough housing to get them out of homelessness.

I asked one of my heroes Andy Bales about his 10 step plan to end homelessness.

please support Union Rescue Mission and PATH Achieve Glendale

Last week, Daniel De Vaul was arrested for the conditions in which he was housing the homeless on his ranch in San Luis Obispo. California. Since this story broke, many people have been divided on this issue. Should the rancher be lauded for providing housing to the homeless? Or punished because of the awful conditions of his property?

Yesterday, I traveled out to Sunny Acres Ranch to meet Dan Du Vaul and provide an exclusive first look into the ranch and the story behind the headlines. I was excited to talk to Mr. De Vaul because I was told he’ll be appearing on Larry King Live and Good Morning America later this week. That said, I am not the mainstream media. I wanted to move past the media spin and hear the voice that matters most: the formerly homeless people living the ranch. Though there are a few notable exceptions, the people living on the ranch have largely left out of the media discourse surrounding the rancher debacle.

When I hear the word ‘ranch’ I think rural. Actually, Sunny Acres is not rural at all. It’s only a few blocks past a golf course, a middle school, and shopping. His neighbors are just 500 feet away and a housing development sits directly across the street. As you’ll see in the pictures and videos below, the ranch looked like a junky country barn. Although people are recovering from drug and alcohol addictions here – which is critically important – this should not trump important health and safety issues. These issues must be addressed. I was relieved to hear that the ranch does not accept children.

I understand that the city has tried to work with Mr De Vaul on several occasions to clean up his ranch. But as a stubborn and ornery man (both good traits in my book), Dan won’t play any game but his own. This is unfortunate. Sometimes, for the good of everyone, you have to compromise.

Jimmy and Randy – two of the Sunny Acres residents I interviewed below – were a pleasure to meet and talk to (see below). But this is precisely why I found their substandard living environment unacceptable. Sunny Acres charges $300 a month per person to live there in a 10×12 shack with no plumbing that is not up to code. Sure, it’s affordable. But it is far from safe or decent housing. I don’t think that because a person has experienced homelessness or addiction they should have to “get by” in sub-standard living conditions.

After visiting the ranch, meeting Dan, some of the residents, and case managers, I’m still torn on this issue. Clearly, Dan’s intentions are in the right place. He doesn’t just talk about fighting homelessness; he is in the midst of battle. Though he should be chided for the conditions in which he is housing people, this remains a critical and unmet need.

Our federal and local governments have tried to mend the safety net, but the system remains broken. As the social worker I interviewed, Jennifer, points out, often homeless services are so segmented people fall through the gaps in the safety net. What’s more, the communication breakdown between nonprofit and government agencies often results in a confusing mass of services that is impossible to navigate. Maybe this is why Sunny Acres works; it fills gap because Dan takes everyone (but kids) and there is very little bureaucracy.

Perhaps the community can learn from De Vaul. Clearly he has a program that is working; people are finding stability and sobriety on his ranch. It’s cost-effective and I bet the “Sunny Acres Model of Recovery” can teach us a few things about saving lives and money (that is, beyond neglecting physical housing conditions… but I digress).

The biggest concern I had after visiting the ranch is the political hornet’s nest this is creating. Several locals said the attention on this story is polarizing a community that is already divided on this issue. And who will inevitably lose this battle? Those without a home in San Luis Obispo.

If you really care about the people living on your property, Mr. De Vaul, give them the safe, decent and affordable housing to which we are all entitled.

Mr. De Vaul: Please clean up this ranch

Stories from the Ranch

Interview with Dan De Vaul. Jennifer, a mental health case worker for Santa Barbara Count joined us for the interview. (interview was before my tour of the ranch and my end comments were cutoff. Basically I closed by saying this is an important issue and the SLO community needs to really look at all the facts. I see both sides. But as I have said in this post safety of people living on the ranch cannot be overlooked)

Photo sideshow. (flash would not work inside the barns)

Randy has lived in a 10×12 ‘garden shed’ for four months now. He credits Sunny Acres for his sobriety.

Jimmy is a Vietnam veteran who has lived on the ranch off-and-on for seven years. He has been clean and sober for two years.

Last weekend I was honored to speak at The Idea Camp in Portland, Oregon. I gave some good points and ‘next steps’ for people who have a heart to care for people living on the streets. I edited out the 1st 17 minutes or so to get right to the meat. If you’d like to watch the full version click here.
Links to references:

• Andy Bales’s 10 step plan to end homelessness
• Michele Forrest’s blog ChosenFast .com – Greensboro Police Whrrl story
• Mobile Loaves & Fishes – watch Habitat on Wheels video
• Interview with State of Utah
• Family Promise Interfaith Hospitality Network
• ImagineLA
• Macomb County Rotating Emergency Shelter

Today my plan was to sleep in and that’s about it. I didn’t want to do anything even remotely related to Thanksgiving. But, like most days of my life God has other plans for me. I believe He often finds great joy in how much He changed my heart. Seriously, I am not that nice. My plan for my life was to relocate back to LA, start a new band, find a wife, and vacation in Hawaii. Of course, nothing went as planned – I was laid off (again), lost my house to foreclosure and for the most part hit rock bottom (again). I honestly believe if my plan was successful I would not have started InvisiblePeople.tv last November.

Today my plan was to sleep in, which I did but I eventuality I got hungry. Food is such a powerful motivator. Us single people get multiple invites during holidays and I would bet we all pick the one where we feel less awkward. I had several places to go. All great places and all great people and I’m sure wonderful food. But the closest thing I have to family on the Best Coast is my homeless friends so I got in the car and drove to Glendale.

Since I was about 20 minutes late I thought I’d walk in to the shelter and it would be one huge love fest of food and friends. Instead, nothing was going on and it was obvious the ‘guest chef’ who volunteered didn’t show up. OUCH! That meant my ‘family’ was not going to have a Thanksgiving meal and there is no way I could let a face like this not have a holiday meal.

Not all stories end well but today’s did, and so did my story. By all signs I should be homeless myself. My gross income since March 15th has been $1,500. You live on that amount in Los Angeles for 9 months!!! Yet, even though I’m still in crisis, my heart was changed and I focused on helping others. That alone is what I believe made the world of difference in my life.

This has been an amazing year! Probably the most amazing year of my life (so far)! So much happened I’m not sure if I could write it all. There are so many people I have to think who believed in me, loved me, encouraged me and supported me. I am so very grateful to each and every one of you.

I am grateful for all the pain that got me to the point where I would do something to help others, and I am grateful for all of you that are riding along with me because together there are so many more people we need to help.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING