Homelessness Awareness Week at Kennesaw State University

During the week of October 12th thru the 17th an amazing annual event, Homelessness Awareness Week (HAW), will take place on the campus of Kennesaw State University. Students, faculty and staff will be provided with the extraordinary experience of learning about and simulating homelessness as the campus field is turned into a homeless community.

The following is the agenda for the week:

October 12th - Homelessness Awareness 1st Annual Conference
Making Homelessness Visible: From Education to Engagement

October 13th and 14th - Breakout sessions in classrooms with outreach workers from the community

October 15th and 16th - A 48 hour homeless simulation where students sleep-out on the campus field for two nights and try to find the resources they need to survive.

October 17th - Debriefing of students and faculty with group discussions about individual experiences

HAW makes it possible for faculty, students and staff to have the opportunity to learn about this "invisible" sector of our society. The goal of the activities is to increase students knowledge and understanding of living without food shelter and sometimes living without hope.

To learn more about Homelessness Awareness Week at KSU visit http://www.cleopatrajones.org/ where you can view footage from HAW 2008. To register for Homelessness Awareness Week go to the following link: serve.gov.

The Big Event - Altanta Homeless Connect

On Sunday, October 25, 2009 a number of non-profit organizations, educational institutions, government agencies and the community at large will come together to recognize one important issue: Homelessness. Atlanta Homeless Connect will be Georgia's first major event to encompass a broad scope of collaboration to address homelessness using the federal government's Project Homeless Connect model. This model has been used successfully in a number of other states including California, Washington, Oregon, Iowa and Minnesota. The event will be registered as part of serve.gov, a community service initiative of President Barack Obama which runs from June 22nd to September 11th.

Here are the details of the Atlanta Homeless Connect event:

- The event will take place at Georgia State University's Sports Arena

- A number of non-profits and state government agencies such as Living Room, United Way, Salvation Army, Trinity Community Ministries, the Atlanta Mayor's office, Georgia Department of Community Affairs, Gateway, Covenant Community, The Anti-Aging & Vitality Center of Atlanta, The Sullivan Center and others will come together to provide program intake, information and resources to the community.

- We will provide refreshments and entertainment to all individuals who attend the event

- We will provide showers, hygiene kits, food, intake services and other resources to the homeless and at-risk community

- We will have a day of celebration to honor some champions to the cause of homelessness within the Atlanta area (Two pioneers in the fight to end homelessness will be retiring this year and we will honor their contributions.)

- We will showcase the many talents of homeless individuals by providing a talent show. We will also have a number of local artists from the community who would like to perform.

- Local universities will provide student volunteers and conduct a number of service projects during Atlanta Homeless Connect.

- The community at large is invited to participate and engage homeless individuals so we can increase understanding and awareness of this epidemic. (I would love to see this be an event for the whole community with food and fun. I hate the stigma of homeless in the title but we need to bring awareness to this problem.)

You are invited to help organize, participate, perform and volunteer. If you are interested in participating in this event please go to http://www.cleopatrajones.org/ to join the social network and register at serve.gov (this registration is very important in organizing the event). I will be providing you with more details about the event on the website. We can change the world one person, one household, one neighborhood, one community, one city, one state, one nation and........ one world at a time.

Cleopatra Jones Day...... Making Change One Person at a TIme

Yesterday The Cleopatra Jones Crusade, Inc. (A.K.A "The Crusade") had it's first annual celebration of Cleopatra Jones Day and it was a great success. June 11th was proclaimed by the Westchester County Board of Legislators as Cleopatra Jones Day in remembrance of Cleopatra Jones and her 50 years of service to the community. The day was celebrated by volunteering to make CHANGES: Culture, Health, Arts, Nutrition, Generosity, Education/Environment, and Service a reality in at risk communities.

In Atlanta volunteers attended a meet, greet and eat with the homeless at the Salvation Army Red Shield on Luckie Street. Volunteers participated in a number of tasks such as; feeding the homeless, working in the clothing closet to organize donations, and helping the maintenance crew with minor tasks throughout the building. Everyone learned from each other while participating in the activities and fun was had by staff, volunteers and individuals who are clients in Salvation Army programs.

Networking for collaboration of future events and volunteer opportunities were discussed by "The Crusade" and Salvation Army staff and plans for a meeting to solidify arrangements were made. The event opened doors for organizers to work together to create volunteer opportunities and make change a reality in the nearby community.

"What a great way to honor a great lady and we would love to participate in any other volunteer opportunities offered by this organization." said Alicia Brown, Lead Case Manager at Salvation Army Red Shield.