Homelessness On The Web

I've mentioned homeless newspapers a few times, but for those of you who have missed that, here's an explanation. I first came across "Street News" as it's most often referred to as, in Salt Lake City. I thought it was a great idea. Basically, it's a newspaper full of stories of homelessness locally and nationally. The Street Vendor pays X amount of cents per copy and then sells them on the street, usually for a dollar. This is a way for them to create a job to do what they can to get off the streets. It's a great program that raises awareness for those of us who don't think about what some people go through and I've heard success stories, which is even better.

I just arrived in Santa Barbara yesterday, and haven't as of yet seen a newspaper like this, but in my research before leaving Monterey to come here came across the "Homeless in Santa Barbara" website. This is a great sight. You can clearly see what services there are for the homeless in this area. There are articles about the things that are happening in the city as far as homelessness is concerned.

I had an opportunity yesterday to talk to a couple that lives here. When I told them that I'm traveling and writing as a way to raise awareness of homelessness, they had a lot of questions. During our conversation I brought up the website and showed it to them. They were a young family, and like most of us, didn't think much about homelessness in their daily lives. It was awesome to be able to have that conversation and realize myself, just how much I've learned in the past few months. This conversation, combined with the blog's 7,000 hits in about 30 different countries milestone, has given hope that I am hopefully making some kind of difference.