A night of HOPE

I volunteered with the NYC Department of Homeless Services to count the homeless for census and outreach purposes.

I went to Hunter College for training (very brief and frankly not helpful) at 10:30pm. There I met my team of 4 others (we were Team #1 in more ways than one!)

The actual survery started at 12:15 am. We had to talk to everyone we saw -- whether they looked homeless or not (excluding people who were clearly working) and ask them if they would answer a few questions about their housing situation. If they were asleep or bedded down for the night, we were to consider them homeless.

Our team had 3 areas to cover, which spanned from East 58th Street and Central Park to 3rd and 63rd.

Even though we had probably the toniest section of Manhattan (this project was taking place everywhere in the 5 boroughs), including exclusive Park, Madison and 5th Avenue, we found many homeless people sleeping in the church courtyards. At one church, we counted 8 people.

We also found a man who was not homeless but rummaging through all the perfectly good stuff that people throw out on Park Avenue. I gave him the tip to check outside the Trump Hotel on Central Park West, as they sure throw out tons of useful stuff. He thanked me for the tip.

I also spoke to one man, who was awake sitting on a bed of blankets in a doorway. He nodded "yes" to my questions if he had a place to go. Clearly he didn't, but he had been looking at me and my team while we debated whether we should talk to him, and I think he just wanted to have someone to talk to (if he even understood me.)

We were finished by 2:30 am --- we had found 15 homeless people in our little area alone.

https://a071-hope.nyc.gov/hope/welcome.aspx

Free Cardiac Risk Assessments in NYC!

New York Cardiovascular Associates (NYCVA) is presenting:

"Heart to Heart Screenings for Women and Men"

Feb 11, 2010

5-8pm.

Call 1-877-863-6873 to register.

275 Seventh Avenue, 3rd floor
NY, NY 10001

Skateboarding and Native Americans

Members of the 4 Wheel Warpony skate team (White Mountain Apache). Photo courtesy of Dustinn Craig (White Mountain Apache/Navajo), 2008.

I saw the greatest exhibit on my lunch hour today. I went to the National Museum of the American Indian (part of the Smithsonian Institution, based in Washington, DC). so it is FREE! Yes, FREE!

The exhibit is a simple but impressive photo and film display on how skateboarding is actually an indigenous sport, derived from Native Hawaiians surfing.

And I learned that there is actually a school that combines elementary school curriculum with skateboarding. It's called "Kids That Rip Skate School", and it's the only one in the USA.

http://www.kidsthatrip.com/


Ramp It Up: Skateboard Culture in Native America
December 11, 2009–June 27, 2010
George Gustav Heye Center, New York
Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House
One Bowling Green
New York, NY 10004
FREE
212-514-3700

http://www.nmai.si.edu/subpage.cfm?subpage=visitor

Send $5 to Haiti within seconds

Wyclef Jean is donating money to the victims of the earthquake that struck Haiti this past Tuesday 12 Jan 2010.

Text YELE to 501501 and his foundation donates $5. (it will be charged to your cell phone bill.)


So far, over $1 million has been raised.

You can do it at any time --- I texted around 4:30 am and got a confirmation text immediately.

We already text so much anyway, it's good to put it to use to help a bit in such a dire situation.

Palindrome alert!

Today's date is 01/02/2010. This is a palindrome: a rare confluence of month, date and year that reads the same backward as forward (palindromes also apply to words and names like Hannah and Elle.)

The last palindrome date was Oct. 2, 2001 (10/02/2001). But before that, it was more than six centuries before Aug. 31, 1380 (08/31/1380).

Happy New Year!

And all dressed up on the Upper West Side are these cheery gargoyles to ring in the new year!