Let's Talk Tuesday: Homelessness is a Childhood Trauma

Homelessness is a Childhood Trauma

Welcome and welcome back. It's another amazing day in paradise. Thank you for being here. 

I'm working to eliminate homelessness by the time winter 2023 begins. Will you help me? You can contribute to my fundraiser here: https://www.paypal.com/pools/c/8UJmakINc9

As a way to say thank you, all donations will receive a link to preview the introduction to a set of books I'm writing. The set is called "How To Liberate A Nation With L.U.V.!"

If you donate $25 or more, I'll autograph and send a copy of the magazine I was recently featured in. 

If you donate $50 or more, I'll add access to the first chapter of the book for 72 hours.

If you donate $100 or more you'll be given an opportunity to comment on it throughout the entire writing process.

The goal is at least $10K, preferably $20K. I'm going to ask the city and county to match it. As a member of the Raleigh/Wake Joint Homelessness Task Force, I'm committed to bringing more immediate solutions to the table. 

I've managed to put out a blog post every week for the last 2 weeks, this will be my 3rd. I'm doing this as I live out of a car with my son. But this has become my passion to eliminate homelessness and I have a plan to do it. 

I saw a shirt yesterday and it said, "Never Underestimate the Power of a Woman With a Prayer and A Plan". That shirt spoke to me and the lady looked like she had an agenda. If I wasn't in a rush to leave I would have asked her about what she was up to and shared about me too. 

Instead I showed her my earrings. There are two pair in one, a creation of mine from jewelry pieces I had. The top ones say, "she believed she could so she did". The bottom ones say, "I am Black History". 

I told her I wished the top one said, "she believed God could so she did it". She said, "have it made, that's your saying". I never thought of that! I will!

Because all day, every day I'm working for God. And having a child living with me in our car for the last 8 weeks has really opened my eyes to things I never noticed before. Like when I sat in the first meeting of the Raleigh/Wake County Joint Homelessness Task Force. 

The rep from Wake County Public Schools said there were about 6000 homeless students in the system. I was floored. That's up from the 4K-5K it's been in recent years (not that 4K-5K is good).

When it came time to prepare data for the presentation I gave to the task force, I focused on those 6000. And when I went looking for information, I found more than I bargained for.

According to the Families Together website, here are the gruesome facts:

Did you see that? "More than 6500 children...". That's all children, birth to 18 years. Then this infrographic struck me:

So now I'm feeling some kinda way. Because I know children of color are being disproportionately affected. Then I see the following statistics and start getting really upset:

You see, I attended a summit at the end of April called "Leveraging North Carolina's Assets to Prevent Child Trauma" and was introduced to this infographic by North Carolina Partnership for Children: 

Have you heard of ACEs? It is an acronym meaning adverse childhood experiences. In other words, childhood trauma. There are 10 ACEs. To calculate an ACE score you count how many of the 10 were experienced in a person's childhood. Homelessness is one of them. Please note: If homelessness is adverse to a child, it's also adverse to an adult.

As you can see by the graphic, there are 4 realms of ACEs but the score is only calculated by the original 10.

The first infographic is the same one my fundraising campaign. It shows that approximately 6500 children, from birth to 18, will go homeless in Wake County this year. That means at least 6500 children are experiencing 1 ACE.

Did you see that 83% of those 6500 children have been exposed to at least one violent act? Domestic violence is another ACE. Approximately 5400 children have experienced 2 ACEs. 

Do you know that at least 98% of those who have been/are incarcerated experienced at least 1 ACE? 100% of homeless children in Wake County are in the pipeline to prison having 1 ACE, homelessness. And 83% are in the pipeline to prison with 2 ACEs. That's between 5400-6400 children.

Do you know that for fiscal year 2024-25 Wake County is investing almost $60M on detention services alone? It's increased about $11.3M since 2022. With enough beds for 1,568 inmates, just over $38K is spent per year for one person.

What do you think about investing $205M-$247M in our prison system to house the children who are homeless now?

Do you know the median rent in Raleigh is around $2000 per month? That's only $24K per year to house a family.

Considering an average of 3 children per family it would take approx. $43.3M to house all of them for a year (2167 families at $20K each).

Do you know we can eliminate homelessness and dismantle the pipeline to prison by housing families and providing parents/caregivers the resources and support they need?

My goal is to create homesteads for the homeless, off grid living within the city limits. Tiny homes, gardens, education, mentors and community are the main objectives to raise happy, healthy, resilient children from cradle to career. And we will move individuals and families from poverty to prosperity.

Please contribute today. Thanks again and in advance. Enjoy the amazing day you're creating. Peace...