Category: homeless people

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Jaden Smith Has a Restaurant that Feeds the Homeless for Free

Sometimes I look around and the world seems pretty awful.

But that’s big picture. It’s funny because the song “From a Distance” talks about how if you zoom out far enough, the world looks fine and we’re all just people. No hunger, no war, etc. And that’s fair enough. Mother Earth looks pretty beautiful from Space. But all the bad stuff in the world–war, poverty, pandemics–those are all big things. And it’s easy to get overwhelmed by them.

Sometimes you have to put the big picture stuff on hold, and look for hope in the details. Like teenage Mari Copeny, aka Little Miss Flint trying to solve not only the water crisis in Michigan, but to help kids out in other ways too.

Or young Greta Thunberg inspiring an entire generation to work towards climate change. And don’t forget Boyan Slat who, at the age of 18, began to take on ocean plastic. This generation of young people is AMAZING, and there are so many stories of them that make the future seem a lot brighter.

One example is 22-year-old Jaden Smith, off-spring of LA power couple Will and Jada Pinkett Smith, who is working hard to solve the food crisis in LA. Two years ago, Jaden started a food truck called “The I Love You Restaurant” with a mission of supplying healthy, vegan meals to the homeless on Skid Row for free.

 

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A post shared by I LOVE YOU (@iloveyourestaurant)

The reason behind this act of charity is pretty clear: selfless love for others.

But Jaden didn’t stop there. According to Tank’s Good News:

During the pandemic, Smith found a way to supply care packages to Skid Row that included food, masks, other clothing items, and hand sanitizer.

 

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A post shared by I LOVE YOU (@iloveyourestaurant)

Taking care of those in need is a pretty epic way to exist in the world.

Together with partner Drew FitzGerald, Jaden launched a charity cleverly named 501cthree with a mission centered around “deploying solutions for energy, food, water & shelter.”

They started with a water box to provide clean, filtered water in Little Miss Flint’s domain.

 

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Still running the food truck, and popping up in places like the Midnight Mission to scale up their services, Jaden is looking forward to a new endeavor.

 

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A post shared by I LOVE YOU (@iloveyourestaurant)

Next up will be an actual physical dine-in version of the “I Love You Restaurant” food truck, still free for the homeless, but serving the entire community and charging customers who are able to pay, to help fund the endeavor and allow diners to “pay it forward.”

 

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What a remarkable young person. The kids really are all right. I can’t wait to see what they do next.

Do you know of an amazing teen or young adult that is going to do big things in the world? Tell us in the comments.

The post Jaden Smith Has a Restaurant that Feeds the Homeless for Free appeared first on UberFacts.

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A Couple in Hawaii Invented a Mobile Shower Service for the Homeless

None of us are as secure as we think. An unfortunate series of events might unexpectedly occur one day that left you homeless. In fact, a lot of people are only one medical disaster or one unlucky break at work from being evicted or forced onto the streets.

Craig and Danica Shoji are a couple who are trying to do their part to help out Honolulu, Hawaii’s homeless population by making them “feel like humans again.” How are they doing it? They created mobile showers so homeless folks can get clean and feel better about themselves.

This may not seem like a big deal to those of us who live in apartments or houses, but to someone who is out on the streets every single day, it can be a huge gift.

Craig Shoji first had the idea to help the homeless when he was in San Francisco in 2015. He said “good morning” to a homeless man and the person was surprised and touched by the encounter because he said that no one ever spoke to him on the street. The Shojis decided then that they would do what they could to “just treat people like normal people.”

They began by creating Laundry Love, which provided clean clothes to homeless men and women. That eventually grew into Revive + Refresh which provides people on the streets with mobile showers as well as hot meals.

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Here today at Blanche Pope Elementary School

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The Shojis have a trailer with two showers and they take it to events around Honolulu. People are allowed 15 minutes in the shower stalls, which are stocked with supplies. Homeless people are also invited to eat hot meals after their showers.

Craig Shoji said, “It’s amazing what a simple shower and a hot meal can do to uplift someone’s spirits, boost their confidence, and rekindle their motivation to keep fighting the good fight.”

This is an incredible idea from two people who are clearly living their best lives. Great job!

The post A Couple in Hawaii Invented a Mobile Shower Service for the Homeless appeared first on UberFacts.

Posted on

A Couple in Hawaii Invented a Mobile Shower Service for the Homeless

None of us are as secure as we think. An unfortunate series of events might unexpectedly occur one day that left you homeless. In fact, a lot of people are only one medical disaster or one unlucky break at work from being evicted or forced onto the streets.

Craig and Danica Shoji are a couple who are trying to do their part to help out Honolulu, Hawaii’s homeless population by making them “feel like humans again.” How are they doing it? They created mobile showers so homeless folks can get clean and feel better about themselves.

This may not seem like a big deal to those of us who live in apartments or houses, but to someone who is out on the streets every single day, it can be a huge gift.

Craig Shoji first had the idea to help the homeless when he was in San Francisco in 2015. He said “good morning” to a homeless man and the person was surprised and touched by the encounter because he said that no one ever spoke to him on the street. The Shojis decided then that they would do what they could to “just treat people like normal people.”

They began by creating Laundry Love, which provided clean clothes to homeless men and women. That eventually grew into Revive + Refresh which provides people on the streets with mobile showers as well as hot meals.

View this post on Instagram

Here today at Blanche Pope Elementary School

A post shared by Revive + Refresh (@reviverefresh) on

The Shojis have a trailer with two showers and they take it to events around Honolulu. People are allowed 15 minutes in the shower stalls, which are stocked with supplies. Homeless people are also invited to eat hot meals after their showers.

Craig Shoji said, “It’s amazing what a simple shower and a hot meal can do to uplift someone’s spirits, boost their confidence, and rekindle their motivation to keep fighting the good fight.”

This is an incredible idea from two people who are clearly living their best lives. Great job!

The post A Couple in Hawaii Invented a Mobile Shower Service for the Homeless appeared first on UberFacts.

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Little Rock Is Paying Homeless People $9.25 an Hour to Pick up Litter

The folks in Little Rock, Arkansas, might be on to something. In April 2019, the city launched its Bridge to Work program, paying homeless people $9.25 an hour to pick up litter off city streets.

Paul Atkins is a Pastor at the Canvas Community Church in Little Rock, and he’s been impressed with how successful the program has been so far. Atkins said 380 people have worked through the program, receiving paychecks and mental health and medical services. Some have even landed job interviews.

Atkins said, “We want to work with them on their next step. There are a lot of barriers that our people experience to go from homelessness and panhandling to full-time work. There’s a lot of steps in between.”

The people in the program work in groups of eight, but they usually leave one space open in case they encounter a panhandler or other homeless person who wants to join up and work with them.

One of the team leaders in the program, Felecia Cooks, was initially worried it wouldn’t be entirely successful. She said:

“When I first started, from Day One, I couldn’t catch the vision, nor could I travel the journey. But, you know, we’ve taken out over 400-and-something persons. And let me tell you, that has been the most exciting thing that I’ve done in my life. The energy, just the positive (energy), the vision that Canvas Community Church has. You know, it’s just wonderful.

The program was only supposed to last six months, but Little Rock’s mayor, Frank Scott Jr., said he will draft a resolution to extend the program through the end of September 2020 because it has been such a success.

Great idea! I’d like to see this in other cities across the country!

The post Little Rock Is Paying Homeless People $9.25 an Hour to Pick up Litter appeared first on UberFacts.

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12 Examples of “Hostile Architecture” That Cities Use to Keep Homeless People from Sleeping in Public Places

Sadly, homelessness is a major problem, both in the United States and around the globe. In every major city – and even in a lot of medium-sized and smaller towns – you’re bound to see the unfortunate sight of homeless people sleeping on the streets.

Some cities have chosen to help fight against homelessness, while others have chose to fight against homeless people. The weapon of choice: “hostile architecture.” If you’re not familiar with the term, it basically means using architecture to make public spaces inhospitable to sleeping or sitting, or really just existing.

Here are some examples of how cities are dealing with their homeless people.

What do you think about these methods?

11. Anti-homeless spikes.

2. That guy had a good solution.

To prevent the homeless from sleeping here from therewasanattempt

3. He has a point.

Photo Credit: Reddit

4. Seems like a bit of a contradiction.

5. Yes, it does.

Anyone else find this ironic? from HostileArchitecture

6. Wow. That is harsh.

7. Locked up at night.

Bench in Volgodonsk, Russia from HostileArchitecture

8. Artistic, but serves a purpose.

"Les pieux de pierre sont impressionnants. Taillés en forme d’obélisque, ils sont installés sur un site privé du…

Posted by Dégustation de Bon Sens Liège on Thursday, October 4, 2018

9. That just looks painful.

The worst example of anti-homeless architecture I’ve ever seen from COMPLETEANARCHY

10. Uncomfortable shelter from the storm.

Photo Credit: Imgur

11. Seems a little cruel.

You’ve got to be the worst kind of heartless twat if you can go around slashing homeless people’s tents

12. No sleeping on this ledge.

Photo Credit: Imgur

It’s always difficult to see a person struggling in this way. Be kind to each other!

None of us truly know what someone else is going through and what circumstances led them to their current situation, so treat everyone with respect and dignity, regardless of how much money they have in their pocket or if they have a roof over their head.

The post 12 Examples of “Hostile Architecture” That Cities Use to Keep Homeless People from Sleeping in Public Places appeared first on UberFacts.

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People in Japan are renting cars…

People in Japan are renting cars, but not to drive them anywhere. Car rental companies looked into it and discovered that people were using them to take naps, eat lunch, do work, change clothes, recharge cell phones, and store things (when storage lockers at train stations weren’t available).