Homelessness in the News:

L.A.'s Homeless Get Backpack 'Survival Kits' - The Giving Spirit, a nonprofit, distributes 1,000 knapsacks of food and essentials Saturday, with a special effort to reach homeless women and children. By Molly Hennessy-Fiske, Los Angeles Times, June 6, 2010.

Brentwood Entrepreneur Tom Bagamane Helps Venice Beach! - A thank you to TGS founder, Tom Bagamane, and a summary of the Reach Out Saturday 2010 event. By Bret, yovenice.com, June 5, 2010.

Opening our eyes to the plight of the homeless - It's easy to ignore them, but they're there if you look: struggling souls with stories to tell about their hard lives. By Hector Tobar, latimes.com, April 23, 2010.

Good Magazine:  Skid Row Part 1:  Introduction - LA Weekly journalist, Sam Slovick, wrote a series of cover stories that took readers “deep inside the everyday tragedies and triumphs found on Downtown Los Angeles’s Skid Row.”  Good Magazine later turned these articles into a documentary film, the introduction to which you may watch by clicking here.

Good Magazine: Skid Row Part 2: Kids - Part 2 of Good Magazine's documentary on homelessness, "Skid Row".

USDA: Number of Americans going hungry increases - More than one in seven American households struggled to put enough food on the table in 2008, the highest rate since the Agriculture Department began tracking food security levels in 1995. By Henry C. Jackson, Associated Press Writer – Nov 16, 2009

Student hopes to go from homeless to Harvard - CNN.com/living. Honor student lives at shelter in L.A.'s Skid Row, one of the city's roughest areas. Kenneth Chancey, 17, hopes to go to Harvard and become a doctor, "I have to dream because obviously my reality is horrible," he says. From Thelma Gutierrez.

Shinseki cites plight, plan to help homeless veterans - The Washington Post. The Department of Veterans Affairs laid out Tuesday an ambitious five-year goal of curbing the number of homeless veterans, pledging $3.2 billion to an issue that is more rapidly affecting those who served in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars than by any from past conflicts.  By Ed O'Keefe and Garance Franke-Ruta. Nov 4, 2009

Woman, 97, has a front seat to homelessness - Los Angeles Times. Bessie Mae Berger and her two sons, 60 and 62, live in a rusty 1973 Suburban. Getting a place (to live in) is hard because they insist on staying together.  Oct 16, 2009.

A Tale Of Two Hollywoods - Citywatch. Hollywood's leadership has made commitments to "stimulating development" and "ending homelessness forever" but a simple glance at the construction sites for the W Hotel and the Villas at Gower reveals that the commitment is uneven.  By Stephen Box, Sept 21, 2009.

State budget cuts said hurting homeless - From UPI.com, "Budget cuts by U.S. states are resulting in homeless populations having more trouble getting help, advocates say." Sept 11, 2009

Sacramento and Its Riverside Tent City - blog posting from the NY Times about a homeless settlement that's expanding rapidly. Also view the slideshow with audio from the Sacramento Bee and a segment from NBC's Today show and one from NBC Nightly News on 3/9/09 (both YouTube). March 11, 2009

'Tidal Wave' of homeless students hits schools - MSNBC article about families in Oxnard, California. By Kari Huus. March 2, 2009

Santa Monica sees some progress in its battle to get the homeless of the streets - LA Times article by Martha Groves. February 26, 2009

Bad economy, cold weather send more homeless families to Los Angeles county shelters - LA Times article that came out days after our December distribution. By Jennifer Garrison. December 18, 2008

Governer Schwarzenegger Eliminates Critical Homeless Funding from Budget (PDF, 2 pages, 25k) Press release from the Los Angeles Homeless Authority. October 6, 2008

The Giving Spirit: Helping Homeless Women And Children In Los Angeles -  Radio interview of The Giving Spirit's own Tom Bagamane by Martha Trowbridge of www.marthatrowbridgeradio.org.  August 29, 2009

Finding LA's Hidden Homeless (2 pages, 115kb) Thousands live in trees, under freeways, in caves on the fringes of the wilderness. Some have TVs, grills and pets. By Jennifer Garrison. August 23, 2008

LA's Homeless: A Progress Report (2 pages, 94kb) A new checklist indicates that we still have a long way to go when it comes to solving the problem. By Jennifer Wolch, Gary Blasi and Michael Dear. June 22, 2008

Some Respite, if little Cheer for Skid Row Homeless (2 pages, 94kb) Los Angeles tones down its Skid Row Clean up campaign. By Solomon Moore. Los Angeles Journal. October 31, 2007

California Homeless Program is Cut (4 pages, 94kb) Schwarzenegger kills a $55-million initiative that helps the mentally ill, then signs the budget. Counties and cities can fund it, an aide says.By Scott Gold, Lee Romney and Evan Halper. Los Angeles Times Staff Writers. August 25, 2007

Street Medicine - House calls without the house (4 pages, 78kb) In Santa Monica and L.A., teams of health workers bring critical medical services to people who are often averse to seeking treatment.By Martha Groves - Times Staff Writer. April 3, 2007.

Life on Skid Row - through the eyes of a child (Video Link) MSNBC Today Show Video broadcast of Kids on LA's Skid Row. January 25, 2007

Homeless in America (3 pages, 113kb) By Julia Vitullo-Martin. The Wall Street Journal. January 18, 2007

Skid Row Life Is Like Night and Day  A police crackdown has scattered the homeless, but they are returning in greater numbers after dark to set up camp on the sidewalks. The Los Angeles Times, Oct 21, 2006

More LA County Children Live in Poverty (4 pages, 70kb) Nearly three-quarters of the families with children are struggling, says a new report. Home prices are a big factor. By Susannah Rosenblatt, Times Staff Writer, October 19, 2006

Patient Dumping on Skid Row investigated (4 pages, 70kb) Associated Press reported on CNN, October 10, 2006

The Giving Spirit in the News:

The Giving Spirit: Helping Homeless Women And Children In Los Angeles - Radio interview of The Giving Spirit's own Tom Bagamane by Martha Trowbridge of www.marthatrowbridgeradio.org. August 29, 2009

Los Osos High students have Giving Spirit (2 pages, 119kb) Wendy Leung - Staff Writer. Inland Valley Daily Bulletin. November 15, 2007

Blankets and More make life on the streets a bit easier (1 pages, 925kb) Kerry Cavanaugh - Staff Writer. The Daily News. December 12, 2004

TGS Founder Receives First Virginia Tech Alumni Association Humanitarian Award


Press Releases:

December 2008: The Giving Spirit Delivers Homeless Survival Kits

December 13, 2004 - LAist Interview with Tom Bagamane, TGS Founder

December 12, 2004 - Group offers hope, help in canvas bag to area's homeless

December 13, 2002 - HOLIDAY HANDOUTS: CITIZENS TAKE HOMELESS MATTERS INTO OWN HANDS WITH “THE GIVING SPIRIT” — Truly grass roots philanthropy provides food and supplies to L.A. Homeless.

December 12, 2002 - The Giving Spirit, a Los Angeles-based group gives hope and goods to the local homeless.

Information:

Waivers for the Event - please complete the appropriate release form and bring it to the event (every participant must be covered by a waiver):

Participant Waiver and Release for a Minor Child (2 pages; form revised 11/06/09) - If your child (under 18) will be participating in The Giving Spirit volunteer events and you (his or her parent or legal guardian) will not be attending, you must sign this release and your child must turn it in at event registration. Your child must still be accompanied and supervised by an adult.

Release Form - Adult release (1 page; form revised 11/06/09)  This release is for adults. Children participating with their adults need to have separate release forms.

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The problem of homelessness is not a simple one. Instead, this is a complex issue involving myriad social, political, and economic factors. As we invite you to get involved – to help those who need it the most – we also invite you to get informed about homelessness. Equip yourself with information so that you too can be an agent of change when you engage with other people about this societal concern.

Research on Homelessness:

Just The Facts - Statistics on Homelessness in Los Angeles (4 pages, 128kb) Over the course of one year, an estimated 254,000 men, women and children experience homelessness in Los Angeles County. Approximately 80,000 people are homeless each night in Los Angeles County.

Homes for the Homeless (4 pages, 128kb) A shelter in Sylmar is a case study for the decentralization of LA's homeless services.

2007 Homeless Shelter Transportation Guide (5 pages, 98kb)

2006-2007 Homeless Shelter & Care Emergency Phone Numbers (3 pages, 134kb)