Please visit my blog: http://savingtails.blogspot.com. If your are an animal lover who is disabled or elderly, and on a small fixed income, this is important to you!
I am asking you all to spread the word that everyone can do their part in your local communities by making a donation of $1 at a time.
I would like to ask all of you to make a donation of $1 each month to help me with my non-profit community services agency.
Please send $1 each month to Tom Rodgers,T&C Services PO Box 968 Cusseta, GA 31805-0968 706-464-6546 email me at TomRodgers723@hotmail.com.
Please visit my Website at http://tomrodgers723.community.officelive.com
The IRS may be listening to Taxpayer Complaints finally?
The Internal Revenue Service raided Local Tax offices on Friday March 20, 2009. They raided Joche & Associates offices in Columbus Georgia and in Lagrange Georgia, and Tax One office in Columbus Georgia.
I will continue to follow this news story and post updates at my website http://tomrodgers723.community.officelive.com. You can also get information at WTVM News at http://wtvm.com
Please keep in mind this is a news story and as of today nobody has been charged are convicted of a crime.
Hello fellow Obama Supporters: Support the Houston Resource Directory by subscribing and adding your Social Skills Set. MyHoustonTexas.Info - is an INFORMATIONAL website and a RESOURCE directory; developed by a group of Houston campaign workers for President Barack Obama; 2008 Presidential Campaign [www.My.BarackObama.com]. Similar initiatives have been started in other States. Social skills set are similar to interests, hobbies, qualifications and competencies; which highlight marketable skills and work experience.
Examples: (a) Betty listed her Social Skill Set as retired, clerical, and bookkeeping. Shelia is a small business owner who lives in the same neighborhood, and needs assistance managing her business finances so; she contacts Betty about her bookkeeping services. (b) Willie listed his Social Skill Set as painting, yard-work, and mechanic. Jose lives in the same neighborhood, and needs assistance cutting a tree (from a natural disaster) so; he contacts (interviews) Willie about his yard-work services.
This social skills set concept is indicative of community empowerment, community development, and sustainable communities, and representative of President Obama's goal of empowering communities to work together. For information about collaborating or developing a similar community resource mechanism; please contact: Darryl.Riser@MyHoustonTexas.info
I'm a Red Cross Disaster Volunteer. Are you? If not , why not? Join today.
Please come for a benefit for Caitlynn, a 6 year old from Fitchburg, who attends my son's school. She is on a 2.5 year treatment protocol to fight leukemia. There will be music by "The Paoli Project," karaoke by the Canaries, children's crafts, and a silent auction. Suggested donation is $10/person or $25/family. Contact Dawn for more information, or if you would like to make a donation but cannot attend on Sunday, 608-276-9512. This is an excellent opportunity for neighbors to help out neighbors in need. Thank you.
You can see details and sign up at:
In cities all over America, citizens are coming together to form collectives focused on implementing the changes that we have wanted for so long. We are coming together to experience a partnering with our government in unprecidented numbers and the grass-roots growth of hope that stems from the human spirit.
Here in Houston, we have launched a group that is dedicated to the hopes, dreams and wants of our community. With increasing cooperation with community, city, county and state governemnt officials and with local community organizations, businesses and schools we are making the very changes that we set our hopes for in 2008.
Join us here in Houston to create a role-model group that leaves its impression on America now and into the future.
Notice: The Organizing for America Houston Chapter is a non-partisan group with members from all backgrounds. We welcome all participants who wish to organize and help volunteer on projects for the betterment of our country and our world.
Organizing for America - Houston Chapter http://my.barackobama.comDirector: Tina Marie Jones Contact: 832-452-7242 Email: info@tinamarie.com
Website under construction: www.ofahouston.org
Current projects include:1. A community recycling program to implement recycling in our public parks in coordination with the City of Houston, Harris County, the Mayor's Office, schools and local businesses. Chairperson: Tina Marie Jones
Many expressed their interest to assist in this project.Next steps include coordinating with the government offices, contacting local businesses for financial support ad sponsorship of the recycling bins, bagsContacting NEXXUS, Waste Management, BFI and like corporations for information on recycling containersContacting local non-for-profit groups for adoption programs of parks
2. A research project to identify and report about socialized medical programs in foreign countries in comparison to the Obama direction for America. The intention of this research is to disseminate truth about the medical plans proposed by the Obama administration and educate the American public.ChairPerson: Marilyn Keys
Next steps include members of the group sending information to Marilyn of people who live in the countries of interest (those with Socialized Medicine Programs) 3. Community sidewalk project to increase the amount and availability of sidewalks in our urban/suburban areas in the Houston Metroplex to increase foot traffic, increase exercise and minimize gas usage, crime and increase a sense of community.ChairPerson: Lana Kato
Next steps include contacting the Mayor’s office and Harris County Offices that manage requests and maintenance of sidewalks 4. Organic Gardens across the City - Intention is to educate people on how to grow and maintain local gardens. The first directive is to have community service organizations host the gardens for use by food pantries to provide fresh produce to homeless and low income families. Sponsored in part by TM3 Energy.ChairPerson: Cynthia O’Neal
Next Steps include the sharing of information, contacts of people/organizations that can help in the project. Contacting the organizations that can sponsor the project pilot5. Interest in alternative windmill construction and design to be more energy efficient and self perpetuating ChairPerson: Johnathan O’Neal
Next steps include continuing research into current technology6. Additional Discussions included: Interest in reducing the costs of health care policies on small businesses Increasing wellness care and the affordability of such for all AmericansIncreasing education accountability at the State and School levels to allow our children to compete with at the national/ global level Use of online technologies to increase group participation and attendanceThe communication of our intentions and direction to the City. State and Federal government contactsLast Meeting date: January 30th, 2009 Participants: Ron Jackson, Lana Kato, Cynthia O’Neal, Johnathan O’Neal, Abu Kanu, Alyssa Jones, Rick Jones, Tina Jones, Jamin Stocker, Marilyn Keys Next Meeting Date: Host: Tina Marie Jones <t@tinamarie.com>Time(s): Friday, February 13 from 7:00 PM - 9:00 PMLocation: ONLINE MEETING ROOM http://ronjacksonstudios.na3.acrobat.com/ofa/ See Link Above or Call in to Conference Bridge Houston, TX 77041 Directions: Our next meeting is schedule as follows: Date: Friday, February 13th Time: 7 pm - 9 pm Location: ONLINE in Meeting Room designed and engineered by Ron Jackson Studios Link: http://ronjacksonstudios.na3.acrobat.com/ofa/ Conference number and pin: Dial-In Number: 712-429-0690 Participant PIN: 289829 The group meets every other Friday evening alternating between an in-house meeting in West Houston and an online meeting room as noted above.
Hello Happy Obama Supporters!
In January my husband John and I attended a post-election meeting, which I located through this website, in our little city of Lancaster PA. There were ten of us at Amanda's house plus one reporter, Jeff Hawkes, who covered our event for his weekly column in the Lancaster Intelligencer Journal.
The outcome was that we agreed that we want to continue in the Spirit of Barack by performing community service. For starters we participated in Martin Luther King Jr. Day activities.
Some members went to the play written and performed by Dr. Amanda Kemp at a local church; they ushered and lent general assistance. The play dealt with Ben Franklin vis a vis slavery.
I was already signed up as a leader of a youth event which our church (St. John's Episcopal) has hosted for many years for Lancaster City children--a day of activities to commemorate Dr. King's legacy. Our theme this year was "Si se puede!"
I'm looking forward to galvanizing our group around more service events in the coming years. I give a lot of thought to how we can make the greatest, most lasting difference for the time spent and to how we best offer our unique gifts and talents to serve. I'm eager to hear what President Obama wants us to do to further his agenda.
WHAT IS YOUR GROUP'S SERVICE FOCUS? If you can't think of something, please consider starting a neighborhood association. Invite public officials to inform your neighbors of their services. Organize a block party for "National Night Out" in August. Watch out for one another's safety. Promote "Positive Neighboring". John and I have been leaders in our neighborhood for 12 years, and I believe this is one of the most important things we can do to help folks to connect to their community.
Stay tuned for our ongoing activities and share your thoughts here.
FranGo
I hope my story will help others and may give some ideas as how individuals and families can overcome poverty with help from their communities. I am not speaking of financial help, as most people know financial problems are not solved with money. I know what I have been through over the past few months has helped me, and can help others just as much. I am still receiving help and support. This program I will tell you about does work, that much has been tested and confirmed. Let me start by filling you in on some background about myself and the issues I have had to face and explain how I have started my way to overcoming poverty. I do not know how this program could be fit to a national level, however I hope that is where the President could step in and come up with some ideas.
My name is Angelic; I am a 36 year old, single mother, I have two children, both boys ages thirteen and nine. I was raised in middle to upper middle class family; my mother was divorced from my father when I was approximately 18 months old. She always worked full time, usually third shift, so I stayed with my grandparents most of the time growing up. After graduating high school, I started to go to a local business college; I ended up deciding getting married was more important to me (how wrong I was). I married young and five years later divorced. All of my life I had always worked, usually full time. I worked part time while going to high school.
In 2002, I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia; after working for my last full time job for 6 years, I was abruptly terminated, this occurred in August, 2007. I drew my unemployment while looking for a new job, which never happened at that time. With having Fibromyalgia I started working with the local vocational rehabilitation counselor at the employment office. This is where my story starts to go downhill.
The first counselor I had, told me the first time she met me that “you do not look employable.” You can imagine how that would have affected me emotionally and mentally, after working all of my adult life. It was after this point in my life that I started to lose hope. The only income I had was the child support that was coming in for my boys. My home was almost in foreclosure, my vehicle had been repossessed, the only utility I had on in the home was my water, no electricity and no gas services. Everywhere I went for help I was turned away for one reason or another. I had finally had all that I could take; I did not know where to turn. The next thing I did to me was drastic, but the only option I knew I could take. I finally sat down and wrote a letter to every government official I could think of; explaining to them my situation, so I could receive some kind of advice on what I could do besides becoming homeless and losing my children. When I say every government official, I mean from the local mayor, state representatives, state senators, the Indiana governor, US congressmen and senators up to the President at the time. As I am sure you can imagine I received very few replies to my letter and my call out for help. The few people that did respond; the mayor’s office in Muncie, Indiana, State Representative Dennis Tyler, Senator Sue Errington, Evan Bayh, and Mike Pence were the only ones that contacted me. Because of the correspondence with Mr. Bayh, I was placed with a different vocational rehabilitation counselor and I am now employed, working from home for a company that only hires employees with disabilities. It is only part time, but I am working. Mr. Tyler is the one that worked with me the most; however, the best thing that happened out of that letter was the response from the mayor’s office. They referred me to a local organization called Teamwork for Quality Living. It is through this organization that I am finally finding my way back to where I need to be, I do have a long way to go yet, but this is the program I wanted to bring to your attention.
Without this program, I honestly do not know where I would be right now. The first thing that happened was I was invited to a community dinner. They occur twice a month, the first and third Thursdays; the dinners are called Overcoming Poverty Together or OPT dinners. They are open to the public and the basic motive of the dinner is to bridge people together, without the thought of financial class. You form friendships and receive support, always feel welcomed and everyone involved truly cares about each and every person that does attend. This is just the first part of this group.
The next step I took was to take a class called Getting Ahead. This class is sponsored by Teamwork for Quality Living. Each participant learns about the traps and barriers they are personally facing that are keeping them in poverty. The class is fifteen weeks long, meeting once a week for approximately 2 to 2 and a half hours each week. Some of the other things which are taught are the hidden rules of financial class, different resources that are available in the community, self assessment, and you create an action plan to better yourself and your situation. After graduation from the class you are placed in a small circle of people which include yourself or your family as the captain/leader, and allies (which are members of the community that are in a higher financial class than you are) that become your friends, to give support and advice to help you in whatever situation you need help with. Just imagine this circle can become as big as you want it to be, reaching out to the whole community and farther if you let it. The resources that can become available to you are limitless. If you have an issue where you are looking for a job and you do not know how to write a resume, one of your allies can help you, if you need help with interviewing skills; maybe one of your allies is an employer and they can coach you. Not only are these allies there to help you better yourself financially, they help emotionally and mentally. When I first started going to these dinners and starting in the classes; I was very much depressed and lonely, my self confidence was lower than ever. Now, it is much different and I am just starting with my circle! I can not imagine what benefits lay in the future for me. I do know that one of my allies has seen some of my poetry and writings and is encouraging me to take writing classes and to do something with what he calls “the gift” I possess. The other part of the circles program is the smaller dinners that are held. These are not open to everyone in the public, but are open to the captains and allies. It is a more intimate dinner, focused even more on relationships. This is the group that comes up with ideas for discussions in the larger OPT dinners. We call these Big View meetings, similar to town hall meetings.
This program brings hope when you think all hope is lost, self esteem when you have been beaten down by everyone else and friendships that will last a lifetime. Before becoming involved I honestly did not think people out there cared about other people anymore. I was at a point of losing hope in humanity. I now have more hope and determination as ever and I owe that all to this community of people that reach out to help others in their time of need. I want other people in situations similar to the one I have experienced and I am going through to know the power of a community coming together like the one I am in. I know from the bottom of my heart that this is part of the answer to eliminating poverty in our country. I also know it works, I am proof of that. I have never believed in a program so much to want to tell the world about it, until now.
I would like to personally invite anyone and their families who are in East Central Indiana (even if you are just visiting) to join us to see how this program works and how much good we are doing in Muncie, Indiana.
For more information about this program please visit the following websites:
http://www.teamworkql.org/Teamwork/index.php
http://www.movethemountain.org/
http://www.ahaprocess.com/
What a wonderful day it was on Monday, January 19, the day our nation celebrated the birth of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. !! 60 volunteers, some old friends and some new friends, some young, some not so young, some men, some women, came together to serve 120 of our Nation’s heroes at the Veteran’s Hospital at Jefferson Barracks.
The veterans, both men and women, came to enjoy the companionship of strangers who became strangers no more. They enjoyed a simple lunch but were nourished by the friendship and gratitude of the volunteers who gave of their holiday to serve and console. A wonderfully fun band (The Button Box Band) provided exhilarating music as the backdrop for dancing, laughter and remembering.
Thanks to Lee Bell, Linda Henry, and Sally Hodges for coordinating this great day that is hoped to continue in the future.
Some of the volunteers came as a call to service by our 44th President, Barack Obama. Others came because they were stirred to service to veterans and found the event on USAservice.org. Regardless of the motivation their participation in this event was received with gratitude and grace.
Check out the photos! http://www.flickr.com/photos/34498798@N05/show/
1. Getting to know Muslims here.
2. Educating themselves on the history of all the conflicts.
3. Writing to people in the Middle East.
4. Learning the languages spoken in that part of the world.
The group met on December 17, 2008 at the Camden Regioinal Library, Camdenton, MO. Great turnout! Our Camdenton Team now has 38 members, wow. We all brought cans of food for the holiday food drive for the Child Advocacy Council and we adopted a family of 4 children. We passed that hat and collected enough money to buy Christmas presents for all, and those were wrapped and delivered on Friday, December 19. At the meeting we brainstormed community issues of concern and came up with the following list:
* Education: reading programs for children, childrens library books, children in need (Child Advocacy Council), college scholarships, in school harassment/bullying * Child Advocacy: school lunches, help with Child Adv. projects, Kids' harbor * Environment: recycling, weighting environment vs. development, green industry * Economy: jobs counseling, help for homeless, assist in recruitment of industry to area, help small businesses in learning how to do better * Social Justice: civil rights in rural area, peace, immigration concerns, police corruption, peace treaty monitoring, court advocacy * Government: court and grand jury advocacy, jail visitation, gov't. watch/tracking politicians performance, recruitment of people to run for local office, recruitment of progressive leaders, long range planning for next election, term limits, sunshine laws/transparent govt * Health Care: universal health care issues, disability access, visits to homebound people, cheap medical clinic with upfront pricing, volunteer at county health dept. We had discussion on many of these ideas. On the suggestion of a couple of members we decided a first step was in identifying our existing organizations in Camden County, what they are about, when they meet, and contact information. Three members agreed to tackle this.
We discussed and decided to go with a countywide Diaper Drive for our Inaugural charitable event.
Our next gathering will be around the Inauguration, i.e. watch parties, ball and charitable event.
Here's an invitation to dance on 1/18 from 11am-1pm, and contribute to the National Weekend of Service. You can RSVP at: http://www.usaservice.org/page/event/detail/4jjw3
Soul Sanctuary is a weekly midday family-friendly freestyle dance (since 2003) with irresistible DJ'd music and a welcoming community of people who love to dance.
On 1/18, in order to contribute to the national day (and weekend) of service, as called for by President-Elect Obama in association with the Martin Luther King Jr. Federal holiday, we'll host a special Benefit Edition of the dance, with all proceeds to benefit the Children's Learning Center of the BOSS Ursula Sherman Village.
The energy and positive activity of our successful campaign to elect Barack Obama as the 44th President of the USA has motivated thousands of citizens to continue making a difference in their communities. Here in the mountains and rural area east of Albuquerque, many activists have stayed in touch and created a new group: East Mountains for Change. The new web site for East Mountains for Change is: http://emforchange.ning.com
2. USE VOUCHER AT BORDERS BOOK FAIR, JANUARY 7-9
Born out of our grassroots volunteer efforts to elect Barack Obama, several of us in the Los Angeles and Orange County area have formed a group called "Obama Advocates for Service-LA/OC". Our intention is to continue volunteering as advocates for community service in Southern California. We have decided to focus on Veterans for our first community service event. It will coincide with the inauguration and will take place on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day - Monday, January 19th, 2009. Obama Advocates for Service-LA/OC will be visiting with and passing out gift bags to approximately sixty (60) patients at the Community Living Center located at Long Beach Veterans Hospital in Long Beach, CA. Our efforts are funded by our own grassroots donations (not by the Obama campaign/administration). We are looking for donations of personal items to be included in the sixty (60) gift bags. Items we are looking for are: toothpaste, toothbrushes, deodorant, soap, shavers, fingernail clippers, toenail clippers, post it pads, pens, etc. You could also write a personal letter or send a card for a Veteran to include in any of the gift bags. We are also looking for cash donations to purchase additional items. If you are interested in assisting us in our efforts, please contact me as soon as possible at corrina_loca@yahoo.com. Thank you!Natalie in Seal Beach, CA
YES WE CAN! DC for Obama Volunteer Summit
Nearly 200 campaign volunteers from across the Washington, DC, area came together to decide the role they want to play to help realize the vision that President Elect Obama articulated during the election. The volunteers were convened at a "Yes We Can Summit" on Saturday, December 13, at George Washington University by DC for Obama, a volunteer organization that mobilized several thousand DC-area supporters to knock on more than 100,000 doors for Barack Obama during the presidential campaign. Participants at the "Yes We Can Summit" set priorities for the future of the local grassroots organization. In small groups, the Obama supporters worked with facilitators to share their experience from the campaign and discuss the issues on which they'd like to work. Electronic keypad polling was used to identify the collective goals of the group. The “Yes We Can Summit” used a methodology developed by the nonprofit organization AmericaSpeaks called a 21st Century Town Meeting, which integrates technology with authentic deliberation to help groups identify collective priorities. Who Participated?
Local and National IssuesParticipants were asked to use their polling keypads to identify the local and national issues about which they were most passionate. Health care received the most support, followed by foreign policy/national security/Iraq, energy/environment, economy/jobs, and education. Other national issues received less support, including international development and housing/poverty. The local issue that received by far the greatest support was education and youth issues (almost twice as many votes as any other). Voting rights, homelessness and poverty, health care, affordable housing, crime/public safety, and community vitality received moderate support. More than half of participants said they were most interested in working on national policy advocacy with 22% saying they were most interested in local community service projects and 18% saying they were most interested in local policy advocacy. Optimism about Making an ImpactForty-five percent of participants said they were “very optimistic” about the ability of local volunteers to make a meaningful contribution. Forty-four percent said they were “optimistic.” Elevent percent said they were :neutral” and one percent said they were “very pessimistic.” Memories and HopesSummit participants began the day by sharing their favorite memories of the campaign and their greatest hopes for the future. Examples of favorite memories included:
Room-wide themes that emerged from the discussion of hopes for the future included:
One Year Vision for the FutureSummit participants spent time working in small groups to develop a one year vision for the organization. The following large-group themes emerged from the discussions:Promote national and local advocacyDevelop a large and diverse grassroots membershipPartner with local organizations to address underserved communities on education, health care and povertyAct as a clearinghouse for local and national civic associationsCollaborate with the administrationRecruit and retain volunteers for community service projectsUse metrics to ensure vision is being implementedEighty eight percent of participants said they were “supportive” or “very supportive” of the vision. Community Service ProjectsFollowing a presentation from the chair of the DC for Obama Community Service Committee, participants discussed the criteria that should be used to select Community Service projects and identified potential projects that could be taken on that could show a meaningful impact in the next year. Room-wide themes that emerged from the discussion about Community Service criteria included:
Hundreds of ideas were generated for Community Service projects through the table discussions. While each of these ideas will be read by the Community Service committee, a set of projects were identified as being most common from across the room. Participants used their polling keypads to identify the projects among this list that they preferred. By far the project that received the greatest support from participants was to create and support tutoring and mentoring programs for youth with measurable results. This was followed by building job training programs (specifically green jobs), registering, educating and empowering voters, and developing relationships with specific schools and letting school officials tell us what they need. Other priorities that received less support included surveying weaknesses in DC health care system and volunteering to fill in the gaps, and cleaning up and beautifying neighborhoods.Nineteen percent of participants said their top priority project was not among the room-wide list. Advocacy ProjectsFollowing a presentation from the chair of the DC for Obama Advocacy Committee, participants discussed the criteria that should be used to select Advocacy projects and identified potential projects that could be taken on that could show a meaningful impact in the next year. Room-wide themes that emerged from the discussion about Advocacy criteria included:
Hundreds of ideas were generated for Advocacy projects through the table discussions. While each of these ideas will be read by the Advocacy committee, a set of projects were identified as being most common from across the room. Participants used their polling keypads to identify the projects among this list that they preferred.The two advocacy projects that received the strongest support were promoting DC voting rights and advocating for affordable housing, homeless services and poverty support. These were followed by working to improve health care and improving global perceptions of America through foreign aid and diplomacy. Advocacy projects that received less support included advancing community education on tipics such as financial literacy and parental involvement, increasing funding on education reform, supporting HIV/AIDS organizations that provide testing and services, increasing support for tutoring and mentoring programs for DC students, and rallying DC residents to increase the rate of recycling.Eight percent of participants said their top project was not among the list of room-wide themes. Our NameParticipants at the Summit decided to consider a new name for the organization. After talking about the kind of message that their name should convey, they generated 16 options in addition to DC for Obama:
Following a series of votes to identify top choices, the two names that received the greatest support were Yes We Can DC (48%) and DC for Obama (44%). Commitments and EvaluationsAt the end of the day, participants signed up to participate on DC for Obama committees and made personal commitments for the future. Participants were also asked to use their polling keypads to answer two final evaluation questions. 85% of participants rated the meeting as “very good” or “good” with the remaining participants rating it “fair.” 84% of participants said they were “very committed” or “committed” to the outcomes of the day’s meeting with 12% saying they were “somewhat committed” and 4% saying they were “unsure” or “not committed.”Special ThanksSpecial thanks to the College Democrats of George Washington University for helping to support the event and to AmericaSpeaks for donating keypad polling technology as well as staff support. Thanks to the dozens of volunteers who made the Summit possible and who will continue to be the heart and soul of DC for Obama.
2008-1213 Saturday, 1-3PM, Specialty Bakery, Santa Clara CA
takeaways: one thing new & surprising
notes
Round 1: Janet, Maria, Leo
Round 2: Larry, Olivera, Bill
Round 3, all group
The vast majority of those participating in the November 25th Mercer for Obama meet-up had participated actively in the 2008 campaign for change, many having worked in multiple states. After 90 minutes of discussion, in both sub-groups and plenary, about whether and how to continue this citizens’ movement, the following principles drew broad and often unanimous agreement:
1. The Mercer for Obama network should continue in active existence, to press for change in the spirit of the “post-partisan” campaign this year that has catapulted Barack Obama into the White House. The largest number of active volunteers in this movement surely identify themselves as Democrats, but many see themselves as nonpartisan and some adhere to a venerable tradition of the Republican Party. The Mercer for Obama network will continue, therefore, as a separate and distinct entity, not as an affiliate or arm of the Democratic Party organization.
