A favor, please, if you're willing - Dan H.

DanHolohan

I was on the Lower East Side in Manhattan, team-leading a Read-To-Me project at a shelter called Nazareth House. This is one of the New York Cares projects that I've become very involved with in recent years. And don't worry, I'm not going to put the arm on you for money. ;-)

What we do at the shelter is read to children. This week, we had 10 volunteers and nine kids, ranging in age from five to 12 (the oldest was a special-needs girl). I do this because I think that reading is fundamental to just about everything else in life, and these kids did not choose to be in the situation that they're in. They're young and beautiful and they live in a shelter. One in 50 American children will experience homelessness this year. I used to think that this was the result of people who live shiftless lives, who take drugs, drink too much, and aren't deserving of help. I used to think that these people should just pull themselves up by their own bootstraps, and then I went about my business.

All that changed when our daughters, Meg and Erin, got involved with New York Cares. Marianne and I started to volunteer because the girls are good at being nudges. We got to be with these people in the shelters, and I came to realize that the only difference between those Americans and this American is about six paychecks. And the children are just American kids, just like ours. Only they're homeless.

Most of the people we work with in NYC are in the shelter for about seven months. They get back on their feet and they move into apartments they can afford. There's a Federal program called Section 8 that helps pay their rent.

Long story, I know, but here's the point. My other daughter, Colleen, is in AmeriCorp. She lives in South Boston and works with students at Emerson College. She wrote to me today to ask if I would send an e-postcard to the Presidential candidates, asking them to support Section 8 in their new admininstration. She pointed me at this website: <a href="http://www.everychildahome.org/channels/education/individuals_about_family_homelessness.htm">Every Child Deserves a Home</a>, and I clicked through and sent a card to all of the candidates. Colleen has been involved with this effort since it started with a conversation between herself and four friends. She's a pretty special American.

So if you could send them all a note, I'd sure appreciate it. I'm one of those American knuckleheads who believes that one person, working with others, <I>can</i> make a difference.

Years ago, I was paying my bill for a seminar at the Holiday Inn in Plainview. There was a woman in charge of banquets there then who had lost her son to suicide. That changed the way she saw life and she began working with the homeless. I paid my bill that day with an American Express Gold Card. She looked at it and smiled at me. "You know the difference between those people and you, Dan?" she asked. "What's that?" I said. She held up the card and said, "This. Just this."

Or about six paychecks.

Thanks for caring.

Dan Foley

Done. -DF

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Paul Bock_2

Done.- PB

Billy March

Consider it done!!!

Justin Gavin

Done

Good Luck,
Never be bashful about doing the right thing

Thanks,
Justin

Weezbo

Were the support even in word....

words have power. however in our school we had a motto..."Deeds not Words" lets hope it Catches on...

Pat Clark

Done

Thanks for bringing this up Dan

Pat

keith_7

done deal dan!!

adambuild

Done Dan!

As usual Dan, my hat is off to you. Life is short. We need to stop and take stock of what's important. If for nothing else, aside from the potential good that Section 8 recipients receive, it helps us appreciate what we have.

Kudos,
Adam J. Goldberg
ADAM Builders

DanHolohan

Thanks to everyone.

It's a small thing, but I sure appreciate it. Thanks.

Unknown

Thanks for your support

Thanks guys! It's amazing to watch how this campaign has evolved from a small group of students working with the One Family Campaign, to newspaper articles, to radio and TV PSAs. Now the campaign has moved from Boston and has spread across the country. I believe that these small actions will make a difference.

Dale

AMI

Will do, as far as what a few people can do, 4 dynamic middle aged women, in my home town got tired of how their children with mental illness were treated and started the Nami, national alliance for the mentally ill, now AMI, in all 50 states.

Larry Weingarten

done

I'm in!

PJO_5

Done (NM)

Ken Ditchfield

Happy to do it Dan

helgy_2

No problem

Consider it done Dan. And thank you and your family for being the great people that you are. Your doing a heck of a job.

Thanks, Helgy

GaryDidier

Done deal Dan

Thankyou,
Gary from Granville

Tony Mastriano

Done

God Bless You Dan

Mark Eatherton1

Done...

You Holohans are good people.

ME

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DanHolohan

It's wonderful

that you would take the time to do this. Thanks so much.

Dave Yates (PAH)

Done

with some added words. I wonder if they listen?

Jumping cat fish! Kerry's e-mail form letter response arrived within seconds. Still don't mean he's listening though.

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Wethead Widow_2

A little late, but done.

Thanks Dan.

Sue B.

DanHolohan

Colleen told me

that they had more than 100 e-postcards to the candidates in the past day, most of them from you good folks.

Any of you ever read the book, Horton Hears a Who? That was the first book I ever read. Never forgot the great man's message.

Thanks, Whos!

Patrick_26

Throw another on the list - all done - hope it helps.

chris h

Done. Thanks for the reminder of my good fortune.

Dave Mayer -3 Sons Heating

You're a good man

Done and thank you for being a good guy. Dave M.

DanHolohan

The shelter

where we read to the kids has a website:

Nazareth Housing

If you have a moment, read some of the Success Stories in there, and look at the photos of the kids.

Sometimes, people just need a little help. Thanks for helping me with this.

DanHolohan

I heard from

the Kerry Team today:

"Dear Friend,

Thank you for sending John Kerry your thoughts about issues facing families today. John Kerry will work to remove the cap on Section 8 vouchers entirely and expand the cap in the interim. He will also target additional vouchers to enable those in nursing homes and other institutions to move back into their own homes and communities."

Good stuff. Nothing from the others yet.