If I accept the housing I think that....

If I accept the housing I think that it will enable me to attack things from a different angle and that is an experiment that might be worthwhile for a year. More than an experiment it may help me learn more quickly from a different perspective and achieve things that can benefit my work in the future. I feel very drawn to advocacy for my homeless and poor and abused brothers and sisters here in DC. See, the social services provided in DC tends to be a closed club that you cannot access, that is, you cannot assist with if you are among the homeless. They simply won't let you help. Which is pretty appalling in itself. But that's how it is. If I have housing I think it is possible that I can get a foot in the door, learn the strengths and weaknesses of the different groups and agencies as I can not do as a homeless person, and then a year from now quite possibly move back into homelessness but retain the access, leverage, and understanding I have to help those organizations do a better job than they could otherwise.

Gentrification in a Brooklyn Neighborhood Forces Residents to Move On

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/11/29/nyregion/gentrification-in-a-brooklyn-neighborhood-forces-residents-to-move-on.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur&referer=

How Gentrification Is Forcing Californians Out Of Their Communities "The middle class is disappearing and it’s getting harder for the working poor to get by at all."

http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/bay-area-gentrification_us_56cdec76e4b041136f191b93

An Atlanta Neighborhood Tries To Redefine Gentrification

http://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2015/09/23/435293852/an-atlanta-neighborhood-tries-to-redefine-gentrification?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=20150923The

How to Get Rid of Your Landlord and Socialize American Housing, in 3 Easy Steps Homelessness, unaffordable urban real estate, devastating gentrification, and the housing bubble are all rooted in privatized housing.

http://www.thenation.com/article/how-to-get-rid-of-your-landlord-and-socialize-american-housing-in-3-easy-steps/

***** I am next to certain that on Monday I will accept this apartment. Lol. Yesterday I was certain I would turn it down. One of the issues.........

I am next to certain that on Monday I will accept this apartment. Lol. Yesterday I was certain I would turn it down,  stay in the shelter for The months that it is expected to remain open this year, and then to move back onto the streets so that every penny of my meager retirement can continue to be donated to Palestine and related causes. I was informed earlier in the week after what I think was honest and fair consideration , by the managers of this subsidized housing unit that they regrettably cannot allow the liberal visitation by my friend, a vet with MS, who even several weeks a month does not want to be alone in her apartment up by Dupont Circle. So the one basis on which I wanted to accept the property, helping my friend and others, has been ruled out.

 One of the issues, the second and only issue that I have added alongside Palestine to my daily focus is justice for the poor. Gentrification is one of the areas of that focus. Articles I've reviewed this morning highlight to me the rampant pace at which gentrification is happening in major US cities driving out all but the wealthy. This particular property, of roughly 10 that could enable me to stay in DC if and when they become available, this particular property appears to be the lowest price and the only one that would provide secure parking for my vehicle. I have much more thinking to do this weekend but as it currently stands, to my shock, I am likely to accept the property. This has been a very very very very challenging decision. I want the property, for me, to address the personal fears that I have for my well being and safety. The wonderful clarity that had come to me yesterday was yes, I have that desire, I have that fear, it's just way down the list vs my fear for my children in Palestine, people in Syria, African Americans and Native Americans in this country, the poor in South America that we continue to victimize, plunder, rape, exploit.... What a gift it was to receive that clarity yesterday. That really took the apartment off of my radar. But the savage, brutal, cruel, inhuman, injust gentrification happening in the nation's cities brought the property back to me in a light I had never considered. This property may be my best chance of remaining to fight for justice in Washington DC if by chance I am given many years to do so. I had not thought of that. That may be the deciding factor.