Fellow Kossack Charley James needs our help again. If we don't pitch in one more time, then the man who is giving us the moving and eye-opening Suddenly Homeless diaries will be out on the street Sept. 23. And we may lose Prince, his beloved dog. For a very beautiful picture of Prince, who lives up to his name, please go to: http://www.laprogressive.com/.... Even if you cannot donate money, please "rec" this diary so it will be rescued and others might see it. And many many thanks again to the kind and generous Kossacks who donated yesterday. More below the squeegee.
With help from UnaSpencer, I ran a fund raiser for Charley in June. Then, you were generous enough to donate sufficient money for him to put a roof over his head for four months. I know it is a lot to ask, but I am hoping you'll dig into your wallet one more time to keep Charley indoors just long enough to finish his book.
In June, you kindly contributed about $1,900, which he's stretched for four months with help from a small loan from the Author's Fund (that must be repaid) and a few of his readers at LA Progressive. If we can come close to that again, he will be able to keep paying rent for his room and stay inside, buy food for himself and Prince, cover his cell phone bill, and refill the anti-depressant medication that was prescribed for him by his shrink when his life fell apart. He ran out of pills a few weeks ago and has maxxed out using the drug company's assistance program.
Some of the contributions last time were as little as $3 so every bit helps. Thank you so much in advance for whatever you can do!!!
He also told me in an e-mail that if he ends up on the street again, he will have to put Prince down. His 13 year old Golden Retriever was so upset in foster care when Charley had to give him up in April that the dog won't let him out of his sight now. "I couldn't do that to Prince again," Charley wrote me.
If you can help, Charley's PayPal has restrictions on taking money from it because he doesn't have a bank account or credit cards, but a friend is letting us use their PayPal. It is gweigel1@wowway.com. If you wish to send cash, money order or a check, send a private K-mail note to Charley and he'll provide the address since the friend who is receiving his snail mail isn't thrilled about having an address splattered around on the internet.
I know that he is embarrassed and humiliated having to ask for our help. He has written in diaries, that he's worked since he was 15 and has been self-supporting since he was 18. "Asking strangers for money is awful," Charley wrote.
The good news is that he now has a New York literary agent to represent him; the bad news is that, if he can't stay indoors, he won't be able to finish reporting and writing the book. Charley's life is a lot of downs, ups and more downs but we can help him stay "up" long enough for his agent to find a publisher. If it sells, he'll get the first part of his advance and can start rebuilding his life. And when the book sells, he is donating part of his royalties to the National Center on Family Homelessness.
Charley has been asking people he knows to put Prince and him up for a while, but so far there've been no offers. One friend of his is contributing frequent flier points to get him someplace – if he can find somewhere to get. I found a very generous veterinarian who arranged for free shots for Prince so an airline will carry him, too. (Airlines require dog vaccinations be given within 30 days of travel.)
If you can help, Charley's PayPal has restrictions on withdrawing money from it but a friend is letting us use theirs. It is gweigel1@wowway.com. If you wish to send cash, money order or a check, send a private K-mail note to Charley James and he'll provide the address since the friend who is receiving all of his mail doesn't want their address posted on the internet.
Along with writing for Kos and working on his book about homelessness, Charley has been been looking for writing jobs, free lance gigs, website copywriting, part-time jobs, etc., anything to keep a roof over his head. He's done a bit of gardening and other odd jobs, as well, for cash. If you know of someone who can use his talent as a writer (his rates are very competitive and he'll give a discount to fellow Kossacks), please let him know via a private K-mail.
Over the past five months here at Kos, Charley has told Kossacks about the awfulness of being homeless – not just for him but other people. He exposed the extensive problem of rural homelessness, the first time many of us who live in cities heard about the problem. He talked with an eight year old girl whose family is homeless and we saw how kids try their best to cope, including three teenagers whose familiesare in the same boat.
Charley told us the tale a homeless gay couple, and a family who became homeless twice. And he laid out a five easy pieces to start bringing an end to middle class homelessness.
He has more reporting to do, and more stories to write for us and for his book.
If you can help, Charley's PayPal has restrictions on withdrawing money from it because he doesn't have a bank account or credit cards, but a friend is letting us use theirs. It is gweigel1@wowway.com. If you wish to send cash, money order or a check, send a private K-mail note to Charley James and he'll provide the address since the friend who is receiving his mail for him doesn't want their address posted on the internet.
If you want to read all of the archived diaries from Suddenly Homeless, you can find them here.
Even if you cannot donate money, please "rec" this diary so it will be rescued and others might see it. Thanks again in advance for whatever help you can offer! .