THE ASBURY VOICE - DECEMBER 6, 2019, ISSUE # 5

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THE ASBURY VOICE

Journal of the People

You are not voiceless but are often unheard

We can change that together

December 2019 # 5

In This Issue:

Introduction and Purpose

A Love Letter to You, TAV, and All Asbury Park- Rev. Gil

Oceans Family Success Center

The Story of KYDS (Part 1)

Experiencing Homelessness in Asbury Park (2)

Introduction and Purpose of The Asbury Voice

CLICK HERE

A LOVE LETTER TO YOU, TAV, AND ALL ASBURY PARK

Colleagues,

I applaud you for your discussions, debates, differences, and willingness to consider “going public” with your dialogue. I am honored that even though I am sidelined because of the health issues, of Grace and myself, and my caregiving responsibilities, I am still “included”.

First, thanks to those of you have provided transportation for us, because my semi-blindness caused me to no longer drive. Thanks to those of you who have assisted us, in wrestling with paper family financial complications. And thanks to all of you for our conversations, e-mails, etc.

My thoughts as you continue to make The Asbury Voice, a “Living, Descriptive, Candid Journalistic Instrument for Social Change/Justice in Asbury Park”

1. Asbury Park has for me, challenged the tension between confrontation and education.

2. When we arrived I became involved in the protests on behalf of the Jersey Shore Mission with Brother John, Prophet Nunn, And with some of you, We marched, spoke to City Council, etc.

3. I came to realize that there was a need to do more than confront.

4. Education: contradictions, hypocrisy, anti-democratic practices, superficiality of Church-based Justice Action, internalized Racism Of some in the Black community, and racism of some in the white community, would not be transformed by confrontation alone, in Asbury Park, I realized.

5. Early on, I agreed with Duanne, as he said in various ways AP,

had/has no understanding, comprehension, of the negative legacy left by the mistreatment of the Black slaves who arrived 400 years ago, a legacy that still impacts Black persons and community.

6. There is no equivalency between 400 years of Black slavery, segregation, lynching, police abuse, Injustice Systems, gaps between Whites And Blacks income, education, health care, home ownership, etc.

7. This has been difficult for AP and the USA to understand. The election of Donald Trump, following the election and re-election of Barack Obama,

proved that many Americans think that individual Black political success, represents affirmative action and reparations for Blacks. The tragic frustrations of these moments, is that Gil and Grace Caldwell could live in North Beach, Blacks could serve on the City Council, there are a few Black businesses, many Black Churches, etc., but the growing “invisibility” Of Blacks in Asbury Park, And the impact of economic segregation, harms all of us.

8. My wish is that AP would dare to post statistics of Black employment, business ownership, home ownership, education information, incarceration, etc. as a way to “educate” those who deny racial imbalance.

Grace and I are in the process of moving to New Brunswick to live with Dale and his daughter. Our health needs, and our inability to meet the growing costs of North Beach, make this necessary. My hope is that in some small ways, Gil and Grace Caldwell, while living in Asbury Park, made a difference. May that be our legacy.

May TAV become an instrument of education and confrontation in AP.

There are good persons here who do not know that on matters of Black racial justice, they are “not good”. Theologian Reinhold Niebuhr said something like this: “Most of the evil is not done by evil people. But by good people who do not know they are not good.” I have sought in my justice journey, to blend education and confrontation: seeking to educate those whom I confront, without being afraid to confront those whom I seek to educate. Loving all persons, because as the African American Spiritual says: “They can talk about me, just as much as they please. But, I can talk about them, when I get on my knees.”

Love you, love Asbury Park!

Gil Caldwell

TAV WILL PUBLISH IN ITS NEXT EDITION ANY BRIEF ACKNOWLEDGEMNTS OF THE IMPACT REV GIL HAS HAD ON YOUR LIFE. SEND TO TheAsburyVoice@gmail.com

The new address for Rev. Gil and his wife Grace is 16 Goodale Circle, New Brusnwick, NJ 08901

They just celebrated their 62nd wedding anniversary on Nov 30th

Grace is celebrating her 85th birthday on December 14th - Rev Gil has asked us to send her a Birthday Card.

OCEANS FAMILY SUCCESS CENTER

ASBURY PARK

Catherine Galesky, who was the Community Partner and Volunteer Coordinator at Oceans Family Success Center at the time, was interviewed for this article in October. Since then, she has taken a position with another organization doing outreach for the southern half of the State.

Dennis LoGiudice is the new Community Partner and Volunteer Coordinator. He was born and raised in New York and attended St. John's University, earning a Bachelor's Degree in Early Childhood Education. He moved to Oregon and spent 13 years doing public outreach and community organizing in Portland. He has been with Oceans FSC for a month and realizes he is very green but really excited about the challenges.

Oceans Family Success Center. in their welcoming spirit, graciously allows TAV to hold their monthly meetings at their Center. As we learned more about what they do, we felt you would benefit to know about them

The Interview with Catherine

Oceans Family Success Center is in Asbury Park to strengthen and empower families. Families are welcome regardless of their income or regardless of what their issue may be. A person must come voluntarily when they want to better their situation or when they are stressed out. Stress takes many forms. A person can be stressed out financially, and we can sit down and strategize as to what program in the community would help best, or we can link a person into a financial literacy program here at the Center. If the stress is within the family where a person is struggling to create enjoyable experiences with their children or their partner or other family members, we have parenting classes, relationship classes, and workshops available. And the critical thing is that everything is free.

Our whole purpose is to prevent child abuse and neglect before there is any risk of those types of behaviors. So we make sure there is an excellent social structure around the person and that they are not in isolation. We make sure a person knows how to stay healthy and keep the kids healthy, as well as how to equip the kids and themselves for what they need to be a successful parent.

This process can take many forms - multi-week parenting programs, or taking advantage of the space inside the Center to play with their kids. Or there are times when just coming in for a cup of coffee and checking out what is going on in the community, may be the difference-maker.

We are part of a network of Family Success Centers throughout the State. Each of these Centers reflect the needs of the community in which they reside. The communities are encouraged to bring their programs into the Centers. Volunteers can bring their dreams and sit down with us and work together to make it a win/win. There is nothing sweeter than giving back to the community that has nourished you.

We often begin by asking a person what it is that brought them here. Are they behind in the rent, or just looking for something fun to do with their kids? When a person is experiencing stress in their lives, such as domestic violence, we sit down to determine if this can be addressed by a local violence group or our mom’s support group. Each need is unique - a teenage pregnancy, a grandmother helping out grandkids, or a need for a family planning and/or parenting class. Families take on many shapes and sizes. We cast a broad net when defining family and say come on in and let us see how we can help, and we become partners.

We are not here for emergencies, but to help you plan long term. But people have emergencies, and that is when they are most motivated to better their situation. We sit and look at the options together and point the person in the right direction. Let us contact this place together and hook you up. We keep checking in with them to see if they have additional needs.

We are not counselors or social workers, but some better words are connectors, advocates, or partners. I partner with the community, and I am the Volunteer Coordinator. Daquane Bland works one on one with families, and Barbara Usack is our Director. We do appreciate appointments because of our small staff. Of course, you can walk in at any time, and we will do what we can. A lot of volunteers are very knowledgeable about the community and very friendly.

We are the new kids on the block, being here for just over three years. We are honored to be part of the mix with the many historical services in the Asbury Park area and being able to partner with them. It is a great thrill to be in the beautiful building next to the Kula Cafe, a police substation, the senior Center above us, and all the significant events at Springwood Park.

If a person is stressed out, we invite them to come to see us, and we can figure it out together. We often encourage them to join one of our programs to expand their horizons on a topic that they were always curious about. We invite employers to come and set up a table on job possibilities. If you don't have a computer at home and you want to fax or print something or look for jobs online or complete an application for jobs or housing, you are made to feel welcome. Or you can just come in and hang out, do a puzzle, check out resources, and get useful information.

Institutions have that institutional feel, and we want to try and create a different feel - warm and relaxing. It is not that we give you a form to fill out and say good-bye. We invite you to sit down and complete it together. And while you are here, let's look at other opportunities. If you are struggling to pay your rent because your income is low, let us look at possibilities for you.

When I asked Catherine what message she had for those in Asbury Park, she shared that she was a client of Family Success Centers. She said she is all in because it benefited her when she was feeling a lot of stress in her household. It made a difference for her in having financial literacy classes and having someone to talk with to figure out the tension in her home. She was a newlywed, and they didn't understand how to work together in a household. Just simple things like chores and stuff like that which classically couples argue about. They learned how to get beyond things like that so that they could feel like they were a success. So that is what brought her to her family success center. She said anyone could come for any reason, and whatever the reason is, you don't have to feel like you are alone, you don't have to feel ashamed by it or you don't have to feel like it is impossible to overcome. If you have supports around you, then we can figure it out together based on what your strengths are. We are going to help you figure out what they are and build you up. Or come by for a cup of coffee to tell us what your organization is all about, or tell us of an event that is going on. Just stop by. We spread the word so that you can be a success too.

Oceans Family Success Center

1201 Springwood Ave. #105

Asbury Park, NJ 07712

732-455-5272

Monday 9 - 5 pm

Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday 10 - 7 pm

Friday 10 - 3 pm

submitted by bill stevens

JESSIE RICKI IS A FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHER WHO HAS OFFERED TO TAKE PICTURES AROUND THE CITY FOR THE THE ASBURY VOICE.

WE HOPE TO BE ABLE TO INCLUDE THESE PHOTOS AS OFTEN AS POSSIBLE

AND ARE VERY GRATEFUL FOR THE GENEROUS OFFER

The Story of KYDS - Part 1

Our Story

The World as We Know It

We know a world filled with images and acts of violence,

And where freedom of speech is taught with silence,

We know a world where tragedy and suffering not only fill up news

and media storylines,

But also our own storylines,

Storylines of homelessness, food insecurity, physical and sexual abuse,

injustice and inequality, drug overdose

A world of materialistic overdose instead of love's overdose,

We know a world that is fascinated with building the newest and greatest technology,

But can’t build a bridge of connection with other nations,

A world focused on building taller structures

instead of building taller moral character.

A world where youth are exposed to toxic music, violent video games and insensitive TV programming and expected to live virtuously,

We know a world where youth are taught what to think instead of how to think,

A dumbed down mind can never reach their highest peak,

We know a world where education is so deep-seated with intellectual ability

that we can’t compute kindness multiplied by compassion,

We know a world that chooses pharmacy over farm and medication over meditation,

A world focused on separation, the division of black and white, man and woman,

rich and poor, and too many more

But none more significant than the separation of self,

Lost in the world not knowing thyself,

We’ve become very good at identifying others

that we have lost the identify of ourself,

I Am’s replaced with You Are’s,

Wi-Fi connections stronger than Heart connections,

A world where children’s greatest inheritance is the generations of unconsciousness,

The conditioned teaching the conditioning...

Stay tuned for the next part of the KYDS Story

"The World as We Imagine It"

Bringing Balance to the Community!

TO LEARN MORE AND SUPPORT KYDS

CLICK HERE

Springwood Ave on a Summer night - Jessie Ricki

Experiencing Homelessness in Asbury Park (2)

A Married Couple

EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS IN ASBURY PARK - A MARRIED COUPLE (2)

Here at the Asbury Voice we don’t believe that anyone is voiceless. We believe everyone has a voice and that every voice is important. But we also know that not everyone who has a voice and a story has the privilege and power to be heard. Often we can read about homelesness in America from the perspective of Sociologists or other professionals, but it is rare that we hear directly from those experiencing homelessnes in print. So over the course of the Asbury Voice’s future you will hear from different people experiencing homelesness in Asbury Park.

Why do we say “people experiencing homelessness?” It is sure a mouthful, but we say it because no one is homeless (people are beautiful human beings that feel joy, pain, sadness and love), homelessness is something a person experiences. Homelessness is something created by an unjust system that does not see housing as a human right.

Derek Minno-Bloom

Here is the story of Bob and Tara

All homeless people are not drug addicts or alcoholics. There are many reasons why people experience homelessness, My story is that I fell two stories on a job and got seriously hurt and was out of work a long period of time and couldn’t get back into work. Once you get into that rut, it is so hard to get back. When finally I did get back, got hurt a second time, everything kinda went downhill from there. My body didn’t rebound as easily and it was easy to want to give up. So now, I have started my business over again and have done well, believe it or not. The summer is over and the prices of rooms are going down, and we won’t be on the street much longer. We may be in a hotel or a rooming house for a while. You just have to go one step at a time and pray.

I do construction. I can pretty well build or fix anything. And I am always honest. I back up my work. Homeless people are not criminals or bad people. I go to work everyday. People want to know what I do with my money. If I make $125 for the day, by the time I eat, travel and possibly get a room, that’s it. And the next morning I do it all over again. If you go hungry in Asbury Park you are an idiot. There are just so many places that will feed you and that is a blessing. Wherever Tara and I go, we always thank the cook.

Both Tara and I work. When one doesn’t make money, the other does. We just try to get through the day. Some days are worse than others. Things right now are starting to become more steady, which is a blessing. Hopefully it will all work out. I try to think of the light at the end of the tunnel.

Sometimes at night we take shelter on the pavilion in Ocean Grove. I love people who call themselves Christians. They yell at us, “Get out of here.” “You can’t be here.” We are just looking for shelter from the wind and rain during the night. It just blows my mind. We are not hurting anybody. Actually many times we clean the place up a bit, when we arrive. They are so quick to judge us. It is not like I choose to live this way. The last place I want to be is here, I would rather be in a warm bed. It is what it is. You wake up and do whatever you have to do to move on with your life.

This coming winter will be my first winter ever as a person experiencing homelessness. I got hurt last December 21st in Florida. We were lucky enough then because my wife’s parents helped us and we stayed in hotels through the winter. Then in May, I started to go back to work a day here and a day there. There are places in Manasquan and Red Bank where you can go and those looking for a worker will pick you up. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. The train will take you to Manasquan and the bus will take you to Red Bank. The bus drivers don’t help you but the train will, if you don’t have money to get there. Just explain your story. Just trying to help yourself stay alive.

A simple ride or a buck for a coffee goes a long way. Some won’t give you money, but will buy something for you. There are times when I have given my last dollar to somebody who is worse off than me - money for a burger or if someone is shaking so much, they are in desperate need for a drink. You do what you have to do, to help someone else. It makes a difference.

My wife and I were arrested a couple of months ago. She got off the bus from Lakewood , where she was working for the day. We were at the bus terminal and she gave me five dollars to go get a soda. A cop came out of nowhere and jumped on us, as if he got the drug bust of the century. He demanded to know where we got our money. [It was none of his business where I got my money - where did he get the money in his wallet?] Now this is my wife who gave me $5 to get a soda. Now he wants ID. {I am big on my rights. This is not a ‘Stop and ID state.’ There was no crime and no reason for me to give him my ID] And he arrested us for obstruction. Obstruction of what investigation? I told him, my wife gave me $5 for a soda. We have to go to Superior Court for that in Freehold later this month. Actually I know somebody who videoed it. We are just being stereotyped. It is just not right. When I said to him that these charges are going to be thrown out, he responded he knew they would be. It just seemed he wanted to make our lives more miserable, which we really did not need.

If you go to the train station in Asbury Park, you are immediately confronted. If you sit in a park the same thing happens. Anybody else can enjoy the park, but we can’t. What is that? You see these kinds of things happen so often. Please give us a break. You walk all day, you are in the elements and you find a shade tree and you are able to take a nap for an hour and it is like a blessing. You are not bothering anybody, but just relaxing. And it is a public park. Just because I am down on my luck, I am not part of the public? It just makes you sad. I have worked all my life. You have no idea what reasons bring people to this point in their life. A lot of things happen along the way. At some point they may have had trouble with alcohol, but it doesn’t mean that is the reason they became homeless. And for some, it just all becomes too much and they just want to become numb to everything for awhile. They don’t want to deal with the reality of it. There are few places to turn to for help. Society just shuns you. But you are still a human being.

I got hurt. I paid my dues for 30 years as a construction worker, paid all my taxes, paid into disability. Then I was refused help. No one told me I could repeal it. When I did, they told me then repeal time had expired. So I went from $2,500 per month to $700 per month. Then I was told I couldn’t work and receive the $700 per month. People say you are bilking the system but forget we have paid into it all these years. I was born and raised here and yet could not get any help. Whatever help I was given, it was like pulling teeth. Sometimes it is just not worth the aggravation. Basically so much of the time you are literally on your own.

For anybody reading this - YOU COULD BE ONE PAYCHECK AWAY FROM BEING ME. Remember that.

Did You Know

... that Words Bookstore in Asbury Park is now community owned and will be known as the Asbury Book Cooperative. This was announced by Liza Minno Bloom, the store manager, and the whole process was described by Michelle Gladden in the Asbury Park Sun. CLICK HERE

... that as of last week, the Director of the Asbury Park Housing Authority, Tom Sahlim, announced that the Asbury Park Housing Authority will be re-examining all applications that have been submitted to the New Boston Way LLC site.

All articles we print are the experiences and opinions of the authors. An editorial board reserves the right to make any changes they deem necessary to submitted articles that will keep The Asbury Voice from any liability. Authors will be informed of these changes to give them the opportunity to change or withdraw the writing.