Tick Tock Sheptock

As stated in my previous blog post, I've been the subject of a massive media frenzy since Monday, December 13th due to my use of the internet to advocate for DC's homeless. It has gained much support for me. But it has also caused some to express their disdain for both me and my efforts. I welcome the supporters, but am not opposed to people stating their disagreement with me. I'm still working feverishly to harness all of the support that I'm receiving and channel it into something that would make my homeless advocacy more impactful -- something like a 501(c)4, as I refuse to give up my right to participate in political activities by establishing a 501(c)3. I'm beginning to weigh my options. The article about my on-line homeless advocacy has, in effect, forced me to spend even more hour on-line. A ladyfriend from New Jersey called me on Sunday, December 19th because she was bothered by a particular article in the Huffington Post entitled "Food or Facebo...

Homeless Advocacy, Social Networking, Fame & Infamy In early November I was contacted by a Washington Post intern named Nathan Rott. He'd been covering homeless issues for about 5 months at the time. He'd also spoken to reporters Marc Fisher and Petula Dvorak who told him that I had over 4,500 Facebook friends. So, Nathan decided to profile me and to build the story around my use of the internet to advocate for the homeless through social networking. He followed me around off and on for about 3 weeks, ending on November 27th. Then the story was held for about 2 weeks before being published; because, the editor wanted to put it on the front page. Then, on December 3rd I was called by a friend of a friend who wanted me to be part of a radio broadcast on WAMU 88.5 FM in which we would discuss a program called "Art Works" through which poor and homeless children and adults do art that is then sold on the internet. (The proceeds go to the artist or th...

It is with great sadness that I say that Mary Ann Luby -- the woman who gave me my start as a homeless advocate -- passed away on November 29th, 2010 after a short battle with cancer (less than 2 weeks). While it stands to reason that she might've had cancer long before it was detected, I can definitely appreciate the fact that her suffering was cut short. She is greatly missed by myself and others nonetheless. Mary Ann was one of two women who entered the Franklin School Shelter in mid-June 2006 to tell its 240 residents about the plans of former DC mayor Anthony Williams to close the shelter and to re-open the Gales School as a shelter with 120 beds, leaving half of us with nowhere to go. Mary Ann was a nun of the Dominican Order who did outreach work for the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless. The other woman was a community activist named Becky Sambol who fought for several different causes. They called a meeting amongst the shelter residents and about a dozen att...