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Yahoo
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Chef Cardie's Culinary Therapy: Inspiring Recovery and Joy
How can I give back to all the people here who have helped me recover? Charles Mortimer, known as Chef Cardie, thought while in a rehabilitation facility in New Jersey. The longtime chef had been healing through physical therapy following spinal surgery that had left him temporarily paralyzed. There has to be a way I can repay them! Cardie's culinary career included cooking in kitchens all over the country. But standing on his feet for upwards of 16 hours a day finally took its toll, leading to the collapse of several discs in his spine and subsequent surgery. 'Your cooking days are over,' Cardie's doctor told him. But during his fourth month in rehab, as he was slowly learning to walk again, Cardie said to the staff, 'I want to make lunch for you. I want that to be my therapy for the day.' The staff was flabbergasted, wondering what he was talking about. They soon found out. As three of Cardie's therapists supported him, he cooked the staff his New Orleans specialties—jambalaya and bananas Foster bread pudding. 'This is the best lunch I've ever had,' one of the workers raved, while another was in tears, amazed Cardie could even stand. I feel like I have purpose, Cardie thought. I know God has a plan for me. Soon, an administrator at the rehab asked Cardie if he would like to cook for all the residents of the rehab facility when he got back on his feet. 'Absolutely,' the chef replied enthusiastically. Six months after his surgery, Cardie was walking again, and he and his wife came up with an idea for a new cooking show. 'Let's call it Culinary Therapy,' his wife suggested. The duo took the show on the road, filming in rehab facilities, hospitals and assisted living homes across New Jersey. To see people come in with their walkers and wheelchairs and start laughing and smiling makes my heart feel three times as large, he thought. But Cardie wasn't done finding ways to lift people's spirits and fill their bellies. In 2016, he used the inheritance from his late parents to pay to build a brand-new kitchen and food pantry at a local church in his hometown of Verona, New Jersey. The pantry now serves 200 families each month. Cardie also donates his time with the New Orleans–based Emeril Lagasse Foundation, teaching culinary students, and wrote a cookbook, Keep On Cookin': A Celebration of Life Through Cooking, which donates all proceeds to the National Coalition for the Homeless. So far, he's helped raise $200,000 for the nonprofit. The joy Cardie spreads, particularly through Culinary Therapy, with over 125 appearances to date, is contagious. 'I want you to know the impact you had on our residents,' one nursing home staffer said. 'You brought joy and laughter into their world!' 'I'm blessed to have the talents to be able to cook and entertain people,' Chef Cardie says. 'It's great to have an impact on those who need to be loved and supported the most.' Want more real-life hero stories? Click here! She Left Her Job to Bring Free Music Lessons to Kids—Now Her Program Has Helped Thousands A Little Girl's Big Heart: She Raised $15K for St. Jude and Sent 1,700 Letters to Deployed Sailors This Mom Rescued a Stray Dog—Then Realized He Was Sent to Help Her Son Heal
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Dehumanization of homeless population causes violence against it, homeless advocate says
May 22—Violence is no stranger to Spokane's homeless population. Besides Thursday's murder sentencing of Aaron R. Holder, a judge sentenced Steven P. White, 48, last month to 30 years in prison for fatally stabbing 44-year-old Shan Anderson, who was lying on the ground possibly sleeping, more than a dozen times in 2023 in downtown Spokane. Last month, three teenagers brutally attacked a homeless man on the ground outside the downtown Spokane Public Library, leaving the man with skull fractures and brain bleeding, according to court documents. About 30 minutes later, one of the teens threw an electric scooter at a man sleeping in a sleeping bag on Sprague Avenue and Wall Street, court records show. Donald Whitehead, executive director at National Coalition for the Homeless, described attacks on homeless people as a "crime of opportunity." Homeless people often don't have ties to the larger community and are not connected to their relatives, so the crimes may go unnoticed or may not be adjudicated in the same manner, he said. Whitehead said the homeless population is more susceptible to violence because communities push to dissolve encampments, forcing them into isolated locations where they are more prone to be victims of violence. Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Grants Pass, Oregon v. Johnson that municipalities can criminalize sleeping outdoors on public property because it does not violate the Eighth Amendment's prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. Last month, the Spokane City Council voted to not move forward with reinstating Proposition 1, the voter-approved anti-homeless camping law that the Washington Supreme Court had recently struck down. Proposition 1 banned camping within 1,000 feet of parks, schools and licensed day care facilities, making violations a misdemeanor offense. The state Supreme Court argued the proposition had gone outside the legal bounds for a local initiative, though it did not make a ruling on the merits of the law, leaving it open for the City Council to reinstate the law, according to previous Spokesman-Review reporting. Whitehead said many people who attack homeless people view them as less human, a narrative that has ramped up in certain states and led to more attacks on the homeless population. Oregon has one of the highest levels of crimes against unsheltered people, Whitehead said, and attributed it to the negative publicity around the Grants Pass v. Johnson case, noting the direct correlation between dehumanizing homeless people and the violence that's perpetrated upon them. The Oregonian reported in February 2024 that a growing number of homeless people were being shot and killed in Portland. Five of the 15 homicides at that point in the year in the city involved a homeless person, the publication reported. Whitehead said he expects the homeless population and violence against it to dramatically increase if President Donald Trump's budget proposal and the reconciliation bill, the latter of which cleared the House this week, are approved. Trump proposed dramatic cuts to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. That includes eliminating HUD's rental assistance program, including Section 8 vouchers, and allowing states to make their own rental assistance programs instead. The plan would include a two-year cap on rental assistance for able-bodied adults. Whitehead said the cuts to HUD will make it much harder to get people out of homelessness. The reconciliation bill proposes several changes to Medicaid, including work requirements for able-bodied adults. Whitehead said medical expenses are one of the reasons people can't afford housing. The "cascading list of changes" will have negative effects, he said. "People will die because of these changes," Whitehead said.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Conference attendees decry bill banning unauthorized camping, sleeping on public land
Graphic: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. As many as 170 communities have enacted ordinances banning unauthorized camping and sleeping since last June when the U.S. Supreme Court okayed them, Donald Whitehead, executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless, told attendees of the 'Bringing it Home 2025' conference in Raleigh on Thursday. Fining, jailing or ticketing someone experiencing homelessness for unauthorized camping or sleeping outside will not solve the homelessness problem, said Whitehead, the event's keynote speaker. He urged conference participants to fight against proposed legislation in North Carolina that would make unauthorized camping and sleeping illegal. 'I'm asking you today, before you leave this conference, call your representative in Washington, in the state House, make sure that North Carolina doesn't become included in those communities that are criminalizing homelessness,' Whitehead said. Whitehead was referring to House Bill 781, which is winding its way through the General Assembly. The bill would ban unauthorized camping and sleeping on public property and allow local governments by 'majority vote' to designate local government-owned property to be used for a 'continuous period of up to one year for public camping or sleeping purposes.' Local governments can renew the one-year period. Whitehead shared that a 2014 study in Osceola, Florida found that 37 chronically homeless people were arrested approximately 1,250 times at a cost of more than $6 million to the community. 'We know, if you jail, fine or arrest somebody, it does not solve homelessness,' Whitehead said. 'Criminalization is not the solution, but those are local decisions, and the only way we can have an impact on those local solutions, those local issues, is that we have to be advocates in our community beyond the service.' Rep. Brian Biggs (R-Randolph), a cosponsor of HB 781 has pushed back against claims the bill criminalizes homelessness. 'This bill does not criminalize homelessness,' Biggs insisted. 'It addresses unauthorized public property camping and sleeping without prohibiting homelessness itself.' Biggs has said HB 781 grew out of conversations with municipal leaders who asked for guidance around handling the state's growing homeless crisis. He said the state can no longer wait to address the problem. Speaking just ahead of Whitehead on Thursday, Gov. Josh Stein also took aim at HB 781, contrasting it with bills introduced this session that are designed to increase affordable housing stock. Stein said lawmakers have put forward 'many creative solutions' to address the state's housing shortage, such as a proposal to allow developers to build new housing in any area zoned for commercial, retail or office use without having to rezone the property. 'They're [lawmakers] thinking boldly about how we can increase housing supply, and this is certainly an issue where there is a possibility for bipartisan solutions,' Stein said. 'On the other hand, we are seeing efforts at the General Assembly to make sleeping in a park a crime. No one should have to sleep outside. It's a real problem, but we need to find real solutions by connecting people with supportive services and putting more roofs over more heads.' Bans on authorized camping and sleeping are coming as the rate of homelessness is rising, Whitehead said. 'Last year, we had the highest number of people experiencing homelessness in the history of our country, at least since it's been measured by Congress, which goes back to the early 2000s, over 770,000 people (an 18% increase over the previous year),' Whitehead said. HUD's 2024 Annual Homelessness Assessment Report (AHAR) found that the number of people experiencing homelessness increased in every category — except for veterans — measured during the department's annual Point-in-Time (PIT) Count. The count is a snapshot of the number of individuals in shelters, temporary housing and unsheltered on a single night. The Founding Fathers in the Preamble to the Constitution promised U.S. citizens life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, Whitehead said. 'You can't pursue happiness sleeping under a bridge,' Whitehead said. 'There is no liberty when you are fined, jailed or ticketed because you can't afford a place to live. You cannot pursue happiness if you lay your head in the back of an automobile.' State advocates for people experiencing homelessness contend HB 781 will diminishes local autonomy while making cities and counties both fiscally responsible and legally liable for the implementing state-sanctioned encampment policies. The NC Coalition to End Homelessness (NCCEH) has also expressed concern that the proposal is being pushed by the Cicero Institute, a conservative think tank, that has led efforts to pass similar legislation in Arizona, Missouri, Tennessee, Iowa, Georgia, Florida, Wisconsin and Kentucky. The institute was founded by tech-industry capitalist Joe Lonsdale, who is critical of the 'housing first' approach to ending homelessness. That model prioritizes providing individuals and families with permanent, affordable housing as the first step in ending their plight. 'While Cicero describes itself as a think tank, its policies promote industries that potentially profit from criminalizing poverty,' said Dr. Latonya Agard, executive director of NCCEH. Agard said Cicero's policies promote industries that will potentially profit from criminalizing poverty. 'States that adopted Cicero laws find they are funneling more public money into incarceration, so while these bills could lead to the financial enrichment of out-of-state investors of privatized jails and prisons and monitoring technologies, they will worsen conditions for North Carolinians without housing,' Agard said. Both Stein and Whitehead expressed concerns about proposed federal budget cuts to eliminate Section 8 housing. 'More than 25,000 people in North Carolina depend on Section 8 to have a home they can't afford to have that support taken away from them, and we cannot afford it either,' Stein said. 'Let's work to expand access to housing, not take it away.' Stein said he's also concerned about proposed cuts to Medicaid and the SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.) The SNAP program, once referred to as Food Stamps, provides low-income families with food for an adequate diet. 'These cuts pose a serious threat to the wallets and wellbeing of so many hard-working families here in North Carolina,' Stein said. 'Cuts to essential needs like health care and food make it that much harder for people to afford housing, and they'll make it even harder for our state to afford to support our people.' Whitehead said the proposed cuts to the nation's social safety net programs would push more people into homelessness and cause harm to those who are already unsheltered. 'If that budget goes through, it would be a devastating impact on people experiencing homelessness,' he said. 'I don't know who you voted for, but I don't think you voted for an 80% reduction in HUD [U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development] staff or $1 trillion worth of cuts between Medicaid and the SNAP program — I don't think that's what you voted for — and all of that in order to be able to enact a $45 trillion tax cut, which benefits people at the top of the economic ladder.' Devdutta Sangvai, the N.C. Secretary of Health and Human Services, said that in the coming days the proposed Medicaid and SNAP cuts will be widely discussed. Sangvai reminded conferences attendees that both are connected to housing. 'Behavioral Health is connected to housing. Housing is connected to child care. Child Care is connected to the economy,' Sangvai said. 'We do not have to artificially connect the dots to make a point. It is proven. There are data out there to support that. And so we really need to understand that if we don't address the homelessness issue in the housing crisis, it poses a direct threat to the stability and economic well being of North Carolina.' Bring It Home 2025 is sponsored by the N.C. Housing Coalition, the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services and the N.C. Coalition to End Homelessness. The conference concludes Friday.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Conference attendees decry bill banning unauthorized camping, sleeping on public land
Graphic: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. As many as 170 communities have enacted ordinances banning unauthorized camping and sleeping since last June when the U.S. Supreme Court okayed them, Donald Whitehead, executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless, told attendees of the 'Bringing it Home 2025' conference in Raleigh on Thursday. Fining, jailing or ticketing someone experiencing homelessness for unauthorized camping or sleeping outside will not solve the homelessness problem, said Whitehead, the event's keynote speaker. He urged conference participants to fight against proposed legislation in North Carolina that would make unauthorized camping and sleeping illegal. 'I'm asking you today, before you leave this conference, call your representative in Washington, in the state House, make sure that North Carolina doesn't become included in those communities that are criminalizing homelessness,' Whitehead said. Whitehead was referring to House Bill 781, which is winding its way through the General Assembly. The bill would ban unauthorized camping and sleeping on public property and allow local governments by 'majority vote' to designate local government-owned property to be used for a 'continuous period of up to one year for public camping or sleeping purposes.' Local governments can renew the one-year period. Whitehead shared that a 2014 study in Osceola, Florida found that 37 chronically homeless people were arrested approximately 1,250 times at a cost of more than $6 million to the community. 'We know, if you jail, fine or arrest somebody, it does not solve homelessness,' Whitehead said. 'Criminalization is not the solution, but those are local decisions, and the only way we can have an impact on those local solutions, those local issues, is that we have to be advocates in our community beyond the service.' Rep. Brian Biggs (R-Randolph), a cosponsor of HB 781 has pushed back against claims the bill criminalizes homelessness. 'This bill does not criminalize homelessness,' Biggs insisted. 'It addresses unauthorized public property camping and sleeping without prohibiting homelessness itself.' Biggs has said HB 781 grew out of conversations with municipal leaders who asked for guidance around handling the state's growing homeless crisis. He said the state can no longer wait to address the problem. Speaking just ahead of Whitehead on Thursday, Gov. Josh Stein also took aim at HB 781, contrasting it with bills introduced this session that are designed to increase affordable housing stock. Stein said lawmakers have put forward 'many creative solutions' to address the state's housing shortage, such as a proposal to allow developers to build new housing in any area zoned for commercial, retail or office use without having to rezone the property. 'They're [lawmakers] thinking boldly about how we can increase housing supply, and this is certainly an issue where there is a possibility for bipartisan solutions,' Stein said. 'On the other hand, we are seeing efforts at the General Assembly to make sleeping in a park a crime. No one should have to sleep outside. It's a real problem, but we need to find real solutions by connecting people with supportive services and putting more roofs over more heads.' Bans on authorized camping and sleeping are coming as the rate of homelessness is rising, Whitehead said. 'Last year, we had the highest number of people experiencing homelessness in the history of our country, at least since it's been measured by Congress, which goes back to the early 2000s, over 770,000 people (an 18% increase over the previous year),' Whitehead said. HUD's 2024 Annual Homelessness Assessment Report (AHAR) found that the number of people experiencing homelessness increased in every category — except for veterans — measured during the department's annual Point-in-Time (PIT) Count. The count is a snapshot of the number of individuals in shelters, temporary housing and unsheltered on a single night. The Founding Fathers in the Preamble to the Constitution promised U.S. citizens life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, Whitehead said. 'You can't pursue happiness sleeping under a bridge,' Whitehead said. 'There is no liberty when you are fined, jailed or ticketed because you can't afford a place to live. You cannot pursue happiness if you lay your head in the back of an automobile.' State advocates for people experiencing homelessness contend HB 781 will diminishes local autonomy while making cities and counties both fiscally responsible and legally liable for the implementing state-sanctioned encampment policies. The NC Coalition to End Homelessness (NCCEH) has also expressed concern that the proposal is being pushed by the Cicero Institute, a conservative think tank, that has led efforts to pass similar legislation in Arizona, Missouri, Tennessee, Iowa, Georgia, Florida, Wisconsin and Kentucky. The institute was founded by tech-industry capitalist Joe Lonsdale, who is critical of the 'housing first' approach to ending homelessness. That model prioritizes providing individuals and families with permanent, affordable housing as the first step in ending their plight. 'While Cicero describes itself as a think tank, its policies promote industries that potentially profit from criminalizing poverty,' said Dr. Latonya Agard, executive director of NCCEH. Agard said Cicero's policies promote industries that will potentially profit from criminalizing poverty. 'States that adopted Cicero laws find they are funneling more public money into incarceration, so while these bills could lead to the financial enrichment of out-of-state investors of privatized jails and prisons and monitoring technologies, they will worsen conditions for North Carolinians without housing,' Agard said. Both Stein and Whitehead expressed concerns about proposed federal budget cuts to eliminate Section 8 housing. 'More than 25,000 people in North Carolina depend on Section 8 to have a home they can't afford to have that support taken away from them, and we cannot afford it either,' Stein said. 'Let's work to expand access to housing, not take it away.' Stein said he's also concerned about proposed cuts to Medicaid and the SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.) The SNAP program, once referred to as Food Stamps, provides low-income families with food for an adequate diet. 'These cuts pose a serious threat to the wallets and wellbeing of so many hard-working families here in North Carolina,' Stein said. 'Cuts to essential needs like health care and food make it that much harder for people to afford housing, and they'll make it even harder for our state to afford to support our people.' Whitehead said the proposed cuts to the nation's social safety net programs would push more people into homelessness and cause harm to those who are already unsheltered. 'If that budget goes through, it would be a devastating impact on people experiencing homelessness,' he said. 'I don't know who you voted for, but I don't think you voted for an 80% reduction in HUD [U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development] staff or $1 trillion worth of cuts between Medicaid and the SNAP program — I don't think that's what you voted for — and all of that in order to be able to enact a $45 trillion tax cut, which benefits people at the top of the economic ladder.' Devdutta Sangvai, the N.C. Secretary of Health and Human Services, said that in the coming days the proposed Medicaid and SNAP cuts will be widely discussed. Sangvai reminded conferences attendees that both are connected to housing. 'Behavioral Health is connected to housing. Housing is connected to child care. Child Care is connected to the economy,' Sangvai said. 'We do not have to artificially connect the dots to make a point. It is proven. There are data out there to support that. And so we really need to understand that if we don't address the homelessness issue in the housing crisis, it poses a direct threat to the stability and economic well being of North Carolina.' Bring It Home 2025 is sponsored by the N.C. Housing Coalition, the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services and the N.C. Coalition to End Homelessness. The conference concludes Friday.
Business Wire
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Business Wire
Newsom Lays Homeless Blame on Local Governments by Call for Ordinance Banning Encampments, Says HHR
LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Housing advocates from AHF's Housing Is A Human Right (HHR) division and National Coalition for the Homeless blasted California Governor Gavin Newsom for his call earlier today on cities and towns across the state to ban homeless encampments—criminalizing many of their unhoused occupants in the process. After two terms in office and despite allocating $24 billion in state funding to address the homeless crisis, Governor Newsom has little to nothing to show that he has meaningfully addressed homelessness in California. Worse, state officials under his watch cannot even account for how the $24 billion may have been spent. Newsom may feel empowered by last year's disastrous Supreme Court ruling in the Grants Pass case, which now allows for the criminalization of homeless communities living on our streets nationwide. 'Governor Newsom signed housing legislation with no mandate for low-income affordable housing, opposed rent control and cozied up to market-rate developers, all of which increased homelessness, and now he wants to lay all the blame on local government,' stated Susie Shannon, Policy Director for Housing is a Human Right. 'It is unconscionable to take away the right of people to sit, lay or sleep on public property in California when there are approximately 187,000 people homeless and nowhere for them to live. How many housing bills will Newsom sign this year alone that provide no relief for high rents for working families, children and seniors and no housing for those experiencing homelessness?' "The solution requires addressing the structural issues. Without having housing in place along with supportive services, this is going in the wrong direction,' added Donald Whitehead, Executive Director, National Coalition for the Homeless. 'It only exacerbates homelessness and while we are not promoting encampments, we understand that this is a symptom of California not addressing the structural cause of homelessness, which is a lack of housing for people who are marginalized.'
