At 4 a.m. on Friday morning, January 27th, hundreds of volunteers left deployment centers throughout San Diego County to count homeless people. Called, "We All Count," this annual enumeration of homeless people in the county is run by the San Diego Regional Task Force on the Homeless.

Beginning in...

CS: On July 14, 2011, your partner, Larry Dean Milligan, champion of homeless people, passed. You seem content despite your loss.

JA: Yes, you could say that. I feel that his life is such a gift to me. And despite the physical separation...

Some housed people believe that homeless people don't have a care in the world. They think that because many homeless people don't appear to work, that life on the streets is carefree. Truly, nothing could be further from the truth.

The truth is that homeless people have extremely challenging...

"Have you met Sally... Sally Dunn? You've got to meet her. Sally's amazing," said Ed.

"Yeah, she's helping so many of us homeless people living in the riverbed that we call her, 'Saint Sally,'" chimed in his pal, Lane.

I was immediately intrigued by the enthusiastic heart-felt...

It has been said that "a man is known by the company he keeps." And Larry Dean Milligan (September 23, 1946 - July 14, 2011) kept excellent company -- from his dear friends who are lawyers, business people and advocates, to the homeless men, women and children whom he befriended...

The myth that homeless people make millions or thousands of dollars is a myth of gigantic proportions. This myth incorporates the mistaken belief that homeless people make big money by trading on their homelessness, which is simply not true.

Panhandling is one of the primary ways a homeless person can...

My homeless friend, Larry, was upset as he recounted his recent experience: "The other day I went to a fast food store, bought a coffee and went outside to sit, drink my coffee and have a cigarette. But, they wouldn't let me. 'Move along,' they said, 'You can't stay here.'...

Homeless people need identification documentation for the same reasons that housed people need ID: to prove who they are, to become eligible for services and for their own self-esteem.
However, for homeless people, having personal IDs is truly a matter of survival. All government assistance programs require identification...

When a homeless person has a certified copy of his/her birth certificate, a state-issued photo identification card (or driver's license) and an original social security card, he/she possesses "The Trifecta of Identification." Having possession of these three forms of ID is often the threshold issue for a homeless person to...

At 5 a.m. on Friday morning, January 11, flames rising from Bianca Koch's red 1991 BMW convertible lit up the alley between Narragansett Avenue and Niagara Street in Ocean Beach, CA (OB). Luckily, the fire department was able to put out the blaze before it could spread to nearby structures....

Imagine for a moment the image of a homeless person. How do you feel? Are you imagining someone you respect?

Many of us do not respect homeless people. And by "us," I mean "housed people." Often, having respect for homeless people is only a myth.

Homeless is first and foremost a social service issue. In other words, homelessness can be and will be resolved through the work of compassionate individuals and social service agencies, be they nonprofit organizations or government agencies. Nevertheless, the myth exists that homelessness is primarily a police issue.

In my opinion, the popular myth that homeless people "flock" to any particular city to take advantage of its services is cruel. This myth is espoused by some housed people, including some people in positions of political power in certain municipalities. They argue that their city should not offer humanitarian...

The myth that helping a homeless person makes him/her dependent, in other words, "infantilizes" him/her, is sometimes used as a rationale not to help a person in need. I believe the concepts that are being confused in this myth are the concepts of "helping" another person versus "rescuing" another person....

"Why don't homeless people just pull themselves up by their own bootstraps?" What I believe some housed people mean by this question is that homeless people should be able to get themselves out of homelessness by themselves, through their own efforts. Of all the myths about homelessness, I feel that...

On Sunday June 27, 1,400 people participated in the 28th annual San Diego International Triathlon consisting of a 1K swim, a 30K bike ride and a 10K run. The event raised $50,000 for the homeless programs of St. Vincent de Paul Village.

Six participants, racing in two teams of...

No one truly chooses to be homeless.

Certainly, the nearly 50 percent of homeless people who are women and children don't choose homelessness over being housed.

Further, the 25 percent to 40 percent of homeless people who are reportedly veterans would presumably prefer to re-establish the lives that they...

Within the past month, The Black, a head shop in Ocean Beach, California, began selling a three and one-half inch square sticker that reads, "Welcome to Ocean Beach. Please Don't Feed Our Bums!"

Ken Anderson, buyer for The Black, thought that these stickers were "bad satire," but would be...

"The sticker is the issue."

- Frank Gormlie, attorney, grassroots activist and editor/publisher of the OB Rag at obrag.org

On June 23, 2010, with local police standing watch, emotions of bystanders ran high as Frank Gormlie sought signatures on his petition requesting that The Black, a...

For most homeless people, rest is a luxury. When people are unsheltered, they don't have a home within which to retreat for rest and relaxation. Often they are challenged to get the full amount of rest and sleep that human beings need to function effectively in the world.

Further,...