Our Hearts Of Fire Project’s beautiful 1993 Fleetwood Flair arrived today, 27 feet of two-tone blue possibility! Not only is it in great shape, but it came with plenty of gas and a new registration. Our mission – empowering people through musical self-expression – just reached the next level.

We plan to use the RV to record and edit music created by people without homes. We will travel to where they are, work with them at shelters and other locations and record them performing music. Selected copies of these performances will be given to the musicians and to help them showcase their work. We will also video their performances and talk with them on camera. The music recordings will be edited and shared with the world via digital downloads and CD’s. Likewise, we will edit and upload the videos and when we have enough footage, create a full length film.

Although we are off to great start, we need donations of audio and video equipment as well as musical instruments to get the project off the ground. Specifically, we need a Mac computer, an audio computer interface and software, microphones, stands, guitars, keyboards and percussion. For video production, we need editing software and computer monitors. Once we have what we need to launch the project, we will also welcome some creative volunteers to assist us, especially people with audio and video production experience.

We are very excited about this and can’t wait to get our new RV studio up and running. Great things are going to happen!

<Click on this picture to watch video

As usual, the children had the most fun, but we adults weren’t far behind. I won’t say anything else about our experience except to say watch this video. People are amazing!

Please let us know what you think by creating a User Account and then posting a comment. We appreciate it.

A Big Thank You to Reggie, Ros, Bob and all the great people at Solutions For Change!

<Click on this image or click on this link to watch video.

Please let us know what you think of it. We would love to hear your thoughts. To leave a comment, you must log in to Word Press, or register and create a Word Press account.

Now on to the next video – our workshop at Solutions For Change last month.

We are nearing the point where we have enough art from our recent workshops to have an exhibition of this unique work. Our objective is to convey the essential humanity and spirit of each of the participants in the workshop. We do more than exhibit the work. We provide a platform for the unheard to be heard and the unseen to be seen. We’ll be sure to let everyone know when and where we will have this very special event.

Well In The Desert Workshop

It has been quite awhile since I have posted anything on this site. Mostly, it is because we have been using our Face Book page instead. It reaches more people and is easier to use both for me and for our audience. At some point, we will probably create a new web site, something more modern and user friendly. But for now, this is what we have. Excuses aside, I am here to bring you up to date about our activities over the last several months as well as share our plans for the future.

A lot has happened over the last year or so. Much of it involves my personal life, but since I am the carrier of the vision for the Hearts Of Fire Project, my experiences inevitably effect the project. Some of these experiences have been challenging and at times, inhibited my ability to work on the project. Thus, progress often came to a virtual standstill. Despite this, I have stayed in touch with Spirit, the true source of this project, and am asking for guidance to help me bring forth this vision in the world.

The vision has not changed, although I think it has been refined a bit. Empowering people is a popular idea these days and I am happy to see that it is. But what does it really mean? In the case of our project, it means recognizing the innate value of each human being and honoring the unique contribution each of us has to make in the world. For most of us, it is a life-long process to find what it is each of us is here to contribute, to understand what we are here to do. I have spent years contemplating my purpose and understand that it is not a simple undertaking. One thing that has become apparent is that at least part of my purpose is helping others discover their purpose, their gifts and their unique ability to contribute. Thus, I feel blessed to offer an avenue for the expression of that individual and collective contribution – the Hearts of Fire Project.

We created a new structure for our Art Empowerment Workshop, our primary vehicle for the project. With the assistance of our new Art Director and several great volunteers, we conducted several workshops at the Well In The Desert in Palm Springs, CA. The Well In The Desert is a wonderful organization that has been supporting people without homes in the Coachella Valley for many years.

From June through October, we delivered one workshop each month and each one was amazing. Although the desert heat and complicated logistics kept the attendance down, the people who were there experienced a shift in their lives. We interviewed some of these people about their experiences and their art. It was amazing. I am working on these videos and should have them ready for posting on our site soon.

In 2015, we are planning to conduct more workshops. We are investigating venues in the Palm Springs area as well as locations elsewhere. We are conducting a workshop on February 28^th at Solutions For Change in Vista, CA. We conducted a workshop there in 2008, on our first west coast tour. They invited us back and we are very excited about it. We are expecting a good crowd. Since this a family shelter, there will lots of kids too. That is always fun. As usual, we will be video taping the workshop and will be posting more here about the experience. It is good to be back!

Thank you to all of our old and new supporters! Your donations are very much appreciated. Without them, we could not continue our work.

This interview with the study’s lead researcher and homeless activist Mark Hovarth is very interesting and reiterates many of the points we have been making about vehicle dwelling. I am happy that this issue is receiving some serious attention but I am concerned about some of the impacts this could have on the very people that the research is supposed to help.

First of all, I am concerned about the use of the six criteria that the researchers developed for use in the annual homeless count. Although I understand that they came up with these criteria to help insure that the people living in vehicles were included in the count, these criteria can and probably will be used to harass and intimidate people living in their vehicles. These people are already the subject of ongoing persecution and are forced to hide from law enforcement and “do-gooders” who don’t want these people besmirching their neighborhoods. The last thing people in vehicles need is a check list to help people find them because as it stands, living in vehicles is illegal in most jurisdictions.

Secondly, I don’t think we need to quantify a problem  that we know already exists unless we have solutions in place. Right now, we don’t. With the exception of the very successful Safe Parking Program in Santa Barbara, CA and a few others, there is no safe place for people to live in vehicles. I am happy that the City of Seattle and the study’s author are interested in creating a safe place to park, but until they do, people in vehicles are now even more vulnerable to persecution than they were before this study was published.

As alluded to in the video, when vehicle dwellers are identified and ticketed by law enforcement, eventually their home will be towed away and impounded. Unlike a typical parking violator who has a nice place to live until they get their car back, vehicle dwellers are out on the street. Not only that, but everything they own is gone with their vehicle as well. In a matter of days, the fees for towing, impoundment and fines far exceed anything anyone without shelter can afford. So now, we have a family or an individual with no home rather than just an inadequate one.

I hope that the publication of the study will spur solutions quickly. Otherwise, more suffering will ensue for those living in vehicles. In the past, a study like this may have produced solutions quickly, but with the diminishing resources now available, it is more likely that it will result in more harm than help. However, I believe it is best for people to know the truth, so that at least those who wish to help can do so.

We have been working on a program to address the needs of vehicle dwellers – the Homes On Wheels Program. It began in 2009 when we received an RV which we rehabbed and gave to a homeless family. The program has three main components:

1. Distribution of RV’s to people without shelter
2. Repairing vehicles and RV’s that people call home
3. Finding and/or creating safe places to park and live in vehicles

Although we have been working on this for quite some time, we have not made as much progress as we wished. We have had difficulties obtaining suitable RV donations, identifying people and facilities to donate repair services and locating suitable places to park. Also, we have not raised enough money to help us accomplish these things. However, we have partnered with the Safe Parking Program in Santa Barbara and direct people there as appropriate. We are also reaching out to people in vehicles, counseling them and referring them to others who may help. In addition, we are serving as an informal hotline for people who have been contacting us for help..

I believe that the answers to the issue of homelessness and the need to live in places like vehicles does not lie in creating more programs. The answers lie in our hearts. Individually and collectively, we need to open our hearts to those around us who need help. We need to give up our judgments about ourselves and others. I know this is easier said than done, but what other choice do we have? We have spent millions of dollars on assistance programs and what has been the result? More suffering and more homelessness. Why has this happened? Quite simply, because of fear. So long as we fear each other and use our judgments to separate ourselves from each other and even from ourselves, no amount of money will solve the issue of homelessness. Let us each do what we can where we are right now. If enough of us do that, things will change and the experience of being alive will transform.

I thought you’d like an update on the project. What we have planned, what we are working on and how you can help us help others. Please watch and let us know what you think.

Click on the picture below to watch video.

Click on the picture below to watch the video.

Looking forward to hearing from you. Thank  you!

Home On Wheels

As you may know, there are probably over a million people living in vehicles in the U.S. right now. From what I have seen, most of these people, including me, would be homeless if not for their vehicle.

As others have said, people living in vehicles are often harassed by law enforcement even though they have done nothing wrong. To me it makes no sense to ticket and tow away the only home a person has and all their belongings and leave people with nothing. It is crazy, but it happens a lot.

We started a Motor Home Housing program a few years ago to find, rehab and distribute unused RV’s to homeless families. However, after giving away one vehicle, we ran into trouble finding people who could help repair and store them. Nevertheless, there is still a lot of interest in the program and we would like to continue it some how.

We also are working with an established Safe Parking Program in Santa Barbara, CA to create places for people in vehicles to safely park each night. We would like to help them expand the program across the U.S. and some cities are working on this.

In this regard, we are also looking to create non-profit campgrounds where people could live in vehicles without being persecuted like they are now.

Probably more than you want to know, but just wanted to let you know where I am coming from and how important the vehicle dweller lifestyle is to me. I hope these ideas grow into a nation wide advocacy group for all the people living in vehicles across this country. They need help and together, we can help each other. Please help if you can by Donating Here and by sharing this information with others. Thank you.

I am someone who has always been curious about most everything. Since childhood I have not been content to simply observe the world around me. I have always sought the truth – the reasons why things are the way they are. I don’t pretend to have found the truth, but I have had the good fortune to come close on many occasions. I seek the cause of what I experience in life and a path to share what I find with others. This has been the source of life for me and when I am true to my source, fulfills my soul’s purpose in being here on the planet at this time.

So what has all this to do with the Hearts Of Fire Project? The project is my inspiration and an expression of who I am. I have given it most of my time and energy since it began five years ago. As I have worked on this project, I have received great love and support from many people. I am very grateful for that. Our mission of empowering homeless people through artistic self expression definitely works and has made a difference. However, I see a new role for me and the project which represents both an expansion and a shift in focus.

In following my natural inclination to investigate the causes of what I see, I have been increasingly drawn to the uncover the causes of homelessness and poverty. Although many people who are better trained in this field than I have worked on this, I have approached it with a new view, a new vision of who homeless people are. That vision was the source of the project and continues to spur me on.

I see homeless people not as victims but as leaders. They are leaders in a new paradigm for living that is based on the inherent value of human beings rather than what we own or consume. Among the homeless, the human capacity for connection and compassion is the primary source of value and respect. This alternate social structure exists independent of wealth and possessions because the homeless have little of either. As a result, the poor and homeless have developed a social structure and way of life that more closely resembles ancient and indigenous societies than the current consumer culture in which we now live. These social structures provide a more natural way of life that connects us to each other and the earth and is aligned with our basic human needs for love, community and sustenance.

As I have traveled the country talking and working with homeless people and those that work them, I have come to see that we need them more than they need us. As our unsustainable economic, resource and social structures decay, we will begin to form new structures that truly support us and all life on this planet. If we don’t, life will perish. The earth naturally renews itself and is in the process of doing that continually as it has for millions of years. We can chose to be a part of this renewal or we can disappear with the other waste that the earth washes away.

The homeless and the poor know how to exist in a human based, non-resource intensive manner; they have been doing it for years. In fact, they have been doing it despite the persecution and oppression of the much larger consumer culture which surrounds them. So who is better equipped and better trained to teach us how to live with what we really need instead of what we think we want than those you are already doing that – the poor and homeless. All that is missing for them to begin to teach us is a shift in who we think we and they are. Once we understand that a new, biosphere-friendly world is inevitable and that such a life would be much different than our current reality, the importance of our teachers is evident.

It is true that many of the poor and homeless currently lack the means to deliver their knowledge and experience to the rest of us. Many have been damaged by living in a world that punishes people for their poverty. As a result, they need to be empowered in order to help us move into a new human-based paradigm. When they are empowered, they can help us. How can we empower them? Simple. By providing a meaningful avenue of contribution; a way for them to share their wisdom with the world. This has been the role of the Hearts Of Fire Project. But until now, the expression and acceptance of that role has been limited.

The Occupation Movement has opened a new conversation about our economic and social structures that transcends differences in race, religion and economic class. The encampments of which I have been a part, are inclusive and are serving as a laboratory for the creation of a new society. One of the important values of this new society is an inherent respect for our shared humanity and an understanding that real happiness lies in community and connection. It is not an accident that the occupations have emulated in many ways the lifestyles of the homeless. In fact, many of the streets and parks occupied by the movement were occupied for many years by the homeless. Thus, the homeless are the original occupiers.

The homeless were the first to occupy these public places, but unlike the occupiers, they did not have a powerful context for living there. Their occupation was simply a survival tactic, something born out of necessity. In addition, our society reinforced that context condemning them to a life on the margins of existence. The occupations appeared in the same parks living outside with little or no shelter in much the same circumstances as the homeless. Why did this happen?

Although there are at least a couple of reasons why the movement chose particular public spaces for occupation, what is the reason for choosing to live on the ground or in tents. Why not occupy during the day and go home to a comfortable bed at night? The reason is that a community requires a shared living space, in much the same way as a family living in a house. Shared space is critical to the development of connection between people. Consequently, the occupation was based on the desire to create a connected community rather than simply a demonstration or a meeting. I can attest to the fact that a real sense of community connection was created at the occupations. For me, I feel like I really have a new family, a group of people that I know and love in a way that I never knew was possible. I don’t know if it was our shared purpose, our commitment to the movement or maybe just getting through it all together, but something made me feel like I really have a deep connection with my fellow occupiers.

I believe that this shared connection, this sense of community was created because we shared a commitment to the movement. The community created new avenues for each of us to contribute to others, a way to selflessly serve people that we knew and with whom we shared a sense of commitment to something larger than any of us. The opportunity to contribute provided a sense a fulfillment and strengthened our connection. In essence, we established a positive feedback mechanism that allowed each of us to be appreciated and for the community to empowered.

Many of the homeless people continued to camp in the parks that we occupied. Others came and joined the camp later. Some of these people chose to join the occupation community and actively participated in the community. Other chose not to do so and eventually moved elsewhere or went to a shelter. Unlike other cities, Washington, D.C. has enough beds for local people who need one and enough soup kitchens to feed everyone. So the people without homes who remained with the occupation chose to join our community.

Why did so many choose to live with us and participate in the community even though there were other, more familiar solutions for them? I believe it was because there was an opportunity to contribute to and be part of a real community, a group of caring, committed people. In many ways, this was a unique opportunity to live with people who consciously chose to be there instead of people who felt that they were forced to be there. This was an entirely new approach to dealing with the circumstance of not only homelessness but of all the other emotional and physical issues that impact people who live outside on the streets in an urban environment.

We are leaving on September 30 from our home base in Ojai, CA. We expect to arrive at our destination by October 4, a few days before the occupation begins on October 6. We will be communicating our journey and experiences in Washington, D.C as we occupy Freedom Plaza. Bob will communicate via Twitter @HeartsOfFire and on our Facebook Page, https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hearts-Of-Fire-Project/89773729521. Bob will also be video taping for later review, edit and posting on our web site, http://www.heartsoffireproject.org.

We will be based in Maryland, outside D.C., but don’t expect to be in the RV much, so most communication will be via my iPhone using Twitter and FB, with photos whenever possible. We will also be setting up a travel map on line here http://trackmytour.com/GL2m5 so you can follow along. Nothing there yet, but will be when tour starts.

In addition to participating in the occupation ourselves, we will empowering and organizing homeless people in D.C. Our intention, as always, is to bring their voice and their contribution forth for the benefit of all. Bob will be performing the End Of Fear and other songs on Freedom Plaza which were inspired by his experiences with the Hearts Of Fire Project.

Your support is important to us; it will really help us to know that you are with us. I ask that you tell as many people as you can about the October 2011 Movement and let them know we are there for them. If you feel so inclined, we could also use any monetary support you can provide https://www.wepay.com/donate/135366. We can also use lots of reinforcements, we are going to be there for the duration. So everyone is welcome at any time. There are also occupations springing in LA and other cities around the U.S. which you can support.

The change you wish to see in the world begins with YOU. There is no one who will do it for us; there is only you and me. We are the leaders we have been looking for.

Peace and love to all of you. We are One.