20 Yearsof hope:Tent citY changes lives over one weekend

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IN THIS ISSUE: [NOVEMBER 2009]Homelessness: Where do the candidates stand? pg 7

Interview with Neil Donovan, new National Coalition for the Homeless Director pg 3

Poetry: The downtown museum pg 8

What’s growing on in Toledo? City farming pg 3

The Bonfiles: my view of the bridge pg 6

Good Samaritan “did something about it” pg 9

pg 4

Toledo Streets is the newest street newspaper to provide an opportunity for homeless and formerly homeless individuals to

earn an income while also giving a voice to the issues of homelessness and poverty in Toledo.

A street newspaper is a newspaper that primarily addresses issues related to poverty and homelessness and is distributed by poor or homeless vendors. Vendors sell the newspaper for a set price, usually $1, and have to pay the organization a fraction of the price (20% to 40%) for each paper up front. The self-employed vendor sells the papers on the street and keeps the money he or she makes. For many people, this is the opportunity they

need to get back on their feet and into permanent housing.

The benefits of street newspapers go far beyond economic opportunity. For the vendor, they offer a positive experience of self-help that breaks through the isolation many homeless people experience. They offer the public a means to reach out with their dollar to help a homeless person directly and, over time, form a caring relationship.

Most street newspapers also provide homeless and/or those living on the margins of society the opportunities for expression by publishing their articles, letters and artwork. These publications build a bridge between the very poor and the wider public by helping people to understand the issues and the personal stories of those on the lowest rung of the economic ladder.

Here in North America, the North American Street Newspaper Association (NASNA) works with street newspapers to improve their organizations by building their capacity and providing technical assistance to its members. NASNA also provides support to individuals and organizations looking to start street newspapers in new cities across North America. NASNA is a regional partner of the International Network of Street Papers (INSP) which has 102 members in 37 countries on six continents. Our model is more relevant than ever as more people look for ways to earn money and as others seek to educate themselves about homelessness and poverty in their own cities.

Andy FreezeExecutive Director, North American Street Newspaper Association

Ever since I’ve talked about starting a street paper here in Toledo, I’ve encountered the same three questions:• What’s a street paper?• Why have one in Toledo? • Will it work in Toledo?

The first two questions – no problem.

What’s a street paper? Street papers typically, and Toledo Streets specifically, have two purposes: provide simple self-employment opportunities for those who are unhoused, formerly

unhoused, or experiencing extreme poverty; give a voice to these individuals and the issues which affect them through

news coverage and publishing their writing and art. (Andy Freeze, Executive Director of the North American Street Newspaper Association, answers this question a little more in-depth below.) As

a non-profit, we only seek enough funds to be sustainable in organizing, producing and publishing the paper, advocating for our vendors’ rights to sell, and meeting various basic needs for them.

Why have one in Toledo? Street papers are a growing movement around the world, particularly in the United States, as we make our way through the worst recession since my grandmother was a child. Ohio already has street papers in its three largest cities: Cleveland, Cincinnati and Columbus, which jumped on board in March 2008, and is already printing 7,000 papers a month. Lucas is the second poorest county in the state; the need for another solution for people to help make ends meet – to help people either get off or stay off the streets – is critical.

And now we come to the question I wish I could answer with certainty: Will it work in Toledo?

I’d like to think

the past six months of hoping, planning, connecting, praying, working, and promoting will pay off. I strongly agree with anthropologist Margaret Mead, who said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world.” Toledo Streets definitely has such a group behind it.

But as to our complete success, that will require a community effort. Success will depend upon city officials’ recognition of our mission, and partnering with us to allow vendors to politely sell the paper on Toledo’s streets. It will depend upon our vendors to comply with the Vendor Code of Conduct, with city regulations, and to remain positive and patient when selling the paper. It will depend upon local businesses to see the value of the paper and, more importantly, those who sell it. It will depend upon our group of volunteers to produce quality content so readers are entertained, educated and

engaged. It will depend upon readers to allow themselves to be open to what they read, and to pass on our mission to others.

In the end, Toledo Streets is just another vehicle to create and strengthen relationships between people who might not otherwise connect. We hope you enjoy our first issue, and that it

will be the first of many for you. Even more, we hope you enjoy getting to know the vendor from whom you bought this paper and seeing that person work to make a better life for himself or herself – just like you and me.

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS SMALL CHANGE.

Amanda Faith MooreDirector/Managing Editor, Toledo Streets

Cover Photo: Love is Greater Photography (see ad on back page)

Answering the three w’s

Toledo Streets joining street paper movement

Why “unhoused”?Ken Leslie answers on page 5.

The need for another solution for people to help make ends meet – to help people either get off or stay off the streets – is critical.

Portland, OR’s Street Roots vendor John Alden. Alden’s life was spared in July because of a relationship developed with a reader who regularly purchased the paper. Photo: Elizabeth Schwartz

Our mission is to empower individuals struggling with extreme poverty to

participate on a new level in the community through self-employment,

job training, and contributorship.

www.toledostreets.org

Current and former homeless people to be included at every level

Farming in the city

The National Coalition for the Homeless, a network of individuals and groups committed to the purpose of ending homelessness in America, recently announced Neil Donovan as its new Executive Director. Mr. Donovan has been working with and for persons experiencing homelessness for more than twenty-six years, in positions ranging from a street outreach to executive director.

His previous work in Boston includes founder and first director of IMPACT Employment Services, TransAccess, Women’s Violence Prevention Project at Shatttuck Shelter – Center for the Homeless, and the Men’s Transitional Housing Programs at Boston’s Pine Street Inn. He also worked as Senior Advisor at the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness and was the first Director of the Center for Capacity Building at the National Alliance to End Homelessness in Washington, D.C.

Andy Freeze: How did you get started working on the issue of homelessness?Neil Donovan: In my early twenties, I was studying to be a brother of religious orders, with the Xaverian Brothers. It was an important and life changing period in my life. My first internship involved working at Common Life, a drop-in center for homeless and run away youth. As a new intern, I asked a young girl in the shelter if she wanted to talk. She said, “Only if you promise to come back tomorrow.” I agreed to return, hoping that our conversations could help her in some small way and maybe turn into something lasting. The Xaverian Brothers’ motto is, “In harmony small things grow”. So I guess in a way, I’ve just never stopped, “coming back tomorrow”.

AF: You have worked with and for people who are homeless over 26 years, working at a variety of agencies, from what you have learned, what will help NCH move forward with their plan/agenda?ND: Everywhere I’ve worked and everything I’ve learned, from working with and for people experiencing homelessness, has taught me about the importance of justice. The Coalition’s mission, strategic plan and stand on justice is clear and direct: Bring America

Home. It’s the cornerstone of our beliefs and the engine that drives our advocacy. The only way that we can work towards ending homeless, either as a coalition or as a nation, is through: housing justice, health care justice, economic justice and civil rights.

AF: You worked at the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) developing a nationwide movement of local communities creating Ten-Year Plans to End Homelessness, can you talk about the reasons behind developing these plans.ND: It’s really important and helpful for any individual, business or organization to develop a plan for the future: an individual service plan, an action plan or a strategic plan. It causes you to think about where you are today, where you’d like to be tomorrow and what it’ll take to get there. So in 2001, the USICH joined with the National Alliance to End Homeless asking communities to develop plans to end homelessness. The Alliance first developed the concept of the plans and set the timeline at ten year. The USICH followed the Alliance lead, narrowing the initial focus of the federal government on address chronically homeless individuals and planned to later expend that focus to chronically homeless families and beyond.

AF: You then went to the National Alliance to End Homelessness to startup the Center for Capacity Building, which works with communities across the

Neil Donovan in his office. Photo: Andy Freeze

An AmeriCorps volunteer tending the Glenwood Garden. Photo: Robin Charney“NCH Director” continued on page 10

“City farms” continued on page 10

WILLIAM JAMES O’FAHEY

ANDY FREEZE“The good old days” for dairy farmers; they were long days spent driving eager teams of workhorses, plowing and sowing fields, erecting and then always repairing barns. And the same for water wells, windmills and cistern pipes… building, and then always, repairing, feeding and doctoring farm animals, and of course, milking cows. It was a lot of work, just milking the cows.

Yet, for many folks, these farming tales are remembered as “the good old days.” The hard times seem to fade from memory. The fact that some farm families struggled to raise enough food, clothe and house themselves, might be remembered. And the racial and gender inequalities might be remembered. But the ideal of the American family farm somehow persists. In other words, many folks will tell you that if more Americans could just return to the family farm, some of the greatest “city problems” could be solved. Perhaps what they mean is it ‘kind of makes us unhealthy’ to be taken away from the green land and crammed into asphalt cities.

These folks might believe a farm family is less likely to be a “broken” family. Or, that closeness to the soil might somehow encourage closeness to God. And that growing our own food means we will not have to steal to get food, and the high you get from mother nature excels the high you get from man-made chemicals.

So is the way to solve our “city problems” to simply pack every city dweller up and

spread them out on family farms over the countryside?

Or, instead, how about bringing “the family farm” into the city?

The idea may sound silly at first, but it is the root of bold new ideas in urban planning, and strategies for addressing hunger, houselessness, unemployment, and at-risk neighborhoods and families. In the book Bioshelters, Ocean Arks, City Farming: Ecology as the Basis of Design (Sierra Club Books), Nancy Jack Todd states that, “new biotechnologies, information, and biological components are being assembled into ecosystems capable of producing a diversity of foods in relatively small spaces. These can replace the fuel-powered agricultural hardware we are dependent on now and will be powered by renewable energy sources. In this way, one day, towns and cities can add farming to their repertoire of functions.”

Wayne Roberts, in his book The No-Nonsense Guide to World Food (New Internationalist Publishing), states “the easiest starting place to solve a food-related energy problem is in the city. Most obviously, city farms eliminate the need to transport food to the city and cities are ideal for the production of the very foods that should be the mainstay of the diet of (mostly sedentary) city people – vegetables and fruit. Rural areas are better at producing grains, carbs and meat, which need lots of low-cost

“Perspective Arcade” has risen from a patch of bare dirt in Civic Center Mall since the sculpture’s installation in 1980. Two rows of painted steel are stretched along the ground, a ribbon that manages to be both graceful and tense. The forms could be wishbones, or they could be pairs of legs frozen while marching in one direction or another. Either metaphor fits for the event that rises next to the public artwork in late fall each year: Tent City.

Tent City celebrates its 20th year of advocacy in 2009. In the past two decades, the event has experienced both gracefulness and tension. The homeless awareness project, which provides its own arcade of services to aid the unhoused in preparing for winter, has remained strong in its founding purpose despite various obstacles and opposition, yet has also bent in flexibility to move with the needs of those served and continually improve its capacity.

Ken Leslie, one of Tent City’s founding organizers who has remained the figurehead of the event ever since, gave Toledo Streets a perspective on the last 20 years, with a little help from his wife of less than a year, Norma. Part-time professional comedian, business owner, Emmy winning documentary producer, and full-time volunteer advocate for the homeless, Leslie is an odd mix of the brash and the cautious: he is quick to share his passion and opinion when it comes to Tent City, and deliberate

Tom Waniewski1. What prompted you to get involved? Ken was the driving force in getting me involved. I tend to spread myself too thinly, but I could see Ken’s passion for this. In fact, to this date, I’ve not seen many people with the kind of passion for the homeless like Ken. It was infectious.

2. What did you do to help? I served up food mostly as I recall. What I remember most about working a couple of these is just talking with the people who were homeless. They were good people. A little down on their luck, but good and grateful people.

3. Biggest lesson/truth you learned through being involved? 4. Favorite memory? I’m going to combine the answer for both #3 and #4 and expand upon what I answered in #2. It’s the people I remember most. The people who wanted to help and the people who came for a meal or a health check up. I think it was a real reflection of the purest of life; people helping people. Those of us who were helping, and Ken especially, recognize the abundance we’ve been blessed with. Ironically, the people I spoke with who were in the food line or picking out clothes also felt they were abundantly blessed. I think they recognized the goodness of others wanting to help.

Jerry Anderson1. What prompted you to get involved? For me it was the passion of a man --- my friend Ken Leslie. He broadened my understanding of the problem of homelessness in Toledo. And his belief something could be done about it was infectious.

2. What did you do to help? That very first year my involvement was limited to serving eggs and pancakes at the Sunday morning breakfast. I was overwhelmed by the spirit that pervaded Tent City. Since then I’ve worked with Mr. Leslie on two TV documentaries. I’ve met people literally living in dumpsters, men in a shelter trying to get their lives together, and have witnessed the amazing transformation from homeless to self-sufficient.

3. Biggest lesson/truth you learned through being involved? Before my exposure to the “Homeless Awareness Project” and Tent City, I wasn’t convinced homelessness was all that big a problem in a city like Toledo. I only thought of the homeless as “those guys who sleep under the bridge” or “over the sidewalk grate”. Many, I was convinced, were abusers, had only themselves to blame and actually wanted to live on the streets.

I was wrong! The problem was and is far more serious than I envisioned. Being homeless can be “under a bridge” but it can also be bunking in with friends or relatives because you have nowhere else to go … nowhere to call home. So many of them have had bad breaks beyond their control and want and need nothing more than another chance at a job, a place to call home, and some dignity.

4. Favorite memory? Attending and being part of a wedding at last year’s Tent City. Suits sitting next to more weathered, less-pristine outfits. The well-employed sharing a most spirit-filled evening with the unemployed. None of that material stuff mattered. A couple was becoming one before God and all of us were more than their witnesses. We were family. Brothers and sisters. It was amazing.

John Coble1. What prompted you to get involved? Two things prompted me to get involved: 1. I have represented homeless people and had been very concerned people had nowhere to live. And I thought in America, this is a problem that should not exist and that we could solve. 2. Ken Leslie - his enthusiasm, his belief in the cause, and charisma made me feel we could accomplish something.

2. What did you do to help? I secured the permits to allow the event to be held downtown, open the necessary funding accounts, made sure the collection of money was done properly and safely, and helped clean up garbage and carry things.

3. Biggest lesson/truth you learned through being involved? One thing I learned from Tent City was it reminded me a bunch of friends who cared about something could make a difference. Another was if you give people an opportunity to help, many people will take the chance.

4. Favorite memory? Sleeping with Ken in the medical van after giving up our sleeping bags and socks to homeless people. I can’t speak for Ken, but I still respected him in the morning.

in protecting the integrity of the event when it comes to talking about personal involvement. Point in case: he married Norma Bielski at Tent City in 2008, in a ceremony which was attended by Tent City guests, volunteers, family, and friends. The couple refused repeated local and national media requests to turn the wedding into publicity out of the desire to ensure those being served that weekend did not feel used. The nuptials were less about ceremony and more about celebration; a union Leslie describes as “three hundred of our closest friends in a tent that had its top almost pop off from so much love.”

In late 2007, Leslie formed the non-profit 1Matters, which has spearheaded the effort to organize and execute Tent City for the past two years. Created primarily in response to a comment from a guest at Tent City 2007 after a visit to Tent City by John Mellencamp, Leslie was prompted to ensure each person knows they matter. While more of the purpose of the organization and its inspiration can be found on the site www.1matters.org, all of the content reflects on the name 1Matters – it all comes down to the individuals, both the housed and unhoused. This simple theme carries over into our interview.

In 20 years Leslie has done only one other personal interview, instead insisting to talk about the people, both volunteers and unhoused friends who make his passion rewarding.

Toledo Streets: Why the unhoused? Why do you focus on Tent City and homelessness advocacy, instead of drunk driving or multiple sclerosis or disaster victims?Ken Leslie: [shrugs] When God tells you to go, you go. I had no idea at the time it was him, but… I mean, this thing has lasted 20 years, and I’m not that smart. It’s got to be greater than one person.

TS: Weren’t you homeless yourself at one point?KL: All me having been homeless does is keep me real with people, but it has nothing to do with why I am doing this. It’s about God telling you what you need to do and doing it.

20 YEARS OF

Ken and Norma Leslie downtown for Food For Thought in September. Photo: Robin Charney

THEN: 1990

Katina Werner1. What prompted you to get involved? While working at Legal Aid of Western Ohio, one of my colleagues, Robin Fuller, invited me to a Tent City meeting. She had been involved with Tent City for years and was a big believer in the purpose and power of this event. I liked the idea that Tent City as an event worked to provide direct services as well as awareness to the community, and that Tent City as a group of caring people worked to connect with unhoused persons on a personal level.

2. How long have you been volunteering for Tent City? This is my third Tent City. I can’t thank Robin enough for helping me connect. It’s great to be involved with such a grass roots effort to remove the barriers people face in becoming housed. Also, in order to fully love your neighbor, it helps to really know your neighbor. The unhoused were some of my neighbors I didn’t really know. Tent City gives me a chance to correct that.

3. What are you currently doing to help organize Tent City? As a co-chair for Project Homeless Connect, I help coordinate the non-medical services that will be provided to our guests on Saturday, while my co-chair, Richard Langford of Mildred Bayer Clinic coordinates the medical services provided. At the event itself, I lead the ID project and work to support our volunteers at the event by answering their questions and getting them needed resources. Many people, including some wonderful med students at UTMC like John Pham and Jason Condino help me with volunteer support. This year, we will also have a large group of AmeriCorps volunteers assisting us.

4. What are you looking forward to this year? I am so looking forward to seeing some of our guests from last year and getting an update on their lives. I am also looking forward to finding more time to enjoy fellowship with other guests. Most are really neat people and I learn a lot from them. Besides often enduring some tough situations I haven’t experienced, they have some unique perspectives about the human condition generally and our community’s response to those in need. The sharing that takes place is so powerful for everyone involved. New volunteers typically are disturbed to learn so many people have been let down by their community, and yet at the same time also inspired by the fact there is a practical way for them to get very personally involved with solving the problem one person at a time.

Norma Leslie1. What prompted you to get involved? Over the years I had seen PSA’s about it and always thought, “What a wonderful project and a wonderful group of people to do this event.” Just like most people. I met Ken and his enthusiasm was infectious - I was hooked particularly when I began to learn about the people we serve. Folks not much different than me. I was more blessed with people in my life who made me understand I was important to them or that I mattered.

2. How long have you been volunteering for Tent City? This is my third year.

3. What are you currently doing to help organize Tent City? I have worn a few hats but right now I’m taking care of the [clothing] donation tent.

4. What are you looking forward to this year? Working with the people. So many stories - so many things to learn about them. Can’t judge a book by its cover - got to open it up and find out what is inside!!! I am stoked!

Richard Langford1. What prompted you to get involved? I started working at the Neighborhood Health Association in 2005 as director of the Mildred Bayer Clinic. I got involved with the Toledo Area Alliance to End Homelessness (TAAEH), became chair of TAAEH in 2006, met Ken, and he told me about Tent City and what they do. We decided to bring it back that year. We put it together in one and half months that year.

2. How long have you been volunteering for Tent City? This is my fourth year.

3. What are you currently doing to help organize Tent City? I’m in charge of all medical services. There’ll be providers on site for patient examinations. We do blood pressure and blood sugar screenings; Prevent Blindness will do vision screenings. Dental services, podiatrist services, HIV testing from the health department, flu shots, the Pharmacy Counter will deliver meds to the site... And third and fourth year UT medical students helping triage our guests.

4. What are you looking forward to this year? Continuing to provide quality care of medical services to the homeless and raising awareness of the need. There’s a large population of people in doubling up situations who need services and don’t know how to find them.

TS: What does “homelessness advocacy” mean to you, and how is it accomplished through Tent City and 1Matters?KL: Those are just two words. Making sure you’re being a voice at the table for those who don’t have one is a life mission.

I remember almost not graduating high school because of sticking up for this kid a teacher had picked on all year. In the last few moments of class, I told her quite profanely what I thought of her abuse of that student. She wanted to withhold my grade and keep me from graduating. Fortunately the principal knew my integrity and stuck up for me, even agreed with me off the record. Standing up to bullies has always been a driver.

TS: Out of all the services Tent City provides, what would you say is the most important and why?KL: Friendship and support to show them they matter– it’s a base human need we all require, to matter to someone.

TS: Although you’ve been advocating for the unhoused 20 years, Tent City hasn’t been operating each year for all 20 years. Why the hiatus, and why the return?

KL: There was a five-year break from 2001 – 2006. Everybody was making so much money and was too busy spending

it to volunteer. The volunteer leadership evaporated.

Then, in one week, I had Tina Wozniak, Carty, and Louis Escobar individually tell me, “You should start Tent City up again,” and I took that as God telling me to get busy.

TS: How has Tent City changed over the years? Do you offer more services now or less? Is there anything you miss from years past?KL: The only change really is the faces – of volunteers and guests.

As for services, we are offering more because of the leadership of Richard Langford [of the Mildred Bayer Clinic] and Dan Rogers [of Cherry Street Mission]. We had [the services] before, but never in this volume or organization. They are incredible.

What do I miss? The faces and hearts of the

unhoused and past volunteers.

TS: What is the most heartbreaking thing about advocating for the unhoused? The most joyful?KL: The faces lost. People like Philip. You fall in love with these beautiful human beings and cheer them on, but you grieve when they make destructive choices.

HOPE AMANDA FAITH MOORE

TS: Why the term “unhoused”?KL: It’s the result of a speech I was giving to 600 kids last year at Central, at the end of which – Norma Leslie: That was amazing to watch, to see the kids respond. KL: That was God. I didn’t plan on saying it, I’d never said this before.

I asked what stereotypes people associate with the homeless. Alcoholic, lazy, mentally ill, stinky… all made the list. Then I asked how many of [the students] knew another student that fit any of those descriptions – how many of them knew a kid who was lazy or alcoholic or mentally ill or stinky – and they all raised their hands. So then I asked them, “What’s the difference?” And the answer is they’re housed.

“Tent City” continued on page 6

Richard Langford updates the attendees of a recent Tent City organizational meeting. Photo: Robin Charney

NOW: 2009

The joy is working with and for so many wonderful people. Absolute sheer joy and laughter. Taking people to vote last year who had either never voted before or hadn’t in a long time – they walked out six inches taller because they mattered. A year later, many of them are still thanking me and looking forward to voting this year.NL: Joyful is the celebration of life, empowering humanity.

TS: How many folks from 20 years ago are still involved with Tent City? What have the others moved on to – are they still involved in homelessness advocacy?

KL: A lot are still involved in various ways. Most of the people who’ve helped before continue to do it in any way they can.

One of the coolest things is the people who volunteer and end up working in “the industry” – Liz Simon at Cherry Street, and Ann Halbig, who became a case worker at St. Paul’s Community Center for several years. They get exposed.

TS: What do you think is the #1 myth regarding homelessness and what do you wish people would realize?KL: Like any other stereotype, it’s bullshit. As for the rest, I think it’s said

best on the site… [reading from the 1Matters site after pulling out his laptop] “To most people the ‘homeless’ are nothing more than vague faces of poverty reflected in the mirror of a society afraid to even look, much less help.

To us that live, laugh, love and serve with them they are friends that Matter. God’s very precious children who are hurting and dying, but craving, aching and struggling for mental, physical, emotional and financial serenity.

Just like you and me! They just do not have a home.”

TS: What would you suggest someone do who wants to get involved with advocating for the unhoused?KL: Come hang out with Food For Thought [www.freelunchtoledo.com], get involved with Toledo Streets, or come to Tent City. What people don’t realize is 3000 people a year become unhoused in Toledo, but most of them get back into housing. It’s a revolving carousel of humanity who grace us and others who need to be graced.

TS: What should a Tent City “newbie” expect?NL: Classes don’t matter. It doesn’t matter how much or how little you have, you can matter to someone.

Tent City, continued from page 5

From where I’m standing, the bridge is the only thing that really looks like something. The surrounding buildings and warehouses are mostly rundown & empty, and from down here, my “skyline” consists of some large pieces of cut concrete, big boulders, huge rocks ripped from something else, somewhere else, and a pile of pebbles, perhaps a story & a half high, being moved about all the time. The space between the bridge & me is mostly river and, like everything else, it has seen better times. Still, it remains a valuable source for food and, more importantly, it makes the landscape tolerable.

I want to tell you what it’s like being homeless, but it’s such a radical departure from anything you’ve known, that I don’t know if it’s possible to make you know it. Make your senses accept it. I’m not sure that even the missionaries know what it’s like. Oh, they know that it’s awful, but what could they know beyond that? So, I will be your guide. I am the pulse of the people. Am at home in the jungle, and the city. I am king; of my corner, of the cage. I am the heartbeat of the street.

I have fixed time for our journey, otherwise I’d be busying my/self with preparations for the winter - & have not time for you. Winter robs me of my self sufficiency & independence, and always must I be imposing on others. All the while you’re running around readying your/selves for Thanksgiving & Christmas, I am in a life & death struggle for what’s left of my humanity. What is left of my/self. That, coupled with the ever present fear of exposure to the elements, limits my living, and I am double business-bound, but stand in pause, you know, swiftly standing still. That’s the end . . .

KL: Laugh, love and learn. TS: What’s the positive you see on the horizon for Toledo’s unhoused? How can we ensure it happens successfully?KL: The same as it is every week, month, year, and has been – people unhoused will become housed. The people we’re working with now aren’t the same people we served 20 years ago.

See, people state they want to end homelessness. But to do that you have to end poverty, mental illness, alcoholism, fires, domestic violence, and so many other causes first. We can’t end homelessness, but we can create a system to end homelessness for every individual who becomes unhoused one at a time. 1 Matters, don’t they?

Tent City will rise again this year at the Civic Center Mall at 5pm on Friday, October 30th and continue through to noon on Sunday, November 1st. While the tents are only temporary structures, like the steel sculpture they will share space with that weekend they will represent something only each person who visits Tent City can tell you matters to them. And as everyone matters, the arcade of perspectives – the desires, hopes, intents, fears, joys, and so much else – can only be known and shared by attending.

The bonfiles: my view of the bridge

The pristine Veterans Glass City Skyway stands in contrast to its surrounding landscape. Photo: Robin Charney

Homelessness is equal parts fear & uncertainty, and each of them is potentially unnerving. Paralyzing. The nearest convenience store is just a block and a half away, but there isn’t a decent facility near enough, or a good meal close enough, for my liking, so I fear not being able to take a decent crap every day. Of course, I fear hunger, & the

“Bridge” continued on page 10

October 30th - November 1stCivic Center Mall

www.1matters.org

Get involved - be 1 who Matters to 1 who Matters!

You can:• Volunteer at Tent City during the

weekend or just be there.• Camp out with your group over

the weekend to experience the pain of poverty.

• Take your winter clothing donation to any Toledo Fire Station during the month of October.

• Make a tax deductible contribution to help during Tent City and beyond.

For more ways to get involved, visit the website www.1matters.org.

Donations needed: backpacks, men’s and women’s winter coats, hats, gloves, shoes, jeans sweatshirts, long underwear, and personal hygiene items. Also needed are pounds of coffee, soft fruits, chicken for Saturday’s dinner, and Mediterranean and Asian dishes for Friday’s meal. This list is updated on the forums at 1matters.org.

The impact of the economy in creating homelessness is something Mike Bell has a personal connection to: A man working with the Bell for Mayor campaign shared with Bell his own story of how a job loss led to his losing his home, then his children, with his ending up living at the Cherry Street Mission when he was unable to find a job after twenty years of employment and being a former marine. His experiences had an impact on Bell, with the mayoral candidate stating, “Jobs are about the homeless in some cases, because some of those who have become homeless because they don’t have jobs. If we can turn our economy around, we actually allow opportunities for people who are homeless. So the tale of how people get to the point of being homeless, a lot of them start out with jobs and what we have to do is recreate the energy that brought jobs to Toledo many years ago so that we can assist the homeless population by finding them good work, good jobs so they can take care of themselves.”

On the possibility of a mental health court here in Toledo, similar to Akron and recently launched in Canton, for misdemeanors offenders during a Bell administration, Bell said, “If it is something positive from the standpoint of our community, and it’s going to help the quality of life for our people, I think that any mayor would want to be proactive on that particular issue.” Bell felt this was a quality of life issue beyond just those who may benefit from more treatment options, but also, quality of life for “people who are just basic residents of the city of Toledo will increase because we are helping the least of us.”

Focusing on the discussion that has taken place in communities such as Cleveland in passing legislation to make crimes against the homeless on a similar level to other hate crimes, Bell felt that more can be done from a public relations standpoint. “We have a lot of laws on our books now that we don’t currently enforce, and I’m quite sure if anybody is attacked in any way there are laws such as assault and battery that can be included and it doesn’t necessarily apply to just the homeless. The educational portion of the formula, I think, is the key to being able to turn people’s opinion about what they think is going on compared to what really is.” He would be more supportive of an educational program as opposed to legislation.

In closing, he said he thinks the issue of homelessness in Toledo goes back to the way he was brought up.

“The only time you should be reaching out to somebody to give them a hand is to be able to pick themselves up. I think our City has to be more sensitive to the issues of our total community and the homeless are just one aspect of that; we need to be more aware of how we can help these people, not only at Christmas time and Thanksgiving but all year round.”

While Keith Wilkowski has advanced to the general election for 2009, some of the topics he felt important during his 2005 Mayoral run are still at the forefront of his mind, and homelessness is one of those. In 2005, while on a tour with then Blade reporter, Jim Tankersley, the Cherry Street Mission was one of the locations Wilkowski selected as significant in Toledo. Wilkowski said, “If anything, with the way the economy currently is and the foreclosure crisis, homelessness has become a more significant issue.”

Expectations voters can have with a Wilkowski administration include his working with the agencies that serve those who are homeless, but he is also interested in prevention, “Because the data shows us that preventing homelessness will save us many, many, many times over the cost in social services to those who are out of their homes.” He acknowledged the complexity of what brings people to homelessness, “It’s not just one simple solution, we need to recognize the complexity of the

problem and to begin to both treat that and to work on homeless prevention. The more we appreciate its complexity, it will help us to understand the variety of resources that we need. I believe jobs and the economy are so important, it certainly has an impact on homelessness, but I understand there are other facets to the problem as well.”

The public perception people have in relation to homelessness was also something the mayoral candidate felt more could be done on, that not only were many of those who were homeless working, but that many of those impacted by homelessness were children. The focus on what he calls “more of a carrot than a stick” philosophy was shared in discussing legislation passed in Cleveland and other cities that increased the legal penalties for those committing crimes against the homeless. Wilkowski stated, “We have to show people why it is important to prevent homelessness and have both community agencies and leading community voices joining together so that we are at the point where we don’t need to be concerned with that kind of punitive legislation, the work we can do on the positive side is very important.”

Akron and some other cities, most recently Canton, have created mental health courts in conjunction with their municipal courts and service agencies. This can create a more positive outcome for those caught up in a revolving door court/jail scenario who suffer from a mental health condition that has contributed to misdemeanor arrests. When asked the position of a Wilkowski administration on this, he stated, “I would very much be interested in working with the existing Toledo Municipal Court to examine if that would be appropriate for Toledo. I am familiar with the court in Akron, generally the reports have been favorable, it’s a very defined program for providing treatment and assistance to individuals who suffer from identified mental illnesses. It gets the lawyers out of the way, which is always a good thing,” he added with a chuckle. “The hallmark of my administration will be talking with stake holders and interested parties before making decisions,” the mayoral candidate affirmed.

In closing, Wilkowski commended “the people who are working hard on this problem. It is to the benefit of not just those who are homeless but of the entire community.”

HOW WILL THE NEXT MAYOR STEM HOMELESSNESS? LISA RENEE WARD

Bell: Encouraging jobs and a commu-nity more sensitive to the needs of all

Wilkowski: Homelessness prevention and focusing on the positive

>get into the conversation:There will be a candidates’ forum at Tent City on Friday, October 30th.

ADVICE FROM THE FRONT LINESDan Rogers, CEO of Cherry Street Mission Ministries:Something that “hasn’t happened before” in Rogers’ tenure of service at Cherry Street: Candidates for different positions have been making appointments with him, and have been “very sincere about what’s hitting our streets and the growth of it.” What has Rogers been telling them? “I’ve reminded them they are public servants. Stop doing drive-by conversations during the holidays. Stop being a great presenter and become a great persuador. Use your pulpit for change and transformation.”

I want to tell you a story, but nobody listens anymore. So I have given up speaking audibly. What follows is my recorded testimony, & nothing can penetrate the isolation I find my/self mirrored in; not the senseless murder of Dr. Brundage; not downtown revitalization; not even the somewhat sudden demise of the “king of pop”. Now, either I’m going crazy, & Larry is regaining his faculties, or Larry is really on to something, & it is I who must bear witness. After weeks of dissonance, Larry has learned to play chord progressions on the piano. His playing has an elusive rhythm, but it is one that touches me. Yesterday, Larry went uptown (I don’t know where), & I really missed his playing underneath the buzz of conversation; underneath the clackclackclack of the dominos; underneath the excessive volume of the big screen tv (w/ no picture, mind you) . . . underneath, he sounds like thelonius monk & when it filters in, I am grooving to Larry’s music. At its core, the museum is both fascinating, and diverse. You must see it to believe it. It is where despair & hopelessness meet mental illness & testosterone. The museum is a living organism. Human artifacts on display, in a real time exhibition – so it is probably more suited to a play or documentary. Something to accentuate the moment to moment dramatization of one’s own personal issues. The mental illness is pervasive, and imposing. Perhaps as much as half of it is undiagnosed, & most of it is untreated. & those diagnosed fail to understand the importance of taking their meds. Oh, and by the way, I am one of the actors in this real life drama. . . So, did you see where you could get a free AK-47 for buying a new truck? Suppose if I buy a yacht, I can get that hummer w/ the gun turret, & a 20 caliber machine gun. Texas. . . “all my exes live in Texas, that’s why I hang my hat in Tennessee”. Today, Larry sounds like the great McCoy Tyner. This is a rite of passage. Now Larry is giving a concert whenever he plays, & I am now sure that he feels that he is on to something. Larry is everyone from Juan Valdez, to a cross dressing manic depressive. He is everyone you know – an everyday action exhibit. . . Coming attractions. . . animated

POETRYThe Downtown Museum

exhibits on bi polarism, & szisophrania, and all that is excessive compulsive. Toledo does not need downtown revitalization. Downtown is plenty vitalized w/ living organic sculptures – energized by extreme & excessive substance abuse. No, not everyone, not Larry. I don’t know how to clinically define Larry’s malady, but he plays avant garde/classical/jazz piano. How? & is that not redeeming enough? & what’s up w/ all these vacant houses, while people are in the street homeless? Seems like a natural marriage to me. These are not bums like before – after all these foreclosures, business failures, and outsourcing of jobs, working Americans are in the street. Betchu never considered that. Back in the day, it was unheard of for women to be at the mission. Now there are women – lots of them, & children too. Exposed to toxicity, promiscuity, despair, and waste. Are you listening county commissioners? Are you listening gov. Strickland? Can you hear me Barack?? I say this because fanny mae is not the people of the united states; general motors is not the people of the united states; wall street, empire country, I’m dying. When I left, Larry was using the pedals, allowing his sound to swell. As his confidence grows, so too, does the sound. It’s pervasive & imposing. At this point, Larry has many believers, & underneath the tights & skirt, & several layers of clothing, Larry is an artist. There, I said it. An artist/musician. This is for the homeless. It’s for Vinnie & frank; popa smurf & Melvin; for everybody who went into the building across the street, & never came back; for anybody else who moved in outside the “lucky dollar”; for the cherry street mission, st. paul’s community ctr., rebekka’s haven, & the sparrows nest; for 211’s & anxiety; for old English 800 & manic depression; for crack cocaine &obsession compulsion; This is a poem for our people, & for our cities. So that all of you

who care to can speak this poem, silently, or LOUD. THANK YOU. . . Primary viewing

hours for the museum are every day from 6am to 7pm, and if you prefer something more sinister, you can go

there late into the night. Admission seems to be free. . .

Bonfiles. . .

Have you ever wondered why a little-known book suddenly catapults to the top of the best seller list or why certain fashion trends

are suddenly all the rage?

Can a simple action like repairing broken windows or scrubbing away graffiti lead to a reduced crime rate? What happens when educated, psychologically healthy, middle-class professionals are thrown into a stressful, foreign situation, such as a mock prison? In other words, how much influence does immediate environment have on the way people behave?

These questions and more are addressed by author Malcolm Gladwell in his New York Times best seller, “The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference.”

Gladwell’s gift lies in his ability to draw connections between topics that, on the surface, appear to have little in common – Sesame Street, Paul Revere, syphilis, teen suicide, smoking – and do it smoothly and engagingly.

Full of thought-provoking statistics and social experiments, Gladwell demonstrates how, just like health epidemics, trends and ideas can spark, spread, reach a critical mass – the tipping point – and become social epidemics.

Some critics have pointed to Gladwell’s perceived liberal lens (he is a staff writer for The New Yorker) or his tendency to jump to conclusions regarding cause and effect. But regardless of your world views, Gladwell is the rare intellectual whose ideas are thought-provoking and yet still accessible and relevant enough to add to everyday conversations.

Whether you’re a religious leader or non-profit activist looking to change the world, a marketer wanting to improve your business strategy or simply a keen observer of the world around you, “The Tipping Point” will offer food for thought.

Anybody who’s been around Toledo very long can name all the main places to avoid: the intersections and neighborhoods, buildings and services where the broken can be seen. They can map out alternative routes and strategic times that ensure there will be no encounter with the ugliness or unpleasantness most of us try so hard to avoid. Of course when such machinations don’t work, it’s still possible to find something of interest on the other side of the street that will divert attention and accomplish the same purpose.

Unfortunately, the streets are not the only sources of such inconvenience. Nightly news casts, newspaper headlines, and television specials frequently bring us face to face with the things we’ll drive out of our way to avoid in the streets. Thankfully, turning the page and changing the channel are less taxing than all the route rearrangements needed on our daily commutes. It takes a lot of energy away from our self-advancement activities to do all of that.

Jesus talked about people like those of us who avoid the unpleasantness and conviction that accompany the stark realities of life. Luke 10:29-37 records Jesus’ parable known as “The Good Samaritan.” In it, a man is beaten and left for dead along the side of a well-traveled road. Over some unknown period of time, people going about the daily course of their lives happen upon the broken and bleeding man, and Jesus describes the reactions of three of the people who encounter him.

A couple of religious leader-types saw the unpleasantness as they approached, and altered their routes to avoid any direct contact with the man. While Jesus doesn’t describe any motives for this behavior, it seems reasonable enough to speculate that the rationalizations might have included things like a full schedule, or the possibility of ritual uncleanness, or a belief that it wasn’t their “job” to take care of a man unwise enough to fall into the hands of violent people. One thing is certain: both of these people went out of their way to avoid any engagement with

the man’s pain.

But then the Samaritan came along. He didn’t cross to the other side, but stopped along his way to help a man in need. Never mind the cultural differences between the Samaritan man and the Jewish leaders who had crossed over to the other side of the road. Never mind the realities of animosity and division between the two people groups represented by the main players in the story. The point of the story is that somebody didn’t go out of their way to avoid engaging the victim’s pain; that somebody paid attention to the need he saw, and did something about it. Somebody understood he was called to love his beaten neighbor, and to care for his brother’s needs.

On Toledo’s streets, circumstances and systems conspire to beat people up and leave them for dead. The wounds often take the form of generational poverty and homelessness, drug addiction and alcoholism, isolation and despair. Every day, all day, people must drive or walk past the places where the wounded often congregate, and far too many in our culture are perfectly willing to leave them wounded and bleeding on the side of the road. Moral descendents of the Levite and priest in Jesus’ parable carry on the same apathetic traditions in our time – and in this city.

The issues of apathy – crossing over to the side of life’s street for the sake of avoiding engagement with human pain – have been around for as long as there have been people. Cain, having been questioned in the aftermath of his murder of his own brother, posed one of life’s most important questions: “Am I my brother’s keeper?” He assumed its

answer was unquestionably “No, and you shouldn’t have to worry about it, or answer for it.”

For 20 years, Toledo’s annual Tent City has encouraged and provided an avenue for people who don’t want to ignore the wounded, who want a way to stay on the same side of the street, who refuse to conform to accepted norms of disengagement from the city’s pain. Each year people from all

over Toledo and northwest Ohio come together to provide badly needed direct services to those who most need them and, even more, to create an atmosphere within which the intrinsic worth of each human being can be affirmed through relationships that outlast the weekend.

Tent City offers both an invitation and a call to all of us to answer the age-old question differently. It’s a chance for all of us to say “Yes, I am my brother’s keeper,” and to do it.

LIVING FAITHGood Samaritan “did something about it” PASTOR STEVE NORTH

Book Review: The Tipping Point

SARAH OTTNEY

The point of the story is that somebody didn’t go out of their way to avoid engaging the victim’s pain; that somebody paid attention to the need he saw, and did something about it. Somebody understood he was called to love his beaten neighbor, and to care for his brother’s needs.

What do you think?What does your faith teach about compassion and caring for others? To foster discussion and understanding , we invite leaders of all faiths to contact us so we might publish your thoughts and engage our community. We seek to encourage the discovery of common ground so we might move forward together to change our city and the lives of its citizens at every level.

You can reach us via phone at 419-825-6397, via email at amanda@toledostreets.org , and visit us online at www.toledostreets.org.

country. What did you learn from this experience and what else do you think is needed to help communities accomplish the goals contained in their Ten Year Plans to End Homelessness?ND: I think there was a lot to learn from the Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness experience. National advocacy groups learned that a call-to-action must consider the overall capacity of local communities to respond. The federal government learned that top down guidance only works if that guidance takes into consideration the needs and characteristics of local communities. And local communities learned about the importance of building capacity to a level that would allow them to end homelessness and not merely maintain a level of support.

I think two things are needed to help communities accomplish the goals contained in their Ten-Year Plan to End Homelessness. First, include current and former homeless people at every level of planning, development and execution. At the Coalition, we ask all groups – public and private, local, state, and federal – to begin every meeting by asking the basic question “Is everyone here, who needs to be here?” If there isn’t a first-person representative stakeholder representing homelessness at your meetings and convenings, your plan has a greater potential to fail. Second, local communities can not and will not end homelessness without a greater federal commitment. There’s an expression:

“Homelessness is a national problem with local solutions.” The end of that sentence should be, “…and a greater federal commitment.”

AF: NCH has been around over 25 years, what do you see the role of the coalition as the organization moves forward?ND: The original purpose or role of the National Coalition for the Homeless remains its only purpose: The Coalition exists as a national network of current and former homeless people, activists and advocates, community-based and faith-based service providers, and other dedicated individuals and organizations committed to ending homelessness in America. It’s what attracted me to the Coalition and more importantly it’s what will Bring America Home. The power is in its simplicity.

AF: NCH played an important role in organizing NASNA, how do you see the two organizations working together more in the future?ND: I spoke earlier about the need for creating and maintaining various methods of communication that can carry the voices of homeless men and women. NASNA and its incredible network of news organizations and newspapers, around the world, provide a perfect method of carrying those voices and the issues they represent. I’m excited about continuing the Coalitions work with NASNA, exploring new ideas for partnership and working together on the goal of ending homelessness.

growing space.”

Finally, there is an outreach program of Toledo Botanical Garden called Toledo Grows, that helps groups develop community gardens throughout the Toledo area. Toledo Grows “works with schools, community centers, public housing sites, churches, social service providers and neighborhood organizations” to plant community gardens. These gardens “reduce hunger and improve nutrition, engage citizens

NCH Director, continued from page 3 Bridge, continued from page 6

City farms, continued from page 3to work together to improve their neighborhoods, provide safe and healthy recreational activities close to home, and promote leadership and environmental stewardship.” Toledo Grows also “operates a job training program with the Lucas County Juvenile Justice Division that provides paid employment experiences for at-risk youth.” (Source: Toledo grows, Informational Brochure. Toledo Botanical Garden, 5403 Elmer Drive, Toledo, Ohio 43615 (419) 536-5566).

uncertainty of where I will lay my head. I fear being alone; of being with the wrong person; of having no money; no place to store my gear; of being safe. BATHING AND BATHROOM!! – most of us take all of these things for granted. (Fear of failure, of disappointing those that I love, pain. What, have you none of it??) I had contemplated suicide, but it beat me to it . . . I would gladly end it all now if only I could make Steve see that the Tigers third baseman made an error that cost them 2 unearned runs in the top of the fifth. What? Did you think that baseball no longer mattered?? I am always looking for an opportunity to advance my agenda: I want to live . . . I, I want to know the way out. Now, while it is trendy to identify with the homeless . . . helping helpless homeless. . .

Homelessness is fear & uncertainty in equal parts. This is how I see it. This is my point of view. . .Bonfiles. . .

A makeshift shelter at the top of a steep embankment faces the river. Photo: Robin Charney

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LIBRA | Some say marzipan, that sweet almond infused confection, originated in China and then made it’s way through the Middle East before entering European cuisine. Others say its roots are in The Mediterranean from whence it spread through the Arabic world into European culture. I know it’s hard to just let it go, Libra. It’s difficult to say “it doesn’t matter who gets credit as long as the world gets to eat delicious marzipan.” But that’s what The Stars want you to say, word for word, right now.

SCORPIO | In 2006, Wenger released a special edition Swiss Army Knife with 85 devices and over 110 functions. “The Giant,” as it was dubbed, contained every blade Wenger had ever issued and weighed over two pounds. Scorpio, you’ve got all the tools you need. Frankly, I don’t think we could even fold one more beneficial bottle-cap opener into your array. This month, take all those tools you’ve got and start putting them to use.

SAGITTARIUS | Literary critic and author Harold Bloom speaks of the poet’s “anxiety of influence,” or the often overwhelming sense that it’s all been done before. Of course, literary critic and ancient Israelite king, Solomon, had already said that. The trouble is, even if there’s nothing new under the sun, we’ve got to find something to do with ourselves. This month, Sagittarius, see if you can’t get out from under the weight of the past and do something only you can do: live your life.

CAPRICORN | There’s a guy at the mall who will write your entire life story on a grain of rice. He starts at birth and includes everything along the way, friends, education, romance, graduations, careers. He squeezes it all on there. And, if you look really closely, you can follow it all the way to the parts that haven’t even happened yet: future surprises, disappointments, challenges, farewells and...even the end. All on a grain of rice. For my $8.99 though, I’d rather get a pretzel and an Orange Julius. The mall’s depressing enough as it is.

AQUARIUS | Your future is very important to us and our next available horoscope will be with you shortly. Your life experiences may be monitored to ensure a quality astrological reading. Once you have received your horoscope, please stay on the line for a brief survey regarding your experience. Due to unusually high volume, your wait time is estimated at: one month.

PISCES | Consider the pumpkin, Pisces. From seed to vine, it grows quickly and strong in the late-summer fields. The fruit it bears is among the largest of gourds; bright and round like ever expanding balls of orange, autumnal sunshine. Then, just when the whether takes a turn for the best, the pumpkin is plucked from its home, gutted, hacked into bits and set on fire from the inside for the pleasure of chubby, sticky-handed children. Treasure the good times while they last, friend. And don’t get me started on Christmas trees.

ARIES | The leaves work their hardest in the spring and summer; creating chlorophyll and breaking it down; absorbing sunlight so it can be transformed into energy that a tree needs; absorbing carbon dioxide and transpiring water vapor. It’s a lot of work. But in the fall, everything gets to relax and take a break. You should too. When all the doing is done, watch the leaves change color and let them fall.

TAURUS | Christopher Columbus was buried in Spain in 1506. In 1542, his body sailed the ocean blue where it was re-interred on the island of Hispaniola. By 1898, the corpse of Columbus, ever the world traveler, had crossed the Atlantic twice and been transplanted five times. Taurus, try to get all of your traveling taken care of while you’re still alive. Ol’ Chris did it both ways and I think he would tell you the same.

GEMINI | If a train loaded with steel leaves Philadelphia traveling toward Toledo at 80 miles per hour and, at the same time, an airplane filled with packing peanuts leaves Glasgow headed for Los Angeles at 400 miles per hour, than how do you feel about your recent lack

Hoboscopes MR. MYSTERIOof motivation? It isn’t all a word problem you can figure out, Gemini. Sometimes you just have to make a decision and take a leap. By the way, the train gets there first.

CANCER | The Stars know this is awkward, but they really need a ride to the airport on Sunday. They would have asked Capricorn, but, well, they know what’s in store for Capricorn this weekend and let’s just say it won’t include anything as pleasant as a trip to the airport. They can totally chip-in for gas and they’ve already gotten Leo to agree to pick them up next Thursday. So . . . um . . . could you?

LEO | Gerard Smets announced the discovery the Aachenosaurus in 1888 when he determined the two pieces of fossilized jawbone he had uncovered were from an as yet unknown species of dinosaur. When it became clear the two fossils were merely chunks of petrified wood, Smets ashamedly acknowledged his mistake and then withdrew from science completely from pure embarrassment. You might make some mistakes this month, Leo, but really, it isn’t that big a deal. Even if you think you look like a fool, you’re the one thinking about it the most. In 100 years, nobody will even remember (unless you’re Gerard Smets).

VIRGO | When Bryan Adams was approached to perform the song Danger Zone for the Top Gun soundtrack he took some time to think it over. As he watched the film, he decided that its aggressively pro-American, militaristic themes were contrary to his own convictions and he turned down the offer. As you know, Virgo, the song was recorded quite capably by Kenny Loggins and it became a top 10 hit. The lesson we can learn here is that you must stick to your convictions, even if it costs you fortune and fame. Either that or “don’t send a Canadian to do a man’s job.” The Stars were a bit unclear.

Mr. Mysterio is not a licensed astrologer, mediator or radiologist. Want more pearls of undeniable truth? Follow Mr. Mysterio on twitter: twitter.com/mrmysterio