:: Solutions to the Homeless Problem ::

:: Tuesday, September 06, 2011 ::

Library can be your Living Room and Office

Dr Jyh from Key West FL rented a furnished room right next to Edison Library for only $500 a month. Every morning he walk to the library to read World Journal and other magazines. He said the library is like his living room and his friends can meet him there.

Boss Hu also goes to library every day when he comes back from Taiwan for a week or two to do his business; he said library is like his office. He plays very cool and calm and find himself a very small corner at the first floor children area.

Frank drove his brand new Toyota Yarvis to Piscataway Library every morning after complimentary breakfast at Piscataway Senior Center next door. He uses the Internet computer there brought his lunch, a microwaved yam, to eat at the newly renovated cafe area around 2pm and go home. He does not eat dinner; he said dinner is not good for long life health.
:: Mr Cheng 1:52 PM [+] ::
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Long Stay Hotels vs Senior Housing

Long Stay Hotels has becoming one of the Homeless Solutions that is cost effective with community sense. It is not much different from many brand new popular Senior Housing which also has long stay hotel setup except that seniors do not need to move out every 28 days, and they have more common facilities such as library room with Internet access, breakfast area with free breakfast once in a while. It also depending on the luxury of senior housing which is similar to various levels of long stay hotels.

So, for homeless can not afford apartments or families not having permanent jobs, do not hesitate to consider long stay hotel. The tip is that if you pay by week, it is about 4 days fee. e.g. If every day hotel charges $40, if you pay by week, it charges only about $160, but if you pay by month, it will be about 3 weeks, i.e. $480, which has further saving. Apartments often requires one year lease, whereas, many families have only short term jobs such as 3 month to 6 month contracts and may need to relocate every so often.

Many charity organizations or social welfare department often use long stay hotels as shelter for emergency family stay before section 8 housing available which may take months.
:: Mr Cheng 2:45 PM [+] ::
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On A Dollar A Day vs 99 Cents Buffet

I read a book called On A Dollar A Day in the Border store closing sale, and I sent the authors, a couple who are high school teacher in San Diego, one of my homeless solution, i.e. 99 Cent Buffet.

Basically, it came from Mr. Lin's Lunch Box Buffet in New York Chinatown where I took many homeless people to eat. It charges $4 a meal with 4 out of 100 dishes with free rice and soup (not all you can eat type). According to Mr. Lin, $1 goes to store rent, $1 goes to wage, $1 goes to food and $1 goes to his profit. So, after 5pm, the take out will have $1 discount, i.e. only $3 a meal, and you can trade free rice with another dish.

Since the portion is big, so I showed homeless people to drink the soup first, and save half rice and half of 4 dishes into the soup bowl for next day brunch, and eat the rest, do not waste. Now, even better, they use box rather than plate.

So, how does 99 Cents Buffet work? For $1 food cost, you can not save, but $1 for store rent, high schools can save it by using high school cooking facility and cafeteria, and $1 wage can use high school volunteers or build into club or cooking class and training program such as Special Kids and Regular Kids program. And, high school is the hub of each town, many homeless American all went to high school. You may even provide the meals to seniors or poor families.
:: Mr Cheng 11:54 PM [+] ::
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Bus or Fly American Homeless Back Home

One powerful way to help homeless people to move off homelessness on street is to help them a bus ticket or airplane ticket to go home. I am glad to read the news today that Atlantic City Looks to Bus More Homeless Back Home. I believe that will work and work toward mutual benefits of over 500 homeless people stuck in Atlantic City and the casino business itself.

In fact, this homeless solution has exist for many years. For example, Salvation Army has Homeward program to help homeless home, and New York City also has done similar. Providing a homeless shelter often become very expensive. A one way ticket often much more cost effective.
:: Mr Cheng 2:30 PM [+] ::
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Chuck E Cheese may be a good resource for you and your family

In the past, many homeless or unemployed people use bookstores such as Barnes and Noble or Borders as day time shelter, however, many do not know Chuck E Cheese may also be a good resource for you and your family. Why?

It open early and close late like 9am to 11pm, and most day time the whole stores are almost vacant, lots of desk and comfortable chairs to sit and relax. Even better, every game is only one token, and you can print out free token coupon on their website to get some free token to play once in a while to feel great for you or your family. You may also find the cup of all you can drink gives you full day of supply, especially cold winter time and hot summer time. You may drink different soda, tea or water, and bring an extra cup with you when you leave. Be sure to keep your cup so that you can use next time your visit. Just throw away the straw and cap and watch and dry the cup for next time use. The rest room is often very nice and clean to use, and you may find it comfortable to brush your teeth.

What else you can do? You can bring your lap top and find a spot has WIFI from neighborhood stores such as Staple. It is very good to use computer at Chuck E Cheese, especially watch movies thru Netflex. It is very cost effective to watch lots of movies at $8.99 a month without having to worry about renting from library or fine or pick up and return. Even better, you can share Netflix account with others and multiple people watch at the same time at different computer. If you really can not afford $8.99 a month, you may find the one month free trial account very good. With that one month free, you can watch hundreds of movies before it expires, and you may catch up other free stuff on web and wait for next free month to come.
:: Mr Cheng 12:45 AM [+] ::
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Why Not Shop for Free with Coupons?

Most people eventually became homeless started by losing their job, then can not pay mortgage on time, eventually lose their house and had to move out to rent an apartment, but soon or later, they could not pay rent on time, and eventually was evicted, and move to relatives or friends places or motel ...etc.

So, the monthly payment is most important. For other spending, you may find coupons can save your precious cash like this lady.
:: Mr Cheng 1:54 AM [+] ::
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Relocate American Homeless Families to Detroit

I have had a dream to move all American homeless off homelessness, and I found my dream may come true sooner than I expected. It is to relocate all American homeless families to affordable towns like Detroil MI because now we can buy a home for only $10 there!!!

Currently, I found there are 4,737 houses listing for sale at Detroit MI, and I feel it does not need to ask wealthy people like Warren Buffett or Bill Gates to help hundreds of thousands of American homeless people to move off homelessness. All we need is small percentage of Americans who have the vision to sponsor just one homeless family each.

Put a joint venture with a homeless family who would consider move to Detroit, and invest as low as $10 to buy a house for them to move off homelessness. Once they have a place to call home, their Social Security benefit can follow them, and the area will be booming naturally, and, years later, the housing market will move back up, and your small money investment will make you a fortune.

Back in 1980 when China just reopen the door, my father went back to Hubei where he was born and grew up and bought or built each one he knew a house for just a few hundreds dollars, one at a time. Look what he got now! Amazing! We can repeat his experience here right at Detroit where 1.8 million population has only half left. So many vacant houses that we can have a chance to move million homeless American off homelessness.

I know this will work because I have helped many homeless people in New York City to relocate to much affordable nice town like Hazleton PA for many years.
:: Mr Cheng 12:06 AM [+] ::
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Audit College Courses like Apple Founder Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs, Founder and CEO of Apple Computer, said in his Commencement address at Stanford University in 2005, that he can not afford to continue college but he audit courses thru. His great success later has lots to do with his auditted courses at Reed College, and his college solution can be followed by hundreds of thousands high school graduates from poor families who can not afford to attend college formally.

Another resource is the free MIT Courseware and Academic Earth where one can take at home or any places with Internet or WIFI access.
:: Mr Cheng 12:10 AM [+] ::
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Section 8 Voucher from HUD and IRS Tracking Loan is the Solution

Here is the letter I just wrote to President Elect Obama. I would feel guilty, as probably the only one in this country know the solution, if not sharing it to the new President.

--------------------------------
I have been helping you and the country by "bashing down" the gas price since June 17 when I filed an Anti-Trust Law Investigation with DOJ on Big Oils. There after, the gas price dropped, and I continue "bashing down" the gas price, therefore, the oil price, which will eventually save you and the country huge amount on US Trade Deficit since 1/3 came from Oil Imports, paying $54 or $147 per barrel, makes huge difference, i.e. $2B a day, or $700B a year difference, the scale of $700B Bail Out.

In the mean time, I also convinced Shiela Blair of FDIC to lobby increase FDIC insurance limit from $100,000 to $500,000 (only half accept and temporariy till end of 2009, which is WRONG! why? Wealthy people may not put million of 5 year CD's which the long term cash all banks desperatedly need, NOT short term that can not create stability)

The next thing I was going to share with next President is the key solution to solve all financial problem in one stone, that is deal with the ROOT problem. The root problem is sub prime, alt-A, housing mortgage ...etc. By applying Section 8 from HUD, all homeowner who need emergency to pay their mortgage payment will come from Section 8 Voucher, and therefore all mortgage payments are FED guaranteed, and all derivatives and mortgage paper values will be restored immediately. When that happen, all banks or financial institution including Fannimae and Fredimae will have all their lost paper values back instantly.

As I have documented the solution in the blog US government does NOT need to reinvent the wheel, HUD is there, Section 8 is there, and even better, IRS is there.
US government wants to help millions of Americans to "keep their promise", paying the mortgage payment they signed; therefore, all mortgage papers will be valuable again. That is to say, US government will provide some Section 8 vouchers to millions home owners need assistance (the grand), and together with a housing loan that will be collected back by IRS in the future. that is to say, if one desperated homeowner borrow $20,000 from US government for 5 years, going forward, their income will be deducted by IRS or increase the withhold amount each month.

This will be true for Americans looking to buy an American made cars. Banks may not want to loan money to buyers, fearing buyers may not be able to pay car payment, whereas US government will NOT because IRS can always collect future income from the car loan borrower. Even better, since most American worked for years, and they have submit FICA or Social Security for years, the government can consider to let them BORROW back the contribution.

In any case, if my proposal is NOT adopted, I will still continue helping you and US by basing down gas price, and you shall see that Oil price collapsed in the near future, and, of course, US Dollars appreciated, and Trade Deficit shrink and may be eliminated altogether.

As you know, with President's adoption, the solution is like placed into encyclopedia, and will work very fast. Otherwise, I will still let the solution placed in Wiki and it shall work very fast as well. Either way, you will be the greatest President in the US.

Why I have all these insights whereas all US scholars, experts, officials ... never able to see? It is because I have a unique experience of helping thousands of homeless to move off homelessness USING MY OWN money. When one using others' money can not get the fact and efficiency. And, I have seen all these homeless issues expanded into huge scale, but, fortunately, I got Homeless Solutions. Without homeless solutions, it will cost YOU huge to help.

For example, it cost Bloomberg, NYC mayor, $33,000 and 11 months averagely to help move off homeless. But, it costs me a few hundreds. You can see if you are dealing with millions of homeless rather than thousands like in NYC, your burden is huge!!!

On the other hand, if you can find anyone who spend his own money and resources to help thousands homeless to move off street, that person can provide you the same very cost effective solution on Housing issue in general, after all, each homeless was evicted by landlord or foreclosure or lost job ...etc at one time of their life. How to quickly and cost effectively restore their life and productivity is the key.

Subject Thanks for sharing your vision
From The Obama-Biden Transition Project
Date Wednesday, November 19, 2008 1:20 am

Thanks for writing to share your thoughts on where the country should go.

There will be many more ways to get involved in the weeks and months to come -- and with a lot of hard work ahead of us, we'll be counting on you to help.

Thanks,

The Obama-Biden Transition Project
http://change.gov
:: Mr Cheng 1:22 AM [+] ::
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DOJ should investigate Anti Trust Law Violation of Major Oil Companies in the US.

On June 17, 2008, I filed a petition to Department of Justice to investigate big oil companies on the violation of Anti-Trust Law. Ever since then, the oil price came down from $147 all time high to below $90, and I expect it to continue going down to $50's or much less. Then, there was news saying the oil price surged was NOT due to demand and supply as Senate report said but hedge funds pump $60B into oil commodity since early this year. In any case, it is obvious that big oil companies do NOT have sufficient competition, and DOJ should break them up to many smaller companies.

The impact on this oil price collapse is that millions of ex homeless or barely homeless American families would be more likely to afford heating oil for the cold winter to come. And, charity organizations short of funding to subsidize expensive heating cost of poor American families can have some breath. Instead of sending hundreds dollars here or there to help many poor families to get heating oil or paying heating bill, we should all continue requesting DOJ on investigation of Anti Trust Law violation of Big Oils is the solution.

Whoever supports Obama or McCain should pass this working solution to their favoriate Presidential candidate, and I believe, whoever can solve this oil price issue will not only be a great President of the US and will win the Nobel prize.
:: Mr Cheng 11:15 PM [+] ::
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Give Top University Opportunities to talent kids from Homeless Families

In respond to letter from dean of John Hopkins University below, I was thinking that wealthy top universities in this country should provide more opportunities to talent kids from American homeless or poor families, especially, wealthy universities such as Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford ...etc that have accumulated billions of donations sitting there idling.

Talent kids from homeless or poor families often under disadvantage situation, and it is not their fault to be poor as high school graduates. High tuition barrier from top wealthy universities is a shame. If the wealthies top univesities with the means and numerous talented faculty and students do not care of 30 millions of homeless or poor American families, you know we are far from great nation of the world.

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Dean of Undergraduate Admissions
John Hopkins University

Dear John Latting,

Thanks for your kind letter and invitation to JHU for my son who just got admitted to UC Berkeley major Chemistry. He applied for UC Berkeley because Berkeley ranked #1 in Chemistry.

Nonetheless, JHU is one of the best universities in the world, and we visited JHU in the past, among all other top universities. I have to say JHU's visitor program is one of the best. In fact, we also visit JHU quite a few times by ourselves.

Unfortunately, after visiting UC Berkeley, my son Larry decided not to accept the admission because there are too many homeless people all over the campus, at Berkeley streets. Not that he is unsympathetic to homeless American, in fact, we have helped thousands of homeless to move off homelessness. He felt $200,000 going to UC Berkeley (just non residence fee itself cost $20,000 a year) could be better spend to help hundreds of homeless Americans to move off homelessness.

For the same reason, he did not apply for JHU because every time we visit Baltimore, especially, on the route to JHU, we inevitably saw so many homeless people, here and there. His broken heart prevent him from dreaming to go to luxury university like JHU.

I wish you and JHU understand that we all regard JHU is one of top universities, and I encourage my son that even if he will not go to JHU for undergraduate, he could still consider its graduate school in the future. In the mean time, please remove him from your mailing list so that more admission resources can be redirected to other talent kids.

Sincereley Yours,

Cheng
:: Mr Cheng 12:43 AM [+] ::
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Reflective Survival Blanket and cut A/C and Heating Cost a lot

Reflective Survival Blanket when hanging on the window can keep heat and sunlight out of the house and cut your A/C cost tremendously. If use properly, you may be surprised that you do not need to turn on A/C at all.

In the winter, if you hang it on window inside out, it will prevent heat inside the house to leak out in radiation way. If combine with other measure, such as let sunlight shine in in sunny day to have green house effect, you may not need to turn on heat because sunlight may heat up the house 10 degree, and cooking a dinner may heat up 5 to 7 degrees, and taking a shower may heat up 1 to 3 degree ...etc.

This is the same effect as Reflective Auto Shade of $5 but can effectively reduce the heat inside the car when placed at dashboard window.

You can get Reflective Blanket at stores like Target, Walmart or Sears at camping section, and someone found one big sheet at dollar section of Target. Just got one or two and tape it at the window with facing south west could obtain immediate cool down cost effectively.
:: Mr Cheng 12:34 AM [+] ::
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Pack Rat can help moving, storing or save money

Pack Rat may be a good solution for families facing foreclosure or need to save mortgage or rent for a few months to recover.

For example, if one family can not afford to pay mortgage, may need to pack all the valuables such as furniture, books, clothes ...etc, and store somewhere, and temporarily move to relative's home for a few months, or shelter, ...etc. Later, when able to rent a place, can move the items back.

For example, a student may save money by moving all the items into a container and store in the warehouse while taking a vacation home before coming back after summer vacation.

For example, one may help their brother or sister family to store all the stuff in the container and park at the driveway while helping them to getby and move to the new place when available, and they and share the home, while access their items in the storage container at driveway, instead of moving everything in to crowd the guest house. Accessibility to their stuff often help a "homeless family" with a "home" feeling.

Many homeowners who got a buyer but not able to align with a new place to move to may be able to store all their stuff and stay in motels for a few weeks or with parents or friends.
:: Mr Cheng 12:24 AM [+] ::
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DirectExpress Debit MasterCard will Help Many Homeless and Poor Families


DirectExpress Debit MasterCard will Help Many Homeless and Poor Families, especially, 4 millions of American families without bank accounts due to the fact U.S. Treasury Introduces Direct Express(R) Debit Card for Social Security Payments.


From my first hand experience of helping thousands of homeless, former homeless or to be homeless families, without bank account cost lots of check cash fees and transaction cost of getting the cash assistance into the families' hand in a timely manner, e.g. to avoid eviction or electricity service cut ...etc. I often had to ask the homeless family to find a friend who has bank account to direct deposit emergency cash assistance to the account to avoid fee, or even more importantly to reach to the needed family safely and in time. Sending a check often been lost or cashed by neighbors (also poor families, after all, former homeless families can only afford to rent at poor community).


Timing is also very critical. Many poor families came to me for help simply because their SSI check did not arrive on time on 3rd of the month. Many to be homeless families simply short of temporary cash and cash assistance from government arrives on time is very critical.


The government should also work with major US banks to waive the fees of the homeless or poor families. For example, many families I helped, I often found it is easier to go talk to branch manager to "waive" the late fees, which could accumulate to a few thousands a year, and some later late fees even depend on earlier late fee to make the account overdrafted, and eventually force the families to either give up the bank account or denied the service all together. The 4 millions American families do not have bank account has a lot to do with this.


So, I often told the bank managers that I do not ask them to help homeless families (after all, it is so difficult to ask bank managers who making 6 digits to help homeless families any way, try it!), but if bank do not rob money from poor families in an institutional way, many of the 8 millions American homeless families could not have become homeless at the first place.
:: Mr Cheng 9:35 AM [+] ::
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I just picked up this great news from Trulia, and many people are getting excited that real estate is turning back up in Greater Edison NJ area and New Jersey.


We need to continue helping millions of prospective buyers to buy a dream home at collapsed mortage rate effectively that way millions of sellers would be able to sell and move up to buy their dream home.
:: Mr Cheng 5:26 PM [+] ::
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Subprime is not a difficult problem to solve. One solution is provide cash assistance like California State help poor senior homeowners to pay property tax to San Francisco City Government, and place a lien on the property that needs to be paid back when property transferred at death or earlier.


It costs no money from taxpayer, nor mortgage lender. And 2 millions families can save their home that eventually will have equity catch up.


HUD may be the office to handle this, and the procedure may be similar to Section 8. After all, it would be much cheaper to provide cash assistance as "loan" with "lien" than "grant" as Section 8 voucher after they become homelesss.
:: Mr Cheng 2:35 AM [+] ::
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I just wrote a letter to Trulia at job@trulia.com (see below) trying to see if I can help millions of American families to sell their home at much faster and cost effective way. I think this is one time of a life opportunity to do Nobel Prize level of contribution to the world, and, interestingly, it could be winning both Economics and Peace Award at the same time. Why?


The basic model is to trade real estate like stocks; that is to say low cost trading and liquidity of American families' most asset. This is part of the Economics invention.


The other part of this is that many homeless people would be able to find and afford to own a home like anyone can easily jump into stock market to buy 1,000 shares of penny stock. But the difference is that penny stocks are just paper, whereas, real estate when bought can live in, even if it does not worth much at the time. Even better, when lots of people move in to a community, the value will automatically come back up.


Dear Trulia,

I feel I can contribute tremendously to Trulia services during current real estate market situation.

Although I went to UC Berkeley both under and graduate with EECS/CS major and worked for Bell Labs and Wall St companies years, my true capacity is in real estate, especially, "downside or buyers market".

I have used Trulia for a while, and I believe if Trulia adopt my Web 3.0 Methodology, it would become a very powerful service that help millions of American families to sell their home, and, of course, Trulia itself will 100 fold its revenue.

I have a prototype that helped thousands of condo/townhouses in the Greater Edison NJ area sold for past months, and I wish to expand it to all over the United States so that many desperated sellers who have to sell can sell quickly. I have a track record of able to sell any condo/townhouse within 7 to 14 days with my web 3.0 tools.

If Trulia believe can take advantage of the methodology I invented, please feel free to let me know, and I would be glad to provide a demo or professional presentation.

Cheng
p.s. Both Google and Yahoo are very interested in my web 3.0 technology, but I feel Trulia can be more fit since it is a real estate service.
:: Mr Cheng 12:46 AM [+] ::
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Hire Back All AT&T Bell Labs and Lucent Laid Off's


If you read the "insiders" documents by the National Association of Realtors (NAR), as 2006 came to a close, there was a marked decline in the month's supply of inventory available on the market, down from an average of 7.2 months to 6.4 months nationwide. The decrease in inventory was largely attributed to the late-year increase in sales, accompanied by fewer new listings entering the market. As the market continues to heat up in 2007, many experts are predicting that the month's supply of inventory could drop to under the six month mark - the point at which the market is deemed "normal and balanced" by our definition...


This is to say the Epidemic Network I designed is so powerful that was able to bring the real estate back and helping hundreds of thousands Amercian who have been suffering not able to sell their house when they have to.


When Lidia Levin of Re/Max said the seller cried out loud while I got her 3br 2hba townhouse at Village Pointe sold in 3 weeks after paying 2 mortgages for over 14 months. Joan's daugher was so glad that Joan finally can buy a 2br condo near her home after I got Joan's 45 minutes away Edison Hollow South condo sold to an investor in cash.


The Epidemic Network has got hundreds of thousands homes sold since last September, directly, indirectly, 2nd degree indirectly; it is like a domino effect keep going on! So, I am going to move on working on another homeless solutions. Well! I can not continue on the Epidemic Network because I have SOLD OUT too many condo/townhouses complexes already, if I continue, the price jump will start again, which not good for many other Amercans families who are looking to buy.


The next Homeless Solution is simple, I want to hire back hundreds of thousands American talents who got laid off by AT&T Bell Labs, Lucent Technologies, Telcordia, Avaya, ...etc. For example, Lucent used to have 153,000 employees and after 911, downsize to 35,000. Many researcher and engineers of Lucent was forced managed (laid off) and became security guard, casher, property management clerk, realtor, ...etc. These talented Americans with numerous years of high tech experience at Bell Labs and with Master or Ph.D degrees, and many of their parents and grant parents worked for Bell Labs, AT&T ...etc.


They could NOT find any IT or high tech job for years, and after 2 years, no recruiters would be interested in them since they were considered NOT qualified by these American Non Technical recruiter. But, I have to tell you, one who used to do C++ programming, even not do it for 10 years, he can still do C++ programing very well! Unix is in their mind, and they can write shell scripts.


So, I am going to work for a company called SysAir as COO (Chief Operations Officer), and I plan to hire all them back to high tech area. I want to rebuild the high tech spirit of Americans, as opposed to outsourcing or offshoring to other countries. I want to prove to you, we can reuse American talents and motivate them to train our next generations so that the glory history of Bell Labs will reemerged.


:: Mr Cheng 12:02 AM [+] ::
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Building an Epidemic Network to Prevent Many American Families from Becoming Homelessness


Recently, I received a reader of my Homeless Solutions Blog (see attached), asking me why my blog has not had new entry since March. On the one hand, I thought I had pointed out an very effective way thru Internet for homeless prospects to find resourceful American peer who have extra resource to buy stocks may give them a hand from Yahoo stock message board. That solution is a quick, massive and enormous because even if we got 8 million homeless families, we got many more times of wealthy stock investors American families that their whereabouts can be easily found in this Yahoo stock message board.


On the other hand, I have been very busy buidling an Epidemic Network to prevent hundreds of thousands of American families to become homeless when they could not sell their home while have to in the years to come. Don't think a millionaire family living in his or her multi million dollars house will not become homeless. e.g. A family in Montville NJ bought their $1.5 million dollar house with 1/3 of down payment (wow! half million cash!) and mortgage the rest, now due to job loss and had to sell the house surprisingly found out they were not able to sell for 186 days, and the listing price has dropped down to $999,000. If they were able to sell it at full price, after paying back the mortgage, they lost all their half million down payment, and they may even need to come out more money to pay realtor commission and closing cost at the closing table.


What if even worse, people like them can NOT sell the house at all? say for 3 years? Eventually, they will have to file bankrupcy and let mortgage companies foreclose the house and bank with too many such delinquencies may itself file Chapter 11 like early 90's. It is like domino effect. So, what is the solution for that?


My solution is an Epidemic Network that is fast enough to identify massive prospective home buyers and educate them and help them buy their first home, whether it is a 1br 1ba condo or 4br single family house. Doing so will minimize the real estate down turn impact, and, even proactively saving hundreds of thousands desperated American families, who otherwise would not be able to sell their home and become homeless. When one family could sell their home, they could buy a smaller one or rent a place to call home, otherwise, market will push their home value lower and lower, eventually, eat up all their life savings and assets.


How does this Epidemic Network do in theory? So far there is no such type of computer network exists, according to Computer Information Science Proferssor Mark speicialized in computer archetecture at Univ of Penn, he could only came out a book called Tipping Point that described some phenominon. After I read the book later, I believe my Epidenic Network will generate what Mr. Gladwell described but in a far advanced and highly automated and integreated way.


I often analog a homeless person like a person drowning in the water, if there is someone else to give the drowning person a hand, s/he will get out of water much sooner that if s/he has to do it all by him/herself. For the same token, a prospective home buyer may take 3 to 5 years, eventaully, learn all the beneift of buying home and eventually do that, but if there are someone else helping him or her in an epidite manner, he or she may end up buy the home in less than a year. So the power I have to help those who would not be able to sell their house but have to before their housing value collapsed is to create buyers, or turn the prospective buyers into real buyers in a very short amount of time.


I have proven the methodology worked back in 90's, helping close to thousand families sold their condo, townhouses, houses ... and what I am doing is to make that process faster, in fact, much much faster. e.g. I used to have to educate one prospective buyer one at a time, but recently, I went into a community group of 33 tenants and successfully educate 18 buyer prospects to all went out to buy condos or townhouses not long ago. My "education package to prospective buyers" could be one example of what Mr. Gladwell called a "social virus" that spread very fast and massively thru my Epidemic Network.

-------------------------------------
From: "T. J. Carroll"
Date: Sat, 16 Sep 2006 20:47:49 -0500
To: "Mr. Cheng"
Subject: Re: why has your ..

The blog on "solutions for the homeless". I think this blog and your
solutions are marvelous. I honestly think the United States and the
World could be a much better place for all through your leadership and
solutions. I'm honored to get a e-mail back from you.

Ted

Date: Sat, 16 Sep 2006 12:26:09 -0700 (PDT)
From: "Mr. Cheng"
Subject: Re: why has your ..
To: "T. J. Carroll"

Dear Carroll,
Thanks for your message...
Which blog do you refer? I got hundreds of blogs ...

Cheng

--- "T. J. Carroll" wrote:
> blog have no new entries since march?
:: Mr Cheng 1:59 AM [+] ::
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Yahoo Stock Message Board can help homeless families


When a person or family is facing becoming homeless, he, she or they should trying to reach out to find as much resources, help and advises as possible to prevent that from happening. Once the homelessness happens, one should try even harder to find help and move off homelessness as soon as possible. After all, the longer stay at homelessness, the much harder to move off homelessness. It's like a person should try to stay away of water to prevent from drowning, and if unfortunately fell into water, she or he should try to yell for help and get out of water as soon as possible, rather than plan how to stay at water for a long time.


Most homeless researchers will tell you that people will prevent from becoming homeless or homeless people eventually move off homelessness due to the fact they were able to find big help from a person, organization ...etc. e.g. someone willing to pay one or two month rents for you so that you won't get evicted from apartment and became homeless. Or, someone you found willing to help you 1st month rent and security deposit so that you can rent a room to move off street and looking for job.


One good place to find resourceful people to help is at Yahoo stock message board of, say, WFMI, or just yahoo stock message board of any money making stock. Although most investors may not help you to prevent from homeless or move off homelessnes, all you need is one or two rich investors who may still have warm soul, and member posting at stock message board are to be sure resourceful people. After all, people with extra unused resources are more likely to invest on stock. And, money making stock may trigger human being's warm soul and willing to help desperatedly people.


For example, BBC's, Yahoo stock message board just had an investor sending two month rent to prevent former homeless family to be evicted from an apartment in Columbus OH


:: Mr Cheng 1:39 PM [+] ::
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Give Red Envelopes to Homeless People at Chinese New Year


Today is Chinese New Year. Traditionally, Chinese people give red envelopes that has cash gift inside to their children, grand children, relatives' children ...etc. It is also a good time to give red envelopes to anyone they love.


Knowing that most homeless people or working poor are often short of cash to carry out their life goal or just to maintain their daily life, but you do not have a good time to show your care and love to them? Chinese New Year from Lunar Calendar January 1 to January 15, you have plenty time of giving Chinese red envelopes to them as good luck, wish and assistance.


:: Mr Cheng 2:15 PM [+] ::
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Do NOT spend more than Incoming resources


After all these years helping homeless people to move off homelessness and prevent former homeless to fall back to homeless, I have identified the key reason why people becoming homeless. They over spend their resources.


A single dad with son in Williamsburg VA area is not able to pay his rent because he is making $1,000 a month doing paper route, yet renting $769 a month 2br apartment. He has been facing the presure to be evicted. When I was making $30,000+ a year at Bellcore many years ago, I was renting $280 a month attic in Highland Park NJ.


A single mom with 3 kids in Roanoke VA area every month would send in SOS message, not enough food to eat, no clothes, no heat ...etc. The electricity bill was $240 a month that we have to find someone to pay for it. On the other hand, my bill was only $86.


Another single mom with 2 kids in Williamsburg VA did not have money to pay electricity bill, cell phone bills ...etc, but her thermostat set to 68 degree, but my furnance did not turn on and the temperature went from 40 degrees to 60 depends on the weather and if sunny days. I asked her to set down to 50 degrees; she refused. We have helped her family over $1,000 not to mention other charity organizations and social services. Her cell phone bill added up to over $1,000...


There are many many more cases in which the desperated people have preset their "living standard" to be comparable or over the average income people, yet they make little income. On the one hand, that is the reason they dig a deep hole for themselves; on the other hand, they could not focus on saving enough to move them up to next stage.


A single mom with a son at Hanover VA area does not have money to buy heating oil, so she turned on 3 portable heaters without knowing how to pay her electricity bill in the months to come, but, at lease, she told me that she maintained a limited phone services so that she can get online and have most long distance call her and use cheap phone card to make must outbound long distance calls.


How to help families like this? If you help them, they will continue over spending on what they could afford; otherwise, they will become homeless. The more you help them, the less they will take your advise to lower the living standard to match their income. So, charity organizations like United Way would set up a policy to NOT helping families not able to pay the rent till they got eviction letter. Doing so may sound inhumane, but it seems to be an effective way to force these families to lower their living standard.


A familiy in Columbus OH area was not able to pay their 3br house rent of $850 and no charity organizations would help. As you can guess, they were eventually evicted right before cold Christmas time. Tracy Pay Palthem $450 together with other people's help, they now stay at a thrifty hotel at $146 a week and found a bigger and cheaper 2br apartment at $500 a month starting January 1, 2006.


The conclusion is for desperated people not to overspend. If you make $10 a day, spend $1 to buy a loaf of bread and keep $9. If you make $30 a day, spend $10 and keep the rest. If you want to spend $30 a day, be sure to make more money, weather going to work or bagging for resources. When you have some cash in hand or in your bank, you will feel safer and that will help you reduce or eliminate extra cost such as late fee or eviction cost


I am not saying you are going to stay at the very limited resource type of life, nor much lower living standard. You just need to come down much more before you can have enough momentum to jump up again. Like, if you want to change lane from slow lane to fast lane in the highway, you have to first slow down to keep much longer distance from the cars in front, then accelerate when you see a chance to change lane.
:: Mr Cheng 3:31 AM [+] ::
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ICH Leads Local Officials to Experience Homeless Life


Dear Philip Mangano,

Here is the comment of Clyde Hendrickson who has been homeless citizen for many years sleeping under tarp next to railroad in Saint Petersburg FL area.

He knew and used 211 services for years, but, apparently, it is not helpful to homeless citizens like himself.

Also, even the shelter beds there are only for about 12% of the homeless citizens; therefore, he has to sleep outdoors.

What is the Homeless Solutions from ICH on this? Do homeless people like Clyde Hendrickson need to sleep outdoors for another 10 years to wait for ICH's End Homelessness in 10 Year solution?

My Homeless Solution is that ICH leads all local homeless issue involved officials to sleep in outdoors under tarp or bridge or in woods like true homeless citizens for a night or two whenever ICH outreaches to hold meeting with local governments, charity organizations and agencies. That way, ICH and all involved officials will feel want to end homelessness in 10 days, not 10 years.

How do you think?

Cheng

--- Clyde Hendrickson wrote:

> Dear Mr. Cheng,
....
> About the 211 service, we have had that here for years.
> I also have link to it on my website. They are good for
> locating assistance except where there is no assistance.
> They can't make anything happen, just tell you about it
> when it does. Florida in general has beds/shelter for only
> about 12 percent of homeless, and assistance goes to
> those in most desperate need first. Single white males are
> not a high priority.
....
> --
> Clyde Hendrickson
> St. Petersburg, FL
:: Mr Cheng 3:24 PM [+] ::
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Empower Business to Provide Housing to Homeless or Working Poor


Dear Professor Culhane,

I read your message from USA Today, and I felt again you may be one of the most qualified person to be able to solve homeless issues all together at federal policy level, and if that happens, you would deserve a Nobel Price.

After more pilot on my Homeless Solutions, it has become very clear that there should be a federal policy to empower business to provide housing to their homeless or working poor employees. Job and housing has proved to be chicken and egg type of situations for homeless. Homeless got a home can not last for long without a job, yet homeless got a job can not keep without a home.

If there is a policy that empowers business, using tax credit or HUD money or the like so that every employee is guaranteed a home like Section 8 Program that employee only has to contribute 1/3 of the pay to the housing cost as soon as hired. The 1/3 housing cost can be deducted pre-tax like employee contributed health insurance that go to rental initially.

Mayor Reid of San Francisco spent weeks in most shelters and came back asked me why there were almost NO Chinese homeless in shelter, given the fact that SF has large Chinese population. I told him, it was because almost all Chinese restaurants owners provide lunch and dinner to employee and a bed in a house at night. So, as soon as hired, the person not only save room and board cost and can save about $1,000+ a month to build up initial personal capital for future development.

I have to admit, discovering this homeless solution is no less exciting than solving any other open questions when at Berkeley, and we always want to and are qualified to do Nobel Prize level of work.

How do you think?

Cheng
p.s. Btw, section 8 tenants are very discriminated by landlords and realtors with my first hand experience helping so many cases. However, if prospective tenant endorsed by "employor", then landlords and realtors would be more than happy to serve. This is very similar to medicaid patients are discriminated by, say, dentists, yet patients with corporate medical insuraces are very welcome by most dentists.

------------------------
Dennis Culhane, a University of Pennsylvania sociologist who studies homelessness, says that a new federal policy for people displaced by Hurricane Katrina could be extended to thousands of other homeless families. FEMA is offering cash advances of $2,358 to cover three months' rent anywhere in the nation for hurricane survivors. If they don't readily find permanent housing, the government help could be stretched to 18 months.

Short-term rental vouchers are "something homelessness activists have been calling for, for a long time," Culhane says. "Emergency rental assistance would help the vast majority of people avoid homelessness altogether."
:: Mr Cheng 6:25 AM [+] ::
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Help Homeless to Contact United Way


Do you have problem to pay rent? Is your electricity to be shut off due to no money to pay the bill for months? Are you sick and not able to pay for the prescription? No problem, you need to contact United Way as soon as possible because United Way help people facing homeless these three major area, among others.


So, what is the problem for desperated people to contact United Way? Many people under desperated situation do NOT have the resouces to contact United Way. Why not call United Way? No phone, Why not go to United Way office to meet them? No car, no bus money. Why many desperated people say United Way does not help, yet United Way said they do in their report? Well, because, they do not have enough resources to wait for the bureautic process of United Way to eventually obtain the help. By the time, they have been evicted and become homeless, the promised help may not arrive in time or not reachable.


So, how do you do to help homeless people? or people as risk to become homeless? You can provide some seed resources to facilitate contacting United Way just like what we did to help An at risk single parent family to apply for rent assistance for September. It took almost a month to eventually got the rent, but it worths.


United Way will act like your agent once you contact them, they will NOT give you help right away, they will call their partner agencies for you, and asked each to help you a bit, e.g. if you need $700 rent to avoid being evicted with your eviction letter from court, one church may pay $200, another may pay $150, yet another may pay $200, and United Way may pay the last $150 and late fee $50. Knowing that, applicants need to keep a good relationship with them and be very proactive to keep contacting them to find out the status and landlord to make sure rent is paid in time ...etc.


United Way may refer many other resources to the applicant like another single parent with 2 kids we supportthat was referred to social service to apply for food stamps and got them later; this is several hundreds dollars help each month, and the food stamps these days is, in fact, a debit card that is charged each 3rd of the month and can be used at supermarket and grocery store like anyother debit card or credit card, so others would not be able to distinquish to upset you.
:: Mr Cheng 4:47 AM [+] ::
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Help Those Katrina Homeless to Help Themselves


Want to help Katrina Homeless? Here is how you can help them cost effectively and massively; yes, one person can help dozens of homeless families to move off homelessness quickly, and government agencies or charity organizations can help hundreds of thousands easily.


The tip is very simple: Help those Katrina homeless to help themselves. When I was working at Goldman Sachs, every morning before work, there were dozens of homeless waiting for me at the Bowling Green Park at Broadway. I gave them sleeping bags, chocolate bars, weather reports, subway pass, clothes ...etc, and more importantly, I gave them some emergency cash assistance from a few dollars to a few hundreds. Many homeless, with my support, were able to go home with bus money, able to find a job with money to buy clothes to interview, able to reunify with their relatives with phone card money, able to go to detox with subway and train money ...etc. Most of the homeless came to gathering in the early morning eventually find their way out of street.


So, at Federal level, how would these hundreds of thousands of de facto homeless caused by Katrina be helped move off homelessness quickly, cost effectively and massively? You have to help them to help themselves. Please note: NOT you help them to move off homelessness, but you give them some seed resources to let them reconnect with their friends or families to move themselves off homelessness by themselves.


Here is a list of things I would give them and why based on my years of hands on experience:

1. Emergency Cash Assistance. If I were government agencies, I would have banks to ship tons of "cash" to Katrina impacted area and each victim given, say, one week need of cash. Why cash? Anyone with hands on experience helping homeless, especially homeless living outdoors, would know that most homeless has NO bank account. Many who had but became homeless and got stuck in foreign city due to wallet lost, no ID's, no atm card. So, cash is the immediate means to empower homeless. Why small amount enough for one week? It is like paycheck, and one week is long enough for many to find other help, and small amount to avoid being robbed.

2. Prepaid Cell Phones. With a cell phone, people can easily stay contacted and communicate with their friends and relatives and stay safe. Homeless can use it to find jobs or rentals, and more importantly stayed connected.

3. Greyhound or Train Pass. Knowing that people when at difficult time will normally seeking help from their families or close friends, once they have contacted whoever willing to help them, they need transportation to move over. With the amount of money to provide Greyhound or Train Pass to Katrina Homeless, the government not only helping them to find their own viable support, yet inject huge amount to help Greyhound and Train operation which often has deficit.

4. Provide Cash Assistant to Hosting Families. Knowing it is much more cost effective to have hosting families using their spared rooms than renting an apartment, it should be encouraged; however, enthusiastic whether friends or relatives families hosting Katrina homeless people would definitely be impacted financially. Therefore, provide cash assistance to hosting families is very important. e.g. I was able to move Chris at OH off homeless quickly due to the fact his friend has spare room but tie with cash, and willing to rent out a room for $25 a week.

5. Provide Cash Allowance to buy a Car. In this country, without car is like without leg. For each Katrina homeless families who need car, you want to provide some cash help to buy a car. Tracy gave Chris $200 to buy a used Geo Prism 90 and that gave Chris viable vision of moving off homelessness immediately.

6. Create a Private Yahoo Support Group for each Katrina Homeless. With this wonderful and powerful, yet free, Internet tool, one can cost effectively create one private support group for each Katrina Homeless individual or family, and invite their friends or family or colleagues to join remotely with email address, and continue to support these hundreds of thousands of unfortunated people. I have managed hundreds of such private support groups and am the only computer expert with hands on experience using Yahoo Group to successfully help hundreds of homeless concurrently nationwide. I know it works great and cost effectively and can save our governments, Federal, State or Local, and homeless agencies or even individual lots of resources and time and mental burden.

With above tips, we empower the Katrina Homeless to help themselves move off homelessness quickly and continue to move up.


If you do not have money or resource to help Katrina Homeless individual or families, you can still help them a lot by sending this Homeless Solutions to everyone you know and all your family members, friends or colleagues would be learning how to help Katrina Homeless or even general homeless very cost effectively.
:: Mr Cheng 11:41 PM [+] ::
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Do NOT Evict Your Tenant


Danny called me today and told me he was in the process of evicting his ehs1804 tenant, a single father with a daughter who have owed him $6,000. I asked him if he needed the money to pay mortgage of condo, he said No, the condo is paid off. I asked him if he needed the money to pay his garage bills, he said No. I asked him if he needed the money to pay his $700 per month PSE&G a/c bills, he said No. In fact, he is a millionaire going to Rutgers church every Sunday.


I asked him isn't that Bible tell you to help your little brother? He said he had run out of patience. I asked him what would happen if the tenant could not pay rent? He said he will evict the tenant and the daughter. They would have to pay $450 atterney fee, and animal control cost to remove the dog. They would have to worry about to move all his stuff out, or by law, all the property left would be the landlord's. The tenant also has to worry about the daughter can not go back to Edison School because he would not sign the paper.


Well, this really made me upset because, according to many homeless families came to me, their stuff were "taken by their landlord". Well, when a family can not afford to pay rent and under eviction, where can they move their stuff? Some told me they managed to move their stuff to storage, but months later, they could not pay the rent of the storage, all stuff were auctioned off by the storage.


I told Danny to have his tenant to send me email, and I would created a private Yahoo support group to help his tenant to catch up the rent to get by. Isn't this funny? Your friend is evicting his tenant, and you try to help the tenant pay the rent?
:: Mr Cheng 5:25 AM [+] ::
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Do Not Charge Homeless to Obtain ID's Back


Posted by Mr. Cheng with (374) Comments


Many homeless people I helped had a similar problem that they lost their ID's, and it costs them to get a replacement yet have no money to apply for. Without ID's such as birth certificate, social security card, state ID's ...etc, it is hard for homeless on street to find a job. For example, in order to apply for birth certificate, one has to contact the Vital Records Office of the born state, and I have helped a homeless citizen living outdoors at Florida not able to come up $26 fee to obtain birth certificate back from Michigan State. And even worse, it took him weeks to wait for a foundation in Texas which claimed can help the fee but never deliver. As you can see the difficulty the $26 fee the Vital Records Office charges can impact a homeless citizen.


There are many other difficulties of homeless when they lost their ID's, yet can not afford to reapply for them. Look at how difficult Tracy trying to help a homeless person at New York City but able to get emergency cash assistance over thru Western Union due to the fact the homeless person did not have ID's.


We also gone thru the hassel to get a Greyhound bus ticket to a homeless person got stuck in New York City whose car was stolen when traveling to the city and lost all his ID's. Since the sponsor purchased a one way ticket to Malcom GA over phone for the homeless person to pickup, yet he had no ID's to identify himself. Eventually, we had to issue a password to Greyhound so that he could pick up the ticket with the password.
:: Mr Cheng 2:29 AM [+] ::
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Housing First to Homeless on the Street


Posted by Mr. Cheng with (237) Comments


Some New York City homeless sent me Pathways To Housing link and told me this was exactly the help they needed to move out of street. And, recently, I also saw this link highly recommended byThe Homeless Guy's blog. The only problem is that it is only at NYC, and started in Washington DC, and the housing is for homeless with mental illness. According to my years of hands-on experience, I also feel that it is very effective to provide housing to homeless people on the street. Without a place to call home, it is very hard for homeless to try to move themselves out of street. Here is a recent communication with Social Welware Policy Professor at Univ of Penn, Dennis Culhane, and I think next step up would be sharing all the Homeless Solutions with ICH.

Date: Thu, 13 Jan 2005 13:37:58 -0500
From: culhane@mail.med.upenn.edu
To: "Mr. Cheng"
Subject: Re: Dear Prof Culhane, Nice to talk to you and here is my message ...

You are doing amazing things.

Do forward this to the Philip Mangano and Mary Ellen Hombs at the US
Interagency Council On Homelessness. I don't have their email addresses with
me, but they would be interested in hearing this incredible story.

Dennis

Quoting "Mr. Cheng" :

> Dear Professor Culhane,
>
> I just came across the following and thought about writing to you
> again...
>
> "Costs for housing the homeless aren't cheap, but Dennis Culhane,
> professor of social welfare policy at the University of Pennsylvania,
> found that such programs as Pathways actually save money.
>
> He determined that the cost to society for the average mentally ill
> person on the street was $40,500 per person annually in social and
> health services. Pathways' apartments and services, according to
> Tsemberis, cost only $22,000 per person each year."
>
> We have been providing the condo at Edison NJ that walk to train
> station to NYC to move homeless off homelessness, more or less the way
> Pathways have been doing, except that we target general homeless, not
> only mental ill homeless. We have treated the homeless as "friends
> visiting us" or "new immigrants", NOT homeless. In fact, we introduced
> them to neighbors as "our friends", NOT homeless, and we told them once
> they move in, they are no longer homeless.
>
> We provide some grocery, take them to buffet, bookstores and go out
> with our families trying to make them "our family friends". Once they
> moved in, they will be no difference from other tenants who renting the
> condos, except they do not pay rent nor utilities...etc.
>
> Their first goal would be just sleep, eat and recover. Normally,
> after weeks, they would be recovered and become energetic again like
> other normal people. Then, they will try to reconnect with their
> families and friends, and many of them would help them, after knowing a
> group of strangers willing to help them.
>
> Once they found some part time jobs, we find deposit and first month
> rent for them to move to their own place near their jobs, and continue
> to support till months later they pay their own rent fully and even
> found better full time job.
>
> We do not apply for any government grant nor do we have non profit
> organization. We use free Yahoo!Group to coordinate by creating a
> private support group for each homeless and invite dozens of friends,
> family members or colleagues to join and support.
>
> We also proactively renting out the condo to people don't have
> perfect credit from Harlem NY and not did credit check. Once they start
> paying rent late, we would be involved by helping them find a job or
> get a car ...etc to help them move up, instead of evicting them. We let
> them use deposit to pay rent and give them rent credit; some even owe
> rent for months and just pay whatever they can. The philosophy behind
> this is to keep the poor tenants with us and stay at the same condo as
> long as possible to prevent them from becoming homeless since,
> according to our experience, moving cost eats up poor people's saving.
> So, years later, they will become more financially independent since we
> never increase rent. Then, we help them to buy a townhouse as if we
> help our friends to, and they will finally move out.
>
> By doing so, we do not lose money as landlord because the condo is
> always 100% occupied, and no credit check cost, no annual realtor fee,
> no annual atterney fee, and maintenance is low since low turnaround
> required no painting, carpet replacing ...etc.
>
> Recently, we got DIRECT BUS set up from Edison NJ to NYC Chinatown,
> Midtown and Downtown, only $158 a month. This, to certain extend,
> realized my proposal to migrate NYC homeless to rural area like
> Hazleton PA with affordable DIRECT BUS connection in between. Edison is
> perfect base for my Homeless Solutions because it is populated with
> Chinese who believe buying home, and many has surplus rooms which rent
> out as low as $300 a month, this helps a lot to move homeless off
> homelessness.
>
> Cheng
:: Mr Cheng 4:55 PM [+] ::
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Help Homeless to Obtain a Cell Phone Service


Posted by Mr. Cheng with (248) Comments


I have explained the importance of a cell phone to people who became homeless and proved that it is one of the most important homeless solutions. And I have proposed that the Department of Homeless Services of any city should consider providing a free cell phone to homeless people in their city. Now, I have found a nice T-Moble broker Mr. David Weiniger, willing to provide 1,000 cell phones to help homeless to obtain their own cell phone.

Through my experience of help thousands of homeless people, the most difficult part for homeless to obtain a cell phone was that they could not pass the credit check; they have been unable to keep up their financial before eventually became homeless. Anyone able to maintain financial good credit can easily obtain a free cell phone these days with very little up front money. But, for people like Tracy who would provide homeless a cell phone to help them find jobs would have to pay big deposit for them. Some organizations like "Coalition for the Homeless" may provide homeless a free voice mail, but it could not compete with a free incoming call cell phone and free local call cell phone on job seeking and other application for the homeless on the street.

Now, with the help of millionaire Mr. David Weiniger, who has 20 year experience of trading options at Wall Street, Tracy and many other sponsors would be able to easily help homeless to obtain a cell phone service thru David's cell service. If you are homeless, current or former, and desperatedly need a cell phone service, please do not hesitate to come to our Cell Phone for Homeless Yahoo Group, and we will sure to see how we can get you one at your affordability.


:: Mr Cheng 4:02 PM [+] ::
...