In 2009, authorities estimate that there are 1,000 families living in motels within Orange counties. But Bruno Serato, a local chef feeds over 200 kids a week a pasta meal every day.
The economic downturn was a challenge, though. Serato lost 30% to 40% of his customers, and the number of children he fed each night more than doubled. He often found himself giving away more meals than he served in his restaurant, and he was forced to refinance his home to keep going. But Serato found that his work with the children helped sustain him, at least on a personal level. "So many nights ... it was not too many customers," he said. "[To] know that I served 150 kids ... it made me feel better."
What amazes me about this story is that even though Serato sometimes looses money, it doesn't seem to bother him since he knows he is helping those in need. If there were more people like this we would have a lot less children out there that are hungry.
Being one of the worst disasters the World has ever witnessed, you would expect people panicing for food and other resources. But in Japan, people are calm and waiting hours in lines just to receive a couple beverages and food without any complaints.
Shichigo Elementary School in Sendai is now home to hundreds of tsunami victims. In a third-floor classroom, families have self-organized themselves on cardboard boxes and blankets. No one family has a larger space than the other, just as you see at any average family festival. Shoes are not allowed on the blankets in order to maintain sanitary conditions. Food is shared as equally as possible, even if one person eats or drinks a little less in order for everyone to have some sustenance.
Its amazing to see how organized this country is and how sympathetic these people are being with one another. Everyone there is getting along even with the horrible conditions of being homeless and having nothing anymore.
75 remaning tents sitting on the sidewalk on Ilalo Street in Honolulu are about to be evicted by the officials. State officials say that they are simply trying to clean up the waterfront and make it more pleasurable to tourism.
“I understand that they are caught between a rock and a hard place,” Doran J. Porter, executive director of the Affordable Housing and Homeless Alliance in Hawaii, said of state officials. “This isn’t an appropriate place for lean-tos and tents.”
I know how it is to be a tourist and if i were to witness a bunch of homeless people out on the waterfront living in tents it would throw me off and make myself second guess if this is an enjoyable tourist location. I do believe that the spot these homeless people picked is the wrong place to set up camp and is an obvious spot to be kicked out of. But its state officials jobs to allow the opportunity for these homeless people to have cheap living places so that they can get off the streets.
In New York City they decided to eliminate the rental voucher program known as the advantage that supports 15,000 families. The reason for the elimination is because of State budget cuts, but since this program is being eliminated and the majority of these families will have to turn to shelters, the expense for spending on shelters is predicted to increase to $455 million next year.
“It is both unconscionable and unacceptable that this program is set to be eliminated without any safety nets in place,” said Annabel Palma, chair of the City Council’s General Welfare Committee.
I agree with Annabel, the fact that the city will now have increased homeless costs and removing a program that allows thousands of families to afford living in a home is irresponsible. Its sad to see that the state doesn't have a plan for these families who rely on the program.
On Tuesday, Japanese Health Ministry reported that 11 types of vegetables have radiation exceeding the legal limit. These vegetables were located near the nuclear power plant which had exploded. Luckily the Japanese have restored power to the third reactor, the major threat for the radiation and can soon be cooled down by bringing cooling systems back online.
"It has settled down quite a lot compared to the beginning and we could even begin to see a bright hope that maybe it would somehow work out in a little bit," said one man.
Although the disaster in Japan is a terrible incident, its very good to hear that people are staying hopeful. It will take awhile for everything to get back to normal but so far it looks like things are getting better for the people in Japan.
The release of the annual 2010 report by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas states that without highly skilled foreign workers that the US "risks falling behing in the global race for talent" unless the government enacts immigration reform.
"The disproportionate focus on illegal immigration is missing the picture that the legal system of immigration is broken as well," Federal Reserve senior economist Pia Orrenius told CNN. "The cost of ignoring problems with the legal immigration of high-skilled workers in some respects is higher than the costs of illegal immigration."
Immigrants contribute a lot to the United States by working jobs that many Americans wouldn't want to do. The United States is a country with many different ethnicities and our country started out through immigrants. Its what made our country to become so successful and we must continue to bring in skilled foreign workers.
Daniel Morales, a homeless man in New York reunites with his daughter after 11 years through twitter. He had been given a phone three weeks ago through a project called "Underheard in New York," which aims to give homeless people a voice. His only instructions to use the prepaid phone was to give his followers 140 letter updates about his life.
One such tweet -- a photo of his daughter taken in Puerto Rico in 2000 -- led one of his Twitter followers to contact Rivera on Facebook, she said. Although skeptical at first, Rivera knew it was her father after seeing his photo online.
Its miraculous to hear of such a story and the fact that it was an online social site that gave Morales the opportunity to reunite with his daughter. Such sites are giving thousands to reach out and tell their stories.
Late February, a seismic wave caused a mudslide to occur in La Paz, the Bolivian Capital. The mudslide caused tremendous damage to homes, buildings and roads and left 800 families homeless. ABI news didn't report any injuries or deaths.
During a visit at a school that served as a shelter Sunday night, Vice resident Alvaro Garcia Linera pledged that the government would help victims rebuild. "Many of you have lost the homes that you spent so much time and effort building, and I want to tell you that we are not going to abandon you," he said, according to ABI.
Its awful to hear about natural phenomenon that causes many people suffering. But luckily it didn't harm anyone and it looks like Bolivian government is determined to help the people who have lost their homes and ensure that they will soon be living in their own homes again.
Modern day slavery still exists and there is an estimated 10-30million slaves living today. Even though all countries ban slavery the poor are exploited and enslaved. Modern day slavery still doesn't have a clear definition, prostitution is done by some to get the extra money. 
The enslaved may be involved in prostitution or might be in a country illegally as a result of trafficking – activities that could land them in trouble with the law. So, they’d rather keep quiet about their condition, Skinner said.
“They are individuals who will be seen as perpetrators of a crime against the state rather than victims of a crime against humanity,” he said. “They are aware of that so they don’t self-identify.”
Its hard to believe that even though slavery is illegal in every country today there are still millions of people living as slaves. The worst part is that they are afraid to say anything because they will be charged with crimes which were caused being enslaved.
