Category Archives: Suicide Intervention

Only YOU Can Prevent Homelessness…..

06 Wednesday Mar 2013

Posted by in charity, Christianity, Domestic Violence, Drug and Alcohol Abuse, Homeless, Homeless Families and Children, Inmates & Ex-Convicts, Intervention, Philanthopy, Suicide Intervention

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Only YOU Can Prevent Homelessness…..

Yes, only YOU and Only me and only ALL of us, 100% of ALL of us…

Each and every one of us…

You read all the time about “ending homelessness”. Ten Year Plans etc etc

What about preventing homelessness in the first place?

Homelessness….hmmmm…well what is it in the first place?

It could be your adult able bodied son or daughter sleeping on your couch.

It could be a friend of a friend sleeping on your neighbors couch or in their garage.

It could be a 16 year old girl sleeping in an abandoned house or under some bushes or a bridge.

It could be a single mom sleeping with her new born baby in her car in a dangerous part of town…..or for that matter right under your nose.

It can be a newly married young couple with their 1 year old child sleeping in an abandoned house with no electricity, no refrigerator, no beds, no water.

It could be an 80 year old disabled or healthy man or woman sleeping in their car or behind a bus stop in the bushes.

It could be a family with children staying in a run down motel in the rough part of town at $250-$300 per week on funds they do not have, with no jobs.  Yeah, i know that’s tough to get your head around.  That is a whole separate blog.

It could simply be YOU, wandering the streets looking for your next place to go to the bathroom, lay your head, find a meal or even a drink of water.

A shower?  Forget that.  Clean clothes?  Forget that.

Do not think it can’t happen. Homelessness is Not prejudice.

So, what about preventing it?

It takes “time”, and I mean spending time…..lots of it.

Handing someone $5, $25, $100 etc may help for the moment but most times it does not help for the long run to get someone off the streets or out of homelessness in an efficient manor.

Handing someone a voucher for a bus pass, voucher for clothes, or for food, or for toiletries, or to get their ID or to go get their birth certificate, or even for housing and then send them on their way and say…”Have a good day…be blessed!” does not get to the root causes of homelessness or why the person is in the position of even having to seek assistance for any of these things mentioned in the first place.

Please do not misunderstand me. The things above that i mentioned do help with some much needed items.  However, that is not where it ends, not even close.

It Takes ALL of it and more, PLUS a great deal of your Time and Efforts.

(Notice the plural on the word Efforts)

It takes time to get to know those who are down and out.  Time to get to know their needs, desires, likes, dislikes, what makes them angry, what makes them sad and what makes them happy in life.  It takes time to get to know what they really like to do for work or can do or are good at or will be good at.  

It Takes Time.  It Takes Effort.  Over and Over Again.

Do you know someone right now who may be on the brink of becoming homeless and losing their apartment or house?  Do you know someone sleeping on yours or someone elses couch who is technically what is labelled as homeless?  Do you know of someone who has been forced by circumstance and is sleeping in their car or in some garage or abandoned house somewhere?  Do you know someone staying in a small motel in the run down part of town known for homeless, drugs and more, someone who does NOT want to be there?  Do you know someone who is having trouble fighting with drugs or alcohol and in danger of becoming homeless?

Take some Time…Make an Effort…Even if it is the 100th time…

Each time you see someone “fail” or what appears to You as a “fail”…it actually is a little tiny window where that person in need knows they experienced something good….next time they may get a little further…some make more progress then others at different times….it is our job as people put here on earth to help each other, to Take the Time and Make the Effort each and every time…

You never know…it could be THE TIME….and maybe You will be a part of helping Jesus Save a Life.

But there is the issue….You must understand that we need Jesus to be able to do any of this….without Him…..you will not succeed in truly helping others in preventing homeless or homelessness or even ending homelessness for someone…

If you truly care about someone who is in need, who is in danger of losing their home, in danger of becoming homeless or is currently homeless….if you truly would like to prevent that or truly want to do something about it but simply do not know what to do and you believe in and have a relationship with Jesus….

Call me, and i will be glad to help you, to give you ideas and direction.

But be forewarned, the focus will be on what i know Jesus and His Father want and how they work….not on referring you to resources in your area.

It will be to give you ideas and direction on what you yourself and or friends and family can do yourselves on your own.  It might be very easy sometimes and sometimes it may be extremely difficult.

In a nutshell….Seriously?  All it takes is being a true friend….being and doing what families are supposed to do, what friends are supposed to do…what neighbors are supposed to do.

What Ever It Takes.

Our society has created all these “programs” to address this or that.

What “program” did Jesus have?

Can you picture it?  Yes, You Can?  Then Go Do It!

Do it Now!  

Remember, Only YOU can Prevent Homelessness!

USA Cell Phone# 1-727-288-1545 

Lance New Badge Pic 8-21-2012

Providing Hope In Jesus’ name…Doing What Ever It Takes

If Not You…Then Who?

 (PayPal Secure & Tax Deductible 501c3 Nonprofit Public Charity) 

STA NEW GREEN LOGO 7-27-2012

Because Everyone else Does it, Does not make it ok…

10 Monday Dec 2012

Posted by in 501c3 Nonprofit Public Charity, Bullying, charity, Christianity, Pranks, Radio Broadcasting, Suicide, Suicide Intervention

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                                            PROVERBS 18:21
21 The tongue can bring DEATH or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences.

Yes, it is true, extremely painfully true…

Radio Stations have been making prank calls for decades, literally…

As the radio stations themselves proclaim, the prank calls are made by radio station personnel from all over the world to places all over the world…globally that is…

Every single day…

Because Everyone else Does it, Does not make it ok…

I myself am not perfect, not by a long shot.

I myself must continually try to control my words and my tongue every second of every day.  I do not always succeed.

But, i am willing to try every single day and make changes.

                                              PROVERBS 18:21
21 The tongue can bring death or life;  those who love to talk will reap the consequences.

The bible verse stated above speaks volumes to this subject and it is in the Bible for a reason.  Even if you are not a “Believer” it applies.  There are numerous other verses meant for our instruction and guidance on how to act and how not to act.  They are all in there for a clear and precise purpose.

It should be obvious.

 

If you don’t believe it, just look around you, or read the news.

Apologies are great until someone is dead, then it is too late.

Words.

Words, Words with antics, pranks, bullying or the like…..

Can and do Kill…

Next time….don’t pull that trigger.

WORDS HURT

Just a Thought…Or Maybe it’s a Statement…

01 Thursday Nov 2012

Posted by in Bullying, charity, Christianity, Health Care, homelessness, Mental Health, Mobile Crisis, Suicide Intervention

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While i am not one to believe in or really even support the Ten year Plans to End Homelessness….besides some really long boring reasons of my own there is the reason being even the Bible, in numerous locations states that there will always be poor in the land/among us, and simply, the Ten Year Plans are simply not feasible….not reality.

The bottom line is we are to help them.  Help each other.  Period.

Just a Thought…Or Maybe it’s a Statement…

Many many many of the Mental Health issues in our society AND Homelessness can be prevented or even resolved in many cases…..

HOWEVER…..

There will be none, zero, zilch, nadda, No Hope of making any kind of dent in these issues if You wait on, wish for, pray for, or think……..

That someone else should be doing it.

Go, all of you…all of us….each and every single one of us….The 100% that is! Christian or Atheist, Jew or Muslim, Polish(me) or German, you get my drift…  GO now, tonight, tomorrow and or the next day.  

With everyone worldwide there has simply got to be a moment in which each one of us, all 100% can be helping someone in true need, somewhere.

Here is an example of prevention for you.  THIS Prevention, can prevent Mental Health issues and having someone end up homeless and on the streets sleeping in the woods in a homeless camp. 

What is the example?   It is brief and simple.

Think of the other person before yourself.  Before you call your 3, 5, 8, 12, 15, 18, or 25 year old child “STUPID” for the 5000th time…..

DON’T

In fact, after you have done it the first time, caught yourself or had someone bring it to your attention….make a point to tell yourself you won’t do it again.  

You can take it a step further….apply it to ALL your relationships.

I guarantee you, it will prevent a myriad of issues AND it will help to prevent homelessness.  It is much easier to Prevent homelessness then it is to fix it.

Just because we have this thing we call Free Speech in the USA or just because we have vocal cords to speak…..Does Not mean we can say anything we want to each other.  

Words can kill, literally.  And they can also “Kill” ones life as they know it.

Bottom line,  If they don’t end up dead, they will most likely end up homeless.

Either way, everyone, everywhere, loses.

The act of PREVENTION is always possible.  

Try it…….right now.  

Lance Greene/Founder

Emotional Damage, Social Decay and a great 21 Yr Old Mom!

19 Saturday May 2012

Posted by in Christianity, Family and Friends, Jesus Christ, Mobile Crisis, Nonprofits, Suicide Intervention, Tomlinson Adult Learning Center

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5/19/2012

Last Night, at 9:07pm, i received an emergency call from a 16 year old female.  The family was distraught over another family members drinking habits. The 16 year old stated they wanted help for the family member.  This 16 year old sounded like a good kid and i felt bad for her that she was the one who had to “make the call” for help.  They did not want to call the police because they did not want the family member who already has a record to get into further trouble.  After 40 minutes of conversation and determining the situation i stated i would come to help.  I was to meet at the family house and the father would take me to the location where the family member was they were calling about.

I know this family may see this story, that is ok, as they found me by finding our website on the internet.  I hope they see the story and get some understandings.  Also, it is why there will not be specific details in the story of names and or places.

I typically do not involve Police unless it is a life or death situation and or the person involved has threatened suicide with the means and a plan to carry that suicide out.  Especially if i find it out via phone and i am not with them in person.  My reason for this is i believe it is the police job to keep the city safe and do the jobs they are trained to do and it is organizations like ours to deal with the people who are distraught and in turmoil.  Dealing with and preventing Emotional Damage and Social Decay.  Relieving them of some of the nuisance calls which overload the police and medical facilities and distract them from much more serious issues.  You can read more about that here.

I assured the family i would not involve the Police unless i absolutely had to and i would then make that call.

While still on the phone, the 16 year old female passed the phone to the family member in questions 21 year old fiance (female).  They “just wanted help for this other family member, that’s all”.  It is never that simple.  It is almost always “someone else” that is needing the real help and typically involves 1-5 family members or friends, many times more. 

At 9:40pm i get off the phone and begin getting ready to hit the road.  By 10:00pm i am headed for this families house.  As i get close i call to say i am 4 blocks away and will be there shortly.  I am informed the Police are already there, they are wondering if i called the police and i advise them i did not.

As i pull up there are 4 police squads there and they have one of the other family members surrounded outside.  Between the two locations it ended up being 7 police squads from two different police agencies.  All for something they shouldn’t need to be called for.   Hmmmmmmm…..ok, as usual there is ALOT more to this story.  On the phone i could tell i would have problems with this particular family member which police have surrounded..  This family member, actually seems to be a big part of the problem here also.  This family member needs to learn some respect also of others and even himself.  Again, this is not the family member the call was about.  There were approx 7 family members in the home.  They are all as always affected by this situation.  ALL of them right down to the babies.  Including the one on the way.  The one on the way is being affected right in the mothers womb.  When this baby is born, if this Emotional Damage continues and the arguing, turmoil and stress of it all continues, this baby will be born and then diagnosed with ADD, ADHD or Bipolar Disorder later in its young life.  I “Guarantee” you.  Simple as that.

My job, given to me and directed by Jesus, is to try and prevent all that, prevent and or stop the Emotional Decay going on in this family and the end result of which is Social Decay.  Plant seeds, do what i can and then let Jesus and His Father Jehovah take it from there.  Last night Social Decay was front and center, to me that is like looking into the eyes of satan himself.  Period.  I am extremely familiar with it, with him, satan.  He is present in all those i am commissioned to help.  And that is how i know how to fight it and what to do about it.  Plain and Simple.  Nothing more complicated then that.  We CHOOSE to make things much more complicated then they really are.

I leave the family house and head to the location the family describes to me that the one they are concerned about is located.  They are afraid for him, very afraid for him.  As i get close to the location i see two more police cars in photo above in a bank parking lot with a young man sitting at the curb.  I knew it was this man but i kept on towards the location i was sent to.  A light was on inside.  No answer to my calls out or knocks.  I tried the door, it was open.  It was a garage.  I opened the door expecting to find a gun pointed at me or someone laying on the floor some where either passed out or dead.  I found neither.  It was empty except for a car, some furniture and a bunch of tools strewn all over the floor.  Yes i have a photo of it.  No i will not ever post the photo.

So, to make a 4 hour long story short, i met a great family last night.  I met the person who is the one that really needs the help, the one who was asking for help for her fiance, her, the 21 year old Kid who hasn’t had the opportunity to grow up, the 21 year old child/mom.   The fiance is playing a control game, this is a game which causes heavy Emotional Damage to others.  This 21 year old Mom, has had enough of that type of damage.

This 21 year old mom is a great Kid!  She is smart, strong, pretty, seems to maybe be a creative type personality and has a sense of humor which is hidden for now temporarily, but i can see it in her.   She will continue to be an awesome mom i am sure, and she IS a Strong Mom!  She also needs to be strong for herself.  I was honored and blessed to meet ALL of them.  And i thank Jesus for that opportunity.

This 21 year old child/mom wants to go to school and get her GED.  That is one of the things she wants to do to improve her life….to…..”Take Back Her Life”.  

We know just the place.  Tomlinson Adult Learning Center in St. Petersburg, FL.   We will make arrangements to take this great 21 year old female there in the next week and meet with the director so this young Mom can work on Taking Back Her Life and obtain her GED.  She has a great future of possibilities in front of her as long as she chooses to go after them and do what it takes to obtain that future.  To start thinking about herself some.

If her fiance decides he does indeed want help, i will make myself available to him.  If not, then i  ”dust of my feet off” from him and will concentrate on the other family members.  On the ones Jesus directs me to.   A family which ranges from an unborn baby, an infant,  teenagers and adult parents/grandparents over 50. 

Please, everyone out there.  If the man or woman you are with, anyone, does not add to your life, then you do not need them in your life.  Do not become and stay a victim of Emotional or Physical Control.   Do not continue to stay in a situation where someone who is supposed to love you causes physical abuse by hitting you….. IT IS NEVER OK.   And YOU, are you the one doing the damage??   Wellll, many times the damage you are doing is due to something else, many something else’s in fact.  Please, ask someone for some help and be open to it.  It will be ok.  This drama you are putting on others hurts YOU too.   It causes you Emotional Damage also.  WALK AWAY.  STOP.  DO NOT DO IT.  

While we are alive on this earth, it is NEVER to late to make changes and it is always possible.  The only time it is too late is when we are dead.  Then is when it is all up to God and His son Jesus.  

It is not too late for you….yet.   It is not too late for this 21 year old child/mom and her family.

This 21 year old mom is one small step away from homelessness, we spoke about it and she knows it.  IF, she becomes homeless, that is what the end result of Emotional Damage causes, it causes homelessness, and homelessness is one of many forms of Social Decay.   It is my job to help Jesus prevent that. 

We will do What We Can, When We Can, If We Can.  We will also let Jesus do His job.

I want to Thank you, the 16 year old “Cousin” i will call her “N”…for making the call.  You were very brave!  Very Awesome of you.  Sincerely i Thank YOU!

I Thank the “grandmother” for taking so long to sit and talk with all of us and being a “Mom” to this young 21 year old woman.  Sincerely, i Thank YOU.

The 30 year old man who was the reason for the call.  To you i Thank You for talking to me, even for the brief 10 minutes that it was.  I ask for you to open your mind and lets talk some more.  ALL of this can and will get better.   I ask of you to treat your fiance with love and respect and you will get that in return.   I Thank You in advance because i know you can. 

And YOU, the 21 year old Child/Mom.  I THANK YOU for being so brave as to open up and let your huge 12 foot thick armored wall down.   You are very brave.  I THANK YOU for encouraging the making of the call to me.  Pick up that bible “J” and read the first five books like i said ok?  

It will be ok.  Jesus wants all of you to be ok.  In fact He and HIS Father Miss You all very much.   Time to get “hooked up” with them again!  :-))!

It is NOT TOO LATE.   

Most of all I Thank Jesus and His father for bringing this family and Straight Ahead Outreach together.   

Now, i will let Jesus do HIS job and i will be here when He needs me to step back in.

All In All, it was a good night even though satan tried to do extensive damage.  Last night, satan did not win. 

Thank You Jesus!  

Lance Greene/Founder


A Letter to ALL Young Gay Suicidals…..

17 Monday Oct 2011

Posted by in 501c3, Bullying, Feelings, Gay, Intervention, Jesus, LGBT, Nonprofit, Suicide, Suicide Intervention

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10/17/2011


Please.  Hear me for a few minutes.  First, please know, this i am saying is a fact…..i realize your world “seems” so dark, so cold, so lonely, so many things you cannot seem to count……But please know this….those whom are bullying you, harassing you and making you feel like your world is a dark place…….know this……..those who are bullying you are but simply a handful. 

There are myriads, millions of us out here who LOVE YOU, care about your life, your fears, your frustrations, your needs and desires, your hopes and dreams.  Millions of us.  Millions.

Please.  Do not hide from us. please do not clam up.  Give us, the Millions Who Care about YOU a chance.  Reach out to us, talk to us.   Let us give you some direction, some ideas, a different view, maybe see things from a different angle, some Hope.  The Millions Who Care are made up of straight people and gay people.  All different types of people, everywhere.  We are people maybe you would never think of or maybe even think the worst of.  

Give us a chance.  

You and your awesome energies are needed here on this earth.  Always.

You, you are creative and smart.  You are determined and have ambition. You know things….lots of things.   You, you are caring.

Let us care.  The Millions Who Care.  Don’t give up on us.   Give us the chance.  Reach out to us.  Look for us, find us.  We are everywhere you are.

We might be me, writing this letter to you.  We might be a teacher, a mother or father, sister or brother.  We might be a hardware store clerk, a UPS driver or taxi driver,  a police officer, fireman, doctor or ambulance driver.  We could be anybody.  Even Jesus or God, or whoever you may call him.  Please, do not under estimate us or assume we will shut you out.  Give us a shot.  Reach out to us and talk to us.  I know it will hurt a bit to reach out,  but i guarantee you will smile, even if just a little bit.   :-))!  See?

Those who are bullying, the handful of people, they steal your life from you.   If you feel they have…..reach out……talk…….you…….YOU, can Take Back Your Life.  You, can steal your life back!  

Please, do not look back…….do not think back………look Straight Ahead at what You want, focus on it, concentrate on it……..go for it and Take Back Your Life.  

Now come on……please……reach out…..give the Millions Who Care a chance.

We are simply everywhere.  

***Do you feel a tug in your chest when you see someone you think you could talk to but are afraid to?   That tug in your chest is telling you to do it, that it is the thing to do.  Go for it!  Reach out. 

Don’t Give up on us.  The Millions Who Care.  We might be sitting next to you right now.  

Smile :-))!  Even just a little.

Lance Greene/ Founder

You R Kidding Me ….. Right Mr. President?

30 Friday Sep 2011

Posted by in 501c3, AMVETS, charities, Emergency Shelter, Homeless Families, homelessness, Mobile Crisis, Nonprofits, President Obama, Suicide Intervention

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9/30/2011

This is our America at Work.   You ARE Kidding me right Mr. President?


http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/133/452/331/?z00m=20076595

Professional References for STA

16 Tuesday Aug 2011

Posted by in 501c3, charities, charity, Chevrolet, Clearwater FL, donate, donations, Donors, Families, Ford, friends in need, GMC, homelessness, Intervention, Jesus, Knoxville TN, Mobile Crisis, Police, Shelters, St. Petersburg FL, Suicide Intervention, Tampa Bay, Trucks, Uncategorized, Vans

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TOMLINSON ADULT LEARNING CENTER: PLEASE CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING LINK TO VIEW A PDF OF THE REFERENCE LETTER:  TOMLINSON LETTER OF REFERENCE

REFERENCES BELOW ARE AS POSTED ON LANCE GREENE’S LINKEDIN ACCOUNT


HTTP://WWW.LINKEDIN.COM/PUB/LANCE-GREENE/14/119/A38

JYL WALKER

, Artisan, Jyl Walker Jewelry Designs (business partner)
was with another company when working with you

“I met Lance quite by chance about a year ago. Through many discussions and following his work, what I can say about Lance is that he is much like a “Mother Theresa” in that he is a hands on, in the mix support system for many who have been forgotten. He is dedicated to those he serves, caring and compassionate beyond most.” December 7, 2010

AARON WILLIAMS

, Director of Technology and Media, Heroes for the Homeless (business partner)
was with another company when working with you

“Lance is a caring and effective starter. His work is a genuine testament to his drive and passion. His focus and hard work yield remarkable results, as shown by Straight Ahead Outreach. He is a true asset to the community and a value to his colleagues.” December 5, 2010

DAVID GARGAN

, Owner, Eco Clean Carpet Care (colleague)
worked directly with you

“Lance works on every project with complete dedication. His attention to details is amazing. I was always very confident in asking Lance to take on more responsibility knowing he would make things happen.”December 5, 2010

TIM HUFF – VINTAGE INTERIORS

 (client)
Tim hired you as a Helping homeless people in 2009

Top qualities: Great Results, Personable, High Integrity

“Lance Greene is an angel on Earth. He has devoted his life to helping the homeless in so many ways. He finds them housing along with life essentials. He helps them find jobs and couseling. He has a wonderful organization with Straight Ahead Outreach. I don’t think there’s a better person out there than Lance.”December 7, 2010

LINDA THOMAS

, Senior Accountant, Knoxville’s Community Development Corp (KCDC) (business partner)
was with another company when working with you

“Lance Greene is a dedicated individual who works hard to help others. Going the extra “mile” in his efforts to help others get back on track with their lives. We had a mutual client and he worked very hard to assist this client to obtain housing and get back to living her own life. He is very dedicated in his work.” December 6, 2010

PATRICIA MISHLER

, Vice President/Treasurer/Secretary, Straight Ahead Outreach (Taking Back Your Life) (colleague)
worked directly with you

“I have known Lance for the past seven years. Lance is my fiancé and we are business partners in Straight Ahead Outreach (Taking Back Your Life), Inc. Lance is an enthusiastic, sincere, extremely competent individual who has an excellent rapport with people of all backgrounds. Lance is dedicated, hardworking, and demonstrates excellent leadership and resolve in his work. Lance’s communication skills are exceptional and his kind, compassionate nature comes out in his approach to complex problems or obstacles. I say with respect and appreciation – I am fortunate to know Lance in both business and personal environments and I unreservedly support his work, goals, integrity, and his concern for mankind”   December 6, 2010

The below Reference Letter is from an email letter received by a local Friend In Need in Florida.

GWEN 2011

Here I am again, begging shamelessly for your help with this problem. This is really important.  Please go to the link below, and read about the current plight of my friends Lance and Pat. They operate a LEGITIMATE 501c3 charity here in Pinellas and in Knoxville, TN.  It is called Straight Ahead (STA) Outreach (Taking Back Your Life), and it helps people in crisis. They help people who have been failed by the system, fallen between the cracks, turned out of shelters and nursing homes, and REALLY need help to survive drugs, homelessness, attempted suicide, starvation, illness and death.


http://homelesscrisis.wordpress.com/2011/07/12/help-spread-the-word-please/

But Lance and Pat do MUCH more than just scrape up remnants of OD’d street people.  They go without food and medicine in order to give their money to help people with families find food, medical care, transportation, jobs and places to live. They travel around the county picking up donated articles to help people in nursing homes and ALFs. Shelters and government agencies call Straight Ahead for assistance.  And STA does this without funding of any kind.  It is amazing how much they do with NO MONEY except a few small donations from a few nice people who have stumbled on STA.  Their clients are not all nameless faceless people separated from “us” by circumstance or accident of birth.  I have met some of their clients, who are nice people, just trying to get by.  I have been privileged to provide some help, in a small way.  In fact, I am a client myself.

Yes, I said it. Straight Ahead helps ME as well. My health has taken a bad turn and I am no longer able to drive, or shop for myself.  Lance and Pat run my errands, bring my groceries, pick up prescriptions, do handyman work at my house, help me box up and donate stuff, take me places when I can’t get there on my own, and carry my packages. They have done my dishes, laundry, moved furniture and vacuumed. They talk to me by phone and text late into the night and keep my spirits up when I am in too much pain to sleep and I need a friend. They were here for me after my husband died and this week after my brother died, offering comforting hugs and moral support. They walk my dogs on days when I can’t get out. They jumped in their old van and drove 20 miles up from Tyrone when I got my wheelchair stuck in the mud while walking the dogs one evening after dinner.  If you live in my neighborhood, you have seen their van in my driveway every week. Last year I donated a couple of truckloads of excess household goods.  None of the stuff I donated was sold; it was all given to help people here in Pinellas County.

I’m am forwarding this via BCC to 10 of my friends. I am BEGGING you, once again, to forward it to 10 of your friends, anywhere in the country.  PLEASE keep it going.  Go to the link and read about their need. You don’t need to donate anything, but if you ARE moved to help financially, donation is quick and painless on their website. They keep excellent records and will provide a detailed receipt, on request, for your tax return. You can stay anonymous if you like.  You won’t be added to any mailing lists.  This is not a scam.  Please do it now. Read about them and pass this on.

THANK YOU!
Gwen

Reviews as posted on Great Nonprofits:  

Please click on the following link to Great Nonprofits: 
http://bit.ly/rcyrSH

Did You Know…?

11 Thursday Aug 2011

Posted by in 501c3, Arrests, charity, Chevrolet, Clearwater FL, Danger, Donors, Emergency, friends in need, Hillsborough, Hillsborough County Sherrif, Incarceration, Jail, Knox County Sheriff, Knoxville TN, Mobile Crisis, Police, Sheriff, St. Petersburg FL, Suicide Intervention, Tampa Bay

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8/11/2011

I rant, whine and complain on here how we help keep your streets safe, where ever we operate.  Be it Knoxville, TN, or the Tampa Bay Florida area of St. Petersburg/Clearwater FL areas.

Do you understand what that means? Do you care?  Well let me share, so you do care.

Today, 8/11/11 at 2:13am – I received a call from one of our Friends In Need who was released from the Hillsborough Florida County Jail at about 1:00am.  It is across the Bay from us.  In this case, the person was arrested in one county and brought across the bay over 25 miles one way to another county.

Everywhere we have done our work, we will get calls from our Friends In Need after they have been released from jail in the middle of the night.  Usually around 1:00am – 3:00am.   Do i agree with this practice?  Absolutely not.   Can you figure out why?   Do you know why they call us?

First, is this the Police’s fault?  No.  Is it the Courts fault?  No.  Is it the jails fault?  No.  Of course it is the Friend In Needs fault as they should not have placed themselves in the position to get arrested in the first place and that is what we teach and coach them on.  It takes time.  But we are here to do it.

However, i do not support the practice of letting out arrested individuals to the streets in the middle of the night.

1) The individual is scared.  Most of them are a target for “trouble”.   They do not want to get picked up again for making another poor decision without anyone to coach them through to prevent that poor decision.  Even if they try to stay away from trouble at that time in the night, no matter what happens they are going to look like the bad guy.

2) They dont want to be wandering as that is when the trouble finds them and if they do not participate, then a fight can ensue.

3) They simply want to get home and off the street.  In this case the person was released into Tampa FL, over 25 miles from his home in St. Petersburg FL.  Why make it all that more complicated and difficult?  We are just asking for trouble.  We are brewing it in fact.  Period. We are more than Happy to pick them up and get them home safely if our equipment is in proper running order.  This is our attempt and participation in Fighting, Preventing, Stopping Social Decay.

4) Normally, we would go pick up the Friend In Need.  However, in this case we would have to go on the highway which involves 70 mph speeds here due to the traffic flow.  Our Mobile Crisis van right now cannot get out of 3rd gear so we are unable to safely reach proper highway speeds.  So, we were not able to go pick up this particular Friend In Need.  He ended up spending his last monies taking buses.  He was on the streets from 1:00am – 8:00am when he finally got home.  Seven…… 7 hours.

5) This individual who does have a past record, but is “trying” key word, “trying” to the best of his capacity to change his life. Many do NOT try.  He has done pretty well, going to school for Construction, getting his own apartment, getting his own part-time job and more.  We have known him for approx 8 months.  He has a good heart.  But he simply needs to learn more.  

6) We view this as our job.  Not the Police’s job to escort them home and coach them, spend time with them. They have many other Civil needs to tend to.  Our Responsibility to our 501c3 Certification was to help relieve the Municipal Police, Ambulance and Medical Facilities of “nuisance” type issues.  These types of issues being released to the streets in the middle of the night can become very quickly a “nuisance issue”.  Yours/Our local Police Departments have more than enough to deal with.  We need your help to continue this work.  This work is extremely valuable to everyone.  Including you.  

So, Did You Know, that in your area too most likely there are individuals being released to the street at all hours of the night?  Did you know?  They have Court 24 hours, right there in jail.  Did You Know?

They are mostly scared and hyper at that time.  They just want to get out of sight.  Typically they are not out to do any harm to anyone.  BUT, why should we take that risk.  Why should we set them up to fail?  Why?  I personally really am not looking for an answer from you.  I am simply wanting YOU to think.

We have a client who has been arrested 63 times for this kind of thing.  63 times!  Trust me.  This is a lot of work.  Work which you as the General Public simply do not make yourself aware of or simply do not understand.   Orgs like us do some intense work.  Work no one ever sees or hears about.  Sad.  We keep YOUR streets safe.

Go ahead, do a Google search of Mobile Crisis units in the USA.  You will not find one like us for the most part.  We are one of the only ones of our type that provides the services such as described here for example.  Most Mobile crisis Units are mainly for the most part for someone suicidal.  They will not go out to just pick someone up because they are in a panic after being released from jail.  We, STA does and will, as long as we have a working vehicle, 24/7, 365 days per year.  Any time of day or night in other words.

Straight Ahead Outreach Inc. Needs YOUR support to help us replace our Mobile Crisis van.  Please help today!  We help keep YOUR Streets Safe!

We are needing to raise a minimum of $11,000.00 to replace our 1995 Chevrolet Van which has almost 240,000 miles on it and the transmission is not shifting out of 3rd gear along with other issues.

Thank you,

Lance Greene/Founder

If Not You, Then Who?

Disabled and in danger…

22 Friday Jul 2011

Posted by in 501c3, AMVETS, charities, Clearwater FL, Danger, disability, Disabled, donate, Emergency, friends in need, Health Care, Homeless, homelessness, Housing, Intervention, Jesus, Knoxville TN, Navy Veterans, Police, St. Petersburg FL, Straight Ahead Outreach, Suicide Intervention, Tampa Bay, United States of America, Veterans

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7/21/2011

The Debt Ceiling.  How disgusting what is taking place in our government.  

The photo above is of DONNA, our disabled Friend In Need in Tennessee and one of the many, many people who will lose greatly and will be in danger of losing their apartments and or homes if our government does not stop acting like school children.

The Disabled, the United States of America Veterans and more will ALL be in Danger.

Our government needs to realize and remember they are servants of the Citizens of the United States and were voted in.  They work for the Citizens of the USA.  They DO NOT and ARE NOT self-employed. 

IF, IF they do not reach an agreement to rectify this Debt Ceiling, then DONNA and millions of others just like her and more will be in grave Danger of becoming Homeless and Penniless along with losing other life balancing benefits.

You HAVE GOT to be kidding me!!

Lance Greene/Founder

The Best Phone Call Ever!

19 Tuesday Jul 2011

Posted by in 501c3, AMVETS, charities, charity, Clearwater FL, Death, disability, donate, Ford, GMC, Health Care, Homeless, Homeless Veterans, homelessness, Housing, Jesus, Knox County Sheriff, Knoxville TN, Mobile Crisis, Navy Veterans, Philanthropists, Police, Real Estate, Sheriff, St. Petersburg FL, Straight Ahead Outreach, Suicide Intervention, Veterans

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7/19/2011

It couldn’t have been better.  It came at a much needed time.  The best call of my past 26 years of helping those in need.   The Best Phone Call Ever.

For the last 26 years, i have had this talent of seeming to be able to just be able to tell innately that those i have helped are “ok”.

Except for one.  There has been one on my mind since the day we met him back in 2008 in Knoxville, TN.  A United States of America Navy Veteran who has been without a place to call home for over 15 years, roaming the streets of Knoxville, TN. Yep, lots to his story.  The bottom line of his story though?  I care deeply for him as a person as i do most of those we help.  Yep, i said most.

Since September 19th, 2010 (which is happens to be my birthday) i have wondered if “James” was still alive.   Last year on September 19th, 2010, i flew from St. Petersburg, FL to Knoxville, TN to take care of some much needed things for our disabled friend DONNA in Oak Ridge, TN along with see some of the others we help in Knoxville.  ”James” is one of those.

James and i have been through a great deal together.  My former boss had allowed me the privilege to hire James at his company.  It provided James with a little money and me the extra one on one time i needed to try and influence James to Taking Back His Life.   After time i had to let James go from that company, but we left friends/aquaintences.  However, we still kept in contact with him, seeing him often in Knoxville.

The interaction with James was always intense.  He is a brilliant man with numerous talents.  He just had issues he needed to address and his and mine conversations addressed those issues on a number of occasions.

On one particular occasion, due to a confrontation James got into at a local business, was after i had dropped him off with his belongings in order for him to check into a motel.  I headed down Chapman Highway back towards Knoxville, but something told me to go back, something told me things were going to get ugly.  So, i pulled a u-turn and put the pedal to the floor heading back to the motel.  They were not going to rent to him.  Just as i had told him and he argued with me on.

With in seconds our Mobile crisis van was surrounded by 4 Sheriff Deputies.  James was inside.  Long long story short, the Sheriffs released James into my custody.  They were going to take him to jail.

Again, James is close to my heart and this did not faze me as to how i felt about his possible future success.  I would continue to try.

We rode together down Chapman Highway and i pulled into a Walmart parking lot.  James and i sat there and talked for hours.  James is a tough, tough individual.  It was intense, very intense.  James cried, he broke down and cried.  To me…that was a major success.  We were addressing very deep ugly issues within James. Things he feared and felt for years.  It was not fun and it was not pretty.  But it was.

Then, some months later, after not seeing James for some time, it was January.  January 16th, 2009.  Pat and i were leaving Knoxville, TN for Florida because we had lost our secular jobs, the very jobs which at the time funded our organization via our personal wages. Pat was being offered a position with her previous employer here in Largo, Fl.  We had to take it or lose everything we had.  We were in the Market Square Kitchen to say good bye to some of those in need we had helped.  It was emotional.  We did not want to move from Knoxville.  It would be tougher to continue our work there although we do to this very day, this exact moment.  As we arrived to meet our friends at the Market Square Kitchen, there sat James at an outside table, well dressed in his Penny Loafers as he likes to do, leather jacket and nice slacks and shirt.  Keep in mind he is what we as a society call homeless.  He is a USA Navy Veteran.  He had heard from another that we were moving and he could come there to see us off……if he wanted to.  Remember, our last talk was severely tough.  Severely painful for James.  However, evidently severely full of impact and meaning to him.  I could have only hoped and prayed for that, which i did.

As Pat and i were getting ready to leave, after we had said our good byes to everyone and we were in our Mobile Crisis van, i had to give James something out of the van and so he met me at the side door of the Market Square Kitchen.  As i handed James the item, he told me thanks for everything (tears now coming as i write this), “be careful” and hope to see you again soon…….then he floored me……………………………………..

He told me……………….”I Love You.  Thank You. Really.  I mean it”.

It took all i had to keep myself composed.  I told him, I love you too James.   I got into the van, waited for James to go out of site, turned to Patrica and fell apart.  Bawled my eyes out!  As Oprah puts it i did the “Ugly Cry”  :-))!

Back to September 19th, 2010.  So i had flown to Knoxville TN from St. Pete.  One of the things on my list was to find James and see how he was.  I found his “camp” in Knoxville where he slept at the time, but i could not find him.  I am excellent at finding people i am looking for.  I could not find James himself.  I left a note at his camp site on my business card which he is very familiar with.  I was in Knoxville for a few days.  Nothing, heard nothing from James.  I asked around at the other orgs in town but no one had seen him.  Most of that reason is James never liked to access the Assistance World all that much.  I never found him.  I looked for hours on two different days.  Nothing.  It started to settle in me that the worst had happened.  I could ALWAYS locate James, but not now.  All i could think was he was dead.

I was horrified, on 9/19/2010, my birthday.  Probably the worst birthday of my life.  I figured James was laying dead somewhere after being beaten or something and i simply couldn’t find him. I have beat the hell out of myself every single day since that 9/19/2010 day/week not being able to locate him.  I have asked people to look for me, put “feelers” out for him, continually emailed him hoping for a response, any response. I prayed and had conversation after conversation with Jesus right up to and including this very moment.  Patricia was back in St. Pete and i was in Knoxville trying to deal with all the ugliness there.

And then…………….THIS last Thursday….. JULY 14th, 2011.  I get an email saying……..CALL ME ASAP.  Easy work here.

WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAt????!!!!!!    You have to be kidding me!   Yep it was JAMES!  Alive and well!

I have to say it………….Thank You Jesus!  Now i know what You have been doing all this time.  Exactly what i asked for.  :-))!

I called James that evening at 7:00pm, 7/14/2011, approx a year and two months after i had been looking for him.  We spoke about his job there in Knoxville TN which he is very happy with.  Last time we seen James he was a dishwasher and not happy in 2009.  The time before that was our “ugly talk” James and i had in the Walmart parking lot after the Sheriffs had released him to me in 2008.

* James did not have a real job

*James did not have a car or any sort of transportation

*James felt his life would be hopeless

*James did not have a drivers license

*James, a Navy Vet should have been on disability but was not

* James did not have a home or any where to stay with friends.  He was without a roof over his head. Yep he was what society labels as homeless.

Then James explained to me:

** He enjoys his new, real job

** He now has a Mini Van of his own

** He now has his drivers license back

** He now has his own apartment with really nice furniture (as he doesn’t bring junk into his apt)

** He now has his disability which he worked to get on his own through a lawyer he obtained

** He now has money in the bank, which he is determined to hang onto.

******  He is indeed ALIVE!  He has done it through his own determination.

He listened, he heard, he hurt, he got mad and he did it!  He did it!

And that my friends……………..is………………The Best Phone Call Ever!

And that my friends is how it works.

Social Decay has ended, been defeated in this former Friend In Need in Knoxville, TN.  James is now as our Mission Statement says……”A Positive contributing Force”  in the Knoxville, TN Community once again.

James, succeeded in Taking Back His Life.

Lance Greene/Founder :-))!

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