The 14th Annual Homelesness Marathon
Jeremy Alderson
originate from Kansas City, Missouri this Wednesday, the 23rd, starting at 7
p.m., Eastern time, and ending 14 hours later, at 9 a.m., Eastern time on
Thursday.
For those unfamiliar with the broadcast, it is not a "radiothon," designed to
raise money for charity. It is a consciousness raising broadcast with the aim
of fostering a national dialog about the growing poverty in our midst. The
most important thing we do is put homeless people on the air directly, so
America can learn who they are and hear about the obstacles they face. Each
hour also has a topic. Our broadcast schedule may be found here:
http://news.homelessnessmarathon.org/2008/08/12th-annual-homelessness-marathon.html
There are going to be a couple of new wrinkles to this year's broadcast. First,
the entire broadcast will be televised by Free Speech Television, which has
channel 9415 on the Dish Network and channel 348 on DirecTV. FSTV's video will
also appear on the web at http://www.freespeech.org and on the Marathon's own
website at http://www.homelessnessmarathon.org.
Second, we have had better-than-usual support and cooperation in Kansas City,
both from our official sponsors (Hope faith Ministries, COPP Inc. and KKFI) as
well as from private individuals. We are told that we should expect a very
large turnout of homeless people. Corinna West, a former member of the U.S.
Olympic Team, even bicycled around KC telling homeless people about the
broadcast. Her press release may be found here:
http://corinnawest.com/homelessness-marathon-press-release/
Additionally, as the director of the Marathon, I addressed Kansas City's
official Task Force on Homelessness and, upon request, I prepared a White
paper, outlining my recommendations for the city. Of course, not everyone will
agree with my ideas, but I am hoping that my proposals will help to spark
discussion. A copy of the White Paper will be found at:
http://news.homelessnessmarathon.org/2011/02/why-not-do-right-thing.html
To find out if a radio station in your area is carrying the broadcast
(check local listings for exact times of carriage) look here:
http://news.homelessnessmarathon.org/2008/09/where-to-listen.html
The simple fact is that America has made no significant progress in solving its
homelessness crisis. After 30 years, we still have hundreds of thousands of
people on our streets. Between the Great Recession and the looming budget
cuts, we can only expect matters to get worse, but can we really afford to
leave so many Americans in desperate circumstances? At the Homelessness
Marathon, we believe the answer is no. Whatever your opinion may be, we hope
you will be listening. Homelessness is a topic that should be discussed and
debated, not swept under the rug.
Sincerely,
Jeremy Weir Alderson
Director, Homelessness Marathon