Special Edition Art4TH Zine: Photos of Tent City, New Jersey

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Art4TH does not retain the copyrights to any of the art works, articles, or any othermedia property. Each artist and writer keep their copyrights and have full permis-sions to republish and use their part in the Art4TH Zine to help them further theircareers and also for personal use. This zine is simply for promotion on all levelsespecially that of homelessness awareness.

The artworks, columns, or the views of the writer's and artists do not necessarilyreflect those of Art4TheHomeless. Art4TheHomeless solely exists to promotehomeless awareness in the USA by simply uniting artists of all mediums and ven-ues.

To learn more about Art4TheHomeless go to www.art4thehomeless.org.

To submit your works of art, writing, music, or any other type of art form, contacteditors@art4thehomeless.org

Art4TH Founder andCEO, Johnna CriderAbdul Qader is auc-tioning off aruby pen-dant shewrapped insterling sil-ver to raisefunds for ahomelesscamp in New Jersey.

We were contacted bythe camp as a requestto help them spreadthe word about them,their dire needs offunds and suppliessince they are ahomeless camp andare outside in thesnow.

Not only are they ahomeless camp, butthey are also a 501C3nonprofit organizationso all your donationsare tax deductible.

The ruby pendant hasraised $45 so far andbidding ends at mid-

night on Tuesday.Johnna will cover theshipping of the jewelry

out of herownpocketand makesure thefunds godirectly tothe

homeless camp’s ac-count.

To bid on the ruby, gotofacebook.com/art4thehomeless.

$45raised!

In This Issue

Awareness SpotlightSpecial Edition: Photos

from Tent City, NJVisual Arts

Literary Arts

Joanna’s CornerTrista Hurley-Waxali

Hollie MarieThrifty Living

Ruby Pendant To Benefit Homeless Camp

Awareness Spotlight

A Community

When people see the news stories about policeraiding tent cities and homeless camps, an im-age of a trash littered campsite usually comesto mind. I know that some images across theweb have many of these images and they turnup in Google searches.

But this tent city is not just a homeless camp.It’s a community of Americans. It’s a neighbor-hood of people who are homeless and somehave low income jobs. They don’t have houses,they have tents and makeshift homes. Likemost neighborhoods in the cities across the US,they live in harmony with one another.

Tent City, NJ is situated on unused and forest-ed public land that’s owned by the LakewoodTownship of NJ. It all began in 2005 (same yearthe idea of Art4TheHomeless was born) withjust a small group of homeless people from thearea trying to find shelter.

Minister Steve Bringham of the Lakewood Out-reach Ministries Church along with other localsupporters came through with support andwere able to put up tents and help this group ofAmerican citizens work toward creating a bet-ter way of life. In fact, this has worked very wellbecause several residents were able to find sta-ble jobs and move out of Tent City.

Today, over 100 people are being provided withfood, water, basic shelter, access to sanitation,electric power—yes this homeless camp haselectricity—and other basic needs. How is thispossible? There is a huge network of support-ers including the church which is a nonprofitorganization. There is also a church serviceprovided every day for the residents of TentCity.

Life for resident’s of Tent City isn’t idyllic, butthey are surviving. They aren’t without chal-lenges. The municipal government, like many

cities across the US, has often hindered the TentCity even though they are saving local taxpayersmillions of dollars. The city has made several re-peated attempts to destroy Tent City and the bat-tle continues today.

Today, the Art4TheHomeless Webzine brings youphotos taken and donated by various photogra-phers who support Tent City—we want to showyou that this homeless camp is made up of everyday normal people like those who live in housesand apartments. Just because some people arehomeless doesn’t make them any less human.To help Tent City, they need donations of money,food, bitcoins, supplies, clothes, and anythingelse you can think of including sharing this article,Liking them on Facebook, and simply showingyour support.

http://tentcitynj.org/Donate

OFFICIAL SPONSOROf the Art4TheHomeless

Webzine and Gallery

www.artsofmojo.com

Featured Visual and Literary

Artist:

Michael Kelley

Michael Kelley is a 20-something multimediaabstract artist and writer who struggles withmental illness. His work is often the expres-sion of how the world looks through the eyesof autism and bipolar disorder. By day he is afreelance writer and by night he writes thecode for a poem generator.

1.I hear mournful windsThought fleesMemory reignsBeneath the dreary cryptsMy angel fades

2.Mourning owlsIn mindless momentsWhile You touchWith the heart of loveI cry abandoned

3.The angels rememberRivers soaked with bloodMemory reignsMuffled stormsGods angered by chaos

4.Mourning ravensSpeak of our pastI know silenceIn your mausoleumAs I rejoice

5.Sleepless owlsNo god has seenI sit sereneAmid the souls of angels

Gods embrace you

6.Autumn sunriseAs I think of youThe blessed cardinals dreamI hate whispering windsThat take away your voice

7.Beneath the starsBeyond the waterI walk into eveningI know blessed dreamsUnder the autumn moon

8.Amid the ruinsAmidst persistent vaporThought returnsYou hear whispering dreamsFrom your childhood

9.Thoughtful butterfliesAs I know myselfsouls caress lifeWe know forgotten blessingsGod screams folly

10.In the soul of PeaceBeyond the ancient cliffsWe scream tendernessAs listless echoesCome back to us

Michael Kelley

Joanna’s Corner by Joanna

Ballard Louisiana Storyteller

Hope you are warm and safe asyou read this and your holidayswere blessed, mine were filled withthe joy and blessing of friends andfamily, laughter, good food andmemories to treasure. More cele-brations on the way down here inLouisiana with the beginning of car-nival season!

As I write this temperatures areplummeting here from a high of70F today to right now in the 30'sFheading to the 20'sF. Many placesare setting up emergency sheltersfor my country's homeless, butthere is never enough room. Sadlythe freezing temps will bring deathfor more than the statistics willnote. I hope you are looking out foryour neighbors and the elderly anddisabled as well making sure theyhave food and safe warmth.

This week Art4TheHomeless wasable to hook up an artist with aspace with a homeless artist and itdoes my heart good to be a part ofthis organization. Are you aware ofthe heart warming things large andsmall going on in your communityand neighborhood? I assure youthey are happening.

One example of humanness I sawthis week as I traveled back homefrom North to South Louisiana on

Greyhound, a recently dischargedsoldier trying to get back homehanded a good luck charm to anew recruit heading back to train-ing saying it was given to him whenhe first joined up and he carried itthru his 3 tours of duty. I also sawsomeone pass some funds to thedischarged soldier trying to gethome as he was down on his luckand had lost funds helping some-one himself, had a job waiting forhim.

Do you have stories of kindnessesdone for you or you have done forothers? I know there are gazillionsout there large and small if so sendmy way thru art 4th homeless theywill pass it along share the randomacts of kindness in your life andpay them forward.

May your new year be filled bless-ings, joy, love and laughter!

How To Start On Your Goals

Trista Hurley-Waxali

How To Start On Your Goals

Good news! You aren’t the only one whohas ever made a new year’s resolution onlyto see it disintegrate by March. Quite oftenpeople on the eve of the new year make aresolution, but then when push comes toshove they give up and let it go. On averagepeople will keep a resolution for 6-8 weeksbefore allowing their day-to-day routines toget in the way of keeping focused. So what Ihope to do is give some tips to help youkeep on track to achieving your goals.

Start with something that you’ve always feltmotivated to change.Take some time to listthe steps to achieving your goal. Whether itis going back to school, moving or changingjobs. Focus on the precise tasks that youneed to accomplish and avoid over thinkingprior to researching for your goal by keepinga general list and a specific list. The specificlist is something you can add to when youcomplete some research into your goal. Forexample, figuring out what type of classesyou want to take, or the area you want tolive in. Just try not to get bogged down bythinking about how you prior years goalswere not achieved. That is the kind of think-ing that will cause you to sabotage your ownsuccess. So hear your internal monologuewith each item you want to achieve and thenwrite a point about how this will help youimprove your mental and physical health.

After you create the list, you want to stay ontop of time management. The best way is tocreate a calendar, whether on paper or in a

file on your computer. Something that youcan easily look at and add to. Fill the calen-dar with time slots that you are available towork on your goal, such as before/after workor dropping the kids off to school. Just anyavailable time that you can put in valuablework, even just 30 minutes or an hour. Sayyou want to move into a larger apartment orchange jobs: set times when you can calland arrange a viewing of another spot. In aspan of 2 weeks you can see maybe asmany as 3 places by using your availabletime wisely. If your goal to find a new job,you can use the same concept: you can doan interview on your day off or spend thatday at an unemployment agency near you.

So during these time slots be precise aboutwhat you want to accomplish by making ato-do list: make phone calls to potential em-ployers, arrange a meeting, edit your re-sume or cover letter with a friend or aviewing of an apartment in the area youseek. Just keep the tasks simple and clear.Avoid making them too broad because youmight find yourself guessing or getting dis-tracted from the task.

Overall, focus on your reason for change inthe areas you chose. Afterall, the most im-portant factor in your goal is your wellbeing.So be clear, be precise, be honest and befocused. For this is your year to change andto stop making excuses. With this simpletechnique, you should be able to stay moti-vated to achieving your goals in 2014.

Thrifty Living by

Johnna Abdul Qader

How to Save on Trash Bags

Do you want to know how to savemoney on trash bags? Well, here isthe easiest way to save–no cou-pons needed.

Don’t buy them.

What?? How am I going to get rid ofmy garbage, you ask.

Reuse your plastic shopping bags.Those old Walmart, Target, DollarStore bags are great bags–and itmakes a great way to recycle. Yousave grocery money and help makea difference in the way you use yourplastic.

I never buy trash bags and neverrun out of those plastic shoppingbags either. Sometimes, I end uptaking a lot of little bags filled withtrash out, but that’s the only down-side.

Using smaller bags also reducesthe amount of trash you have.How? Because it makes you think:Do I really wanna toss this? Maybe I

could use it for something else in-stead.

Everyone is always talking about“going green” and not buying trashbags is one of the best ways tosave money, save the planet, andsave on how much trash you dothrow away.

Your ad here

$50!Advertising with Art4TheHomeless Webzine notonly makes your company look good, but half of

your advertising rate will be donated in yourcompany’s name to the Featured HomelessAwareness Organization/Homeless Shelter.

Learn more at

www.art4thehomeless.org