Hesed is a Hebrew word for Kindness. There is a place in my town called Hesed House. It is a place, often of last resort, for the very poorest people in our community. It is the mission of Hesed House to try and help turn things around for the people that knock on their door seeking shelter.  read more »

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On the weekend of September 15 and 16, Miles Standish visited the Hualapai Indian Reservation to deliver six complete computers and a large quantity of blankets, winter coats, jackets and sweaters for the needy.  The Reservation is in the western portion of the south rim of the Grand Canyon.  Donated by members of the Verde Valley Computer Club

Former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno said special courts to handle drug offenders work better than just sending people to prison. Speaking before a meeting of judges, she said that in 1987 when people were charged with possessing a small amount of cocaine, nothing happened to them. They got credit for time served, got no sort of treatement, and were rotated through the system. So Miami set up a drug court which mixed punitive measures with rehabilitation programs. The program's success became a model for the rest of the country. The court proved it could reduce repeat drug offenses. Courts and judges found that with sufficient resources they could make a tremendous difference in the criminal justice system.
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Over two decades, the income gap has steadily increased between the richest Americans, who own estates and stocks and get big tax breaks, and those at the middle and bottom of the pay scale, whose paychecks buy less. The growing disparity is even more pronounced in this recovering economy. Wages are stagnant, and the middle class is shouldering a larger tax burden. Prices for health care, housing, tuition, gas, and food have soared.  read more »

Over nine million people are now held in penal institutions worldwide, a report by the British Home Office revealed, but levels of imprisonment rarely have anything to do with levels of crime. In the United States, the prison population has increased from half a million to over two million in the last twenty years. Yet this is against a background of falling crime rates in that period. Imprisonment is often used, even for petty offenses, as a punishment of first instance, rather than of last resort.  read more »

by Joseph Tisch

As the gap between the highest and lowest paid workers steadily grows, low wage employees have been testing the American belief that hard work cures poverty. A multitude of obstacles keeps the working poor on the edge -- and sometimes beyond the edge -- of household financial disaster. Working poverty is a seamless web of challenges, some personal and some erected by a society content to let the federal minimum wage languish at $5.15 an hour. And that's for those who can avoid the unscrupulous bosses who make their workers falsify their time sheets so they work longer hours for the same pay.  read more »

1.5 million children in this country now have a parent in prison.  Eighty-five percent of those in prison grew up in fatherless homes, including 60% of rapists and 72% of murderers.  “They will undoubtedly father children of teenage mothers, for whom they will provide neither financial security nor emotional support, further perpetuating the vicious cycle of the aberrant family system,” wrote juvenile psychologist Mark Holmberg in a 1988 study for the Richmond, VA. judicial system.  read more »

In the past, it was not common to see women and children at rescue missions and shelters. Unfortunately today homeless women with children are more common than ever. Statistics indicate that between 70% and 90% of homeless families in America are headed by women. Even more significant the population of homeless families has increased by 35% since 1989.  read more »

SURGE IN THE RANKS OF THE UNINSURED A NATIONAL DISGRACE

The rapid surge in the number of Americans without health coverage is a national disgrace.  The U.S. Census Bureau reported that 3.4 million more Americans were added to the ranks of the uninsured last year.  More than 43 million adults and children - 1 out of 7 Americans - had no health coverage in 2002.  read more »

Here is copy of a message received by the Webmaster (Miles) on December 18, 2005.  I have been in communication with this group for quite some time.

From: "Children Walking Tall" <childrenwalkingtall@hotmail.com>
Subject: Please Vote for Children Walking Tall
Date: Sun, 18 Dec 2005 04:58:33 -0000
To: undisclosed-recipients:;

Hi - tHe Big ChariTy BoX (sic) is a new scheme set up to raise money for UK Registered charities.  If you want to give to charity without donating money yourself, this is the IDEAL way and would be a great Christmas present for Children Walking Tall.   read more »

Located in the southern part of South Dakota, the Rosebud Reservation is in great need of support.

We have started a concerted effort to supply basic survival items such as blankets, clothes, kitchen items, tools and educational materials. We are asking for donations of any of these items that can be mailed to the reservation. Our present contact for this effort within the TOS is Karen McCormick.

Monetary donations are also urgently needed and are tax deductible. Checks should be sent to: 

Theosophical Order of Service
P.O. Box 660
Warrenville, IL 60555

Write "Rosebud Project" in the memo line.  read more »