Women in Business

Time to rev up my company and start making some money or finally land a great job with benefits. To do the later I have been meeting with job and hiring specialists but to do the first I am studying. Got books from the library on social media marketing and here is a series online with tips ffom women business owners.
http://www.learnvest.com/tag/entrepreneurship-101/

I still have jewelry and accessories in stock, not including what is in the bricks and mortar store here in town. I need to sell off the cheaper stuff in batches so that is where I will start. Get the most space cleared out, plus locate the better items for sale in August (once Mom's are online looking for back to school.)

Most of the handbags are more winter than summer so I guess I should pull summer and get those going too. There are other miscellaneous items taking up space too. Those should go.

More on Homeless - ness

The Homeless Handbook
http://www.homelesshandbook.0catch.com/

This is a video blog about the homeless
http://invisiblepeople.tv/blog/

Again this is a blog by an articulate man who has experience several bouts of homelessness dating back to 1982. He apparently has Asperger's Syndrome but from a time where that diagnosis did not really exist.
http://thehomelessguy.blogspot.com/

A tale of a homeless man in the UK
http://www.wanderingscribe.blogspot.com/

Another attempt to explain Homelessness by someone who has been there. Fascinating comments are located below his text.
http://guide2homelessness.blogspot.com/

Poverty Insights brings together social advocates, politicians and community members from throughout the United States to encourage nationwide dialogue about these crucial issues.
http://www.povertyinsights.org/

This blog is rambling but does have many links that may be of interest and are helpful resources.
http://homelessmanspeaks.com/

Homeless Nation is a non-profit endeavor founded by Daniel Cross, a documentary filmmaker whose films deal with social justice and Canada's homeless
http://homelessnation.org/

"The National Coalition for the Homeless is a national network of people who are currently experiencing or who have experienced homelessness, activists and advocates, community-based and faith-based service providers, and others committed to a single mission. That mission, our common bond, is to end homelessness. . . "
http://nationalhomeless.org/

More resources
http://www.endhomelessness.org/
http://www.usich.gov/
http://stonesoupstation.blogspot.com/

Coalition for the Homeless is the nation's oldest advocacy and direct service organization (since 1981 in NY) helping homeless men, women, and children.
http://www.coalitionforthehomeless.org/

Street Sense is a Washington, D.C.-based 16-page biweekly street newspaper that was founded in 2003. Its mission is to offer economic opportunities for people experiencing homelessness in our community through a newspaper that elevates voices and encourages debate on poverty and injustice.
http://streetsense.org/

East coast based Pathways to Housing first provides housing, and then combines that housing with supportive treatment services in the areas of mental and physical health, substance abuse, education, and employment.
http://pathwaystohousing.org/

Health Care for Homeless
http://www.nhchc.org/

Thinking About Being Homeless

Although I am not homeless, I have starting selling off my excess stuff on eBay (but that's another post entirely.) At some point of extended unemployment you may consider the loss of the roof over your head.

Here are some people who managed this effectively in California
http://www.ihatemylife.us/index2.html
and http://girlsguidetohomelessness.com/

Now these are not mentally challenged or handicapped individuals but people who just have had some bad luck. They both happen to be educated and articulate. Frankly most of us don't realize we are a few paychecks away from being homeless.

The first time I was unemployed I had a few bucks saved up but gradually went through that and my savings. Along the way I learned how to change my spending patterns so that even when I had a job, shopping sprees were at the dollar store, Goodwill and the local library book sale.

I also learned to use my head instead of my wallet: libraries can provide CD's, movies, TV series from that cable channel you can't afford anymore, along with books, and magazines. I get free magazines from Coke Points; some I would like are not included or I want to see an occasional issue. Those can be read at the library. While I was traveling back and forth for work I found the library to be a free source of computer time too.

Your local DWD (Department of Workforce Development) also has Job Centers where you can job search and send out resumes. Look to them for resume reviews, mock interviews job coaching, and job fairs. By asking you may find out if you qualify for additional benefits for displaced workers, veterans, or some other program.

Your local St Vincent de Paul may have a food pantry or free clinic. Some Job Centers have racks of brochures and information about programs you may qualify for now that you are unemployed. Local Heat Assistance programs are also a place where you can get hooked into new resources. Mine handed me a sheet of programs with addresses and phone numbers for each.

Often there are free meals available in the community. Last summer while going to school with other dislocated workers we would go as a group to have dinner at a church. There was no requirements made, just come in, get a plate of food and sit down, they passed beverages at the tables. I had ulterior motives in that I got to know my classmates (some of us still talk.) It's easier if you have someone to go with at first.

My plans to know these people were part of an effort to network. I also was gone all day and went back to school after dinner to work on homework without having the hour round trip to my home. There were no food facilities on that campus except vending machines which I used for the occasional beverage. I packed a cooler daily but that usually had only enough for lunch and snacks. I ate a peanut butter sandwich on the way to school too so I would not be tempted by fast food.

The other way to get fed on the cheap is to find local specials and carryout. I know we often went to eat in on Taco Tuesday (fifty cent tacos)at a local restaurant but it was a much better bargain to send someone for the order and eat at school with home brought beverages and sides (those can add up fast.) The rest of us worked on our school work till lunch arrived.