REBUILD: Awake From The Fairy Tale

I wanted to paint a picture for my job fair, which is now less than 48 hours away. The universe had something else in mind though and I was directed to meet a man in the shelter who is an artist and he painted this picture for me.

These past few days have been filled with lots of angst and happiness. If you're following me on facebook you can tell my moods have been flip flopping. I'm having a tough time organizing the next part of this project in my mind and I'm still hurting over the death of South Florida's leading man of poetry, Will Da Real One.

It hurts. I can't stop my chest from hurting. He was such a constant presence here on the poetry scene and no matter how much I floated in and out of it doing whatever interested me at the time, he was always there. He was dedicated. The last time I saw him he said that he was beginning to get burnt out from poetry. I sent him a text that said that he could transform his skills into something else and that I believed in him.

I'm always trying to encourage someone to believe in themselves and when I do, it encourages me. I needed it this week. When I originally crafted this fairytale of a project, I saw myself become homeless and sleep in the park, covering myself with newspapers and fighting off attackers in the night while eating leftover food from strangers. I figured that it would take about 2 weeks to get the 30 businesses and about a month to be able to find a job and then another 2 weeks to get an apartment and be done with this project.

Nothing turned out like I expected, nothing at all. I chose the number '30' arbitrarily because it sounded like a nice round number yet I had no idea that it would take this much money and effort to get the participants. I had no idea that there would be a shelter right down the street from my house that took care of homeless people.

I had no idea that the men would be so nice. I had no idea that some of them would be cute. I had no idea that I would laugh so much and learn so much about business and the nature of people.

But I'm stuck. I'm stuck because of that NUMBER that I chose. I accomplished the essence of my mission. I worked HARD to get the 17 businesses that I now have and these businesses have agreed to give interviews to the women I refer. Most businesses are corporate though. They have to go through so many hoops to get approval. The smaller businesses don't have openings. The media coverage is sparse. No one seems interested in this project here in South Florida. I blame myself. It's hard not to.

And then, another problem is, I have not met ONE woman yet, who is willing to let me help her. They come to me asking for help and I tell them that I will help. I give them information about an interview and I call ahead to tell the manager that I am sending a young lady over and the woman doesn't show up. At this point I have ONE woman registered for my job fair yet I have 17 businesses who want to help.

I have a plan to help women get out of abusive situations and move into their own homes but the woman that I met that fit the criteria refused to go to the interview I told her about. I told her that I would be there being interviewed for a job myself and that I would introduce her personally to the manager and speak well of her, if she showed up.

She didn't. She didn't even call me back. I went. I was offered the job.

Who am I helping? No one.

No one really wants the help.

What am I doing this for?

My main focus of this project was to show women what their biggest fear of losing everything looked like and teach them how to jump out of it with specific strategies but this job fair has me stuck on so many levels. Trying to organize a project of this magnitude BY MYSELF, which includes all of the administrative tasks that cost money plus trying to maintain a healthy attitude in the midst of so much despair at the shelter is overwhelming. I'm beginning to lose my own faith in me. I'm beginning to feel stuck just like everyone else.

I find that my anxiety is increasing again. All day long I'm apologizing to myself saying, "I'm sorry," over and over again to myself for not meeting my potential and not meeting my goals. I apologize to the God within for not making better decisions and not being the woman I envision myself to be.

I keep thinking about Will's death and how he lived a grand life. He accomplished so many goals and was so honored in everything he did. What if I died tomorrow? I haven't accomplished much. I haven't been honored for my gifts.

If I die, I want to leave something behind that will help others to be better than I am. I don't want any woman to feel unloveable like I feel. I don't want any woman to wish for direction or instruction. I don't want any woman to feel like she's alone in this world. I don't want any woman to go years without hearing positive words like, "You are valuable. You are a gift to this earth. You are a queen. I appreciate you. I love you."

I want women to have a better life experience than I have had and to feel cherished and powerful and fearless.

If I die, that's what I want to leave behind.

But I'm stuck behind the NUMBER 30. If I let this job fair go on and move to rebuild my life then I haven't accomplished my goal yet this project isn't about being homeless, it's about moving up out of a bad situation. How can I show that if I'm stuck chasing a NUMBER when there's really no one who even wants the help?

That doesn't make sense.

I just don't want to be a liar. I don't want this to seem like a stunt. I know at first to people who are critical, this seemed like a ploy to get readers to my site and get donations but if they would just take a look at my videos they would see that I am teaching very real survival skills and mental strategies. But if I don't meet my NUMBER 30, does that mean that I lied and manipulated the public?

I am very critical of myself and I check my own motives quite often because of the extreme guilt I feel about not meeting my full potential. I don't want to be perfect, I just want to keep my word and be proud of myself. I want to help women to understand their value so they won't end up like me, all bitter and defensive and feeling like they aren't worth much.

~sigh~

I'm sorry. I just had to let all of that out. Writing helps me sort through things and I'm glad I had the chance. Even if I failed at my goal, I can still teach how to move up out of homelessness. Even if this project is a partial success, someone can still gain from it.

Even if I am never the success I envision myself to be, someone, somewhere learned something that will help them to rise. I am deciding to focus on that instead of my shortcomings and I'm trying to forgive myself in the process.

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VIDEO: Appreciate Being Different

You're different. You don't think like everyone else. You certainly don't fit in with the crowd and you don't want to. But what do you do to make the most out of your differences? Your difference isn't a liability. Watch this video and learn how to make the MOST out of being YOU.



For My Savvy Sisters: How has being "different" actually been beneficial to your life?

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How To Write Your Own Self Help Book in 12 Days

By Te-Erika Patterson

Anyone can publish a book these days. With the emergence of POD (publish on demand) companies where authors can write and upload their books for sale to customers on an as needed basis as well as the Kindle book publishing method, many are realizing their dream of holding their very own books in their hand and adding the word AUTHOR to their biographies. In this article I will teach you the process behind writing your own self help book in 12 days.

Organizing Your Book – Day One

Organizing a book will only take one day as you prepare the outline. Decide on a topic for your book. I usually decide on the name of my book first and it inspires me throughout my writing process.

After you have your topic, write down 10 questions your book will answer concerning your topic. Each of these questions will become your book chapters. Since most books have 10 chapters you can add more if you’d like, but you don’t have to.

Now you should have a book title and a list of questions (chapters). For each question write down as many answers to the question as you can think of. List these answers as bullets under each question. Move through each of your chapters this way until you have outlined all of them.

Writing Your Book – Day Two through Eleven

You can write one chapter a day by deciding which day you want to write and sitting down to do it. You already have the topic questions and the answers, all you have to do is expound on each answer. Use examples, share stories, resources and information to validate your views.

Write out one chapter per day and don’t worry about editing anything, that will come later.

Polishing Your Book's Structure– Day Twelve

Now that you have the guts of your book written you can go ahead and change the chapter questions to statements. Be creative with your chapter headings. Write headings that will grab attention and also support your book title. Add an introduction to your book that explains why you wrote the book and how the reader will benefit from reading it.

The rest of the process is editing and you’ll have to develop your own strategy for that. For tips on structure, editing, formulating plots for fiction books and how to market your book, I highly recommend that you order Nick Daws' Course How To Write A Book in 28 Days. This will become your new book writing bible. It was extremely useful to me. I wrote my first self help book in just 6 weeks while a full time graduate student and single mom.

Happy Writing!

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EDITORIAL: Educated Women I Admire- Kerri

by Erika Martin

Education Columnist

In last week's editorial, I wrote about education goals having no timetable. Hearing the stories of other women that have made educational goals and reached out for them later in life are inspiring to me. They motivate me to reach for my own. They're a real life example that I can share with my children that it's never to late to learn. For the next few weeks, I'll be sharing stories of women in my life that have inspired me and that are dreaming big and taking the steps necessary to turn them into reality.

The first I'm going to introduce you to happens to be my sister, Kerri. Kerri, at 35, is 15 months older than I am. My sister and I both lived in a "catch-22" when we were growing up and were both denied our high school diplomas. We were both pulled out of public school in 1991. Kerri completed 10th grade in the public school system and finished her last two years as a home schooled student. Sixteen years later, in 2009, Kerri received her GED through the Vermont Adult Learning Center.

When asked what her biggest feelings of accomplishment are when it comes to her education, Kerri shared that it is pride. She is very clear that she took the steps to get her GED for herself. She pushed herself to accomplish her goal, even though there were times when she wanted to give up due to timing and work schedules. However, she felt that she would regret it if she didn't finish what she started.

There are always obstacles that arise when we are reaching towards a goal and Kerri wasn't immune to any of those. Because she's a single working mom, she had rearrange her work schedule in order to take the tests required to obtain her GED. She found a good support system in her co-workers and employer, though, as they were all pulling for her to achieve her goal. Kerri also had to study up on some math skills that had been lost over the years but was able to arrange for some practice materials and she also used online resources to fill in the gaps.

I asked Kerri what the next step would be now that she's received her GED. She has plans for furthering her education but said that she still doesn't know what she wants to be when she "grows up." She plans to start with core classes at the Community College of Vermont while she comes to a decision about her major.

I wanted to know what advice Kerri would offer to women and girls when it comes to their education. She shares that she was the stereotypical wife and mother for ten years. She had no other plans than to do that. Her life all changed when her marriage ended. She had no education, no formal training and suddenly had to find a way to make ends meet and support her two children. She says that she didn't have the time to put into full-time schooling because her children come first. If she could have changed anything, it would be that she would have taken the time when her children were little to do some online courses. She feels that she would have been better prepared to take care of her children now.

She urges women and girls to not let it go by and that women and girls are strong and are just as important as men. She feels that even if you want to be a wife and mother, failing to get an education is just an irresponsible use of the amazing mind that you have inside of you and that you never know what is going to happen in the future.

About the columnist:

Erika Martin was withheld from attaining her high school diploma and a higher education due to living in a spiritually abusive upbringing. She is currently working towards attaining her high school diploma and plans to pursue a degree in Psychology after graduation this June. Erika will highlight relevant news and information that relates to education as well as chronicle her journey toward her diploma.

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REBUILD: Am I Dreaming? Featured On FinerMinds.Com

Yesterday I decided to go to my quiet place to listen for my next direction.

I still need 14 businesses to support and the job fair is less than 5 days away. It's going to take a miracle for this to happen but I believe in miracles so I just have to stop pressuring myself.

Last night after I got some quiet time in my mind I felt the urge to "do nothing". This voice that whispered that suggestion was the same voice that told me to take a cross country trip speaking about the Rebuild Your Life Project and it was the same voice that told me to become homeless on purpose.

When I hear that small suggestion, it gives me a spark, a sort of recognition as though I just found a sign that says, "this is the way." But then immediately after I question it and wonder why in the world I would do something like that.

See, whenever we have a goal, it's natural to want to give it your all and to rush and to fight for your dream to be realized. We have the belief that through sweat and tears and struggle can we realize our goals but that is not true. It is through belief, faith and following your inner guidance that we create the world around us. Your inner guidance may not require you to toil and drudge your way through life.

At this time, I'm kind of freaking out a little because I was told to do nothing else about this part of the project. Do nothing? But what about the 14 businesses?

How can I get them if I don't sweat in the sun and beg?

I don't know.

I'll admit. I tried to cheat on this suggestion. I called 3 businesses today and none of them even answered their phones.

Afterwards I thought to myself, "You're not supposed to do anything. That's why nothing has happened." I shook my head and felt sad.

I want to be my own rescuer sometimes. I want to know that I can do things on my own but with certain goals, there is no way. I believe there is a certain order to things in your life, like maybe your life is a grand play that has already been written and certain people have certain roles that they can change at will, if they knew they had the power to do so.

Sitting here, NOT doing anything is tough for me. I look around at all the other people in the shelter and they're doing NOTHING right with me. I don't want to STAY in this situation and honestly, it's become a fear.

My next phase of the journey if the job fair were to ever happen, is to travel the country. With what? I don't even have an itinerary. Why would I receive such an idea? Who cares about what I'm doing?

oooh!

I know who cares!

The team at FINERMINDS.COM does!

Last night after I heard my intuition tell me to do nothing else about the project, I decided to make a video about allowing the divine to direct your path and how I am not going to put any more effort into the job fair. I was so scared to make this video and to put my intention out there but I did it, as directed by my intuition.



As soon as I posted the video on youtube I checked my email and I had an email from the team at FINERMINDS. It read:

Hi Te-Erika

I hope you're well and are having a great week.

Just wanted to connect with you and let you know that we've posted your story on our blog, FinerMinds. We think it's really inspirational what you've been doing and think that you will inspire a lot of women out there.

Here's our post: http://www.finerminds.com/wealth-success/change-limiting-beliefs/

Best wishes, and best of luck

Did Finer Minds write about ME?

ME?

No, not ME?

I'm just Te-Erika. I'm not a finer mind!

Wait. Yes, I am!

I have been reading Finer Minds for years, gaining inspiration and wisdom because they always have something juicy to read or be inspired by. I considered them to be the ultimate in daily inspiration and they only feature the best of the best in inspiration leaders.

Yet, they wrote about ME.

Me?

Me, who is sitting here on a cot swatting flies away on the patio of a homeless shelter. Me, who doesn't even own a purse and who has a vision to tour the country and I don't have a dime to my name.

Me?

HELL YEAH!

I cried. I howled. I'm sure people thought someone had died,but for me, reading about myself on FinerMinds was an affirmation that I am more than just a nice pair of legs and a cute face. I am one of the best in inspiration.

I belong on that site too!

I am so elated that I have been walking on air all day. This feels too good to be true. A site that I read for inspiration is inspiring its readers through ME.

It is so amazing to be me right now. I don't have everything together but I am following my still voice. Regardless of the outcome, it feels so good to be me right now.

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Florida Now Requires Drug Testing For Welfare Applicants

Florida Governor Rick Scott (R) signed legislation on Tuesday that requires anyone applying for temporary government assistance to pay for and undergo drug screening.

All applicants for the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program must now pay for drug testing. Any applicant who tests positive for illegal drug use will be ineligible to receive government benefits for one year or until they successfully complete a drug abuse program. Those who test clean will be reimbursed for the cost of the test.

“While there are certainly legitimate needs for public assistance, it is unfair for Florida taxpayers to subsidize drug addiction,” Scott said. “This new law will encourage personal accountability and will help to prevent the misuse of tax dollars.”

In March, Scott also issued an executive order requiring that all state employees be subjected to random drug screenings and urine analysis once every quarter. The order is expected to cost Florida taxpayers over $3.5 million.

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Lower Your Cell Phone Bill Instantly

We all have them- Those bills that are on auto refill. Every month we are dishing out a wad of cash for cable, our cell phone bills or subscriptions to things that we feel we need.

The truth is, we don't NEED them, but we do deserve luxury because we put in the work to play. You can reduce your bills each month and I will tell you how.

I used to work for a pharmaceutical company. We produced pills that customers would buy from our infomercials. Once the customers signed up for the special 'buy one get one free' offer we would auto bill them each month at a much higher rate. I didn't work in the inbound sales department so I'm not sure if it was those sales people who misled the customers into thinking that introductory rate was the fixed rate, but I sure got an earful on a regular basis from customers who were shocked to find their bills had skyrocketed and automatically deducted from their accounts.

I worked in customer retention, which means that if a customer called in to cancel their account I had to do anything to get them not to. I received a commission from each customer who didn't cancel. These were called SAVES. I could offer them a ridiculously low rate, give them free products or even suspend their accounts. It was all at my discretion depending upon how insistent the customer was about canceling.

If you want to lower your cell phone bill or your cable bill or your subscription, all you have to do is:

1) Call up the company and ask to cancel.

2) When they give you a price reduction offer, refuse it.

3) Refuse it again.

4) Ask for the rock bottom rate and when they say 'This is it'- take it.

5) Call back the next day to cancel. A new representative will take your call and lower your rate again.

Companies will do anything to keep your money coming in. Take advantage of this. Get all of your bills lowered instantly.

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Your World News Report - June 1, 2011

Berlyne Julmis

News Coordinator

Germany’s E. coli Outbreak Kills and Infects Many

16 people have died due to an E. coli outbreak in Germany and hundreds have fallen ill. The E. coli outbreak started in northern Germany, but has now spread to the western parts of Germany. Authorities have reported the outbreak was caused by E. coli found in raw vegetables. The European Food Safety Alert Network has reported E. coli which causes hemorrhage in the intestines was found in cucumbers which were also shipped from Germany to Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Hungary, Luxembourg and Spain. The Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition reported two Spanish producing cucumber companies may be involved in the E. coli outbreak.

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Ratko Mladic Extradited for War Crimes

Ratko Mladic Bosnia’s former Serb Army Chief has been extradited to Netherlands where he will be tried for war crimes in a UN court. After 16 years on the run Mladic was detained last week at the age of 69--Mladic attorney argued he was too sick to stand trial or be extradited, but Serbian Court denied the request ruling he was healthy enough to stand trial. Ratko Mladic is allegedly responsible for the 1995 Srebrenica massacre that claimed the lives of Muslim men and boys.

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Nepalese Peacekeepers, Source of Cholera Outbreak

An independent panel appointed by the United Nations released a statement declaring the cholera epidemic in Haiti that claimed more than 4,500 lives did not originate in the country. Peacekeepers from Nepal have been concluded to have caused the deadly outbreak. As the nation was trying to recover from last year 7.0 earthquakes swiftly after many died and became sickened from the fast spread cholera epidemic. The Nepalese officials deny that the cholera originated in the country.

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Heroine Teacher Awarded

Rivera Alanis a Kindergarten teacher at Alfonso Reyes School, in Monterrey, Mexico was presented with a heroism award by Governor de la Cruz for calmly instructing her class away from the windows and to lie down on the floor for their safety while gunfire erupted outside the school. Alanis used her cell phone to tape the incident as it was happening during the gunfire Alanis led the children in song to keep them calm and mind off the deafening gunfire. Officials later announced gunmen claimed five lives at a taxi stand.

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REBUILD: Taking My Hands Off The Wheel

I decide to follow my intuition and take my hands off this project and allow the divine to take control.

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"Dark Girls" Isn't The Only Problem Blacks Face

By Yolanda Jacobs
Contributor

I've received notifications about it in e-mails and read about it on Facebook statuses. The new talk is the upcoming documentary Dark Girls. Until last night, I hadn't viewed the trailer, because I didn't feel a need to do so. I already know this story. Not so much from personally experiencing the harsh color-based words, but from hearing them used to label my siblings. From what I've seen, the documentary is a commendable effort, one not lost on me. At the same time, it serves as a chilling reminder of how far we've taken our "regression strategy."

As I stated in an e-mail response to a friend:

"Too much of what transpires in the black community is beyond belief when we take into account that it seems the same issues continue to be at the forefront decade after decade. It’s like reading Carter G. Woodson’s book, The Miseducation of the Negro, and realizing we’re still, over 50 years later, conducting ourselves the same way we were when he published it—and in some ways we’ve gotten worse. We haven’t progressed as well as we could have because, in many ways, we’ve been our own impediment. Yes, racial inequality, human rights transgressions and the like have played a great role, but for those of us who KNOW the deal, what have we really done to resolve these issues?

"Growing up, I remember one specific aunt who would ridicule my sister and brother because of their darker skin. My sister developed a serious complex behind it. I used to get so angry at my aunt for doing that that I would forget she was an older relative and fling rocks at her. That’s how upset she would make me, and it was the only way I could think to protect my siblings from her harsh words. The crazy thing about it is that she was darker than both of them. Now, who passed that on to her? It surely wasn’t my grandmother, because she loved some dark-skinned men and proved that by marrying one after the other.

"When I was stationed in Korea, I remember a train ride that took me deep into some of the Korean villages. Many of the Koreans living within those villages had never seen a black person up close. Do you know that quite a few walked up to me, offered me some of their food and reached out to touch my face? At first, I thought they were trying to attack me, they were so forward. One English-speaking Korean relayed to me that they were saying I had the most beautiful skin they’d ever seen. They were bowing and smiling broadly at me. I got treated like royalty the entire train ride, with them offering drinks and snacks repeatedly although I’d turned them down earlier. I still have a beautiful set of hand-painted chopsticks an elderly Korean lady insisted I take. Coming from Louisiana and being accustomed to the racially based remarks from whites and blacks, this was definitely an experience, especially considering we’d been led to believe we were hated and thought to be ugly around the world.

"If we want the world to change how it sees us, we have to change. This change has to come from within. We were first destroyed from within before anyone was able to destroy us from the outside. It was W. Durant who said, 'A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself from within.' That is our history, in a nutshell. Will we get it right in our lifetime? I’m not too sure because, for one, we’re too busy being the only ones dedicated to the practice of multiculturalism yet running away as fast as we can from the practice of black cultural unity."

Until black people get it right, there'll always be a need for documentaries like Dark Girls. In the same token, Carter G. Woodson's book will remain relevant to our current time, whether it be 2011 or 2021, and so will the words of many writer scholars who came before us. We'll continue to be the same story, because we have refused to change. And, to some extent, because we don't know we need to change or because we think we are changing and that we are getting better. Nothing more than illusion that thought, but a thought nonetheless.

Self-hatred runs deep, and self-haters are known for transferring their hatred onto others. It's how we adopted the thought process that we needed straight weave, perms, makeup, thinner lips, pointier noses, lighter skin and less ass. It's also how we got to be so damn multicultural that we haven't even noticed that we practice it to a greater degree than any other group of people, yet we benefit the least from it.

A crystal-ball glimpse into the world of modern-day blacks reveals an inner turmoil that is so dark, so mentally unstable that it's no wonder a total implosion hasn't yet taken place. Those who want their conditions to change are outnumbered every day by those who are satisfied, complacent or too afraid to disrupt the status quo. So, as a whole, we continue to practice our regression strategy. The one that makes us less threatening. The one that builds up other groups of people at the expense of destroying us. The one that convinces us that we must keep each other in our place, even if it means name-calling, backstabbing, killing and bickering.

It is that strategy that keeps all black movements, protests, books, articles, documentaries and movies in a repetitious cycle and state of relevancy. It is that strategy that leads us to always display the negative of who we are, if it means being noticed. To indulge in it, savor it and not want to let it go for fear our instituted pity party might come to an end, and then we'll be left holding the bag of responsibility, which we should have held long ago. We don't want to have to get off our asses and do something. That's what we've had other groups for, despite them placing their foots on our necks as payment. We don't mind being less, if someone else is willing to do more. We carry on in ways we know are not beneficial to us, because it prolongs that inevitable day. The day when it won't matter about the latest documentary or sensational media story that adds to the stigmatization of blacks, because we'll be forced to have to do as was said long ago: shit or get off the pot.

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REBUILD: I Need 14 More Businesses: Please Help

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States of America May 30, 2011 -- With 6 days left before the rescheduled job fair to benefit homeless women and women in distress, the organizer of The Rebuild Your Life Job Fair, Te-Erika Patterson makes one last appeal to Miami-Dade and Broward county businesses.

Dear business owners and managers,

I began the Rebuild Your Life Project nearly 2 months ago after giving away everything that I owned including my apartment to become homeless in order to teach women that they can overcome their biggest fear of losing everything. I know that I am an overcomer and I wanted to show other women how they can be overcomers too. I created the Rebuild Your Life job fair as a way to help other homeless women and women in distress to find employment and I didn't think that 30 businesses willing to support would be difficult to find. I am down to my last hope as I go into my final week of planning and trying to gain interest. Sixteen businesses have partnered with me and one woman has already been offered employment. There are so many women in our community who simply need a chance at employment. They are hungry. They are hurting. They have no one to turn to for help. They have called and emailed and I've met them on the side of the street as we discussed life's trials. They are on waiting lists to be placed in shelters. They are on the verge of eviction. They have lost their cars and their families are sleeping on couches in crowded homes. They have lost hope but I wanted to stand in the gap for them, to be their agent of hope and to work for them during these trying times.

My first job fair didn't work out. A month into the project I only had 3 businesses signed up and I had to reschedule it and remain homeless for another month. I have no home to return to but I won't begin my own efforts to secure employment and adequate housing until I am certain that the women that I've come into contact with who have come to me for help, have found the help they need.

I ask that you partner with me to give these women a chance at interviews at your business. Even if you can not make it to the job fair on June 6th, you can still support this effort by allowing me to connect qualified women with your business needs. All I am asking for are guaranteed interviews for the women I meet. All they need is a chance to show you that they are serious about working. Your support counts. I know the community cares. I've seen it with my own eyes and even the clothes I am not wearing were donated to the homeless shelter that took me in. If you have any open positions that you need fill, I ask you to please contact me and add yourself to the list of 16 businesses who have pledged support. I ask that you show up on June 6, 2011 at 11am and meet the women who need your help the most. You will be honored that day for your efforts.

Please help. I need 14 more businesses to pledge their partnership before June 3rd so that I can move out of the homeless shelter and work toward rebuilding my life again.

Please help me help women survive.

Sincerely, Te-Erika Patterson Creator of The Rebuild Your Life Project, an empowerment outreach for women.

The Rebuild Your Life Job Fair For Homeless Women and Women In Distress

Date: June 6, 2011

Time: 11am- 1pm

Place: Martin Luther King, Jr. Center, 2400 Charleston Street, Hollywood, FL 33022

FOR MORE INFORMATION: http://www.mysavvysisters.com/p/rebuild-your-life-project.html

Please call to leave a message at 954-586-7173 to pledge your support.

The participating businesses are:

1. The Best Western Hotel

12210 Biscayne Blvd N. Miami, 33181

2. Denny's Restaurant

12105 Biscayne Blvd N. Miami Beach, FL 33181

3. Sweet Tomatoes

2906 Oakwood Blvd Hollywood, FL 33020

4. Homeless Voice Homeless Shelter

1203 N. Federal Highway Hollywood, FL 33020 5. Denny's Restaurant 2800 N 28th Terrace Hollywood, FL 33022 6. Foreclosure Forensis 1200 Brickell Avenue, Suite 900 Miami Fl 33131 7. Loewes Miami Beach Hotel 1601 Collins Avenue Miami Beach, FL 33139 8. Dave & Busters 3000 Oakwood Blvd Hollywood, FL 33020 9. Famous Footwear 3551 Oakwood Blvd Hollywood, FL 33020 10. Quizno's 3050 Oakwood Blvd Hollywood, FL 33020 11. Old Navy 3801 Oakwood Blvd Hollywood, FL 33020 12. Taco Bell 1830 S. Federal Highway Ft. Lauderdale,FL 13. Wendy's 2031 E. Oakland Park Blvd Ft. Lauderdale, FL 14. Chili's 5363 Sheridan Street Hollywood, FL 15. Goodwill- Miami 16. Anonymous Business ** This business wishes to partner with us to interview women but does not wish to be mentioned in publicity efforts

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EDITORIAL: Peace Revolution

By: Christina Fermin

Politics & Society Columnist

It is time we begin erasing the lines that divide us and unify for peace. We consider ourselves to be a civilized society while 1/4 of our population is incarcerated and we are currently involved in multiple wars brutally killing our enemies and even more innocent civilians. We fight wars to “eliminate” the enemy and instead hundreds of thousands of innocent people get harmed or killed in the wake of going after the enemy. Which in turn creates a ripple effect in the community near and far, all the while claiming to be civilized.

In the name of humanism it is time we look forward and unify as people, as one human family and look past race, sex, ethnicity, color, status, ideology, religion and beliefs. Belief systems can be destructive as well as ideologies, as one strives to cling to the belief system they so inherently “believe in” or stick to an ideology no matter how destructive or counter productive these beliefs and ideologies are. Even when proved destructive and wrong people will ultimately stick to it because they believe it so much. Ideology and beliefs are only as powerful as we allow them to be.

We are all equal parts to the whole, we are collectively one. There are a few groups of people instigating the lines of separation, separating us to become weaker. We are stronger unified than separate, in order for peace to be achieved we must unify behind the cause, even in the face of adversity, bringing down that which is evil, wrong, cruel, inhumane, corrupt and against the people. The masses wish for peace, everyone speaks of it, everyone dreams of it, and almost everyone does not want war. We have seen what war has done, and in the last century we have seen what war does to societies, civilizations, people, our environment and our psyche.

I refuse to believe that humans are cruel in nature, we are a product of our environment, we have seen this time and time again. Negative environments create negativities in people, where they are unable to achieve positivity and positive outcomes. Two negatives never make a positive, how can a person evolve in a negative environment? We create these excuses against that which we believe is unattainable, when in actuality they are and it begins with changing your beliefs and becoming more open to ideas beyond what we were “taught.”

Creating peace at home and abroad begins with you. Without changing the self, how do we expect others to follow or be the change that we seek. The most difficult process is letting go of those beliefs systems and erasing the ideological lines that separate us. Open your heart and your mind and the world will change. During the hippie movement of the 1960s, the young generation rejected the idea of war and hate, instead they preached of love and acceptance and through a peaceful means of rejecting those beliefs systems they forced an end to the Vietnam war. At the same time civil rights had passed and we began living more unified by erasing those lines of separation between whites and blacks. Creating a utopian society begins with change within, so take a seat and sit with yourself, meditate every day and it is amazing what you will discover.

Peace & Love,

Christina

About the Columnist

With a bachelors degree in political science from Florida Atlantic University, Christina Fermin has always cultivated her love for history, politics, sociology, ancient knowledge and teachings, the outdoors, the ocean and the environment. Christina strives to make our world better by helping us all create a new reality and understanding of all taking place here and now.

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