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Just a quick post… Today is World Refugee Day, established in 2000 by the United Nations to commemorate the lives of refugees worldwide. According to the UNHCR, the number of refugees under UN mandate increased 14% in 2006 from the previous year. As for 2007, U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said during an interview this week, “It is a very bad year for refugees worldwide. Now there are almost 10 million who have been expelled from their homes by insecurity, and that number is growing.” You can read more about World Refugee Day here and here. Below are a couple of Boston area events.

Panel Presentation. Lutheran Community Services will host a Community Forum on Immigration Reform. There will be a presentation by a panel of Immigration Specialists, along with Question and Answer period. June 20, 5:00pm-7:00pm.

The event is at Trinity Lutheran Church, 73 Lancaster St., Jepson Hall. Worcester, MA, 01609. For more information contact Ben at 508-754-1121 x 420.

Film Screening: “From Harm to Home” — Premiere of a short documentary film produced in collaboration with Boston University’s Center for Digital Arts in Imaging that tells the stories of refugees resettled by IRC in the greater Boston area. Screening runs from 6:30pm-8:00pm, with discussion and reception to follow film.

Location: Northeastern University’s Snell Library, Room 90, 360 Huntington Avenue, Boston. Contact: Gabriela Artavia, Gabriela.Artavia@theirc.org or (617) 482-1154.

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Photo from Le Figaro

On several occasions in the past I have written about homelessness and I am writing today in celebration of the decision made by France’s Prime Minister, Dominique de Villepin, on Wednesday, to draft a law that would create a legal right to housing in France. If you haven’t been following the news about the SDF movement in Paris you can read about it here or in one of my past blog entries. Check out the Parisist’s recent blog on the SDF movement and the non-profit organization les Enfants de Don Quichotte. The Parisist also has a video of the Canal Saint-Martin’s tent village.

And here is a crazy story about feeding the homeless in Virginia. For some time now people have been bringing home cooked food to church to distribute to the hungry and the homeless. That is, till the Fairfax County Health Department shut down the do-gooders and their unlawful activities. Yep, those people were serving food without a license. (Oh, and the church kitchen wasn’t up to code.) My favorite line is from James, who is homeless, quoted in an article by John Stossel. James quips about the Health Department, “They’ve never stopped me from eating out of a dumpster or a trash can.” The good news is that the county gave churches an exemption from the rules — for 2006 at least.

Mark your February calendar! On February 20th & February 21st, tune in to the 10th annual Homelessness Marathon: A 14 hour radio broadcast featuring the voices and stories of homeless people from around the U.S. The Homelessness Marathon features live call-ins all night long via a national toll-free number. The marathon is broadcast from Fresno, California and you can listen online or tune in to a local participating radio station.

And finally, if you live in the Boston area there is a lot you can do for the homeless. If you are single, Single Volunteers Boston has plenty of one day volunteer events where you can help the homeless by cooking a meal or weighing and packing food. This month Single Volunteers Boston has volunteer events with the Greater Boston Food Bank, Bread and Jams, and the Pine Street Inn.

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Did you know about the Homeless World Cup? I didn’t. This soccer tournament brings together teams of homeless people from around the world. 500 players participated in this year’s World Cup, which was held in Cape Town, South Africa. The final match was today — Russia won, beating out Kazakhstan 1-0. One of the truly amazing things about this tournament is the impact that it has on the players lives:

Research conducted one year after the 2005 Edinburgh Homeless World Cup revealed that 94% of the players went away with a new motivation for life and no less than 77% reported that the event significantly changed their lives forever. This is down to the feeling of belonging, the challenge of working in a team, the process of regaining a health-oriented attitude towards life, self esteem and last but not least the experience of fun.

There are legacy projects for South Africa with a football factory, national street soccer league, pitches, and training in sports journalism for homeless people all underway. Meanwhile thousands of NGO’s both locally and globally are enjoying the benefits of raised profiles, additional energy and funding for street soccer programmes.

Supported by Nike and UEFA since it’s inception several world-class football teams support Homeless World Cup teams. Manchester United coaches England and Spain has links with Real Madrid, Portugal with SL Benfica. Worldwide recognition for sport making a major positive impact on social exclusion has come from UEFA with the 2005 Monaco Cheque - previous winners include the Special Olympics and Football against Racism.
–- The Story of the Homeless World Cup

The 2007 Homeless World Cup will be held in Copenhagen, Denmark. If you would like to be involved, you can participate as either a player or as a volunteer. Or you can join the Homeless World Cup Fan Club, be a sponsor, or support the Homeless World Cup by putting one of their banners on your website. You can learn more about all of the above here.

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