he said we would end homelessness. that is going to happen not because he said it or because i am here. that is going to happen because of the passion of the local people dealing with this all across the country. it is the people's passion that will make this happen. this is a difficult situation. it will be easy to turn a blind eye to it. it would be easy to ignore it. it would be easy to blame them. we could put a token effort or mandate on it to say we did something. or we can take this on as a national commitment. it is our call. it is your call. i think the fact that you are here today, the work you do every day, says a lot about who we are as americans and how we will continue to support those who have answered our nation's call. we do not owe this to the veterans. as you heard, it is not something they are entitled to. it is something they have earned. they have protected our freedom. in their time of need, we need to protect them and help them out. [applause] this national program is to make uthe call. sometime

that will not end homelessness. i have been part of trying to change that program to make it more robust around housing and not taunting shelter beds. -- and not counting shelter beds. >> moving on. >> i have already discussed the fact i do not think in san francisco we can do what mayor giuliani did in san francisco -- did it in new york. i say that as a former prosecutor who knows that would be impossible to find 12 people who would put somebody away for aggressive panhandling. this is why i support the committee justice center, moving forward with supportive housing, but i agree with john avalos, one of the real issues is expanding affordable housing. i am proud of my record of expanding affordable housing to the homeless veterans, seniors. just last night we passed a piece of legislation for transitional teenaged use. we passed legislation that we have to commit as a city to investing more, expanding all of our housing opportunities, and i am proud of the fact of the past year i have helped move forward the crea

they heard about this government's of homeless center to serve homeless veterans, and she took the time to come and to tore and see what we were doing at 13th and mission. i was a young social worker at the time, and i was very impressed, so thank you. [applause] >> thank you very much. it is a personal pleasure to be here at the salvation army today. thank you so much for your hospitality. coming here, walking through, almost double-seen this a beautiful space came as a surprise, but how appropriate that it is here for our homeless veterans but i am honored to join the major. thank you mr. mayer for being such a great mayor of san francisco and your commitment to veterans. we're proud of the work that is done in the community here, and it serves as a good example nationally. bobbi is a wonderful person. her persistence in this i know has been paying off for our veterans and will continue to do so. i am pleased to be here with mark leno, another member of the official family in san francisco as well. thank you for your leadership. i join my friends in welcoming you, mr. secretary, dr.,

he said we would end homelessness. that is going to happen not because he said it or because i am here. that is going to happen because of the passion of the local people dealing with this all across the country.

i think announced to as a homeless coordinator. we also have the chief operating officer for the division here. [applause] last but not least is my deputy. thank you for being here. [applause] jake martin, thank you. [applause] that is a lot of people. now we are going to have welcoming remarks from the acting medical director. [applause] >> i guess i get to raise the boom. i did not need any added pressure, but thank you anyway. good morning. welcome, everyone. i would like to welcome our honored guest, lt col. steve smith, senator leno, mayor lee, thank you all for coming today. madam leader, thank you for your an unwavering support to our veterans. it is an honor and pleasure to have you here today. [applause] i am so proud of our mission and to be here today as we bring attention to the effort to end homelessness. she has covered the important role our community plays in the effort. as a career va employee, i have had the privilege of serving america's veterans. it is a particular honor to serve in the mission to eliminate home

everyone i know who has been homeless. i known tens of thousands of people over the years, esh wants to work. there is no one who doesn't want to work. there is no one who doesn't want to feel like they are taking care of themselves and their family. it's a tragic situation. >> i think after the novelty off and maybe the first week or so and then next thing you know here are the bills and nothing coming in. it's one of the things we do. now if they are going to end homelessness in their lives they have to be able to do all those things you are talking about. plan a budget. be able to live on what they are earning. and that's not something in this country we are used to. >> and marin is expensive. the bay area is expensive. i live in marin and i'm not wealthy at all so i understand there are people who are homeless and you see them there. are a lot of them there already or do they come to marin? do they come over the bridge and figure they will camp out. there there is open spaces and maybe a better place there. >> i think

homeless connect but housing first. got in touch with people who cared about them. talked about what they needed and now are in long-term permanent housing. isn't that wonderful? that's the way to do it. it's not good moving people -- about moving people off the street or shuffling them from one corner to another, it's about care. it's about humanity. it's about how they do if right. and that's how we get people to look at their long-term future. if they're not caring about themselves and they don't think anybody else cares about them, we're lost. we're going to increase our homeless population. so we're doing it right. we've got to plan, the plan is in place. ten-year, plan and reflects our policy here in san francisco that is permanent housing, long-term care for people. that's how we involve ourselves as better human beings. thank you for being part of this great, great cause in our city. thank you for producing the wonderful hours you're going today. thank you for volunteering your work and also thank you for changi

log on to abc 2 news.com to see the homeless population in your district. how much money is spent. find it all on the stories link, you'll find it right there on abc 2 news.com. >>> they have been at it since early this afternoon. >> oh, yeah. you're looking live at the monkeys. which one will be the last monkey clapping to tell us they are living off the battery. and abc 2 news is working with you with reminders on how to safely fry the bird. >>> turkey doesn't taste good unless you win. well, they were at work tonight because in six to nine hours there's more football to play. abc 2 will be back in 60 seconds. >>> it's like a slow leak in the house market, we heard monkeys clapping all afternoon here and abc 2. we're working for you tonight putting batteries to the test, to make sure you are going to get your moneys worth. now, we spend a lot on batteries, right? >> if you have little kids that's right so we wanted to do a little comparison shopping. abc 2 news put popular batteries to the test to see which one lasts the longest. >> toys will wear out any parent. >> thank you. >>

off my cap after another gets evicted around the country we've heard similar concerns about the homeless being endangered by camping out by mares and other city officials but what are they actually doing to combat homelessness we're going to talk to us about their mixed up priorities and a two week long climate change summit is underway in south africa as we speak a year before the kyoto protocol expires so will this conference be a failure like the last few and if so whose fault is that the have all that and more if you and i go to those of happy hour but first take a look at the mainstream media has decided to miss. its ok i'm disappointed after congratulating the city of los angeles for not really messing with occupy l.a. protesters after handing them an addiction notice over the weekend well looks like they had a bit of a change of heart last night the city unleashed over fourteen hundred police officers to clear out the camp. after two months the occupy camp in los angeles has shut down l.a. police moved in just after midnight to close that dozens of protesters were arrested and the

you have to understand the underlying cause of that homelessness. some individuals may not have a job, may not want a job. maybe other individuals who have mental health, physical, social problems, and you have to address those underlying problems. you cannot simply just provide services and simply said, we provided services. you have to also understand whether a program you have established is effective in dealing with some of the metal health and social health and other physical health needs of these individuals. if you cannot make the initial diagnosis and tailor the program based on their needs, you will continue to perpetuate these kinds of individuals that we call homeless and the problems that continue to have. [applause] >> thank you. we will continue to ask questions from audience. thank you for your input. we will continue to do this alphabetically. we start with you. ext. person, we will start with you. everyone will answer the same question. the question to everyone, what can you do to keep the middle class of san francisco and bring fam

a man died -- bound homeless veteran. a man died after being turned away from a homeless shelter during the october snowstorm. fox 5's roz plater working this story. >> here's what we've been able to piece together about this man from those who knew him at the shelter. he was in his early 60s, a vietnam veteran in a wheelchair for years. the night of october 29th d.c. got a rare snowstorm and plunging temperatures. that next morning just across the new york avenue homeless shelter a wheelchair bound man nicknamed sarge was found dead. the cause of death so far undetermined. folks who live here believe he froze to death. >> he come out of 7 -- it come out of virginia suddenly. i forgot what part of virginia. >> reporter: he was a veteran? >> yeah. he said vietnam. i don't think i knew. say he was 61, i think, 61 or 62. >> reporter: the city's department of human services is investigating what happened that night, but off camera shelter residents tell fox 5 sarge lined up to get into the shelter but argued with workers refu

more and more people are caught up in it and the homelessness is on the rise in britain. also in "european journal" today, russia as pro vince alpoor are putting their trust in vladmir putin as their next president. austria reels from a corruption scandal that seems to reach to the top. and as the frozen north thaws, greenland turns to horticulture. russian's ruling party seems certain to nominate vladmir putin as its presidential candidate. if they do and they will, he will replace dmitry medvedev who will then replace him as prime minister. one might be tempted it had all be planned in advance. putin remains popular, even poor rural communities trust him to deliver on promises that have been broken before. >> this is a sleepy town with 20,000 residents in provincial russia, far away from moscow and the kremlin. this woman leads a modest life here. she and her husband and son have one room in a worker's dormitory and share a bath and a kitchen with the other tenants. the dormitory belongs to the local factory where she works. she earns the equivalent of 250 euros a month

nearly 12,000 people are homeless? one in four of those homeless people is a child. a child homeless. 8% of all adult homeless people are veterans. >> you know that face and voice. that's our own, j.c. howard mcing today's help the homeless walk-a-thon. wusa9 was a proud partner in today's event which raises some $85 million over the past 24 years to help the homeless in this area. money from today's event will also benefit 14 home lesser vises programs organized by volunteers of america chesapeake. >>> hundreds of people lined the sidewalks of downtown silver spring for the 14th annual thanksgiving day parade. the parade had a feel of small town america. there were floats, marching bands, cheerleaders, classic cars, lots of elected leaders, and u.s. senator. today's event also produced the area's first sighting of santa claus in downtown silver spring. >>> the red cross national headquarters in washington today, staff and volunteers took part in a program from the heart. attendeis made holiday cards to send to u.s. service members and their families. it's all part o

. >> who thinks of a female veteran homeless?obody. >> reporter: the department of veterans affairs estimates on any given night in this country there are more than 4500 homeless female vets on the street, and that number is expected to grow as more return from deployments and are finding few job opportunities. >> we make sure when we have a female veteran that we try our hardest to make sure we provide some type of housing. >> reporter: the va offers housing, medical and job assistance but says more places are needed. the local charity gives homeless female vets and their kids a temporary place to stay. >> they want jobs. they want their own houses. these women want their own keys and their own kitchens. >> reporter: donaldson is searching for stability. six years of bouncing around is taking a toll. >> that's the worst. being a mom and knowing you can't give your kids what every kid should have. >> reporter: the va has set a goal of wiping out veteran homelessness by 2015. but for these women warriors, they're just trying to ma

around 12,000 people just in this area alone are homeless on any given day. that's not counting the, you know, 1,000 families right here in the district of columbia of which 1 in 4 there is a child. >> that's the thing. and i have been involved with several organizations in the last couple of weeks doing feature reports on hero sent -- central about them, and the problem is they are losing funding and they are not getting the contributions they used to get because of the economy. and fannie mae has taken on this problem of the homelessness to try to abate it and do away with it. >> and what's really great about this is that, you know, we've come in and we offer a program that allows you to really participate with the citizens of this community. you know, this really goes back, this is our 24th year. and it really started out something small. rock creek park. there was mr. about -- there was about 150 people that came together. the community has rallied. year after year they have come out, and they have come out strong. we have left rock creek park and now we'

families find new homes housing initiatives and preventative measures to fight homelessness not only that but according to officials scott also deleted all the line items that these programs could never be funded again out however scott believes that it's all part of a bigger plan defending his massive cuts he said all the programs are very important but nobody wants their taxes to go up they've got to grow we've got to make this a place people can do well. but governor scott don't we need funding for homeless programs to make florida a place where people can do well i'm going to be on scott's photo op of the giving shaking hands greeting people who he truly things aren't worth the state government's money nor time and even though the governor doesn't have much room in his budget for homeless people he did open his heart to a pair of homeless golden retrievers has a soft spot for yellow lavish after thirteen year olds say he died a few years ago the family talked him into taking yet another dog left homeless what's the name reagan right if that's right named after ronald reagan. corr

i saw come tonight when governors decided to cut all funding for homeless programs in his state chris lee who is not full time segment had an unhappy hour it turns out that some people are being very honest selves about their weight and time magazine makes a very different cover photos for their issues sold here versus the ones who sell the product of your attack. on. the one they did the police corruption on but what a protest nobody seems to know. but never a pepper spray to face by part of the argument that they're being overly dramatic. you know sometimes you see a story and it seems so you think you understand it and then you glimpse something else you hear or see some other part of it and realize that everything you. are welcome is a big. blow to the capital account i'm lauren lyster. are you guys it's time for tonight's tool time award ends and i are giving it to a governor that ends up in the news a little too often and for all the wrong reasons florida governor rick scott is known for radical budget cuts in the sunshine state and he has the poor rating to show for it a measly

we stand up for compassion and treating homeless folks with dignity. i am a big supporter of supportive housing, making sure when we provide housing, we bundle but with the appropriate social services, mental health services, the dragon out all services that we need and case management that we need to make sure that we are delivering services to hold votes accountable. >> what do you tell a tourist or resident who has been harassed by a homeless person? >> first of all, we hope that you do not necessarily give them money, that you direct them to places in the area where they can get help. i am supportive of the project homeless connect project, making sure we direct folks in the right way. the reality is there have been five mayors in a oroville have promised to end homelessness. this is a very difficult issue. i think if we do a better job integrating different services, using data, we can spend our money and more efficient ways. >> all right, i have a question. if you were mayor, how would you fight a gang violence, and you fight a gang violence, and

they also add they are seeing many new homeless. they don't expect to have to turn away people here tonight but that likely will happen as the weather drops. they will remain open through march. maureen naylor, ktvu channel 2 news. >>> a california judge ruled the state can't use tobacco tax money to fill the budget gab. governor jerry brown wants to use money from early education to fill the gap but a judge says that will be illegal. prop 10 set up the first 5 commission and added a tax on cigarettes. >>> blew shield -- blue shield is making good on giving back some profits to its members. the crets will appear on december bills. >>> 7-year-old skate park tucked under the i-5 in oakland was torn down this morning. skateboarders watched as they crews took down the ramps. the park was built without permission and is not safe. the state tried to work out a deal but now the city has decided not to renew the lease for the land. >> bumped that, i don't know, took a lot longer to build than it is going down. >> officials say they would co

the city actually does do a lot for homeless communities. yes or not saying it is a lot, but there are a number of things that exist here that i am not sure exist in all cities in terms of services and housing and shelter care. i think we are fortunate to have a strong group of organizers and advocates on homelessness issues. i actually get word for any community group when they do not have organizers or advocates that have been working on an issue for a long time. homelessness is an issue that i think there have been several for, so they develop a shelter monitoring committee several years ago to start monitoring our shelters in san francisco, and it is made up of folks that stay in our shelters, people who have families, women, in the next day in and out of our shelters to help monitor those programs and then do quarterly reports back to the board of supervisors. i think things like this have made a difference. what can we continue to do? there are three main issues we need to continue to support more than we already have. one is of course

. >>> coming you be, it is the largest organization to aid homeless women in the district, i'll have a hero central report, when i come back. >>> people become homeless for a variety of reasons, and most face multiple challenges. while we have heard the expression that it takes a village to raise a child, sometimes it takes a village to raise a woman out of despair. >> i was desperate, destitute, lonely and in despair. i didn't know what to do. my daughter had mentioned the shelter and i had never been homeless before. >> reporter: two years ago rene pet away -- petaway, hit rock bottom. end street village came to her aid. they help nearly 900 homeless and low income women each year. >> they can receive services for their basic needs, starting at the most simple things, meals, lant dr. conrad murray, clothing, a place to make a telephone call, an address where they can receive mail. an education and employment center and a wellness center. so we are a community that focuses a lot on relationships and support. >> rene now has her own apartment, works and egertonly mentors other homele