How Leslie tried to steal my notebook…

(The following is an update from a blogger on the One Nation Working Together California “Blog Mobile,” an RV full of bloggers driving from Los Angeles to Washington, DC – whom chronicle the stories of working Americans they meet along the way. The trip is sponsored in part by SEIU United Long Term Care Workers. For more, visit: OneNationCa.org)

Boon beginning to lose the war of "Who really owns this notepad."

When it comes to someone educating me on a specific cause, I tend to be concerned and sometimes skeptical of individuals that opt to pull at your heartstrings in lieu of informative explanation and allowing one to understand how vital that cause is.

This is why I appreciated the detailed explanation by the Executive Director of the Cuidando Los Niños Center, Dr. Jaime Tamez.  As he discussed how difficult the current and pervasive plight of homeless children in New Mexico has become, he spoke of how it affects him when he sees his own grandchildren.

Dr. Tamez knows that in some ways, the homeless children he works with could just as easily be one of them.  The mist in his eyes brought a hard lump to my throat as I had recently come to realize what he meant.

Just thirty minutes prior, I was sitting on the floor allowing 16-month-old Leslie to play with my notepad (to be honest, I didn’t get much say in the matter). In this small, colorful and neatly appointed infants room of the Cuidando Los Niños center, I learned a powerful and emotional truth that I suspect many of us ignore or may simply be unaware of: a staggering third of all homeless in the United States are children, many under the age of 6. That is 1.5 million children.  Sitting there with my new little friend, I was told more of these sobering facts.  It slowly began to sink in and I understood just what Dr. Tamez meant.  Then, a young volunteer from a local college told me that Leslie had been diagnosed with cystic fibrosis some months back.  Her parents are struggling to make ends meet and essentially, survive.  Leslie and her parents are indeed homeless.  I sat stunned as Leslie continued to doodle on my notebook with my pen in her small hand.

Soon thereafter I left Leslie, my notebook covered in her scrawl.  Walking to the next classroom, my eyes became slightly out of focus, the result of some very unexpected tears.  It took a great deal to not breakdown as this stark reality weighed upon me. Leslie is one of 14,500 children that experience homelessness each year in New Mexico.   Like many states, New Mexico has struggled as a result of the recession.  When combined with substance abuse and domestic violence, 19% of the population in New Mexico is at or below the poverty level, bestowing the state with the third highest level of poverty in the America.  I won’t inundate you with more facts; just know they are similarly startling.

More on Leslie, the Cuidando Los Niños Center as well as the broader implications on the state of homeless children in the United States. For now feel free to check out both http://clnkids.org/ and www.HomelessChildrenAmerica.org for more information as well as specifics with regard to what I’ve shared.