Martia.I.Write: I "Chose" to help out .... #ChooseLife

Martia.I.Write: I "Chose" to help out .... #ChooseLife: "This past weekend I volunteered to help out my good friend Davon Barton with his, 'Live Fast, Die Young... I Choose Life' campaign. Barton h..."

I "Chose" to help out .... #ChooseLife

This past weekend I volunteered to help out my good friend Davon Barton with his, "Live Fast, Die Young... I Choose Life" campaign. Barton had arranged for a table to be set up at the 3rd Annual Stop The Violence Tournament. The purpose was to bring awareness to individuals about his foundation, that was started after four guys from our city died in a car crash that could have possibly been avoided.

I decided to help my friend, because he was out of town promoting #ChooseLife in North Carolina, so it was an honor when I first received the call from Barton that he wanted me to head the table. I think it was due to the passion I felt about losing friends and saving the ones I had left.

Barton wants to help younger generations make smarter decisions to prolong their lives, but I became aware this weekend that not only does he need to reach out to younger generations, but to the older ones as well.

As the event kicked off I met with several young men, some who came over to the table just because a pretty face sat there, others who wanted to know what the heck was #ChooseLife. Some thought it was a great idea and donated money and purchased a shirt with the saying on it.

Yet, I was shocked when some males came to the table making statements like; "I like living fast and I'm not dead yet." Or, "What's wrong with living life in the fast lane?" Better yet, "I'm young, I got to live fast, I got time."

Now who came up with this living fast idea, and are they still alive? When did it become popular to live fast, and die young? Yes, you can live fast and make it to see an older age, but does that mean you truly appreciated all that life had to offer?

Or did you forget to slow down and realize what was most important....

I'm not one to tell anyone how to live their lives, but I'm one to keep it real, so I will tell you....

That living fast, gets you no where and helps you understand nothing. It's going to be hard for Barton to change the mindset of a city like, Newport News where violence is the teacher and death is the test. See, I have had my days of living fast, but I can barely remember them, that's exactly how fast they were.

What does it take to change a city like Newport News? See, Barton can travel all across the country promoting #ChooseLife, but if he can't save the lives in his own city, then has he failed? ...

I just want you all to understand that this cause is bigger then the four guys we lost, it's bigger then our city, and it's bigger then ourselves, but if you can't be bigger then living fast, you will surely die young and if you have lived a long life fast, then you died a long time ago. You died a long time ago, because you didn't appreciate anything life had to offer so you were already dead.

The only thing promised in our lives is death, the only thing free is life....

Being Homeless... Is One Thing...

“Being homeless is one thing, but if you don’t have your morals and respect, then you’re not shit,” said Sal. Sal has been homeless for 2 years and although some would see two years as twelve, Sal knows that he’s fine, because of the relationship he has with God. He often tells people, “me and my buddy are fine,” referring to God.  

Sal is a 62 year old white male, from Rochester, New York where he worked for 23 years as a truck driver. After so many years of service in the truck driving industry, Sal was laid off and sent to find another way. During his time as a driver Sal married and remained married for 28 years of his life. The two had a son and eventually a daughter, and then came along the many grandchildren. Sal’s love of his life died suddenly from breast cancer.

However, the lost of Sal’s wife wasn’t the destruction of his life, but it played a major role and how he sees life now as a homeless man. “I’m fine, I’m okay, I feel bad for the people walking the streets, that bump into one another and never turn to say excuse me.” “For the homeless teenagers, where are their parents, they have so many opportunities, and educations is key,” said Sal speaking of how he feels about being homeless.

There are 6,000 plus homeless individuals in Charlotte, most being males. Yet, with this alarming number you would think that all the shelters in Charlotte would be way over crowded. “Shelters aren’t as safe as they use to be, they would search us for drugs, weapons, and made sure we weren’t violent toward one another,” said Sal. Charlotte recently merged the Emergency Winter Shelter and the Uptown Shelter and formed, the Men of Charlotte Shelter.

Once the two shelters had emerged they then became more laxed. Sal while talking can remember a time when it was safe to be in the shelters, “now they have gotten slack and they don’t care as much about outside drugs, weapons, and violence,” Sal stated as he reminisced on his days of living in a Charlotte.

“Charlotte has long struggled to provide enough emergency shelter for men to meet the growing demands. A few months ago, the Men’s Shelter of Charlotte declared our intention to meet this growing need by providing 500 beds of shelter year round (Men’s Shelter of Charlotte).”

Direct Connect Charlotte, knows that there is a growing amount of homeless individuals in Charlotte, and has decided to take a stand on the cause. DCCharlotte is a non-profit organizations whose sole purpose is to, to be a catalyst for the homeless and those involved in serving the homeless, or interested in becoming involved, can freely come to find information, facts, tools, and statistics.

“DCCharlotte wants to take the hassle out of communication by providing a free service for those serving the homeless to connect quickly and easily to others. Without the city's organizations, groups, and individuals, DCCharlotte would not exist (Direct Connection Charlotte).”

Sal sees all these things as helpful to homeless people; however Sal doesn’t go looking for a helping hand, he could live with his children, stay in a shelter in Charlotte, but as Sal has stated, “I’m fine.” Being homeless for Sal gives him time to reflect on the things others would normally take for granted, he sees the world as it really is and not just for the moment, and Sal cherishes the many struggles throughout the day that he encounters.

One would see being homeless as a crisis, but Sal sees it as, “no job is certain and the streets are no joke,” said Sal.