Harpman Hatter

Rick Bocook AKA  Harpman Hatter

Harpman Hatter by Margot Cioccio

A while back when my 13 year old son wanted to go street singing,  so I did a internet search on busking in Spokane.
I found a bunch of things about a local street musician called Harpman Hatter.  From what I read I gathered that my son Niah would not get in to to much trouble. So we went to the local mall and he sat on a bench and played his guitar till someone asked him to leave. I never expected to meet the street musician responsible for getting the laws changed in Spokane.

Tonight I was at one of the feedings that we host at First Covenant Church and had the pleasure of meeting Rick Bocook AKA Harpman Hatter. He's kind of a local street musician celebrity. He is a homeless man who has been staying with relatives for the past five years. He shared with me that he does hope to get his own place. It seems to be a long process for most of the folks that I talk to.  Rick is an interesting, and well spoken guy who has clearly made a difference in our city.
If you google his name all kinds of things come up about his dealings with the city to keep busking legal.

So if you want to do a little busking.  As it stands (got this info strait off his face book page)
NO LICENSE IS REQUIRED,
The noise ordinance laws in Spokane have been changed officers required to use decibel meters,
level is 10dbs above ambient in the daytime 5db at night after 10.  Park rules still the same.

So we talked about the guys who fly signs. How they have a right to fly them and ask for money and those who pass by have the right to respond or not respond.  He shared how he tries to work with these guys and other street musicians to help them understand their first amendment rights.

I guess for me he is an inspiration - to think that one homeless guy with harmonica can stand up for the rights of street performers and sign flyers and make a difference.  Perhaps me bloging,  posting and speaking about the homeless folks I meet will help begin to break down the stereotypes and myths that surround homelessness.  I'm not saying that everyone I meet is a model citizen but all the folks I meet have a name and a story to tell. Most are doing their best trying to deal with a very difficult situation of living on the streets, or living in crowded shelters or living with relatives. Most would love to find a job but things like going to jobs interviews by bus and caring everything you own just does not give you an edge in an already tough job market.

I grew up playing guitar and singing things like Mr. Bo Jangles and Buddy Can ya Spare a Dime, and The Streets of London. All dealing with folks trying to make it on the streets. I guess my journey towards a heart for Homeless ministry began long before I ever realized, those songs and other leaving a mark on my life. When I was a young teenager I had the opportunity to do some street performing with my step sister Erica, while on vacation in San Francisco. I played Guitar, we both sang and she played the new ocarina that we had just acquired. We set out our hat and in a short time had collected some extra vacation spending money.  It remains a vivid memory even today. There have been several other times I have done a little street singing over the years.  So I was glad when my son wanted to give busking a try. Anyway Harpman Hatter gave me his phone number so Niah and I can go see him on the streets. He said he'd be glad to talk to my son about busking.  Sounds like a fun outing.

I guess I am glad there are guys like Harpman Hatter out performing on our streets. I think it helps makes the fabric of our city more interesting.  If you see him on the streets this year - stop and talk to him he is an interesting person. I'm glad I got to meet him today and I hope to get to know him better.

He shares his story in this 9 min video.  http://vimeo.com/6167480

Building Bridges in the Community

Building Bridges in the Community      by Margot Cioccio

I went to a meeting yesterday about helping the mentally ill of our city. The meeting was attended by my Covenant Pastor and his wife, a Lutheran Pastor,  Folks from a Methodist Church and folks from their feeding ministry. There were some folks who work with the mentally ill as a profession, a police officer and a city official and me and I felt quite unofficial but sent by God none the less.

The meeting was not really what I had expected. I thought I was going to get some desperately needed training to better work with the mentally ill who we see at our weekly feeding. Well the meeting was more of an introductory discussion made up of others who care about the poor, homeless and mentally ill in our city.  The meeting was good in that I think we will be able to pool some of our resources to better serve the mentally ill homeless. We may be able to collectively become something that can attain some grants to provide training, support and better help to the mentally ill. We hope to get some training to better recognize the various types of mental illness and to be better able to help people before they are forced to get help because the have had a run in with the law or landed in  the hospital.
Sadly it seems nation wide our city has only gets a C for its ability to help the mentally ill and may quickly be back to a D with the loss of funding due to difficult economic times unless we can somehow work together. 

I thought it was interesting that the non church folks in the room realized the value of the church and our ability to help provide encouragement, stability and to connect people to resources on the frontlines. They saw the need for us and our volunteers to have more training to help connect these folks with the resources that are out there but often un tapped.  I think they may have actually heard our request for a position to be made for mental health workers to be available and on site at our feedings.  So it seems the meeing that I had hoped to attend yesterday will actually happen in the near furture. We talked about the possibility of video tapeing the training because the volunteers we see are not the same from week to week and would be unlikely to attend such a traing. It will be quite valuable for those of us who are on the front lines.

I think that perhaps some bridges of coopeation and understanding were estabished - and that is always a good thing.

The Other Ten Months of the Year

The Other Ten Months of the Year                   by Margot Cioccio

Our life of poverty is as necessary as the work itself. Only in heaven will we see how much we owe to the poor for helping us to love God better because of them.  ~Mother Teresa

I'm not sure I agree that a life of poverty is necessary to minister to the poor. I do think life in middle to upper class suburbia does insulate us from realizing the real needs of the poor. With out spending time with these folks we do things that make us feel good but may not really help them much.

I say this because we see a Holiday flurry of kindness. People do things like give to food drives, coat drives and some might help serve food for Thanksgiving or carol at nursing homes. Too often people are doing sentimental things that make them themselves  feel warm and fuzzy. For example we had people asking for coats and blankets as early as October but people were not moved to give coats till late November after it had snowed.
All the turkey that was given was nice - although grateful for a meal folks got very tired of all the variations of turkey casserole for weeks afterwards. Many people made a point to thank us for serving other meats because they were turky'd out. 

I guess my point is that there are people in need the other 10 months of the year. We some how have assuaged our conscience in the Holiday Flurry and then forget them the rest of the year. So I ask you to consider how will you make a difference for the poor, the broken, the lonely, the unwanted in January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October?

Have A Heart For the Homeless

Have A Heart For The Homeless

by Margot Cioccio

They say it will be a cold winter in Spokane Washington this year. Our homeless and poor friends will soon be needing things like....
Gloves,  Socks, Hats, Coats,
Back Packs, Rain Ponchos, Lip Balm,
Blankets, Tarps, Winter Sleeping Bags.

Perhaps you would have a  
Have A Heart for the Homeless drive
at your work, school, church or organization.
If you would like to help donations can be sent to
First Covenant Church 212 South Division,
Spokane Wa 99202  Call the Church office
if you need more information. 509-747-2818

Or you can use the donate button on the right side of this blog page

Blooms Day 2010 Hotdog Feed

Monday, May 3, 2010

Blooms Day Hotdog Feed

Yesterday we canceled church and spent the day outside with our neighbors and visitors. We served over 200 meals of hot dogs, chips, fruit and soda. We had our worship band doing music, we played games like the ones on the TV show Minute to Win It and gave away lots of cool prizes. This is showing the love and kindness of Christ in very practical ways to the people in our urban neighborhood.