There are things in life which all of us should consider important. One of those things should be the attempt to help others when they are in distress, or when they need comfort. These are the specific causes which I personally attempt to help in any way I can.

Help For the Homeless

This is a cause that chose me, because I have been there and done that. When I first came to Los Angeles in 1980, my wallet was stolen from me while I was strolling down Hollywood Boulevard. It had every penny I had in the world in it, and I was alone with a ten-year-old son. I was fortunate in finding a shelter in Santa Monica which took in homeless mothers with their children, The Sunlight Mission. I soon became the head of staff for the Mission, and worked there for eight years, helping to provide food and shelter for the women and children in the same circumstances that had brought me there. I was amazed to discover that in Los Angeles, there are only 10.000 beds for the 30,000 some homeless people who live on the streets, and that the majority of homeless here are not there out of choice.

I am fortunate that I am now employed full time and have a home of my own, but I try to continue to help in the attempt to provide for the homeless here in Los Angeles by contributing to the running of Sunlight Mission and other homeless shelters. If you are as lucky as I am to be among those that have a home, please consider those who don't and assist the homeless projects in your local area.

National Coalition for the Homeless

Help the Homeless Help Themselves

Fannie Mae's Help the Homeless Program

The Fight Against Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is a disease that has the potential to affect each and every person on the face of the earth, whether male or female, young or old, because though we may never have it ourselves, we all have a mother, a sister, an aunt, a niece, or maybe a wife or a girlfriend who is a potential victim.

One of every nine American women will develop breast cancer sometime during her life (if she lives to the age of 85). This year, 182,000 women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer and 46,000 will die of the disease. It is the most common form of cancer in women and the second leading cause of cancer death for women (after lung cancer).

Every woman is at risk for breast cancer. A woman's chances of developing breast cancer increase as she grows older; 80 percent of all cancers are found in women over the age of 50. There are also several risk factors that can increase a woman's chances of developing cancer. A woman may be at increased risk if she has a family history of the disease, if she had her first child after the age of 30 or has no children, or if she began menstruating early. However, more than 70 percent of women who develop breast cancer have no known risk factors. Only five percent of breast cancer cases are thought to be related to the BRCA1 gene discovered in 1994. Researchers are now investigating the role that lifestyle factors such as nutrition, alcohol, exercise, smoking, and oral contraceptives might play in cancer prevention.

The Avon Breast Cancer Awareness Crusade

The Interactive Breast Cancer Education Web Site

U. S. Post Office Breast Cancer Awareness Postage Stamp

Stopping Domestic Violence

Having grown up with not one but two drunken, abusive stepfathers, I have always tried to help stop domestic abuse wherever I saw it. The statistics are appalling.

Domestic violence crosses ethnic, racial, age, national origin, sexual orientation, religious and socioeconomic lines.

• by the most conservative estimate, each year 1 million women suffer nonfatal violence by an intimate.
• by other estimates, 4 million American women experience a serious assault by an intimate partner during an average 12-month period.
• nearly 1 in 3 adult women experience at least one physical assault by a partner during adulthood.
• 28% of all annual violence against women is perpetrated by intimates.
• 5% of all annual violence against men is perpetrated by intimates.
• during 1994, 21% of all violent victimizations against women were committed by an intimate, but only 4% of violent victimizations against men were committed by an intimate.
• in 1993, approximately 575,000 men were arrested for committing violence against women. approximately 49,000 women were arrested for committing violence against men.

Race is not indicative of who is at risk of domestic violence.

• domestic violence is statistically consistent across racial and ethnic boundaries.

Age is not indicative of who is at risk of domestic violence.

• Batterers and victims may experience domestic violence at any age.
• women ages 19-29 reported more violence by intimates than any other age group.
• women aged 46 or older are least likely to be battered by an intimate.
• in a 1990 restraining order study, the age of abusers ranged from 17 - 70. two-thirds of the abusers were between the ages 24 and 40.

GENDER

An overwhelming majority of domestic violence victims in heterosexual relationships are women.

• 90 - 95% of domestic violence victims are women.
• as many as 95% of domestic violence perpetrators are male.
• much of female violence is committed in self-defense, and inflicts less injury than male violence.
• during 1992-1993, women were 6 times more likely to experience violence by an intimate partner than men.
• the chance of being victimized by an intimate is 10 times greater for a woman than a man.
• 70% of intimate homicide victims are female.
• male perpetrators are 4 times more likely to use lethal violence than females.

SAME-SEX BATTERING

Domestic violence occurs within same-sex relationships with the same statistical frequency as in heterosexual relationships.

• the prevalence of domestic violence among Gay and Lesbian couples is approximately 25 - 33%.
• battering among Lesbians crosses age, race, class, lifestyle and socio-economic lines.
• each year, between 50,000 and 100,000 Lesbian women and as many as 500,000 Gay men are battered.
• while same-sex battering mirrors heterosexual battering both in type and prevalence, its victims receive fewer protections.
• seven states define domestic violence in a way that excludes same-sex victims; 21 states have sodomy laws that may require same-sex victims to confess to a crime in order to prove they are in a domestic relationship.
• many battered Gays or Lesbians fight back to defend themselves - it is a myth that same-sex battering is mutual.
• by 1994, there were over 1,500 shelters and safe houses for battered women. many of these shelters routinely deny their services to victims of same-sex battering.
• same-sex batterers use forms of abuse similar to those of heterosexual batterers. they have an additional weapon in the threat of "outing" their partner to family, friends, employers or community.

Domestic Violence Homepage

National Coalition Against Domestic Violence

Domestic Violence, Family Violence, Child Abuse

The Nicole Brown Charitable Foundation 

Other worthy causes to support..

Fund Free Mammograms!