Pamela Leavey

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Opinion: Seniors and Housing Insecurity

February 1, 2020

I ran across a story on Facebook this afternoon that I find very troubling on a very personal level: Homelessness Among the Elderly Expected to Triple in 10 Years .

The number of elderly individuals experiencing homelessness is rising. In the Annual Homeless Assessment Report, released by HUD, the number of elderly individuals experiencing sheltered homelessness nearly doubled from 4.1 percent in 2007 to 8 percent in 2017. It’s not slowing down, either. This population is expected to triple over the next decade.

A new study out of UCSF showed that almost half of all elderly homeless people became homeless after age 50. These statistics tells us that whatever the problem is, it’s related to age. The question we need to ask ourselves is, why are the elderly falling through the cracks?

(more…)

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New Hampshire Mother Uses Art Therapy to Raise Heroin Addiction Awareness

August 2, 2016

13450033_10153852229215345_6907428901319467035_nAnne Marie Zanfagna’s gregarious nature is evident from the moment you start talking with her. One would be hard pressed to see the pain hidden behind her outgoing demeanor. Even as a life long friend, I do not always see the sadness Anne Marie carries with her.

When I sat down with her for an interview about her Angels of Addictions project, it quickly became evident that her sadness was what motivates her to paint the portraits of young heroin overdose victims. Anne Marie feels this work, painting portraits and talking about heroin addiction is now her life’s work, her mission.

Through her 501c3 non-profit organization, Angels Of Addictions, Anne Marie and her husband Jim work to raise awareness about heroin addiction, the stigma of heroin addiction and to help raise money for recovery services and a scholarship in their daughter Jackie’s name. Jackie died of a heroin overdose in October 2014.  (more…)

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If You’re Depressed, Be Open and Talk About It

March 23, 2016

An essay in today’s Washington Post about depression and suicide, details one young woman’s quest to be honest about her sister’s suicide, with the hope that she might help others think twice about suicide and get help:

I had to be honest. I had to tell the truth.

By the time I sat down to write my sister’s obituary I knew that the opening line could only be one thing: Aletha Meyer Pinnow, 31, of Duluth (formerly of Oswego and Chicago, IL) died from depression and suicide on February 20, 2016.

Eleni Pinnow said in her essay on her sister’s suicide:

The lies of depression can exist only in isolation. Brought out into the open, lies are revealed for what they are.

Here is the truth: You have value. You have worth. You are loved. Trust the voices of those who love you. Trust the enormous chorus of voices that say only one thing: You matter. Depression lies. We must tell the truth.

these-are-the-first-signs-of-depression-that-everyone-ignoresDepression is so common and yet we still have such a huge stigma about talking about it.

So many like this young woman in the story, Aletha Meyer Pinnow, who committed suicide at 31 years old, would rather keep their depression a secret than discuss it openly.

Here’s a few reason why that is wrong: (more…)

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Brides Across America Sponsors Designer Wedding Gown Event in Massachusetts

June 17, 2013

brides across americaBrides Across America is featured in the current issue of People Magazine this week with an awesome piece about the non-profit organization, based in Georgetown, MA, founded by Heidi Janson.

As People Magazine reports: (more…)

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R.I.P. Woodstock Legend Richie Havens

April 22, 2013

The great “folk singer and guitarist Richie Havens, who opened the 1969 Woodstock music festival, died Monday at age 72, his talent agency, the Roots Agency, reports.”

Fin Costello / Redferns file via Getty Images Richie Havens in concert in 1973.
Fin Costello / Redferns file via Getty Images
Richie Havens in concert in 1973.

Havens career spaned decades but he is perhaps most remembered as being the opening act for Woodstock with a 2 hour performance that included “improvising the song “Freedom” based on the old spiritual “Motherless Child.””

Here’s one of my favorite Richie Havens tunes: (more…)

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Simon & Garfunkel – The Sound of Silence

April 17, 2013

Thinking of the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings tonight…

Boston Strong…

 

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Musing and Rambling

Sometimes I muse and I ramble because I can... I muse about life and things that matter to me...

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