You never know who in your city, town or neck-of-the-woods lives and breathes extraordinary talent. That’s what I discovered as a reporter in Gainesville, Florida.

Sent out to get :30 seconds of video on the 90^th birthday of a dancer and choreographer at the then Santa Fe Community College, I soon realized a living legend working and teaching in our midst. Even with a modest appreciation of ballet, –never mind having once been a little girl taking ballet, in awe of prima ballerinas— a small scratch beneath the surface, it was clear that Alberto Alonso’s contribution to the art of dance merits more than a quick birthday announcement on local t.v. news.

His is a story of courage, passion and inspiration.

When I met the ballet master, it was the eve of his 90^th birthday, he was instructing a master class, along with his wife Sonia Calero. His physique and energy rivaled any man more than half his age.

The ballet master was born in Havana, Cuba in 1917. If you have ever seen the formidable American Ballet Theater dance company perform at Lincoln Center in NYC, you have experienced the influence of Alonso. With his brother Fernando and sister-in-law Alicia, Alberto created the Cuban style of classic ballet, that endures today.

Defecting from Cuba, Alberto graced premiere stages around the world from Monte Carlo to the Bolshoi in Russia. The themes of his pieces illuminated his desire and need for freedom. His illustrious career even graced the silver screen, alongside the venerable Fred Astaire.

In 1993, he was granted political asylum in the United States. Though in his 70’s he became Artist-in-Residence at what is now Santa Fe College, where he taught master classes in classic ballet. Alberto died on December 31, 2007 in Gainesville.

His life, love and struggle for freedom are documented, with amazing archive footage, in the film, “Dance of My Heart: The Life and Career of Alberto Alonso.”

This piece, that aired on WCJB, is the 1^st place winner of a Society of Professional Journalists award for Feature Reporting.

To learn more visit:

http://www.danzaballet.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1715

http://www.efluxmedia.com/news_Cuban_Ballet_Choreographer_Alberto_Alonso_Dies_at_90_12494.html

http://www.cubatravelusa.com/ballet_cuba.htm

This is the first part of a series of reports following the trials of a homeless family with four children and their parents. It is a portrait of what it looks like to be without home, hearth and the simple conveniences that one enjoys with a permanent roof over one’s head.

It is a 360-degree look at homelessness, from what led the Castellio family into their predicament, as they navigate the social services systems and housing issues, to what it took them to resolve their problems as the lives and well-being of their children and their marriage hung in the balance.

Like many families who find themselves losing their homes, the Castellio’s faced the foreclosure of the home they were renting. In hopes of making a better life in a different state they were lured by the promise of a job in Texas, only to find it did not exist. Returning to Gainesville they had run through their savings and were starting over.

Living paycheck-to-paycheck is the reality for most Americans. National statistics show that the average American is two paychecks away from becoming homeless.

How easy is it for you to find yourself homeless?

The wheels were already in motion to start cutting money from education, with Alachua County being one of the worst hit, so educators, students and union reps took to lobbying legislators at the state capitol to reverse what was already in motion.

Recently the president of the Florida Education Association, Andy Ford, asked, “Are we sacrificing a generation of students on an altar of fiscal responsibility?” In the last 15 months, Ford says, “… the [Florida] Legislature has cut more than $3 billion from the education budgets of our public schools.”

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http://feaweb.org/

Watch: Rally In Tally – Part 1

The Castellio’s fight every step of the way to keep their family together. As a father and husband, Christopher credits his resourcefulness as a former Marine and love for his family to resolving his family’s dilemma. Every impasse was an occasion to circumvent institutional bureaucracy.

According to the National Alliance to end Homelessness, “there is a common misconception that homelessness is an issue that only pertains to single men and women, but in reality thousands of families a year will experience homelessness.  In fact, 41% of the homeless population is comprised of families. Homelessness is a devastating experience for families.  It disrupts virtually every aspect of family life, damaging the physical and emotional health of family members, interfering with children’s education and development, and frequently resulting in the separation of family members.”

This story has a happy ending, but not all do.

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The major reasons and lack of causes for homelessness as documented by many reports and studies include:

• The deinstitutionalization movement from the 1950s onwards in state mental health systems, to shift towards ‘community-based’ treatment of the mentally ill, as opposed to long-term commitment in institutions. Many patients ultimately lost their rooms, didn’t get proper community health support, and ended up in the streets.
• Redevelopment and gentrification activities instituted by cities across the country through which low-income neighborhoods are declared blighted and demolished to make way for projects that generate higher property taxes and other revenue, creating a shortage of housing affordable to low-income working families, the elderly poor, and the disabled.
• The failure of urban housing projects to provide safe, secure, and affordable housing to the poor.
• The economic crises and “stagflation” of the 1970s, which caused high unemployment. Unlike European countries, US unemployment insurance does not allow unemployed insurance recipients to obtain job training/education while receiving benefits except under very limited situations.
• The failure of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to provide effective mental health care and meaningful job training for many homeless veterans particularly those of the Vietnam War.
• Foster home children are not given job training in school or at home. Without a means to make money, nearly half of foster children in the United States become homeless when they are released from foster care at age 18.
• Natural disasters that destroy homes: hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, etc. Places of employment are often destroyed too, causing unemployment and transience.
• People who have served time in prison, have abused drugs and alcohol, or have a history of mental illness find it difficult to impossible to find employment for years at a time because of the use of computer background checks by potential employers.

SOURCES:

Donohoe, Martin, M.D., “Homelessness in the United States: History, Epidemiology, Health Issues, Women, and Public Policy“, Ob/Gyn & Women’s Health journal, 2004;9(2) July 7, 2004.

Joint Hearing op. cit., May 1984, p. 32 IUD Office for Policy Development and Research, A Report to the Secretary on the Homeless and Emergency Shelters, May 1, 1984.

United States Conference of Mayors, “A Status Report on Hunger and Homelessness in America’s Cities: a 27-city survey”, December 2001.

United States Conference of Mayors, “US Conference of Mayors/Sodexho Hunger and Homelessness Survey: 2005” PDF (1.19 MB), December 2005, “Main Causes of Homelessness”, p.63-64. [1]PDF (62.3 KB) [2]

Vanneman, Reeve, “Main Causes of Homelessness“, University of Maryland

Cf. Levinson, Encyclopedia of Homelessness, article entry on Causes of Homelessness: Overview by Paul Koegel, pp.50-58.

Piasecki, Joe.”Throwaway kids: Thousands of area foster children leave county care for a dangerous and desperate life on the streets“, Pasadena Weekly, June 22, 2006.

Fagan, Kevin, “Saving foster kids from the streets“, San Francisco Chronicle, Sunday, April 11, 2004.