• Listen to the entire program

President Elect Barack Obama has named New York City’s Housing commissioner, Shaun Donovan to head the Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD. Intended to deal with urban poverty, HUD has historically been underfunded and overlooked by past Presidents. But Donovan, who is a former HUD official under Clinton, has been credited with increasing affordable housing options in New York during his tenure there. Obama has said he expects his HUD Secretary to take a lead role in stemming the tide of home foreclosures and enable more Americans to remain in their homes. In his radio address last week, the President elect justified why he picked Donovan to lead HUD.

The statistics of how many people are hungry and/or homeless in the United States, are looking increasingly grim as the economic recession worsens. They have become victims of a perfect storm with the crash of the housing market leading to a wider crash on Wall Street as a result of irresponsible speculation, job losses, foreclosures, stringent credit, rising food prices, and a poor government safety net that has been progressively eroded over the last decade and a half. The majority of people in trouble have to rely on a patchwork of non-profit food banks and shelters who are themselves struggling for donations. As temperatures plummet across the country, this winter may turn out to be a grim holiday season for many.

We spend the hour today examining hunger and homelessness nationally and locally, the reasons for it, the stories of ordinary people affected by it, and what you can do about it in the short and long term.

As you know KPFK is in a one day radio-a-thon. It is the end of the year and the giving season; and during our one day radio-a-thon, when you contribute to KPFK today – you will be giving twice! Instead of a DVD or book, if you pledge $10 dollars a month today, as your thank-you gift, KPFK will purchase 25 hot meals for the needy. If you pledge $20 dollars a month, KPFK will purchase 50 hot meals for the needy, as your thank you gift! There are various levels of giving and you can talk to our volunteers in the phone room for details at 818-985-5735.

GUESTS: Susie Shannon, Housing Advocate with the Los Angeles Coalition to End Hunger and Homelessness, Frank Tamborello, Director of Hunger Action Los Angeles, Jeff Dietrich with the Catholic Worker, and Ernest Savage, journalist working on poverty issues in Los Angeles for over a decade

Frank Tamborello recommends calling Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to pressure him to preserve the state’s social safety net at 916-445-2841.

For more information, visit www.lacehh.org, www.lacatholicworker.org, hungeractionla.org.