#WETOO Count

Katie Forbes captures a moment with Carole and a child at
the Drop-In Center

LOVE is all about a #WETOO movement that creates a force that saves lives. People seek the best for others by uniting in a common cause to let them know there is strength in numbers. One of our founding fathers, John Dickinson said "United we Stand and Divided we Fall." The founders of our nation worked so hard to create a document that freed them from British Powers and another one to preserve the rights of Americans and foreigners who live in the US. The first 10 amendments made up the Bill of Rights. Both the Republicans and Democrats haven't learn to coexist in the past decade. The Congress has become the World Wrestling Federation and the continuous fighting makes the United States a target for terrorists attacks. Lives are at stake in and out of the US. Dreamers are like their parents fearing deportation. Our founding fathers were Dreamers too with European descent. Throughout history who fought  in wars? Chinese, African slaves, Puerto Ricans, Cubans, Irish, Mexicans and other folks who were brought here by force or willingly to build America's infrastructure. Some women disguised themselves as men to fight for OUR freedom. Loreta Janeta Velazquez, a Cuban American fought in the American Civil war as a Confederate Soldier. Jennie Hodgers, an Irish Immigrant was a union soldier. Who worked on the tobacco, cotton, corn and fields of America? Who cooked the meals of our founding fathers? Nowadays who cook meals in the kitchens of popular restaurants we eat? Who built the homes we live in? Who are the housekeepers and landscapers? Who pick up the apples, plums, and lettuce we eat? Who works the jobs that Americans don't like to do? The answer is quite obvious, immigrants.

The center in McAllen, Texas.
Photo: RGV-FCB/Center for Border Protection

Daily Central Americans and Mexican immigrants with children make it to the border to be separated from them. The children are caged and traumatized in a foreign land. This is similar to placing these souls in concentration camps. But wait look at the current concentration/reservation camps of  Native Americans in Nevada and California. What happened to the Japanese Americans residing in America during WWII? They were placed in concentration camps? Along the way to America many thousands die walking, jumping on trains, crossing rivers and oceans both young and old. Jakilyn the 7 year old girl and Felipe the 8 year old boy from Guatemala are not the first to died. The corpses are eaten by coyotes, vultures and wild life. Those that make it alive to the border were resilient because the American dream motivated them through the perilous journey. They're some who become mules, an expression that means to carry drugs in orifices. They can't pay the coyote (smuggler) so they take the risk of transporting drugs internally wrapped in bags or condoms and hoping not for it to break or get caught at the American border.

Columbus, Ohio March for Our Lives 

These are tragic moments. People react differently under stress. The trench workers on the boarder say a wall is needed and acknowledge other measures must be included in the their request. The trench workers I belong to are not listen to by the politrickcians. Some of the arguments they created this year it was mind boggling. A lot lack common sense and eyes of compassion have created more deaths. Opiate overdose deaths are the rise, more children and women are being trafficked. Politicians create bills and don't give a hoot what is happening in the inner city. Our officials practiced the same tactics of Congress. This shut down is affecting many families why are they the pawns? Both parties are at fault!
Many immigrants complain of gun violence and leave their countries because they witnessed crimes. However, 2018 America had over 300 gun violence incidents from schools to synagogues. The Valentine massacre cost the lives of 17 students in Stoneman Douglas HS in Parkland, Florida. The Tree of Life Synagogue in Philadelphia lost 11 precious souls. Columbus made the national spot light  not only on gun violence.  In Westerville, Ohio two veteran cops were shot in a domestic violence dispute. The same community came

First Vigil of Donna Dalton

together to shut down a massage parlor that was a front for Asian trafficked women. Stormy Daniels arrest and the death of Donna Dalton, one of our West Side Street Sisters have brought the Federal Bureau of Investigation to uncover the not so good cops and unruly conduct like missing videos deleted due to a clerical error. 2019 is around the corner and the Dalton family still don't have peace of mind. Educating the public about women and children health issues on the Hilltop was shocking for many who were unaware. Most of the Columbus Public and Charters Schools were rated an F. What is going to happen to our children attending public schools especially in the poor neighborhoods? They grow up in poverty and many have been affected by the opiate crisis. Our children live in trauma. Our schools are not trauma responsive. There were several opiate surges of bad batches that cost lives on West and East Side.

Dose of opiates and Carfentanyl is an elephant tranquilizer

Most of the illicit drugs were laced with Fentanyl. People thought they were purchasing black tar instead it was cement a combo of heroin and Fentanyl. The West Side has several clandestine labs that have become proficient by disguising opiates to look like over the counter drugs. Ohio continues to be on the top 5 for opiate overdoses and human trafficking. Advocacy for the Drop-In Center has been a challenge. The progressive movement of old strategies seems to prevail and the folks in transition to inpatient settings are ignored. It is tragic for me to inform you friends that the Ohio leaders are in DENIAL. In contrast to the trench workers and victims who exchange avowal of Love. They are both being ignored.

Medical opiates treating illicit opiates are not helping when a person is on it for 10 yrs. I am tired of listening to the medication assistance treatment  centers personnel state these drugs are like insulin treating diabetes. Brain and Pancreas are two different organs and systems HELLO Central Nervous System and Endocrinology. There are addicts on the streets illegally using medical opiates like methadone and Suboxone and have developed a high tolerance to these drugs. Unfortunately, the inpatient doses don't work for them. The manufacturers of these medication assisted treatment drugs are multi-billionaires catching up with opiate manufacturers. Whatever happened to teaching folks to generate the natural opiates? What about these inpatient settings having gyms and teaching addicts how to eat healthy? How about teaching pain as a normal response of life and non-pharmacological methods? The opiate crisis is a failure due to treating emotional pain with synthetic pain relievers. The adolescent opiate addiction increase is related to them having nothing better than experimenting with parents medications; instead of becoming role models through community activities to help children on the Hilltop neighborhoods.
The pharmaceutical companies used the same aggressive techniques of drug traffickers to push Oxycontin, MScontin and other opiate pills to physicians! Physicians were wined and dined for prescribing these pills. Perdue Pharma, Cardinal Health and others are facing lawsuits. Which one receives the biggest tax break the clandestine or legal pharmaceutical labs? Who is going to receive the monies gained from the state lawsuits lawyers,  inpatient settings or incompetent folks who have no experience in the front lines in this chemical war? On November, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved another pain pill to be use when IV pain meds can't be used on the front lines or in hospitals called Dsuvia or Sufentanil which is 100xs stronger than morphine and 10xs stronger than Fentanyl this frightening! We have not won the chemical war yet and the FDA chose to accept it! AcelRx, the manufacturer has seen steady growth on their stocks. What is going to happen when the prototype is released and the clandestine labs get access to it?

Purdue Pharmaceutical Manufacturer of Oxycontin

Harm reduction models like Drop-In Centers have proven to be cost effective and save lives in urban and rural areas. NY, San Diego even abroad African  and Asian Countries have them. In Franklin County there is not one full-time Drop-In Center that addresses addiction and prostitution for women, their children and transgender folks. In 2019 1DIVINELINE2HEALTH Love Tribe will be breaking grounds and be the founders of the first full-time Drop-In Center unless the officials copy our ideas. We have major providers to serve part time for 2019 until we have our own place.  Our experiences with this vulnerable silent population have earned us their trust. We empathize with them because some of us have experienced their pain. They simply lack love during these trying times. It is love that leads them to holistic health and draws them to us. It is about WE can do this together. WE have become their mothers, grandmothers and sisters a safe blended family. The volunteers come from different backgrounds. Mothers who have lost daughters to opiates, nurses who care for children born to opiates, ex-felons, divorced women, ex-sex workers, rape survivors, and more. Our compassion and transparency continues to draw them to us. We cook, clean their wounds, hold them when they experience cotton fever. We provide some clothes, a place to rest and escort them to detox centers. Our love is relational and transforms lives. They eat a warm meal and pick up some condoms and we listen to their stories when they want to talk.

Our Street Sisters are resilient. Our survey indicated they came from all over the US. Advocating for them to officials and not having their support creates more red tape which translates to more deaths when they simply desire help. In the meantime, there are government funded inpatient programs with safe houses that provide access to illicit drugs. Amy Wickes- Passmore author of the book entitled From Privilege to Prison exposed the current drug smuggling tactics of these facilities. Some of the women runaway from them because it is much harder to get drugs on the streets. It is amazing to find each other on the streets, alleys and the Drop-In Center. Runners from these programs are issued warrants for not completing their rehab programs. More bad news local inpatient detox settings accept homeless addicts. They discharge the homeless addict within a few days to the same environment they had access to drugs similarly to the same approach of the prisons. Their first relapse with opiates can be a death sentence if they use the last dose.
Old methods have proven to be ineffective by the evidence of the increase death toll of babies, adolescents, women, and men who lack hope, love and access to treatment centers. Misery accompanies Misery! They gather and live in abandoned houses, garages and vehicles and homeless camps. The trench workers meet them in those places. The reason why the Hilltop has so many victims of  crime, opiate addiction, and human trafficking is the limited access to the abundant resources and it is a food desert. Grocery stores sell all types of alcoholic beverages, 50 cents cigarettes, illicit drugs, and no fresh fruits and vegetables. This is why the Drop-In Center is necessary because it is accessible to victims. For example, our Street Sisters need a syringe exchange program then the staff members from Equitas Health can facilitate the program. As a result, the women and Equitas Health providers benefit from each other. The patients receives the service and Equitas team gathers data and can provided treatment. As a result, the spread of Hepatitis C, HIV,  MRSA and other blood borne pathogens is minimized. The partnership is cost effective and doesn't call for the duplication of services. The resources come and serve the victims in a familiar and safe environment with trusted trench workers. Drop-In Centers are tailored to the community needs with nonjudgmental professionals and peer support staff they trust. The Drop-In Center is a conduit for victims to resources by service providers. They become empowered by being surrounded by a love tribe. Officials sit and focus on their well being and make up community policies by excluding the trench workers input. The lack of a moral compass is a lack of the golden rule which leads to ineffective policies which fuels the disintegration of a society. They come up with rules that limit the access of resources to trench workers who have access to the victims. The children of officials are better than the ones we work with. Our babies continue to die from neonatal abstinence syndrome and not accounted in the opiate deaths in our county and country. Our children attend F rated schools. Street Sisters have multiple pregnancies to replace the children they have lost to death or the system. This year Franklin County Children Services has 3500 extra children due to the opiate crisis. These children are traumatized and need help. Where is the help for them? Where is the support for the parents with children affected by addiction? Where is the support groups for the grand parents who are parenting their grand kids because their children are incarcerated or dead from an opiate overdose. Where are the support groups for immigrants, refugees and Appalachians who experience sexual violence and it is kept silent due to cultural taboos and fear deportation? Where are the counselors who are trauma trained? Where is the ADAMH providers who are trained to help folks with mental health and addiction? Why are there so many opiate task forces? They have become talk shows and don't host trench workers who are skilled but lack the RESOURCES of the audience? Why are the task forces not located in neighborhoods with the frequent opiate surges? We need a surge of Love Power to ignite some common sense to our officials!! The Drop-In Centers create safer, loving and drug free communities by empowering the victims. In Franklin County there is not one full-time Drop-In Center tailored to trafficked women with children who struggle with addiction especially on the Hilltop, known as the epicenter of several epidemics.

Camping in the Hood is Good at the Hilltop Butterfly Garden

Look at the Hilltop's infant mortality of 15.5 when the state level is a 7 and the national average is a 6. In comparison to the life expectancy of a baby giraffe from an extinct specie born in the Columbus Zoo which has a better chance to survive than a child born on the West Side. The baby giraffe has around the clock care and professionals that improves its quality of life. In the meantime a child on the Hilltop attends schools with limited resources and located in a food desert. Let us look at the US life expectancy it is 78.7, Ohio is 77, the Hilltop is a 61 and Franklinton a 60. The West Side leads with the highest prostitution arrests, number of dope houses under investigation, aggravated assaults and thefts. Several of the women we serve were brutally murdered and left for dead in abandoned houses.

Bobbie Renae Simpson Vigil

One of our Hilltop Street Sisters, Bobbie Simpson, was almost dismembered, placed in a container and set ablaze in Burbank Park located in Upper Arlington. In less than two weeks someone was found and recently indicted for aggravated murder, tampering with evidence, arson, and gross abuse of a corpse and DUI. Unlike the highly publicized murder of Donna Dalton on August when the police officer, Andrew Mitchell accused Donna of stabbing him on the hand and he shot her several times on self defense. Only God knows what happened in that car. The wound could have been self-inflicted. If she did stabbed him then she had a trigger so she acted on self defense. Andrew is still in Columbus free without badge and gun.  He is an owner of multiple properties tied to criminal activities. The investigation is on going and the Dalton family is left with 2 girls without a mother. Both Donna and Bobbie have been labeled as prostitutes of the West Side. We need to understand prostitutes are destitute women who lack love and this is why we call them street sisters. They are someone's daughter, mother, aunt, grandmother and sister. They are humans with feelings they need love and safety. Some of them were dumped out of foster care system, while others ran away from abusive relationships, and lost their jobs. On the Hilltop the perpetrators come from suburbs, they are police officers, lawyers, doctors, pastors, and contractors. Many of the street sisters we worked have been raped and they don't go to the ER or call the CPD to report the sexual assault because they fear going to prison. Tonight, I received a call from one of my East Side Street Sisters in a hospital who was raped by 3 men and hit on her head with a brick. These are the tragic stories of the broken souls we work with. These victims of human atrocities are precious broken souls that are Mosaics who have no self-worth. Are they better than the Hollywood women who came forward about the sexual violence and harassment experienced by powerful men?

Street Sisters power napping at the nurse station

This year the #METOO movement united victims of sexual harassment and violence to exposed some powerful men in Hollywood  to pay for their pain and suffering. Ashley Judd was one of the first actresses to report about being sexual harassed by Harvey Weinstein and then others came to surface. Matt Lauer, a Today show host extracurricular adulterous affairs cost him his job and a hefty divorce from his wife. Bill Cosby, America's Dad of the 80s is now paying time in a warm and cozy Pennsylvania prison as a life coach. Many women came forward to report about Bill Cosby using sedative pills before being sexually violated. Andrea Constand, testimony dethroned Bill Cosby even after receiving a $3.8 million settlement in 2006. As a result, he is paying his time by reflective journaling which eventually will become a book. Harvey Weinstein has hired several attorneys to avoid sentencing because there are a lot more women coming out of the wood work to testify about sexual violence and harassment.  It is mind boggling how perpetrators plead the 5th amendment and spend millions of dollars for their attorneys to speak for them while their victims need to report the graphic details. Locally, we don't have actresses and they sure don't have millions of dollars to pay attorneys. They are silenced by professional married men from suburbs who come on Sullivant Ave to pick them up and purchase sexual favors and sometimes drugs from them. Unfortunately, there are police officers who have sexually assaulted several of the street sisters and only less than a hand few have been convicted.

HuffPost photo of #METOO supporters 

The street sisters are homeless their criminal records are long with charges of drug possession, soliciting, loitering, and petite theft.  They are homeless when they enter and discharge from the jail, prison and local drug detox centers. Recidivism is high with our street sisters and homeless addicts. This year I was grounded on Columbus. I befriended the women on west side and later on the east side. The Drop-In Center hours were extended to 4 hrs and some of the street sisters came to help set up. They voluntarily told me their stories and participated in survey that has never been done before. The street sisters define resilient by the fact they have been brutally beaten, tortured, caged, and left for dead. There were others who died by an overdose or others brutally murdered like Bobbie  Renee Simpson who was known as Nae-Nae who was partially dismembered, put in a container and set ablaze at an Upper Arlington park and a community came in and gave Bobbie a dignify burial. The perpetrator was charge a million dollar bond. While the officer who shot Donna is free roaming the streets of Columbus on administrative leave. His badge and gun was taken to him. These women are part of our society and they are a part of the #WETOO have a voice. For that reason our survey was created to give them an opportunity to share their inputby a trusted individual. 100% agreed a full-time Drop-In Center is needed to have access to resources. They prefer to communicate word by mouth because they lack phones unlike the average person. On Sullivant Ave has there is access to many drugs. 40% of the dope houses under investigation and 70% of the prostitution arrests take place on west side. Columbus is rich with services and and the West Side and East Side street sisters don't have access to them. The solution is to have a place with trusted individuals to care for them at walking distance. They don't have cars to drive to the clinics, health department and other government agencies. Many of the women have warrants because they could not meet with their parole officers (PO) or judge. What women would want to have her PO meet her at a trap house? Many women prefer not to go to the local shelter because they are victimized by thieves, drug dealer and other perpetrators. We need to acknowledge victims have basic human rights and they have a voice no matter where they come from or where they live!

Martin Luther King Love is Justice Reform

This blog is dedicated to the women and souls lost purposely and questionably to violence. They are my Sheroes and will continue to motivate others to speak the truth and fight for the rights of the underserved especially local and global women and their children. Amy Wickes, the prison reform fire cracker, Donna Dalton, Bobbie Simpson and others left a legacy behind of social justice and it comes with a fight even if it cost one's life. Everybody can be a part of the #WETOO Movement it begins at home. The only prerequisite is love. Martin Luther King said "Love is the only force that can change an enemy to a friend." No matter what happens people continue to come to the US because they have loved ones that need help. Look at history. The Berlin wall came down. Look at Palestine and Israel the walls built by Caterpillar Company creates poverty and inhumane treatment. I have seen it for myself on one of my medical missions. Waterways contaminated, people removed by force from their land and displaced to concentration camps by Jews with descendants who experienced the German concentration camps and Egyptian slavery. What is Shalom? Internal and External peace! There is no Shalom when walls are built. They Shut Down human relations and communication. People are drawn to the United States because its name represents unity of states with opportunities for all cultures. Not all immigrants are gang bangers, human and drug traffickers. I absolutely agree with President Trump we need border control.  Immigrants should not be using children as a boarding pass it will not work with this administration. These retention centers that have been highly publicized existed in the 1990s. Our leaders have a lot to discuss on January and I hope the government shut down is resolved ASAP. There are families suffering. What about if all those congress folks wages were frozen! They and the judges do not need paid raises. What about the troops in Afghanistan why can the Congress bring them home to patrol our borders?  The pentagon says it cost the US $45 billion annually to fund the war in Afghanistan. Here is the Jack Pot to use $45 billions for safety and humanitarian efforts to help bring folks legally to the US to do the jobs Americans don't want to do. This money can help revamped our schools for both and young and adults.  I have observed the United States become disunited by arguments and a lack of mutual understanding for basic human rights in the local and national level.

Guatamalan Quechi girl who was 5  when we met

and carrying

her brother with a headband

I respect President Trump for tackling the border control issue that previous presidents did not touch but compassion is necessary. He is not at all an emotional man. He is simply a business man with a marketing agenda that brings him fortune. He cannot forget his grandfather, a 16 year old German Immigrant with a passion for success. Who got to see the Statue of Liberty. His father was Dreamer and built his real estate empire in America in which Donald Trump inherited. Why don't he invest $2 billion of his own money to cover the expenses of his wall. Our government is so fragmented like a broken piggy bank. He can call some of his international friends with money to fund his project and provided with a tax break. He knows all the loop holes that have kept him moving forward with all his bankruptcies filings. Only in America the majority pays for the minority mistakes. I realize I can't trust men but I can trust the God who allows me to create a Love Empire through community participation that serve a population that lacks love and so ignored. I hope that Columbus officials in 2019 for once choose to support 1DIVINELINE2HEALTH supporters and colleagues. We need to remember the US Motto "In God We Trust."  If our leaders learn to trust God they become prudent by living the golden rule which eliminates any ideology that creates tyranny and racism. We can't wait for our leaders to change because it creates a death sentence for victims. However, we can change our homes and communities. We need to learn from children ALL around the world they love, fight and forgive and live in harmony. To live and practice the golden rule We see kindness save lives. May 2019 create #WETOO movement that motivates you to break all boundaries of systemic racism, sexism, poverty, and injustices in your neighborhood and others. WE need to accept that in the eyes of the loving God WE are created equal. True happiness comes when we help others and we can change their surroundings. The receiver and giver of love are blessed and feel great. Physiologically, the good feeling chemical, dopamine is released. This is natural chemical that addicts (called doped heads) lack and seek synthetic drugs to mimic this feeling. Maybe if people belong to a healthy and loving community and had access to basic needs they would be no need to get high on opiates or commit suicide? Thomas Jefferson, one of our founding fathers said it best "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life liberty and the pursuit of happiness." The #WETOO movement is Social Justice through the lens of Love. Will you in 2019 become a part of the #WETOO Movement?