It’s now time for the much-anticipated latest entry in our ongoing series, “What the #*$% happened to those guys from Cardboard Canary?” I know this question is at the forefront of everyone’s mind, so I’m here to answer it with December-time musical developments. Blake Brown is working on Longbottom Leaf, a new prog-rock band which I’m mixing, Rob Ogden and I are composing/playing in both Make-Believe Machines and Grimfeather, and Bradford Johnson…is crafting a new vision of what Hell will probably look like. That vision is called X-celsis.

You see, after playing in Cardboard Canary, Bradford went on to strum his way through the pop-punk bands Rosefield Rivals and Stallions Versus Unicorns. None of these groups were quite insane enough for him, so he downed a few bottles of eggnog-whiskey, after which he promptly vomited Christmas all over the 80′s. Want to see what that looks like? Watch the music video for X-celsis’ debut single, “‘Tis the Season (of Love)” right here.

For the past eight months I’ve been working on a project about homeless youth in Iowa. Today, I finally sit down to share with you what I’ve been doing.

I’ll start with the beginning:

I arrived home from Perth, Western Australia after publishing a book about women in a minimum-security prison called Boronia in December 2007. 

Glad to be home and ready to be active in my home community, I signed up for a writing/service-learning course with hopes of replicating the process I’d performed in Perth. In February of 2008, I began volunteering with Iowa Homeless Youth Centers (IHYC) at their Street Outreach shelter. As part of the class, I wrote about what I experienced; and, what I experienced was very interesting. I heard stories from youth that were shocking — kids who’d been abandoned, come from rural parts of the state where shelters don’t exist, been jailed for drug addictions, continually missed opportunities presented them, etc., etc., etc. It was so sad. It was also then I realized how complicated of an issue homelessness is, for there is not just one reason why someone becomes homeless, but lists and lists of reasons which all intertwine. It was heart-breaking, learning first-hand about these other parts of my home community, about these parts of community I’d never seen. The idea of starting a new writing project, then, began forming.

This past March, as I was standing in Easter Sunday Church, I dreamt up the specific details for a new book idea. I got to work drawing up ideas, talking to everyone who’d listen, and getting to know the youth within the shelters. Then, I started talking to the volunteer coordinator about a writing project concerning homeless youth. Her interest was slow at the beginning – I still had many parts of the project to figure out. So I spent the summer gathering my thoughts, pushing and pushing the idea, and continuing to volunteer at Street Outreach. 

Then, one day in mid-August, the volunteer coordinator called me with a full vision of the project – she’d had time to look through the book about women in prison, and saw what could be presented to the general public through the medium of a book. Finally, I had to approval of the entire IHYC organization, and so I got to work. 

Since September 2008, I have been volunteering at IHYC Street Outreach and Lighthouse shelters in Des Moines, and Youth and Shelter Services Rosedale and 712 shelters in Ames. I spent time getting to know the staff and youth within the shelters at first. Then, in late-September as I was washing dishes at the place I deliver pizzas (my part-time job), the title of the book came to me: From a Growing Community, Iowa’s Homeless Youth. The title is like the closing of a letter. Within the title, Growing contains the idea of the homeless youth population and how it grows around us everyday. Growing can also represent how a community develops when it starts to learn about the different populations that compose it – a function of this book. The latter part of the title also serves a dual function: it stands for the homeless youth population as a whole, but it also, as in the closing of a letter, is a singular with one homeless youth reaching out to say they are Iowa’s. 

Taking my lead from the title, I thought ‘why not make the book look and be like an actual collection of letters from homeless youth.’ I then wrote letters to youth within all the shelters I volunteer at to see who would respond. I wasn’t sure how it would work, but then the letters started coming and coming. Some youth wanted to just sit and talk instead of writing, and that was fine, too. 
Now, I’ve collected nearly all of the stories I need for the book. There are still letters and stories coming in, and I’m just thrilled. The writing process will continue for the next couple of months. 

Behind the formulation of ideas and collection of stories, there has also been my effort to write foundations to get funding for the project. The proposal I have finally finished will be mailed out this week. Then, I have to wait with crossed-fingers, hoping the funding will come. I’m pushing for an April release of the book. The money, then, needs to be raised by March for the first printing. 

Each day I wake up and work on this project through my own efforts. I deliver pizzas and wash dishes to pay my bills, and that leaves me with enough extra to do nothing besides talk to whoever wants to listen and live in community. And it’s great. It’s a wonderful feeling, taking action to help. And that’s what this whole project is all about. Helping. It cannot be only me. It needs to be anyone and everyone who is interested. 
I encourage you to write me or share this with others if you have more questions.

I’m going to use this blog to post excerpts from stories, as well as keeping you updated on the money raising process. I’ll use it to post up facts on the issue as well.

Photograph by Justin Norman.

Over the past six months, my duties at Shrieking Tree have changed significantly from Web-based work to assisting friends with pre-existing projects and attempting to raise awareness about issues that I feel are very important. As a part of this change of focus, my friend and room mate Danny Heggen will begin posting about his second book, From a Growing Community, Iowa’s Homeless Youth tomorrow.

In November, I began assisting in a small part with editing stories and taking a large amount of photos for it with my brother, Wesley.

Danny has a great deal to say about the book, and I hope you’ll enjoy the thoughts and excerpts he shares in the following months. Thanks again for reading!