By Gary Hume | Apr 26, 2023
I started Family-to-Family in 2002 in response to a New York Times article that described an Illinois community so poor that many houses had dirt floors and children went to bed hungry. Moved by the news piece, and up for a challenge, I got on the phone, called the...
By Gary Hume | Apr 26, 2023
When I was 60, in 2005, I was at a community organizing meeting in Los Angeles with organizers from all over the country. Sister Pearl Caeser, an organizer from Texas, was telling us how teachers there were doing home visits with extraordinary results. Reading scores,...
By Gary Hume | Apr 26, 2023
In April 1999, with 34 years’ experience in juvenile and criminal justice, I attended a conference in Miami, Florida, where along with others, I watched live coverage of the Columbine High School shootings. Two students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, killed 18...
By Gary Hume | Apr 26, 2023
The first homeless person I ever met was at a shelter, where I was volunteering. I drove back to seminary, realizing that the women there were much more like me than different. For the next 20 years, I devoted myself to homeless services, but I saw no reductions in...
By Gary Hume | Apr 26, 2023
A college education opens a world of opportunities. In 2002, when California’s “master plan” – a guaranteed spot in college for every eligible student – was gutted by post-tech-bubble funding cuts and increasing demand, my encore project,...