Where can people in need get help?

Who acutallly helps people in need and who doesn't?

AS IF BEING HOMELESS ENOUGH

Homeless people with no other place to go must live in public places. Unfortunately, instead of providing housing and other help to homeless people, cities across the country are making this behavior illegal – often sending homeless people to jail, and destroying their personal possessions, for the "crime" of trying to survive outdoors. 

Many cities misguidedly conduct homeless sweeps, where police officers seize and destroy the personal property of homeless persons. Such property often includes food, clothing, medicine, identification, and irreplaceable photographs or other personal items. Courts in San Diego, Sacramento, and Anchorage have ruled in favor of homeless people challenging these sweeps as due process violations or illegal seizures. In these cases, courts have both awarded damages and required cities to adopt new policies that require proper notice before sweeps take place, along with provisions for the storage of personal property so that homeless persons may retrieve it later.

BEING HOMELESS IS A CRIME

A 2012 U.S. government report noted that indicators of both homelessness and the criminalization of homelessness have increased steadily in recent years. For example, 33% of the 235 cities surveyed for a 2009 report cited by the U.S. government had an anti-camping ban in at least some public areas, and 17% had a citywide ban, effectively making these cities partial or total "no homeless" zones. Thirty percent prohibited sitting or lying in public places, 47% prohibited "loitering", and 47% prohibited begging in at least some public places. A subsequent 2011 report found that, since the data was collected in 2009, there had been a 7% increase in prohibitions on begging or panhandling, a 7% increase in prohibitions on camping in public places, and a 10% increase in prohibitions on loitering in particular public places. A new report from 2014 found that since 2011 city-wide bans on camping in public have increased by 60%, city-wide bans on begging in public have increased by 25%, city-wide bans on loitering, loafing, and vagrancy have increased by 35%, city-wide bans on sitting or lying down in particular public places have increased by 43%. bans on sleeping in vehicles have increased by 119% and city-wide bans on sleeping in public have continued in place since 2011.

Boise, Idaho, "anywhere from 2,000 to 4,500 people are homeless on any given night, while area shelters only have beds for approximately 300 and . . . space for approximately 400 more to sleep on mats on the floor." During the three years in which Boise resident Brian Carson has been homeless, he, like many local homeless people, has been frequently turned away from local shelters because they were at capacity. Carson received a disorderly conduct citation for sleeping in public after he had unsuccessfully attempted to find shelter. A police officer woke him up with a kick and said that if he allowed him to sleep outside others will do the same, which would be a "mess." The officer arrested Carson because of a warrant associated with a previous citation for sleeping in public, and Carson spent two days in jail. He was billed $50 for this period of incarceration, which he cannot afford to pay. Carson expressed fears that he will receive additional citations for sleeping in public places that will interfere with his ability to find employment and housing. He does not have the money to pay additional criminal fines.

Share Your Story

Do you have a story that shows a kind act? Maybe something you did, or saw happen?

What is a Time Bank

What is a Time Bank?

A timebank is a way to exchange services without charging money, and it's a way to get and give help. If you spend a few hours helping someone, you earn Timebank Hours for that service. Then later you can spend those Timebank Hours to get someone else to help you. This way you can help people with whatever you're good at and you can find people to help with what you're not good at. The key is that in a large group, you don't have to exchange both ways with the same person because the timebank keeps track of the hours you've earned. How is this different from a regular economy? It operates under the theory that when helping each other, everyone's time is of equal value. Sometimes time trading can help you find experts or teachers of things you wouldn't otherwise have access to, and sometimes it can get you services that you would otherwise have to pay money for. It's a new way to organize the traditional concept of neighborhoods and communities.

Why Time Banking?

Communities have lost the personal connections that provide support for basic human needs, as our society has become more mobile and there are fewer people at home with time to attend to caring for others. Caring for people does not have much value in our society if value is measured by financial reward. Individuals who are unable to participate in our current economic structure are marginalized, feel worthless and become alienated from society. The high level of alienation felt by increasing numbers in our society leads to communities characterized by distrust for neighbors, a lack of civic engagement and violence.

How will the Community Time Trade  Help?

The Time Trade Circle will redefine work to include whatever it takes to rear healthy chidlren, preserve families, care for the frail and vulnerable, and make neighborhoods safe and vibrant. The Community Time Trade will connect neighbors to neighbors who will treat time as a currency and will exchange services with one another. In the Community Time Trade  every individual's work is honored equally. The help Community Time Trade  members provide to one another will build a network of support, strength, and trust.

Join the Community Builder Time Trade

Core Values of Time Banking

Assets: We are all assets.
Every human being has something to contribute.

Redefining Work: Some work is beyond price.
Work has to be redefined to value whatever it takes to raise healthy children, build strong families, revitalize neighborhoods, make democracy work, advance social justice, make the planet sustainable. That kind of work needs to be honored, recorded and rewarded.

Reciprocity: Helping works better as a two-way street.
The question: “How can I help you?” needs to change so we ask: “How can we help each other build the world we both will live in?”

Social Networks: We need each other.
Networks are stronger than individuals. People helping each other reweave communities of support, strength & trust. Community is built upon sinking roots, building trust, creating networks. Special relationships are built on commitment.

Respect: Every human being matters.
Respect underlies freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and everything we value. Respect supplies the heart and soul of democracy. When respect is denied to anyone, we all are injured. We must respect where people are in the moment, not where we hope they will be at some future point.

Join the Community Builder Time Trade

Charitable Contributions

Publication 526, Charitable Contributions

This publication explains how to claim a deduction for charitable contributions. It discusses organizations qualified to receive them, the types of contributions you can deduct, how much you can deduct, what records to keep, and how to report them.

Current Products

Publication 526 (HTML)

Recent Developments

Other Items You May Find Useful:

All Revisions for Publication 526

Publication 542, Corporations

Form 8283, Noncash Charitable Contributions

Publication 561, Determining the Value of Donated Property

Form 8828, Recapture of Federal Mortgage Subsidy

Form 8899, Notice of Income From Donated Intellectual Property

Other Current Products

Standard Mileage Rates

Earlier Years

2007: IR-2006-168

2006: IR-2005-138

2005: IR-2004-139
          Pub. L. 109-73  
          IR-2005-99

2004: IR-2003-121

2003: Rev. Proc. 2002-61

2002: Rev. Proc. 2001-54

2001: Rev. Proc. 2000-48, 2000-2 C.B. 570

2000: Rev. Proc. 99-38, 1999-2 C.B. 525

1999: Announcement 99-7, 1999-1 C.B. 306
       Rev. Proc. 98-63, 1998-2 C.B. 818

1998:  Rev. Proc. 97-58, 1997-2 C.B. 587

1997:  Rev. Proc. 96-63, 1996-2 C.B. 420

Tax Deductions and Credits

Deducting Business Expenses

Business expenses are the cost of carrying on a trade or business. These expenses are usually deductible if the business is operated to make a profit.

What Can I Deduct?

To be deductible, a business expense must be both ordinary and necessary. An ordinary expense is one that is common and accepted in your trade or business. A necessary expense is one that is helpful and appropriate for your trade or business. An expense does not have to be indispensable to be considered necessary.

It is important to separate business expenses from the following expenses:

• The expenses used to figure the cost of goods sold,
• Capital Expenses, and
• Personal Expenses.

Cost of Goods Sold

If your business manufactures products or purchases them for resale, you generally must value inventory at the beginning and end of each tax year to determine your cost of goods sold. Some of your expenses may be included in figuring the cost of goods sold. Cost of goods sold is deducted from your gross receipts to figure your gross profit for the year. If you include an expense in the cost of goods sold, you cannot deduct it again as a business expense.

The following are types of expenses that go into figuring the cost of goods sold.

• The cost of products or raw materials, including freight
• Storage
• Direct labor costs (including contributions to pensions or annuity plans) for workers who produce the products
• Factory overhead

Under the uniform capitalization rules, you must capitalize the direct costs and part of the indirect costs for certain production or resale activities. Indirect costs include rent, interest, taxes, storage, purchasing, processing, repackaging, handling, and administrative costs.

This rule does not apply to personal property you acquire for resale if your average annual gross receipts (or those of your predecessor) for the preceding 3 tax years are not more than $10 million.

For additional information, refer to the chapter on Cost of Goods Sold, Publication 334, Tax Guide for Small Businesses and the chapter on Inventories, Publication 538, Accounting Periods and Methods.

Capital Expenses

You must capitalize, rather than deduct, some costs. These costs are a part of your investment in your business and are called capital expenses. Capital expenses are considered assets in your business. There are, in general, three types of costs you capitalize.

• Business start-up cost (See the note below)
• Business assets
• Improvements

Note: You can elect to deduct or amortize certain business start-up costs. Refer to chapters 7 and 8 of Publication 535, Business Expenses.

Personal versus Business Expenses

Generally, you cannot deduct personal, living, or family expenses. However, if you have an expense for something that is used partly for business and partly for personal purposes, divide the total cost between the business and personal parts. You can deduct the business part.

For example, if you borrow money and use 70% of it for business and the other 30% for a family vacation, you can deduct 70% of the interest as a business expense. The remaining 30% is personal interest and is not deductible. Refer to chapter 4 of Publication 535, Business Expenses, for information on deducting interest and the allocation rules.

Business Use of Your Home

If you use part of your home for business, you may be able to deduct expenses for the business use of your home. These expenses may include mortgage interest, insurance, utilities, repairs, and depreciation. Refer to Home Office Deduction and Publication 587, Business Use of Your Home, for more information.

Business Use of Your Car

If you use your car in your business, you can deduct car expenses. If you use your car for both business and personal purposes, you must divide your expenses based on actual mileage. Refer to Publication 463, Travel, Entertainment, Gift, and Car Expenses. For a list of current and prior year mileage rates see the Standard Mileage Rates.

Other Types of Business Expenses

• Employees' Pay - You can generally deduct the pay you give your employees for the services they perform for your business.
• Retirement Plans - Retirement plans are savings plans that offer you tax advantages to set aside money for your own, and your employees' retirement.
• Rent Expense - Rent is any amount you pay for the use of property you do not own. In general, you can deduct rent as an expense only if the rent is for property you use in your trade or business. If you have or will receive equity in or title to the property, the rent is not deductible.
• Interest - Business interest expense is an amount charged for the use of money you borrowed for business activities.
• Taxes - You can deduct various federal, state, local, and foreign taxes directly attributable to your trade or business as business expenses.
• Insurance - Generally, you can deduct the ordinary and necessary cost of insurance as a business expense, if it is for your trade, business, or profession.

This list is not all inclusive of the types of business expenses that you can deduct. For additional information, refer to Publication 535, Business Expenses.

Reasons to Support Local Businesses

1.  Local Character and Prosperity

In an increasingly homogenized world, communities that preserve their one-of-a-kind businesses and distinctive character have an economic advantage.

2.  Community Well-Being

Locally owned businesses build strong communities by sustaining vibrant town centers, linking neighbors in a web of economic and social relationships, and contributing to local causes.

3. Local Decision-Making

Local ownership ensures that important decisions are made locally by people who live in the community and who will feel the impacts of those decisions.

4.  Keeping Dollars in the Local Economy

Compared to chain stores, locally owned businesses recycle a much larger share of their revenue back into the local economy, enriching the whole community.

5.  Job and Wages

Locally owned businesses create more jobs locally and, in some sectors, provide better wages and benefits than chains do.

6.  Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship fuels America’s economic innovation and prosperity, and serves as a key means for families to move out of low-wage jobs and into the middle class.

7.  Public Benefits and Costs

Local stores in town centers require comparatively little infrastructure and make more efficient use of public services relative to big box stores and strip shopping malls.

8.  Environmental Sustainability

Local stores help to sustain vibrant, compact, walkable town centers-which in turn are essential to reducing sprawl, automobile use, habitat loss, and air and water pollution.

9.  Competition

A marketplace of tens of thousands of small businesses is the best way to ensure innovation and low prices over the long-term.

10.  Product Diversity

A multitude of small businesses, each selecting products based, not on a national sales plan, but on their own interests and the needs of their local customers, guarantees a much broader range of product choices.

Good Deeds You Can Do Today

I'm a firm believer in doing good deeds. I'm a naturally kind and compassionate person, and I believe that every negative experience in life can result in something positive. As my content producer motto says, what goes around, comes around. One good turn deserves another, and if more people would do good deeds on a regular basis, this trend would keeping on going. A chain reaction of good deeds would occur, and people would be kinder, more patient, more understanding, and more tolerant of others who share our magnificent planet. Although many of the following good deeds are really nothing more than examples of good manners, sometimes we all need reminders. Instead of focusing on the negative things in life and our own personal problems, focus on what you can do for others, and do good deeds as often as possible. The good deeds you do for others will come back to you in many ways. Besides providing a good feeling that only comes from being kind to others, you will create a positive chain reaction of good deeds.

1.  Have you ever been short a penny or two and ended up with a pocket full of change? Leave your extra pennies in the penny container at your local gas station. You might need one or two someday. Those who are generous and do good deeds will be rewarded in many ways.

2.  Elderly people who live alone can become lonely and depressed - even if they lead a busy life. Call an elderly friend or loved one, and let them know you are thinking of them. You could find yourself alone someday and wishing for someone to talk to.

3.  We've all experienced waiting in line in the store with a single item. Instead of remembering the times when you had to wait, let someone go ahead of you in line at the store. These are good deeds that keep on giving.

4.  We've all been behind someone who didn't bother to hold the door when entering a building, but as the old saying goes, two wrongs don't make a right. Hold the door for someone else, and let them go ahead. Just because someone else isn't polite doesn't mean you shouldn't be.

5.  Wild birds provide beautiful songs and natural splendor to our world. Provide birdseed and fresh water to our feathered friends, especially during winter months when food and water are hard to find. They will in turn provide you with many hours of viewing and listening pleasure.

6.  If you have clothing and household items you no longer want or need, don't just throw them away or turn them into rags. Do good deeds by donating gently used clothing and other usable goods to The Community Builder or another charity of your choice.

7.  Our throwaway society is being overrun with trash, and we're well on our way to burying ourselves in rubbish. Recycle instead of throwing everything away. Do your part to prevent waste, and help keep our world clean. Good deeds that help future generations are some of the most important of all.

8.  Saying hello, and have a nice day really shouldn't be on a list of good deeds, but many people are rude and don't acknowledge those who serve our daily needs. Tell people provide services to you thank you, and have a good day. You might just make their day a little more pleasant with good deeds that are really simple acts of kindness.

9.  I believe that teachers are one of our greatest assets, and considering what they do, they are underpaid and most certainly under-acknowledged. As a parent, one of the nicest deeds you can do is to ask your child's teacher how you can help in the classroom. Teachers can use all of the extra help they can get!

These are just some of the many good deeds you can do to help make our world a better place to live.  Try to be kind to everyone - even those who aren't kind in return, and  try to stick up for those who are victims of ridicule and injustice. In the end, no one will be able to say with truth that you were rude, uncaring, or unkind, and you will have made a difference to as many people as possible during your lifetime. Our world is filled with too much hate, and hate multiplies like a deadly virus. Any simple act of kindness will create a domino effect that will make a definite difference. The positive can overtake the negative, and doing good deeds are the best ways to start.

Share your good deeds that others can do and help make the world a better place.