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Ganked in full from the news forum at OneWildNight.com:

Credit BonJovi.com
JON BON JOVI Honored by HELP USA (Part 2)

(Friday, May 5, 2006)
Below is the speech delivered by Jon Bon Jovi upon acceptance of the HELP USA HEROES AWARD at HELP USA’s 20th Anniversary Tribute Awards Dinner on May 4, 2006 in New York City

* Please note: this is not a transcript. Thank You, Governor Rendell for your warm introduction. Good evening Governor Cuomo, Andrew , Maria, Kenneth and to everyone affiliated with HELP USA. Thank you for the important work you do… thank you for this wonderful evening And for making me a part of it. To be in the company of my fellow honorees I feel privileged - congratulations to you all.

I’d also like to recognize Joan Dawson McCannon and Sister Mary Scullion from Project HOME in Philadelphia. Thank you for making the trip and joining us here tonight. Sister Mary once said “we are all each other’s mirrors. How we see each other affects how we help each other.” Like many of you here tonight, my involvement in charity work has evolved over the years. Some say with age comes wisdom, or at least in my case, the desire to learn more and to do more. And while my charity endeavors have been ongoing throughout my career (some public, most below the radar) it has been in the last several years that these goals have come into clearer focus.

In 2003 I became co-owner (along with my partner, Craig Spencer, who is here tonight) of the Arena Football League’s Philadelphia Soul. From the very conception of our franchise, the mission was to use the team as a way to give back to the community. Each season my directive to the staff was to find the LOCAL CAUSES, the Father Flanagan’s, if you will. I asked that they find me the ones who fell through the cracks… good causes in our backyard. Nothing was too big and no one was too small. My desire was to help anyone who needed it. PLEASE UNDERSTAND, the team is not making money – and any money we do make, we give away. But I’m proud to say that in our first three years, we have been able to give more than a million dollars to local causes in the name of the Philadelphia Soul.

The more involved I’ve become in charity work on this level, the more I find myself veering towards the issue of homelessness. It is the umbrella issue under which so many other problems have the opportunity to fester.

In the past year, the band and, I along with the Philadelphia Soul have become very involved with the work of Habitat for Humanity and we have been responsible SO FAR for six families having homes in Philadelphia .

AND I AM ABLE TO ANNOUNCE HERE TONIGHT THAT THE BAND’S CONTRIBUTION TO THE REBUILDING OF LOUISIANA IS ABOUT TO BEGIN. IN HOUMA, LOUISIANA WE WILL BUILD 20 HOUSES THAT WILL BE COMPLETE IN AUGUST OF THIS YEAR.

The work that Habitat does is important. Yet, it’s only one element of helping families who qualify be eligible to own a home. To qualify

1. They need to be employed.
2. They need to be able to donate hundreds of sweat equity hours and
3. They need to be able to pay a mortgage on their new home.

The program’s successes are undeniable. But remember, if you’ve met the standards for a Habitat home, you’re already at the top of the statistical heap when it comes to those in need. You’re looking to own a home – what about those in need who can’t fathom making rent or even having a warm place to sleep at night? To them, being eligible for that kind of help might be an unreachable goal.

With 3000 to 6000 people in shelters nightly and another 400 – 500 on the streets Philadelphia ranks #14 in cities reporting homelessness 25% of all Philadelphians are living below the poverty line…

In New York there are 32 thousand in shelters - 12,500 of them are children.

And tonight another 4000 will be sleeping on the streets and in our parks . New York currently has 21% of it’s population who are living below that poverty line.

Both PHILADELPHIA AND NEW YORK’s numbers are double the national average (this was reported in the USA TODAY.)

These are the people who have fallen through the cracks. There are faces and names of each of these people we are here for tonigh t– I’m not here talking about a hand out , I’m talking to you about a HAND UP.

Because What is basic for you and I … IS NOT… for someone who is homeless. Education is an obvious need – but the cycle only begins it doesn’t end with the children -- it’s also for the able and willing adults.
Consider the Adult homeless who want to go to work but can’t be hired for anything more than menial labor because they don’t have the basic skills – THE BASIC SKILLS
Think about it : COMPUTERS? MY KIDS NAVIGATE THEM EFFORTLESSLY. THEY’RE NATURALS. BUT THEY’VE BEEN EXPOSED TO THEM FROM BIRTH. MOST PARENTS ON THE OTHER HAND ARE ILL-EQUIPPED TO NAVIGATE THE TECHNOLOGICAL SEAS EVEN WITH UNLIMITED ACCESS TO COMPUTERS… NOW,THINK ABOUT THOSE LESS FORTUNATE.
Even working as a cashier at a major discount chain – if you don’t have basic computer skills, you won’t get that job.
How and where do these people get that opportunity?
How can someone begin to gain experience?

In Pennsylvania, the minimum wage is currently $5.15 per hour –. In New York, the state minimum wage is currently slightly higher – at - $6.15. Your Starbucks costs that.
Hell, Starbucks, who I applaud, give employees health insurance and stock options.
The difference between a minimum wage job in New York and a $10.00 per hour job is massive when you see how it actually affects the worker.
And if you don’t think it makes that much of a difference – that a job is a job to someone who really needs it – think again. $4.00 per hour… $32.00 per day… $160.00 per week…

That’s the difference of the quantity and quality of food you are able to feed your children.
That’s the difference of being able to pay a babysitter for a few hours after school so you can work to earn more money…
That’s the difference of being able to pay the electric bill or the Phone Bill – Heat, electricity and phone service are not luxuries – they are basic necessities.

We can and we must empower those who want to help themselves – do you want to make a difference?
It’s not just about these dinners – which do a great deal of good and raise a great deal of money.
And it’s not just about writing a check.
WE CAN MAKE VOLUNTEERISM HIP
Volunteer your time.
Donate your services.
Leaders of industry can sponsor corporate days for employees to train those less fortunate in internships

Welcome these programs into your neighborhoods – help create the people you want to share your community with. Given the chance, there are people looking to make the same kind of difference you are in the position to make, within their own lives and IN their own communities.

Be an advocate for change at the government level that can help END the cycle of poverty and homelessness.

Now I know that I have the advantage of celebrity which most of you don’t – I have the ability to turn a microphone or a camera and direct it towards something worthwhile.
And I know I might come off sounding like the NEWLY CHRISTENED preaching to the longtime converted – I KNOW many of you actively do all these things on a regular basis.

But I believe, out there, people want to help.
They want to give – and give more than money.
They want to give of themselves.
They just need to know how.
For those who are looking for a way to make a real difference but maybe don’t know how or where to begin – begin in your own backyard. Be it New York… or Jersey… or Philadelphia.

The benefits of the work organizations like HELP are doing is priceless – you can’t quantify the domino effect that helping even one person become self-sufficient can amount to.

Be the domino that sets off the chain reaction…