Challenging New Year

[photo at left: "Rubina Ali, star of the Oscar-winning film 'Slumdog Millionaire' sits in despair on the rubble of her damaged home after it was after it was demolished by the civic authorities in Mumbai, India" BBC News Day in Pictures December 30 2009]

 It's a brand new year, and I wish everyone the best. Three-hundred sixty-five opportunities to improve our lives, assuming we pursue just one goal per day.

I don't really make New Year resolutions, but I have a few things I want to improve upon and new realities I want to create for my life. It is said that we only fail if we quit, and that's a big part of my personal philosophy. Woody Allen said, "Ninety percent of life is showing up." I whole heartedly embrace that adage as well. As long as I'm getting out of bed, out of the apartment, and chasing my dreams, I consider myself successful. I've learned that if I expect much more from myself, I'll be frequently disappointed.

To work at evolving this blog into an out and out street newspaper that will help homeless people in Salt Lake City is my major goal for 2010. If you'd like to help, let me know how to contact you in a comment on this blog, or e-mail riograndereport@live.com. Let's resolve to educate Utah about homelessness together.

I'm sure many of us took advantage of the flood of charitable acts, such as Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners, coat, hat and boot giveaways, and the like. Thanks to all the volunteers and organizations that make it possible for us to enjoy some warmth and cheer. Let's resolve to remind everyone that homelessness is an everyday, everywhere problem, and we are not invisible the rest of the year.

We have a lot of individual and social challenges ahead of us. Let's make this a year where we acheive much progress.

Utah

Keep helping less fortunate through new year by John Flores Deseret News

Warehouse destroyed as fire burns two homeless men by Bob Mims The Salt Lake Tribune

OWATC worker finds opportunities for those in need by Trent Noone [Ogden] Standard-Examiner staff [photo: "Cynthia Prueitt is an employee of the Ogden-Weber Applied   Technology College..." courtesy of Standard - Examiner]

Shelter gives rare steak dinner St. Vincent de Paul serves special Christmas meal to large crowd by Paul Koepp Deseret News

[photo: Chen Wang Deseret News]

Nation

Below: Sherrif Deputies wake Harvey Lesser, 58, with a court order to evict him from his apartment on Dec. 11 in Boulder, Co. Lesser, an unemployed software developer with health problems related to obesity, said he stopped making rent payments after all of his savings were spent. Eviction and foreclosure rates soared in 2009, amid skyrocketing unemployment and an ongoing mortgage crisis. -MSNBC

            

Employers see uptick in hiring in 2010 Reuters

World

UK standard of living drops below 2005 level by Ashley Seager and Biba McCaul The Guardian

[Below: "Bhubaneswar, India: Slum children warm themselves near a bonfire"

Biswaranjan Rout Associated Press]