Wind Attack: The Palate Pleaser!

Andy Windak of famed food blog, The Wind Attack, will be tantalizing our taste buds with savory, delectable treats. With a global food theme of "Little Bites Around the World," he and others will contribute tasty morsels engaging our imagination and experiences from around the globe!

Make sure to check out his utterly sumptuous and beautiful creations at http://www.windattack.com.

The Facts...

Stats on LA/Santa Ana... the facts behind why we believe in the need to support PATH and 511 and why this party is happening...

Homelessness in Los Angeles:

• Los Angeles rated the “meanest city towards homeless” (http://bit.ly/1l86G)
• Los Angeles: an estimated 254,000 men, women and children experience homelessness in Los Angeles County during some part of the year and approximately 82,000 people are homeless on any given night. Unaccompanied youth, especially in the Hollywood area, are estimated to make up from 4,800 to 10,000 of these
• women and children (families) are the greatest increasing population of homelessness

Source: http://www.endhomelessness.org/

Poverty and Education in Santa Ana:

• The Los Angeles Times ranked Santa Ana as number one in the nation for “urban hardship” and “the nation’s toughest place to survive.”
• Santa Ana has the highest density of apartment dwellings in the United States, with over 50% of the inhabitants being minorities living at or below the poverty level.
• Fifty six percent of all gangs in Orange County are in the cities of Anaheim, Orange, Santa Ana and Tustin. Santa Ana alone has 91 gangs.
• 17 percent of people live in poverty. 21 percent of related children under 18 live below the poverty level, compared with 13 percent of people 65 years old and over.
• Fourteen percent of all families and 31 percent of families with a female householder and no husband present had incomes below the poverty level (as compared to the 6 percent of all families living below the poverty level in the all of Orange County)
• 50 percent of people 25 years and over had at least graduated from high school and 11 percent had a bachelor's degree or higher. Fifty percent were dropouts; they were not enrolled in school and had not graduated from high school (as compared to 18 percent were dropouts in all of Orange County- a huge gap!)

Source: Santa Ana Unified School District

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2005-2007 American Community Survey

Foster Kids in Orange County

• Over 3000 children in Orange County are in foster care system in out-of-home care.
• Almost 300 foster care teens each year emancipate or “age-out” of the dependency system at age 18.
• Nationally, 25 to 50 percent of emancipated youth become homeless. Lack of job skills and opportunities are major contributors.
• The 1999/2000 Orange County Grand Jury reported that within 12-18 months after leaving the foster care system 27% of males and 10% of females had been incarcerated.
• It is estimated that two thirds or more of prison inmates were in foster care.

Source: http://www.orangewoodfoundation.org/about_abuse.asp