In 2018, a homeless man found a check for $10k and his only thoughts were returning it to its rightful owner. Because of his good deed, he was rewarded with a chance at a whole new life. Elmer Alvarez had been living on the streets of New Haven, CT for several years battling addiction. The unexpected death of his brother from a heart attack spurred him into a dark spiral of addiction and crime.
Having finally kicked his addiction, he never considered keeping the check despite still living on the streets. Alvarez said “It never crossed my mind because I made a decision to turn my life over. I’d been clean for three years. I was just thinking about how that person was feeling by losing an amount of a check like that, an amount of money like that. I’d be feeling kind of desperate.” It turns out that the check belonged to real-estate broker Roberta Hoskie.
Luckily for Elmer, Roberta was full of compassion for his situation due to her own experience with homelessness as a teenage mother. “He didn’t know whose name was on the check, he didn’t know that at one point I was a single mother, I was at one point on welfare, and at one point found myself homeless” Hoskie said.
She offered him a reward for returning the check, which brought tears to Elmer’s eyes. Roberta also offered Elmer a place to live, paying his rent for seven months, and had him attend her real estate school for free. Hoskie said she was in awe of his actions. “There needs to be more people like Elmer Alvarez, he’s a golden heart guy, he’s a phenomenal guy.”
Years later, Alvarez is able to support himself as a realtor and is on the board of directors of Outreach Foundation, a non-profit Hoskie started to help with housing and resources for homeless teens and young adults. Hoskie also wrote a book- “Poverty Curse Broken: The Roberta Hoskie Story” with the hopes of inspiring others to break the poverty cycle.
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An 8 year-old Arkansas boy started a GoFundMe for his favorite Waffle House waiter after finding out he was living in a motel. Kayzen Hunter’s mom Vittoria Hunter said they started going to breakfast at their local Waffle House in Little Rock just about every other weekend and her son would always talk about how much he liked the waiter, Devonte Gardner.
For Gardner, the feeling is mutual. He would greet Kayzen with a high five and always remembered his usual order -scrambled eggs with cheese, no toast, hash browns covered with cheese and an Arnold Palmer. Gardner says “He’s a wonderful kid. He tells me jokes every time he comes in, like, ‘Hey, Devonte, I got a joke for you,’ and the next thing you know, we’re laughing,” he adds.
Vittoria said “As we started to go more and more and we met Devonte, we realized he’s just really a light in the world. It got to the point where we always would sit in his section, he’s so smiley, he’s always like, ‘Hey, Kayzen, how are you?’” One day, Kayzen learned that Gardner had moved into a motel 8 months earlier because his daughters were getting sick from black mold in their apartment and the heat stopped working. The move meant he had to hold off on buying a car.
Vittoria said “He came home and said ‘Hey, Mom, Devonte walks or gets a ride to work and I’m gonna start a GoFundMe,’” Hunter said he begged her for a while to do the GoFundMe before she agreed to take the plunge. The initial idea was to raise enough money to help Gardner buy a car so the original goal was to raise a modest amount of $500 for Gardner. They posted the GoFundMe titled “Help Devonte get a family car” on Feb. 18. Though the Hunters say the GoFundMe started out slow, after passing the initial goal they decided to raise it to $5,000.
As the GoFundMe gained more attention, the amount raised skyrocketed to over $100,000. Gardner just signed a lease on a two-bedroom apartment and plans to get a minivan but will save the rest of the money for his kids. Gardner said Kayzen is a positive kid with a huge heart and he’s thankful he came into his life. Vittoria said “I think so many people spend a lot of energy complaining about what they don’t like but if you just be positive, then you know eventually love and positivity is gonna prevail. It always does.” Kayzen’s father Korey Hunter said “‘Be the change you wish to see in the world,’ right? We know who we are as people and we know the potential of what our children can be.”
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The actor Kevin Spacey has been charged with felony sexual assault for allegedly sexually assaulting a teenager in a bar in Massachusetts in 2016. A public show-cause hearing was held for the case Dec. 20 where Clerk Magistrate Ryan Kearney issued a criminal complaint for the charge against Kevin S. Fowler, also known as Kevin Spacey. Spacey is due in court on January 7 to face the felony charge that could bring him up to five years in prison. Spacey has denied the charges.
The alleged assault on a male victim took place at a Nantucket bar in July 2016. Last year, former Boston TV news anchor Heather Unruh held a press conference to share her son’s allegation of sexual assault against Spacey. She stated that her then 18-year-old son said was sexually assaulted by Spacey inside the Club Car Restaurant on Nantucket. Unruh says her son was not of legal drinking age but had told Spacey he was and that the actor bought him drink after drink after drink. “My son was a starstruck, straight 18-year-old young man who had no idea that the famous actor was an alleged sexual predator or that he was about to become his next victim,” she said at the time. “When my son was drunk, Spacey made his move and sexually assaulted him.”
The Nantucket Police Department began its criminal investigation in November 2017, said Massachusetts attorney Mitchell Garabedian, the attorney for the alleged victim. The department has since transferred the case to the district attorney’s office. Garabedian said in a statement, “The complainant has shown a tremendous amount of courage in coming forward. Let the facts be presented, the relevant law applied and a just and fair verdict rendered.” Multiple men have come forward with accusations of sexual assault and harassment against Spacey since October 2017, which prompted Netflix to abruptly cut ties with and drop the actor from its hit political drama House of Cards. Spacey is still under investigation in Los Angeles and in England for other alleged sexual assaults.
Soon after the charges were filed against Spacey, the actor posted a bizarre video to his Twitter account where he portrays his House of Cards character Frank Underwood. The actor addresses his House of Cards fate while also saying that he knows his fans want him back. “I know what you want,” Spacey begins in Frank’s accent. “Oh sure, they may have tried to separate us, but what we have is too strong, too powerful. After all, we shared everything, you and I. I told you my deepest, darkest secrets. I showed you exactly what people are capable of. I shocked you with my honestly, but mostly I challenged you and made you think. And you trusted me, even though you knew you shouldn’t. So we’re not done, no matter what anyone says. And besides, I know what you want. You want me back.”
“Of course, some believed everything and have been just waiting with bated breath to hear me confess it all. They’re just dying to have me declare that everything said is true and that I got what I deserved. Only you and I both know it’s never that simple, not in politics and not in life,” he says. “All this presumption made for such an unsatisfying ending, and to think it could have been such a memorable sendoff.” He goes on to say that in both life and in art, nothing should be off the table: “I can promise you this. If I didn’t pay the price for the things we both know I did do, I’m certainly not going to pay the price for the things I didn’t do.” Spacey ended the 3 minute video by directly calling out his death on House of Cards. The actor puts on Frank’s signature ring before walking off. “My confidence grows each day that soon enough, you will know the full truth,” he says. “Wait a minute, now that I think of it, you never actually saw me die, did you? Conclusions can be so deceiving.”
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In an effort to broaden the company’s “social interaction” with our clients and FaceBook fans, Daily Trivia Questions are posted on both of our business pages. Here are the weekly standings for this past week, and the winner of the Sunday night Weekly Drawing for an AmEx gift card!
Congratulations – To this past week’s Trivia Contest Winner!! Our latest contest winner for the weekly FaceBook HealthInsurance4Everyone/Health & Life Solutions, LLC Trivia Contest, drawn randomly by computer late Sunday evening, December 23rd, 2018 was:
TRACEY SMITH
Winner Of A $25.00 AmEx Gift Card
Each day, fans who have “liked” either of our company FaceBook pages (HealthInsurance4Everyone or Health & Life Solutions LLC) are able to test their skills with our Daily TRIVIA QUESTION. The first 20 winners who post the correct answer to the TRIVIA QUESTION, will then get entered into the weekly drawing held late on Sunday evenings for a $25.00 Am Ex Gift Card.
Weekly Gift Card winners will be posted in our blog at this site. Remember to become a FaceBook fan and “Like and Follow” either of our company pages to enter and post your answers.
Here are the daily contestants from last week’s Trivia Contest that were entered into the Sunday drawing:
12/17/18
Jill Nauyokas
Alexis Maureen
Tina Mimick
Nicole Blaha
Kayte CookWatts
Priscilla Shimp
Brooke Scott
Beth Cleveland
Karen Bondehagen
Nikki Hunsaker
Amanda Nicole
Misty Shallcross
Tiffany Greene Elliott
Neil Anderson
Tom Cavalli
Joann Tompkins-Winborn
Desire Kighlinger Swarm
Deborah Farris
Holly Cajigas
Lisa Marie Ferraiolo Whitener
Karen Brunet Moore
Tracey Smith
12/18/18
Ashley Agner
Jeanne Marie Rousseau
Josephine Casey
Shannon Rush
Phylicia Phillips
Kristina Harris
Amie-Lee George
Bea Patrick
Nacole Patrick
Karron Redfield
Misty Dawn Moores
Joanna Hacker
Jessica Steiner
CopperWorks Paul Hardy
Sheila Carvell
Brooke Scott
Nacole Patrick
Cherilyn White
Tonya Velazquez
Blanca Carrillo
Samantha Brwn
Joann Tompkins-Winborn
12/19/18
Kathleen Marks
Angel Shearl
Deborah Farris
Becky Hartman
Tracey Smith
Lisa Puckett
Tracy Heyer
Nai Merri
Jennifer Ramlet
Brittany Seiler
Audessa Vaught
Jenifer Garza
Jennifer Ramlet
Susan Clarke Jette
Amber Stewart
Tiffany Greene Elliott
Stacy Nelson
Johanna Landsaw-Davis
Stephanie Griffith
Lori Sexton Leal
Tracy Shafer
12/20/18
Karen Brunet Moore
Brandy Williams
Jill Nauyokas
Darlene Whyte
Jennifer Vega
Andrea Ayala
Hunter Coffey
Jennifer Garza
Dale Fish
Carol Jean
Tina Auth
Misty Shallcross
Tom Cavalli
Erica Hansen
Edward John
Sunney Michelle Johnson
Debbie Gremlin
Karen Rimiller Presley
Jenn Smith Jackson
Pallavi Deshmukh
Anna Nichols
Leah Denton
Mya Murphy
Becca Dotsun
Nupur CBorty
12/21/18
Jill Nauyokas
Kelsey Brooke Vinson
Tiffany Greene Elliott
Nai Merri
Brooke Scott
Becky Hartman
Amber Conaway
Kimberly Kay
Cherilyn White
Christy Hawkes
Brittany Seiler
Jeanne Marie Rousseau
Anna Nichols
Amanda Nichole Young
Debbie Gremlin
Kayla Clemons
Jessica Ownby
Tiffany Borek
Kalyani Nam
Tina Mimick
Nikki Hunsaker
12/22/18
Joann Tompkins-Winborn
Debbie Gremlin
Shannon Rush
Tabitha Rentschler
Jessica Ownsby
Deborah Farris
Sarah Frank
Alison Giffune Paige
Nicole Blaha
Sarah Bellestri Shih
Tracey Shafer
Kendra Lynne Ramsey
Becky Hartman
Derek Jennings
Darlene Whyte
Cheryl Hall
Tina Auth
Andrew W Sauer
Alyssa DiFazio
Aarti DM
Autumn Dansby
Lisa A Mazola
Josephine Casey
Kimberly Taylor Hall
12/23/18
Ann Patrick
Amy Marie Wilkinson
Eleazar Ruiz
Mike Adamski
Melissa Mae
Cherilyn White
Sunney Michelle Johnson
Tracy Heyer
Be Schwerin
Amber Jacobs
Suzie Mize Lockhart
Amy Chavis
Amie-Lee George
Alyssa DiFazio
Megan Rhyne
Heather Wheeler Shaw
Tom Cavalli
Angel Shearl
Rosanne Clark
Kimberly Snyder
Be sure to watch both of our FaceBook pages for your chance to win and enter again next week, with questions posted daily on HealthInsurance4Everyone or at Health & Life Solutions, LLC!!
Remember that if you try your hand at answering the Trivia Question several days each week, your odds of winning the Sunday weekly drawing are much better.
Also note that a number of the posted answers each day are from contestants who have forgotten to “Like” one of our pages, so their names WILL NOT be entered at the end week drawing for the gift card, giving our fans a better chance!
You may also find that if you “Like” BOTH of the business pages, you will receive faster notifications of the other players as they post their answers to compete with you!
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At Health Insurance 4 Everyone, we not only want to improve our customer service but also interact with our customers on a social media level that wasn’t available before. Interested in connecting with us? Look us up on….
Twitter: Healthinsurane4 (Follow Us On Twitter To Receive Faster Notifications When Daily Trivia Questions Posted, & To Be Immediately Notified When Weekly AmEX Gift Card Winners Are Announced!!)
Click-On for LinkedIn To Follow Our Posts: LinkedIn
Like us on facebook: HealthInsurance4Everyone or Health & Life Solutions, LLC
Over 54,000 Combined Fans/Followers To Our Social Media Sites, & We’re Growing Daily!
Follow Mark Shuster, Founder/Owner at Health & Life Solutions, LLC for daily health tips!
Mark Shuster FaceBook Link
Follow our word press blog and read about everything from health insurance and reform news to healthy living and current events!
Company Blogs
Find out more about LegalShield, our corporate partner which gives you the power to talk to an attorney about any legal issue, and offering high-quality Identity Theft plans.
LegalShield
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In an effort to broaden the company’s “social interaction” with our clients and FaceBook fans, Daily Trivia Questions are posted on both of our business pages. Here are the weekly standings for this past week, and the winner of the Sunday night Weekly Drawing for an AmEx gift card!
Congratulations – To this past week’s Trivia Contest Winner!! Our latest contest winner for the weekly FaceBook HealthInsurance4Everyone/Health & Life Solutions, LLC Trivia Contest, drawn randomly by computer late Sunday evening, June 17th, 2018 was:
MARY MURPHY
Aurora, IL
Winner Of A $25.00 AmEx Gift Card
Each day, fans who have “liked” either of our company FaceBook pages (HealthInsurance4Everyone or Health & Life Solutions LLC) are able to test their skills with our Daily TRIVIA QUESTION. The first 20 winners who post the correct answer to the TRIVIA QUESTION, will then get entered into the weekly drawing held late on Sunday evenings for a $25.00 Am Ex Gift Card.
Weekly Gift Card winners will be posted in our blog at this site. Remember to become a FaceBook “fan” on either of our company pages to enter and post your answers.
Here are the daily contestants from last week’s Trivia Contest that were entered into the Sunday drawing:
6/11/18
Melissa Ann Stura-Bassett
Anggie Marie
Amy Chavis
Kathleen Marks
Jill Nauyokas
Misty Shallcross
Wendi Black
Jennifer Ramlet
Tracey Smith
Chuck Derr
Brittany Light
Cheyenne Shaw
Dawn Raasch
Mary Murphy
Marilyn Wall
April Ashcraft
Kiki Roberson
Dawna McKnight
Diane Hamric
Kelsey McKnight
6/12/18
Kathleen Marks
Sarah Harrison
Kendra George
Christy Hawkes
Chris Maxwell
Tiffany Greene Elliott
Tonya Velazquez
Pheobe Gerou
Ashley Agner
Wendi Black
Sheri Boydston
Kim Floyd
Brandi K Chaney
Tabitha Sinks
Karen Goodwin Delaney
Murphy Mya
Karen Bondehagen
Jenn Smith Jackson
Jennifer Cameron
Jill Nauyokas
Wilma Mast
Jazmine Nichole
6/13/18
Brittany Light
Marilyn Wall
Melissa Ann Stura-Bassett
Kim Avery
Amber McGrath
Dale Fish
Brandi K Chaney
Jill Nauyokas
Priscilla Shimp
Preeti Chand
Alisa Jones
Georgiann D’Angelo
Chris Maxwell
Sunney Michelle Johnson
Crystal Young
Darlene Whyte
Sarah Harrison
Amy Conyers
Susan Clarke Jette
Michelle Webb
Eleazar Ruiz
Dawn Raasch
6/14/18
Wilma Mast
Kendra Lynne Ramsey
Tabitha Sinks
Jenifer Garza
Nacole Patrick
Trish Musgrave
Jade Good
Trish Marks
Alicia Dansby
Jill Nauyokas
Christina Domingue
Bea Patrick
Mary Ann Cody
Stacy Lynn Nelson
Tonya Velazquez
Kristina Harris
Chrissy Kim
Brooke Scott
Kiki Roberson
Kimberly Snyder
6/15/18
Kathleen Marks
Amanda Peters
Pheobe Gerou
Jenn Anthony
Jenifer Garza
Nicole Blaha
Kendra George
Trish Hysell
Mary Ann Cody
Tabitha Sinks
Dawn Raasch
Kiki Roberson
Christina Montes
Becky Holland
Vinessa Vaquez
Christy Martinez
Mary Achio
Mary Murphy
Nai Merri
Bea Patrick
Joan Tompkins-Winborn
Sunney Michelle Johnson
Murphy Mya
6/16/18
Sunney Michelle Johnson
Brittany Light
Jill Nauyokas
Amber McGrath
Melissa Ann Stura-Bassett
Jennifer Alice Duran
Jenifer Garza
Beth Embrey
Murphy Mya
Betsy Brandon Riddle Smith
Jennifer Marie
Sheila Carvell
Jennifer Leffler
Alexandra Vindiola
Amber Chandler
Lauren Bradley
Chrissy Kim
Deborah Farris
Maria Bouchard
Lenis Abshire
Mary Achio
Kristina Rosson
Christy Martinez
Becky Holland
April Ashcraft
6/17/18
Priscilla Shimp
Jennifer Ramlet
Sunney Michelle Johnson
Marilyn Wall
Kimberly Snyder
Melissa Ann Stura-Bassett
Isis Sample
Sheila Carvell
Alexandra Vindiola
Amanda Brewer
Harley Magoon
Stella Methvin
Kathleen Hickman
Andrew W Sauer
Amber Chandler
Dale Fish
Jill Nauyokas
Mary Mcmenamy
Joann Tompkins-Winborn
Mary Pettiford
Be sure to watch both of our FaceBook pages for your chance to win and enter again next week, with questions posted daily on HealthInsurance4Everyone or at Health & Life Solutions, LLC!!
Remember that if you try your hand at answering the Trivia Question several days each week, your odds of winning the Sunday weekly drawing are much better.
Also note that a number of the posted answers each day are from contestants who have forgotten to “Like” one of our pages, so their names WILL NOT be entered at the end week drawing for the gift card, giving our fans a better chance!
You may also find that if you “Like” BOTH of the business pages, you will receive faster notifications of the other players as they post their answers to compete with you!
—————————————————————-
At Health Insurance 4 Everyone, we not only want to improve our customer service but also interact with our customers on a social media level that wasn’t available before. Interested in connecting with us? Look us up on….
Twitter: Healthinsurane4 (Follow Us On Twitter To Receive Faster Notifications When Daily Trivia Questions Posted, & To Be Immediately Notified When Weekly AmEX Gift Card Winners Are Announced!!)
Click-On for LinkedIn To Follow Our Posts: LinkedIn
Like us on facebook: HealthInsurance4Everyone or Health & Life Solutions, LLC
Over 54,000 Combined Fans/Followers To Our Social Media Sites, & We’re Growing Daily!
Follow Mark Shuster, Founder/Owner at Health & Life Solutions, LLC for daily health tips!
Mark Shuster FaceBook Link
Follow our word press blog and read about everything from health insurance and reform news to healthy living and current events!
Company Blogs
Find out more about LegalShield, our corporate partner which gives you the power to talk to an attorney about any legal issue, and offering high-quality Identity Theft plans.
LegalShield
Read more
Newly released research shows hate crimes in major cities across the United States rose by more than 20% in 2016. The data released by the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino, shows there were more than 1,000 hate-related crimes committed in 2016—a 23% increase over 2015.
Another report released in February 2017 by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) monitoring group showed that the total number of hate groups in the US in 2016 grew to 917 from 892 a year earlier. There are now more anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant, anti-LGBT, white nationalist, neo-Nazi, neo-Confederate and black separatist organizations. The sharpest increase was among anti-Muslim groups, which grew from 37 in 2015 to 101 in 2016. The number of Ku Klux Klan (KKK) chapters, racist skinhead groups and anti-government militias and political groupings has declined, according to the report.
The overall number of hate groups likely understates the real level of organized hatred in America as a growing number of extremists operate mainly online and are not formally affiliated with hate groups. In the first 10 days after Trump’s election, the SPLC documented 867 bias-related incidents, including more than 300 that targeted immigrants or Muslims.
The Federal Bureau of Investigations defines a hate crime as a “criminal offense against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by an offender’s bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender or gender identity.”
Many major cities are reporting an increase in hate crimes since the start of 2017. In New York City, there were 100 hate crimes from January 1 through March 5, compared with 47 during the same period last year. In Chicago, the police department tallied 13 during the first five weeks of 2017 — more than triple the number recorded in the first five weeks of last year.
A coalition of civil and human rights organizations has created a national database and a hotline aimed at getting victims help — including lawyers. The effort, led by the Leadership Conference Education Fund and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, is intended to build upon the work of the Southern Poverty Law Center, the nation’s leading watchdog against hate groups.
Eleven organizations have joined the effort, representing African Americans, Latinos, Muslims, Arabs, women and the LGBTQ community. Calling themselves Communities Against Hate, they will aggregate data in an effort to document hate crimes and provide victims with social services and pro-bono attorneys. In addition, a new Muslim-Jewish coalition is pushing the government to provide more data on hate crimes and focus on punishing offenders. The group represents an effort to get advocates to stand up for people of other faiths and ethnic backgrounds.
In recent months, incidents of hate have been directed against transgender women, Jews, African Americans, Hispanics, Muslims, Hindu Americans, Sikh Americans and others. Recently, 156 civil and human rights groups urged Trump in writing to respond faster and more forcefully to hate-based incidents. In his recent address to a joint session of Congress, the president condemned “hate and evil in all of its very ugly forms,” but critics have said he had taken too long to issue that statement.
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