Friday, January 4, 2019

How To Handle Curve Balls - Take Action

How To Handle Curve Balls #TakeAction

Dec. 6, 2018

by CathyHarrisInternational.com, Syndicated Columnist

You guys know that I have allowed my life to become somewhat of a teaching or learning lesson for you - my listening and reading audience. 

So therefore, let me tell you the truth about two recent #CurveBalls that happened to me and how I was able to pick myself up by the #BootStrap, put one leg in front of the other and keep moving.

But first let's go deeper into what exactly are #CurveBalls. Curve Balls  could be the loss of a loved one through death or a break up (or divorce) -- loss of a house or job, and the loss of your health. 

Growing Up Resilient - #StillIRise

My first #CurveBall was being born the family's #BlackSheep  child with 8 other siblings;  forced out of my home at age 17 after I graduated high school with no family support; ended up in the military where I experienced sexual harassment from high ranking sergeants; then ended up working for the federal government for over 20 years, where I experienced over 11 years of #WorkplaceAbuse#StillIRise.  

The message, #StillIRise from #MayaAngelou (#MyGreatestMentor) is about the resiliency,
strength, and beauty that black communities continue to show through hundreds of years of oppression and discrimination.

The theme of "Still I Rise" is also about self respect, and confidence. In the poem, she reveals how she will overcome anything with her self-esteem. She shows how nothing can get her down.

How To Successfully Deal With #CurveBalls

Let me let you in on a #BigSecret that I learned a long and #DarkTime ago. Many times when people experience #CurveBalls , they become #Fearful. But what you need to understand is that #ActionAlleviatesFearand there is some type of action -- for every type of fear.

If you are afraid after experiencing a 
#CurveBall (a death, break-up/divorce, loss of a house or job or a sickness) then just keep moving - keep walking through the fear and eventually that fear will turn into #Enthusiasm and #Joy.

Why Cathy Harris Exist

Everyone experiences  CURVE BALLS  in their lives, especially women. Some can be worse than others and these  #CurveBalls will come and go as you move forward  in your life. 

As an Empowerment Speaker at
AngelsPress.com, my own reasoning for
existing is to teach my target audience, women ages 30-60, how to deal with 
#CurveBalls.  

I am so passionate about helping others get over
#Heartbreaks, whether they come from the opposite sex or  simply from trying to #SurviveToday
in this paradise called #Life. My goal is to help you find your way back to #Reality

An Old #CurveBall (#LossOfHealth)

Many of you have heard me talk about how I #HealedMyOwnSelf and became a #NationalNonGMOHealthExpert and#HolisticHealer --12 years ago, when I found myself #Housebound and #Bedridden

It has to be one of the most
#DefiningMoments that I ever experienced in my life. That was a major #CurveBall
 (#LossOfHealth) that was thrown at me and it lasted for months, until I realized I was the cause of my ailment and I had to be the cure.

Only then was I able to  #SaveMyOwnSelf. The illness and #ActionSteps that I took were documented in my first health book "How To Take Control of Your Own Life: A Self-Help Guide To Becoming Healthier Over the Next 30 Days" (Series 3) . 

If you are serious about being healthy read the 12 Chapters in the book, which are 12 #ActionSteps. It's the #BestBook out of my 26 non-fiction books,
including my 6 health books arsenal of knowledge.

#WorkplaceCurveBall - #TakeAction 

Not everyone can become a#BusinessOwner so for many  #Married and #SingleWomen,
(#SingleMothers), learn everything you can about how workplaces work.   

The goal is to have enough information in your #BrainBank, so when somethingdamaging or devastating happens to you in your workplace or life, you can #TakeAction, instead of checking out of society in sometype of #DepressiveState.

This is easier said than done because we all know people, especially women, who have #NeverRecovered
from  #CurveBalls  that they 
have experienced in their lives. 

I saw it  #FirstHand when I worked for the  federal government for over 20 years and became an 
Some of the women who experienced#WorkplaceAbuse to this day have never recovered. 

Some are still to this day, confined to their homes, unable to function in this society. Remember#WorkplaceAbuse can be just as#Detrimental and #Damaging as
#PostTraumaticStressDisorder (PTSD). The same PTSD that menand women experience in the military during#WarTimes. There is no difference!

And I know several women who have been raped
and sexually assaulted and can no longer function as #FunctioningMembers of society. 

My First #CurveBall - A "Relationship Break-Up"

Firstly, six months before I left my last relationship in September 2018, in Austin, Texas, I knew I wanted out!  Breakups are never easy, however, everyday as I got out of bed, I would
#TakeActionSteps by #PlanningMyMove to another state and even started purging my life of things.

I admit because I had lived with such a #MaterialisticMate for over 3 years, I too had accumulated things I just did not need. So Iended up throwing stuff away (even books), however, under different circumstances, I would have kept these items. 

I ended up leaving with what was on my back and what would fit in my car. The same way I arrived. Because I did not want this man to know the city I had relocated to, he did forward several boxes that just would not fit in my car to the home of a relative in another city.  

Initially, I could not leave because of mydevotion and commitment to finishing up my  #GardeningProject, my  "One Year Gardening Journey" and documenting it for my family and audience, so when I completed the journey, I packed up and left my old city. 

So the #FirstCurveBall was a #BreakUp. Many people handle breakups differently. For some they agree to stay in the same household and just be friends. Sometimes they take these steps because of finances, or they just don't have any clarity or direction yet. 

Many others after a #Breakup just move out of the house to a place in the same city or the next city over or even move in with relatives. But for me, I wanted and needed
#Distance and #Solitude

If you know you need to leave a relationship and can't do it on your own, get a family member
or friend to help you go over the #Pros
and #Cons of whether you should stay or go or help walk you through the process of 
#LeavingARelationship

For me, my #YoungestDaughter helped me think clearly about leaving my mate. It wasn't just the relationship, but I just felt I had outgrown the area. 

I found the weather to be very problematic with the extremely hot temperatures in the summer months, living in a rural area in a #FoodDesert and not making the types of
friendships that I really desired as I reached further into my #GoldenYears. 

She had witnessed me first-hand complain about these things the entire time I lived in the area so she knew I needed a change.  I had to get him especially out of my life so that I could start the
#HealingProcess -- the sooner the better -- and this meant #Distance 

The excitement of a #NewMove
and #NewLife thrilled me so I needed the #Solitude to rethink some things as I continued to move forward. I did not want to wake up breathing the same air as him or live in the same climate as him, so I moved at least 2 days ride by car from him. 

My Second #CurveBall - #BrokenFrontTooth

Secondly, my #CurveBall was the loss of my beautiful smile at age 62. It's been my goal for months to stop writing e-newsletters and articles and #StartFilming all my presentations on facebook.com, instagram.com, youtube.com, vimeo.com and other video platforms. 

A s a business owner, you have to stay in front of your #TargetAudience or
#TargetMarket, who is women ages 30-60. I do this by writing regular 

As I was finishing up my "One Year Gardening Journey," in Austin, TX, I did stopwriting for a spell and had set up my background in my office for filming videos -- preparing to do nothing but film videos. 

This is because most folks are  "visual". They want to see what you look like and what you sound like so if you are teaching a certain group of individuals today, especially African Americans, you will only be able to reach them through#VisualPlatforms

A s I prepared to  #SwitchGears and get away from  writing e-newsletters and articles , but teach my audience instead with #Videos, I was on my way to the gym and I bit down on a nut bar and out of the blue, my teeth broke off. 

This was at the same time that I was#HalfWay out of the door of my relationship.  Now this was the teeth next to my two front  teeth so you can imagine why that did to my "psyche"

I was devastated! Not only had this
#AlteredMyPlans  to leave Texas, but it altered my plan to #StartFilming
my videos in my business, and most of all -- it altered how I looked -- period. 

Many people (especially Seniors) can and do #FallIntoDepression  when something like this happens to them, especially if they don't have a #SupportSystem around them and especially if they are already dealing with 
#RelationshipIssues .

Some even see a loss of a #FrontTeeth as a#Disfigurement, especially since it alters your entire look. And for those who are not #FinanciallyAble to fix the tooth, they can again -- fall into depression.

Before I received the partial plate, one of my daughters suggested that I go ahead and just film myself from the other side...kind of like what TV does with Don Lemon on CNN, who has a scar on one side of his face. So they always film him from the other angle. 

I knew how to do this, but it just seemed like it would be too much work so I #Postponed filming my videos and continued to stay in front of my audience by continuing to write
enewsletters, articles and work on books. (Boycott Blueprint, #27 coming soon).

That was on a Friday evening when my teeth broke so I had to spend two days trying to figure out my next move. All the dentist's offices were closed until Monday so I had to practice speaking with my mouth closed.

I was able to go to a dentist on Monday and right away we tried to come up with an  #ActionPlan  for my teeth. The dentist stated because of where the teeth were located, a bridge from another teeth was out of the question.

He said the  #OnlyOtherChoice  I had was to get an  "implant" in my mouth. They said their offices don't do implants, so they referred me to another dentist. So as soon as I got an appointment with the other dentist office, I took the earliest appointment.

Once the dentist did an examination of myentire mouth, he came back with an
#ActionPlan for me to get a
"dental implant."He said before he could even get the implant for my mouth, I needed
oral surgery, where they would finish removing the broken teeth; implant donor bone into my jawline; and fit me for a partial plate. 

Replacement teeth supported by dental implants function so well supposedly and last so long because, like natural teeth, they are
securely anchored in the jawbone for maximum support. 

In order to benefit from this remarkable technology, however, you need to have enough
tooth-supporting bone in your jaw to hold a dental implant in place. 

Unfortunately, after tooth loss, the surrounding bone almost always deteriorates - decreasing in width, height and density - and this process starts immediately. 

The longer a tooth has been missing, the more the bone that used to surround it resorbs (melts away). The bone used in a bone graft can come from your body or a donor, or it can be entirely synthetic. It can provide a framework where new, living bone can grow if it's accepted by the body.

I was hesitant about this procedure and wish the bone donorcould have came from my body -- instead of a #DonorBody. However, this was the #OnlyOption I had to get back my beautiful smile. 

He said I would have to wait 5 months for the donor bone to heal before they can put in the #Implant.
The dentist also said before he could put in the implant, I needed work completed on two other teeth, which his office did not do so he referred me back to the other dentist.

My thoughts were that these dentists probably #TagTeamed  each other to make money.  So right away I knew it would be a long-drawn out process to get my beautiful smile back again. But I was ready to #TakeAction and put in the work to get back on track with my teeth, my business and basically my life.

Before I went to the dentist's office, I went out and paid $100 for dental insurance at Delta Dental.  But the dentist office said that if I am 
going to work with them, I needed to cancel my dental insurance because they go through a credit company called "Care Credit," which many people also use to take care of animals.

They then referred me to their in-house financial office and man for once in my life, I was glad I had #GoodCredit. Four-thousand dollars ($4,000) later, I am still waiting to get the #DentalImplant and is wearing a partial plant made by the dental office.

I told them when they made the partial plate,make it small since it was only for ONE TEETH.
ut when I went in to get fitted, it went all over my entire mouth, which means even now, it's hard to #Breathe sometimes with the partial plate in my mouth.
And it's also hard to #Speak with the partial plate in my mouth, and especially to #Eat with it in my mouth. And some days I just forget and walk out of the house without it.

This is all by design. They make the LARGEST and MOST EXPENSIVE partial plates for your mouth and charge you the most money for all these procedures. They make these partial plates uncomfortable so that you continue to get expensive procedures (if you can afford it) recommended by dentists.

Now since I am in a new city, I need to find another dental office that deal with "Care Credit" and who does implants and other dental procedures -#ThePriceYouPayForBeauty.

To this day I am not even sure that "dental implants" are healthy for your mouth or is this going to be a "foreign object" in my body.  However, if these are the 
#OnlyDentalProcedures they can do, then I guess I have no other option. 

It's either that or have all my teeth pulled and get false teeth or dentures, but overall, I don't want to do that because at age 62, I still feel like I have a "healthy mouth." 

I do have several dental amalgam (heavy metal fillings from when I was in the military) and this is why I have issues with #HeavyMetalPoisoning
leaking into my system (my body) so therefore, I need to continuously eat foods that rid my body of #HeavyMetals or engage in regular detoxification
(detox for short) programs. 

Dental amalgam is a liquid mercury and metal alloy mixture used in dentistry to fill cavities caused by tooth decay. Supposedly, they use different material for dental fillings today.

Many seniors lose their teeth and become "shut-ins" because of their embarrassment. I understand the feeling totally by my own experience with my #CurveBall.

So make sure you take care of your teeth as you age. Don't use your teeth to open packages and don't eat foods that can damage your teeth. 

I think God that my recent #CurveBalls
weren't that bad, and all I had to do was #TakeAction and continue to move forward. Again, don't allow #CurveBalls  to stop you in your track. 

Have enough info in your #BrainBank bysurrounding yourself with #SmartPeople and t urn your home into a #LearningCenter by reading books, watching online seminars, workshops, webinars and conduct research on Google.com and YouTube.com -- so that you can #BounceBack after any #CurveBall and get on with the process of living your best life ever. Good luck!

Cathy Harris is an Empowerment and Motivational Speaker, Advice Columnist at DearCathy.com, Non-GMO Health and Wellness Expert, Business Coach and Self-Publishing Expert and the author of 26 non-fiction books at www.AngelsPress.com. Her books covers topics such as family and community empowerment, health, youth and adult entrepreneurship, writing/publishing, workplace discrimination, whistleblowing, government, law enforcement, domestic and international traveling, politics, media, beauty, car buying and selling for women, aging/retirement - just to name a few. She offers seminars, workshops and consultations at www.CathyHarrisInternational.com.  

Living Off the Grid With A Tiny House

 
Living Off The Grid With a Tiny House

Nov. 29, 2018

by Syndicated Columnist,  CathyHarrisInternational.com

Joining the Minimalist Movement

At 62 both my daughters want to make sure Iam okay as I go into my  "Golden Years."
After all that's why many people have kids in the first place - right?

After speaking to both my daughters on the 2018 Thanksgivingholiday by phone, they have really given me some great ideas.

I raised my daughters to #ThinkLogically so all 3 of us kind of #TagTeam ideas off each other. I am seriously thinking about becoming a "Minimalist" and "Going Off the Grid" and moving into a "Tiny House." 

When you call a person a Minimalist, you're describing their interest in keeping things very simple. A Minimalist prefers the minimal amount or degree of something. But anyone who likes things very simple could be called a Minimalist.

I am currently living in a Studio/Efficiency Senior apartment building in Orlando, FL, but since everyone smokes cigarettes, I will definitely have to move after my one year lease is up. 

But because I moved into such a small space, it actually gave me the idea to think about "Tiny Home" living. However, this is not the smallest space that I have lived before. In 2014, I rented out a room at a big house in Tampa, FL for $450 (with everything included Rent, Wi-Fi, Electricity, Gas, Water). I was there for 6 months.

I am at the very early, early, early stages of conducting my own research so this title of "Tiny Homes" might come up now and then, while I work on other projects and ideas for my listening audience, especially going into the New Year. 

The Pros and Cons of Tiny House Living

Remember a "Pro" is something good and you should move forward, but a "Con" is a reason to stop and rethink your idea. 

The first "Pro" I can think of is I would savetons of money so instead of driving all around the country like I do now, I should be able to afford to hop on a plane and fly and
#Teach

However, I love the freedom of driving a vehicle and seeing the gorgeous countryside and I can put all my 18 non-fiction books in my car. It would be expensive to try to take books with me on planes so I would have to mail my books ahead of my events.

My second "Pro" is I will be in a position togrow my own foods again like I did in Austin, TX for an entire year, when I had 3 raised bed gardens. The fact that ALL MY 
NUMBERS(cholesterol levels, blood pressure, blood glucose, tricyclerides, and other important numbers) were always at their lowest when I was growing foods in my own backyard, just tells me this is the lifestyle that I should be embracing. 

I might not get there over the next year or two, but eventually I will try my best to get back to growing my own foods again and becoming a Minimalist.

The first "Con" right off the bat that I can think of is it will be isolated where I will place the "Tiny House", on 32 acres where my 3 brothers already live, which is a very, rural area. 

Being isolated this would mean I wouldprobably be living in a "food desert" and would not have access to good, clean organic foods, until I was in a position to grow these foods myself.

The second "Con" is I am not even sure if I want to live on the land where I grew up as a "Black Sheep" child, even though my Mom and Dad is no longer alive. So this might just be something I do in the future. 

Will a Tiny House Be Too Small For Me?

I am currently single, but dating, and don'tneed a lot of space for what I am trying to do with my life. When I left Atlanta in 2013, I actually became a Minimalist and cut down on things. The hardest thing I ever had to do was to give my paperback books away. 

Before going on the road for an entire year in my vehicle, with my Empowerment Seminars
and Workshops, and putting what was left of my life in a storage container in Atlanta, I
purged and downsized many material things from my life.

This level of thinking and action plan brought so much happiness into my life.  My last mate was very materialistic. He had 8 vehicles including 2 brand new Mercedes, a brand new truck (with one ass), and put all his money into his home. 

He rebuilt the home from the ground up and bought all this expensive furniture, had every electronic device you could think of, had put several 60 inch widescreen TVs in several rooms, put in new countertops and floors, redid all the bathrooms and had just finished building a $45,000 sunroom -- two weeks before I left.  

At the end of the day, he put garbage (GMO processed foods) into his body so it was making him sick and angrier and he was on tons of medications.  He put materialistic things before gaining access to good, clean, organic foods, so I knew from the very beginning of our relationship, we weren't compatible.

Many women would have been really impressed with all his material things, but not me. What is the use of having all these nice things if you are not feeling great and springing out of bed everyday? What's the use of having these big gorgeous homes, if you are too sick to enjoy them? 

And I certainly don't want to be like many women today, especially single women, who live in these big sad homes with all these bills, unable to buy good, clean organic foods or do all types of exciting and adventurous things with their lives because they are tied to their homes. 

I never wanted that to be my story.
As I drove around the country  in 2016 and went up north to 8 cities to hold events, I saw tons 
of these beautiful homes with big  attractive lawns and the occupants of these homes were too sick to even walk outside to the mailboxes. 

Again, I never wanted that to be my story. 
I always wanted to be as free as I can -- able to get up and go at the drop of a button.  I don't know what the future holds for me, but for now I know that a "Tiny House" would be ideal for me. 

I can imagine if you tried to live in these "Tiny Houses" with another person and especially an animal, you would have to ask yourself, would there be enough space. 

So I am leaving my options open and if I desire to team up with another matesignificant other, partner or husband in the future and need a bigger place, we could always rent out the "Tiny House" or turn it into an AirBnB.com.

RVs and Trailers vs. "Tiny Houses"
One of my daughters said if I got a RV, it would work like a  "Tiny House", but I told her I did not want to get a RV or Mobile Home/Trailer
because they were made out of
"unhealthy" material. 

And this is why I never bought or rented a RV to drive around the country to give my events, instead I chose to drive my car and stay at Extended Stay and other hotels , and with family and friends for an entire year.

M obile Home  (also trailer, trailer home, house trailer, static caravan, residential caravan) is a prefabricated structure, built in a factory on a permanently attached chassis before being transported to site (either by being towed or on a  trailer ).

We learned that during Katrina when they put many families in Mobile Homes/Trailers, many ended up sick from the material the Trailer is made out of. 

But she argued with me and said a RV ismade out of different material than a Trailer, so my next move is to visit RVMobile Home/Trailer and "Tiny House" showcases, go on Google.com and YouTube.com and conduct more research and even sign up for "Tiny House Workshops," where I will probably have to travel to another city.

Your Biggest Issues - Zoning and County Codes

Zoning and county codes will be different in each county. So one person in one county can get away with placing a "Tiny House" on a property and another person in the next county over, might be told no they cannot place a "Tiny House" on their property. Some will need more convincing so don't give up.

I know the zoning and coding issue will be aBIG ISSUE because many of these county offices, do their best to prevent families, especially black families, from putting dwellings on these family lots (family farms, etc.) so that the families can eventually sell the land. 

Our farm, or should I say our land, where we had a family farm when I was a child, is zoned as an agriculture property (32 acres), which means we can grow foods there. 

But when we contacted the county office (my8 siblings and I) a few years ago when my Mom died and left the land to us, (my father had died 25 years earlier), we thought we would be able to split the land between all 9 of us.

But the county office said we could only split each lot up 5 ways instead of 9 ways (5 lots instead of 9 lots).  Again, this is done, so that families cannot and won't end up homesteading on these lands again and allow other family members to move onto these lands. 

This is one of the biggest tactics that the government uses to keep control of YOUR LAND. So again, you have got to fight with these county offices, if you are serious about putting a "Tiny Home" on your property.

They are hoping families get discouraged and give up and just sell the land. And as soon as families fail to pay yearly taxes on the land, the government will grab the land. This happens all the time, especially to black families.

First Step Before You Go Too Far

Before going too far in your "Tiny House" planning, try to meet with the city planning staff or county zoning office or call them on the phone and make sure you are even allowed to put a "Tiny House" on your property.  

If you are not allowed to put a "Tiny House" on your land, and you still want to live in a"Tiny House", then look around for other lots where you can put this dwelling.  For instance, the homes of families and friends or just go out and buy other land or just take these "Tiny Houses" on the road with you.

Reach Out To "Tiny House" Builders Before You Go Too Far

You have to fight to have these "Tiny Houses" put on your property. The gas, electricity, water and sewage will be set up like a regular home. 

Remember many of the "Tiny House" builders will specialize in different styles, shapes and prices of "Tiny Houses." So reach out to several of these "Tiny House" builders -- even others from other states. 

One "Tiny House" builder said he only offer homes from around $45,000, which are 28 to 34 ft., however, he is building a cheaper "Tiny House" version over the next year that will run from $30,000 and up, which will be the same size at 28 to 34 ft., but will offer the bare minimum, for instance the house might not come with a loft, oven, bathtub, etc. 

According to a "Tiny House" builder out of Atlanta, since the "Tiny House" will be permanently affixed with steel to the ground, where they will remove it off the wheels (but can put it back on wheels to be moved to another location), it is call a "Modular On-Frame House" and these "Tiny Homes" can last a 100 years. 

Therefore, it can sustain any type of rough weather that you experience, since it will be permanently affixed to the ground.  So when talking to your county office, the zoning department tell them it is a "Modular On-Frame House" and ask them how many square feet is the "Tiny House" required to have for the county. 

There is a difference between an On-Frame and Off-Frame Modular Home. Off-frame modular homes are lifted off the transportation carriers by a crane and placed on a foundation.
On-frame modular homes have a permanent steel beam chassis and are built to state and local building codes instead of Federal HUD Codes.

The maximum square footage for many of the "Tiny House" are from 550 square feet. You might have to go by the zoning office and show them a picture of the "Tiny House" or drive it there in person so they can understand that it is built to state and local building codes instead of Federal HUD codes. 

If they tell you that the usual 550 sq. ft is too small and tell you the home need to be at least 1230 square feet, like they told me, if you already have other dwellings (houses) on the land or property, ask if you can put the "Tiny House" there next to the other properties as an " Alternative Dwelling Unit (ADU)" .

If they still say "No," tell them you want to put 3 "Tiny Houses" on your property and use them as Airbnb.com rentals. And see what they say then. 

So again, try to work with the "Tiny House"
builders and realtors that specialize in selling "Tiny Houses" so you can come up with the right wording for your county zoning offices. But don't give up! 

You might even need to help change the laws in your county by running for office yourself -- so conduct research before you get your hopes up of putting a "Tiny House" on your property, a family members' or friends' property or even before you purchase any land.

What Cities Are Embracing the "Tiny House" Movement?

The "Tiny House" movement is fairly new and there are tons of these communities springing up all over the country, where you can just go and sit your "Tiny House"  for FREE. Other places like RV's and Mobile Home parks will charge you a monthly fee.

States like California, where housing is too expensive and the homeless population is out of control is embracing the "Tiny House" 
movement. Plus these "Tiny Houses" do really great in warm weather.

In Colorado, where occupants must go on a WAITING LIST to find housing, the "Tiny House" movement is extremely important. Colorado, as with other states, "Tiny Houses" often fall into a grey area in the law. 

More often than not, a "Tiny House" on wheels will be classified as an RV in Colorado.  Whether a "Tiny House" is legal in your backyard will depend primarily on local zoning regulations. 

Cities like Atlanta that have TOO MANY BUILDERS and TOO MANY VACANT HOMES, probably won't embrace the "Tiny House" movement like other cities.  So again conduct your own research. 

"Tiny House Workshops"
Personally, as a female I am not trying to build  "Tiny House"  so if you are unsatisfied with the current  "Tiny House" builders, many are offering classes to build your own. 

Keep in mind that you can't buy a USED"Tiny House" because they don't exist. There is not a market for USED "Tiny Houses" because once people have these made to their standards or make them their ownselves, no one gives these back.

There has been a lot of hearings onthese  "Tiny Houses," especially from builders of  "Tiny Houses." Many are saying that when they build they are putting toilets in with showers, and they should not do this so there is a lot of specifications and codes that have changed since the "Tiny House" movement first came on the scene.

Pay attention. Black people are the last aboard and the last to reap the benefits of any new movement -- so pay attention to the "Tiny House Movement" and become a"Tiny Home" builder yourself. 

If we are ever going to tackle the homeless problem in this country, the "Tiny House" movement is certainly a way to look at long-term options.

Cathy Harris is an Empowerment and Motivational Speaker, Advice Columnist at  DearCathy.com , Non-GMO Health and Wellness Expert, Business Coach, Self-Publishing Expert and the author of over 26 books at  http://www.AngelsPress.com 
Her books covers topics such as family and community empowerment, health, youth and adult entrepreneurship, writing/publishing, workplace discrimination, whistleblowing, government, law enforcement, domestic and international traveling, politics, media, beauty, car buying and selling for women, aging/retirement - just to name a few. She offers seminars, workshops and consultations at www.CathyHarrisInternational.com.