SAN JOSE, Calif.  October 6, 2010— October 10, 2010 is World Homeless Day. In the United States, up to 3.5 million people experience homelessness each year. More and more in this horrible economy, there is a growing new homeless population, which is comprised of formerly middle class workers. Many were homeowners or apartment dwellers, who had good paying jobs. And through no fault of their own, they lost their livelihoods. Even with unemployment benefits, they were unable to pay for their mortgages or rent. As a result, they have suffered from foreclosures and evictions. Because some lack family support, they have turned to the streets as their shelter. They are the newly homeless.

San Jose author and community activist Timothy Fitzgerald (Click here) personally has experienced homelessness. Timothy Fitzgerald became unemployed after he was laid-off from his position as a community college instructor in 2005. After looking for work for almost a year, Mr. Fitzgerald ended his job search. He no longer could cope with the severe discrimination he experienced as an older person. He later lost his apartment at the age of 59 and became homeless.

"I am not ashamed that I have experienced homelessness," said Timothy Fitzgerald. "The system has failed many of us in today's recession. And I know many formerly middle class people who have become homeless due to job loss."

"In commemoration of World Homeless Day, I especially urge the newly homeless to blog about their experiences," said author Timothy Fitzgerald. "It is my hope that a new set of leaders of the homeless movement will emerge from these blogs. And this new leadership will instill the fight for living wages amongst the working class."

Mr. Fitzgerald currently is enrolled in the over-60 program at San Jose State University as a post-graduate student; and is now completing his third master's degree. He is on track to be awarded this degree in Philosophy in spring 2011.

As a qualified historian, Fitzgerald authored "The Wawona Brotherhood: The San Jose State Campus Revolt" in which he chronicles his civil eights experiences at San Jose State University during the turbulent 1960s through the early 1970s. In his eight-year quest to obtain his bachelor's degree, Mr. Fitzgerald battled mental illness and poverty. Despite these obstacles, Mr. Fitzgerald was a widely recognized student leader in the 1960s on the campus of San Jose State.

In 1969, Mr. Fitzgerald led the winning campaign that made history in the state of California by mobilizing baby boomers on the San Jose State campus to elect the first African-American campus student body president in the state university system. In addition, he was instrumental in desegregating off-campus student housing in San Jose. Furthermore, Mr. Fitzgerald collaborated with leading campus figures to create a new governing system on the San Jose State campus.

Mr. Fitzgerald's first memoir, "The Wawona Brotherhood: The San Jose State Campus Revolt" is available both as a hardcover and eBook. The next volume of his memoirs, "Diamond in the Rough" will be released in December. This volume deals with the working poor of San Jose and the efforts that Fitzgerald made in preserving local low and very low-income housing in the early 1980s.

Mr. Fitzgerald's work was done in face of the redevelopment and urban renewal proposed by San Jose city fathers three decades ago. Despite a clash of values and resources, Fitzgerald carried his campaign for city council. That led to a downtown conflict with the status quo, which resulted in someone else being elected to city council in 1982.

From his time as an undergraduate, Mr. Fitzgerald has been a community activist in San Jose for over thirty years. He ran for San Jose City Council in the 1980s; and in the 1990s, he ran for State Assembly. Mr. Fitzgerald is the former Vice Chairman of the Disability Advisory Commission in San Jose; and in addition is a former Green Party state leader. 

Mr. Fitzgerald has been a guest on American Voice Radio Network's New World Order Disorder, LA Talk Radio's Bipolar Nation, San Francisco radio station KPOO's Community Worker, San Jose radio station KKUP's Silicon Valli Voice and has appeared on San Jose radio station KBAY and Mammoth Lakes radio station KMMT. He also has been interviewed by the San Jose Mercury News, San Jose State Spartan Daily along with the Mammoth Times and Los Gatos Times Weekly. He also recently authored an article for AAboomers.com.

For more information about author Timothy Fitzgerald, visit his Web site Click here. For interviews, e-mail Click here or call 408.726-9940.

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