Ready, Willing & Able | The Doe Fund

Hundreds of people who once were homeless gathered at the station to remember her on Christmas, lighting candles in her memory.

Listen: Ginny Kosola reports.

The group’s founder is George McDonald. “We’re the richest city in the world, and to have a woman literally freeze to death because she was ejected from a transportation terminal just couldn’t stand,” he said.

Mama Doe Remembrance (credit: Ginny Kosola / WCBS 880)

Siegel believes the Doe Fund shows how, with the right training, long-term unemployed people can become productive taxpayers.

The folks here today are the perfect examples, the models, the inspiration to show people, don’t give up on anybody in America,” he said.

Francis Norman, formerly homeless, was now working in building maintenance. “I certified myself with a boiler certificate.  I certified myself with plumbing and things of that nature. I have a job right now. I feel good. I feel independent now,” he said.

Siegel was calling on Governor-elect Cuomo and President Obama to make the same happen for those who lost jobs in this recession. “Hopefully with Gov-elect Cuomo assisting President Obama, we can create those jobs.”

The Doe Fund trains long-term unemployed people to be self-sufficient taxpayers. Civil Liberties attorney Norman Siegel said it could be the model to get the victims of the recession back to work. “Build our infra-structure, create a first-rate rail system in America, there will be thousands of jobs for people,” he said.