Anthony Ciccone Reveals He's Homeless

According to this story, Anthony has been out of work since last year when he lost his job at his father’s vineyard in Michigan.

Despite bitter cold weather, homeless people are flocking to Traverse City — including even Anthony Ciccone, brother of Michigan native and pop star Madonna — because of the city’s exceptional network of services for people on the street.

 

In an interview with Michigan Messenger, Ciccone explained why so many homeless people from throughout the region have flocked to the northern town of about 14,000.

 

“This is a unique system with the churches here,” Ciccone, 55, said over a roast beef dinner served by volunteers at the Faith Reform Church on Front St. “You won’t find this in too many places.”

 

The churches in town have collaborated to put on a meal each night that is free and open to anyone in the community. There is a church-run house that provides warmth, showers, laundry, food, computers, telephone and other services for four hours most days, and in the winter the churches take turns hosting people who need a place to sleep. They also provide breakfast.

 

“This is one of the only places where there is a meal every night,” said Richard Tomey, a street outreach worker for Goodwill Industries. His mission is to help the homeless survive.

 

In late September, he said, there were several dozen, if not a hundred, homeless people sleeping outdoors in Traverse City.

 

“The word getting out about Traverse City attracts a lot of people … [from] Ypsilanti, Detroit, Grand Rapids, where they are getting hit real hard and there’s only two type of people on the street, the predators and the victims.”

 

“They’re coming up here,” Tomey said, “and we are trying to do the best we can.”

 

Ciccone said he’s been among the city’s homeless for a year and a half since losing a job at his father’s vineyard and winery in Suttons Bay. He said that it annoys him that some people are amused that a person from such a high profile family would end up sleeping, as he does, under the Union St. bridge.

 

“My family turned their back on me, basically, when I was having a hard time,” he said. “You think I haven’t answered this kind of question a bazillion times — why my sister is a multibazillionarie, and I’m homeless on the street?”

 

“Never say never,” he said. “This could happen to anybody.”

 

“I don’t have any income, I’ve got to go collect bottles and cans, do odd jobs.”

 

Despite the uncommon community effort to help the homeless here, there are gaps, and Ciccone was among several locals who got cold-related injuries last winter.

 

“They can’t do everything all the time for everybody, they just don’t have the resources,” he said. “These people that run these things are all volunteers, they don’t get paid to do these things.”

 

In the cold seasons the church shelters usher people out at 8 am and city rules against camping and camp fires make staying warm difficult.

 

“Where do you go at 8 o’clock on a Sunday morning and you have no money in your pocket?”

 

If you spend enough time on frozen concrete without proper insulation you will get frostbite, he said. “You have no idea how gruesome it is.”

 

“You get nerve damage. That’s the milder stage, in the severe stage you have tissue damage, that is when you lose parts of your body.”

 

“I got frostbite on my feet last winter, Ciccone said. “A friend of mine lost all ten toes. Several have died of hypothermia.”

 

“You go and find a place to stay warm like the lobby at the jail, or you take a walk to get your feet warm and go to Meijer’s and sit in the lobby there.”

 

This situation has developed at a time when Gov. Snyder and the Republican-led state legislature have slashed funding for social services and reduced the number of people eligible to continue receiving public assistance. Cuts in local revenue sharing have also forced local municipalities to make deep budget cuts.

 

As more and more people become ineligible under new rules government unemployment benefits, food stamps, cash aid and heating assistance, the number of people struggling to stay off the streets is only likely to increase.

 

Source: http://michiganmessenger.com/53404/travers...or-the-homeless

Edited July 17, 201312 yr by SweetCandy

Madonna tried to help her homeless brother

 

…Speaking publicly for the first time this week about his troubled past and difficult relationship with his famous sister, Anthony makes it clear the story is not a simple one — as anyone who has ever dealt with an addicted loved one will probably know.

It is clear that Madonna knows about his plight, and that she has repeatedly offered to help by paying for him to go into rehab. His father has offered to give him his job back if he gets professional help.

But ask Anthony whether his sister and their 80-year-old father, Tony, have helped him and he is immediately riled.

‘I’m a zero in their eyes; a non-person, an embarrassment,’ he tells me, his voice rising.

‘If I froze to death, my family probably wouldn’t know or care about it for six months.’

Anthony, who has considerable reserves of self-pity, but little capacity to be honest about himself, says he doesn’t need rehab, which is ‘boring’. He just needs a job, he says, and to meet the son he hasn’t seen for ten years.

‘My family seem to think rehab is some kind of magic panacea for life’s ills,’ he says, cracking open a bottle of his favourite tipple, Wild Irish Rose, a strong and ruinously cheap fortified wine.

He says he agreed to go into rehab six years ago, with Madonna paying for him to spend two months drying out in a clinic in Houston, Texas, for what he calls his ‘supposed’ alcoholism. Perhaps, given that attitude, it’s not surprising it didn’t work.

 

Daily Mail

Own Madonna’s (Dilapidated) Childhood Home for Just $48,600!

 

As everyone knows by now, before Madonna stalked the streets of New York's East Village in what would become the official outfit of the 1980s, she lived in suburban Michigan. For at least a few years, she resided with her family at 2036 Oklahoma Avenue in Rochester Hills (the home was built in 1970 and Madonna split in 1977). And now the 2,639 square-foot, four-bedroom home where one of the world's most beloved pop stars lived with her seven siblings can be yours for the seriously low, low price of $48,600. That's the least you'll ever pay to be close to something of Madonna's -- she earned $58 million last year according to Forbes, and her most recent real estate purchase was a $40 million New York townhouse.

Why is the Queen of Pop's castle so cheap? As real estate blog Zillow explains, the home was ravaged by a suspicious fire in 2008 and never renovated. Now it's what you'd generously call "a real fixer-upper." As photos posted on Curbed demonstrate, smoke, soot, and water damage have turned the charming family home into a spooky abandoned haunt.

Madonna's father and step-mother first sold the home in 2001 for $270,000, and it was flipped on eBay four months later for $331,000. The Colonial changed hands again in 2004 and 2005, and the current owners failed to show up in court when neighbors complained about its shoddy shape after the fire. Zillow reports the median price of a home in Rochester Hills is $173,400, so Madonna's house really is a steal.

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Edited May 27, 201213 yr by SweetCandy

Madonna’s Brother Wants to Pick Up a News Story That Doesn’t Refer to Him as ‘Madonna’s Brother’

 

Madonna's brother Christopher Ciccone gave Footwear News a preview of his Ciccone Collection, the shoe line he plans to debut during London Fashion Week. Previously called "groundbreaking" (by Ciccone himself), his offerings include your standard rubber boots — with a logo inspired by Georgia O'Keeffe's 1936 painting Deer's Skull with Pedernal, naturally — and orthopedic-looking sneakers, priced from $200 to $250. Ciccone explained, "For my first collection, I didn't want to go completely crazy," mentioning that he's already working on items for his second season, and that he eventually hopes to develop an entire lifestyle brand. But as his September 14 presentation approaches, he said, "The thing that concerns me is the legitimacy factor ... Madonna will always be my sister. At some point, though, I would like to be able to pick up [a news story] that says, 'Christopher Ciccone, footwear designer,' instead of 'Madonna's brother designs footwear.'" This isn't it. Sorry, bro.

 

Having a book called life with my sister didn't help either lol.

"I couldn’t be more proud of her''

I couldnt be more proud of her. She is a force to be reckoned with. Does she have Barbra Streisands voice? No. Can she dance like Martha Graham? Probably not. But the combination of her abilities has made her great, and left a huge legacy for her, and through her, for me. So yeah, God bless her.

Christopher Ciccone, talking to Nick Curtis from the London Evening Standard, interviewed about the launch of his new Ciccone Collection footwear range at London Fashion Week today.

 

Their relationship is, he says "on a perfectly personable level right now. As far as Im concerned, were good. We are in contact with each other, although I havent seen her for a long time. Were back to being a brother and sister. I dont work for her, and its better this way."

 

Madonna, who is touring North America at the moment, did not attend the launch, but she was there in spirit as her latest hit song, "Girl Gone Wild," played alongside other pop hits during the line presentation at London's trendy Strand Gallery. The collection is designed for "anybody who likes to wear shoes, and where God made weather," but Ciccone did have something picked out for Madonna - a pair of black leather cowboy-inspired boots with bold cutout details that he said "just say her name louder," Piya Sinha-Roy comments on Reuters.

 

"We haven't spoken specifically about the collection itself. We have a strictly brother-sister relationship right now," Chris also said about Madonna. He added: "Obviously, I'm sure I'll send her some shoes."

Madonna's Family attend her MDNA Tour in Detroit

Her dad and step mother Joan

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Her Sisters Paula and Jennifer

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Joan

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Madonna’s brother doesn’t regret writing a tell-all book

After working 18 years with his sister, Christopher Ciccone, 51, felt the urge to tell the world a few stories about his famous sibling despite knowing it would damage their relationship.

And indeed it did, Madonna, 54, fell out with her brother after he wrote the revealing tome 'My Life With My Sister Madonna' in 2008 but the pair have now repaired their relationship and Christopher has no regrets.

'It was something I needed to do so I didn’t go crazy. I needed to crawl out from that shadow.'

'It’s been a bumpy road back. It’s a brother/sister thing now, which is great and where it needed to go.'

The designer admitted it took time for Madonna to forgive him about the book but he believes the experience has been good for him and her.

'It’s taken a bit to get there, as I understand, but she’s my sister and from this point on it’s us as brother and sister.'

'It’s great to reconnect and it wasn’t just with her, after the book I really got the chance to reconnect with my family as well.'

From musicrooms.net

Madonna picks up a Ciccone cap from a fan during the MDNA Tour

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Christopher Talks Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga's style has been branded "massively way over the top" by Madonna's brother Christopher Ciccone.

 

The former artistic director has slammed the pop star for not emulating his sister's dress sense more.

 

Christopher designed the stages for some of the legendary performer's most memorable tours including Blonde Ambition and Girlie Show.

 

Rather than criticise Gaga for her "borrowing" of Madonna's key looks in the past, Christopher has declared she has made a mistake in not following her example more carefully.

 

“What I would do with Gaga is stream it all down and get rid of all the c**p and make her a real person. It's cool on some level, but when you start out massively way over the top, there is nowhere to go," Christopher told the Huffington Post. "You get stuck there and you disconnect from the audience. You become this freak on the stage.”

 

Madonna’s outspoken sibling went on to explain why he thinks his sister has been so spot on with her image evolution. He declared that her trick is to present an aspirational yet attainable image to the public.

 

“You have to remember what really made Madonna really popular is that girls could dress like her. You can’t dress like Gaga, only on Halloween perhaps. It's a really big part of being a performer - getting your fans to follow you," Christopher continued. "You have to evolve. At one point with Madonna, it was time for the tights to go.”

 

Christopher has now turned his hand from designing tours to designing shoes. Never the less, the controversial fashion critic revealed there is one celebrity’s wardrobe he is desperate to get his hands on.

 

“I would love to overhaul Kelly Clarkson. I would certainly give her a style. She needs something,” Christopher admitted. “The girl's got an amazing voice; it's just the girl comes onstage dowdy and there is no particular look to her. She could do so much better. I don't know if she doesn't care and that’s fine, I just feel there is so much more.”

Madonna and Guy were reunited for Rocco's Bar Mitzvah on Saturday.

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She seems happy about that!

Would you be? Lol

 

 

That dress looks familiar.. I'm sure she wore that during those Italian interviews she did whilst touring last year.

From madonna's Instagram:

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Madonna and Guy in the same picture.. The first time in years

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Would you be? Lol

That dress looks familiar.. I'm sure she wore that during those Italian interviews she did whilst touring last year.

 

If I got within touching distance of Guy, I'd be in Heaven.

Another picture has emerged from Rocco's Bar Mitzvah that took place last Saturday - this shot has mother and son buried in between some foam bricks!

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Another great face pulled by Madonna there! :D

Carlos Leon Marries Betina Holte

Carlos married Betina in Demark and Lourdes attends.

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Carlos looks very nice there

Rocco Turns 13 today

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