Jon's Visit to the Shelter on Eastlake

When HUD secretary and Jon Bon Jovi pal Shaun Donovan mentioned 1811 Eastlake in a speech, Bon Jovi decided to take a tour of 1811 Eastlake since he'd be in Seattle anyway for the kickoff Friday night of the world tour for his new album. (Key Arena, sold out.)

There are several necklaces under there, including one with black beads, and yet somehow, he did not look remotely like a jackass.

This is how two reporters and two photographers ended up sitting around a table this afternoon with Bon Jovi, who could not have come across as a more lovely fellow. He is also hot. Still. And it is, still, partly his looks and partly his personality, which seems very New Jersey in the best way.

We asked him the basics: why homelessness ("I don't need a scientist to invent the cure; it just takes money and determination, so this is something I can make a difference in"), why philanthropy (he founded the Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation in 2006 to help poor and homeless people; good deeding became an interest "for real for real for real"—after years of obligatory photo ops and celeb benefits—because it's time to do something "instead of sitting in hotel rooms like I have for the last quarter century").

This was the first stop on "a factfinding mission" he'll keep doing in other cities on his tour, looking for models for JBJ Soul Foundation. He came across as smart and unsimplistic. "Not everyone is suffering at the entry level," he said, seemingly referring almost sheepishly to the fact that his past work helping mothers and families get housed in Philadelphia was maybe easier than what they do at 1811 Eastlake, where the residents are "advanced" in the backwards, disease sense of the word.

Like a politician, he dropped the name of a guy he'd met: Ed, a vet, who after years on the street, finally started sobering up at 1811 Eastlake. "We're all people in this together," Bon Jovi said. "None of us are able to rely on the private sector as an island or the government. It's only grassroots up."

Here's a recording of the whole 11 minute conversation. If you want it for yourself, it's in the Bits and Bobs folder of my MediaFire.

~ Hath

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