Madonna’s Brother is Homeless In Traverse City

While Madonna may well be one of the wealthiest people in the world, there are some members of her family who are not quite as fortunate. Her older brother, Anthony Ciccone, is living on the streets of Traverse City after losing his job last year.

Now, most of us from Michigan know that this is where Madonna was born and raised (most others wouldn't know due to that English accent she somehow developed).  Most of her family still lives here, in fact. Including her brother Anthony.

Why Traverse City? I mean, Michigan winters are cold, and I feel like the more north you go, the colder it gets. But, it turns out that Traverse City is one of the better places to be homeless (if there is such a thing). The local churches have really stepped up to help those in need in their community. The churches in town have collaborated to put on a meal each night that is free and open to anyone. In addition to that, there's a church-run house that provides heat, showers, laundry, food, computers, telephones 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.

But, why is Anthony living on the street when he's related to someone so wealthy? He told The Michigan Messenger:

My family turned their back on me, basically, when I was having a hard time. 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. This could happen to anybody. I don’t have any income, I’ve got to go collect bottles and cans, do odd jobs.

I realize that I don't know the details surrounding all of this, but it strikes me as odd that Madonna is all about spending millions of dollars to help out random kids in Malawi, but she's allowing her brother to live on the street, fighting off frostbite.