Tent City in Illinois, SAFE HAVEN

Safe Haven: rest for the weary

Posted in CULTURE by Heather Dillon on Thursday, July 2, 2009 at 6:00 am

For years, homeless people have been camping in vacant lots, by the railroad tracks, and in other spots around Champaign. Now, some of those people have decided to band together in community.

Although the idea of a tent community is new to Champaign-Urbana, these sorts of communities have been popping up all over the country and are being compared to the Hoovervilles of the Great Depression. Various camps have been reported all along the West Coast — in Washington, Oregon, and California — as well as in places like Athens, Ga.; Reno, Nev.; Nashville, Tenn.; and St. Petersburg, Fla.

Jesse Masengale, 22, is a resident of Safe Haven, the tent community that formed a few weeks ago here in Champaign and has been a popular news topic in recent days. Masengale started camping in the vacant lot adjacent to Champaign’s Catholic Worker House, and before long, people started asking him about it. The community of campers began coming together organically, and then officially organized after an incident with the police on June 8, 2009 (see Incident Report #1).

“The way the police treated us that night really ignited a fire in everybody’s hearts. We were like, ‘Okay, let’s do this,‘“ Masengale said.

From the very beginning, Safe Haven’s standard has been “no riff-raff.“ They expect no drinking, no drugs, no stealing, no violence — no riff-raff. They are attempting to establish a community characterized by safety, authority, and respect.

Safe Haven currently has 10 mutually agreed-upon guidelines that are enforced within the community (based, in part, on the rules established by Dignity Village in Portland, Ore.):

1. No physical violence to self or others is permitted within a one-block radius of the Safe Haven site.
2. No intake of alcohol, drug use, or possession of alcohol, drugs, or drug paraphernalia is permitted within a one-block radius of the Safe Haven site.
3. No theft of others’ property is permitted within a one-block radius of the Safe Haven site.
4. No behavior that disrupts the peace and well-being of the community is permitted within a one-block radius of the Safe Haven site.
5. No possession of stolen property is permitted on the Safe Haven site.
6. No weapons are permitted on the Safe Haven site. Knives of four inches or less are permitted for utility purposes.
7. All members and guests contribute to the upkeep and welfare of Safe Haven and work to become a productive community member.
8. All rules of the host organization must be followed by members and guests of Safe Haven.
9. Members are required to perform seven hours of service per week to the Safe Haven community and/or the host community.
10. No verbal abuse or verbal threats are permitted on the Safe Haven site.

For this group of people, who would normally camp solo around the city, Safe Haven provides an element of law and order. Abby Harmon, 27, a Safe Haven advocate, described the homeless community as a community ruled by might. Imagine if there was no police intervention in your neighborhood and any person stronger than you could come into your house, beat you up, take your possessions, and assume residence in your home. Those camping solo around town experience this often. Another homeless person might beat them up, steal any possessions they have, and take their camping spot.

When camping solo, people are surviving by themselves and will often resort to violence when they feel threatened. Coming together in community takes away some of that individualistic tendency to protect the self at all cost. People start looking out for each other. It also allows the community to develop expectations and to make and enforce rules.

“I don’t think people see a tent community as introducing order, but it is,“ Harmon said.

In opposition to Safe Haven’s ideals of law and order, some people who live in the neighborhood surrounding the Catholic Worker House have expressed safety-related concerns. (If you’re unfamiliar with the neighborhood complaints regarding the Catholic Worker House, check out last Tuesday’s News-Gazette article for an overview.) Masengale and Harmon agreed that some neighbors have legitimate concerns, but pointed out that those concerns are being falsely linked to Safe Haven.

Homelessness is on the rise nationally, as the current state of the economy has led to increased foreclosures and unemployment. As people become increasingly desperate, problems such as theft increase. Neighbors surrounding the Catholic Worker House began noticing problems in the middle of winter, months before Safe Haven began. The beginning of neighborhood problems and the beginning of Safe Haven have been perceived as one and the same, but are actually very separate issues.

“It’s all a misunderstanding,“ Masengale said. “People had legitimate complaints. But once the community started up and once we started policing, problems like drinking on the [Catholic Worker] property stopped almost immediately.“

Safe Haven residents do not have authority to police the entire neighborhood; they can only police their own community. Essentially, Safe Haven cannot control drunkenness, vandalism, and other disruptive behavior that is committed by homeless people who are not residents of the tent community. But within the Safe Haven community, Masengale and Harmon made it clear that residents want to be part of the solution, not part of the problem.

Safe Haven currently has eight members and additional guests. Members participate in weekly meetings, decision making, and policing. Guests, on the other hand, simply stay at Safe Haven temporarily.

“[Safe Haven] has given people something to live for — a place to call home, a place to sit down,“ Masengale said. “Up until now, they’ve been camping wherever they can find a spot, wherever they could lay their heads. But now to have a place to call home … it does something to them.“

———

Over the next few days, Smile Politely will take a closer look at options for homeless people in Champaign-Urbana and Safe Haven’s ideal solution, modeled after Dignity Village in Portland, Ore.

http://www.smilepolitely.com/culture/safe_haven_rest_for_the_weary/

Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office Now Defendants in PEOPLE PROJECT Lawsuit

The DA’s office (and Paul Gallegos) have been added to the lawsuit filed by five PEOPLE PROJECT participants demanding accountability for violations of human rights occurring in the police and DA raid on a 2007 homeless encampment in Arcata, CA. The plaintiffs are demanding that the day and night harassment of homeless people by police be stopped immediately.

The DA’s office is being sued because it participated in the raid and continues to perpetuate the criminalizing of poor people, including those who live without housing.

See the FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES AND DECLARATORY AND INJUNCTIVE RELIEF FOR VIOLATIONS OF CIVIL RIGHTS (and commission of other wrongs), filed May 13, 2009.

See June 10, 2009 Press Release
Click press release to download June 10, 2009 Press Release

Another Homeless Man, Tim Alcorn, Beat to Death: by teenagers

Memorial service held for murdered Redding homeless man

By Jim Schultz
Saturday, May 2, 2009

Although he was homeless, Timothy Lee Alcorn had many friends and loved ones.

A standing-room-only crowd filled McDonald’s Redding Chapel on Friday to honor him and his family shortly before his cremated remains were interred at Redding Memorial Park.

Alcorn, 48, was found beaten to death on April 20 in a wooded area near the old Masonic Lodge in Redding.

Those entering the chapel for the memorial service Friday morning walked past a collage of photographs that included Alcorn as a boy dressed in his football uniform and as a freshly scrubbed elementary school student with his entire life filled with promise before him.

Another display featured certificates of accomplishment of which Alcorn was proud.

The service included prayers and songs by his family members

Alcorn may have had his faults, but he was a peaceful child of God, said his brother-in-law, David Picciuto, pastor of the Church of Jesus Christ in Modesto, who delivered the eulogy.

“They didn’t take the life of a bum,” he said of three teenagers accused of murdering Alcorn. “They took the life of a prince.”

Saying there is evil everywhere, Picciuto encouraged those at the service to accept Christ and help combat that evil.

“I hope something from this (tragedy) will turn into something beautiful,” he said.

Earlier in the morning, Christian motorcyclists held a brief service near the crime scene before proceeding to the chapel.

Jim Schultz can be reached at 225-8223 or at jschultz@redding.com.
E.W. Scripps Co.

Paul Davis comforts his friend Diane Dillon Friday during Timothy Lee Alcorn’s funeral services at McDonald’s Chapel.

Paul Davis comforts his friend Diane Dillon Friday during Timothy Lee Alcorn’s funeral services at McDonald’s Chapel. “It’s really sad because Tim lived behind Masonic for 10 years…now these newcomers are coming in and we’re kind of scared,” Dillon said, “He was a very kind person.” Davis said he was one of Alcorn’s best friends. Nathan Morgan/Record Searchlight

VIEW PHOTO GALLERY
Paul Davis comforts his friend Diane Dillon Friday during Timothy Lee Alcorn’s funeral services at McDonald’s Chapel. “It’s really sad because Tim lived behind Masonic for 10 years…now these newcomers are coming in and we’re kind of scared,” Dillon said, “He was a very kind person.” Davis said he was one of Alcorn’s best friends.

HERE is the link to the article.

Teens plotted to rob and beat homeless man in murder case, police say

See article HERE

Missions insist: OUR Religion or You Don’t Get Shelter!

and the State insists too!! Missions are often used by the State as proof of having shelter for houseless people. Ain’t gonna fly.

Inmate Challenges Mission Requisite
He claims having to live at the Eugene Mission violated his rights

By Karen McCowan

The Register-Guard

A Eugene man serving time in a state prison for theft and drug possession has filed a federal lawsuit alleging that Lane County parole officers violated his civil rights by requiring him to live at the Eugene Mission after his October 2006 release from prison in another case.

Court records show that Jason Dwain Davies, 32, was most recently convicted June 28, 2008, on two felony counts of possessing methamphetamine and one count of identity theft. They also show that he was sentenced in September 2005 to six months in prison with one-year of post-prison supervision after pleading guilty to identity theft, drug possession and resisting arrest in a July 2005 incident.

According to his federal lawsuit, Lane County violated the U.S. Constitution’s separation of church and state clause by requiring him to reside in a “fundamentally religious facility” while under supervision of parole and probation officers.

He seeks unspecified monetary damages and an injunction barring the county from imposing the same requirement as a condition of remaining at liberty in the future.

Joan Copperwheat, the county’s director of parole and probation services, said she could not comment on an unresolved lawsuit.

In his complaint, filed by attorney Joseph Connelly, Davies alleges that the county cannot legally require someone on post-prison supervision to live at the mission — which provides food and beds to area homeless people — because it requires residents to attend daily gospel services.

Connelly said Davies seeks monetary damages because he was jailed a total of 319 days between December 2006 and March 2008 for refusing to stay at the mission on various occasions. The suit cites his loss of liberty, employment and the ability to visit his daughter.

According to the complaint, parole and probation supervisor Susan McFarland at one point told Davies to “cover his ears during the gospel service if he did not want to listen.”

Copperwheat said the parole and probation department cannot tell people they have to live at the Eugene Mission, but can require them to have a department-approved residence. The only other free living spaces, she said, are the Sponsors post-prison program and some recovery houses for inmates with substance abuse problems. Those places often are full and have waiting lists, she said.

Copperwheat said she could not recall a similar lawsuit regarding the Eugene Mission. But she noted that the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in 2007 that parolees cannot be required to attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings as a condition of their release because the organization contains a religious component.

http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/web/news/cityregion/14193646-41/story.csp

Schwarzenegger Sets Up Homeland Security “Camps” for Homeless (and those who will be rounded up later)

Schwarzenegger To Provide Government Camps For Homeless

Shut down and takeover of “tent cities” stokes fears of internment pretext

Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet.com
Thursday, March 26, 2009

Plans to shut down tent cities in California and relocate homeless people to government-run facilities have stoked fears that the move could be a pretext for a wider internment of Americans in the event of a total economic collapse.

“California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said a make-shift tent city for the homeless that sprang up in the capital city of Sacramento will be shut down and its residents allowed to stay at the state fairgrounds,” reports Bloomberg News.

Homeless people will be moved to the the state facility known as Cal-Expo as the Sacramento City Council last night agreed to spend $880,000 to expand homeless programs.

“Together with the local government and volunteers, we are taking a first step to ensure the people living in tent city have a safe place to stay, with fresh water, healthy conditions and access to the services they need,” Schwarzenegger said in a statement. “And I am committed to working with Mayor Johnson to find a permanent solution for those living in tent city.”

That “permanent solution” has some people worried that many more Americans could be interned against their will in the event of widespread rioting and the implementation of martial law.

Legislation currently working it’s way through Congress mandates the establishment of “national emergency centers” to be located on military installations.

The purpose of such facilities is to provide “temporary housing, medical, and humanitarian assistance to individuals and families dislocated due to an emergency or major disaster,” the expansion of which under FEMA is codified under HR 645, otherwise known as the National Emergency Centers Act.

Ominously, the bill states that the camps can be used to “meet other appropriate needs, as determined by the Secretary of Homeland Security,” an open ended mandate which many fear could mean the forced detention of American citizens in the event of widespread rioting after a national emergency or total economic collapse.

The issue of containment camps re-gained national attention three years ago when it was announced that Kellogg, Brown and Root had been awarded a $385 million dollar contract by Homeland Security to construct detention and processing facilities in the event of a national emergency.

The language of the preamble to the agreement veils the program with talk of temporary migrant holding centers, but it is made clear that the camps will also be used “as the development of a plan to react to a national emergency.”

Source: http://www.prisonplanet.com/schwarzenegger-to-provide-government-camps-for-homeless.html

Excerpts From the Bloomberg News:

Schwarzenegger said he ordered the state facility known as Cal-Expo to be used for three months to serve the 125 tent city residents, some of them displaced by the economic recession. The encampment may be shut down within a month, said Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson. …

California, home to one of every eight Americans…

The tent city, which has long existed along the banks of the America River, gained national attention last month when some of its recently homeless residents were featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show.

Modesto Council Wants Cops to Arrest and Search Dumpster Divers

Modesto raises penalty for Dumpster diving
Council members argue overkill versus safety from identity theft

By Adam Ashton, aashton@modbee.com

Beginning in March, Modesto police will be able to arrest people digging through garbage cans under a new ordinance the City Council approved Tuesday night.

The measure passed by a 5-2, vote, with supporters saying it would give police a tool to detain and search Dumpster divers for signs of attempts to commit identity theft.

Police further said it could be used to reduce blight.

Council members Janice Keating and Will O’Bryant voted against the proposal, calling it repetitive to provisions written in Modesto’s municipal code and excessive.

* IN OTHER ACTION

• Launch a search for a contractor to sell the city a security camera system for downtown. The city expects to spend about $400,000 in redevelopment funds on the cameras and equipment that would enable the Police Department to monitor downtown.

“Dumpster diving is not a jail crime,” said O’Bryant, a retired Alameda County sheriff’s detective. “It’s a way for people to survive.”

The ordinance allows police to charge Dumpster divers with a misdemeanor offense, a $500 citation or both. Officers received 105 calls about people scavenging in garbage cans from March to October.

Councilwoman Kristin Olsen pushed for the ordinance, calling it “sheer common sense.”

Her husband was a victim of identity theft after someone recovered financial information he left with a brokerage firm from a commercial garbage bin.

“It takes a lifetime to build and maintain good credit, and only about five minutes to throw it all away,” she said.

More than a dozen residents spoke in favor of the ordinance in the four-hour meeting, citing concerns ranging from identity theft to frustration with spilled containers to health risks.

“I would hate to see one of the kids doing the right thing and picking up a piece of trash and getting a disease,” said Jennifer Fife, 33.Three people who opposed the ordinance called the fears exaggerated.

“Just because someone is going through your garbage does not mean they’re trying to steal your identity,” said Pauline Black, 26.

Keating insisted the city’s municipal code already contains prohibitions against rummaging through someone’s trash.

The code allows the offense to be punished as an infraction with a $100 penalty, although officers would have to demonstrate the garbage was “salvageable” or “recyclable” before enforcing the code.

Keating said she would prefer to amend that code instead of amplifying the penalty to a misdemeanor.

“We don’t have to go from 0 to 80 in one fell swoop,” she said.

But the majority of her colleagues wanted to give police the option of arresting people who don’t respond to citations, or of searching someone. Those choices would not be on the table if Dumpster diving remained an infraction.

Councilman Garrad Marsh, owner of McHenry Bowl, said people rifling through garbage cans can be a nuisance at his business. He was skeptical that the new ordinance would curtail Dumpster diving, but felt it could be helpful.

“It’ll give police another tool they may use,”

he said. “But it will not solve the problem.”

In other business, the council unanimously passed a related ordinance that enhances penalties for drinking alcohol in public parks without a permit.

Like Dumpster diving, drinking in parks is an infraction in Modesto’s municipal code.

The council’s vote designates the offense as a misdemeanor, punishable by $500 citations and time in jail.

Officer John Habermehl said the heightened penalties would allow police to arrest serious alcoholics and steer them to treatment through the courts.

Two laws police could use for the same purpose come up short, he said.

One, a city code, establishes drinking on a public street as a misdemeanor. The effect of that ordinance is to create a “safe haven” in parks, Councilman Dave Lopez said.

The other law, a state code, would require someone to be demonstrably drunk before police could make an arrest. Habermehl said that provision blocks officers from detaining someone after a first or second beer.

Both ordinances require another vote from the council before they can take effect. Those votes typically are procedural, but residents will have another chance to speak about them in about a month.

Bee staff writer Adam Ashton can be reached at ashton@modbee.com or 578-2366.

Please Gather LOTS of Blankets and Sleeping Bags

And urge everyone you know to do the same.

PEOPLE PROJECT would like to have a large (and ever-replenishing) stash of blankets and sleeping bags available at PARC [Peoples' Action for Rights and Community]. Every day and night, there are people who need warm, dry bedding.

Please, if you have any blankets that you don’t use, or even if you want to buy some from the thrift stores, they are so needed.

Please drop off blankets at PARC, 320 2nd Street, between D and E, upstairs in the brown wooden complex, Old Town Eureka.

Words on Broken Windows philosophy- “decimation of human and civil rights of poor people and communities of color”

POOR Magazine

This is an older article, but still important to read. Anytime you check out POOR Magazine is worthwhile.

Giuliani Time: Just When You Thought You Knew How Evil He Is

A ReVieWfortHeReVoluTion of the documentary ‘Giuliani Time.’

tiny/PNN
Wednesday, December 5, 2007;

“Peddlers, panhandlers and prostitutes, they all need to be cleaned out [of Manhattan].” The first time I heard Rudy Giuliani speak was on a NBC nightly news broadcast. It was 1996. I was living in Oakland, Calif., at the time — 3,000 miles away from Manhattan, where, as mayor, Giuliani was implementing his “clean-up campaign.” But the sting of his speech still scared me.

It was the first time I had heard hygienic metaphors to describe poor people like me who were surviving in an underground street-based economy. Rudy Giuliani had become mayor of New York City on a campaign that constructed a new scapegoat for all of America’s crime problems: “the squeegee man” (aka a person who cleans car windows at stop lights).

Giuliani was emboldened with “the broken window” philosophy, which claimed that if broken windows remain unfixed for a period of time the tendency is for vandals to break a few more windows. Eventually, they may even break into the building, and if it’s unoccupied, perhaps become squatters or light fires inside.

The theory was promoted by the hyperconservative Manhattan Institute and was already litmus tested by N.Y. Police chief Bill Bratten. In his now-infamous statement, Giuliani publicly linked three street-based economies and communities with dirt or trash: They were something to be cleaned up as a means to create the perfect U.S. city.

Under his rule, ridding Manhattan of the newly designated and oxymoronic “quality of life” criminals such as panhandlers, recyclers, window washers (aka squeegee men), sex workers, hot dog peddlers and street artists was the way to have a crime-free, user-friendly, corporate dollar-fueled city.

All of these memories came to me as I watched the little-seen but important documentary Giuliani Time. The two-hour-and-20-minute feature, produced and directed by Kevin Keating, uses a series of in-depth interviews with policy makers, advocates, sociologists and urban planners to reveal how Giuliani’s policies during his reign from 1994-2001 led to extreme and dangerous police empowerment and subsequent decimation of human and civil rights of poor people and communities of color. The film shows how he created a template for criminalization that would be eventually emulated and implemented by mayors across the country — from Atlanta to San Francisco.

The movie begins with a look at Giuliani’s family roots with crime and vice: His uncle Harold was a loan shark out of a bar he ran in Brooklyn and eventually did hard time in Sing Sing. It then follows Giuliani’s ambitious rise from state attorney general to a mayor who appropriated as his own the “quality of life” crime campaign from then-police chief Bratton.

The film shows a somewhat dense series of interviews outlining Giuliani’s draconian strategy of using New York police to attack and manipulate the short-lived mayoral run of David Dinkins.Once he achieved his position as mayor, Giuliani began an onslaught of race-based profiling and harassment of African-American communities in New York by the NYPD.

Simultaneously, he launched a campaign to cut people off welfare en masse, regardless of its impact on poor families, to have homeless people considered criminals, and to have the simple acts of sitting, standing and sleeping outdoors and surviving on a street-based economy designated as crimes.

His welfare policies succeeded in making Giuliani the mayor best known for getting 600,000 welfare recipients off welfare and into a new form of slavery, “workfare.” Workfare, is the hard labor (that isn’t considered real work by the welfare system and most of society for that matter) one must do to get the minimal cash aid distributed by welfare. This includes doing previously union-held jobs like crack-of-dawn street sweeping and public restroom cleaning, and other forms of menial labor, for much less than minimum wage.

As this documentary revealed, Giuliani’s police policies resulted in the specific profiling, abuse and arrest of men of color. The film shows the horrors that resulted from a newly emboldened police force — including the brutalization of Hatian immigrant Abner Louima and the murder of Liberian immigrant Amadou Diallo.

As the daughter of a poor, homeless woman of color who worked on the street to survive in L.A., Oakland and San Francisco, I have felt the direct impact of locally implemented Giuliani-derived criminalizing policies over the last 10 years such as the Business Improvement District (BID), which in San Francisco was based in Union Square but modeled after Giuliani’s BID in Times Square. Each BID includes a squared-off area that is policed by a private police force that cites, harasses and profiles everyone selling, sitting or standing who appears to be “poor.” With the BIDs come the so-called “community courts,” which are courts dedicated to the adjudication of “poverty crimes,” i.e, selling without a license, trespassing, sleeping, urinating and other low-level crimes of poverty.

After viewing this documentary, I became even more terrified of Giuliani’s impact. Rarely has one man so successfully harnessed the hatred and ignorance of the U.S. public for poor people and people of color. And rarely has the connection between race, class, xenophobia and ableism been so clearly played out in legislative actions such as the BIDs, community courts and overall police harassment of poor people that reverberate today in cities across the United States and is referred to by economic justice organizers as the “Manhattanization” of a city.

Quite by accident I was able to witness firsthand the impact of Giulani-like policies in action in Georgia. As a member of a delegation to the U.S. Social Forum, I visited Atlanta. Upon entering one of their business improvement districts, aka a Disney-like mall “town” that included chain stores and restaurants, I was met with a small corporate-logo covered police car filled with “officers” who wore cartoon-like bounty hunter hats. When some of my group and myself attempted to lean against a light pole and make a cell phone call we were asked to move because our leaning created a “perception of loitering.”

As a low-income resident of San Francisco, another one of thousands of U.S. cities following Giuliani’s model for “cleanliness,” I grapple every day with the new science fiction-like world of where to sleep, sit, stand or dwell in a public place as a poor person when all of those things can be a crime. Where, even if you don’t “look homeless,” the mere perception of loitering is a citable offense.

Like some of the worst and bloodiest horror movies, you want to cringe and look away from Giuliani Time, but hold on to your seat, watch, look and listen carefully, because this man is running for president, and we must act now or his new form of fascism masked as “cleanliness” will be the norm for the entire United States.

Good Morning Neighbors! Breakfast Program

PEOPLE PROJECT’S Good Morning Neighbors! Breakfast Program

This ain’t charity. It’s SURVIVAL!

Every Tuesday and Friday from about 8:20am to 10:45am, there is coffee, herbal tea, hot 7-grain cereal, morning potatoes, and fresh fruit for anyone who wants a good morning lift! [No money involved] Breakfast is on the corner of Fairfield and Hawthorne in Eureka (up the block from the Serenity Inn on Broadway). Sometimes we also share fruit smoothies, nuts, yogurt, peanut butter and jelly, homemade muffins, apple juice and sauce, or cake.

We hope to inspire people to share community breakfast wherever you are. If you’re interested in donating supplies or helping on Tuesdays and/or Friday, please contact us at peopleproject@riseup.net or 707-618-9185. Also, we have alot of set up supplies (including an ez-up canopy for rainy days) if anyone wants to do breakfast on other days of the week at the same spot. Two people is the minimum to prepare and be present throughout breakfast. What a great way to start the day!

PEOPLE PROJECT believes that the power is in the people to take care of each other in generous and creative ways. And that it is vital to connect and learn from the experience of the most oppressed communities.

Veterans' Day 08, a wet morning

Coats, Blankets, and Socks needed desperately

Got a coat?
Blanket?
Pair of warm socks?

People who are living outside need dry coverings! Coats, socks, and blankets leave as fast as they come (It doesn’t help that the police constantly steal peoples’ only belongings to keep warm!)

Please call PARC if you have anything. The rain and wind are real rough to live in continuously. The phone number for PARC [Peoples' Action for Rights and Community]: (707) 442-7465

Here’s PARC’s webpage: http://parc.2truth.com/

Imagine being soaked wet- and not having any place to dry off.
Imagine finally falling asleep, cold and wet, on the concrete or on a piece of cardboard, and the police come and wake you and take your only bedding… It happens ALL THE TIME.

Donations PLEASE.
Thank you.

Federal Judge Rules: Destruction of homeless residents’ property declared unlawful seizure

Federal Judge Rules City of Fresno Violated the Rights of Homeless Residents
Posted by Mike Rhodes ( MikeRhodes@Comcast.net )
Tuesday May 13th, 2008 6:06 PM

A summary judgment was issued on May 12, 2008 in the lawsuit by homeless people against the City of Fresno. The statement below is from the American Civil Liberties Union and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, two of the law firms representing the plaintiffs in this case. The trial is scheduled to begin on June 10. The photo below is Pam Kincaid, speaking at the Press Conference at Fresno City Hall, announcing the filing of the lawsuit (October 17, 2006).

Federal Judge Rules City of Fresno
Violated the Rights of Homeless Residents

Destruction of property declared unlawful seizure

Fresno – A U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of California has ruled that the City of Fresno’s practice of immediately seizing and destroying the personal possessions of homeless residents violates the constitutional right of every person to be free from unreasonable search and seizure.

“The question is no longer whether the City will have to pay damages to class members, but how much,” said attorney Oren Sellstrom of the Lawyer’s Committee for Civil Rights. “Given that many homeless people lost everything they owned in these illegal sweeps – including their medicines and items of tremendous sentimental value – we believe the damage award will be significant.”

“The Court’s ruling in this class-action lawsuit makes it clear that our Constitution protects the rights of everybody, rich or poor,” said attorney Michael Risher of the ACLU of Northern California. “It should send a strong message to other cities throughout our country that if they violate the rights of their most vulnerable residents, they will be held accountable.”

Six plaintiffs provided testimony in the case, Kincaid v. City of Fresno, on behalf of the entire class, which includes all homeless people in Fresno who had their property seized and destroyed by the City or by the California Department of Transportation. The case was bought by the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California, The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, and the firm of Heller, Ehrman, LLP.

The case was filed in October 2006. The court issued a temporary restraining order against the City of Fresno two days later; in December 2006 it issued a preliminary injunction after hearing evidence from both sides over the course of five days.

During oral argument on April 25, 2008, Judge Oliver W. Wanger declared that, “…the practice of announce, strike, seize [and] destroy immediately is against the law.” (Excerpted from transcript by court reporter.)

Note to reporters and editors: Video footage and photographs of city workers using machinery and dump trucks to destroy the personal property of homeless residents are available on the ACLU-NC’s website, along with the legal documents in the case: http://www.aclunc.org/cases/active_cases/kincaid_v._city_of_fresno.shtml

Synopses of plaintiffs declarations before the Court

Excerpted from declarations found here: http://www.aclunc.org/cases/active_cases/kincaid_v._city_of_fresno.shtml

Lead Plaintiff Pamela Kincaid died in August of 2007. Kincaid occasionally stayed at the only women’s shelter in Fresno, but she suffered from claustrophobia, which made it difficult for her to remain there. When sanitation workers and police officers seized her belongings, Kincaid lost her birth certificate, her address book, photos of her sister, daughter and mother, and a toolbox with tools she used for the recycling and crafts work she does to earn money, among other items.

“Before I became homeless, I used to have a house and a job. I lost both when I developed injuries at work…I hope that someday I will be able to get off the streets and into permanent housing. But the fact that the city keeps taking and destroying my property makes that goal seem that much harder to achieve. I always live with the fear that the city will come and take what few possessions I have left.”
- Declaration before the court in October 2006

Charlene Clay and her husband left their apartment in 2006 because they could not afford the $850 in rent. They were camped on a hill off of G Street when City of Fresno workers destroyed their belongings – including Clay’s teeth, medications, sleeping bags, and personal papers – without warning. A second time, Clay was staying near San Benito and H Streets when police tipped her shopping cart, threw her possessions on the ground, and hauled her cart away.

“The City of Fresno has made it clear to me by destroying my property twice and by the way in which they did that, that because I am a homeless person, I will always be vulnerable to having my property taken and destroyed by City of Fresno workers and police.”

Joanna Garcia was born and raised in Fresno. She lost her job after she was mistakenly implicated in a robbery committed by her husband. She has worked at Holy Cross Women’s Shelter, earning food vouchers. City workers have seized and destroyed her property five times.
“…my belongings and my boyfriend’s belongings were on the grassy strip across the highway from E Street. They were neatly kept. My boyfriend and I had left for the day; I was working at Holy Cross. When we came back that evening, I said to my boyfriend, ‘I can’t see our home.’ All of our belongings were gone, including tents, blankets, personal papers, clothes, my pink bicycle, and irreplaceable pictures of my grandmother and my son.”

Douglas Deatherage, 43, worked part time at a trucking company. He watched as City of Fresno workers threw his belongings into a garbage truck. “My relatively small amount of personal possessions were not bothering anyone and I was ready and willing to move if the City of Fresno workers wanted to clean the area where they were. It was obvious that my property was not abandoned since I was there with it. I was given no opportunity to move my personal property in order to save it from this destruction that morning.”

For more information, contact: Contact: Malik Russell, ACLU-NC, 415.621.2493, x374 Anayma DeFrias, LCCR, 415.543.9444, x223

PEOPLE PROJECT Sues Local Governments and Police for Violating Free Speech and Human Rights of “Houseless” People

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sept 2, 2008

PEOPLE PROJECT Sues Local Governments and Police for Violating Free Speech and Human Rights of “Houseless” People

[see post above]

“Not allowing a person to sleep is tantamount to torture.”

**Photos from encampment and raid available by request and at various links in this site.

Interview on KMUD: Sept 22, 2008

This is about the lawsuit brought by 5 PEOPLE PROJECT folks.

If you want to skip the story before the interview, go to 10 minutes, 13 seconds.

KMUD radio, Sept 22, 2008

DON’T TALK ABOUT US, TALK WITH US! picture the homeless protest in NY

http://www.picturethehomeless.org/blog/node/51

Last week, Picture the Homeless organized a “sleep out” protest on 125th Street in Harlem, a powerful and dynamic event, outside the NY State Office Building. We were protesting the fact that affordable housing, as it’s currently configured, is not accessible to low-income folks – instead, it’s generally targeted at households making $30K to $80K a year. We were demanding revisions to the federal guidelines governing “affordability,” and we delivered packages to several of the state and city and federal elected officials who have office in that building, asking for a meeting.
IN ADDITION! Picture the Homeless recently completed work on a 28-minute documentary, “The People vs. Michael Bloomberg,” which documents NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s trial before “the Homeless People’s Court.”

Manhattan residents with cable can catch the film next Wednesday, October 15th, at 3:30 PM, when it airs on Manhattan Neighborhood Network. Tune in to channel 34!

PEOPLE PROJECT Lawsuit: One effort to END THE POLITICS OF CRUELTY

Here is the full COMPLAINT, originally filed on June 6, 2008 (amended May 13, 2009), in Federal Court, San Francisco.

LAYWERS NEEDED to assist the pro se plaintiffs!

Most recent press release at top of the page
Humboldt County DA Sued by Homeless Camp Participants

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Humboldt County DA Sued by Homeless Camp Participants

On May 13, 2009, Paul Gallegos and the Humboldt County Office of the District Attorney (DA) were added as defendants in the federal civil rights lawsuit brought by five participants of the 2007 People Project homeless encampment demonstration. The DA’s Office was served with the complaint on Mon. June 8, 2009.
The lawsuit demands accountability for violations of human rights by the police and DA during their April 25, 2007 raid on the encampment in Arcata, California. People Project plaintiffs are demanding that the day and night harassment of homeless people by police be stopped immediately.
The DA’s office is being sued for its involvement in the raid and because it continues to perpetuate the criminalizing of poor people, including those who live without housing. Says plaintiff Kimberly Starr: “Although, in theory, the DA’s office is responsible for prosecuting all crimes, even crimes committed by police; instead, the DA’s practice, historically and to this day, is to be complicit with crimes and violence against houseless people… and demonstrators. On April 25, 2007, agents from the DA’s Office went beyond complicity. They documented and actually participated in false arrests, deprivation of life-sustaining necessities, theft of property, and other abuses against People Project encampment demonstrators.”
People Project plaintiffs and others were exercising their constitutional rights when raided by numerous police and other government employees. The well organized, publicized, and community supported encampment which began on April 21, 2007, highlighted the plight of Northern Humboldt’s houseless population, especially discrimination from local ‘law enforcement.’ The encampment was established on city property as a temporary safe place to sleep, and it publicly drew attention to a crisis situation- that in Arcata there is no “legal” place for the hundreds of houseless people to sleep. The camp was established also to generate dialogue and build support for a free, people run, ecologically-sustainable campground.
During the raid on the encampment, the police seized property, including medications and survival gear, of more than 50 houseless individuals. Recently posted youtube video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWnG1vAJAbE&feature=channel_page) taken by employees of the DA’s Office, show the police confiscating a bag of prescription medications from one houseless demonstrator, Hans Ashbaucher, and brutalizing him. Mr. Ashbaucher, a plaintiff on the lawsuit, suffered a seizure while tightly handcuffed and face down on asphalt; police slammed their knees and legs into his body. The City of Arcata never returned Mr. Ashbacher’s medications.
The police and DA raid on April 25, 2007 brought to the fore ongoing discrimination and human rights violations against houseless people on the North Coast of California. A few months after the raid, Martin Cotton, a houseless man, was beat to death in Eureka (in front of numerous witnesses) by Eureka Police officers, and later Humboldt Sheriff deputies. The Humboldt DA refused to prosecute any of the officers involved in the beatings.
Sara Hamilton of Redwood Curtain CopWatch, who was present throughout much of the 2007 People Project encampment reminds us: “Every day and night police stalk, target, intimidate, and violate the bodies and property of houseless people. As a society, we must refuse to accept that behavior from anyone -and defend houseless people.”
People Project, a cooperation of community members focused on human rights and building dignified community spaces as and with houseless people, knows that this lawsuit is only one step toward ending the persistent government harassment, abuse, and extra-judicial punishment of houseless folks. The People Project lawsuit points out: “…The Defendant City of Arcata has not only failed to provide any shelter or safe space for homeless people to rest, but has been heavy-handed in discouraging and punishing any groups or individuals who attempt to provide or create such spaces.” The lawsuit continues, “Arcata has proven itself to be deaf to all urgings by community to respect homeless peoples’ rights and to cease from day and night harassment, intimidation, and punishment of homeless people for performing or needing to perform life-sustaining activities..” … “whereas the Defendants exhibit no intention of voluntarily changing such unconstitutional pattern and practice, and [we] can exhaust no other options, [we] appeal to th[e] Court to provide declaratory and injunctive relief regarding such discriminatory and inhumane actions by Defendants.”
Rob Hepburn, a Veteran for Peace and People Project supporter alluded to the UN Declaration of Human Rights and asserted, “Not allowing a person to sleep is tantamount to torture.”

PEOPLE PROJECT Sues Local Governments and Police for Violating Free Speech and Human Rights of “Houseless” People

ARCATA, CA (September 2, 2008) A lawsuit regarding ongoing civil rights violations against homeless people on the North Coast of California has been brought against employees and police of City and County government and California Highway Patrol in Humboldt County. Actual and punitive damages, as well as declaratory and injunctive relief, arising from State and Federal claims are demanded by PEOPLE PROJECT Plaintiffs in the lawsuit filed in San Francisco’s Federal Court. People Project, a cooperation of community members who are focused on human rights and building dignified community spaces as, with, and for houseless people hopes to prohibit the City of Arcata and other governments throughout Humboldt County from continuing their persistent harassment, abuse, and extra-judicial punishment of houseless people.

The lawsuit arises from the false arrests and other wrongs against Hans K. Ashbaucher, Johnie C. Miller, Kimberly L. Starr, Kristofer Johnson, and Michelle Hernandez – while they were exercising their constitutional rights participating in a well organized, publicized, and community supported encampment. Organized by People Project, the encampment demonstrated the plight of Northern Humboldt County’s houseless population and the ritual discrimination it endures from local ‘law enforcement’ officials. The People Project encampment was established on city property to provide a temporary safe place to sleep and to publicly draw attention to the situation that, in the City of Arcata, there is no “legal” place for the hundreds of houseless people to sleep. The camp was established also to generate dialogue and build support for a free, people run, ecologically-sustainable campground.

The People Project lawsuit points out: “Though the Defendant City of Arcata fails to offer any ‘legal’ housing facilities for people who have no house of their own … City of Arcata persists in criminalizing homeless people who attempt to sleep anywhere outside or even in their own vehicles, and no free campground safe zone exists for the 300 plus homeless people who reside in Arcata (population 17, 000) at any given time. The Defendant City of Arcata forbade churches from allowing people to sleep in cars in their parking lots. The Defendant City of Arcata has not only failed to provide any shelter or safe space for homeless people to rest, but has been heavy-handed in discouraging and punishing any groups or individuals who attempt to provide or create such spaces.” It is these policies that People Project is attempting to change in Arcata and throughout the county.

Several law enforcement agencies were involved in dismantling the People Project encampment in the April 25, 2007 raid (and are thereby subjects of this lawsuit): Arcata Police Department, Humboldt State University Police, Humboldt County Sheriff’s Department, Eureka Police Department, California Highway Patrol, and Fortuna Police Department. The combined interagency force dismantled the protest camp using violent tactics on the primarily houseless and entirely non-violent demonstrators. After the police raid, the City of Arcata held the participants’ property, including medications and survival gear, of more than 50 homeless individuals. The City destroyed some items and waited 10 days after the raid to release many un-catalogued items and in some cases, returned property to the wrong people. The Arcata and HSU police harassed encampment demonstrators throughout the next 7 nights; demonstrators had relocated to another Arcata City property after the raid.

The Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office (present at the raid) and the City of Arcata declined to bring criminal charges against the Plaintiffs and the 14 other people who were falsely arrested for participating in the public encampment protest, suggesting the wrongful nature of the raid tactic.

In addition to claims of false arrest, wrongful confiscation, and destruction of personal property and vital medication, the People Project lawsuit states that “Arcata has proven itself to be deaf to all urgings by community to respect homeless peoples’ rights and to cease from day and night harassment, intimidation, and punishment of homeless people for performing or needing to perform life-sustaining activities..” It continues, “…whereas the Defendants exhibit no intention of voluntarily changing such unconstitutional pattern and practice, and [we] can exhaust no other options, [we] appeal to th[e] Court to provide declaratory and injunctive relief regarding such discriminatory and inhumane actions by Defendants.”.

Recently, the City of Fresno, California agreed to a $2.35 million dollar settlement to several homeless people after city employees seized and destroyed their property.

Rob Hepburn, a Veteran for Peace and People Project encampment supporter alluded to the UN Declaration of Human Rights and asserted, “Not allowing a person to sleep is tantamount to torture.”

**Photos from encampment and raid, as well as Complaint filed June, 2008 in U.S. District Court, Northern District, CA available by request.

HOMELESS PERSONS’ MEMORIAL DAY & NIGHT, Dec 21st

Safe Ground Homeless March- Sacramento

On December 23, homeless people and supporters took to the streets of Sacramento to protest oppressive laws and discrimination. Marching through the cold streets of Sacramento they demanded safe ground, the right to live without being arrested, fined, and their property being confiscated. In Sacramento there are more then twelve hundred people who go to sleep under the skies every night.

Homelessness Could Happen To You

YouTube Videos

Watch THIS. Breaking down stereotypes, glimpse at the truth…

Cops Cutting up Tents in St. Petersburg Florida (It Happens EVERYWHERE!)

George Carlin on Homelessness and Golf

The Mayor of Tent City sings about Sarah Palin

SAFE SLEEPING SPACE IN EUREKA (thru the night of Dec 31st)

If you are in the Eureka area and you know of a person or persons who need a safe place to sleep tonight, or any/every night through December 31st, please tell them they can call Verbena at PARC [Peoples' Action for Rights and Community] at 707-442-7465 or call Squiggy at 707-498-2050.  We have organized such a space given the dangerous weather and police conditions on the street, and so grateful that we have an indoor space to share. 

If you or someone you know calls, we can give more details and also make sure that whoever needs to can get to the safe sleeping space.

Verbena is offering rides from downtown every night around 6pm through to December 31st.

Please call for directions if you want to go or help someone go. 

AND, if you are in another city/town, please remember that people can and do freeze to death in cold or wet or windy weather.. here we have all three at once. And the cops continue to harass people and ruin their gear in the rain and cold. 

Opening your home or another space is imperative.  I am so grateful that there is the above-mentioned safe space.  People with many more resources somehow just haven’t got it together.  It really can be quite simple.

Feel free to call or email if you want to talk about opening a space up yourself.  Maybe we could share ideas, concerns, experiences…

EMERGENCY- Need Safe Sleeping Spaces

[originally posted Jan 4th, please read now!]

Cold weather, especially over an extended period of time, takes a heavy toll on the health and well-being of the most vulnerable members in our community.

Recently, a small household in Eureka, made its garage available as a safe sleeping space for people with no shelter. The household and a group of friends (many PEOPLE PROJECT folks) organized the space in response to the dangerous weather and police conditions on the street. It was actually quite simple. Prior to opening the safe sleeping space, we discussed how we thought it would work best. One of the things decided beforehand was that we would make the space available for 11 nights (December 21-31), and would be explicit about that time frame, so that people sleeping there could depend on a stable schedule.

At this time, opening your home or some covered space is imperative. We were so grateful for the garage, and all went well. Being only a temporary situation, we are reaching out to you, asking you to open your garage, yard, or big room for whatever time you decide is possible.
We imagine a rotating emergency sleeping space.

We have found that when a community cooperates and shares in the protection of its most vulnerable members, the result is a vital sense of security experienced by all.

The people who recently shared their garage and those of us who supported and helped coordinate that emergency shelter space are available to talk with you about our experiences. We are eager to assist you in many ways if you are able to open up a sleeping space.

Ways we can assist you include: collecting floor padding, blankets, sleepware, and other necessary warm things (the garage just used had a cement floor); driving folks who need a ride to and from the space; and being present in the sleeping space overnight. The volunteer-run PARC (Peoples’ Action for Rights and Community) in Old Town Eureka fully supports the creation of temporary or permanent dignified community sleeping spaces. PARC is available, for any set-up you may provide, as a phone contact, a donation drop-off, and a dedicated resource for people offering or utilizing a safe shelter.

People can and do freeze to death in cold or wet or windy weather.. here we have all three at once. And the police continue to harass people and ruin their gear in the rain and cold. Please call and/or email if you want to talk about opening a space up yourself. It is freezing at night, and we can make a way through these hard times together.

Please Call PARC: (707) 442-7465

The following are the guidelines that were posted on the inside of the garage. You may have some different ideas for your place. We believe that emphasizing honor, dignity, and relationship makes for a truly “safe space.”

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ WELCOME ///////////////////////////

This is a hate-free space. that means…
NO racism, sexism, homophobia, etc
* please no physical or verbal violence
* smaller room is for women only
* bigger room in is for all

To protect this safe sleeping space…
- no drinking alcohol or doing drugs (including pot) here
- use lights, not candles
- every night, come through front house door when you first arrive;
then use the front gate to go in/out.
- use bathroom in the house (walk in back door, then to right)
- quiet after 9pm, and during cigarette breaks

You are welcome to sleep here…
- every night through the night of Dec 31st.
- Please come in no earlier than 6pm and no later than 10:30pm
-mornings, out by 9am please

Please do not leave your belongings here,
as no-one is here to protect them

Please communicate theses guide-lines with newcomers

If you need anything, please feel free to ask.

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\///////////////////////////////////////////

Sheriff Correctional Officer LANE Takes Jail Crews to Destroy Houseless Persons’ Property

Talking with men who have worked on the CalTrans crews while incarcerated at the Humboldt County Correctional Facility [jail],we learn that Correctional Officer LANE (who recently trained another correctional officer for his job running CalTrans crew) regularly destroys the camps and belongings of houseless persons. In addition, LANE has committed other crimes against houseless persons that are truly despicable. Here are some of the accounts:

LANE found a man sleeping in a dumpster near the jail. Lane closed the dumpster and locked it with the man inside.

LANE orders his crews to take belongings of houseless people and throw them in the CalTrans yard where they get thrown in the dumpster.

LANE dismantles and destroys sleeping sites of houseless people. After one such attack in Spring of 2008 while none of the people were at their sleeping spot, Lane found a rotting, maggot-infested deer carcass. Lane dragged the carcass up to the spot where people has been sleeping- and left it there.

While driving southbound on Highway 101 with the Cal Trans jail crew, Lane saw a person sleeping under a tree a safe distance from the road. Lane made a sudden u-turn and stopped. LANE then ripped the mattress out from under the woman who was sleeping, took her belongings, and told her to leave of go to jail. The woman was forced awake to walk down the highway with NOTHING.

LANE commonly tells houseless people: “You’re a worthless piece of shit” and other cruel, derogatory, and hateful comments.

GRUB-N-GRAB: dignified and SHARING space, disrupting social relations based on money, inspiring respect. Grub-n-Grab’s are NO HOAX

These are 3 accounts from the January 6, 2008 Grub-n-Grab.

News from Wabash and UNion (EKA)

Grub and Grab, January 6 2009
Eureka,CA

A Grub and Grab is the creation of our imaginations, where we practice what we preach and live our dreams of community. Without any financial burdens, we reclaim a neighborhood space where we can allow for relationships outside of the state and capital regulations. Simply, it is a place where we share the abundance of our society as well as our individual aspirations. In the heart of this winter season, we bring hot food, drinks and warm clothing for all who have been weathered by the storms. Under large tarps we put up dry tables of countless goods that belong in the hands of those who need it. We know that in the downfall of their economy, we are left to struggle for all necessities. The GNG is one way that we stand together and provide for ourselves. This is not charity, this is beyond solidarity. This is not a one time deal, but an ongoing practice of our values. GNGs have been going on since the summer of ´07. This last GNG has turned out to tell the story of many elements to our situation of crisis. The story of this event will help to clarify our purpose to ourselves and the greater Eureka of what are our intentions

Because the GNG was scheduled for the 24th of December, it must have been perceived as a christmas happening, although it was not specifically that.

The Day

We set up at eight o’clock with hot food and and a warm crowd. There was a sense of accomplishment amongst the crew. Pleasantly, through word of mouth there was about 10 of us setting up, making it easy to set up and unload. Also, we were fresh faces to one another, allowing for making new relationships and connections. Through persistent organizing we pulled a crew together ofof strangers ready to work together at 7 in the morning outside in the rain without compen$ation. But – We were there! We set up at this building that barely looked like a place of worship, it was an old run down church. The church at Wabash and Union is an example of capitalist and bureaucratic process that have lead to neglect and waste. The building stands with broken windows and boarded up doors hardly resembling a church at all. Now it stands with a new story.

People came down Wabash by car, bike and foot to see what was going on. We flew through coffee and potatoes. As the rain came down, people came up to get dry coats. This is very practical – no? We shared conversation with old friends and new acquaintances that came by. There was joy in the air despite the water clouds above. People were pleasant and respectful, not following rules or judicial law, but our own common sense. The children reflected this, happy faces and giggles, there was kid clothes and even toys. Some came for the coffee, and some came to say hi. Some came with carts, and some came with minivans. We were grateful, and our smiles showed it. Aside from th chit chat, we also screened movies with a portable TV. It was place to hang out – and thats what we did, content under the protection of tarps.

While people trickled in and out of the space, some of us went to pass out fliers at Henderson Center. Our fliers were received well except for a group of employees who suggested we leave before security came to throw us out. This seemed strange considering our good intentions, but not surprising policy for a corporation. Upon our return, the PIGZ were at the site serving orders to move from our location prematurely. We had intended to be there another 3 hours. Against our will, we packed our things and hung our tails between our legs, like the dogs they treat us like. I was not ready to leave. I was not ready to be arrested. We packed up three truck loads, and gave thanks for the success we did have.
How come our day of giving was not allowed and the december 24 give away was hailed as a miracle? the ongoing contradictions of the state and property owners is not new to me but still just as outraging!
—————————————————————–

NO HOAX! But a miracle is still a miracle!

The spirit of giving and community empowerment lives on- even sprouts an unexpected branch. What was recently dubbed an internet hoax and cruel prank was actually a very simple slip up. The December 24th Grub-n-Grab, which was called off due to extenuating circumstances around resources and weather, was to be the 7th such event organized and carried out in recent years by PEOPLE PROJECT. It was our hope that as the Craigslist ad had only been posted for a few hours between 12 and 7 am, the risk of anyone showing up was minimal. That it caused anyone inconvenience is regrettable, and we at PEOPLE PROJECT apologize for the miscommunication. That this mishap should generate so positive an experience as to be called a miracle, was an inspiring surprise and we wish we had been privy to the organizing that ensued after we pulled the posting.

The Grub-n-Grab is no joke. We have hosted 7 such events in this area over the past 2 years. It all started when People Project members happened upon several truckloads of goods a local church was needing to get rid of. The high spirits that ensued from this first give-away led into conversation about what had made the event unique and special and why it felt so different from the other “institutional” charities we have all experienced in one way or another.
Inspired to affect compassion, sharing, empowerment, and community cooperation; and eager to re-imagine what community could look like, and feel like, PEOPLE PROJECT members carried the dream into action. It was in the spirit of this tradition, that on the 6th of January we rolled up our sleeves to host the event which had not been able to happen on the 24th. Only a little bit sheepish from the spin-off of our mistake and the title of “evil Grinch”, we set up our canopy and tarps and put on a great event. There was hot food, live music, educational videos, children playing, and lots of free stuff picked out. As was so beautifully illustrated in the Miracle on Wabash story, those moved to help were not necessarily coming from a place of affluence and privilege, and the real show of wealth came from the spirit of sharing.
Such is the case consistently in our organizing, where many among us are houseless, and where in working together to create a space where humanity and care are held in priority over material success and profit, the result is the kind of empowerment and community uplift bestowed by the spirit of sharing itself. We hope to join forces with those who rose to the occasion on X-mas day to ensure that this wonderful occurrence does not get buried in the past as a one-time thing. Past experience confines us to the unfortunate expectation that should the “miracle workers” endeavor to act on a continuing grass-roots basis, in collaboration or otherwise, they will be met with many of the frustrations, obstacles and harassment we have and continue to struggle with. However, of course always optimistic, we pray that in this case things may be different.

On Tuesday afternoon, some of the most significant obstacles standing in the way of such ongoing community self-determination were made clear. A property manager, more concerned with what he stands to lose than what he has to give, and a police force, obligated to enforce policy based in social anxiety rather than optimism and hope, put an early end to Tuesday’s Grub-n-Grab. The officers dealt fairly with us and we in turn, though disappointed, complied in the prompt breakdown of the event. Community members scrambled for last minute finds and bites of food as we packed.

The take home message would seem to be that an isolated instance of spontaneous humanity is permissible, but that the ongoing work of lifting each other into a stance of dignity cannot be allowed. Whether this condition stems from class prejudice or from the general cultural anxiety around disparity and issues of social justice, or any number of other possible reasons, it is difficult to say. It may be that this treatment stems from the belief that if our houseless community members are treated with respect, a larger population of dispossessed people will be attracted. Meanwhile, frustration and anger mounts for those of us faced daily with the deterioration of health, dignity, and life of people being pushed into extremes of poverty by a system unwilling to address its problems and which penalizes those who most need help and protection. We would hope that the colossal adversary of poverty and systemic blindness in our communities would be villain enough to rally ongoing response. But if it takes a fictitious evil Grinch to rally folks from the couch cushions, we will gladly show up in costume.

Travis Lathrop,
Peoples Project
————————————

A participant from GRUBNGRAB explains events and feelings (Eureka)

I am excited to have been involved with my first Grub n´ Grab; an ongoing struggle to share with people our intent and compassion. The GNG practices mutual aid with creativity and is acting as a catalyst by pushing for a market-less way to distribute within a very market dependent culture. The GNG allows people to become peers amongst each other; diminishing the ideaś of class, salary, and capital. Autonomy and dignity share this special space with the proles and the elite, while both browse freely amongst the excesses of yesteryear’s forgotten product.
There is another definite symptom of creating such a space. The folks who involve themselves in the event, whether it be browsing for clothing, eating some ´taters or setting up tarps and tables, seem to adopt a sense of respect and responsibility for that space. On Tuesday we turned a beaten up and neglected church into a safe haven from the rain and in some cases the hunger. People who came away from that came away with a sense of respect for the location, us, and other participants.
When the Realtor Ron Queen, arrived his demeanor and attitude were authoritative. Immediatly he proved this to be true by demanding to know who was in charge of the event. Having understood that this space was shared by everyone and we all participated in setting it up and maintaining it, I answered him by acknowledging that fact. After i took a look at who he was barking at, i realized he had been speaking towards(at not to) KRSTNA and CRTNY. As if to let people know who was running the show ´now´. During our confrontation with him we repeatedly tried to talk outside the sphere of capital, and property. He was intent on remaining decided in his favor and ignored our attempts to express our discontent with having to leave after an already successful day of sharing. He informed us that the police were arriving shortly and that we were to break down our tarps and tables, food and clothing, banners and fliers, immediatly. Upon arrival the PIGZ tried to make sense of the situation. Doing what they know best to do, they confirmed the Realtorś claims, identity, and ´supposed´ right to eject us from the property by giving us an hour to break down. Ron Queen, during all this time, stood on the side of the law. Shoulder to shoulder with the two officers he had ordered to remove us. After their departure more folks showed up to ask about the event. Many took clothing as fast as we could break down. As we finished up we realized the hour had passed and still no intervention.
Grub N’Grab is a space that means i can detach myself from capitalism and engage in true community solidarity. Reaching out to those who need us just as much as we need each other. We can attach ourselves to something that is more real and more tangible than the state would ever believe. We have made a collective effort to escape from that which has confined us, and that to me means everything. It means Survival.

p.s. Final analysis: Smash Capitalism; Off Da Pigz, Everything for everyone!

Reno Dismantles Makeshift Homeless Encampment

Reno Dismantles Makeshift Homeless Encampment

By Jeff DeLong • jdelong@rgj.com • January 10, 2009

Crews on Friday dismantled a makeshift encampment set up outside
Reno’s homeless shelter on Record Street, leading to complaints by
some living there that they now have no place to go.

Beginning about 8 a.m., city workers removed tents, sleeping bags,
tarps, slabs of cardboard and other items to be hauled away by dump
trucks.
“I think it’s horrendous,” said Mike Kavanagh, who had been sleeping
at the camp for the past 10 days.
“They just don’t care,” said Kavanagh, 53. “People will have to walk
the streets.”
“We’re cleaning it up, and that’s about it,” Reno Police Sgt. Ray Leal
said as he watched workers dismantle the camp.
Fewer than 10 people slept overnight there Thursday, said Jodi
Royal-Goodwin, Reno’s community reinvestment manager.
“A lot of people were just using it as storage,” she said.
The site is at the same location as a larger “tent city” set up for
the homeless over the summer. The tent city had at one point as many as 160 people living there. The city officially closed the site in
October, but clusters of homeless have continued to sleep there, even
with the arrival of freezing winter temperatures.

City officials posted signs in the area Tuesday warning that all
belongings must be removed by Friday or would be discarded,
Royal-Goodwin said. Camping in the area will no longer be allowed.

The move was necessary because construction of a new day area for the homeless will soon commence at that location and because of unsanitary conditions, Royal-Goodwin said.

Some beds were available at the nearby shelters, she said.

That availability is sharply limited, however. The 158-bed facility
for men was full Friday, while there were 15 openings in the 50-bed
women’s facility, said Christie Holderegger of Volunteers of America,
which operates the Record Street homeless complex. A facility with
apartments for 21 families was expected to be full by today, though
there were two openings for pregnant women or single women with
infants or toddlers, Holderegger said.
The 60-bed men’s shelter at the Reno-Sparks Gospel Mission has also
been filling nightly.
“There are people who will be turned away this evening,” a mission
worker said Friday.
Some of those displaced by the camp’s closure said they are now in a tough spot.
Kari Hartman and her husband Donald Morey, both 44, lived in the tent
city over much of the summer and then left. They returned to the
smaller camp a couple of weeks ago after Morey lost his latest job,
Hartman said.

The couple said they opted to stay at the camp rather than in the
shelters because they would have to sleep separated.

“We had our little camp set up right here,” Hartman said. “We just
don’t want to be separated.”
Hartman said she had no idea where the couple would go Friday night.

“It’s all up in the air,” she said. “If you go to the river, you get
arrested. You go to the parks, you get arrested. They don’t want you
downtown.
“We have no where to go,” Hartman said. ” If we had somewhere to go, we’d be there.”
Elizabeth Dorway, chairwoman of the Reno Area Alliance for the
Homeless, criticized the camp’s closure.
“I just feel this is a safe place for people to be,” Dorway said,
adding that those who stayed there will now probably be “dispersed”
around the city.
“It may have been unsightly, but the people are the real concern,”
Dorway said. “Where are these people going to go now?”

AND A DISCUSSION ON ABOVE TOP SECRET:

http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread426617/pg1

reply posted on 10-1-2009 @ 10:03 AM by projectvxn

I heard of this first through a friend who frequents St. Vincents for
breakfast every morning. He is homeless. Police actually denied access
to those wanting to claim their property before they took it away in
trucks, in effect depriving of property without due process. Reno gets
below freezing temps at night, and it is an arrestable offense to set
up a tent, sleep in your car, or seek shelter in any way. Most of the
people who are homeless in Northern Nevada are families with children
who have succumb to the current economic crisis. The police have been arresting people, taking and destroying their personal property
without probable cause, due process, or any other legal precedent.

My friend(Who shall remain anonymous) took me down there to see for
myself the hardships faced. I have been homeless in Nevada, and I’ll
tell you, it has gotten worse, not better for those just barely trying
to survive.

The police, according to my source, and my own experience at St.
Vincent’s, told us that the new stadium was going up and that they
“Did not want to have to look at a bunch of dirty bums”. What they
said to the news media, was obviously not reflected in the article.
But it is what they told us, verbatim.

ACLU of Southern CA Suing City of Laguna Beach for Its “No Sleeping” Ordinance- UNCONSTITUTIONAL & DISCRIMINATORY

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit on Dec. 23, 2008 against the City of Laguna Beach, its council members and police department on behalf of the homeless people of Laguna Beach. The suit claims that the city’s anti-sleeping ordinances result in an unconstitutional harassment of homeless people. The city’s police illegally conduct ’sweeps’, picking up homeless people from the streets and subjecting them to interrogations in the middle of the night.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana, claims the town is engaged in a campaign of harassment against the homeless while providing no year-round city-sponsored shelters. The 21-page complaint focuses on an ordinance that criminalizes sleeping on the street, which ACLU attorneys said is unconstitutional and discriminatory.

Read More…

Harrassment of Houseless People in Southern Humboldt continues

This letter was probably rejected as a Letter to the Editor, so we put it here! Note: People in SoHum (Redway, Garberville) are often picked up, brought almost 2 hours away to Eureka, cited, and released to the street with no way back home and no survival gear that they were carrying. All over the country, benches and anything that allows people to rest for a moment, are disappearing.

The Grinch that stole the picnic table

Oh how cool for the town square to donate the picnic table to the some peoples community park. The real reason is that it is another chapter in the war on the poor. Was anyone in our community contacted to see if they would rather , sit at at a picnic table or a small bench at some people’s town square? People finally had a reasonable place in town to gather without being harassed but, oh no that just couldn’t be. The same merchants that sign petitions to get the police unprecedented power to get folks to move on and who think they are above the law and clouds made that decision. I have seen the kindness and generosity of this community first hand and have seen the dark side also. Backpacks are like yellow stars to the right wing profilers, off to the gulag you go.

As the cops constantly harass folks who live in their rigs or park on our streets a motor home sat along the highway in Richardson grove for months. I guess it sat there because no one was living in it.Ahh what kind and generous times we live in.

How we treat our poor is a direct reflection of us as a community. I know you catch more bees with honey but this just stings me.

Name withheld to protect myself

Homeless Man Gets 15 Years for Stealing (and returning) $100

Homeless man gets 15 years for stealing $100 !!!!

A homeless man robbed a Louisiana bank and took a $100 bill. After feeling remorseful, he surrendered to police the next day. The judge sentenced him to 15 years in prison.

Isn’t a person realizing the “errors of his/her ways” what the whole so-called justice system claims as its goal?

Here is a link to a photo of Roy Brown

[PEOPLE PROJECT received word of this from SCHAP,
Stop Criminalizing Homeless And Poor,
posted by: "isfonelove" Iolmisha@cs.com, Wed Jan 28, 2009]

http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/265402#tab=article&sc=0&local

Homeless man gets 15 years for stealing $100

A homeless man robbed a Louisiana bank and took a $100 bill. After feeling remorseful, he surrendered to police the next day. The judge sentenced him to 15 years in prison.

Roy Brown, 54, robbed the Capital One bank in Shreveport, Louisiana in December 2007. He approached the teller with one of his hands under his jacket and told her that it was a robbery.

The teller handed Brown three stacks of bill but he only took a single $100 bill and returned the remaining money back to her. He said that he was homeless and hungry and left the bank.

The next day he surrendered to the police voluntarily and told them that his mother didn’t raise him that way.

Brown told the police he needed the money to stay at the detox center and had no other place to stay and was hungry.

In Caddo District Court, he pleaded guilty. The judge sentenced him to 15 years in prison for first degree robbery.

Sleep Deprivation is “Significant Evil” (quotes from 1998 CA court)

“Sleep is a physiological need, not an option for humans. It is common knowledge that loss of sleep produces a host of physical and mental problems (mood irritability, energy drain and low motivation, slow reaction time, inability to concentrate and process information). Certainly, no one would suggest that a groggy truck driver who stops his rig on the side of a road rather than risk falling asleep at the wheel does not act to prevent a significant evil, i.e., harm to himself and others….

‘I mean it doesn’t take an expert to tell us that, to convince a person, that there are ill effects that arise from sleep [deprivation].’

quoted from

In re Eichorn, 69 Cal.App.4th 382 (2000)

It Is Illegal When Police Dispose of Your Possessions!

from Eureka, California:

On this rainy, cold, windy February 10, 2009, a young houseless man told us that the cops saw him sitting on the stoop of a private business.

First, the cops LIED: They told him that they always have the right to search him (even though he is not on probation or parole) because in the past they have found illicit items in his possession.

Then, (after not finding anything illicit) they took ALL of his possessions (backpack, sleeping bag, extra pants, the glove not on his hand) and told him that they were throwing his belongings in the garbage! [That is ILLEGAL!]

No matter what the cops  say, or believe, or decide to mess with or arrest you for, they do not have the right to trash your belongings!

the Politics of Cruelty continue.   Remember COPS LIE.

Tell them, “I do not consent to a search.”

Ask for and remember the cops’ names and badge numbers.

Report your own experiences to Redwood Curtain CopWatch

Phone:  (707)633-4493
Email:  copwatchrwc@riseup.net
Website: http://redwoodcurtaincopwatch.net/report

http://redwoodcurtaincopwatch.net/

Check out this recent successful lawsuit in Fresno.  Cops are breaking the law when they destroy your stuff!

Santa Cruz wants to METER THE BENCHES!

“Aftermath” by Robert Norse Thursday Feb 12th, 2009

The law in its majestic equality “forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread.” –Anatole France

So it now goes in Progressive Santa Cruz.

At the 7 PM session of City Council, the only item on the evening agenda was the Second and Final Reading of the expansion of the Downtown Ordinance Forbidden Zones, making three infraction ‘crimes” a potential misdemeanor if unattended to, and metering the benches (plus the fluff added by Matthew’s secret Downtown Impro.vement Task Force.

Neither Beiers nor Lane kept their commitments to ask solid questions about the law, though Lane said he encouraged “musicians with complaints” to come to him. Rotkin repeated the same misinformation that there was “no consequence” presently for ignoring or tearing up infraction citations, which required giving the police additional “war against terror” problems (the terror of the panhandler, the sitter, the street performer, the homeless sleeper, and the political tabler).

Rotkin ignored the fact that two instances of any of these crimes within 6 months is currently an automatic misdemeanor unless lowered by the city (which it always does with sleepcrimes in order to stop jury trials, save itself money, and avoid a public defender).

I call him a liar on this issue because I brought the matter to his attention specifically on tape (see http://www.radiolibre.org/brb/brb090205.mp3).

During this session there was actually more public opposition to the ordinance changes than support. The merchants had hauled out their dog-and-pony show on January 27th and didn’t feel the need to come back. The weather outside was cold and nasty–reflecting the nature of what was being done inside Council chambers. There were less than 20 people in the audience, compared to the estimated 300 that attended the prior meeting. The supporters knew their fix was in.

Mayor Matthews untypically allowed 3 minutes for public comment and gave me 5 minutes for my organizational presentation (she said she’d lost the e-mail requesting it in advance, but accepted my word that I’d sent it).

Joe Schultz served his usual hot spirit-sustaining soup and agreed to do a benefit meal to challenge the ordinances in future. Students from Cabrillo and UCSC agreed to do some organizing against the ordinances for a future protest planned downtown for March.

HUFF will continue to work on what is the real issue for many poor people downtown: fighting back against (legalized) police harassment through a more unified system of documentation, witnessing, public education, and legal jujitsu (the laws that they’ve passed also apply to tourists and customers).

The DIY Copwatch Blog, when we complete it, should be a useful tool to document police, host, ranger, and deputy harassment soon after it happens and provide the data base for seeing just who’s getting cited for “bad behavior”.

“Bad behavior”, of course, now includes sitting in the expanded forbidden sidewalk zones, playing music that a resident objects to, serving free food if that dissatisfies a merchant, sleeping at night if you’re homeless, or having a “bad attitude” towards police demands (”you’re drunk”, “no we don’t have to use a breathalyzer”, “yes we will release you at 3 AM without your property”, “no we don’t have to justify it in court–we dropped the charges”).

Increased policing and squeezing people into smaller and smaller zones will naturally produce warm relations in the community between police and public. Contributing to a “more welcoming” downtown.

Any real attempt to deal with “bad behavior” by police, including false arrests, overcharging, mis-citing laws, selective enforcement, intrusive surveillence, and special interest security-guard behavior on the (impoverished) public payroll naturally went unnoticed and unmentioned by City Council.

Rude, angry, and abusive behavior on the street, as I’ve mentioned before, is nowhere explicitly dealt with in these changes, nor, largely, in the original downtown ordinances themselves. Nor are the causes and provocations that produce resentment addressed. These are gentrification anti-homeless laws that expand police powers to move people along and punish them for doing what poor people do in public spaces: sit, try to sell their possesions, perform, table for change, and beg.

If a tourist or resident says “you’re a dirty beggar” to a panhandler, that’s “free speech”. If a panhandler says “you’re a callous tightwad”, that’s cause for a citation for “abusive panhandling”

“The poor have to labour in the face of the majestic equality of the law, which forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread.”

The new changes go into effect a month from last Tuesday.

Interestingly enough, other cities have defeated these kinds of laws. Most recently Northampton, MASS activists and streetfolks fought back. See http://michaelannland.blogspot.com/2009/02/poverty-is-not-crime-stops-panhandling.html

For more details on the prior Santa Cruz struggle, check out http://www.the-alarm.com/pdf/7-26-02.pdf . The Alarm (2001-2005) published many articles and letters about this struggle. Their archives can be found at http://www.the-alarm.com/pdf/index.html My thanks to Fhar Meiss for his tireless work on this paper.

City of Angels Medical Center busted for recruiting homeless people from Skid Row to get State medical money

Ex-LA hospital exec arrested in alleged med fraud
The Associated Press, Jan 30, 2009

LOS ANGELES—The former co-owner of a hospital was arrested Friday on charges stemming from a scheme to recruit homeless people for unnecessary medical treatment to collect millions of dollars from government health programs.

Robert Bourseau, the 74-year-old former chairman of City of Angels Medical Center, was arrested at his downtown home without incident, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Vince Farhat.

A federal grand jury on Thursday indicted Bourseau on charges of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, conspiracy to pay illegal kickbacks to a Skid Row recruiter, and 11 counts of paying kickbacks.

Also named in the indictment was Dante Nicholson, the former vice president of the hospital, and Bourseau’s company that operated City of Angels, Intercare Health Systems, Farhat said.

Nicholson, 51, of Palmdale, will be summoned to an arraignment next month, the U.S. attorney’s office said.

Lawyers for the men could not be immediately reached. Messages seeking comment were left at two phone numbers listed for Bourseau, who also has a home in Rancho Mirage. He made an initial court appearance Friday and was detained pending trial, U.S. attorney’s spokesman Thom Mrozek said. An arraignment was scheduled for Monday.

Bourseau and Nicholson each face a maximum of 65 years in prison if convicted of all charges. Intercare could face fines up to $6 million.

The hospital was sold in December to Success Health Systems, and now operates as Silver Lake Medical Center, Farhat said.

The indictment stems from an alleged scheme in which City of Angels officials paid a recruiter $500,000 over three years to round up homeless people from Skid Row with Medicare or Medi-Cal cards and transport them to the hospital.

The “patients,” who were paid $100 or less,

(what?????)
were usually diagnosed with minor ailments, including yeast infections and dehydration, and the government programs were billed for the medical treatment.

Bourseau’s business partner, Dr. Rudra Sabaratnam, pleaded guilty last year to bilking Medicare and Medi-Cal of $4.1 million from 2004 to 2007. The recruiter, Estill Mitts, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud. money laundering and tax evasion.

Both men are scheduled to be sentenced later this year.

SEE ANOTHER ARTICLE:
HERE…Dr. Rudra Sabaratnam, 64, admitted to paying approximately $493,000 in kickbacks to Estill Mitts, the owner of a skid row-based recruiting storefront facility, and others to recruit homeless patients and take them to the hospital for unnecessary services.

PROTECT COMMUNITY SPACE, PARC

Protect community space
Letter to Editor, Times-Standard
Posted Feb 13, 2009

Recently, People’s Action for Rights and Community (PARC) volunteers were informed that their rent would be raised 33.3 percent by Consolidated Property Management Company until the managers find a “more suitable tenant.” PARC has been serving our community since November of 2007 and runs entirely on donations.

Previous tenants have vacated due to rent increases, including 3-2-1 Coffee and Silver Threads. While these businesses are missed, PARC is unique in providing free support to people whose human rights have been violated. It also serves as a workshop and organizing space for a variety of community groups, including the People Project, Icarus Project, Accíon Zapatista and more.

PARC provides resources, protection, and self-empowerment for the poorest and most vulnerable in our community. I have used the PARC office as a meeting space for the Northcoast Icarus Project, a radical mental health organization, and attended an informative and empowering “Know you rights?” workshop there. PARC is hub for grassroots knowledge-sharing. If we are to build a caring society we need such gathering places in order to create alternatives to oppressive structures. Incidentally, PARC also makes available free clothing, blankets, children’s books, and other necessities for those in need.

A valuable community resource is in jeopardy. In these times of economic need we need spaces like PARC more than ever. Your readers can address letters of support to the owner John Egan, then send them to PARC, e-mail , fax 707-442-7465 (call first), or deliver: 320 2nd St. Suites 2F & 2G in Eureka.

Hannah Clapsadle

Eureka

Homeless man beat by two cops in Fresno, Ca (cops caught on camera)

IHSS threatened (In Home Support Services for 81,000 people!)

IHSS threatened – take action

[forwarded from SCHAP- "Stop Criminalizing Homeless and Poor"; One comment regarding this letter is included in the bottom of this post. Please feel free to add your comments, as with every post on this site.]

originally from Laura Rifkin:
PLEASE REMEMBER – This is based on the Governors Proposal; the negotiators are keeping silent.

February 6, 2009

THE GOVERNOR’S PROPOSED BUDGET WOULD ELIMINATE IHSS DOMESTIC SERVICES FOR 81,000 LOW-INCOME SENIORS AND PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

The In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) Program provides services to low-income seniors and people with disabilities who live in their own
homes to help prevent more costly out-of-home care. Governor Schwarzenegger proposes to eliminate domestic and related services for IHSS recipients who have less severe impairments effective May 1, 2009.

This change would reduce IHSS Program funding by $257.6 million between May 2009 and June 2010 and affect 81,000 vulnerable Californians.

Estimated Impact of Governor’s Proposal To Eliminate Domestic Services for Recipients With Less Severe Impairments in the In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS)

Program County – Number of Recipients – Affected Loss of Funds

Alameda 3,320 $13,678,000
Alpine 3 $10,000
Amador 30 $87,000
Butte 630 $2,176,000
Calaveras 50 $182,000
Colusa 30 $55,000
Contra Costa 1,450 $5,495,000
Del Norte 60 $235,000
El Dorado 150 $555,000
Fresno 2,250 $8,359,000
Glenn 70 $243,000
Humboldt 320 $899,000
Imperial 990 $2,288,000
Inyo 20 $53,000
Kern 880 $2,575,000
Kings 320 $882,000
Lake 290 $1,180,000
Lassen 50 $145,000
Los Angeles 34,290 $96,747,000
Madera 300 $776,000
Marin 300 $1,281,000
Mariposa 40 $106,000
Mendocino 260 $868,000
Merced 560 $1,179,000
Modoc 20 $64,000
Mono 5 $25,000
Monterey 640 $2,233,000
Napa 150 $645,000
Nevada 110 $407,000
Orange 3,020 $7,520,000
Placer 330 $1,328,000
Plumas 50 $109,000
Riverside 3,020 $10,571,000
Sacramento 3,850 $16,538,000
San Benito 70 $296,000
San Bernardino 3,560 $11,702,000
San Diego 4,590 $13,448,000
San Francisco 3,700 $14,137,000
San Joaquin 1,280 $3,829,000
San Luis Obispo 310 $1,122,000
San Mateo 540 $2,754,000
Santa Barbara 480 $1,587,000
Santa Clara 3,010 $10,837,000
Santa Cruz 420 $1,655,000
Shasta 490 $1,321,000
Sierra 10 $13,000
Siskiyou 90 $209,000
Solano 540 $2,474,000
Sonoma 870 $3,816,000
Stanislaus 1,130 $2,873,000
Sutter 150 $444,000
Tehama 190 $481,000
Trinity 30 $66,000
Tulare 510 $1,217,000
Tuolumne 70 $100,000
Ventura 650 $2,043,000
Yolo 330 $1,215,000
Yuba 130 $441,000

Total 81,000 $257,574,000

Note: Total number of recipients affected and total loss of funds are Department of Social Services estimates and reflect the Governor’s
proposal to eliminate domestic and related services for IHSS recipients with less severe impairments beginning on May 1, 2009. Estimated loss of funds includes federal, state, and county funds. Estimates of affected recipients are rounded to the nearest 10, except for Alpine and Mono counties, and estimates of loss of funds are rounded to the nearest $1,000. County estimates are based on counties’ share of the IHSS caseload and expenditures in December 2008. County estimates may not sum to totals due to rounding.

Source: CBP analysis of Department of Social Services data

forwarded by:
Laura E. Williams, President
Californians for Disability Rights, Inc.
http://www.disabilityrights-cdr.org/
————————————-
from Frank Z:

“I was an IHSS “social worker” in Ventura County. Their definition of social work does not involve concern for the elderly and disabled clients. Rather, it involves a system of insurmountable caseloads resulting in the least amount of attention to the clients. The approach to this program is to give the clients the LEAST amount of help possible. I remember several home visits with our nurse who was there to “assess” the needs of clients. She mentioned several times that “it’s all about saving the taxpayers a few dollars” as we drove passed the Ronald Reagan library to the assisted living complex to do the assessment. The caretakers are low-paid and mostly immigrants and “low-skilled” workers. The SEIU takes a cut of their check but the caretakers receive no health care or any other benefits that a union is supposed to fight for. The caretakers only get paid for the amount of hours authorized for the clients based on the “assessment” and the social workers are encouraged to give as few hours as possible, thereby creating a natural antagonism between caretakers and social workers. The whole situation left me disillusioned and led to me going back to school, partly because the medical benefits, salary, and retirement weren’t enough to reconcile the hypocrisy of the system. When services are cut, the state’s rhetoric always seems to be, “these are difficult financial times and we need to cut spending…” as if it were an isolated incident. However, in my opinion, it is not a matter of balancing the budget but of the value system of classical liberalism and its neo-liberal manifestation. From the seventeenth century, individuals have argued against what were then called “poor laws” in Europe, insisting that they would limit freedom of hardworking individuals and encourage laziness and drunkenness. This same rhetoric is used today when taxing the super-rich is still denounced as an attack on individual liberty. The philosophy of the welfare system is to make it as difficult and shameful as possible to get assistance and to give the bare minimum.

As long as both our “representatives” and “advocates” accept this framework, then they will continue to quibble over what and how much to give and never be held accountable for their capitalist logic of scarcity.

“Where do I go?” Cops arrest people for EXISTING poor

Recently, copwatchers witnessed 4 (that’s right FOUR) Eureka Police Officers arresting a woman for sitting in a covered bus stop late at night with only a blanket in her hand.

Three vehicles, two of them K-9 units, were there. The officers were: Adam Laird (Badge #40), Kurt Rulofson (new guy), Ed Wilson (Badge #96), and Mike Guy (Badge #63).

The woman asked the officers, “Where do I go?”

She told them “I didn’t do anything.” But, you see, if you sit somewhere in public at night, when you have no other place to go, you get arrested.

After the woman was HANDCUFFED, male officer Rolofson, in the presence of the other cops and 4 copwatchers, searched her. That means he put his hands in her ass pockets and felt all over for… something (found nothing). It happens quite often here in Eureka- male officers searching women.

The woman was CITED and RELEASED LATER THAT NIGHT (or wee hours of the morning). Undoubtedly, she was sent back to the streets (where there is NO legal place to be or sleep) WITHOUT HER BLANKET which was seized by the cops and, as is customary, kept at the Jail until a “business day.”

If the woman wants her blanket (and it hasn’t been destroyed), she has to march up to the Sheriff’s desk on a week day only, show ID, and jump through the hoops to get it back.

http://redwoodcurtaincopwatch.net