Yet More Homeless "Evictions"

Greeting friends and advocates,

In the past month or so, we have been made aware of 3 MORE homeless "evictions" that have taken place in Vallejo. Add that to the 2 evictions in March of this year and that unofficially makes 5 evictions in the past 5 months alone! And that accounts only for the evictions that we KNOW of.

These actions of various city departments have only compounded the problem. City leadership fails to act. City residents complain vigorously but offer no workable solutions. Churches stand idle as if the suffering of our vulnerable residents matter not.

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!! Displacing and humiliating people is not the answer. Nor will complaining or scapegoating solve anything. Ignorance is not bliss. Homeless residents are PEOPLE and a disproportionately vulnerable part of our community.

We have put this off for some time, but now more than ever our community must come together and engage in conversations for change -- not in debates of polarizing generalizations.

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http://www.timesheraldonline.com/news/ci_12921519

Homeless, advocates push for county coalition

By Jessica A. York/Times-Herald staff writer

Posted: 07/27/2009 09:17:19 AM PDT

Some of Vallejo's transients are joining forces with local community activists to push for a citywide homeless coalition following a recent cleanup of an encampment.

Vallejo City Council members heard two of the city's self-described homeless members

share their concerns Tuesday night. One told of veterans facing depression, while the other noted an incident involving sheriff deputies in the midst of increasingly frequent routings of Vallejo-area homeless.

James Freeman, a 55-year-old San Pablo native, said in an interview Friday that shortly after a homeless encampment was emptied at the White Slough in March, he found his long-time stomping grounds near the waterfront River Park a bit more crowded.

A series of subsequent cleanups has chased him from four different locations in the past six weeks, after nearly a year and a half at one site, Freeman said.

Then, on June 27, Solano County Sheriffs deputies allegedly came into the camp, reportedly near county property but actually on city property, and removed some of the homeless' most prized possessions.

Freeman, 51, and homeless advocate Doug Darling said items like tents, medication and other essentials were missing when they returned later that day, and everything else was "trashed." Their main objection, the two said, was that the property had not been posted against loitering and they were given no notice to leave. That differed from nearby county property that was also being cleaned that day.

Darling said he understands that homeless people may be told to leave property, but added that there must be somewhere for them to relocate first. He said, with city leaders' support, he and fellow concerned resident Mark Mora hope to lead efforts to forge a homeless coalition uniting key figures citywide.

"The bottom line is it's cheaper to address the problem than deal with it later," Darling said. "I'm all for taking them off private property -- but they have to have somewhere to go. How long are we going to keep kicking the can, as the council would say. They are people, they need to be treated with dignity."

Darling and Mora said they hope to bring community leaders associated with homeless issues together soon. Darling, Freeman and a second homeless man plan to return Tuesday to city council chamber.

For more information on efforts to assist Vallejo's homeless, visit http://serveourvallejohomeless.blogspot.com.

Contact staff writer Jessica A. York at jyork@thnewsnet.com or (707) 553-6834.

Song Around the World

A quick break from the dire news of rampant homelessness throughout the nation. Here's an example of music as an ingredient in collectivity and shared life. Community breaking boundaries of class, culture, creed, and nation.


Playing For Change | Song Around The World "Stand By Me" from Concord Music Group on Vimeo.

"From the award-winning documentary, "Playing For Change: Peace Through Music", comes the first of many "songs around the world" being released independently. Featured is a cover of the Ben E. King classic by musicians around the world adding their part to the song as it traveled the globe. This video and "Don't Worry" are available now at iTunes. Other songs such as "One Love" will be released as digital downloads soon; followed by the film soundtrack and DVD in stores on 4.28.09."

Housing is focus of Fresno "tent city"

A sign stating no trespassing and no loitering is posted on a wall in a homeless encampment on H Street on Union Pacific Railroad Company property in Fresno, California, March 11, 2009.
(Photo by Tomas Ovalle/Fresno Bee/MCT)

Scope the Boston Herald Article:

Cities move toward housing-first approach to tackle homelessness

By Denny Boyles / McClatchy Newspapers

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

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Excerpts:

-"The plan: First provide housing, then tackle the larger problems, such as mental illness, drug and alcohol abuse that can keep people trapped on the streets. That’s a departure from traditional programs that require the chronically homeless to undergo months of treatment and counseling before they’re deemed to be 'housing ready.'"

-"Fresno, which has struggled for years to solve its homeless problem, is hardly a pioneer in adopting a housing-first approach. Hundreds of U.S. cities have moved in this direction, and the early adopters - cities like Denver, San Francisco and Portland, Ore. - found that the added cost of homes and support services was largely or entirely offset by reduced demand on shelters, emergency rooms, mental hospitals, detox centers, jails and courts."

-"Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearengin said she is committed to the 10-year plan, and believes it’s the right approach to ending chronic homelessness. 'Until someone is in a stable living environment, it’s nearly impossible to get them the services they need, whether it’s mental health care or getting sober or help finding work to get back on their feet,' Swearengin said. 'We’re looking beyond just sheltering people and working toward long-term, sustainable solutions.'"

-"But paying the cost of housing upfront reduces some of the other costs that homeless residents create, said Phillip Mangano, executive director of the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, a national partnership that works with government and the private sector to address homeless issues. Mangano said a typical homeless person can cost a county or city up to $150,000 a year in medical and legal services."

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More pictures from homeless encampments in Fresno:

Photos by Jim Wilson/The New York Times

Homeless resident found dead

Another Vallejo resident has passed away. And at this point, she is believed to be homeless. This type of a mysterious tragedy should not be happening this day in age. Our thoughts and prayers go out to her and her family.

As a community, let's take responsibility.

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Times-Herald Article

Woman's body found near Vallejo restaurant
Officials say no sign of foul play, woman may have been homeless
By Rachel Raskin-Zrihen/Times-Herald staff writer
Posted: 04/06/2009 12:17:35 PM PDT

A woman was found dead in a Vallejo restaurant parking lot Monday morning, though foul play doesn't seem to have been involved, officials said.

The body was discovered by an employee of Vallejo's Olive Garden restaurant, in the business' parking lot. The call came in around 8 a.m., said Jimmy Pierson, operations manager of Medic Ambulance Service, who responded to the call.

A call to Vallejo Fire Department was canceled once the paramedics determined the woman was already dead, said firefighter Kurt Henke.

"She's listed as a Jane Doe as of now," Pierson said. "She appeared to be about 40 and there were no obvious signs of foul play. And she appeared to be homeless. She had two shopping bags of personal belongings."

The body, which looked to be that of a Caucasian woman, was found laying face up in a parking space, near a shrub, and seems to have been dead "for a while, for sure more than an hour," Pierson said.

Contact staff writer Rachel Raskin-Zrihen at (707) 553-6824 or RachelZ@thnewsnet.com.

Unemployment: Another catalyst in growing homelessness

The US is facing a wave of homelessness for the first time in decades.

(Photo: Max Whittaker / Reuters)

Scope the Time article:

When Joblessness Becomes Homelessness

Monday, April 6 / by Douglas A. McIntyre

Excerpts:

-"The estimates of the number of homeless people in America vary widely. That may be because some surveys consider people who have no home for a night to fall into the category, while others only consider those who live in a chronic state of being without their own shelter. The disparities of measurement yield numbers that are as low at 800,000 and as high as three million."

Most people who have no income will not live in shelters or on the streets. They will move in with friends or relatives. They will only be homeless to the extent that they no long have a place of their own to live and cannot afford one. It is a form of displacement that has not been seen in America since The Depression and one which replaces the government's assistance for the individual back with the social network of the community, whether that is the community of the family or some other close knit network.

-"If the economic downturn is as long or longer than many pessimistic experts believe, it may well lead to a sort of widespread tribalism within the United States that has never been experienced before, at least not in anyone's memory, and that may be imperative to the government's ability to render assistance to people who have absolutely no place to live. At some point, the federal welfare system could become insolvent because of the demands of those in need. The fact that people have bonds beyond their nuclear families may be the only thing that prevents that."

"New faces" of homelessness in SF Chronicle

Photo: Brent Ward / The Chronicle
Video: Poor in the Promised Land

Scope the SF Chronicle article:

Ranks of homeless swell as middle class teeters

Monday, April 6, 2009 / By Kevin Fagan / SF Chronicle Staff Writer

Excerpts:

-"Homelessness across the entire nation is soaring, and experts say most of that growth is among people like Conroy - middle- to lower-middle-income workers - or families. But here's the tricky thing: They aren't all showing up in shelters yet."

-"There's a long ladder of resources they first have to tumble down before they hit bottom like Conroy. Right now, experts say, the newly homeless are mostly invisible - living with relatives and tapping friends and unemployment checks to avoid the shelters."

-"It's 'Junior League' homelessness," said Philip Mangano, who, as head of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, is President Obama's point man on the subject. "You can't have the number of foreclosures we've had, and the number of job losses we've had, and not have the homeless numbers go up. Everywhere I go, I hear of more need - and it's growing."

Another homeless "sweep" in Vallejo

We've just received word from multiple sources that the the police have "swept" homeless residents from another location in Vallejo. Many of these residents were already displaced from the homeless sweep earlier this month in the White Slough, and sought to find some form of refuge at this location.

We're awaiting confirmation and further details but again, all indications seem to point to another senseless homeless sweep in Vallejo. And we truly believe WE as a city are ALL responsible for this.

Please pray for our further displaced homeless residents who have no safe or warm place to lay their heads. Please email ServeOurVallejoHomeless@gmail.com if you want to be a part of the CHANGE.

Peace and Godspeed!