Homeless face eviction

[The Straight Story]

Homeless face eviction
Caltrans orders removal of encampments in Stockton

STOCKTON - At least 50 people and likely more are to be evicted next week from encampments - some of them elaborate - built in the shadows and among the thick plants under the Crosstown Freeway and along Mormon Slough.

On Friday morning, a small group of men and women bent over to read a sign that warned them in English and Spanish that they must leave the California Department of Transportation property by 9:30 a.m. Tuesday.

"I've been here a while. A year, maybe two," said Hope Olivas whose tent is pitched under the highway near South Lincoln Street. "I just got the word that we were supposed to get out."

Outside Olivas' tent are her pink-upholstered arm chair and the plastic bags in which she disposes her garbage.

She said she picked her spot because she feels safe there. Freeway lights keep it bright at night. "You can tell who's coming and going," she said.

http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090214/A_NEWS/902140335/-1/A_NEWS02

[dkf]

1. Is living in the encampments better than living at a shelter?

"Some are going to pack and move along into another location until they get notice again," Reynolds said. "Some will come right into the shelter, and we're happy when that happens."

He said shelter workers regularly visit the camps in part to make sure children aren't living there.

"If an adult doesn't want to come to shelter, we can't make them," Reynolds said. "But they can't say 'no' for a child. For us, that's a CPS call."

[Ocracoker16]

2. Shelter would seem better but there a few reasons people don't want to go into the shelter

In the article it says that some of the people who resist going to the shelter are undocumented immigrants who don't want to be caught, drug addicts, prostitutes, and people who have pets they want to keep.

[dkf]

3. That doesn't sound like a good environment keep up.

I feel bad for people being evicted, but what is the solution for people that don't want assistance?

[proud2BlibKansan]

11. Mental health care

[vadawg]

23. in the colder weather, a dip charge, and 8 hours or so in the lockup

[TahitiNut]

4. When one loses virtually all material possessions ...

... one's personal liberties are often MORE precious. Such personal liberties as smoking, having a drink, caring for a pet, compliance with rules, or just moving about at will are often circumscribed in shelters. Assistance "with strings" often demands a price that those without are resistant to paying.

"Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose."

[EFerrari]

5. Also, depending where you are, shelter beds have waiting lists and stay limits.

Since most homeless people don't have contact numbers. you wind up spending most of your time hanging out waiting to see if your name has made it to the top of the list yet.

Getting the most basic things like a bed or a meal or your mail can be an all day affair -- if you're lucky.

Once you get the bed, there is usually a limit -- a week or two weeks or a month. Then, you're out again for (usually) a commensurate amount of time. By that time, you've lost the spot you had outside.

[Ocracoker16]

6. Happy Valentine's Day!

I really don't like being attacked. I have seen so many others attack too. I am sorry that you are so irritable.

[TahitiNut]

9. Huh??

Oh... OK. Got it.

Happy Valentines Day! :hi:

[bobbolink]

7. WRONG. It's time people UNDErStAND what "SHELTER" means.

Poor nutrition.

Rampant disease.

Singles stuffed into overcrowded "dormitories", with NO SLEEP, germs being transmitted freely, etc.

Some are dangerous and very authoritarian.

It's time to face the facts.....

LOW-INCOME HOUSING IS BADLY NEEDED, NOT SHELTER!!!

[TahitiNut]

8. Amen.

:hug:

[G_j]

13. low-income housing

shelters are no way for anyone to live!

[vadawg]

24. low income housing is also poor nutrition, rampant disease

overcrowding, etc etc, you got to take the help and give the help where you can.

[bobbolink]

25. Tell ya what... why don't you do a stint staying in shelters, and THEN you can

post such an ignorant statement.

Your judgementalism is ...................................

[vadawg]

27. lol you think you have the only opinion, ive stayed in, worked in shelters

also lived what you would consider low income housing, and theres no real difference, they are both crap. Id be interested in what you consider to be adequate low income housing, cause the stuff ive been in, seen are nothing more than bredding grounds for more poverty.

[bobbolink]

30. If that was actually TRUE, you would be singing a different tune.

There is MUCH research to back it up.

I repeat my advice to you.

[vadawg]

32. yeah ok so you are the font of all knowledge, give me a break

you know nothing about what i do or where ive been, unfortunalety for you i dont buy into what your selling, so jog on

[maryf]

37. Keep telling it Bobbie!!

and the people in the tents/campers/cars have some semblance of privacy, not in a dormitory...

[proud2BlibKansan]

10. Shelters make the homeless go out during the day

And they have other rules, like no drugs or alcohol. A lot of homeless people really hate shelters.

[4 t 4]

12. Oh For Christs Sake

leave those people alone and fucking help them. I wish I had an ear directly to Obama What the hell would he say about this ? This is beyond disgusting!!

[proud2BlibKansan]

16. Amen

[truedelphi]

17. I don't think the poster means to be picking on the homeless.

He is saying that they know if they usually have drugs on them, they will either have to start de-toxing or maybe even be charged with drug possession. So they avoid shelters rather than go to them.

And he is pointing out that even for those who accept life in a shelter, it is far from being a home - you have to leave during the day.

[bobbolink]

26. Disease, including DRUG RESISTANT variants, are RAMPANT.

Those who value their health will stay out of shelters.

It isn't about "not wanting to obey rules".

It's about HEALTH.

[vadawg]

28. yeah because we all know there are no illnesses in the tent cities or under an underpass

shelters may not be the best option, but unless you can come up with a workable better solution, what do you suggest people do in the middle of a cold winter.

[bobbolink]

29. LOW-INCOME HOUSING.

It's been posted here in DU many times, with lots of information. How did you miss it?

Its right here in this thread... how did you miss it?

People living under bridges AREN'T CROWDED TOGETHER.

OVERCROWDING CAUSES DISEASE.

ELEMENTARY.

[vadawg]

31. wow, i never guessed that living under an underpass was healthy

get real, and i guess you cant give me an idea of what you consider adequate low income housing, its easy to say the words but do you mean highrise, tenements, single family detached with 2 car garage or what.

[bobbolink]

34. You just want to argue, rather than understand. Those lurking can see your tactics.

ALL Section 8 housing is inspected every year, and any unsafe and unsanitary conditions are corrected.

So, make all the silly comments you want... those reading can see who has done the research, and who is trying to disrupt.

I'm sure you want the last word, so have at it. Be just as ugly as you wish.

[vadawg]

36. thank you for kindly letting me have the last word

i go into a lot of section 8 housing, a hell of a lot, and some are immaculate but if you dont think there are roach infested, rat full low income homes then you are living in a dream world. i cant believe the CPS referrals i do every week just for the living conditions alone. so your so called research can be damned, you have a bias and are blinded by what you believe is the solution, i disagree and i asked a simple question what do you see as the home that you should get and do you think the roach motel would be sufficient.

[maryf]

38. But wouldn't you say

That decent low income housing is the best solution for the homeless problem? The number one cause of homelessness is the lack of housing, 3 applicants for every two units...would you really tell those who value personal freedom and privacy over crowded shelters that they have to go into the shelters???

[AngryOldDem]

40. Some prefer it.

For various reasons. They don't like to feel cooped up, they feel safer, etc.

And yes it's perfectly fine if it is an adult making the choice to live outside despite the availability of a shelter. But if there are children involved, that's another story.

[Ichingcarpenter]

14. 'Homeless face eviction'-----IRONY HEADLINE

Homeless face eviction from people occupying a TARGETED Homeless Area
owned by the people who make up the state, and shared by something called public land.

NO wonder why Bush and his cronies wanted to sell out the national parks

[Mnemosyne]

15. Possibly the saddest headline I have ever seen, TSS.

:cry:

But I also sobbed during "The Lonely Guy" with Steve Martin.

I have a mentally ill friend in Montgomery, he cannot tolerate being inside for longer than a few minutes to grab some water, beer and trash bags to wear. Three beaten old grocery carts are his entire life.

Bless you for this thread and the replies it has brought. Dignity is sometimes all you have left when you are homeless, brain disease or not.:hug:

And great luck with your new job!

[Ichingcarpenter]

18. I think Irony is something

that what the headline suggested, bypassed any
consciousness on what words mean, by some that
responded..... What is Public Land?

Meanwhile the BLM has their cattle users
that need millions of acres and can't
share it with humans.

[Mnemosyne]

21. It couldn't be more irionic, could it? How sad.

I've never understood anyone's need to control everyone around them, just not in my nature I guess.

[The Straight Story]

19. Thanks my friend

I just don't think people understand or want to some of our homeless.

What means the world to them may mean so little to us, and who are we to judge them?

I would rather give blindly funds to them to help out then to attach a bunch of strings (and I see the same on Du when it comes to faith based places, they complain about churches giving them bible tracts and such). If my giving to someone else helps them through the day or week then I feel like I did something positive, if I start attaching strings and values to things then I am not giving for them but to myself and my own beliefs of how they should be.

Not sure if that made a lot of sense, been a long day :)

[Mnemosyne]

20. You make beautiful sense, TSS. I have chosen to be homeless several times throughout my life

rather than suffer the humiliation of strings placed on any help from my family.

There were almost no shelters then and not sure I would have stayed there anyway, bad experience at the only one I ever went to. I lived in my $500 car, worked 40hrs at minimum then, $1.85? maybe, unless waiting tables and was fairly happy most of the time. I am rural and was fortunate there were many places to park to sleep back then. Not many places around for that anymore.

I gave my friend cash, clothes and food. I couldn't care less if he needed some beer to survive his life.

You do good, my friend! :hug:

[bobbolink]

22. "I just don't think people understand or want to some of our homeless."

You have it right on target, and that includes among "progressives".

To sum it up: HOMELESSNESS EXISTS BECAUSE USians ACCEPT IT. THEY JUST DON'T WANT TO SEE IT.

Unless and until ALL USians, and especially "progressives" decide that homelessness is UNACCEPTABLE and are outraged and determined to change it, it will continue.

Yes, it's in our laps, and on our consciences.

[Ocracoker16]

33. Right on as usual Bobbolink- progressives are part of the problem

I think that there are many progressives who could talk about how awful homelessness is and how they wish that there weren't any homeless people. However, if you ask them to help the homeless or challenge them to work to end homelessness you then get the "oh, I care very much, but I do a lot of work with charitites but I am sure there are people out there who could help". If you ask them if they agree that the situation is unacceptable for such a wealthy nation, they will turn to their old rhetoric about how sad homelessness is. I have spoken to people before about how it is that our country allows some of its citizens to go without shelter and food. I try to get them to be humane and ask themselves is this not a terrible injustice that we should put an end to. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get anyone to call homelessness unacceptable. When I say that I guess that means you accept homelessness, they get a little irritable while they try to explain that they fall into some other category.

One thing that I have observed here at DU is people becoming angry when Bobbolink posts about poverty and the fact that progressives aren't very quick to act to aid the marginalized. People tend to dispute that by saying that progressives are the most caring to fringe groups. That is great, but we need to see an example where progressives came together out of a disgust with our government for allowing homelessness and went on the offensive. Instead, people brag about the checks they send to charities. All that does is continue to fund this massive system we have constructed to clothe and feed the hungry. That only reinforces the status quo in which we house people in awful shelters and never ask ourselves why we can't provide low income housing.

[bobbolink]

35. All you have to do is to look at the threads requesting simple actions... an email, a call...

And see how few are willing to do just that much.

A two-minute call or email is more than they are willing to put forth.

Yet, they want to claim how "concerned" they are.

Nope, their actions (or lack of) speak much louder than words.

[maryf]

39. AN ACTION thats easy, pledge not to judge...here's a link

http://homelessness.change.org/actions/view/never_to_judge_a_homeless_person

the link is in the upper right corner...please pledge not to judge any homeless person...from the page:

"Never to judge a homeless person

Started by Princess Electra

Contemplate the reality of the situation, you do not know it.
You do not know what that person has been through or why they are in that position, rather than jump to the conclusion of judging them and placing the blame on their shoulders, why not make it just that little bit easier and encourage, rather than berate them."

[deaniac21]

41. The Obama administration will eliminate homlessness.

[Ocracoker16]

42. How is the Obama administration going to eliminate homelessnes?

The stimulus plan to put it mildly doesn't really have much money for the homeless if any. It targets the middle class. We are all sitting here waiting for the supposed trickling down of resources from the middle class to the poor.

I don't know of any plans that Obama has that would eliminate homelessness. Infact, I don't think homelessness is in his vocabulary. I don't mean to make Obama look like a tight fisted Republican. I am very happy he is our president, but I can't honestly say that I think he will end homelessness.

That doesn't mean that we should just accept that he won't eliminate homelessness. I think that there is a great opportunity to be assertive and demand that he address the issue. I think that he has good intentions, but we need to apply some pressure to get him to think about the issue. Obama is certainly more likely than George W. Bush to show genuine concern. However, we have to make him translate his concern into action.

[maryf]

43. from the National Coalitiion on Low income housing...

You speak the truth!

"What is Not in The Conference Agreement

The final compromise does not include revenue for the National Housing Trust Fund, nor does it allocate funding for 400,000 new Housing Choice Vouchers.

The funding for housing programs fell tremendously short of what advocates had sought. In fact, 547 national and state organizations signed an open letter requesting equity in funding for low income families with the upper class. Specifically, the letter asked that programs for people with low income be increased by at least $35 billion - the same cost as an amendment accepted by voice vote in the Senate that approved a $15,000 homebuyer tax credit."

http://capwiz.com/nlihc/issues/alert/?alertid=12670816&queueid=

[deaniac21]

44. I'm sorry for the misunderstanding. I was being very sarcastic.