WorldHome: Homeless News
Disclaimer: WorldHome does not claim to be an official source of news in any way, shape or form. Neither does WorldHome have any way at present of archiving past articles. As a service, it passes on and/or refers people to what articles it can that are of human interest-Harmony-
February 23rd, 2001
Poor People's World Summit
By Katherine Gage
March, 2001
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Homeless: Out of Sight, Out of Fullerton
By DANA PARSONS
Los Angeles Times - Wednesday, March 7, 2001
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Harmony's personal comments on shelter policies of treating the homeless as second class (or no class) citizens:
That shelters have rules preventing us from free movement and congregating where
we will is an absolute infringement of our rights.
All we need do is to "reverse the roles" for a second to get a good grasp of
the situation. What if we were to establish rules that "homed" people could
not move about freely or frequent the business district?
Is it written in the Constitution that they are more entitled to the rights
of citizenship and human treatment...and dignity and respect? I agree with the
fellow who equated it with Nazi Germany. The idea of getting the "undesirable"
out of sight, out of mind, so that finally, in the end, when laws have carried
out the ultimate degree of insanity, you do not have to see the death concentration
camps for the homeless. Because that's where it looks like it's heading.
And yes, I know I am "ranting". My turn to do it, I guess.
I sincerely hope that all our reports of human rights violations are making
their way to both the UN and the Hague.
Harmony
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Subject: [Hpn] CAMP DIGNITY in Portland, Oregon USA seeks your support (fwd)
HPN Homeless Newswire - BOOKMARK
FWD 18 Feb 2001 /REPLY TO AUTHOR:John Coomler
CAMP DIGNITY IN PORTLAND, OREGON [ USA ]
Camp Dignity is the preliminary stage to Dignity Village in Portland,
Oregon. Currently, it is a nylon community of about fifty homeless adults
on the edge of the downtown core area. The struggle is to gain governmental
support for this temporary space while a permanent location can be
negotiated. The police are wanting to remove the inhabitants soon (for the
sixth time) so public support is critical now.
Rebuttals to Unaware Statements and Questions About Homeless People
S & Q: Why don't those homeless people get a job?
Rebuttal: Actually, a lot of people living on the streets already work
quite a lot, but housing is very expensive. And some people have
issues that prevent them from being able to work in any regular
employment capacity. Mental and physical disabilities, substance abuse, and
lack of social skills prevent many people from being able to work
regularly.
S & Q: Why don't those homeless people go to the shelters?
Rebuttal: There are fewer than 600 shelter beds in Portland to accommodate
the more than 3,000 adults and youth needing shelter each night and
the number of homeless is growing. The adult shelters are not
clean, safe for personal belongings, accommodating for those people
who are ill or who work late and need to sleep late, and the shelters are
not conducive for healthy attitudes about oneself. Approximately 1/3 of
the adult homeless are not involved in the substance culture and they do
not want to be forced to live with those people who are abusers.
S & Q: Homeless people are dirty and they leave a mess everywhere they go.
Rebuttal: Some people do live in filthy conditions and have little regard
for themselves and their surroundings. But many homeless desire
clean and sanitary conditions around themselves. The
Dignity Village will be monitored by the inhabitants themselves to keep
their space clean and sanitary. They have left every place they have
stayed as part of Camp Dignity cleaner than when they arrived.
There are portable toilets and a garbage dumpster is being secured so
that the garbage can be removed daily. Considering the challenges of their
living situation these homeless people are incredibly conscientious and
responsible.
S & Q: Why does Dignity Village need to be so close to downtown, they can
find more land farther out?
Rebuttal: These homeless people are trying very hard to rebuild their
lives and in order to do that they need to be close to the services
that can help them do that. Many people need to have regular
medical appointments, go to work, access mass transportation, and connect
with each other for social purposes. New people are always going to be
arriving to Portland and an easy-to-find place will only help them in
their efforts to improve their lives
S & Q: Homeless people do not deserve all of these handouts and welfare
assistance.
Rebuttal: Actually, the homeless people use much less free assistance than
do many of our businesses and more wealthy individuals who
receive large publicly funded tax breaks, tax shelters, grants, and
favorable rulings by governmental bodies. The homeless who work do pay
taxes and often are not able to qualify for some of the publicly funded
support that the wealthier people receive. The homeless just receive
different forms of support.
What Is Needed and What Can You Do? There is an urgent need for cash
donations!
Camp Dignity needs large 6-person nylon tents, facilities for washing their
clothes and themselves, money to pay for the servicing of the portable
toilets, for the cell phone time, for parts to repair tents and equipment,
for improving the cooking facilities, and for many other needs.
Either CONTACT Street Roots at 503-228-5657,
or visit the website at
Dignity Village Virtual,
or visit the camp under the Fremont Bridge
at 17th and Savier NW.
E-mail is:dignity@outofthedoorways.org
All donations are tax deductible.
END FORWARD
CONTACT PORTLAND OFFICIALS
Portland OR USA -- Mayor Vera Katz is determined to keep homeless people
from camping here, despite a court ruling against the city's anti-camping
ordinance.
Please write "polite letters of concern" to Portland, Oregon officials. In
your own words, ask them to stop police from evicting the homeless camp
here, called Dignity Village.
DIGNITY VILLAGE
Office: 1231 SW Morrison, Portland OR USA
Phones: (503) 347 9831
(503) 228-5657
TO GET INVOLVED, Call Hannah at (503) 659-9384
EMAIL YOUR LETTERS TO:
Mayor Vera Katz
Commissioner Jim Francesconi
Commissioner Charlie Hales
Commissioner Dan Saltzman
Commissioner Erik Sten
City Auditor Gary Blackmer
Or search the LINK below to find out how to PHONE or send them "snailmail":
City of Portland Elected Officials
[ accurate as of 22 Jan 2001 ]
[ phone, address & email CONTACT INFO ]
BELOW find some related links:
:
SAMPLE LETTER OF SUPPORT FOR DIGNITY VILLAGE
(rest of email clipped-Harmony)
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24.February.2001
FORCED EVICTION OF THE HOMELESS
FOR THE OLYMPIC GAME!!!
To the press
Association of Poor people in Nagai park, Osaka
(Nakama-no-kai)
TEL: 090-1130-8602
We are the group formed by the homeless living in Nagai Park in Osaka. In
the vicinity of the park there are sports installations that may be used for
the Olympic in the year 2008 (if Osaka is selected). Osaka City Authority
began removing the homeless in the park by force. Whether having a job or
not, we have the right to live. We also petitioned the UN and IOC committees
to take immediate measures so that Osaka City and the Japanese Government
will duly respect Human Rights and stop their immoral act.
There were 480 tents in Nagai Park when the removal began. Last November,
Osaka City Authority opened a temporary shelter in the park and began
removing the homeless by force. An IOC inspection team is expected to visit
the park this February. The act of removal has been intensified. As a
result, there are only 50 homeless people left in the park. Osaka City
Authority claims that they are not forcing but persuading the homeless to
move to the shelter. The Authority denies the connection between this act
and the Olympic plan. But it is obvious to us that we have been evicted by
force.
The 20 prefabricated shelters have been planned with no consultation with
the homeless people involved, although the authority had been aiming at the
forced eviction of the homeless in the park from the beginning. In fact, the
shelter was built in the form that makes the homeless difficult to survive.
For example, if we stay in the center, we cannot continue collecting empty
aluminum cans for survival. Initially, 90 % of the homeless people refused
to move to the center.
Although 135 people have been forced to enter the center, there are at least
150 people trying to resettle in other parks in Osaka at the moment.
Moreover, those who have decided to leave the center because of its poor
conditions are now faced with serious problems. When they entered the
center, they were forced to sign the agreement saying that they withdraw
their tents in the park. So they have no means and places to resettle.
There are now at least 30 thousands homeless people in Japan. There is an
increasing number of the forced removal of the homeless by authorities. The
Japanese Government should be condemned for the serious violation of human
rights, especially in the light of the Habitat Agenda signed by many
countries in 1996 in Istanbul. The government of Japan will be asked to
present their performance reports on the implementation of their commitments
to Habitat II in the Istanbul + 5 Conference, which will be held in New York
City in June 2001. We are afraid, that the Japanese government could get
embarrassed in this forum on the issue of the right to adequate housing and
forced evictions, including the issue of the Nagai Park homeless people
vis-a-vis Japan's bid to host the 2008 Olympic Games.
Appendix: Report of the Shelter in Nagai Park
We report you the interviews revealing the situation of the shelter, which
have been open for the Homeless People in Nagai Park, Osaka, JAPAN, since
the end of 2000.
*All they supply us as daily supper is just a bowl of rice and pickles. We
are required to eat the meal till 8 P.M. Otherwise we cannot have supper,
usually.
*We hear also of the possibility that they stop suppling even that supper.
*There are people who occupy the facilities like TV, cooking stoves, washing
machine etc.
*Each prefabulicated shelter find a sort of gbossh, who intends to rule
the residents.
*Every day we find troubles caused by drinking in the shelter and that
exhaustes many of us, and we get anxious always.
*There is only a tiny space to dry laundries. And it is not available any
more , if it rains.
*The administrator watch us always, who participates in the soup-kitchen
held in front of the shelter.(The soup-kitchen mentioned here is held by the
homeless people who recognize problems of the shelter policy and survive in
the park). Other thatn participants in the soup kitchen, those who make
proposals to improve situation in shelter, are considered as men of
blacklist.
*So far 16 residents have get out of the shelter on their own will. But
almost half of us are not satisfied especially with the way of the shelter
administration.
*10 residents per day can get job as the guards in the shelter, but the job
opportunities and wages for it are too low (20$ for whole day work).
Nakamanokai
Association of Poor people in Nagai park (Nakamanokai)
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Out in the Cold
"The large snowflakes dropping outside Bangors public library on this day come as a welcome sight to one tired, homeless man there."
Bangor Daily News
Article By Jim Tuttle,Of the NEWS Staff- Monday, February 19, 2001
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Safety net gaps foster frustration in region
"Laura Blanchard was hanging on, but just barely.
Im frustrated and depressed, she admitted in talking about the latest wrinkle in her housing problem.
Diagnosed as a child with post-traumatic stress disorder, Blanchard, now 23, was trying desperately to keep from being homeless.
Her predicament illustrates the safety nets in the system as well as the ways people fall through the gaps."
Bangor Daily News
Article Ruth-Ellen Cohen, Of the NEWS Staff- Monday, February 19, 2001
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Maui families
must vacate
beach park
But housing on Maui is so
tight that many may move
to other beaches
Honolulu Star-Bulletin Hawaii News
By Gary Kubota- Thursday, February 8, 2001
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RESCUING CHILDHOOD:
A crusade in Guatemala
By Catherine Elton
Special to The Christian Science Monitor
Christian Science Monitor-Thursday, February 8,2001
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Prison Guards See Trailer Park as Symbol of Hard Times
Article by By Charlie LeDuff
February 22, 2001
Article from the New York Times on the web.
(Note: you have to register with the online paper to read the article, but registration is free & doesn't take long-Harmony)
"OSSINING, N.Y. A trailer park sits so close to Sing Sing that the lodgers there could play handball against the prison wall if the man in the rifle tower allowed it.
The trailers rest on cinder blocks and two-by-fours and have no toilets or telephone lines or running water. They are separated from the Sing Sing Correctional Facility by a chain-link fence and an asphalt road. The trailers do not house inmates or welfare recipients or even schoolchildren. They house correction officers who are too poor to afford decent accommodations in town. They call it Tobacco Road, or sometimes Tin Pan Alley."
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