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Home Van Newsletter - 6/12/09
TENT CITY UPDATE
This was a week of fear, panic and chaos in Tent City. Imagine that a violent crime takes place in your neighborhood. Then the police knock on all your doors and tell you that you must leave your homes, never to return, and have one week to do so or you will be arrested. Imagine that you have no car and no money with which to accomplish this task.
Home Van folks and people from the community went out to Tent City all day Tuesday and Wednesday with pickup trucks and wheel barrows to help people move. Many people moved to an adjoining area that was outside the posted area. Then, on Wednesday, this adjacent piece of land was also posted (with no trespassing signs) at the request of the landowner, and they were told that in one week (by Thursday June 18), they will have to be off that land. This newly posted piece of land is 16 acres, and makes up most of Tent City, which will now be dispersed almost entirely, making it incredibly difficult for the Home Van and other community groups to bring people the food, water and other supplies they so desperately need.
My neighbor Nancy, who recently moved to Gainesville, went out to Tent City two weeks ago with a group of volunteers from Catholic Charities. It was interesting to talk to her, because she was seeing the situation with fresh eyes. She said, "More than half of those folks belong in a hospital!"
She is right. The 200 or so residents of Tent City are made up largely of people who have cancer, HIV, heart conditions, arthritis, mental illness, physical disabilities, the infirmities of old age.
I have seen cruelty and horror in my life, but this is the worst I have ever seen.
Do not blame this horror on the landowners. Tent City was created by years of neglect and abuse by local government - who have addressed homelessness and hunger by forming committees who meet for years on end discussing the situation, who have passed laws criminalizing homelessness, and who have approved project after project that involved bulldozing down low-income housing and replacing it with condos and boutiques.
At a recent City Commission meeting Mayor Hanrahan remarked, "When we cleared Tent City before, we offered people vouchers to St. Francis House and they didn't want them," implying that Tent City people do not want to be helped. Tent City people know what a voucher to a 35-bed shelter filled with women and children is worth! Such a voucher, plus $3, will get you a cup of coffee at Starbucks.
Local government is taking no responsibility whatsoever for the suffering caused by the closing of Tent City. The City Manager says they have no responsibility since the homeless people were camped on privately owned land rather than public land (he left out the part about how the city kicked the homeless people off city land two years ago). There has been mention of referring people to the Office on Homelessness for help. Except the Office on Homelessness has no help to offer, as the manager of that office (her name escapes me at this moment) has made clear.
Commissioner Donovon pointed out that the residents of Tent City are refugees, and should be helped. They are refugees created by a society that does not pay its workers a living wage, which has almost no low-income housing (the waiting list for Section 8 housing is literally years long!), and little access to health care for the poor.
Some officials are floating the idea that Tent City must be closed because it is a dangerous place. However, a high-ranking administrator from GPD (in the present political climate I will not mention her or him by name), told us, "Most of these folks have lived here for a long time and have given us no trouble whatsoever." That remark should be in big type on the front page of the Gainesville Sun.
TECHNICAL NOTE
I am going to close this newsletter with a little story told to me by Danny Griggs, but first - back to the story of the Mole. The Home Van Newsletter is sent out on a 'blind copy list.' This means that it goes out to many hundreds of people, but their emails do not appear on the copies people receive. Some new members of the list thought that the letter addressed to Dear Mole, was meant for them personally. IT WASN'T. I have no idea who the Mole is. Someone is forwarding our newsletter to people who want homeless folks to disappear, especially from the downtown area. I have no problem with that. After all, how can a downtown mission keep its activities secret from downtown people? I was offended by a photographer claiming to be from the Gainesville Sun who took all our pictures. That is an attempt at intimidation, but we will not be intimidated and I wanted the Mole to know that.
DANNY'S STORY
Early Wednesday evening, at the end of a very long, very hard day, Danny was still out at Tent City, helping and comforting the refugees still there. Suddenly, a high school gospel choir, of young Cuban people, appeared in the woods, bringing a great abundance of home-cooked food. Then they sang hymns. Suddenly, everyone knew, no matter how bad things are, God is still with us. If anyone knows who these young folks are, let me know, because Danny would like to thank them for the miracle they created.
Keep all our homeless folks in your prayers, love, arupa
_______________________________________________________________________________
The Home Van has a desperate need for tents and tarps. Recent rains have left most tents so moldy and tattered they fall apart if they're moved. We also need vienna sausages, creamy peanut butter, jelly, socks, candles and bug spray. Call 352-372-4825 to arrange to drop off donations. Financial contributions to the Home Van should be made out to the St. Vincent de Paul Society, earmarked for the Home Van, and mailed to 307 SE 6th Street, Gainesville, Florida 32601.
This was a week of fear, panic and chaos in Tent City. Imagine that a violent crime takes place in your neighborhood. Then the police knock on all your doors and tell you that you must leave your homes, never to return, and have one week to do so or you will be arrested. Imagine that you have no car and no money with which to accomplish this task.
Home Van folks and people from the community went out to Tent City all day Tuesday and Wednesday with pickup trucks and wheel barrows to help people move. Many people moved to an adjoining area that was outside the posted area. Then, on Wednesday, this adjacent piece of land was also posted (with no trespassing signs) at the request of the landowner, and they were told that in one week (by Thursday June 18), they will have to be off that land. This newly posted piece of land is 16 acres, and makes up most of Tent City, which will now be dispersed almost entirely, making it incredibly difficult for the Home Van and other community groups to bring people the food, water and other supplies they so desperately need.
My neighbor Nancy, who recently moved to Gainesville, went out to Tent City two weeks ago with a group of volunteers from Catholic Charities. It was interesting to talk to her, because she was seeing the situation with fresh eyes. She said, "More than half of those folks belong in a hospital!"
She is right. The 200 or so residents of Tent City are made up largely of people who have cancer, HIV, heart conditions, arthritis, mental illness, physical disabilities, the infirmities of old age.
I have seen cruelty and horror in my life, but this is the worst I have ever seen.
Do not blame this horror on the landowners. Tent City was created by years of neglect and abuse by local government - who have addressed homelessness and hunger by forming committees who meet for years on end discussing the situation, who have passed laws criminalizing homelessness, and who have approved project after project that involved bulldozing down low-income housing and replacing it with condos and boutiques.
At a recent City Commission meeting Mayor Hanrahan remarked, "When we cleared Tent City before, we offered people vouchers to St. Francis House and they didn't want them," implying that Tent City people do not want to be helped. Tent City people know what a voucher to a 35-bed shelter filled with women and children is worth! Such a voucher, plus $3, will get you a cup of coffee at Starbucks.
Local government is taking no responsibility whatsoever for the suffering caused by the closing of Tent City. The City Manager says they have no responsibility since the homeless people were camped on privately owned land rather than public land (he left out the part about how the city kicked the homeless people off city land two years ago). There has been mention of referring people to the Office on Homelessness for help. Except the Office on Homelessness has no help to offer, as the manager of that office (her name escapes me at this moment) has made clear.
Commissioner Donovon pointed out that the residents of Tent City are refugees, and should be helped. They are refugees created by a society that does not pay its workers a living wage, which has almost no low-income housing (the waiting list for Section 8 housing is literally years long!), and little access to health care for the poor.
Some officials are floating the idea that Tent City must be closed because it is a dangerous place. However, a high-ranking administrator from GPD (in the present political climate I will not mention her or him by name), told us, "Most of these folks have lived here for a long time and have given us no trouble whatsoever." That remark should be in big type on the front page of the Gainesville Sun.
TECHNICAL NOTE
I am going to close this newsletter with a little story told to me by Danny Griggs, but first - back to the story of the Mole. The Home Van Newsletter is sent out on a 'blind copy list.' This means that it goes out to many hundreds of people, but their emails do not appear on the copies people receive. Some new members of the list thought that the letter addressed to Dear Mole, was meant for them personally. IT WASN'T. I have no idea who the Mole is. Someone is forwarding our newsletter to people who want homeless folks to disappear, especially from the downtown area. I have no problem with that. After all, how can a downtown mission keep its activities secret from downtown people? I was offended by a photographer claiming to be from the Gainesville Sun who took all our pictures. That is an attempt at intimidation, but we will not be intimidated and I wanted the Mole to know that.
DANNY'S STORY
Early Wednesday evening, at the end of a very long, very hard day, Danny was still out at Tent City, helping and comforting the refugees still there. Suddenly, a high school gospel choir, of young Cuban people, appeared in the woods, bringing a great abundance of home-cooked food. Then they sang hymns. Suddenly, everyone knew, no matter how bad things are, God is still with us. If anyone knows who these young folks are, let me know, because Danny would like to thank them for the miracle they created.
Keep all our homeless folks in your prayers, love, arupa
_______________________________________________________________________________
The Home Van has a desperate need for tents and tarps. Recent rains have left most tents so moldy and tattered they fall apart if they're moved. We also need vienna sausages, creamy peanut butter, jelly, socks, candles and bug spray. Call 352-372-4825 to arrange to drop off donations. Financial contributions to the Home Van should be made out to the St. Vincent de Paul Society, earmarked for the Home Van, and mailed to 307 SE 6th Street, Gainesville, Florida 32601.
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