Monthly Archives: February 2015
Harsh treatment for City Homeless
Quote of the day: “While safety is important I feel that confiscating tents will do little more than force rough sleepers into an even rougher situation. These people are experiencing significant difficulties in their lives and the removal of their meagre possessions is the wrong response.”
I have been deeply disappointed in how the City has handled the homeless community in Wentworth park this month. This community, along with the homeless in Belmore Park appear to be growing in number. My staff met with community members living in the viaduct arches to speak with those living there about their experiences. Many were deeply distressed at perceived threats by Council to remove all of their possessions from the archways.
Early last week when a clean-up of Wentworth Park was conducted City staff removed the tents from under the archways. I have spoken to senior staff who have cited illegal camping, fire safety and alienation of public space as grounds for removing the tents. They have referred to a previous incident where a homeless person set a tent on fire while cooking inside it, as a strong reason to remove homeless people’s tents.
While safety is important I…
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(2)FACE(d)
I was excited to find an organization that was starting up micro-housing in my area. But, on closer examination, this organization has no intention of housing the homeless, but putting portable housing units on private property and using them to rent “to low income people”. The person who runs this program told me it WAS NOT intended for homeless individuals, BUT when interviewed on the news, he claimed the program was to relieve homelessness in our area. Two faced!
But I CAN help THIS one (a #1000Speak story)
Unfortunately, it is the shy, modest people who get trampled upon in this world. Thank God there is a heaven.
A word on oppressors & advocacy
Required reading!
“It seems to me the job, if you will, of any real human rights advocate, is to, by any non-violent means necessary, drag the oppression and the oppressors into the open, and hold them accountable.”
Any company, agency, government, school, healthcare provider, individual, who seeks to minimize the voice of those they claim to serve is an oppressor. To be fair, some get caught up in group-think and find themselves supporting decisions, methods, laws, protocols, directives that oppress a group or groups of individuals. Others know bloody well what they are doing. Some oppress out of a palpable dislike for those they claim to serve, while others do so because those they serve, people with disabilities (PWD) for example, are little more than revenue streams in their eyes. Moreover, PWD have been used as fodder for those who revel in the sewage of arrogant self-aggrandizement.
The question is, a willful oppressor or an oppressor out of ignorance, or, equally relevant, out of fear? Fear of reprisal if he, she, or they hold the oppressors accountable. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was absolutely right when he said…
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JSU holds Sleep Out for the Homeless event
“Homelessness is equal opportunity,” said Dr. Nancy Francisco Stewart, an Associate Professor of Social Work at JSU and the speaker for the evening. “Race isn’t a factor. It’s not a stereotype about drugs; it’s not a stereotype about race. It’s not the old ugly guy. It could happen to any one of us.”
Progress…
Looking back on January (wow didn’t it fly by) with what I’d set in place for the year I’m on track in some areas but others still need work.
I’m still sofa surfing, but for now settled for a few weeks, it’s takes an age to go through all the varies agencies that can help and I’ve filled in forms until I’m dizzy, however I’m still ploughing on, because I need to have a base I can call my own, and even with friends etc their generosity in giving me their sofa can wear thin.
Last week I had a bereavement which I carried me all through the week, it’s easier now, there is always that danger of falling of the edge if you know what I mean, that was more an emotional set back, and when you’re treading water it can be iffy to say the least.
On the…
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Fannie Mae And Freddie Mac May Help End Homelessness In America
Two organizations synonymous with the 2008 financial crisis could play vital roles in helping America’s most vulnerable residents get off the streets.
ThinkProgress reported that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — two government-backed mortgage companies whose buying and guaranteeing of risky mortgages contributed to the Great Recession — are now able to contribute to the National Housing Trust Fund.
The fund was created in 2008 to support affordable housing initiatives nationwide but had laid dormant until now, as the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced in December that “both [Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac] are financially fit” to contribute.
The two organizations were barred from setting aside money for the fund previously due to the financial crisis.
While the fund falls short of solving America’s shortage of affordable housing, it’s a welcome step advocates across the country have been waiting for, TakePart reported. The fund is expected to…
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brainsections 