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Monday, February 22, 2010
Dallas homeless sweeps are counterproductive
These sweeps by the city are obviously ineffective, inhumane, and have been rejected by many cities nationwide as unacceptable practice in dealing with street-dwelling homelessness.
On the day before the Big Snow of February 2010 two weeks ago, a Crisis Intervention team from the City of Dallas (now part of the Dallas Police Department) raided the homeless camps under a bridge. All of the personal possessions of the camp inhabitants — clothing, blankets, coats, years worth of belongings — were shoveled up by two bulldozers, and four to five loads comprising the contents of the "cardboard community" were dumped into city trucks and taken to the landfill.
Raids by the city of homeless camps are commonplace and routine in Dallas. I would suggest, however, that our city has reached a new "low" in terms of human decency and compassion when a raid is conducted under these circumstances and in this weather. Where does one start to address such an occurrence?
By early the following week, people in the camp were still without adequate [cardboard] shelter, blankets, coats and clothing. Their non-replaceable personal possessions were permanently lost. Think of the time that intervened between the raid and the following week.
At our house, where family members who were without power stayed together, we built a snow igloo, drank coffee, changed wet clothing about ten times a day, scrounged firewood that was dry enough to make a fire in the fireplace, and watched movies together at night under piles of blankets. Even with the added warmth of the fireplace, the central heating rarely stopped. It was a great snow — a fun adventure.
Not so much fun, however, if you’d just lost your cardboard home and everything you own in a raid by a city that is supposed to have your best interest at heart.
Witnesses to the "sweep" say that, just prior to the raid, no warning was given. The trucks arrived at 10 minutes to 2 p.m., and at 2 p.m., the dozers started scooping up the small cardboard community. It is my understanding that the city has agreed, after outrage by "housed" citizens and advocates about these sweeps in the past, to give at least an hour’s notice to camp dwellers. Instead, in this case, the camp members were allowed a "one-time carry:" In other words, all that they could gather in their arms one time, they were permitted to keep. Of course, those who were at work at the time of the raid were out of luck.
If you were allowed a "one-time" carry of your personal belongings, what would you choose?
Officials are also supposed to offer shelter at the time of the raid as an option. Witnesses say this procedure was not followed in this case.
Here is the city’s perspective: They want to force these homeless individuals into shelters. But the individuals involved don’t want to go.
The shelters provide an invaluable, lifesaving service with remarkable dedication. Yet there are good reasons why some people don’t want to go into them, feeling that they're safer in a community on the street.
If the goal of these raids is to encourage homeless individuals to get permanently off the street, it seems counterproductive to seize their belongings, when these belongings often include personal papers such as birth certificates and other identification which are critical to seeking housing.
Could it be that, if we’ve spent $23 million on a homeless assistance center and still have people living on the street, their presence is simply an affront to the city’s stated goal of Ending Homelessness by 2014?
These sweeps by the city are obviously ineffective, inhumane, and have been rejected by many cities nationwide as unacceptable practice in dealing with street-dwelling homelessness. It is a mark against our city that they continue here with impunity.
Karen Shafer blogs at http://theintermittentvolunteer.wordpress.com/
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First, drop the attitude. You simply sound like an arrogant jerk and some of us would like to actua
Tracy Yost, verified:
I have to agree, this seems cruel and inhumane. "The homeless problem" has been discussed here on the peg many times - it's a tough one. I think even if we did set up a "tent city", there will always be those independent souls who would rather stay under the bridge.
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Pavel Lishin, verified:
If you were allowed a "one-time" carry of your personal belongings, what would you choose?
The heftiest stick I own. If there was time, I'd pound a nail into it.
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Pavel Lishin, verified:
Anyway, seriously. What if they had paperwork in there? Oops, there goes identification, social security cards, proof of prior employment, food stamps, etc. It's hard enough getting copies of that when you have a home.
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ourcalling.org, anonymous:
Karen, thanks for being a voice for our defenseless friends.
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gzrs, anonymous:
Good points all.
I would love to see a Green Zone set up in Dallas where people who cannot find shelter or who are shelter-resistant could 'be' without harassment. Who know, if we did have an allowable 'Tent-City', it might work for a great many people and be one step in helping them transition off the street.
By the way, Our Calling Ministries (comment above) does a very great deal to help people living on the street. They also have the trust of our homeless neighbors (not easy to come by) because of their long-term, faithful advocacy.
Karen Shafer
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jay9059, anonymous:
So what! They choose to live in cardboard boxes and make illegal encampments, so we should just let them? It's nice your homes are not next to the bridge, and you don't have to experience being accosted on a daily basis by these homeless people. They are homeless for a reason, they made the decisions, help is offered and they reject it. Let them all die in the street, I'll be the first to volunteer my time and work to run the bulldozer to pick the lowest of the low off the street and put them in a grave. And to all that criticize my heartless ness, it's only because I've tried to help for years, certain "homeless" individuals that move from Dallas Life to Austin St to Fort Worth's facility on Lancaster, thinking all the while I'm doing God's work. I was not, I was enabling someone who is lazy, and no my regret is helping them at all. You can't help someone who won't help themselves, so I say the city should bull doze every week, and put an end to homeless encampments. Do you know how many rapes occur unreported? If you would not allow it to occur next to your home, why would you think I want it next to mine? Self righteous christian a-holes!
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gzrs, anonymous:
jay9059, it's a shame you've had such a negative and disspiriting experience over years of trying to help your homeless neighbors. It can be discouraging.
The people I know who are in the camps aren't asking for help. They're self-sufficient and asking to be left alone.
It would be different it there were enough shelter beds in Dallas -- they're aren't. We have around 7000 homeless individuals officially and some estimates put the real number at between 10,000 and 12,000.
It would also be different if we had anywhere near enough Permanent Supportive Housing in Dallas. The city is still trying to get 700 new units approved. We have a long way to go.
People can't just disappear. They have to have somewhere to go.
Karen Shafer
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gzrs, anonymous:
I should have said, for the 7000 to 11000 homeless in Dallas, we have around 2000 shelter beds.
KS
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Clay213, anonymous:
Just put them and the illegal immigrants to work picking up trash, cleaning up the parks they wreck, and other community service.
In exchange they get 3 hot meals, and 12 month lease at the local jail.
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Pavel Lishin, verified:
Hey, if they wanted three hot meals a day and a stay in jail, they could just pick up a rock and throw it at a squad car.
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gzrs, anonymous:
The problem is, Clay213, that emergency services are the most expensive way to deal with homelessness. Permanent supportive housing ends up being considerably cheaper and can actually solve the problem.
A study in Seattle showed that the per-person cost for a Housing First program ended up at around $950 a month, as against over $4000 before permanent supportive housing was provided. So it's cheaper to house people and help them become productive again than it is to arrest them.
KS
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Clay213, anonymous:
Who said anything about arresting them?
I said put them to work. You been down Industr.. Riverfront Blvd recently? Instead of leaving it trashed they could clean it up. In exchange they get a room and meal at the jail.
The same plan can be used for illegal immigrants: Want citizenship? 20,000 hours of community service. Come here illegally? You 2000 hours of community service and then you get deported.
I'm tired of seeing cities and towns falling apart and being torn apart by this plague of tolerance that has infected our nation.
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Pavel Lishin, verified:
Well, my original point was that if three meals and a room was enough to entice a hobo, they could get that by being arrested, without having to do any of the work.
I wonder how many of the homeless would agree to do the work. I'm sure that a lot of them would be glad to have employment, but can't get it due to their situation, but I think that a good amount would ignore the offer and stand on the street.
And I don't think the illegals would be all that into doing the work when they know they'll be deported anyway; what incentive would they have to do it at all?
Selling citizenship for community service isn't a bad idea, but I think it's an unrealistic amount of time. If they work 4 hours a day - which is already unrealistic, since they probably work long hours for crap pay and don't really have a lot of spare time to pick up garbage - that's 5,000 days. That's about 14 years, assuming they never miss a day.
But a neat idea in principle.
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alexander troup, verified:
TIMES ARE TUFF, and if you end up like the rest one day, look at it like this, what goes around comes around,and good karma to you,while those folks who don't read the paper or smell the coffee......This bud ain't for you ..Bye..A/T, Helping the homeless is also leaving them alone in a nice quite place....
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OmegaWolf747, anonymous:
I think it's disgusting of the Dallas Crisis Intervention team to create more of a crisis for homeless people by deliberately destroying their possessions. Does a person have to live in a house to have Fourth Amendment rights?
I hope the homeless who are able will show up at the doorstep of city hall and protest the inhuman treatment they have been subject to.
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What do you think?