Tent cities in Florida
The people finding themselves living in tents never thought they would be homeless. They are functional, capable people that are willing to work. The problem is there is no work.
Some people in the community are starting to counter the development of tent cities and are demonizing the people that are unfortunate enough to need a tent city.
Quote from http://www.stoptentcity.com
"The Diocese allows drug addicts, alcoholics and persons with mental illness into their Tent City. They have stated to the media that a violent felony or sex offense conviction does not necessarily preclude admission to their Tent City.
Why is it that to work for the Diocese you must submit to a thorough national database background check, but as a resident of Tent City you only need a simple FDLE internet check to get in? What if an out of state pedophile is off the grid and gives a false ID?
A very high percentage of those in Pinellas Tent City have either refused or failed drug and alcohol treatment, or have refused mental health care. They are chronically homeless, and have made a conscious choice to be homeless. Frank Murphy himself has admitted that half of those in Pinellas Tent City end back up on the street. We do not want untreatable addicts, alcoholics, and mentally ill people brought into our community. As a local homeless services minister recently told us, they WILL wander into our neighborhoods and loiter at our local businesses. Will our children be safe to freely ride their bikes and play in our neighborhoods as they have done for many years? Will our elderly be safe? Will we be able to walk our dogs in the evenings? Will our neighborhood events be clouded with fear for our own safety?
Where will these people go if they are kicked out of the facility or are denied entry? The Church is not going to put them on a bus and ship them back to where they came from, or take them to another facility. What about when the facility is full? Where will those that have been turned away sleep that night or loiter during the day?"
The economic downturn is not over, it is going to get worse. Here's a quote from USA Today that gives us a small glimpse of the magnitude of the problem.
"Communities elsewhere are facing similar pressures:
• In Massachusetts, a record number of homeless families need emergency shelter, says Robyn Frost, executive director of the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless. In mid-April, there were 2,763 families in shelters, including 655 in motels because the shelters were full, an increase of 36% since July, she says.
"We have a high number of foreclosure properties, and many of them are multifamily apartments," Frost says. "We were seeing a great number of families being displaced."
• Reno officials shut down a tent city in October after making more shelter space available, but new encampments are popping up along the Truckee River and elsewhere, says Kelly Marschall of the Reno Area Alliance for the Homeless.
The homeless include "a startling number of first-time homeless," she says. "We asked them what industries they were involved in. The majority were talking about construction, the housing industry, real estate. There was a direct correlation to the housing market crash."
• In Santa Barbara, Calif., 84 men and women sleep in their cars, trucks or recreational vehicles in 17 parking lots around the city, says Jason Johnson with the New Beginnings Counseling Center, which runs the RV Safe Parking Program. The city, which allows the use of three municipal lots at night, supports the program, says city parking superintendent Victor Garza. Last May, there were 58 participants and no waiting list. Now 40 people are waiting.
"People's last refuge has become their vehicle," Johnson says."
Some people in the community are starting to counter the development of tent cities and are demonizing the people that are unfortunate enough to need a tent city.
Quote from http://www.stoptentcity.com
"The Diocese allows drug addicts, alcoholics and persons with mental illness into their Tent City. They have stated to the media that a violent felony or sex offense conviction does not necessarily preclude admission to their Tent City.
Why is it that to work for the Diocese you must submit to a thorough national database background check, but as a resident of Tent City you only need a simple FDLE internet check to get in? What if an out of state pedophile is off the grid and gives a false ID?
A very high percentage of those in Pinellas Tent City have either refused or failed drug and alcohol treatment, or have refused mental health care. They are chronically homeless, and have made a conscious choice to be homeless. Frank Murphy himself has admitted that half of those in Pinellas Tent City end back up on the street. We do not want untreatable addicts, alcoholics, and mentally ill people brought into our community. As a local homeless services minister recently told us, they WILL wander into our neighborhoods and loiter at our local businesses. Will our children be safe to freely ride their bikes and play in our neighborhoods as they have done for many years? Will our elderly be safe? Will we be able to walk our dogs in the evenings? Will our neighborhood events be clouded with fear for our own safety?
Where will these people go if they are kicked out of the facility or are denied entry? The Church is not going to put them on a bus and ship them back to where they came from, or take them to another facility. What about when the facility is full? Where will those that have been turned away sleep that night or loiter during the day?"
The economic downturn is not over, it is going to get worse. Here's a quote from USA Today that gives us a small glimpse of the magnitude of the problem.
"Communities elsewhere are facing similar pressures:
• In Massachusetts, a record number of homeless families need emergency shelter, says Robyn Frost, executive director of the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless. In mid-April, there were 2,763 families in shelters, including 655 in motels because the shelters were full, an increase of 36% since July, she says.
"We have a high number of foreclosure properties, and many of them are multifamily apartments," Frost says. "We were seeing a great number of families being displaced."
• Reno officials shut down a tent city in October after making more shelter space available, but new encampments are popping up along the Truckee River and elsewhere, says Kelly Marschall of the Reno Area Alliance for the Homeless.
The homeless include "a startling number of first-time homeless," she says. "We asked them what industries they were involved in. The majority were talking about construction, the housing industry, real estate. There was a direct correlation to the housing market crash."
• In Santa Barbara, Calif., 84 men and women sleep in their cars, trucks or recreational vehicles in 17 parking lots around the city, says Jason Johnson with the New Beginnings Counseling Center, which runs the RV Safe Parking Program. The city, which allows the use of three municipal lots at night, supports the program, says city parking superintendent Victor Garza. Last May, there were 58 participants and no waiting list. Now 40 people are waiting.
"People's last refuge has become their vehicle," Johnson says."
posted by ONeil | 10:19 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home