serving our community since 1997
Volume XI, Issue 6
Part of the North American Street Newspaper Association
City To Church: Stop Feeding Homeless Church Property Not Zoned For Charity Dining Hall, City Says he city of Phoenix has told a local church they are no longer allowed to hold a Saturday service on their lawn during which they feed the homeless. Crossroads United Methodist Church began holding the Saturday events in January. The homeless walk, ride their bike or take a bus to the church. The church feeds them breakfast and has a worship service on the lawn outside the church building. “We have been feeding the homeless since (the church) began. It’s part of the mission of the church. It’s part of who we are,” said Dottie Escobedo-Frank, pastor at the church. “This is our mission. This is who we are. This is what we do.” But now the city of Phoenix has told them to stop doing it. Some people from a neighborhood across the street have complained about the event, specifically the noise and the trash it carries along with it, the city said. According to Escobedo-Frank, a neighbor said a homeless person was also hanging out in a nearby alley. Another neighbor, who wished to remain anonymous, said some of the homeless people have been sleeping in the neighborhood. They have also chained their bikes to neighborhood fences and brought pornography into the area, the neighbor said.
Mr. Mayor is Your City a Mean City?
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* Earnest Bowens & Family * Ed & Ruth * Rudy * Lisa * John McLean * Darren * Jan Cerrito * Rev. Patrick O’Shen * Angela Forrest & Family * Angelo * Maria Dragon * Blanch Lake * Dave Nerau * Megan * Theresa * Allen Rosenthal * Gloria Parker * Carlos * Adeel Jamal * Veronica
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“It costs more to jail a person than it does to provide permanent supportive housing.”
WASHINGTON, D.C. crease in laws prohibiting “camping” - The National Law Center on Homein certain public spaces. lessness & Poverty (NLCHP) and the Maria Foscarinis, NLCHP ExecuNational Coalition for the Homeless tive Director, noted, “Homelessness (NCH) have released a report in July in America is a human rights crisis titled, Homes Not Handcuffs, trackright here at home. As foreclosures ing a growing trend in U.S. cities – continue and the recession deepens, the criminalization of homelessness. the crisis is affecting more and more The report focuses on specific city Americans. But while some cities ofmeasures from 2007 and 2008 that fer a helping hand, too often, as docuhave targeted homeless persons, such mented in our report, cities adopt unas laws that just laws and make it illepractices that gal to sleep, punish people Homelessness in America eat, or sit in simply for beis a human rights crisis public spaces. ing poor and The report inhomeless.” cludes informa“As a result tion about 273 cities nationwide. of the economic crisis, homelessness Homes Not Handcuffs also ranks is on the rise. Instead of helping to the top 10 U.S. cities with the prevent homelessness, many cities worst practices in relation to are criminalizing those who lose their criminalizing homelessness. homes by passing ‘quality of life’ The national ranking is based on laws,” said Michael Stoops, Execua number of factors, including the tive Director at NCH. number of anti-homeless laws in the While more cities are cracking down city, the enforcement of those laws, on homeless people living in public the general political climate toward spaces, the housing and homelessness homeless people in the city, and the crisis in the United States has worscity’s history of criminalization meaened over the past two years, parsures. ticularly due to the current economic In addition to the “meanest cities,” the and foreclosure crises. According to a report identifies examples of more conreport released last week by the U.S. structive approaches to homelessness. Department of Housing and Urban NLCHP and NCH released their last Development, 41.8% of the homeless joint report on the topic in 2006. In population was unsheltered between the 224 cities surveyed in both this January 2007 and January 2008. Most report and the 2006 report, there are cities do not have adequate shelter currently more laws used to target space or affordable housing to meet homeless persons, including an 11% the need, leaving many homeless perincrease in laws prohibiting loitering sons with no choice but to live in pubin certain public places and a 7% inlic spaces.
What is Criminalization of Homelessness?
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he Criminalization of Homelessness takes many forms. To get a better understanding of what exactly it is, we have to look at the difference between those who have money and those who don’t . For instance if you have money, then you don’t need to sleep in a public place. If you don’t have money then where else would you sleep? I guess on a bus bench would be more legal, correct? Rather than breaking the law and sleeping in someone’s back yard. You would think that is what the people want, however it is far from what the people really think. Come on, Mr. Mayor where does one sleep if they do not have a home? The report explains it like this: “Enactment and enforcement of legislation that makes it illegal to sleep, sit, or store personal belongings in public spaces in cities where people are forced to live in public spaces.” And as you read below you will see the wide menu of other laws that directly target the homeless: Selective enforcement of more neutral laws, such as loitering, jaywalking, or open container laws, against homeless persons. • Sweeps of city areas in which homeless persons are living to drive them out of those areas, frequently resulting in the destruction of individuals’ personal property such as important personal documents and medication. • Enactment and enforcement of laws that punish people for begging or panhandling in order to move poor or homeless persons out of a city or downtown area. • Enactment and enforcement of laws that restrict groups sharing food with homeless persons in public spaces. • Enforcement of a wide range of so-called “quality of life” ordinances related to public activities and hygiene (i.e. public urination) when no public facilities are available to people without housing. Examples of Mean Cities Since the beginning of 2007, among others documented in this report, measures taken in the following cities stand out as some of the worst examples of cities’ inhumane treatment of homeless and
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Our Purpose: To Help the Homeless Learn How to Help Themselves
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