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Following months of debate, city officials in Dallas close ‘tent city’ POVERTY CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
between the haves and havenots has never been greater. And the have-nots that have nothing continues to grow.” It is unclear where the residents will live now, though some reserved “tiny homes” and spots in shelters. It is likely many will trickle into other homeless camps, because tent city is not the only neighborhood of its kind in the United States — or in Dallas, for that matter. Already on Wednesday, news outlets reported new camps were popping up near tent city. The necessity to find a solution for the city’s homeless population is growing evermore urgent. In an annual report, the Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance said there was a 26 per-cent rise in the city’s homeless population from 2015 when MDHA counted about 3,141 people who were homeless. By 2016, the population grew to about 3,904. “This is not only a human
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“This is not only a human issue, this is a city policy issue,” Rawlings said. “Those individuals that have nothing and are on the streets [are] a constant reminder that we have not figured this out.”
issue, this is a city policy issue,” Rawlings said. “Those individuals that have nothing and are on the streets [are] a constant reminder that we have not figured this out.” Search “tent city, Dallas” in the Maps app. You’ll find where the neighborhood used to be. Leave Denton, head down I-35, make your way past Dallas and find Louise Avenue, Dawson Street or Hickory Street. In that area, go toward the interstate. The old buildings that line the side streets begin to break up the sunlight, guiding you toward this abandoned neighborhood. The sound of the cars passing on I-45 grows as you walk closer. You hear the slaps of tires rolling over potholes. Through a chain-link fence, a dark space sticks out, where about 300 people laid their heads. Among the puddles of piss, burn piles, bags and fast-food boxes littering the ground, you meet people like J.D. On a Saturday in April, J.D. wore a brown Red Label cap and spoke about the Bible, poor people and rich people. The first stop in J.D.’s journey was at chapter nine of the book of Matthew in the Holy Bible. From behind his eyes, which looked filled with yellow snot, J.D. shuffled to verse 15, back to 28, and stopped at 25. In that part of Matthew, readers learn about Jesus Christ’s work healing a paralyzed man, a sick woman and raising a woman from the dead. “Jesus turned and saw her,” reads Matthew 9:22. “‘Take heart, daughter,’ Jesus said, ‘your father has healed you.’ And the woman was healed at that moment.” J.D. didn’t want to be quoted in the newspaper, he said. When it was still open, tent city was home to several people like J.D., who were uneasy about sharing their tent city stories. Some people shied away from the
camera, others rebuked it. In the weeks leading up to the May 4 closure, there were more tripods than tent stakes in the ground. And one man, who did not offer his name and wanted money for a bus ticket before he’d approve his photo taken, noticed the distance a passerby put between them. “You nervous?” the man who said he was from Longview, Texas, asked. “Sit down.” Like J.D., this man talked about Christianity, except he didn’t quote Scripture. He only asked, “What do you see?” Beneath the bridge were candy wrappers, old brown bags, waterlogged sleeping bags, tents and bicycles; cars parked alongside the fences, people smoking cigarettes and talking in circles. A small dog walked around a cluster of tents. A woman fed pigeons from her green car, packed with clothes, books, DVDs and fast food bags. Clutter beneath the interstate. Families visited grandparents. It was quiet aside from the traffic above. Orange and yellow spraypainted construction marks reminded people beneath the interstate that there were plans and movement all around them, but the only option for them was to move out. Weeks later, it was made clear what the man from Longview was asking, because upon returning, there were far fewer residents living in the tent city neighborhood. “I don’t care if someone said, ‘I want to live under this bridge,’ that is not acceptable in Dallas, Texas,” Rawlings said in March. People underneath the bridge said Dallas police and social workers had been sweeping the area, telling residents to break camp. On a recent Saturday, two Dallas officers sat in their cruiser, a Dodge Charger marked 0187. In the passenger seat, officer J. Kaup. The driver,
Tents line up under a Dallas bridge. The community known as Tent City must vacate the area by May 4, 2016. Hannah Ridings | Senior Staff Photographer officer D. Brintwell. Both on their smartphones. “We’re protecting those construction workers,” Kaup said, pointing to a crew clearing an area of tent city. “We don’t recommend you go in there.” Their presence here was a clear reminder of the dangers that come with living under a bridge. Some residents, surrounded by muddy ruts, metal hangers, broken down bikes, sleeping bags and condoms, huddled to talk about the police. Their eyes were like movie screens, replaying the moments the police were there for: to arrest for drugs, to protect from violence and to send people packing. Two deaths in the neighborhood compounded the grief city leaders had of tent city. In January, police said 50-yearold Dana Hunter was found dead — probably a homicide victim, they said. About a month later, an unnamed man was stabbed to death. In 2014, there were two other reported deaths in the neighborhood. Tent city resident Leroy Mitchell saw the man killed
GRADUATION
Former Army Sgt. and UNT alumnus to speak at commencement By Evan McAlister Staff Writer @evan_McAlister Army Sgt. Steven Davidson will not be paid for giving this year’s mass commencement address. The university doesn’t want to pay large amounts of school money for the graduation speaker UNT president Neal Smatresk said. Though UNT does pay some speakers in the Distinguished Lecture Series, Smatresk said he wants the university to avoid paying the $50,000 to $150,000 in fees some universities are known to spend on commencement speakers. Smatresk said bringing in a commencement speaker has evolved into a business where speakers have agents to handle schedules and events, charging steep fees. “Several other institutions around the country were criticized last year for spending large amounts of money on commencement speakers,” Smatresk said. “We’re simply not going down that road.” The UNT commencement committee and Student Government Association were asked to nominate people to be the commencement speaker, but everyone named was either unavailable or too expensive. Additionally, commencement will look different this year as part of the university’s 125th anniversary. In the past, the commencement ceremony took place on the last day after all individual college ceremonies took place, but this year, the commencement speech will happen before anyone walks the stage. “The speech is written, I’ll be back in Denton on Wednesday night and Thursday we’ll do a sound check and run-through, and then Friday is the big day,” Davidson said. Davidson never imagined that he would be chosen to speak at the commencement ceremony. Although he is a recent UNT alumnus, Davidson said he’s excited to attend graduation for the first time. He missed the
in February, and remembered his body lying in the dirtiness beneath the interstate. Mitchell knew the man, he said. Police reports indicate a 54-year-old man named Bennie Valentine killed the man. “I cut him,” the police affidavit quotes Valentine as saying. Mitchell corroborated the police report. He remembers one stick to the neck, another down his abdomen and once in the leg. On a Saturday afternoon in April, Mitchell wore a referee shirt and small gold chain. On his head, a Chicago Blackhawks hat. The tag was still on it, and on the tag was a white paint splotch. He wore gold-black checker shoes. He walked with a black cane. On his arm there’s a medical bracelet from Baylor University Medical Center, No. 61901266. He said his face was beat in during a home invasion, and he had reconstructive surgery to fix it. That Saturday in April, Mitchell was homeless. Born in 1948, Mitchell joins about 11 percent of other homeless people in Dallas who
COMMUNITY
Homelessness coalition continues toward community project goal By Alexandria Reeves Staff Writer @alliereeves23
Army Sgt. Steven Davidson will speak at this year’s mass commencement. Courtesy | UNT opportunity to walk the stage in his own commencement as he went straight from an internship into the job market. Davidson will take part in the veteran graduation cord and medal ceremony on Thursday, May 12. “The university has been very good to me,” Davidson said. “Everyone from UNT had a powerful effect on who I am today.” Both a UNT alumnus and the 2012 “Army Times” Soldier of the Year, Davidson will deliver his speech at the beginning of the three-day university-wide commencement celebration this May. “I was very surprised honestly,” Davidson said. “I had talked to the president a couple of months earlier about doing a short speech during commencement, but I never dreamed that I would give the big speech.” Davidson said his speech will focus on the hidden value of being a UNT graduate and the lessons he’s learned from his time in the army, to becoming a hero, and finally, to his time at UNT. “I’m a young guy and I just graduated in December so I want to highlight the things about UNT I think students kind of shrug off,”
Davidson said. Davidson was deployed to East Africa two years after joining the army in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in 2011. While serving in human resources, Davidson saved a fellow soldier’s life on the last day of a 10-day French-run desert warfare course. He credits his ability to the sports medicine training he received from Northwest High School in Justin, Texas. When his tour ended in 2012, Davidson applied to UNT. Despite his outstanding military record, the veteran had struggled academically at a past community college and was admitted to UNT on a provisional basis. Davidson said returning from deployment and readjusting to life was difficult for him. “The university makes it very easy for veterans to get an education,” Davidson said. “They have benefits such as the Student Veteran Services office in Sage Hall [and] they also provide the support from faculty and staff.” With the help and support of his professors, Davidson was able to succeed at UNT and intern at the White House in the executive office of the president. He was
then appointed to his current position in President Barack Obama’s administration at the U.S. Department of Energy as the Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy. Davidson was in Washington when his final grades posted. “I was sitting in a meeting in Washington when grades posted,” Davidson said. “Like many students I didn’t want to get too excited about graduation, but I was able to finish with a 4.0 GPA.” Davidson said he’s looking forward to being back in Denton to see all the changes to campus as well as the town. “I’m a big fan of Beth Marie’s on the Square,” Davidson said. “The union had just opened last time I was on campus, too. I’m just excited to be back.” So far students have not spoken out against Davidson’s speech, unlike last year when Gov. Greg Abbott spoke. “I know the majority of people won’t remember the commencement speech,” Davidson said. “But if just one person leaves thinking ‘Yeah, that’s exactly what UNT is like’ then I think it’ll be a success.”
are unsheltered over the age of 62. Mitchell is one of 440 men living on the street, according to the Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance’s annual State of the Homeless report. He talked about the man who was stabbed. He remembers the look in the man’s eye as he said he watched his guts slosh from his stomach. It was steps away from Mitchell’s tent. He flopped on the ground and made it about 20 feet away to die. Before the neighborhood was closed, a pile of bricks marked the spot where the man died, a makeshift grave stone. “Have you ever felt hopeless?” he asked. “Try all you can, and nothing.” He began to cry. He lit his Marlboro cigarette. He started talking about his career as a truck driver, hauling freight across the country. Just before tent city closed for good, he talked about returning to Minnesota, to get away from the streets of Dallas. “Texas ain’t for me,” he said. “Y’all can have it.”
Denton’s Homelessness Coa lition has t a ken the f i rst steps towa rd brea k ing g round on a com mun it y-r un housing project it pla ns to build in Denton count y. Fif teen of the coa lition’s members visited Austin on Apr il 19 to view a sim ila rly designed development there ca lled Com mun it y Fi rst, wh ich offers a ffordable housing to the homeless. T he coa lition viewed the Austin development as a guide for the housing project it hopes to implement in Denton. “It went rea lly well,” leader of the coa lition Pat r ick Sm ith sa id. “I was ver y impressed by the thoughtf ulness a nd the qua lit y of the whole development.” T he Com mun it y Fi rst development is a 127-acre com mun it y that was master pla n ned a nd built up over a spa n of seven yea rs, according to Sm ith. T he development cont a ins tiny houses, wh ich a re someth ing the coa lition has pla n ned for Denton’s a ffordable housing project. Rent r uns f rom $225 to $325 a month, wh ich is a ffordable to com mun it y members who receive thei r income th rough disabilit y or socia l secu r it y benef its. T he development is able to accom modate a va r iet y of needs. Residents who do not receive a ny for m of income ca n a lso work at one of the com mun it y’s “m icro enter pr ises.” T he com mun it y has severa l ga rdens that produce f r uits a nd vegetables, a nd a ch icken coop that provides
eggs. T he sta ff oversees the operations a nd the individua ls who work there ea r n a wage to supplement thei r cost of living. “T here is one gentlema n who had a st roke. He ca n get a round but he has to do it slowly,” Sm ith sa id. “T hey put h im in cha rge of the ch icken coop that produces a round 20 0 eggs a week. T he sta ff oversees it, but that gentlema n is able to cont r ibute back to the com mun it y by ca r ing for ch ickens a nd ha r vesting the eggs.” T he development a lso has a n a r t st udio where residents ca n lea r n t rades such as blacksm ith ing or pot ter y ma k ing, a nd ca n even sell thei r a r t for a prof it. “Last yea r they sold $10 0, 0 0 0 wor th of a r twork just produced by the residents in different shows in a nd a round Austin,” Sm ith sa id. T here a re pla ns to develop a f ina ncia l model as well as d rawings a nd na r ratives in order to show cit y council that the project will be susta inable, but the coa lition does not pla n to present them until later th is yea r. Recently, the coa lition viewed severa l proper ties in Denton as potentia l locations for the project, but will not be ma k ing f ina l decisions until th is sum mer. “We’re just in the th in k ing a nd pla n n ing st ages r ight now so we haven’t actively done a nyth ing yet,” Sm ith sa id. “I n the ea rly pa r t of the fa ll we will probably sta r t ci rculating a vision document a round that will have a lot of specif ics in it.”