December 2, 2015 Vol. 28 Issue 15
In d epe nd e nt
The Arbiter
St u d e nt
@arbiteronline
V o i ce
o f
B o is e
Stat e
S i n c e
@arbiteronline
1 9 3 3
arbiteronline.com
Refugees, ISIS and Syria
patrick adcock & Taylor Lippman/ the arbiter
Perspectives for the student, p. 4, 10, 8
Feature
Feature
Local panel discusses housing options for homeless
Egipcia Mercado / THE ARBITER
Asst. News Editor
Homelessness in Boise
Pg 10
11/17/2015
The transition from cool, fall days to cold afternoons is a quick one in Boise. As people trade light sweaters for heavy coats, the homeless population of Boise are giving up their tents for the night and taking refuge inside several of the shelters, which offer warmth in exchange for privacy. At a forum presented by Transform Idaho during the first week of October, panelists representing different elements of the city spent a tense and heated hour with the public in an attempt to address homelessness. Chief of Police Bill Bones, President of the Boise and Ada County Homeless Coalition Barbara Kemp, Ada County Commissioner Rick Yzaguirre and Director of Community Partnerships Diana Lachiondo, faced a smoldering crowd of 130 locals who were frustrated with the direction the forum took. “They had a pretty aggressive agenda,” said Rochelle Cunningham, administrative assistant and office manager of the communication department at Boise State. “By definition, a forum is supposed to be where people come and exchange ideas, ask questions and get information.” According to Cunningham, over a hundred questions were turned in by the audience—none of which were addressed by the panelists. This caught the audience, as well as the panelists, off guard. “My understanding was the intent was to get questions from the audience—which they did collect. Unfortunately there was not enough attention to the questions the audience had,” Kemp said. According to Ron Rhodes, Webmaster for Transform Idaho, they were hoping the audience would be more focused on talking about ‘Housing First’ as a viable option for Idaho and about sharing the burden to resolve whatever problems have been holding it up. “It’s been several years now since it’s been an active discussion for Boise, and nothing has happened,” Rhodes said.
11/17/2015
According to Kemp, Housing First is an going to get sick.” According to Manning, the exposure to answer to homelessness that has proven effective across the country for decades, explicit situations and the constant proxdue to its low barrier to entry. It does not imity to people can take a mental toll on require participants to meet standards of a person. “The beds are literally a foot and a half sobriety for a particular amount of time or to have a good credit history. A person apart from each other. Can you imagine can come in as they are and receive help being that close to people coughing and through progressive engagement with passing gas?” Manning said. Jessica Smith, former California resicase managers, so long as they are willing dent, has been staying at Interfaith Sancto accept the help. “Right now we are in the same situation, tuary for seven months and has witnessed or worse, than we were a year ago, or the the exponential growth of people in Cooyear before that, or the year before that,” per Court over the past several months. “It’s really Kemp said. hard to deter“We can mine where talk and the homeless talk and that are in talk and we “When you’re exposed to carnage and the tent city can work on it, but anything that’s too graphic or explicit, it area should That’s a the proof is does something to your mind. It makes go. real hard deciin the pudyou have to fight a lot harder to main- sion because ding and tain your sanity,” there really we don’t isn’t any other have any place,” Smith pudding —Nathan Manning said. “But it yet.” seems like it’s Nathan getting overManning crowded and was born in Nampa, Idaho, and has been staying in overpopulated.” According to Kemp, shelters are what Boise shelters for over a year now. “Realistically, this is a horrible type Boise has for affordable housing, rather of situation. That’s the reason why most than temporary outlets. Kemp explained, people don’t stay in the shelters; they’d as a community, we must work toward rather live in the cold; they’d rather stay covering the spectrum of homelessness, ranging from shelters—which are meant in the street,” Manning said. According to Kemp, people who are for emergencies—to permanent supporthomeless and don’t wish to stay in shelters ive housing. “Not only are there people on the are painted as, ‘unwilling to avail themselves,’ particularly by the city. Kemp says street experiencing homelessness—there this is a great distortion of the realities are thousands of people who are at any moment just about to drop out of their people in that situation face. “People may have a mental illness or homes,” Kemp said. According to Idaho Housing and Fianxieties and they can’t be in that crowded situation,” Kemp said. “There are people nance Association’s 2014 Point-in-Time that are afraid of bedbugs, lice and germs. report, 753 of Idaho’s 2,104 homeless When one person gets sick in the shelter people are living in Ada County. This repand you’re in the same room—somebody resents an 18 percent increase in Idaho is coughing and the germs are everywhere. homelessness from 2013. These rising numbers contribute to the If one person gets sick, a lot of people are
“
“
Shelly Bohorquez
congested area of Cooper Court, where the situation is strained. “When you’re exposed to carnage and anything that’s too graphic or explicit, it does something to your mind. It makes you have to fight a lot harder to maintain your sanity,” Manning said. “You become desensitized—doesn’t matter what it is. A lot of people don’t have the mental structure to guide their way through that, so they end up becoming part of it and adding to it. This place festers.” Although most people in Cooper Court admit there is a comforting sense of community among the individuals who live there, physical fights, shouting matches and a lack of resources lead to a gnawing and unsafe environment. “Frankly, and very unfortunately, that homeless population is one of the most vulnerable populations and it’s a target of crime by other people who are trying to take advantage,” Bones said. “Right now, that is our highest calls for service area in the city of Boise. It’s been growing. We’ve gone to well over 1,500 calls so far this year in just that small area.” According to Bones, there are always officers stationed near Cooper Court to respond to those calls. Another forum will be held on Thursday, Nov. 19, which will be a presentation of information in which Andrew Heben, co-founder of Opportunity Village in Eugene, Oregon, will present his grassroots response to the growing homelessness in his city. Opportunity Village is a city-owned lot in Eugene, hosting 30, 80 square foot homes sheltering some of the city’s homeless population. Heben’s Opportunity Village was created to address Eugene’s own tent city and will be introduced as an idea for Boise to consider. “We need to provide for our fellow citizens a base where they can start putting things back together from whatever brought them to homelessness in the first place,” Kemp said. “You do that with safety and shelter, and, without that, you are just moment to moment.”
Pg 11
September 8, 2015 Vol. 28 Issue 4
In d epe nd e nt
@arbiteronline
V o i ce
o f
B o is e
Stat e
S i n c e
@arbiteronline
1 9 3 3
arbiteronline.com
Down to the wire
Boise State defeats Coach Pete, Washington 16-13
Abe Copeland/Courtesy
The Arbiter
St u d e nt