All posts by Jim

San Diego Nonprofit to provide portable showers for homeless people

February 2, 2016How we should treat each other, Local organizationsJim

Think Dignity, a San Diego-area nonprofit, plans to bring portable showers to neighborhoods throughout the city. The showers are about the size of a horse trailer, have stalls for men and women, and are pulled by a truck. They plan to park on private property for a maximum of four hours at a time, so they will not require city permits. Moving from place to place on a regular schedule means that they can serve more homeless people that they could with only one location.

Anne Rios, Think Dignity’s Executive Director, said that the showers will help homeless people feel better about themselves, and it will also make it easier for them to find jobs. The program is patterned after the Lava Mae mobile shower program in San Francisco. Lava Mae converted four old buses into mobile shower stalls. That program has been very popular.

Think Dignity partnered with two other nonprofits, Burrito Boys and Las Patronas, to buy the equipment. They are seeking barbers and hair stylists willing to donate services at the shower sites.

Los Angeles Times, February 1, 2016, page B6.

Tiny Houses in Portland’s “Dignity Village”

January 30, 2016Solutions to HomelessnessJim

Yes! Magazine just published an article about tiny houses for homeless people in Portland’s “Dignity Village”.

“Located in northeast Portland, Dignity Village is a self-governed gated community, which currently serves 60 people on any given night—the city limits the number—and provides shelter in the form of tiny houses built mainly from donated and recycled materials. The village emerged in the winter of 2000 as a tent city called Camp Dignity. Stationed in downtown Portland, it served as an act of protest against Portland’s then-ban on homeless encampments. …

Now officially a nonprofit, Dignity Village is governed by a democratically elected council of nine residents, who are responsible for day-to-day decisions; all residents can vote on big decisions, like whether to remove a resident or enter into contracts with service providers, in town hall-style meetings. On a typical night, it provides food, housing, bathrooms, and a mailing address for nearly 60 adults,who pay $35 a month in rent and would otherwise be taking their chances alone sleeping on park benches or city streets.”

All is not roses in the so-called “City of Roses”. The city limits the number of inhabitants, is still short of affordable housing, and still pushes homeless people out of the city center. Still, the city lets the village use city-owned land, donates a part-time social worker, and treats this as one solution to its growing homeless problem.

Other cities, including Seattle, Eugene, and Nashville, have observed the program and are trying out their own variations.

Check out the article at http://www.yesmagazine.org/peace-justice/-in-a-tiny-house-village-portlands-homeless-find-dignity-20160128?utm_source=YTW&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=20160129

Jonah Schepp: “Republicans Get Poverty All Wrong”

January 22, 2016About being poorJim

Here’s an interesting article from Politico about poverty — by someone who’s lived it. Jonah Schepp grew up desperately poor in Manhattan, yet got a good education and ultimately a stable job. He says, though, that this wasn’t a matter of hard work and gumption; it was “dumb luck”. He lucked into situations that helped him, just as other folks ‘luck’ into situations that drag them down. It wasn’t a matter of pulling himself up by his bootstraps. He writes:

“There’s no denying that poor people make bad choices all the time. But at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter much because we don’t actually have that many choices to make, economic or otherwise. This, more than anything else, is what our moralizing politicos fail to understand about American poverty: how often we get stuck in situations where we have no options.”

A good read for those who think that poverty is somehow poor people’s fault.

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/01/what-republicans-dont-get-about-poverty-213511

Sandy Banks: “Farewell, my Texas cowboy”

February 8, 2014News link, Portraits of HomelessJim

Los Angeles Times columnist Sandy Banks published a beautiful story this morning, about a homeless man she knew well. Eddie Dotson had been living on L.A.’s streets for many years by the time Banks met him. He was polite to everyone and helpful to others. He built a lovely and comfortable dwelling out of scraps and others’ throw-aways; he would rebuilt it without complaint when the street cleaning crews destroyed it (as they did every few months). Banks remembers his patience and tenderness.

Banks wrote about him in 2009, which is the first that Dotson’s family in Austin, Texas, had heard about him in years. They came out to L.A. and brought him home. He died last week, so Banks wrote a moving essay about him and about how much he taught her. Read it on Page A2 of this morning’s Times.

I want to praise Banks for her large heart and her clear prose. I also want to praise the Times for hiring columnists — she is one of several — who show us that homeless people are human beings.

Eddie Dotson in 2009, after one of the times when the city of L.A. dismantled his sidewalk home.

L.A. Times memorial to a street person

January 25, 2014News link, People, Portraits of HomelessJim

Los Angeles Times columnist Sandy Banks published a memorial to Chester Willis, a homeless and well-loved street person in this morning’s paper. She talks about Willis’ life, his friendships, and his care for animals. Definitely worth reading. Find it here …

SOAN 324: Hunger & Homelessness in America

University of Redlands, Spring 2019 — Prof. Jim Spickard, Course Leader