"It's beautiful. It's beautiful out here. Nobody messes with us and we don't mess with nobody," says Joe Pazulla.

"The shelter is like jail. It's like jail. You might as well go to jail if you go to the shelter," says Pazulla.

http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/whqr/news.newsmain/article/1/0/1547043/Local.Interest/A.Home.in.the.Woods

"Pinellas Hope resident Scott Hubbell, 42, passes the 6- by 8-foot sheds at the camp for homeless people. Sheila Lopez, director of Pinellas Hope, would like to add 100 or more sheds. She said there are plans to also build 8- by 10-foot sheds that would be available to couples."

http://www.tampabay.com/news/humaninterest/article972991.ece

--------------------------------

Tent city for homeless in Hillsborough goes back to start

By Chandra Broadwater, Times Staff Writer
Posted: Aug 11, 2009 11:05 AM

TAMPA — It's back to the drawing board for a tent city in Hillsborough County.

County commissioners voted 5-2 Tuesday morning to send a proposal from Catholic Charities back to a zoning hearing master, which starts part of the rezoning process over again.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/growth/article1026636.ece

---------------

http://challenge.bfi.org/application_summary/161

RanDome

The Wall Street Journal reports this week:

"Nashville is one of several U.S. cities that these days are accommodating the homeless and their encampments, instead of dispersing them. With local shelters at capacity, “there is no place to put them,” said Clifton Harris, director of Nashville’s Metropolitan Homeless Commission, says of tent-city dwellers."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124994409537920819.html

Portable village progress

---------------
Dick Fischbeck
18 Belfast Rd.
Freedom, Maine 04941
207-382-3051
http://challenge.bfi.org/application_summary/161

RanDome

" Would you live in a tent city?

Contributed by John Records - Posted: April 19, 2009 3:37:18 PM

Homeless people often use tents to camp. The media has a lot of coverage recently on tent cities, probably in part because of the "Hooverville" associations. They have been called slums, and the "new affordable housing." If you lost your home, would you be willing to live in a tent city?

My family and I lived in a moving tent city in 1986-87, during The Great Peace March (a trek from LA to DC in support of global nuclear disarmament). It provided many of the things we rely on in community: shelter, food and water, sanitation, space to gather and interact, and entertainment. There even was a mobile post office bus! It wasn't so bad as a way to live.

As the executive director of a homeless services program in Northern California, I've been researching tent cities as an option if, as President Obama cautions could happen, "a crisis turns into a catastrophe." So, IF unemployment continues to increase and IF people continue to lose housing, there could be a lot more homeless people (perhaps an increase of 50-80% according to the National Association to End Homelessness). In that dire circumstance, tent cities could be a needed option.

Wikipedia has a good article on tent cities. So does the Huffington Post. From what I read, some are like slums--places in which you might not feel safe. Others are orderly and well-managed. Dignity Village in Portland is mentioned as an example of a self-managed, well run tent city. I hope to visit Portland this year, and to see Dignity Village then.

In Olympia, Washington, congregations take turns hosting Camp Quixote. Seattle has a well-developed network of tent cities. Check out the Share Wheel site, and/or this video documentary.

Not surprisingly, the neighborhoods where tent cities appear don't embrace them. In Ontario, California, the city government found unacceptable a tent city that had grown over the years and that had attracted people from outside to the area. Yet, officials did not want to end a solution to the problem of people not having homes. So, according to Scott Bransford's article Tarp Nation that appeared in The High County News:

Rather than simply bulldoze the makeshift neighborhood, Ontario officials embarked on a $3 million campaign to discipline and punish squatters, setting up a formal camp where tarp dwellings became symbols of order.

In the spring of last year, police and code enforcement officers issued color-coded bracelets to distinguish Ontario residents from newcomers, then gradually banished the out-of-towners. Then they demolished the shanties and set up an official camp with a chain-link fence and guard shack. Residents were issued special I.D.s and a strict set of rules: No coming and going after 10 p.m., no pets, no children or visitors, no drugs and no alcohol.

About 120 people stuck around, but many left to escape the regimentation. As of late January, the population was less than 50.

"It's like a prison," said Melody Woolsey, 40, who has lived in both versions of the encampment.

Schultz, on the other hand, considers the camp one of Ontario's greatest success stories. Some of the camp's residents agree: They say it's a bit like a gated community on a modest scale, a rare haven where one can live affordably without the fear of robbery or violence.

"Some people come up here and say, it looks like a concentration camp, but they don't live here," said Robert, 51, an unemployed factory technician. "They're only looking at it from the outside. I look at it that it's a secure community."

There are options other than tents for temporary communities. Straw bales can be used for emergency shelters, and barracks-like soft- and hard-walled structures such as are used by the military are available. And the EDAR, "a purpose-specific, special four-wheeled enclosed device, very roughly reminding one of a covered shopping cart," could be on the streets during the day and then brought to a safe camping spot in the evening.

Would I want a tent city in my back yard? Not if it fostered drug use, prostitution and other crime, as apparently has been the case in some communities. But if my neighbors need a place to live and nothing better is available, as an interim measure I would support a well-run and structured drug-free tent city with enforced rules. And I would hope for the economy to improve so that this would be a temporary solution."

http://blogs.petaluma360.com/default.asp?item=2365733

Another story, this one about Sacramento:

http://www.alternet.org/rights/137045/

The Ponzi scheme that defrauded many investors in the nation affected thousands of people. Many of them may be looking for these ultra-low cost microvillages to start investing again. . It is shocking how hedge fund investor Bernie Madoff could defraud thousands of very wealthy investors out of $50 billion. In connection with this, another name is involved. Ezra Merkin is a name you probably never heard before. Well, you may get to know about Ezra Merkin now. He's the latest name that's added to the others sued in conjunction with the Madoff scandal. He is accused of having run the feeder funds that gave cash advances to Madoff. Madoff himself is awaiting sentencing, while his lawyers try to appeal his bail revocation. Merkin hasn't been charged with a crime yet, only sued. But there may be a need for some big cash advances so Ezra Merkin can pay his fines.

As for me and my tent
Niko Block travels to Nashville, TN to witness life in Tent City, a shanty town that attests to the drastic rise in homelessness in the States
Beyond the crash in the stock market, staggering rates of household debt, and a steep downturn in commodity prices, the current recession in the U.S. has seen the rise of another ominous throwback to the Great Depression: shanty towns.

The homeless have always sought refuge in the inconspicuous margins of the urban landscape, but in the wake of skyrocketing foreclosures and layoffs, their numbers have jumped to levels that urban nooks and hideouts can no longer accommodate, and open-air encampments have become the only option for thousands of Americans who have lost their homes and their savings in the recent market chaos.

I became immersed in the issue after watching footage taken on shaky handycams of homeless Floridians having their tents demolished by local police, and post-foreclosure Californians cooking over fires on the outskirts of Los Angeles. I decided to investigate the homeless situation in Nashville, Tennessee, which was the closest city I could find with a major tent community.

Nashville is among the dozens of American cities that has apathetically watched encampments flickering in and out of existence for generations. Several of them have been demolished over the years, only to spring up in different, more obscure locations. Having existed for over 20 years, Tent City, on the banks of the Cumberland River, has been the most enduring of them.

Last summer the municipal government decided that Tent City would be gone by the end of November, but the plan to demolish the encampment had to be cancelled after a massive campaign organised by a number of church and student groups rallied to Tent City’s defence. The mayor’s office postponed the demolition to June 1, and set up the Metropolitan Homeless Commission, which has conducted a series of public hearings on how the broader Nashville community thinks that the city should approach the housing issue.

http://stonesoupstation.blogspot.com/2009/03/man-or-woman-has-got-to-survive-and-if.html

A federal Europe is a theory that much of Europe be unified in the manner of a federation. The idea has been common with ambitions of European unification with the term United States of Europe echoing the federal nature of the United States of America. The United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE) is the United States Air Force component of U.S. European Command, a Department of Defense unified command, and is one of two Air Force Major Commands outside of the continental United States, the other being the Pacific Air Forces. It is, however, the only USAF Major Command to be headquartered outside of the United States. Bernard Madoff is not a popular man. Bernard Madoff, once the Wall Street wizard that sat atop the NASDAQ exchange, has pled guilty to running a Ponzi scheme that defrauded investors of $50 billion. He refused to accept a plea bargain that would have forced him to reveal anyone who assisted him, but he wasn’t interested, which lead some to believe he is protecting his wife, Ruth Madoff. Regardless of his motivation for not accepting a plea deal, or if he did act alone which is unlikely, prosecutors are seeking a sentence of up to 150 years in prison. There is a high degree of probability that Bernard Madoff will not end his days in the comfort and opulence that his grand theft afforded him.

Students visit Ontario Tent City to bring aid
By: Hortencia Rangel
Posted: 4/7/08
Chaffey's Muslim Student Association Club president Mustafa Eshanzada brought together volunteers for "Tent City Outreach" on March 9. Chaffey students, as well as students from other schools such as Saddleback College in Orange County, Los Osos High School and UC Riverside, provided donations as they visited the homeless in Ontario.

Many of the homeless expressed their gratitude and greeted the students with a sigh of relief for such items as water, evaporated milk, toothpaste, canned foods, clothes, and towels.

As the temperature rose, it was no surprise that water was the first item to run out.

Some students introduced themselves as they went tent-by-tent handing out freshly baked bread. From a distance, a man was overheard shouting, "Thank you for putting bread on my table."

Many tent-city residents shared their stories with the volunteers of how they ended up homeless. Some of the causes were illnesses such as emphysema, The increasing rise in the price of rent, loss of homes and loss of jobs. A volunteer commented on how she could not help but notice how the majority of the homeless appeared to be over the age of 40.

Some of the people did not appear to have been there long because they were still holding on to as many of their possessions as they could. In some cases newer cars were viewed as if somehow some of the homeless just did not belong there. Some surprisingly refused any type of assistance. They were simply content with a visit. One volunteer from Saddleback was overheard asking, "What do you guys need out here, we will be back in a couple weeks."

New changes and restrictions have made future visits more difficult.

Eshanzada said he had planned more visits at the Ontario location, but was advised that volunteers would now be required to get permits, putting their outreach visits on hold and possibly canceled.

"It is our Islamic duty to help those in need, our duty is to help," Eshanzada said. "I just wanted to help."

The MSA's next scheduled event will be "Women's Rights in Islam" on Thursday, April 10 at 5:30 p.m. in Chaffey's staff dining hall.

"Everyone is welcomed," Eshanzada said.

The MSA Club meetings are held on Wednesdays at 12:30 p.m. in the quad.

Students can contact Mustafa Eshanzada for more information or questions at mustieofaxis@aol.com. © Copyright 2008 The Breeze

Listen to Rabbit and the others! Best video on Camp Ontario yet. The City of Ontario is breaking new ground. Thank you, Ontario.

http://fourstory.org/pages/stories/081-interview-tentcity.htm

Camp Ontario

"Video Interview: Residents of Ontario's Tent City
conducted by Jim Washburn

Driving to the homeless tent city near the corner of Cucamonga Avenue and Jefferson Street in Ontario, California, any number of interview questions occur: "You guys have wi-fi?" "How do you ever find your teeth in this mud?" "Can I interest you in a trial subscription to the OC Post?"

Something about the place knocks the jocularity right out of you. Maybe it's seeing 200-plus people living in a community where the most stable structure is a porta-potty; where rain-beat tents are planted in mud, jury-rigged with tarps, cardboard, blankets, discarded advertising banners and whatever else might fend off the rain and cold; where people wake, live and attempt sleep in the 24-7 jet wash of Ontario Airport traffic lumbering directly overhead.
tent

This ain't Woodstock. Some people have been here since June, and the numbers keep growing. Kudos to the City of Ontario for allowing the homeless a place and for providing some services, and to local church groups and others for helping out. There's some small advantage to the city: Allowing the homeless to camp on this undesirable property means they're not cluttering up the rest of the town. But there are over 7,000 homeless in San Bernardino County, up 43 percent from five years ago. Other Ingrown Empire burgs aren't stepping up to the plate, which means more homeless will keep drifting to Ontario's scant haven. And having a sodden slum on display to every single flight out of their busy airport isn't the best way of saying "Live, work and play in Ontario!" to the world.

Some in the tent city are the permanent homeless: the mentally ill who've been on the streets since the Reagan years, or those who've pledged fealty to King Cobra or Queen Crack. Some lost their roofs to job losses or medical crises. One we spoke with left her home when things turned sour there after her brother died in Iraq. Some in the tent city are only guilty, as the old Band song put it, of "the crime of having nowhere to go."

FourStory writer Jim Washburn and cameraman Gary Chan spoke with some of the residents on January 8, following a weekend of rain."

Medard says:

"The answer lies in Fuller’s grand perspective, bold synthesis of technology and human values, and his integration of these into a tool for humanity to use in solving its planetary problems. As important as his inventions were in their own right (and as a more balanced presentation than the one above would soon disclose) they pale in comparison to their impact on the world’s imagination of what is possible. When Fuller proposed a housing service industry in the 1920s that would mass produce "housing units", air deliver them via giant dirigible to any place in the world—and those same housing units would be hung from a central tower that contained all the services needed for the house to be autonomous—Fuller was not just fifty to hundred years ahead of his time, he was lighting a bonfire in the collective imagination of the world (and a firebomb in the straw house of the architectural profession). What Fuller’s original autonomous house did was present a way not only of building a revolutionary house in a revolutionary way, he presented a way of looking at building, housing, shelter and architecture in a way that swept them all away in a grand vision of housing as a basic human need that all humans have (not just the client in traditional architectural circles) and which was a global, not local or personal problem that only the rich could afford to address while the rest of humanity had to make do. Fuller’s contribution went further: his methodology for addressing the housing problem was generalizable. You could, as did he, apply it to transportation, energy, education, pollution, accounting, governance and a wealth of additional social problems."

www.RogerART.com & www.EarthBall.org & www.OneGlobalCommunity.com

Earth Ball Abodes and Greenhouse

with 16 3 inch to 36 inch Suport Earth Balls

Low income Homeas, Pollute Little, All Around OUR Earth

Time 2 create em... NOW
.
http://www.EarthBall.org

The urgent need for ultra-low cost housing is a topic worthy of Fuller-followers and good designers around the world. I applaud MIT for working on this problem. The referenced article does not explain how the costs of the project to house 50 families works out to $30,000 per two-story unit excluding land and utilities (located in Turkey).(see Lester Walker's 1987 book "Tiny Houses") This is hardly rocket science. It could be done, up to code, in the US for those numbers.

A related article refers to PODS testing out potential interest in its foray into the shelter business. Again, an attempt to address this pressing problem closer to home. However, at $10,000 to $13,000 per 8 foot by 16 foot unit it still falls short of "ultra-low cost housing".

As much as Fuller enthusiasts want a certain shape (icosahedron or dome) adopted for housing, the PODS cardboard prototype shows all the flaws of the original concept. Mathematical elegance vs real world issues. Too complex (requires specialized parts through out); too delicate (tabs and slots prone to damage); unwieldy doorway, windows and vents; too large (in mid-construction) to be build or handled by one person; too many potential leak points (difficult to repair); and dependent on a perfectly flat foundation (not easy to find in a flood, fire zone, or earthquake area).

A lower-tech and more practical approach may yield a largely workable temporary shelter solution. Victor Papenek in his 1973 Bantam Press book "Design For The Real World - Human Ecology And Social Change" shows the concept of another designer for a hand pushcart that is a mobile shelter, with cot space, fold down stairs for a front stoop (sitting area), mini bath (toilet and sink). This design proposal (it was a response to a contest) goes a good distance toward meeting really basic shelter needs in a way that could be modified (as to materials and some designer elements) to create a truly ultra-low cost shelter. It has the further advantage of being portable (and probably capable of being legally parked on the street). The social dimension could be addressed by gathering a number of these together. The limiting factors (as always,) would be fuel for heating, cooling and ventilation; processing waste in a sanitary manner; sourcing or purifying drinking water and water for personal sanitation. If the shelter was designed with self-help or local outside support in mind. The ultra-low cost mini-shelter could have removable tanks similar to RVs for emptying, refilling, and servicing. This would still leave food, communications, work, etc. to be supplied.

The Whole Earth Catalog showed photos of horse drawn mini-houses used after the San Fransisco earthquake and fires. Perhaps it's time to consider the modern equivalent.

NASA has been looking into Biological life support systems (BLSS) for extended space travel. Within the constraints of outer space, trying to supply food, sanitation, shelter and water for an extended trip in a more sustainable manner (as compared with bringing it all from earth and ejecting all wastes along the way). Several universities and contractors have been working on the problem for several years. Their research results may provide some useful approaches, for the less demanding, earthbound setting. The biological approach obviates, to some degree, NASA's tendency toward high tech, high cost, answers. The demands of space eliminates much of the wiggle-room in the calculations as to inputs and outputs in a nearly closed-loop system. (A spaceship is a relatively small nearly closed-loop system and the earth is a somewhat larger nearly closed-loop system.)

Fresno Urban Microvillage Update

Fresno is about to establish the 6th or 7th legal urban campsite in North America.

Seattle, Portland, Ontario, Edmonton, Los Angeles...

Homeless Go to Court to Challenge Elkton's Loitering Law

Elkton, MD - Monday July 23, 2007 8:13 am
ABC 7 News - Homeless Go to Court to Challenge Elkton's Loitering Law

Eight homeless people are fighting the town of Elkton and its loitering law. The plaintiffs claim the law is part of a harassment campaign to drive away homeless people.

They claim they are regularly targeted by police for minor offenses and they claim they lost personal property and keepsakes when the town bulldozed the wooded area where they were squatting last year.

The loitering law took effect last month.

The plaintiffs want a temporary restraining order blocking it from being enforced while their lawsuit is considered.

The Court of Special Appeals has given the town until Thursday to justify continued enforcement of the law.

The lawsuit claims the ordinance outlaws constitutionally protected activities such as begging, and that it is overly broad and vague.

Lacey should follow lead on homeless issue

The Olympian 7-26-2007

The Olympia and Tumwater city councils have adopted ordinances paving the way for churches to host homeless encampments.
The Olympian - Click Here

Members of the Lacey City Council should consider adopting an identical measure to make the rules consistent among the three largest cities in Thurston County.

So-called tent cities are a relatively new phenomenon in South Sound. Cities have two basic options: They can adopt an ordinance setting reasonable conditions on the encampments or they can try through zoning ordinances to offer dictates.

Olympia and Tumwater officials have wisely selected the ordinance route, giving the cities some control over the location and future operation of tent cities.

In his report to the Olympia City Council, Keith Stahley, community planning and development director, spelled out the legal aspects. He said, �Courts in Washington and across the country have found that land use regulations cannot unduly burden a religious institution�s First Amendment right to pursue its religious mission. Courts have also found that offering shelter to the poor, such as a temporary homeless encampment, is consistent with the religious mission of a church.�

Olympia is on its third tent city. It started as an impromptu protest about lack of housing options in downtown Olympia this year. As police prepared to move in and disband the camp, officials at the Olympia Unitarian Universalist Congregation on Division Street came to the rescue. On Feb. 9, Camp Quixote II began its 90-day stay at the west Olympia church. United Churches off Capitol Way is hosting Camp Quixote III, and there are plans to move the tent city to St. John Episcopal Church on Capitol Way in mid-August.

After considering a permanent tent city fashioned after Dignity Village in Portland, Ore., city officials opted instead for an ordinance setting reasonable expectations. It�s an acknowledgement that homeless encampments are a legitimate form of housing.

Speaking for many, Councilman Ed Stanley of Tumwater said, �How shameful, that in the richest society, we have to have people living in tents. But here we are.�

Now it�s Lacey�s turn. There�s talk that the next tent city will be at Lacey Community Church. It�s time for the Lacey City Council to join Olympia and Tumwater with a law establishing reasonable rules and expectations for homeless encampments.

Tent city ordinances

The ordinances in Tumwater and Olympia are identical and set the following conditions:

• A public meeting must be held by the sponsoring church or other religious group.

• The site must be large enough for all of the tents, plus portable toilets and handwashing stations.

• The site may not be in any environmentally sensitive areas.

• No more than 40 residents will be allowed.

• The camp must be within a quarter-mile of a bus stop.

• Residents must agree to a code of conduct.

• The sponsoring agency will work with police on background checks for sex offenders or people with outstanding warrants.

• No more than one tent city may exist in the city at one time.

• No site may host a tent city more than once in a year.

• Tent cities are limited to a 90-day stay.

New link to the Ontario camp story:

http://www.dailybulletin.com/ci_6389297

Ventura Coalition

http://www.vchhc.org/

"“It cost us one million dollars not to do something about Murray,” O’Bryan said."
----------------------------
----------------------------

"Culhane then put together a database—the first of its kind—to track who was coming in and out of the shelter system. What he discovered profoundly changed the way homelessness is understood. Homelessness doesn’t have a normal distribution, it turned out. It has a power-law distribution. “We found that eighty per cent of the homeless were in and out really quickly,” he said. “In Philadelphia, the most common length of time that someone is homeless is one day. And the second most common length is two days. And they never come back. Anyone who ever has to stay in a shelter involuntarily knows that all you think about is how to make sure you never come back.”"

The White Stripes play De Ballit Of De Boll Weevil.

It is my theme song for our cooperative initiative to end homelessness of all kinds.

-----------------------------
-----------------------------
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qK_0YQE_ZGE
-------------------------
Performed by Jack White 2004

You can talk about the latest
the latest of your own
these boll weevils
they will rob you of a home
'Cause they are looking for a home
yeah they are looking for a home
the first time I seen a boll weevil
he was sitting on the square
and the next time I seen a boll weevil
he had his whole family there
they are looking for a home
they were looking for a home
they are looking for a home
they are looking for a home
they are looking for a home
they was looking for a home
------------------------

Original by Leadbelly 1940

Presidendial challenge! Good resource.

www.iurd.org/images/iurd_homepage_doc/Ventura_10yrStrategy_REPORT_Apr07.pdf
-----------------------------------
And this from Tumwater, Washington:

"Members discussed planning of the upcoming Portland field trip. The goal of the trip is to speak with the Portland City Council about the process involved with the approval of the permanent homeless encampment."
-----------------------

Fresno Proposal

SECTION 11-1002. "PURPOSE. The purpose of this article is to maintain public
lands, streets, sidewalks, alleys, ways, waterways, parks, playgrounds, recreation areas,
plazas, open spaces, lots, parcels and other public areas within the city in a clean, sanitary
and accessible condition and to protect the health, safety and welfare of the community,
while recognizing that, subject to reasonable conditions, camping and camping facilities
associated with special events or which are set up to meet community needs, can be
beneficial to the cultural, health, and educational well-being of city residents."
http://www.indybay.org/uploads/2007/06/18/cityhomelesstaskforce.pdf

----------------------------
And:

http://www.napavalleyregister.com/articles/2007/06/21/news/national/doc467a0ed121023921967645.txt

"Fresno’s homeless population has few options other than church-run shelters, the American Civil Liberties Union argued in a federal lawsuit filed last year to stop the city’s raid on homeless encampments."
-----------------------
Dignity Village, Portland, eye-witness podcast link. DIY shelter!!

http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=51558819&blogID=278812451

"This show is all about a DIY housing project called Dignity Village, the only government-sanctioned "tent city" in the United States. I spent 2 days in the village just before they signed their lease with the city and moved to a larger spot on the Sunderland Recycling Facility. Residents there shared their stories about how they got to the village and why they are encouraged to stay or leave. I also spoke with Lee Larson, who is one of Dignity Village's biggest supporters."

Here's the Dignity Vilage interview. It's a big file(16meg) but I think
you'll find it very informative. Except for Dome Village, now gone,
Dignity Village may be the only legal DIY encampment in the US and
Canada.

http://www.kboo.fm/audio/download/3335/Dignity+Village+WEB.mp3
----------------------------
And this. Permanent Campgrounds.

http://roblimo.com/node/192
-------------------
More about Dignity, more land and the proposed ten year lease of Sunderland Yard.

http://dignity.scribble.com/photos/constr/

"More land, more and better-quality structures, and compliance with the fire code are changes that lie ahead. Not only that, but the village will pay for its own water and sewer service as well as obtain its own liability insurance – the latter a high priority for the Portland city attorney’s office."

Lee Larson is a big personal supporter of the camp.

http://www.portlandtribune.com/news/story.php?story_id=117857612570719100

http://www.streetnewsservice.org/index.php?page=archive_detail&articleID=182

Beekeeper Larson.

http://www.seva.org/board.php
------------------------------------
"Their concern runs something along these lines: 'Why do I want to spend my tax money on people who are not doing anything to help themselves?' The answer to that is: You're already spending it."

"Seattle welcomes homeless alcoholics"

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/06/18/america/NA-GEN-US-Housing-Alcoholics.php
--------------------------------------
Recent King County, Washington, articles and ordinances
http://www.mrsc.org/Subjects/Housing/TentCity/TentCity.aspx
-------------------------------------
"In April,(2006) the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that, when too few shelter beds are available, such a code unconstitutionally criminalizes people who are on the street, threatening them with jail and fines that far exceed the worth of their worldly possessions."
http://www.aclu-sc.org/News/Releases/2006/102098/

The court document is here.

http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/ca9/newopinions.nsf/8138B5E4723C6FE988257150005B327E/$file/0455324.pdf
----------------------------------------------
Florida Blog.
"They want to remain invisible."
http://homelessrq.blogspot.com/
-----------------------------------
City Ordinance Bans Camping
http://www.knowledgeplex.org/news/297331.html
I have to wonder where the city thinks these folks will go. Just away maybe.
---------------------------------------
Do you think this is more or less true?

"Most white(European) people and most heterosexuals and most able-bodied people and most people who hold wealth beyond their needs simply think of themselves as normal, and think of their privileges as something that they have earned or that they deserve or that give them some modicum of social value and self-respect."

http://michaelannland.blogspot.com/

Another legal campsite is launched in Ontario, CA.

Drinking water, land and a toilet; that's not too much to ask. Homelessness is not illegal according to 9th District Court's recent ruling.

http://www.dailybulletin.com/news/ci_6337419

India's situation.

http://www.headlinesindia.com/archive_html/21June2007_46127.html

http://www.sdinet.org/rituals/ritual6.htm
------------------------------------------

I'm not sure what it says but the point is the State is getting involved.

California Law SB2
(a) Homelessness is a statewide problem that affects many cities
and counties. There are an estimated 360,000 homeless individuals
and families in California. In some counties, like Los Angeles, an estimated 254,000 men, women, and children experience
homelessness over the course of each year. Some of the causes of
homelessness are mental illness, substance abuse, prison release,
and lack of affordable housing.
(b) Because homelessness affects people of all races, gender,
age, and geographic location there is a growing need for every city
and county to plan for the location of adequate emergency shelters
and special needs facilities. Many people experiencing
homelessness, primarily youth and single individuals, need shelter
but also have a need for residential substance abuse and mental
health services.
(c) The lack or shortage of emergency shelters and special needs
facilities for homeless individuals and families in cities and
counties across the state leads to the concentration of services in
inner cities and poor communities, like skid row area in downtown
Los Angeles.
(d) In order to ensure access to services in every city and county
for homeless individuals and families, it is important that cities
and counties plan for these services to address the special needs
and circumstances of this threatened population.
(e) It is the responsibility of cities and counties to plan and
identify areas to locate special needs facilities. Cities and counties should include this as part of their planning process and locate these facilities where most appropriate in their community. The state should not dictate where these residential special needs
facilities should be located.
(f) It is the responsibility of the Legislature to promote strong
communities and ensure that housing and residential services are
available in all communities."

Date: March 29, 2007
Bill Number: SB2
Bill Author: Cedillo

http://clerkwebsvr1.oaklandnet.com/attachments/16134.pdf

Hi Jon

Let's raise each other up. Exactly!

Why not offer domes to people, with supports, at $2/day? My current project is to prototype a 4 m diameter single-occupancy winter dome. It should cost in production around $600 with door, floor and two windows. That's the target anyway. Lifespan would 5 years in corrugated plastic and indefinitely in aluminum.

Can it be done? Not alone!

Dick

I found this project in Arizona State U. The threads provide lots of details about various legal campsite efforts around the country.

http://www.google.com/search?q=site:.is.asu.edu+homeless++camp+OR+campsite+OR+encampment&hl=en&start=10&sa=N

The City of Monroe, Washington, first wrote an ordinance to regulate homeless encampments, and the following year repealed it. A new ordinance is now in effect.

http://www.ci.monroe.wa.us/info/ordinances/2006_ords/ord2006018/ord2006018.pdf

http://www.ci.monroe.wa.us/info/ordinances/2007_ords/ord2007003/ord2007003.pdf
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Hobo Radio

http://hoboradio.cfsites.org/

Fresno's Homeless Resource Center Is Behind Schedule but Mayor Alan Autry says it will happen
By Gene Haagenson
06/16/2007 - "Last April Fresno's Mayor said the city would have a central place for the city's homeless to seek help. Mayor Alan Autry said it would be up and running in 45 to 60 days. But Times up and there's no resource center.

"A conditional use permit is required because it's an industrial area, not zoned as a place for people to live. Business owners are vowing to fight to keep the resource center, and a homeless tent city away from their businesses.

"There of course could be legal challenges, but, right now our game plan is to move forward so that when it is approved we will be able to deploy resources at that site as quickly as possible" says Rudd.

It's expected to take at least another 60 days to acquire the property and take the matter before the planning commission, to get the permit. Not counting time for a likely legal challenge."
http://abclocal.go.com/kfsn/story?section=local&id=5397251

Dick, thanks for your continual awareness. The model that seems to work best with homelessness is to provide resources to the citizens, (remember that they are residents after all), to raise themselves up. Involve, employ and enrich. All people have resources as yet unquantified to add to the whole. The agencies charged with the reintegration of the homeless population should focus on collaborative efforts between businesses (that need labor and customers), community organizations (that strive to create community) and the general public (who want to help but do not know how).

Pat of the problem can be aproached by creating artifacts as Bucky called them, devices designed for living. Sanitation, shelter, energy can all be reduced to repeatable structures. The software for employment opportunities exsists as well as health screening and guidance counseling.

Showing the individual respect, through availability of decent shelter is the basic building block of community. Strong fences do not make good neighbors as much as clear boundaries and shared responsibilities.

Think of a smaller scale habitat for humanity, rather than one house for one family, what about a community shelter for thirty individuals? That also employs those same individuals to build another shelter to grow in an organic fashion.