There may be a trend beginning in cities around the US and in Europe. People living on the fringes of traditional shelter as well as some governments are considering new ways to solve the problem of day to day existance for people who are virtually without resources, especially people without land. Here is an article that pretty well sums up the current models for this new kind of living situation. I am talking about portable villages.
I will archive recent developements in ultra-low-cost survival options in well-to-do areas here. This thread is about the coexistance of the rich and the poor. I encourage you to share your experiences and knowledge of shelter-for-everyone.
The model that works well right here at home may be close to the one that could work in disasters areas and for refugees around the globe.
http://gainesville.com/article/2007705280328
This is interesting, too.
http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2000/wampler.html
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."
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"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
the farmer he took the boll weevil
put him on the sand
the boll weevil said to the farmer
you treat me just like a man
and I will have a home
I will have a home
the old lady said to the old man
I'm trying my level best
to keep these boll weevils
out of my brand new cotton dress
cause its full of holes
yeah, its full of holes
the old man said to the old lady
what do you think of that
these boll weevils got into my brand new stetson hat
and it's full of holes
yeah it's full of holes
alright, yeah it's full of holes
well it's full of holes
yeah it's full of holes
well it's full of holes
alright now this next verse is about myself
and when I'm done I hope you'll sing along with me on
"he's looking for a home" OK?
I said if anybody asks you people
who sang you this song
you tell 'em it's jackie white
he's done been here and gone
and he's looking for a home
he's looking for a home
he's looking for a home
he's looking for a home
he's looking for a home
he's looking for a home
he's looking for a home
he's looking for a home
he's looking for a home
he's 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
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"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
===============================
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.