Alcoholics Anonymous® is a fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from alcoholism.
Read more on Alcoholics Anonymous…
My ministry partner took this photo at the entrance to the Greenway, near the block. Image credit: Audrie Keen
Two days ago, I wrote about “the block” at Lee and Eugene Streets being empty. The block is a long-time gathering spot where folks, many of them homeless, are known to loiter and drink. A friend, who catches a bus just down the sidewalk, had contacted me to tell me that police had cleared everybody out.
Read more on Did it take a Greenway to clear the block?…
"The block" at Lee & Eugene Streest; image credit: News & Record
A friend contacted me yesterday to tell me that police were no longer allowing people to stand on “the block,” a well-known and long-time gathering spot at the corner of Lee and Eugene Streets near the homeless shelter, soup kitchen and health clinic. Traditionally, most of the people who stood out on the corner were homeless, and many of them spent their time on the block drinking. Today, I received reports from a number of sources with information about what may have led to the clearing of the block.
Read more on Alston meets with residents; Bellamy clears block; day center gets $275K…
RT @gwitt: Commissioners vote to give $275,000 to GSO homeless day ctr
Follow-up: “A promise to promise,” the day center money, Paul Gibson said.
» Previously: Lack of funds delays day center opening
Read more on RT @gwitt: Commissioners vote ……
Did you read News & Record editorial page editor Allen Johnson’s Sunday, October 4, 2009 column? Read it online: My conflicted views about panhandlers.
Allen writes in response to the heavily restrictive changes to the city’s panhandling ordinance, which have made it illegal to panhandle almost everywhere downtown, and have limited panhandling throughout the city. Allen talks about why he has mixed feelings about panhandlers.
Read more on Allen Johnson: Conflicted about panhandlers…
Be sure to read Lorraine Ahearn’s News & Record article, “Benches highlight a bigger problem”, which begins like this:
“The location of artistic benches, which were removed from the Downtown Greenway on Friday after neighbors complained, looked good on paper but ignored some basic urban topography. Just a stone’s throw from where the benches were removed, amid complaints that they drew drunken and lewd behavior, sits ‘The Block.’ At the southwest corner of Eugene and Lee streets, at the entrance to HealthServe clinic and Greensboro Urban Ministry’s night shelter, this stretch of sidewalk has been a magnet for loitering, drugs and prostitution for 20 years….”
The benches were never the problem, so removing them won’t solve it. The problem on the block is primarily addiction. People drink there, and buy and smoke pot and crack. And where you find crack, you find dealers and prostitutes.
Read more on Bilbro benches gone, next target: homeless on the block?…
From greensboropeerpressure”
“The people who rule what happens in Downtown Greensboro have removed the little greenway through the parking lot on South Elm and McGee streets downtown because they claim that nobody used it. People used to use it to eat bag lunches and watch passers-by and enjoy the breeze and the flowers. Neighbors often sat on the benches and had friendly conversations and/or heated discussions.
Read more on Good-bye to Panhandlers Park & harmless homeless?…
I’m not into politics and campaigning, but…
About a month ago, I went to a fish fry at Ben Holder’s house. Ben is running for Greensboro City Council in District 1. I didn’t go for the politics, or for the fish. I mostly just wanted to see Cameron and Graham — Ben’s kids. I love them and I hadn’t seen them in a while. But when I got there, I got a surprise: Ben had met a homeless guy I know, David, who was flying a sign in Glenwood, and Ben had invited him to come and eat.
Read more on Ben Holder gives homeless man the shirt off his back (almost)…
Jimmy is 69 years old. He’s worked all his life, and is a military veteran, but now, at retirement age, he is living in a tent in the woods.
Read more on Video: Jimmy, homeless in Greensboro…
RT @HomelessRights: Homelessness grows in shadow of White House http://www.modbee.com/politics/story/826901.html
On Saturday, June 27, 2009, my ministry partner, Audrie Keen and I, along with our friends Lavaughn and Lee, participated in an Americorps homeless camp cleanup. The camp we cleaned was one of several in an area that lies in the path of Greensboro’s Downtown Greenway. I recently learned, through an email from an Action Greensboro intern, that the greenway will “displace those living in this area.” Meaning that, if all goes according to plan, our homeless friends will soon be even homeless-er. Hmmm… Guess we need another plan then, don’t we?
Read more on Camp cleanup, homeless needs, Greenway vs. the homeless…
The Myrtle Beach City Council has placed serious restrictions on group that feed the homeless in city (public) parks. Church groups are currently feeding the homeless and hungry in obedience to their faith — weekly in one park and monthly in another. A new ordinance will require them to obtain a permit and restrict feedings to four times per year. The ordinance is a response to neighbors’ complaints, such as perceived safety issues for children in the park, and crimes alleged to have been committed by some of the homeless people in the parks. But those who serve the homeless point out that children are among those being fed (children and families are homeless, too), and that homeless people will be in the parks whether meals are served or not.
Read more on Myrtle Beach restricts church groups from feeding homeless people in public parks…