One of two tents at the family's former camp site at Summit & Murrow.

Moved-along again homeless family needs place to camp

“I’m just trying to give my son a home. Tomorrow morning, we have to leave again.”

One of two tents at the family’s former camp site at Summit & Murrow.

A homeless, single mom, her teen-aged, college-student son, and their dog were told by Greensboro Police that they have one day to move — tents, sleeping bags and belongings — because of complaints about their camp. They are currently camping behind a business on High Point Road. They don’t know where to go next.

The family previously was living in a camp in a wooded patch on an exit ramp at Summit Avenue and Murrow Boulevard. That property is owned by the City of Greensboro, but the City ordered the family to move after residents of a nearby neighborhood complained about the camp’s visibility.

Homeless advocates* attempted to mediate, but neighbors were insistent and the City gave the family a deadline to move or have their belongings removed by the City**. The family packed their belongings in a friend’s car and went searching for a spot closer to the son’s college. Unfortunately, that new camp site has not worked out, either.

The homeless mom has had to pack up and leave camp sites many times before. But she’s tired. She doesn’t know where they’ll go. And she’s worried about her son. He has to be back in class again on Monday morning.

 

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* I was involved in that advocacy as a member of the StreetWatch team.
** Related post

Federal court rules cities cannot destroy property of homeless

Important for us here in the city of Greensboro, as well:

“Cities can’t randomly seize possessions of the homeless, federal court rules: Homeless citizens in urban areas across the nation, specifically those on Skid Row in Los Angeles, won a huge legal victory today. The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in a 2-1 ruling that the city of Los Angeles, including its police force, can’t randomly seize a homeless person’s property unless it’s a threat to public safety or serves as criminal evidence. This also applies to other cities in the United States. In those specific situations where property can be seized, it must be kept intact and moved to a location where the owner can retrieve it.”

© CM Forrest

When shiny people see

© CM Forrest

When invisible people start becoming visible to the shiny people,
they quickly become a problem.
What can be seen is real.
If the now-visible invisible people don’t hide themselves again voluntarily,
they will be hidden without their consent.
Out of sight, out of mind.
Invisible people are not people if you cannot see them.
So think the shiny people.

john-edwards-gum

How John Edwards contributed $7K to the poor and homeless in Greensboro

It seems that the John Edwards criminal trial has provided an unexpected blessing for some poor, hungry and homeless people in our community.

From News2:

“Edwards said he hoped to start helping the poor and hungry again. Turns out, he’s already doing that.”

During the trial, West Market Street United Methodist Church, which sits beside the courthouse, rented out some parking spaces and a room inside the church to NBC News. The church was paid $1,000 a week for seven weeks. And they donated the entire $7K to Greensboro Urban Ministry, which operates a community kitchen, a food pantry, a homeless shelter for adults, a temporary housing program for homeless families, a transitional housing program and a financial assistance ministry. What a smart and generous idea that was! And it was made possible because of John Edwards. He is, indeed, helping the poor and hungry in Greensboro. :)

irc

IRC director speaks about Guilford County budget plan to eliminate funding request for homeless day center

Via News & Record, 04/23/2012:

“Alex Santos didn’t expect to be homeless before he was 30. Then, in the past few years, the 28-year-old lost his job, his wife and his home all in a row — the pillars of his life falling like dominoes.

He’s one of hundreds who have found help at the Interactive Resource Center, a homeless day shelter in downtown Greensboro partially funded by Guilford County.

But under a suggested $4.1 million in cuts to the county’s Human Services budget, Guilford would end funding for the center…”

I contacted IRC director Liz Seymour to ask what percentage of the center’s funding comes from the County, and how losing funding will affect the day center. Here’s Liz’s response:

The article was not entirely accurate–the County isn’t cutting existing funding, but it is cutting a funding request out of the proposed budget. There are some real and important issues at stake and we would love to have your help and support. The Commissioners will hold a series of budget hearings starting tonight and finishing with a county-wide hearing on Thursday, May 3 at 5:30 at the Commissioners Meeting Room in the Old Courthouse. It’s not just about the IRC, it’s all the groups out there who are helping more and more people with less and less support.

Our total budget is about $400,000 of which roughly half comes from individual gifts; the rest is largely from foundations, churches and a little bit from civic groups and businesses. (And honestly, although our budget is $400,000 we’re operating on an austerity budget that comes in a lot closer to $300,000–not sustainable, but necessary at the moment).

In 2009 the County allocated $275,000 for renovation of the building we are now in but we have never received any operating funds from the County. We put in a request last year through the CBO (Community Based Organization) process and were denied; we have applied again this year as a CBO with a request for $25,000 but once again are not in the budget. We do not receive regular funding from the City either, though this year we will be eligible to apply for a slice of Community Development Block Grant money, a federal pass-through that the City administers (it’s worth noting that the CDBG is a very small pie and everyone’s slice comes out pretty thin)

Because government funding at every level (local, state and federal) is in such jeopardy these days we have not built our long-range strategy around it. Our greatest growth at the moment is in individual gifts–this year fully half of our giving has come from first-time donors, which indicates to me that when people understand what we are doing they want to support it. The rule of thumb for philanthropy is that 70-80 percent of giving comes from individual donors; at the moment for us it’s a little under 50 percent. One of our biggest needs is simply to get the word out!

That said, anything we can do to persuade the County Commissioners to allocate funds to the IRC would be huge. At the most practical level the funds we have requested would pay for almost a month of operations. On a civic level Paul Gibson is absolutely right: ‘They’re doing the work the county’s not doing.’ And we’re saving the entire county a lot of money too…

>> Have a look at Guilford County’s Human Services FY 2012-2013 Recommended Budget Info here. Dates of budget meetings, work sessions and the public hearing; as well as links to all parts of the recommended budget, here.

>> Learn more about the great work that the Interactive Resource Center is doing to help the homeless! Make a donation online. Connect with the IRC on Facebook and Twitter. And help spread the word! The IRC provides much-needed services to people who are homeless, formerly homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. Get involved! ;)