A Safe Place..?

Homelessness for Stupid People

The foibles of the most pampered homeless population in the Bay Area...

As I mentioned in my last posting, Adam Parris is in jail. When I wrote it, I said I didn't care why... but I can't resist... it just so happens he went into Mr. Pickles on 4th and South Livermore, grabbed their tip jar, and ran off with it, and was soon caught. Oh... he also got a contempt of court charge on him... and, I believe, it was a probation violation... wasn't that for battery? I last saw him at the Warming Centre a week ago Monday on the third night it was open... a few of us had a good chuckle over his... less than smart behaviour...

Well... I gave it two weeks, but it seems I was optimistic, I guess... The Drama at the Warming Centre has started already. What's interesting is that there isn't more authority there, it seems, there's less...

A few days ago, a friend of mine was threatened with violence and bodily harm in front of several witnesses by this new cat in town named Eric. My friend left, and swears he will not be going back as he informed the volunteers and nothing was done...

So much for a safe environment...

Adam Parris was also there last week. Known thief that he is, picked up one woman's phone and began playing with it as if it were his own... she gave him a verbal smackdown, and it wasn't lost, but Adam Parris wasn't asked to leave...

I've spoken before about tolerance and how it puts the innocent in a bad position or even in danger... nobody seems to have listened to me, and so, the Warming Centre has become more about putting up the bad people and letting the good people sleep in the cold. For those of us who can take that, it's okay. But then there are those who are simply ill prepared to face weather that is, while still in the upper 30s at night, not exactly warm weather.

How is it I keep hearing about these incidents? People tell me about them for this reason: they know I'll take them seriously enough to put it out there. When I put it out there, at least people begin to speak of them openly. Never mind that I'm not exactly popular amongst the homeless because of my willingness to do this. I simply don't care.

But it's not like I haven't put this out there before. Funny how it's the same players, over and over... Adam Parris was a subject of that blog as well...

I don't understand what it is that people don't get about rewarding bad behaviour and punishing good behaviour. That's exactly what's been happening, and I've seen it over, and over, and over again.

The Warming Centre was opened up for the first time this season less than two weeks ago, and the volunteers have already, through toleration of obscenely bad behaviour, alienated two people who have historically been very supportive of it.

Could it be that what we're seeing here is how homeless shelters in larger cities become such dangerous places?

All one has to do is google “homeless+shelter+dangerous” and you'll get a host of links to various articles on the kinds of things that happen in large city shelters.

But the warming centre is tiny! I'd estimate that the average numbers last season, I could be wrong, were less than 30 a night at the Warming Centre. It did, of course, fluctuate quite a bit. But that really isn't that many people to manage, especially when there are those present who are willing to stand up for what is right in the face of those who are abusive.

You'd think it would be a simple thing to identify those who are, in fact, causing the problems in the first place through theft or threats, or whatever, and deal with them directly... but it has not, historically, happened save for in the extreme, or unless someone gets loud enough to call attention to a real problem...

But this leaves us with a very big question... if the Warming Centre is not a safe place... what value does it have?

Okay: HUDDLE!

Homelessness for Stupid People

The foibles of the most pampered homeless population in the Bay Area...

You know it's cold when you see the homeless lining up early, as in before 7AM, at Vineyard Christian Fellowship on Monday Mornings. They tend to mosey in when its warm. The shower list doesn't begin to get long till about 8:30 over the summer. But when it's cold, the hope of getting somewhere warm is at the top of their priority list. Once Mickey and Rick show up, they rush in. And that shower list: you better be there early if you want to get out before ten!

Even Pat's wife Judy commented as she arrived: “Wow, there's so many people here!” Sixty when all was said and done. They ran out of Biscuits and Gravy pretty durn quick. Of course, the biscuits and gravy they serve there, when they do, is better than anything you'll eat at I-Hop.

Two mothers, one with two young daughters and another with four young children were also there this morning. I haven't really spoken with either of them, so I don't know their stories. All I do know is that I've never seen women with young children here on a Monday Morning. By young, I mean younger than seven.

Princess Paul, of course, got in the shower first, didn't help out setting up at all, and was demanding when it came to how his Biscuits and Gravy were served to him... someone should cut him a generous pay-check just for gracing all of us with his presence...

And I received good news in that Adam Parris is back in Santa Rita. Who cares why? He's out of circulation so all y'all's daughters are safe, for the moment. Last week he was seen over at the transit centre surrounded by teenagers dealing controlled substances, which he does quite a bit. I could check to see if that's how he got nailed, but I really don't care. He's getting three square meals a day and has a nice warm bed... I just hope he finds true love there as well...

Another indication it's winter is how social everyone becomes. Everyone seems to talk to everyone else and share stories about this and that... or the odd conspiracy theory... repeatedly...

I watched my friends Janet and Elvis push Mark Waller's wheelchair into Vineyard this morning. Now, Mark is a bad-ass. People who know him can attest to that. He was hit crossing First Street in front of the Livermore Casino in a double hit and run last week. One car hit him, and when he tried to get up, another one hit him, putting him in the hospital for a few days.

Forget Mark's history for a moment (and he does have a history... it's just not relevant here). But know that living homeless with those kinds of injuries is about as punishing as anything I can imagine.

For those of you that don't know, the Livermore Casino is just beyond the Railroad Overpass on First Street on your way out to Springtown. The crosswalk there is one of the most dangerous places to be a pedestrian (or on a Bicycle). Mark was hit crossing the street in the marked crosswalk. The way he tells it, he went over the first car, then when he went to get up, a second car hit him. Both fled the scene. Mr. Mayor, if you happen to read this, I asked you a question about Speed Traps a while back... can we PULEEZE have them back? East Avenue and First Street are getting out of control... Besides... the city needs money, doesn't it?

Even so, Mark's in pretty good spirits. In his condition, he's unlikely to get into any mischief which will make a few I know smile... you can't help but like the guy when he's being personable. How he's managing I have not the first clue. I suppose, like everything else, you just accept it and do it...

With the Warming Centre open, a lot of those who aren't working are gravitating to it. Last night it was, as all weekends, at First Presbyterian. Tonight it will be at Holy Cross Church on Mocho Street and will be for the next three weeks (Monday through Friday Nights).

As with the last time I had a job, staying at the Warming Centre becomes something of an impossibility for various reasons. My friend Ricky is the same. Pat likewise. Mike and Tina as well... For those who work it becomes a sleep deprivation chamber.

What's interesting is I asked my friend Dan if he'd been staying there, and he told me he and his wife were more comfortable in their car.

Fewer are going there. Saturday night only seven stayed, though it was more last night, twelve, I'm told. It would have been thirteen except for one idiot left in a huff because someone cleared his plate when the tables were cleaned. Minor dramas by those who consider themselves entitled are common as one might expect.

To those who have disappeared, we're worried about you. Max was one, though I did hear he spent time at the warming centre a few nights ago. Others have moved on. But when someone we know around here disappears the lot of us have one of two reactions: “good riddance” or “intense worry.” It's often “good riddance” but there are those folks who we can at least hope are doing well...

Mickey is trying to get a contact list together with phone numbers and/or email addresses just so folks can keep in touch a bit better... those of you who are out of touch, you do cross our minds...

The homeless of Livermore have officially started their winter huddle. I give it two weeks before the real drama starts...

It's Getting Colder

Homelessness for Stupid People

The foibles of the most pampered homeless population in the Bay Area...

I considered calling the cold the harbinger of a big, homeless group hug... but that would imply too much cohesion. The homeless are not cohesive by any stretch of the imagination. But it does tend to force the homeless together.

This morning (Monday, November 18th) a whole lot of faces most of us hadn't seen in months, and in one case, years, arrived for showers and breakfast. Some of them came from the Warming Centre, where they stayed the night at First Presbyterian Church in 4th and L Streets.

Mickey and Rick Kundert were the lone volunteers there when I arrived shortly before eight, and the place was already full and the shower list long. It wasn't long before some of the other volunteers joined them, but the couple were as busy ever getting things ready for the rest of us as Shower Nazi Doug did his part...

I got to say “hello” to Joey DeLaRosa, who looked very well and healthy after a bout in the hospital and some other troubles. As ABG guided me through rebuilding my bicycle wheel... that's a story in and of itself... Joey and I managed to make each other laugh... perhaps because Angelmarie couldn't stop punching me...

Joey had stayed at the Warming Centre last night, and I had visited it yesterday evening. Bob and Donna McKenzie fed everyone there with gourmet vittles delivered by First Pres' Crock Pot Brigade. Those are church members who make extraordinary home cooked meals for the homeless when it's open on the weekend, and on the weekend, it's always at First Pres. There's never been a bad meal served there.

Bob and Donna have assumed the responsibilities once held by Sandra Chesterman. Sandra, understandably, has moved on. Forget the tragedies that fell down upon her and her family for a moment and understand that she was one of the most giving and tolerant people I have ever met. Few were as taken advantage of and punished for her generosity the way she was. She was stalked, harassed and had insane demands made upon her by the very people she was trying to help. It's astonishing she was able to continue doing what she did through all of that as well as the horrible beating of her son Daniel back in February. The tragic loss of her daughter Kristina this past September, however, has completely refocussed Sandra's reason to be on family and honouring Kristina's memory. She is missed terribly by many of us.

With Rain coming this week, it's expected to be open. The hardest days for many are those days when the forecast has the temperature just over 40 degrees, which means the Warming Centre won't be open at all. But rain usually means it will be, assuming there are enough volunteers.

And there lies a particular problem, according to Bob McKenzie. He told me last night they're short eleven volunteers this season, and are having a whole lot of difficulty connecting with anyone willing to sit in, especially on the difficult Mid-Watch, which runs Midnight to 3:30am.

Last year it wasn't a huge deal simply because Sandra would fill in whenever there was a vacancy... well... yeah... Not happening this year and Bob's hoping there will be others who step up to the plate.

What's funny is this: there are more than a few homeless people who would be willing to do that watch if there was some other place, and some other time they could sleep! That's one of the problems with being homeless, finding a place to sleep at all. During the day, that's simply a non-starter.

But, if you're interested in helping out, please do by going to the Livermore Homeless Refuge Website.

As this evening there will be no Warming Centre, the homeless once again gather in the Livermore Public Library to stay out of the cold... one, of course, was notoriously intoxicated Bob Newton, who managed to make enough of a nuisance of himself to get the police called on him... being drunk and disorderly in the Library, not a good idea, Gang! And, yes, Bob is still camped out in the Butterfly Garden... He seemed to think his freedom of speech was being violated shouting “You Can't Have an Opinion Around Here!”

In any event, I have to go to work tomorrow,... and other than Bob, all seems quiet... I don't expect that to last long, but for now... it is...

Yes, my friend, Tweakers are Thieves... Is What It Is...

Homelessness for Stupid People

The foibles of the most pampered homeless population in the Bay Area...

Is it just me, or are half the homeless out here on Meth?

My bike got knocked over last night violently enough to have a spoke broken. I repaired that this morning. Thankfully, I've learned to keep spares in the seat tube.

But yes, I had it out with a tweaker who I'd got along with since I'd known him. And yes, I knew he was prone to spurts of destructive “acting out.” It's interesting to me that the average tweaker seems to revert to the mentality of a toddler much of the time.

But I was also ticked off at my friend who the tweaker had victimized. He'd loaned him his EBT card and his bicycle, expecting them to be back in his hands in short order. To be fair, my friend has a bad set of legs. I know something about that with a knee that does go out now and then. So I guess it's understandable that he'd send his EBT card off with the tweaker in order to get some food... not smart, but understandable.

Well... I'm certainly not the only one who noticed things “loaned” to this particular tweaker had a habit of going missing. There was, as I recall, a laptop computer and a metal detector. These were “loaned” by someone who isn't all that reliable (not my friend) and has trouble keeping track of his own stuff anyway... it makes him an easy target.

But not long ago my friend's campsite was trashed, and it seems the tweaker himself swore it was the police. Was he, in fact, rifling through my friends things looking for something to sell?

My friend called me...

Oh... you'll notice I'm not using names. Normally, I would, but there are potentially real crimes going on here...

Anyway, my friend called me and told me what had happened. Asked me to keep an eye out for the tweaker...

And speaking of Tweakers... Adam Parris is around again... saw him yesterday morning as the Library opened.

...anyway, the tweaker (not Adam Parris) was at the Library in the evening as I arrived there from work, and I confronted him about this whole issue between him and my friend.

I could not believe what he told me, though I should have known he had that kind of guile, to tell me he was a meth dealer and not only that, he was my friend's meth dealer...

Now, you may think: How do you know your friend is NOT using meth?

Well... I don't. I do not know. What I do know is this: Meth users tend to have a distinct set of behaviours which include high energy and rapid fire speech. My friend has neither, nor have I ever known him to have either except when he's single-mindedly performing a task he's good at... but Meth users are almost never single-minded. So, if my friend is, himself, a tweaker, he sure isn't like any tweaker I've ever had the misfortune to meet.

So, I called my friend back, and told him the tweaker was here, I asked him if he was going to call the police... well, my friend doesn't trust the police the way I do, and I was not a little upset with him over that, but that is what it is... I brought the phone to the tweaker and went to hand it to him so my friend and he could have words... The tweaker was sitting with two other dubious looking characters outside in the library courtyard... not sure what was going on there, but I had never seen the other two before.

The tweaker turned at me in a flash and batted the phone out of my hand. We had an argument, which included the tidbit about his dealing meth, I went back inside the library, and later came out to find my bike had been vandalized...

Oh well...

But what's interesting to me is that the tweaker actually told me to my face he dealt meth. Now, does he really? I don't know. If he does, why is he stealing bicycles and laptops and metal detectors...

Even so... it bears watching... and I'm sure there are at least a couple of Livermore's finest who will be interested...