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Friday, December 21, 2007
Temporary, Low Cost Homeless Solution
Combination Bike Tent Cargo Trailer Offers Shelter & More by Philippe Lucas
One of the challenges in addressing homelessness is that the street population is made up of many different individuals with different needs, goals and abilities. Even when both shelter space and social assistance are available, there remains a segment of the homeless population that refuses to engage these services, preferring autonomy to charity or shelter, and choosing modest income generation rather than government assistance.
A Short-term, Compassionate, Community-based Homeless Solution Recognizing that even the most autonomous of our street population deserve support, the MOTHERS Project is an effort to provide short-term shelter for 25 members of the street population in Victoria, British Columbia.
Mobile, Bike Based Trailer/Shelters The project focus is to distribute a unique bicycle tent-cargo trailer to individuals that do not currently use shelter space. Produced by Tony's Trailers (www.tonystrailers.ca), a few of these trailers have already been distributed to members of our homeless population who are using them both as shelter (the trailers, pictured below, fold out into a one-person tent), and for income generation ranging from binning (collecting recyclables from industrial garbage bins), to compost collection, to messenger services. 25 tent-trailers will be distributed over a three month period; 15 will also come with a used bicycle.
Tracking Project Performance Prior to distributing the trailers, a quality of life assessment will be performed with each participant. The assessment will be re-administered four weeks later to identify statistically significant changes and to assess the overall success of the project. Additionally, two community seminars on this project will be organized by MOTHERS coordinators. These meetings will bring together the public, press, policy-makers, homeless, service and health providers, and university-based researchers to discuss homelessness, poverty, and the economic and environmental benefits of binning. During the first seminar, the project will be introduced to the public; during the second seminar, the results of this project will be shared and discussed.
Community Based, Professionally Administered Project This is a community-based project, and the recruiting and actual distribution of these bike tent- cargo trailers would be done through the Committee to End Homelessness in Victoria, a highly experienced volunteer group of individuals that include members of Victoria's homeless population as well as their allies in the community. The proposal calls for the distribution of these bicycles to take place at a rate of eight per month for three months, with 1/3rd of the units being made available to aboriginal applicants. The modest pace of implementation will allow the project administrators and the general public to observe and address any project impact on street people as well as the overall community.
Low Cost, Immediate Solution Although broad-based, long-term solutions are necessary to address the ever-growing social justice and public health issue that is homelessness, providing short-term shelter to those with the greatest immediate need and the opportunity for this group to earn a legitimate income justifies the one time, $26,000 cost of the MOTHERS program.
Philippe Lucas MOTHERS Project Administrator Graduate Research Fellow - Center for Addictions Research of B.C.
Since late this morning, it's been stormy today here in New Orleans - and I'm not just talking about the 60 mph wind gusts and thunderstorms that have been lashing the city. At 11 am, police used tasers, pepper spray and more to disperse a crowd attempting to enter City Hall. Six people were arrested. Why??? A housing crisis with no clear solutions...
... and it'll get worse before getting better.
Last week, I touched on the 12,000 homeless here in New Orleans and the fact that a large encampment of 250 homeless people was systematically being disbanded from the doorsteps of City Hall without plans to house them. With huge areas of the city still in ruins from Katrina, the forced removal of hundreds of homeless coupled with plans by the federal government to flatten housing complexes has stirred a hornet's nest of opposition.
Before Katrina, housing project residents that were sick of poor living conditions were promised better housing with lower population densities. The new housing would be upscale, mixed income developments in which impoverished residents would live beside wealthier folks paying market rates. Work at 3 notoriously bad developments (St. Thomas, Desire & Fisher) before the storm supported the government's argument and caused many public housing residents to support the current demolition. So why the fuss? FEMA's bungling for example.
Although some aspects of FEMA's mishandling of Katrina have become legendary, there are others that haven't received as much press. For example, FEMA has been sending confusing messages about disaster assistance almost since the beginning. On one hand, FEMA told evacuees that they'd offer housing vouchers or travel trailers for up to 2 years; however, within 6 months of Katrina, FEMA was sending notices that assistance would end in a matter of days. Then, of course, there's the famous FEMA trailer formaldehyde issue. For 2 years, FEMA's known that formaldehyde levels inside many of their trailers were unsafe; yet, FEMA attempted to hide the problem rather than fix it. Only now after most of the formaldehyde has been released are FEMA trailers beginning to be tested.
Uncertainty due to delays in the release of federal recovery funds, revelations that the US Army Corps of Engineers misled the city for years concerning the safety of the levees that subsequently failed, in availability of medical care, inability of authorities to stem rampant violent crime and more have caused residents non-stop stress since Katrina. Add demolition of vast tracts of public housing as well as the sweeping away of hundreds of homeless and you have a perfect housing storm.
I don't believe that President Bush, the US Congress, the State of Louisiana and the City of New Orleans are conspiring to make poor black people disappear into the ether; however, I don't live in a still gutted house, a tent in front of City Hall or a cardboard box under a bridge. Unfortunately, 12,000 other New Orleanians still do. For them, hope for better conditions is becoming harder to maintain.
A temporary yet innovative & cost effective solution to the homeless crisis.
by Larry Lagarde
Like a modern day Man of La Mancha, some would say that Tony Hoar is chasing windmills. For two years, this cycling advocate and former Tour de France rider has been testing the use of bikes and special bike trailers to provide shelter, dignity and income for the homeless. Now, social activists in Victoria, Canada are working to take Tony's plan to the next level. (Photo: Homeless with Tony Hoar)
Compared to the rest of the country, Victoria is one of the most pleasant places to live in all of Canada. The climate is sunnier, drier and warmer, leading many Canadians to relocate here but also resulting in a disproportionately high homeless population. Despite the best efforts by established charities like the Salvation Army, the homeless problem is not getting better. If anything, it's about to explode.
Next month on January 22nd, a legal challenge that is over 2 years in the making could overturn Victoria's vagrancy laws, making it illegal for authorities to harass the homeless for sleeping outdoors. City leaders fear that this would make Victoria even more inviting to Canada's homeless; however, Tony Hoar has a plan and an invention that could reverse the crisis. Homeless love it too.
JourneyMan Bicycle Trailer For the homeless, the JourneyMan is a godsend. A cart, bike trailer, portable shelter, storage container, recycling platform and income source all in one, the JourneyMan is an ingenious tool that simultaneously addresses many issues which keep people homeless.
Folded, the JourneyMan provides flat space for homeless to carry their belongings as well as other items (like recyclables, newspapers, groceries, etc.) so they can make a living. Unfolded, the JourneyMan's flat space doubles; becoming a platform for a tent.
In the words of one homeless person that tested the JourneyMan trailer/shelter, it's "the greatest thing anybody has ever done. You're off the ground, you can put your stuff inside. You're warm and out of the wind. It only takes a couple minutes to put up, a couple minutes to bring down. The police don't harass you. It could make the homeless people's lives a lot better."
Tony Hoar sees even more benefits. "The JourneyMan helps the homeless rebuild their dignity and self worth. As a shelter, it provides privacy, a place for belongings, and a level of safety/security. By eliminating the need for homeless to steal a shopping cart to store their things, it decriminalizes and rehabilitates, allowing authorities to focus on other tasks. There's little maintenance and it's a lot cheaper than a room."
Though the JourneyMan costs $700 a piece to produce, a fleet of these trailer/shelters would be highly visible, making advertising on the sides of the trailer a viable way to recoup costs and even profit from maintaining such a fleet. With advertisers in place, homeless could purchase a JourneyMan at a highly subsidized cost. A portion of the ad revenue could be paid to the homeless on a monthly or biweekly basis; such payment would require bringing the cart in for inspection, ensuring that the cart and ads remain in top condition.
Led by Philippe Lucas, a group of social activists in Victoria is filing for a $25,000 grant to construct and maintain 25+ JourneyMan mobile shelters for distribution to "binners", a homeless subculture of individuals that pick recyclables from trash bins around Victoria and sell them back for the bottle deposit fees. If the grant is approved, Tony is ready to begin production.
Definition of Homeless: (1) an individual who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence; and (2) an individual who has a primary nighttime residence that is: A) supervised publicly or privately operated shelter designed to provide temporary living accommodations (including welfare hotels, congregate shelters, and transitional housing for the mentally ill); B) an institution that provides a temporary residence for individuals intended to be institutionalized; or C) a public or private place not designed for, or ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping accommodations for human beings. Reference: United States Department of Housing and Urban Development
Main causes of homelessness: * Lack of affordable housing * Substance abuse and lack of needed services * Mental illness and lack of needed services * Domestic violence * Poverty, caused by many factors * Prison release and re-entry into society * Lack of affordable healthcare * Natural Disaster
Other major causes: * Adjusting from forces to civilian life * Fleeing care * Asylum seekers Reference: Wikipedia
Two years ago, Hurricane Katrina suddenly made my family homeless. That disaster caused my life to take a different direction and I'm a better person for it. Others have not been so fortunate.
Here's an untidy scenario. You're the mayor of a community with 12,000 homeless. It's winter. A cold front is coming. Your city is broke and no one on the federal or state level appears ready or interested in helping to resolve the crisis. Better yet, the state is preparing to boot 150 of those homeless folks out of their orderly but illegal squatter's encampment in a park in front of City Hall. What would you do?
This is a real situation playing out in New Orleans right now.
The Big Easy is awash with homeless. No one knows the exact number but conservative estimates peg the homeless at @ 12,000. Most are pre-Katrina residents whose homes were flooded for weeks by Hurricane Katrina. Until recently, some were living in FEMA trailer parks that have been closed on short notice. Some are mentally ill. Some are living on the street because their wages, Social Security or disability check is too small to cover New Orleans' storm hiked rents. Some are over 80 yrs old.
The State of Louisiana is adamant. The homeless encampment at Duncan Plaza must go. The space is needed to secure demolition equipment and the state will wait no longer. Never mind that this homeless encampment has housed 100-150 people for months. Never mind that most of the homeless shelters or beds for the mentally ill are gone due to Katrina.
It appears that UNITY of Greater New Orleans, an award-winning collaborative of 60 local housing agencies, will pull off a Christmas miracle with housing for all the Duncan Plaza residents. What about the others though - the 100-150 living under New Orleans' elevated expressways, the rest of the 12,000 living in cars, gutted buildings, parks or a cardboard box behind a building?
Shelter is a basic human need. When governmental officials would prefer to coldly ignore people obviously in need and simultaneously bulldoze public housing projects that could immediately house them, something is very, very wrong.
Long Distance Katrina Cyclist Terry Hunter In Metairie
by Larry Lagarde
He's been on the road for months but long distance cyclist Terry Hunter finally made it to New Orleans.
I had been wondering if something happened to Terry since speaking with him briefly on Saturday. He was about to cross the Bonnet Carre Spillway just west of New Orleans and I was expecting him to call me when he reached the Mississippi River Trail (MRT). The call never came. (Photo: Larry, Rita & Terry on Airline Drive in Metairie, Louisiana.)
On the way to pick up my 7 year old stepson from school, I called Terry and he answered. It just so happened that he was moments away so I made a quick detour to greet and congratulate him on all the miles he has ridden.
We met in front of a sports bar on Airline Drive across from Zephyr Field. In the bike trailer, Terry's dog (Rita) was sleeping soundly with her paw hanging out. Strapped atop the trailer was a water jug, radio and a spare tire & tube. A fishing pole with a bright orange float protruded up from the rear.
Terry shared that his original bike and trailer were stolen earlier in the bike tour while he was in Monterey, California. He's had a great deal of support from everyday folks along the way, including someone that custom made the heavy duty front fork just for him.
Terry told me that his back was still sore from sleeping last night on the levee. He arrived in Metairie via the MRT which is a smooth, non-motorized, asphalt trail atop the Mississippi River flood control levee. Unfortunately, there are no lodging places along this section of the MRT and Terry did not know how to retrieve my number from his brand new cellphone.
Terry only plans to stay in New Orleans a few days to share his story with local media and meet with staffers at the office of Mayor Nagin. Then, Terry will continue his ride east through other areas devastated by Katrina and beyond, finally ending the Homeless Ride For Southern Grace tour when he hits the east coast in South Carolina.
Homeless Katrina Cyclist From West Coast Rides Into New Orleans
Terry Hunter just emailed me that he's approaching the western outskirts of the New Orleans metro area and should make the city today. He's in LaPlace, Louisiana and riding down the Airline Highway on his tricycle. If possible, I'll meet up with him later this afternoon.
If you're unfamiliar with Terry's story, see my previous posts about him dating from the 31st and 16th of January. He's a homeless guy that has ridden all the way from Oregon to focus attention on Katrina victims and homelessness. It's a touching story.
Long distance bicyclist Terry Hunter emailed me today that he's biking East out of Baton Rouge and headed for metro New Orleans. Known to friends as Rainbow Scooter, Terry has ridden his old adult tricycle from Oregon for the Homeless Ride For Southern Grace, a tour he took upon himself to raise awareness for Katrina victims and those made homeless by the storm. Here's an excerpt from Terry:
"today i went to to the capital to talk to Mrs Cheryl Shuffield ... (an) aid to governer (Blanco) and director of constitunent services. I am trying to do the news paper and then as i leave WBRZ-TV Chanel 2 will be covering my exit story , will be going down one 90 east."
In addition to Baton Rouge's WBRZ, Baton Rouge's 2 other television stations (NBC affiliate WVLA & WAFB) interviewed Rainbow Scooter yesterday; a variety of additional newspapers and television stations have done the same along the way.
The project focus is to distribute a unique bicycle tent-cargo trailer to individuals that do not currently use shelter space. Produced by Tony's Trailers (www.tonystrailers.ca), a few of these trailers have already been distributed to members of our homeless population who are using them both as shelter (the trailers, pictured below, fold out into a one-person tent), and for income generation ranging from binning (collecting recyclables from industrial garbage bins), to compost collection, to messenger services. 25 tent-trailers will be distributed over a three month period; 15 will also come with a used bicycle.
