The Mayor Said What?!

He loves to stick his foot in his mouth. “Mayor suggests involuntarily commitment for homeless at Occupy site“. Knowing the people there, this truly makes me want to cry. And the worst part . . . I think he has bad information about the people on the site – I have no idea what Porchlight and Tellurian are telling him.

INVOLUNTARY COMMITMENT
Seriously, I’ve heard him say this before, I kinda had a heads up – but when the reporter asked me the question – I was flustered. I felt so awful for for my friends that live on the site – that anyone would say something like this about them without ever having spent time talking to them was so appalling to me. There might be one person on the site that has such a serious alcohol/pain med addiction that they should be involuntarily committed, but that is one, not 10 – 15%. I’m not aware of anyone else who might be a danger to themselves or others that would meet the legal requirements for involuntary commitment. Where is he getting that number and where is he getting his information? Bad stereotypes? I’m pretty sure no one signed a release of information for Porchlight or Tellurian to share information about them with the Mayor. I feel this statement is so irresponsible and shows a profound misunderstanding about the problems faced by people who are homeless. The problem is jobs, low vacancy rates, new laws that gutted tenant protections, lack of affordable housing options, lack of affordable reliable 24/7 transportation, lots of untreated medical issues and yes, some are on waiting lists for mental health services or have AODA issues. But that is not the key problem for people on the site. I’m so sad and frustrated by his statements, I know he’s a smart man and I don’t believe he is a callous evil guy (unlike the previous mayor) but dang . . . he can really stick his foot (perhaps whole leg) in his mouth and I think he does it because he is getting really bad information from somewhere.

FIRST 16 PEOPLE HAVE HOUSING
Speaking of bad information . . . in the article in the State Journal

But Soglin said there are enough housing options available for some of the camp’s original members. The city made sure local shelters could take in its first 16 residents, he said, although he could not speak for others who have joined it since.

“We know that for at least the first 16 people who arrived, there is housing,” Soglin said. “There is a housing system in Madison.”

According to Konkel, however, that is not the case.

She said only one of the camp’s residents has found a place to stay, while others were either denied or put on waiting lists, and another had been banned from some services.

“There’s no shelter available,” Konkel said. “It’s not like there’s services that people just aren’t accepting.”

WHOA! There is housing for the first 16 people who arrived there! I freaking wish! My calculation are a little different. I’m also just sickened by this statement. I know the mayor told me that we could stay there til people found housing. I tried to manage the expectations of people on the site – I asked them to cooperate with the homeless outreach workers coming to site, but to have realistic expectations that they can’t really find housing for people – they can help fill out applications for waiting lists – which several are already on.

Anyways, I went to the site at 4:00 yesterday and in less than an hour I gathered this information about people on site and housing – and it doesn’t match at all what the mayor is saying. Here’s the email I sent to the Mayor and staff at Tellurian and Porchlight.

Mayor – here is the list of people at camp and their understanding of where they are at in terms of getting housing. I went to the site at 4:00 today and this is what they told me.

The first 7 people who stayed there the first couple nights.
1. Was told to talk to Liz, and if she didn’t contact this person by Monday, they should call her.
2. Porchlight refuses to work with
3. Can call on Tuesday to activate their application
4. No one has talked to.
5. Has Sina’s card and was supposed to talk to her, “but she never came back”
6. I ddin’t talk to.
7. Left camp, don’t know how to reach.

They next group of people joined in the first few week
8. Working with Mike – but says they don’t have what he wants or needs (edited for personal info)
9; I didn’t talk to.
10. Got a two-ride bus ticket, but otherwise has not been contacted
11. Got a two-ride bus ticket, but otherwise has not been contacted
12. Was told to call Sina tomorrow, and she will have news (this person has been number 1 on the Porchlight list for 4 months)
13. Has had no contact
14. Has had not contact
15. HAS HOUSING! Got into Safe Haven
16. I didn’t talk to.

The next group joined all at once
17. Applied with Porchlight 6 months ago – waiting. Can’t sleep in the shelters – lost job due to lack of sleep.
18. Sleeps at Salvation Army when can get in
19. Applied 6 months ago while in jail/prison – Talked to Sina but hasn’t heard from her since
20. Left camp, went to another city

Later arrivals
21. Joined late because a friend was letting them stay at their house – hasn’t been contacted by anyone
22. No contact with any outreach workers
23. Working with LIz, were told Tellurian would work for them
24. Working with Liz, were told Tellurian would work for them
25. I ddin’t talk to
26. Gave someone their info and hasn’t heard back.

I actually think there are some other folks at camp that I might not have on my list, but this is who is on the list and the order they came to camp.

So, if the first 16 people can be accommodated, they don’t know it. And who the first 16 are is a mystery to me given that people at the end of the list have gotten help and some in the beginning have not.

That’s what I know.

I’m real curious which of these need to be involuntarily committed. I’d nominate one person, but its an alcohol and medication abuse issue. Not aware of any others that are a danger to themselves or others. Curious what you are hearing about these folks.

There is some severe communication break down going on here. Sina, Liz, Mike and Stephanie have an incredibly challenging job, and there is no way they can solve housing issues for this many people this quickly. They do have an advantage in that Porchlight and Tellurian own housing they can put people into, but the waiting lists are long – and I don’t know if the “lucky 16” get to jump over those waiting lists or what? But it hardly seems fair to those who have been waiting.

Also, I’m starting to regret telling people to cooperate if they are gathering information to give to the mayor to further hurt the people living at camp – I’ve had other really bad experiences with people getting “help” from people this summer and I was pretty skittish but took a leap of faith. I can’t believe any social service agency would use their clients for political purposes for the mayor, they wouldn’t do something like that to their clients, so I’m just baffled. I can’t understand what the mayor is hearing or thinks he knows and I can’t believe Porchlight or Tellurian would give him bad information. So what’s going on?

And finally, if the mayor thinks finding 16 people housing will make Occupy go away – um, he’s nuts. We can keep filling those tents every time they are empty. (Ahem, we need more tents) Our estimates are that there are 300 people out there living in tents or outside all over the city.

MAYORAL FRUSTRATIONS
Unlike the last mayor, I have a fundamental trust with this mayor. I believe he is trying to do right by the city, not his political career. I believe he actually cares about the less fortunate and has some understanding of poverty – but I don’t think his thoughts line up with mine. He fights fair, and he doesn’t take it personally. All huge improvements. But he’s really baffling me on his unthoughful and hurtful comments about my homeless friends. He might have a political strategy, but I think he’s doing more harm than good by reinforcing awful stereotypes about homeless persons. But . . . I guess we can thank him for starting a discussion tho, eh?