0:00

Nice day.

0:07

I went today school, I

0:09

went tonight school to This

0:16

is the intro to one of the Willian House

0:18

sessions that I reached out into Washington.

0:21

It's called the National Coalition of

0:23

Homelessness. I was one of the moderators

0:26

at one of the institute

0:28

conferences, and I am sharing

0:31

with the rest of the community just what I

0:33

had sat in on and how

0:35

I moderated. So this may be broken

0:37

down in a couple of segments

0:40

in a couple of episodes. Fortunately

0:42

it's not video, it's auditory, so

0:44

just lean in and enjoy and listening

0:47

to some of the topics that had there. Thank

0:49

you all for listening a in. This is my intro to

0:52

the episode of William House a National

0:54

Coalition for Homelessness. That was the title

0:57

that I was one of the moderators for in Washington,

0:59

d C. Thank you all for listening,

1:01

and hopefully we'll meet in a life on this. Captain

1:08

understand

1:20

I as I listen to the votement

1:22

you present, I

1:24

I I wonder if they're w

1:27

with our uh white counter parts and those

1:29

are leadership. Do you think that there's a element

1:31

of a and I'm bringing it up fear of

1:34

ha happening in this conversation, like

1:37

what does it mean about who they

1:39

are and what does it mean about

1:41

who we are that we have to engage

1:44

in this level of conversation. That's

1:47

why true. Yeah,

1:50

that's start. Thank you. Fear

1:53

of open conflict is a

1:55

tenant of white supremacy into

1:58

which is interesting consider the violence

2:00

the white supremacy and infix upon

2:03

people. So

2:05

we have to pivot away from

2:08

fear of open conflict in our organizations.

2:11

And when I say open conflict, I'm not saying

2:13

that there's a a knock down, drag out fight

2:15

in the middle of the office, but there's

2:17

a conversation that takes

2:20

place, and a lot of times our

2:22

white colleagues simply are not

2:24

comfortable because they fear that

2:27

that confrontation. And yes,

2:30

it will illuminate who you are as

2:32

an individual. Right, you can't hide

2:35

when you're doing real racial agrigy

2:37

work. Period.

2:40

There's more. Once

2:45

again, thank you, wonderful

2:48

presentation. I question that comment,

2:50

so I'll get through it through a really quickly. First

2:53

and foremost, I wanted to say, if you brought

2:55

up indeed, there

2:58

are over for folks who don't know they're

3:00

over a hundred historically

3:02

black colleges and minority serving institutions

3:05

in in this country. What

3:07

amazing students and an alumni

3:09

basis almost every statement

3:12

of this country. So any excuse

3:14

of not being able to find black talent,

3:17

our minority talent is a

3:20

false standing. There are over

3:22

there are nine historically

3:25

black fraternities and sororities in this country

3:28

with over a million members.

3:32

There are black student unions,

3:34

Hispanic student unions at some of the best

3:37

universities in this youth in this country. So

3:39

if you can't find talent, you

3:42

are not looking in the right places.

3:45

Secondly, doctor alis Keller,

3:48

I wanted to ask you, but I know the answer

3:50

to this already. But you talked

3:52

about the number of folks that you have

3:55

that you have on staff that are justice

3:57

involved, may have experienced

3:59

homes as recent

4:02

as maybe a few months. How

4:05

do you get over that hurt? Or some

4:07

people think it's too hard

4:10

to hire people who may not mean in

4:13

housing, they that may not be ready

4:16

for work. How did you get over

4:18

that? Thank you? Well,

4:20

I guess we have to remember there's a lot

4:22

of housing people that aren't ready for work. Or

4:33

when you really believe in something, you

4:35

make it happen. Yeah,

4:38

we've been sued by housed people. You've

4:41

been sued by recently unhoused

4:43

people. We've been sued by everybody. So it's

4:45

a risk you take when you employ it. I

4:48

think the way you can avoid problems

4:50

is to be sincere. It

4:53

does help me that

4:55

a lot of my executive leadership

4:57

are people of color. And

5:00

when they're not people of color, they're

5:02

people with deep, painful,

5:04

lived experience of trauma. So

5:07

when people start acting up at work

5:10

or struggling, and maybe because

5:12

our system is racist, they

5:15

don't just immediately say you're fired

5:18

or let's write them up. They usually

5:20

will say let's have coffee

5:24

or yes. And

5:26

the other thing they do is they

5:30

negotiate, and they advocate

5:33

with the hiring manager not

5:35

to go there. They're bringing up

5:38

the person's story context

5:41

and that makes a big difference. And

5:43

so Keith and And is

5:45

my VP of Administration,

5:48

and he and I together change

5:51

the face of Saint Joseph

5:53

Center. If you don't know him, know him

5:57

and the

6:00

cause it doesn't happen to be a person of color, Folks.

6:04

I've gone into my orientations. We I

6:06

do a CEEO breakfast and

6:08

sometimes I've gone in there and everybody looked

6:11

like my auntie. And I said, Pena,

6:13

now you can't hire everybody he looks

6:15

like me. I mean you

6:18

have these of ool that you're

6:20

working away. He said, don't

6:22

worry, I got the next group. They'll look like my

6:24

auntie, and the next room will look like Normo's

6:27

aunties. I said, wish you. I got a room full

6:29

of aunties right now, and I'm loving

6:31

it. So I

6:34

just want you to know we can only do it the next sec.

6:40

I wanted to thank you for

6:42

being so transparent in your statement,

6:45

saying that you recognize that you are

6:47

the executive director of a racist

6:49

organization. That took a lot

6:51

of took a lot of courage,

6:54

and even though you are in the position that you're

6:57

in now, it still takes a

6:59

lot of courage because that's how

7:01

entrenched racism is within

7:04

our organizational structures. Now,

7:06

with that being said, you mentioned a couple

7:08

of other things, and one of those is that black

7:11

people we spend a lot of time worried about

7:13

we're gonna be fired, we're gonna be let go, where

7:16

if if there are cuts, we're gonna be the

7:18

first ones to be let go. If we express

7:20

ourselves and we are truly authentic and

7:22

organic at work, We're gonna be let go

7:26

I and I know that that that statement is so

7:28

real and it's so true. I spent a lot of time

7:31

of feeling that way myself, and

7:33

even sitting on a board to sitting

7:35

on a board expressing

7:37

myself and and speaking out of these

7:39

things that I know are just crazy and do not add

7:42

up on like no. One plus one is not nine.

7:44

I don't know where you're going with that, but I'm

7:46

I'm not for that. I always would

7:49

say, I'm so sorry. I

7:51

I actually would apologize later on and

7:53

I say, but that is truly the way that I felt.

7:55

But then I feel I would feel as if I

7:57

was gonna be kicked off the board because I'll

8:00

being so genuine and authentic

8:02

in my feelings. Another thing

8:05

that we deal with is when we have people

8:07

that look like us who are

8:10

still I stay suffering from

8:13

vessages of slavery the overseers,

8:16

so where I don't have to always feel

8:18

that I'm uh under

8:20

the radar, under the gun from a white

8:22

person, but rather I feel

8:25

that it has been my experience more often

8:27

than I care to remember that it's

8:29

a black person that I'm

8:31

that has gotten into a position of s

8:34

perceived power. And it's like

8:37

it's the overseers and and

8:39

books down because they want they

8:41

got that position. I they got it, and

8:44

they want to keep white people happy. So in

8:46

order to keep white people happy, they cap have to

8:48

keep the black people in line. So what do you say

8:50

to that. You know, I appreciate it. You made me

8:52

think about one other thing to philanthropy

8:55

or leadership. Don't just pick one

8:57

I I think I said this where I wanna go one more. Don't

9:00

just pick one little nice black person.

9:03

But also, if you find yourself a little pointing who

9:05

should we in Vaine? As a white

9:07

person, why do you get to pick who gets

9:10

the opportunity? How about

9:12

you go to your black staff and say who do you think

9:14

would be good to participate?

9:17

Stop making all those decisions because

9:19

again you hit us against each

9:21

other. I'm getting back to your point. And we

9:24

know that there's one seed. Look

9:28

my daughter, because she's fifteen, and she's

9:30

like, oh, I'll

9:32

say, Susie, you know, I don't know if she's gonna do

9:34

it. And I said, look, you focus on that one little black

9:36

girl that's not your competition. This

9:39

whole school is your competition. I said,

9:41

if you have already seen that the

9:43

white folks are pitting you two against each other, I

9:45

said, you hug her, you love her, and you

9:47

both work together and you become a teen.

9:50

So to your point, it's

9:52

really hard when black people work against each

9:54

other. And then sometimes our white

9:57

colleagues just sit back and watch us tearing

10:00

each of the All I can

10:02

say is we all have to learn where

10:04

the biases are. We've all internalized

10:06

some self hatred and we have

10:09

to stop it. Mm And just like we're asking on

10:11

white colleagues to do their inventory,

10:14

we have to do our inventoria as well. Warn

10:22

me. Every want to thank you so much, doctor

10:24

Adams, Thank you to sharing, Thank you,

10:26

miss Brown. I

10:28

was looking around the room. Uh

10:31

to. I did that in test when

10:33

we have conversations like this. For me, I

10:36

you know, I think people who look like me, but

10:38

it's important to see people and this is real

10:40

kind of be kind of conversations who do not

10:42

look at it, look like me, but our own

10:44

leadership h uh position.

10:47

And so this is more of a comment or

10:50

I'm so sure that a brief experience, but

10:52

with you all it's not a question,

10:54

and so and I wanna make sure you can every pond

10:56

to hear her. Yes, okay, we mikes, you're

10:59

close to the don't ask you. And

11:01

so Angel started this conversation

11:04

about showing up, it being your true

11:06

authentic self, right, and

11:08

doctor Adams expanding on that. But

11:11

so oftentimes in agency

11:14

black people, and I'm gonna share

11:16

my own experience with you, we're not able to

11:18

show up and be our true authentic

11:21

self. And being authentic simply

11:23

means being real, being the

11:25

person that God intended us to be. Correct.

11:29

And so I'm a little nervous right now because when

11:31

I think about this experience and really hurt.

11:33

And when I left this experience, I thought about

11:36

what do I go home and tell my children? And

11:39

so I was at an agency where I was walking.

11:41

I was actually recruited, and I

11:43

was recruited because the

11:46

CEO said, we need you feel this position,

11:49

We need all that you can do this position. We

11:51

need you to come in and fig to build,

11:54

to strategize, and mobilize

11:57

these departments. So when I came

11:59

to this agecy, I was one of the few

12:02

people of color in this leadership

12:04

position. Actually, when I first got

12:06

there, someone came to my office,

12:08

walked past my office and came back and said

12:11

they put a sense in this position, and

12:13

so we laughed about that. Right, So

12:16

as I continued to move into this position.

12:18

As soon as I died here, I

12:20

mean not in here, I'm started acts agency. My

12:23

team mostly was

12:26

white. They were not reflected for me, which

12:29

was fine, but all was different from

12:31

me. And so as I began

12:33

to me in this position, my CEO

12:37

uh person who were according to him was my boss,

12:39

but we worked closely together. I had

12:41

heard you you wanted a job. You're doing

12:43

a great job. You're the person for this

12:45

position, and this is why we walked here.

12:48

Well, soon after that, my

12:50

boss acted to meet with me. During

12:53

this meeting, my boss said a time,

12:55

you're doing a great job, but I'm

12:57

getting you know this person's

13:00

and this, and this person said that. Now, mind

13:02

you, it's the same person, right, the

13:04

same person who does not look like me, who

13:07

happens to be a white male. And

13:09

my boss said to me, although you're

13:12

doing a great job, we're gonna ask you

13:14

to step back and let him be the boss

13:16

until you move and change buildings.

13:19

And I was so taken aback by that, and I

13:21

said, but I'm a boss,

13:24

and he said, yeah, you are. You

13:27

are a boss, but just let him leave right

13:29

now because he's still a little uncomfortable.

13:31

And then we moved. You'll back your position.

13:35

I let up that office and when I got

13:37

in my car, the tears you came

13:39

down my face because I didn't know how to responds

13:41

that. And for one of the first

13:43

people said, I was like, raising

13:46

was right there in my face. A

13:49

woman had struggle, who had

13:51

side side, who have went to school.

13:53

And when I tell you I show up, I show

13:56

up. I show a comference,

13:59

I show me and what it is that I do

14:01

because I know what my guests are, I

14:04

shall be loved and I should be being

14:06

supportive. And it was not appreciated.

14:09

And then I had a meeting with my CEO afterwards,

14:12

and she said to see that she follows me, I

14:14

mean and said to me the

14:17

time, you appreciate everything you do. But

14:19

I know what the problem is. You're

14:21

too strong for health and

14:25

how could I responsible? But

14:27

I was being told over and over you

14:30

cannot show up and being

14:33

God contended you. So

14:36

when we are moving in these spaces

14:39

and we are working with people who

14:41

are striving to show up people

14:43

who may not look like us when

14:45

we aren't in positions of power and leadership.

14:48

You have to be mindful of our community.

14:52

You have to be mindful of

14:54

how we get are activiated one another, because

14:57

soon after that I was promoted

14:59

and I

15:07

guys, they all look the

15:09

same, and let's make

15:11

a deal. It is the name of the

15:14

game. It's something funny. It's

15:17

something funny, and there's

15:19

something funny listening.

15:29

Want to sort me and it looks

15:31

like they're wrong me, and they like

15:34

the toll me. There's

15:36

something funny going on, funny

15:46

to speeling that nail and the lion

15:49

esteem. I'm getting the

15:59

first first step up UH rather

16:01

a housing program we opened in November

16:04

where we have seventeen units UH

16:06

short term UH housing for

16:08

women in scattered site apartments and

16:11

then forty two units of permanent support

16:13

of housing at Diane's house. And this is

16:15

our first program also where

16:18

we UH welcome to family, so

16:20

a woman with one child, thank

16:24

you. And

16:28

then Capital Vista is another

16:31

permanent support of housing program where

16:33

we have twenty one units of permit

16:35

support of housing in a mixed building.

16:38

So that means there are individuals that are paying

16:40

market rent, but we provide

16:43

twenty four twenty one units

16:45

uh PSH and intensive case management

16:47

services in that program. So we're very proud

16:49

of that one too.

16:54

So I would like to take you

16:56

back in

17:00

March twenty twenty where

17:03

our worlds were abruptly changed.

17:06

I remember exactly where I was. So I

17:08

was sitting in the conference room March sixteenth

17:11

with the other members of the executive team,

17:13

and we were trying to decide how we were gonna

17:16

manage this pandemic. And the members

17:18

of the team was like, oh, Cannada, don't get excited.

17:21

In three weeks, we're gonna be back to work. So

17:25

we're in our thirtiear, and

17:29

it feels like twenty at

17:31

the start of the pandemic gave us

17:34

a perfect opportunity

17:36

to pivot our services for

17:39

women don't want to be in

17:41

a pandemic. But it allowed us to

17:43

see that the way we thought we

17:45

were providing services, the efficiencies

17:48

that we thought we were putting in place,

17:50

actually were not really what

17:53

the women needed, we

17:55

thought, and so

17:58

we took time to really

18:01

outline where we could make changes

18:03

during this time, and so I would like to walk

18:05

you through that we

18:09

recognized very quickly that we had

18:11

to pivot and tell the case management.

18:14

I think most of us were doing traditional case

18:17

management and make an appointment client

18:19

comes to your office, or you do a home

18:21

visit and you're inspecting the unit. We

18:24

quickly realized I was not going to work

18:26

because we had to change our scheduling. We

18:28

had our case managers working three days

18:31

at home in two days in the office, and so we

18:33

decided that we had to move towards telecase

18:35

management. But really what is telecase

18:38

management. We were operating

18:40

a vocational center, and in that vocational

18:43

center, the women would come and meet with a

18:45

manager and sit down and do job search

18:48

or discuss what their goals were and create

18:50

a plan and maybe build out a resume

18:52

and make a referral to

18:55

one of the work d workforce development

18:58

organizations. But who's coming to

19:00

the office in the middle of the pandemic. No

19:03

one. So we had to pivot our

19:05

wellness center where we were

19:07

partnering with Unity Healthcare to be able

19:09

to provide women wellness exams.

19:12

We had dentists come in. We

19:14

were providing services such as wreeki,

19:16

massage and yoga. We were

19:18

doing flower arrangement

19:20

classes, mental health classes, jewelry

19:24

making, self esteem

19:26

classes, AA classes couldn't

19:28

do that any longer. And then our Greenhouse

19:31

program, which is very loosely

19:33

based on an outpatient recovery program,

19:36

no one's coming in. However, we

19:38

noticed that the use of

19:40

substances had increased because

19:42

we had taken away the

19:45

activities that were so vital to the women

19:47

because we had to close our day program in

19:49

an effort to keep women and staff safe.

19:52

So we saw an increase in substance

19:54

abuse. We saw an increase in

19:56

depression. But how are we going

19:58

to address those issues in the middle

20:00

of a pandemic? So

20:06

these are not actual

20:09

women, These are actual

20:11

touches. So the numbers

20:13

that you see are the touches

20:16

based on the services that we provided.

20:18

So you see in fiscal year two thousand

20:20

nineteen we had two thousand,

20:23

three hundred ninety eight touches

20:26

of either providing daily activities,

20:28

basic needs, case management,

20:31

focus on career or financial services,

20:34

substance youth services classes

20:36

or activities. Benefit assistance

20:39

such as SSI, Mental

20:41

health services, healthcare. COVID

20:45

is on there because we put that on there. In fiscal year

20:47

twenty twenty, meals served

20:50

or provided crisis

20:52

Intervention and Emergency Services

20:54

fiscal year two thousand

20:57

nineteen two thousand, three

20:59

hundred ninety eight touches. When

21:01

we pivoted in physical year

21:03

twenty twenty, you see that we

21:05

had twenty thousand, six

21:08

hundred ninety one touches and

21:11

my agency serves over two

21:13

thousand, five hundred women a year, right

21:16

in the programs that I just outlined

21:18

for you in the previous led So

21:23

where we pisoted telecase

21:25

management, pulling my team

21:28

together, we had a

21:31

work group meeting. At this time,

21:33

I was the chief Program Officer. I had not been promoted

21:36

to CEO as of yet, and

21:38

so that's

21:41

okay, sorry. So

21:47

I had a hundred forty

21:49

staff members under my leadership

21:51

as the chief Program officer, and so we

21:53

developed a work group to decide

21:55

what does telecase management look like? Uh,

21:58

it's not telehealth because we are not

22:00

licensed medical professionals, but

22:03

it is case management. And so we

22:05

wanted to create something that allowed our

22:07

program managers to continue constant

22:10

communication with the

22:12

program managers and the clients

22:14

as well as the frontline staff and

22:16

all of our programs. And so we

22:19

worked with our outsource

22:21

IT developers to create

22:24

a case management booking app,

22:27

and that booking app would allow us

22:29

to have that app on all of

22:31

our work issued computers

22:34

and our work issued cell phones,

22:37

and a case manager could enter in

22:39

clients' information and wherever

22:42

you were, whether you were working remotely at home

22:44

or whether you were in the office, you were able

22:46

to see what your team member had entered

22:48

in. So when you came on to shift,

22:51

you knew that this was a critical situation and

22:54

you could go meet with that young lady whether

22:56

it was in her unit or whether it was in

22:58

the shelter. So we create that

23:00

case management booking app.

23:02

We're very proud of that app. We

23:05

went through all that work and

23:08

then our government partners said, oh,

23:10

we're going to release the restrictions

23:13

on case management because in our perman supportive

23:15

housing programs you have to have six

23:18

touches a month, and

23:20

those touches had to be physical,

23:22

in person touches, whether

23:25

you were in the office or you visited

23:27

the client's home. And so

23:29

they said, now providers,

23:32

you can do case management via

23:34

text, via email, telephone

23:37

calls, or video conferences.

23:40

So we said, well, thank you, because we've created

23:42

this booking app, so that just now enhances

23:45

the services that were able to provide,

23:48

and so we began using Zoom as

23:50

a platform for case management services,

23:53

and we downloaded DUO

23:56

on all of our telephones, our

23:58

cell phones. And then what we also

24:01

took advantage of was the fact that we had

24:03

never done a technology

24:05

assessment of our programs. So

24:08

my director of Operations and one

24:10

of my directors of housing went to

24:12

each location and

24:15

looked to see how strong our Wi Fi

24:17

signals are because you have this app

24:20

and you have the platform of Zoom,

24:22

but if a young lady can't connect because the

24:25

signal is low, it's pointless.

24:28

So we went to every program and we did that,

24:30

and then we found in two of our partner support

24:33

of housing programs we actually had enough

24:35

space to build computer lab

24:38

for the women to be able to access UH

24:40

connections with their team members. So

24:43

we did that as well. We worked with our IT vendor

24:46

and created UH computer labs in

24:48

two of our programs so the women would

24:50

be able to go downstairs, get on a computer

24:53

and have a Zoom meeting with their case manager.

24:56

It's this we don't understand from one of your house. That

24:58

was what you just listened to is is one

25:00

of the speeches

25:03

are we serving unaccompanied women,

25:05

well, how we can do better. And

25:08

this was today Tuesday on the twenty

25:10

sixth, from nine fifteen to ten thirty on the Jefferson

25:12

East side of the hotel. And

25:16

I'm going to be plug in and out going to other

25:18

conferences. And you will hear a couple of snippets

25:21

of different topics that we have here. The

25:25

Lion, this feel man,

25:31

there's something funny.

25:48

Good morning everyone, Hopefully

25:50

everyone can hear me all right. For

25:53

those who of you who know me, my

25:55

name is Ceo Henderson and I have lived

25:57

experience of being displaced and being

26:00

which I considered unhoused, and a quick

26:02

thing I wanted to unders the state before

26:05

we get started. I wanted to thank everyone

26:07

for coming. But the reason why I use the

26:09

term on house is because it's

26:11

put sister personal agency and

26:14

my experience that many people in

26:16

many communities rebel but

26:18

against that term because of

26:21

the agency that I wanted to use as un housed.

26:24

So I wanted to be clear that if you c

26:26

are comfortable with homeless, I'm okay with

26:28

that, but also be comfortable with other

26:30

people wanted to be called other things than being

26:32

homeless, on house, displaced,

26:35

unsheltered, for walls and not

26:37

fly into a rage with that. Now

26:39

that we've got that out the way, I wanted

26:41

to introduced to the other guests

26:43

here in the UH audience is mister

26:46

Eric Taras and mister Jerry Hall.

26:49

Jerry Hall is going to be stepping in for

26:51

j Jones is

26:54

going to be stepping in for miss Eric Lee

26:56

and Eric Samuels, and

26:58

did I miss anyone else? So

27:01

I'm going to introduce quickly first,

27:03

mister Eric Tars. Mister

27:05

Tars serves as the National Homelessness

27:08

Law Center's Legal Director, leading

27:11

its human and civil rights programs and managing

27:13

its cutting edge litigation, strategic

27:16

policy advocacy, and outreaching

27:19

training initiatives at the inter national

27:22

and local levels. Eric helped

27:24

spearhead the launch of the Housing

27:26

Not Handcuffs campaign, has

27:28

served as council of record for its multiple

27:31

precedent setting cases, including

27:34

Martin versus Boys That's an excellent brief

27:37

there in the nice circuit, and is frequently

27:39

quoted in national and local media, including

27:42

MPR AP, New York Times,

27:44

Washington Post, and Vice News.

27:47

Before coming to the Law Center, Eric

27:49

was a fellow with Global Rights US

27:52

Racial Discrimination Program and

27:54

consulted with Columbia Universities

27:57

Law Schools, Human Rights Institute,

27:59

and the US Human Rights Network, where

28:01

he currently serves as the vice

28:03

chair of the network Board. Eric

28:06

received his juris doctorate Georgetown

28:08

University's Law Center and his backtor

28:10

of Arts in Political science from half or Forth

28:13

College. And I

28:15

will let Jerry give

28:17

a little his brief on because he doesn't

28:19

have this because he's stepping in so graciously

28:26

teach you. I am kellyan.

28:29

When we had two uh last minute

28:31

cancellations and

28:33

U I I wanna uh

28:35

be sure to point you to some of the material that would

28:38

have been covered uh by them. I'm Jerry Jones.

28:40

I'm the national Field director of the National Alliance

28:42

and Homelessness and the former exactive

28:44

director of the National Coalition Homeless.

28:49

MM so what offer do

28:51

I'm gonna starts The

28:54

title of his seminar is Confronting and Reversing

28:57

the Criminalization of Homelessness.

29:00

Well, we will start with Eric has some

29:02

information that he would like to impart and then I would

29:04

talk to Jerry and I'll bring in some

29:06

inside us around out the conversation.

29:09

So Eric, would you please and

29:20

uh so you know,

29:22

thanks to Jerry to the Alliance for Inventing

29:24

us to talk today about the interception of housing,

29:27

homelessness, and a lot of horsiness. UH.

29:30

I want to start by sharing a letter from a

29:32

woman who grow to me named Amber

29:34

Jackmansky. Amber's experiencing

29:37

howlessness and seeing here here in Florida.

29:39

We're tourists and sleep on the beach all day, but

29:42

display the Latin the bid with show up the beds

29:44

or rescue you try to sleep on the streets at night.

29:47

The city also president of Tylettsville

29:49

lafter eleven pm. But as

29:51

human being, sometimes Amber disis

29:53

to go. She tried not drinking

29:55

anything after six pm, but

29:58

that went to ugi and one as

30:00

she had open not a rush her tea. She

30:03

was arrested in charge not only a posternation

30:06

of hevery decent exposure as such crime.

30:08

So now Amber has not only the immediate penalties

30:11

of UH jail time and fighting

30:13

piece she can't paign, but she has to register

30:16

as a sex offender for the rest of her life, making

30:18

it almost impossible for her to find

30:20

housing. That doesn't help

30:22

her out of homelessness, and

30:24

it doesn't help saint. Here's here solved

30:27

either as your homelessness or a small

30:29

termination police. Unfortunately,

30:32

and this isn't just am HER's story, it's

30:35

our nation's story. It's our twenty nineteen

30:37

survey of a one hundred and eighty sent cities across the

30:39

country that almost everyone in the

30:41

as some form of law criminalizing homelessness,

30:44

and that these laws are around the rocks. Close

30:46

to three quarters were over the campaign in public

30:49

and ninety one percent increases two thousand

30:51

and six, more than half rest sleeping

30:54

in public, fifty percent increase, a

30:56

third A citywide bands on loitering double

30:59

acis two thousand and six and now

31:01

opposed to two third. Seven logs restricting

31:04

billion vehicles up more than two

31:06

hundred percent since two thousand six,

31:10

And because of racial disparities is homelessness

31:12

and enforcement patterns. The criminalization

31:14

of homelessness isn't just a homelessness

31:17

problem. It's a justice problem and

31:19

a racial justice problem. A

31:21

recent record found that black adults are

31:23

up to nine point seven times more likely received

31:26

citations for low level non traffic

31:28

defenses as white adults, and black mac's

31:30

adults are up to five point eight times more liability.

31:33

But most jurisdictions don't collect data

31:35

on the housing status of individuals charged.

31:38

So in many cases, while we can look at overall

31:40

racial trends, we don't necessarily see

31:42

the intersections with homelessness and

31:45

how that can multiply the effects of bricks.

31:47

In order to have accountability, we need to

31:50

know when, where and how this is happening. So

31:52

the first need is for our national requirement

31:55

for data collection of housing status, for tickets,

31:57

for rests, use of force, et cetera. The

32:00

George Really Justice and Policing Act would have

32:02

required this for the first time and used

32:04

to force stated question, but ideally

32:06

we needed for all kinds replong that

32:11

said, as out of medializes

32:13

in some of us, these policies that disproportionately

32:16

harmed by show communities are as

32:18

small as you can see here from the

32:20

lawyers to many survey of the San Diego aportment.

32:23

While why walk individuals are disproportionately

32:26

cited, and as we re terms, white

32:28

people experiencing wonelessness still

32:31

make up the majority of citations for any of these

32:33

ordinances of perminalize the homelessness. But

32:35

we have national data, we can have the

32:37

costs of this quot and because

32:39

studies showed the priminalization the homelessness costs

32:42

two to three times as much as simple provided

32:44

housing. Continuing to invest these resorts

32:46

into a law enforcement approach the homelessness

32:49

rather than housing the services approach actually

32:52

possible community by draining

32:54

or resources meanings solved under owning

32:56

housing issues that make people almost

32:59

in the first place, because

33:02

the consequences of these voices to criminalize

33:04

rather than housing services can

33:07

be literally white or death. Today

33:09

you have to say the name of her unders riantle

33:12

when two men in black men are built unnecessarily

33:14

by police in recent years because

33:17

Orange County sent olam working officers,

33:19

the slide arms freee goes to get

33:21

one of the person's as criminals rather

33:23

than social workers and access of housing

33:26

and services to deal with a person in

33:28

prices who just need to tell your

33:30

peless people experiencing plessness they've

33:32

their entire lifers. That goes to call view

33:35

and the police scrutiny. In these class

33:37

criminalize homers, you mean literally

33:39

make their very existence in quote

33:41

space and crime. Voitering

33:44

is simply standing when the police

33:46

decide you don't emberate to be standing. When

33:49

the race and homelessness and the check and

33:52

makes blacktividings and people of colored

33:54

extremely vulnerable, police interaction and

33:57

potentially to the police silence and

34:00

more than me too often there's no accountability

34:02

for these pieces. Just a few months ago

34:05

that lada Is declined

34:07

to press charges against the officers responsible

34:09

for the stilling, just as

34:11

they did not charge those involved in the feeling

34:14

of Charlie Unon several years earlier.

34:17

So while the law clients individual police

34:19

officers just applying, we also need systems,

34:21

some kind of ability the whole. The system is a

34:24

whole, are kindab fur their debts

34:26

because the system should never resent those

34:28

officers out of in pursiness. But

34:31

it's not just these encounters that were its

34:33

own death. There a problem today in

34:36

the Inn. There's more than half of people when

34:38

some jail was there because of the closet, croated

34:40

defenses and law enforcement spending

34:42

tens of thousands of fowers crossing clawlessness

34:45

rather than the focusing uncactual publicity.

34:49

Most criminalization occurred at the municipal

34:51

level. There was just last year were at least for her

34:53

state level survey and even you were

34:55

surprised to find out, uh that

34:58

there were state statues terminalizing clone and

35:00

in almost in every state. Some

35:02

are our gay Victorina statutes

35:04

against an ambulance, a rigin progra of

35:07

vacancy statues designed to make black

35:09

people without jobs criminals, so they could

35:11

be passed through the thirteen Amendment proople

35:14

back into ensuavement. But all are

35:16

out of touch with modern constitution, law,

35:18

public health, and policating standards,

35:22

and there's a new danger of

35:25

uh State's passing new bills in this

35:27

way. People like urdos and temple

35:29

legislation being plished by improve

35:31

known as the ciss ristitude. The CISRO

35:34

institutes is tembook has four primary

35:36

elements, and not all of these elements here

35:38

in every build, but they are uh

35:41

AT. They've been amended as

35:43

they've been introduced, but they include

35:45

a diversion of all federal and state funding

35:48

for homeless services, not specifically

35:50

how to get permanent housing high stature

35:53

to short term legal and canans

35:55

state partner lots and emergency shelters

35:58

with six month month time that's on the

36:00

states, mandatory treatment testing

36:03

UH service allegations, subjects

36:06

of immediate removal or failure to applying,

36:08

and the grant of immunity and liability

36:11

to operators being cannons for all of

36:13

the most Grosty nectoris in conduct a

36:16

state wide to camping band with the penalties

36:18

of about the five thousand dollars in the under

36:20

jail and removal of all the almost

36:22

assistance and public safety funding

36:25

any jurisdiction that refuses to enforce

36:27

the van lower your few

36:29

process protections for persons experiencing homelessness

36:32

involuntarily committed to state sachiatric

36:35

institutions, as well as the thread of jail

36:37

or five thousand dollars of clients are not appliance

36:40

to the EDCAT treatment and

36:44

creation of homeless

36:47

overage teams funded by holes and sllars

36:50

which require law enforcement or station or

36:52

person's experience of homelessness into

36:54

those state running canons under the present

36:57

enforcement of anti candermand oh

37:01

good. These

37:03

UH laws were introduced in six dates

37:05

UH this past year, and they'd passed

37:08

him through the UH.

37:13

The billable passed in Tennessee didn't

37:15

have some of the other elements UH again

37:18

there shiningly in the safe or air market

37:20

or Prince UH or even the studios

37:22

double minimum wage. They had made

37:24

it illegal camp on any public property

37:27

in state with the penalty of being up to a

37:29

year in prison. In Tennessee,

37:32

permanent disentrance use. This

37:36

cierrositue was founded by a conservative

37:38

adventure capitalist named Joe Bombsale with

37:41

investments in private prisons and mott's

37:43

racial and gender equity by making movies

37:45

of themself playing great video games, taking

37:48

down any news, to promoting equery and

37:50

truly the Povian passion. He's funneling

37:53

his building into progress. He's a promoting the legislation

37:55

that will literally filled his private prisons

37:57

with people made homelessness, made homeless

38:00

YouTube be incredible, like with the Unitedation,

38:02

in this country, HM, we need all

38:04

of you out thet are educating in your state officials

38:06

on the importance of evidence based approaches

38:09

and in homelessness. Beyond

38:14

uh regular coalization. There's also

38:16

been a recent trend of proposals of

38:18

the state level but made it easier to involuntarily

38:20

committed individuals get a mentional palme coortation

38:23

problems or are also experience of homesseness.

38:26

Has noted that this is being quoted to the Cis Rossi

38:28

in ciser of institutes the chemical legislation

38:31

in conservative states, but scarily

38:34

the similar goosal has also virged in California

38:36

as being compled course by the government and it

38:38

seems lately as the legislature and

38:41

law enforcement is explicitly empowered to

38:43

make referral STEMP systems, and

38:46

obviously this has a distort impact. It's

38:48

lately to result in the segregation of persons

38:50

of the mental disabilities of people

38:53

in the regionalized history of

38:55

the misuse of involuntary amain and people

38:57

were having as kind of body individuals

38:59

historic premia. We have similar concerns

39:01

with this form of institutionalization as

39:04

we do with laws that made easier to incarcity

39:06

of our most instance. So

39:09

again er are folks to point out with the evidence

39:11

that involuntaritorytents don't actually

39:13

work and if this is basically in another form

39:15

of been imprisonment in institutions. The

39:19

good news is that across the country courseustrating

39:22

down the laws at the rates and possi

39:25

losing religations the other postic criminalization

39:27

and possign communities. Since

39:30

twenty fifteen, one hundred percent

39:32

of the challenges to the canhad of events that webs

39:34

to overturning or reviewal of ordinance. The

39:36

same goes for sixty percent of challenges

39:39

to anti ordinances and three quarters

39:41

of weather evans and two thirds Occoosirevans,

39:47

and I wanted to hilate this language from our

39:49

murders supposing the decision here because

39:52

it's so powerful, not just from the legal side,

39:54

but from the perspective of changing

39:56

the false narrative of personal

39:59

choice. Boller. This idea that says

40:01

awful animal shelter and services that some

40:03

people are just service resistance. Never

40:07

is that these communities have been resistant

40:09

to provide housing services that people

40:11

who actually need and art causes

40:14

have. If communities kind of at the energy

40:16

and resources into improving ouergation services

40:19

they put into coming out with the new ways and criminalizing

40:21

homelessness and enforcing them, we

40:23

get all end homelessness and all those

40:26

negative impass tomorrow. And that's

40:28

why we need all of you out. Gotta be our eyes

40:30

and ears and the field and setting out to

40:32

service organizational acquaintance. And that's

40:34

where witnesses when these cases do mantors

40:36

litigation. And

40:40

it's not just homeless individuals where

40:43

gests. Does this look like the safe

40:45

situations for law enforcement? Now

40:48

it puts them and more risk as well. And

40:50

that's why the Dog's op top is dedicated

40:52

and entire news whe are talking about alternatives

40:54

to criminalization so they could get police

40:57

and prosecutors out of that role. And what

40:59

doesness occur are in former ball enforcement

41:01

thesials up in the doors who are having a nd this campaign.

41:05

There's other problem out there as well. In twenty

41:07

twenty one, for the first time, dj included

41:10

the treatment of pumless persons explicitly

41:12

in their civil rights investigation in the city of Units.

41:15

We are able to connect the DJA investigators

41:17

with the local lawyers and service providers who

41:19

run them marwood the streets, with them who have actually

41:21

witnessed UH suites and progress,

41:25

and we are looking forward to seeing their

41:27

findings. Con Tent three. And

41:30

as I'm sure we all know since twenty fifteen,

41:32

huts continuing in the air coming and applications

41:35

to communities, the propression and reduction

41:37

of criminalization of homelessness is up to work a

41:40

word up to two points of other application and

41:42

that those points on that so

41:45

our recommendation is is early those points

41:48

by advocating against criminalization in

41:50

partnership with those group directing the

41:54

real alternative to all of these policies have mankeing

41:56

sure that people aren't getting terminalized because

41:58

they aren't at the streets in the first place because

42:01

they're an adne cousm and that's why it's

42:03

great. Because of fining pnning or the message

42:05

of hausing to be recognized as basically human

42:07

right who as pall maarns or a type of

42:10

using the language of houses of human rights

42:12

costs in line with the international advocates

42:15

and helps prevent abuses in other areas

42:17

from the civil and humanimates. In

42:20

the context of human rights. The US is

42:22

currently scheduled for a superiod review about

42:24

the even committee an domination of racial discrimination

42:27

preserved in August and then it's a last

42:29

of view of the US they could maytee recognize

42:32

the deserving happi of criminalization of almost

42:34

as unlipp communities makes

42:36

specific recremmendations to abolish the

42:38

practice language that doesn't take

42:40

widely in the context of UH

42:42

the abolition of slavery and

42:45

said kay human rights approaches will

42:47

be sharing committees and use the recommendations when

42:49

they come out of August and what should use that tou

42:52

as part of their advocacy to show how

42:54

car out of your stuff with international norms.

42:56

So we are the anchors

42:59

or cloud recommendation and or

43:02

to be pregnant.

43:12

Thank you, Eric. UH. One of the things I

43:14

wanted to point out today it I would be remiss

43:17

not to speak on it is right

43:19

now in Los Angeles, California, the

43:21

city council is voting to expand

43:24

forty one eighteen. And for people

43:27

that do not know that are not in Los Angeles, forty

43:29

one eighteen makes it a l a crime

43:32

for unhoused people to sit, sleep and

43:34

lie. They've already had created

43:36

another legislation policy against

43:38

unhoused people repairing their bikes. I

43:41

noticed people were gasping at

43:44

being considered a sex offender if you're

43:46

using the bathroom on the streets. But consider

43:48

for a moment that there are unhoused families that

43:50

are living out on the streets that are near schools.

43:52

So forty one eighteen impacts those families

43:55

the parents as well, and the lack of bathroom

43:57

access as you know you have children is

44:00

going to create a ground swell

44:02

of antipathy and up

44:05

parents. House parents have weaponized

44:07

UH the safety of children against the unhoused.

44:10

UH basically human basic human

44:12

rights. So I want you to consider it. Right

44:14

now, a city council is voading to criminalize

44:17

houselessness everywhere. You can't sleep

44:19

in your car. It's eighty five oh two in Los

44:21

Angeles, you can't repair your bike, and

44:23

you can't be seen anywhere sitting sleep

44:26

in their life. And heaven forbid, because

44:28

we have no bathroom access there. They're

44:30

locking the bathrooms in certain places that

44:32

you're going to have to use the restroom and

44:35

the best way you can and for your car, then you're

44:37

going to be facing the same fate. But

44:39

I'm gonna turn the conversation over to Jerry.

44:42

Jerry has a f a few notes that he wants to impart

44:44

with us as well. Kay, and

44:53

where did you all yours

44:57

as a dad and roma a life?

45:00

As uh, I've been working on this

45:02

mountains with my colleagues for months now.

45:04

It's good to see if it come up to ruision. I've

45:07

uh most of taken away valuable

45:11

UH learnings and that new people and and

45:13

that's a big experience. And

45:17

and if you wonder how these workshops

45:19

come together, it it's very much the process

45:21

of the individual stabbinun or taking the assignment

45:23

of different topics. This uh,

45:26

this workshop is one that I helped

45:28

coordinate and like I think color

45:31

stabbumers of the alliance. I didn't take the people

45:33

I admire most on that particular

45:35

topic. And so I've been following

45:38

the Media House podcast.

45:40

I think feel pal tension UH shortly

45:44

since probably it began. I remember signing

45:47

up when I as soon as I heard that if anyone working in

45:49

the sector of homelessness that is

45:51

it yet subscribing the Media House

45:54

should and I have. I've long

45:56

admired UH, Eric Tars

45:58

and the now UH we named

46:00

the National almost As Law Center. UH.

46:03

So that's the regual. Okay. The

46:05

two people who aren't with US Air

46:09

League works for Business Community Housing in

46:11

Los Angeles. I wanted her inside

46:14

on this, especially because Bignest

46:16

Community Housing is a provider or frontline

46:18

organization, not a large nun product that prioritizes

46:22

human rights and is fighting the criminalization

46:25

of holmlessness. And any provider

46:27

organizations to learn a lot from

46:30

UH their work and and

46:32

we need to insolidating together for serving

46:35

UH people in need to to prioritize

46:38

this issue. Just as functions, we're

46:40

prioritizing some of the best services, and

46:42

UH are sample some move

46:45

samples road. UH runs

46:47

a system he's assistantly that runs

46:50

a coalition in Texas

46:52

and so his perspective perspective

46:54

coalitions that are working on this issue are

46:56

examples as well. I

46:59

I like would be a grief. I

47:02

I wanted to make sure that you know they're

47:04

at the hard points are the app and so

47:07

uh take some time after this to them to

47:10

uh to work at what they would have to share in

47:12

the session now. Also

47:14

just wanted to maybe reflect on whatever app

47:18

as its separate and increasingly

47:20

affimation on this issue of homelessness

47:24

and it's connection to the criminalization

47:26

of people experiencing it. I

47:30

uh, you know, I've been working on holmlessness

47:33

until like risk gains, and I

47:35

feel like it was the first wave of how

47:38

criminalization was playing out, which was

47:40

really the result of and

47:43

the city is people that has its roots in all

47:45

of us, which is the desire to make difficult

47:48

problems disappear. And

47:51

the reality is that people

47:54

seeing other people out on the streets,

47:56

it's it's unsettling, it's

47:59

uh experience disconservative. And

48:02

uh, partly because

48:04

I did get calls any question

48:06

around vulnerabilities. Partly

48:08

because we know that it's long for

48:10

people who be living out of doors and

48:14

at their money. You've got me something they were wrong with this

48:16

sosigny when that's the kind of problems, so we

48:18

don't want to deal with that, and you would

48:20

listen to the problem to just simply go

48:23

away. And I think that asked that of the

48:26

reaction, that almostness that didn't put us for a long

48:28

time as another criminalization from the very

48:31

beginning of the era and ask for the

48:33

Aread Cosh in New York and the

48:35

aids. This is wort

48:37

of notorious or being on a chop one

48:39

street holmlessness. He was a conservative

48:43

uh any hot so where as hero uh

48:46

generally progressive god mayor of the land.

48:49

Uh if you were remember in the late ages, he was proposed

48:52

that any one people was on the streets we can especially

48:54

I meet uh which

48:57

uh at the times when period the pass long under

49:00

the partid regia in South Africa. So

49:04

he was as top bounds prete humblest instance

49:06

as that of conference. And so there's

49:09

there's been this trend of just trying to make people

49:12

disappear. I think that's that's continues

49:15

to this day. There's also I I feel

49:17

a second wave of criminalization that's been empted

49:19

to the real estate market

49:22

in Bourbon areas that's gotten onward expensive

49:24

and so in a way that probably didn't exist

49:26

decade. And really you have very very wealthy people

49:29

living alongside the very very important

49:31

and people and destitution, and

49:34

so there's a reaction to that and law

49:37

enforcement and UH business

49:39

improvement of districts and the laws, the UH,

49:42

the the Yorks machine in Lost Angeles. There's

49:45

a more recent revelople end on this point

49:48

because I don't really have a conclusion for you

49:50

or a recommendation for what we should do. And

49:52

you need to be aware of

49:55

the increasing politic politicalization

49:58

of our issue of homelessness

50:00

in the in the national debate, which

50:04

I think reached a different level back in two

50:06

thousand nineteen when President Trump

50:08

began criticizing Eric

50:10

Garcetti and Governor Houston

50:13

in California for what he

50:15

saw was a squalor up the streets

50:17

of UH blue cities and blue states,

50:20

and he proposed in two thousand nineteen

50:22

that bolts from skid road, he taken

50:25

too uh federal lands outside

50:27

the city and put in the campus. Would you wonder the mins

50:30

It was a closal. There were high

50:32

level UH official salidations

50:35

that came to Los Angeles to kind of negotiated

50:37

how they might work with UH,

50:39

the Garcetti staff, and

50:44

it was while seriously they kind of fell

50:46

apart, I think partly because of the pandemic. So

50:48

this was two thousand nineteen into two thousand and twenty.

50:51

The negotiations were going on and then

50:54

the debate moved and moved on to other

50:56

issues. So

50:59

we s see this idea of sanctions

51:01

encampents, the idea of removing people

51:04

experiencing homelessness forceibly into

51:07

UH tense cities or camps. This

51:10

is this is a central idea. This is pros

51:13

to model legislation that's

51:15

being proposed in that America. U spoke

51:17

about the answered questions you

51:21

have all we've all been at a a intense

51:23

conference for three days now. Just

51:25

by a show of Andrew, who's aware that yesterday

51:29

President Trump made his first

51:31

speech in Washington sentence UH

51:34

under election, in

51:36

which he humblessness was a

51:38

cynical part of his discussion. UH.

51:41

He talked about humblessness in crime and

51:44

returned to this idea of

51:47

camps of tents in remote

51:50

areas that people who are humbless and

51:52

UH in earlier area then be relocated

51:55

there. And the sound bite to the

51:57

speech was UH America's a cesspool

51:59

of crime and homelessness. I

52:03

don't think this was Trump being bombastic

52:07

or unscripted. Uh.

52:10

This is the outline of a political program. And

52:14

it's not accidental that what he said yesterday

52:18

is entirely consistent of what he

52:20

was proposing as a president in two thousand nineteen

52:22

for Los Angeles. It's not accidental

52:25

that it echoes what the Sister of Us

52:27

to Do is pushing and has gotten active in

52:29

a couple of places. And

52:34

we can assume I think that this idea of necessary

52:37

the people who are experiencing, almost to speak,

52:39

to be relocated in camps. It's

52:42

something they've tested in the poles on their face,

52:45

and it just has

52:48

to be pointed out that there is something that sort

52:50

of a familiar from us. There are other examples

52:52

of of people

52:55

who are margin onze, uh, people

52:57

who are politically

53:00

unpopular being relocated

53:02

in the camps. And I'm not making false equivalences

53:05

here, but I'm saying that this resonates with with

53:09

a sort of constituency that I think is being spoken

53:11

to. So the

53:13

deliver over us is

53:16

that this debate over criminalization

53:19

is shifted into a political program. I don't

53:21

think we're ready for it, and I'm

53:24

I'm not. You're a closed uh

53:26

respond to it, and you're the plan should do. We are

53:28

mostly uh case

53:30

workers, we're politicians, We're we're

53:34

people who have experienced almosts and and

53:37

the hell of that we are now feeling. We're we're

53:39

we're folks who are mostly focused on

53:42

uh the direct services and looking at the

53:45

programs, trying anything better data

53:48

or uh models that might

53:50

show more promise. We're not political

53:54

professionals, and yet

53:56

our issue is

54:00

unmistably, unmissably you

54:02

going into the political or worth ess that

54:05

I'm not sure if gery's going to go, but I

54:08

am kind of We're warn all they have to

54:10

be working through a lot work and

54:12

then having uh something to say about

54:14

the pronoization almost just based

54:16

on the uh the presidents of martist or in Jery

54:19

worn you haven't seen it yet. It's

54:21

that it's something you gotta

54:24

I I it'll be use So it's your

54:26

part. So would that out

54:28

uh mo fororth of is it? I

54:36

also I also wanted to have one quick

54:39

thing that Jerry makes an excellent point

54:41

on. Let's consider for a

54:43

moment of the t uh the past coming

54:45

to the present and the unhoused

54:48

community is being shuttled somewhere else and

54:50

all of the com uh, the the body of

54:53

people here, Where would we be in

54:55

order to be able to help people being displaced

54:58

out into the deserts? How would those services? What

55:00

would those services really look like? Because

55:02

I know in Los Angeles they're talking about

55:05

putting them near the airport or the desert.

55:07

And how will those services be in

55:10

real time of helpful to get

55:12

people out of house Austans if they're being shuttled

55:15

into simular eerily prehistoric

55:18

camp camps or detention centers

55:20

or however, they're going to gloss over that. So

55:23

I'm gonna open up the discussion with a quick question

55:26

about it, is that where do

55:28

you see yourself in the fight, because

55:30

this is a war of poverty and war and the poor,

55:33

and how can you be more vocal

55:35

in order to stop this this crisis that's

55:38

from happening. This

55:44

is a point,

55:49

Uh, there's a a

55:55

real danger. Uh. Obviously

55:57

Trump is tent that the extreme

56:00

of using this harmful apl

56:02

rhetoric, and you

56:05

know Jerry was afraid of making

56:07

police equivalences. I'm

56:10

gonna go there at least a

56:12

little bit, because you know, what I saw

56:15

during his administration was first

56:18

he decided I'm gonna try and put kids in

56:20

cages and see if pass cool. And

56:23

he was cool for a long time. There's a lot

56:25

of people and until it kind of got

56:27

a lot of press. And so after seeing

56:30

if what he could do to people who were undocumented,

56:32

who weren'ts this and who's the next

56:34

and most vulnerable group who we could test, you

56:37

know, policies on that. You could

56:40

see if you could lock them up, displace

56:43

them and put them into these camps

56:45

where they have to be under penalty

56:47

because they don't have anywhere else to go. So

56:49

if it's a crime to be almost anywhere, then the only

56:51

place they can be is in is in

56:54

those encamps. And so you

56:58

know, there's that old like first

57:00

they came for the Communists,

57:02

but I didn't object because I wasn't a Communist. And

57:04

then they came for the Jews, but they didn't

57:06

I didn't object cause I was want to. Then the camer

57:09

used to hide I I

57:11

see this. I saw it definitely when

57:14

it proposed it in twenty nineteen, and I see

57:16

it again now like this,

57:20

this is part of this

57:22

is where we come into the

57:25

war against fascism in our country. So

57:28

so yeah,

57:35

this is where where we need to speech up and make sure

57:37

that other people are speaking up as

57:40

well. And then the

57:42

other point I'd made is that while

57:45

Trump is using this rhetoric at

57:48

April rheter, one of the points he makes

57:51

UH the speeches, he says, for the good

57:53

of everyone, the homeless need to go to shelters,

57:56

and mentally ill need to go to institutions,

57:58

and the undercouns. Drug addicts need to go to rehab

58:00

and and if if appropriate, the jail. The

58:04

best way, the only way to address

58:06

homelessness is to open up large parcels

58:08

of wind in the agorages of the city, bring the middle

58:10

of professionals, build permitive althnues and other

58:13

facilities, and create thousands of high

58:15

quality in tents being

58:18

our dressing. This is not in those language

58:21

of we care about what people

58:23

experiencing a moment. This is for they're good,

58:25

only good. This is real the good of people who can't,

58:28

who haven't chosen can choose to do

58:30

any better. And this is where we as

58:34

UH Home with Service, providers with homes and advocates

58:37

have UH have left

58:39

ourselves spoken because we have

58:42

been busy focusing on in what we

58:44

know are the best evidence based

58:47

uh harm reducing strategies, that's

58:50

you know, permanent housing, and

58:54

we haven't been given the resources to

58:56

put out We had a good amounts of permanent housing,

58:58

a portable housings that need and

59:01

so homelessess has continue to grow, and

59:03

that is at this crisis point of unheltered

59:05

uousness where people are suffering

59:08

on the streets and we are being cast

59:10

as people who don't care about that's suffering

59:12

because we're so focused on the end solutions.

59:15

And it's really hard for me as an advocate

59:18

to advocate for a interim

59:21

solution when I know

59:23

that's gonna be in a world of scarce

59:25

resources, that's gonna take away from the permanent

59:28

resources. And so by focusing

59:30

and saying we have a solution

59:33

for this, for

59:36

in an interim solution where

59:38

we can put people for their

59:40

own good while y you

59:42

know, but they don't say while we work on the permanent

59:44

solutions, they are actually trying to take away funding

59:46

from the permanent solutions while they do this. And

59:49

that's the real danger is that this isn't

59:51

harm r reducing. They're using the

59:54

language of harm reduction they're using,

59:56

you know the fact that some legalizing

59:59

candidates have and a form

1:00:01

of harm production to people on the street. But

1:00:04

that's not what they're setting up. They're explicitly

1:00:07

uh removing liability

1:00:10

from the camp operators in these cicero

1:00:12

bills or anything that's the most grossly

1:00:15

language in conduct. So that means,

1:00:17

you know, they're not trying to make these welcoming places.

1:00:20

They're you know, they're setting them up

1:00:22

to be horrible places that they

1:00:24

you know that the camp operators can and you

1:00:27

get sued for so.

1:00:30

But if they are using this language of harm

1:00:32

production when

1:00:34

they are actually going to be inducing

1:00:37

art and I I think that's that's

1:00:39

a real thing to the weed as a field.

1:00:41

Need to be able to confront and figure out

1:00:44

how we are are going to address

1:00:46

what are the the interurant solutions

1:00:48

that are actually uh acceptable,

1:00:52

that are harm producing, that are

1:00:54

in language comment form principles that

1:00:56

can make it like immediately

1:00:59

better for everybody, not just

1:01:01

the house to keep on and then you

1:01:03

know, how do we keep the known and doing or the

1:01:06

the parents. I wanna

1:01:08

add a couple of things to and one

1:01:10

of the things that I have in Los Angeles

1:01:13

have had people activists or

1:01:17

the mayor in the city have demonized

1:01:19

when we say, because we understand

1:01:21

what's going on, the criminal uh the cultural

1:01:23

effects of let's say Project Room key

1:01:26

or pro or tiny sheds, they created

1:01:28

such a a horrible environment, and

1:01:31

when we speak out about it, they're saying

1:01:33

that we don't want to help unhouse people. We

1:01:35

want to keep them on the streets. But we know

1:01:37

what's going on, and we are speaking out

1:01:39

against the h constitutionality because we

1:01:42

know what their endgame is. Missing

1:01:44

from that conversation is a growing

1:01:47

olderly population. And many

1:01:50

n conservative conversations, they always

1:01:52

say that you pick up yourself out of your bootstep,

1:01:54

you got out of substances, you've worked your hard,

1:01:56

and you've saved your taxes. But the reality

1:01:59

is the elderly popul The oldest person

1:02:01

that I've interviewed is ninety years old.

1:02:03

You can't say that he's got to

1:02:05

get a job, he needs to get off of drugs because

1:02:08

he's at the advancing stage of life. His

1:02:10

rent is expensive, medical

1:02:12

expenses are at high that he's making

1:02:15

a gamble, and his gamble is trying

1:02:17

to stay alive. So he's on the street, and

1:02:20

the conversation when we would tell them that

1:02:22

this is not just a box where

1:02:25

there are people like they'd like to believe that

1:02:27

don't want hell, this is not true.

1:02:30

The youngest person that I've interviewed that's been

1:02:32

displaced is ten years old. That

1:02:34

the family lives out on the street. The

1:02:36

other mother with two infant children

1:02:38

are living on the street. It's not that you know, they don't

1:02:41

want to get help, they can't afford the

1:02:43

places that are becoming unsustainable.

1:02:46

But when you have when we speak about

1:02:48

these car SOO solutions like Project

1:02:50

groom Key or tiny

1:02:53

sheds and telling them they're deliberately

1:02:55

making these places uninhabitable, not putting

1:02:58

the keys or making it so untenable.

1:03:01

It is not because activists don't want them to get

1:03:03

help. Is that they are deliberately trying

1:03:05

to make it such a horrible situation. Then they would

1:03:07

just throw up their hands off. Fine, they'll just do a permanent

1:03:10

encampment out into the desert. And many,

1:03:12

unfortunately people that grew uh graft

1:03:15

On listen to them and push

1:03:17

that narrative as well. Jerry, what's your insight

1:03:19

on this? Well,

1:03:23

I think the the

1:03:26

the the most provant part of this

1:03:28

is if homelessness becomes

1:03:31

a partisan football at long point.

1:03:34

Uh, that's that's not really about solutions

1:03:37

upnor this isn't why it's being pulled

1:03:42

into the of the day, but rather as

1:03:46

a uh, a way to signal

1:03:48

a l allegiance to one side

1:03:50

or the other. And it becomes very polarized,

1:03:53

as we've seen so many other issues in American

1:03:56

politics become.

1:03:59

It then becomes so much harder for us

1:04:01

to get the resources we need, the consensus

1:04:03

that is essential for us to make progress

1:04:06

on the scarcity of affordable

1:04:08

housing and the services for homelessness.

1:04:11

Many many in the room will

1:04:14

will remember a time when homelessness was very

1:04:17

bipartisan. And

1:04:20

we have attendees at this conference from

1:04:22

all over the country, and there are mayors,

1:04:24

there are county executives and others who are

1:04:27

Republicans who are very committed to the

1:04:29

same things we're trying to do. Stuart

1:04:31

de McKinney was a Republican congressman

1:04:33

from Connecticut. We remember

1:04:37

Susan Baker was a founder of the National

1:04:39

Alliance Stone Homelessness, wife of James

1:04:42

Baker the third. So this this

1:04:44

is you know what most of

1:04:46

these workshops you've attended

1:04:48

over the last three years of three years, three three

1:04:51

days has been about programs

1:04:53

and strategies and you know what works. There's

1:04:59

there's always gonna be you know, mean spiritedness,

1:05:01

There's gonna be ninbi's, There's gonna be folks who just

1:05:03

don't care about poor people. And this this

1:05:06

includes you know, some Republicans who

1:05:08

from a fiscal standpoint, oppose

1:05:11

the priorities that we're advancing

1:05:13

because they just don't want to spend money on poor people. But

1:05:18

but again, I feel like there's there's

1:05:20

the beginning of metastatization

1:05:24

of this highly partisan,

1:05:26

polarized rhetoric that is then

1:05:29

going to have ripple effects in blue

1:05:31

cities like Los Angeles, where it

1:05:34

will then be you know, not

1:05:36

as abnormal to say that you

1:05:39

can draw a map under forty one eighteen

1:05:41

D where the literally a person

1:05:43

without housing cannot exist. You

1:05:46

know, you can't be in the city limits a lot of places

1:05:48

you're from. I bet that's true even now there.

1:05:51

You know, if if someone pitches

1:05:53

a tent that they're moved along. So

1:05:59

so I that's my uh, my

1:06:02

basic takeaway is this is something we need we

1:06:04

need to figure out fast, because I

1:06:06

wasn't expecting you know.

1:06:08

I mean you had to. There's a lot going on in Washington.

1:06:11

I hope you all also have have the chance to

1:06:13

kind of enjoy just being in the center

1:06:15

of American public

1:06:18

governance and and what's going on here. The

1:06:20

big story this summer has mostly been around

1:06:22

January sixth, and uh sort of those

1:06:26

those types of issues. Why the former

1:06:28

president would pick homelessness of all the things

1:06:30

he would want to talk about, is linking

1:06:33

homelessness and crime as his first major

1:06:35

address coming back to town is

1:06:38

is a red flag, to say the least,

1:06:41

and we need to get ready. I'm

1:06:44

on there is a pipe pipe parts and communication

1:06:47

between Republican and progressive

1:06:50

in demonizing the House. It's still there.

1:06:53

It's just it's going to a different dependence. And

1:06:55

it is not an accident, I

1:06:58

really would. It's a big emphasize because

1:07:00

with forty one, eighteen is not in a Republican's

1:07:02

place. These are Democrats that are

1:07:05

openly uh listening to the siren

1:07:07

songs. And that's why that's

1:07:09

the bipartisan reaching across the aisle

1:07:11

conversation that is going to be a

1:07:14

universal thing. So when we when

1:07:16

we say the labels of that in the past of

1:07:18

being addressing on the house. That's wonderful,

1:07:20

but there's still bipartisans there. And

1:07:23

the bipartisan thing is those tiny shards

1:07:25

the forty one eighteen by the

1:07:27

majority of progressive Democratic

1:07:30

people are voting to excuse

1:07:32

or to demonize people of color

1:07:35

and people that are displaced out in Los

1:07:37

Angeles. So yes, uh,

1:07:39

Tennessee and some other red strates are doing

1:07:42

it, but the progressive area as well, and

1:07:44

we need to be coming to a conversational point

1:07:46

which brings them. Another question is like they're

1:07:49

uh the media, the importance of having

1:07:52

to attack the community through the

1:07:54

media. Joe Rogan has

1:07:56

made it acceptable to go up and start shooting

1:07:59

the house people. I spoke about it, So

1:08:01

it has become a conversational, easy

1:08:05

talking point for anybody to talk about

1:08:07

that, say about a house. So how can

1:08:09

we push back from the social media standpoint

1:08:11

or are from our own sources to really

1:08:14

get the stories out here that we're

1:08:16

not gonna stand for fastest. Yeah,

1:08:22

you know, I think the real danger that Trump

1:08:25

brought into this, and that has been perpetuated

1:08:27

by Tucker Carlson and Fox

1:08:30

News. If folks have seen some of those segments, is

1:08:33

that they have now linked Housing

1:08:35

First with

1:08:38

critical race theory and other you

1:08:41

know, talking points

1:08:43

that they have that they don't actually understand,

1:08:46

but that are just slogans. And it's made Housing

1:08:48

first toxic even to Republicans

1:08:51

who used to support it, who

1:08:53

know that it is both

1:08:55

the like, you know, best

1:08:58

policy and the fiscally concern servative

1:09:00

thing to do, but

1:09:03

now now see being

1:09:05

seen to support that gives them,

1:09:07

you know, gives their their primary

1:09:10

opponents a talk another talking point

1:09:13

that that you know, they can out right

1:09:15

flank them with. And so you

1:09:18

know, yeah, I think if

1:09:21

there ever was you

1:09:23

know, bipartisan consensus there

1:09:25

were at the federal level around

1:09:29

around housing first and supporting it, that's

1:09:33

certainly much more difficult, if not impossible

1:09:35

now. And and this THEO said, at the local

1:09:37

level, all politics has always been local

1:09:40

and uh, there's been

1:09:43

five partisan pushes for criminalization for

1:09:46

for a long time. But on

1:09:49

the on the communications point

1:09:51

is Marsall in here still. Marsall

1:09:57

Bellow from the Housing Narrative Lab has

1:09:59

come out with some new research

1:10:02

with some interesting ways

1:10:05

of uh saying that

1:10:09

like you can use a talking point that kind

1:10:11

of says, there's some people who want us

1:10:13

to think about this simply and

1:10:16

to say that the only thing

1:10:18

we can do is kind of lock up people experiencing

1:10:22

uh who are on the streets. But

1:10:24

that's not our value as Americans, as

1:10:27

you know, residents of the city or states. We

1:10:30

know better and and that kind of rhetorical

1:10:32

shift can help to break people

1:10:34

out of let's look for the

1:10:37

the quick and easy solution,

1:10:40

because you don't want to be associated as somebody

1:10:43

who thinks simply they've

1:10:46

got some other uh talking points that we we did

1:10:49

a webinar with them a couple of weeks

1:10:51

ago, and I can

1:10:53

try and get that uh information to people,

1:10:56

but housing narrative lab, you can uh

1:10:58

look them up online and

1:11:01

uh there's other I think the other really

1:11:04

important thing is the work that

1:11:06

Mark Corbat over there was Invisible

1:11:09

People is doing to be just

1:11:11

getting the narrative out, you

1:11:13

know, showing what a sweep

1:11:15

looks like, talking to the impacted

1:11:18

individuals, and really humanizing ins

1:11:21

like not letting people look away

1:11:24

and let this you know, the what

1:11:28

criminalization actually looks like in practice

1:11:31

go on in in our collective

1:11:33

names. I think having

1:11:36

you know, podcasts like THEOS as well, like you

1:11:38

know, to hear uh the actual

1:11:41

stories and the

1:11:44

experiences of people. As

1:11:47

we're doing our policy advocacy, that

1:11:49

needs to to be kind of front

1:11:51

and center these these uh testimonies

1:11:54

of people who who have

1:11:56

experienced this. So, Jerry,

1:12:00

you wanna knowing like that that's the first time, Well,

1:12:03

I would bring on him to a different tack. I want

1:12:05

also to communicate I didn't. I wanna

1:12:08

have aks a question and they will allow

1:12:10

if it's it's so time for me some of the

1:12:12

re uh the audience members that have some questions.

1:12:14

But the my final question is this, if

1:12:18

we have to such a round swell of

1:12:21

a talent here, how sweeves

1:12:23

collectively can really unbreak them

1:12:25

by natural because there is a

1:12:28

a shift. And I as a

1:12:30

person of color and a black man, and I've been a

1:12:33

house as criminalized as

1:12:35

a black man, and I wanna

1:12:37

get the point out, David, there is before

1:12:40

George Floyd, and I wanted to

1:12:42

say that George Floyd wasn't the first

1:12:44

black person. The first black person

1:12:46

that had got that kind of treatment was a

1:12:48

black a houseman. And many people

1:12:51

in the community do not even know what this black

1:12:53

man is. They know George Floyd because

1:12:55

it was on camera and the

1:12:57

the incident. The black a house man that was

1:13:00

uh that made the sense play before him

1:13:02

a few years before, was on the camera

1:13:04

and his name was Muhammad abdoubu

1:13:07

Yayim. This black unhoused

1:13:09

man had had the nerve

1:13:11

to go to the battle when the service doll and

1:13:13

someone called. And this is why when

1:13:15

you criminalize unhoused people's basic

1:13:18

needs and basic support services. They

1:13:21

called the police defect. He brought a service dog to

1:13:23

go to the battle and because it all

1:13:25

of the police interaction, you had a breakdown.

1:13:28

And then they did what they did to him.

1:13:31

Those police officers are free,

1:13:34

and it's really important to talk to what

1:13:36

a mania. And I'm just gonna just say this, this might

1:13:38

ruffles the feathers. There are too

1:13:40

many white advocates thinking

1:13:43

that police officers should be included in the conversation.

1:13:46

And it is wrong and it is

1:13:48

dangerous. And when you live

1:13:51

side, when you leave

1:13:53

sided w and thinking that it could

1:13:55

be mellow dog or to be ignored,

1:13:58

it it does something and it it and

1:14:00

I have to say this to us as advocates

1:14:02

to understand no one in here,

1:14:04

many many do not know this unhoused black

1:14:07

man's day. But many of those

1:14:09

people had pushed for this

1:14:12

advocacy of cops. For example,

1:14:15

in Santa Monica, a unhoused

1:14:18

UH A family had listened

1:14:20

to police officers tell to

1:14:22

the horror, to their horror

1:14:25

because they didn't know that this parent family was unhoused,

1:14:27

that if they seen an unhoused encampment to call

1:14:29

the police. And you're talking about

1:14:31

listening to police that listen to you when you hear

1:14:33

in schools, listen to the teacher, listen

1:14:36

to the administrator. Now you have

1:14:38

unhoused students in there, over seventeen thousand

1:14:41

in Los Angeles student district. What

1:14:43

do you think that that's going to do? And many

1:14:45

of them are people of color? What do

1:14:47

you think that you've just brought out into that? So

1:14:50

I want you to ponder that. But also if

1:14:52

you guys have any further insight on that, I'm

1:14:55

wanting to hear to hear that as well. So

1:15:00

first I I

1:15:03

think those points. Also you

1:15:07

require acknowledging that the homeless

1:15:11

sector often

1:15:13

tries to a side step those

1:15:17

those UH terrible events that we

1:15:20

know happen when UH

1:15:22

law enforcement is is

1:15:25

UH trying to police the situation that doesn't

1:15:27

require police. First of all, that there there's very

1:15:30

little value added that

1:15:33

officers bring when the when the situation

1:15:35

is is not one of you

1:15:38

know, imminent danger, but rather a person

1:15:40

in crisis and and in need of help that they're

1:15:42

not getting that

1:15:45

the the provider sector has,

1:15:48

I think m in many cases, and

1:15:50

I don't wanna diminish those that have stood

1:15:53

up and and prioritize this issue, but in

1:15:55

many cases, let's

1:15:58

just be real, it's you know, we get pub funding,

1:16:01

we have to work with city halls, we

1:16:03

have to think about our relationship

1:16:05

with the mayor, and so stepping out on an

1:16:07

issue like criminalization is

1:16:10

difficult. For the five years

1:16:12

before I came to the National Alliance,

1:16:14

I coordinated a coalition of providers

1:16:16

in Los Angeles and many

1:16:20

of whom were such as Venice Community Housing,

1:16:22

were very active on this issue, but most

1:16:24

were not. And it

1:16:27

was in some ways understandable

1:16:29

that if you're a large, multimillion

1:16:31

organization with responsibilities

1:16:34

for serving

1:16:36

housing lots of folks, that you don't want to be reckless

1:16:39

with your your relationships with city

1:16:41

hall. It's also you

1:16:43

know, it would then be quietly acknowledged, but you know, it

1:16:45

makes it really tough when we're trying to match people with the

1:16:48

housing we've already secured

1:16:51

for them. If if you're sweeping encampments and we don't

1:16:53

know where people are because they're they've been run

1:16:55

off. We

1:16:58

we had that Los Angeles

1:17:01

was offered the chance

1:17:03

to meet with the Chief of Police

1:17:05

of Los Angeles quarterly.

1:17:08

We had a meeting with with Garcetti, and we

1:17:11

were talking to him about this stuff. He said, well, well, you should

1:17:13

meet regularly with our police

1:17:16

chief. And it was just very difficult

1:17:18

to figure out where that conversation was gonna go because

1:17:20

it was clear that this constituency,

1:17:22

unlike other homeless advocacy

1:17:24

groups in Los Angeles that were much more direct

1:17:27

in their critique and holding

1:17:30

police accountable for criminalization in

1:17:33

that city, the providers

1:17:35

were like, you know, is this really what we

1:17:37

want to spend our political capital on when

1:17:39

we when we've

1:17:42

got so many other things we need

1:17:44

city Hall to do. I,

1:17:48

as the coordinator of that coalition, am

1:17:50

complicit in that. I didn't. I didn't then put my

1:17:52

foot down and say, well, we've got to know we're gonna

1:17:54

this is gonna be the top issue or the top one

1:17:57

three five issues. So

1:18:00

I I say all of that in a kind of rambling

1:18:02

way. This is tough for for

1:18:05

organizations, nonprofit organizations to be

1:18:07

too bold about. I feel like the issues

1:18:10

now come to us. I don't think, I

1:18:12

think, I don't think this is criminalization of homelessness

1:18:15

is no longer something that organizations

1:18:18

working on the issue of homelessness have the

1:18:20

luxury to dodge much longer than

1:18:23

if you and one

1:18:25

more thing to do that. This is when we have having

1:18:28

a excellent conversation a few days

1:18:30

ago about how to show up with your

1:18:32

white privilege. This is one of those examples

1:18:34

if you need to show up and start, if you have these

1:18:37

uh, the big these organizations

1:18:39

and things like that, you guys band together and

1:18:41

put the feet to the fire instead of you know, I

1:18:43

know it's difficult, but the imagine the

1:18:45

people that are people of color that have to do

1:18:48

navigate what there are in financial services.

1:18:50

They lose their lives, weed

1:18:52

to go. Many of us that are in these privileged

1:18:55

positions get to go home, but move m

1:18:57

muhamma muyahm will never go Floyd

1:19:00

will never go home. But there's many an house black

1:19:02

or people of color that will never be able

1:19:05

to go home. And we are still

1:19:07

the ball's return. We have to put the

1:19:09

feet to the fire. It is we're at

1:19:11

this red critical mask where redular

1:19:14

conditions. It's it's important, it's

1:19:16

and all, it's our responsibility. Yeah,

1:19:18

and I will add

1:19:21

that one of

1:19:23

the reasons that we advocated with HUD

1:19:26

to put that question into

1:19:29

the coc NOFA is

1:19:31

exactly to give service

1:19:33

providers the political cover to say, look,

1:19:36

you know our federal funding and you

1:19:38

know, we need to show that we are earning

1:19:41

our two points on this application

1:19:44

by doing education about the harms of criminalization

1:19:46

in our community. So you know, sorry,

1:19:49

mister mayor, you know like this, if

1:19:51

you want us to get these federal dollars, you

1:19:54

know, we have to to tell the story that

1:19:56

what you know, what's being proposed

1:19:58

here in this community isn't isn't

1:20:01

best practice, is gonna be harmful, et cetera. So

1:20:03

there's you know, to the extent

1:20:06

it helps in those difficult conversations,

1:20:09

there's you know, you can use that those

1:20:12

incentives as part of as

1:20:14

you know, as cover I guess for needing

1:20:17

to take those critical positions

1:20:19

for you know, when you are getting both

1:20:22

city or county and federal

1:20:24

funding. The

1:20:27

other thing I'll say is and then I appreciate Jerry's

1:20:31

kind of owning this. You know, our

1:20:33

organization as

1:20:35

recently as our report on

1:20:39

Criminalization back in twenty fifteen looked

1:20:42

at some of the homeless

1:20:44

outreach teams that were being put together by law

1:20:46

enforcement as a positive

1:20:48

development, as you know, this is a

1:20:50

way of reducing harm. We

1:20:56

don't have that position anymore. And

1:21:02

and now are kind of at the point

1:21:04

where we acknowledge that kind of

1:21:07

law enforcement doesn't need to be involved

1:21:09

in in this. You know, we need

1:21:12

social workers who are trained

1:21:14

in the escalation and you

1:21:17

know, harm reduction trauma in foreign

1:21:19

principles, backed with the actual

1:21:22

resources of housing and

1:21:24

you know, appropriate services that are going to meet

1:21:26

the needs of the people out there building

1:21:29

relationships over the long term through

1:21:31

you know exactly you know, the finding

1:21:34

lists and all the things that we already know actually

1:21:36

work. That's what we need. We don't need hot

1:21:40

teams, we don't need homeless courts. You

1:21:44

know, those are all diversions of resources that

1:21:46

actually create

1:21:48

more harm in the long term. And so you've

1:21:51

got kind

1:21:53

of I think Away

1:21:56

Home America has this useful framework of you

1:21:58

know, you've got reform, the

1:22:00

transformative edge of reform

1:22:04

and then the transformational state. And

1:22:06

we need to really focus on that transformational

1:22:08

state, the state where law

1:22:11

enforcement isn't involved. And

1:22:13

there are efforts, I mean, even

1:22:16

the the Biden administration is

1:22:19

you know, more on the reform side

1:22:22

kind of promoting law

1:22:24

enforcements, involvement

1:22:27

in very various

1:22:29

forms in homeost

1:22:31

outreach and saying you know that they need to be partners

1:22:34

at the table because they are currently involved. And

1:22:36

I and I understand that sentiment,

1:22:40

but but

1:22:42

it you know, yeah, it's

1:22:45

it's problematic because it it

1:22:47

permits the longer term harm to continue

1:22:49

going on. So we really need to help vision that

1:22:52

transformed world where you

1:22:55

know, law enforcement isn't

1:22:57

part of the conversation anymore, even

1:23:00

if we would. The unhoused unhoused

1:23:02

friend all who said, who suffers from a schizophrenia,

1:23:05

She had an episode and she

1:23:08

was trying to come now someone called the

1:23:10

police. She said, he pulled

1:23:12

his gun on her, put her put his knee in

1:23:14

his her back. She's have to

1:23:16

deal with now trying to calm her,

1:23:18

parannoya down and worry

1:23:20

about her life. The point of it is

1:23:23

bringing polices into this kind of conversation,

1:23:26

no matter how they were involved in it because they

1:23:28

inserted themselves in it to take

1:23:30

our funding. Los Angeles has over three

1:23:32

point two billion dollars that has been

1:23:35

used to the police and one billion

1:23:37

for unhouse services. So let you

1:23:39

do the math. Davids inculcated themselves

1:23:41

at Air brig conversation. Even with house

1:23:43

siste's services, they're getting a cut from

1:23:46

our houses's side of the pleasure. So

1:23:48

we have got to get decolonize the cock

1:23:50

hodder right head and to understand they they

1:23:53

saw anything but violence

1:23:55

and death in these instances, because why

1:23:57

are you gonna bring a gun and a stick. She's someone that's

1:23:59

all ready current or what or going through a crisis.

1:24:02

You know that they're really defensive. You know that they're

1:24:04

gonna act out and in and in ways that you're

1:24:06

trained to put people down. So it's

1:24:08

a listen, it's a non brain and not not

1:24:11

a non issue. If you don't get

1:24:13

a non brainer, actually say no brainer to you

1:24:16

know, it's gonna cause death in dissolation. So

1:24:19

I'm gonna just open this up for people to have

1:24:21

something to say. Police show up, you

1:24:24

know the hand back there, Spirst, I think sure

1:24:27

we have a mic so everyone can here so if

1:24:29

you want to show, please make

1:24:31

your way to the mic there. Oh

1:24:38

oh he can sure,

1:24:41

sure do. Then Uh, I

1:24:43

got two lass, I guess when that's in laminatory

1:24:46

One? First, to to what

1:24:48

extent that we believe of these critinalization

1:24:50

policy or or not just racial

1:24:53

policies because they're uh dispersed

1:24:55

them at the uh what goos?

1:24:58

But they're actually int actually

1:25:00

race system policies because

1:25:02

we all know that black people and three

1:25:05

times more likely to be homeless that the likes

1:25:08

in in Miami as a matter of fact,

1:25:10

about sixty percent of a Blacks

1:25:12

about sixty percent of homeless population.

1:25:15

We all know that the Oregon's

1:25:17

crime, Morgan's drugs, and and the

1:25:19

and the sense is nothing within the golf

1:25:22

whistles to go after the

1:25:24

stereotype of the inherently dangerous

1:25:27

black male. Uh. And we all

1:25:29

know that Trump can use mister Jones

1:25:31

is of the example here is an infamous

1:25:34

race paper. Okay, he he's

1:25:36

always on camplaze at and used them

1:25:38

his base of the demobilized base.

1:25:41

So I I I've seen here that

1:25:44

these criminalization policies I

1:25:46

went into spatially neutral policies

1:25:49

that have a disparate impact upon protective

1:25:51

class, which is sort of like the league undepetition

1:25:54

here. But these are But my question

1:25:56

is to what extent we believe these are intentionally

1:26:00

racis not just racial but racial

1:26:02

class. The same reason

1:26:04

why we have the rise

1:26:07

and showing the black men, uh during

1:26:09

the anti Asian hit. Look at the videos.

1:26:11

They are to do the most inquisious instances.

1:26:14

But even though we know statisticals the most

1:26:16

crime against the Asian people were white people.

1:26:19

So it is deliberate. So w it's it's

1:26:21

there for you if you want to see it. Ell,

1:26:24

I'll just you know, I mentioned earlier that like

1:26:26

many of the statutes that are still

1:26:29

used to criminalize homelesses today

1:26:31

are Jim Crow era statutes

1:26:33

that were literally put there so that the

1:26:36

very existence of somebody in

1:26:39

a public space could be deemed a crime.

1:26:41

If that was that person wasn't desirable

1:26:44

and uh, and then that person

1:26:47

could be put into prison, passed

1:26:49

through the thirteenth Amendment loophole back

1:26:52

into and for involuntary servitude.

1:26:55

And so you know it, the

1:26:57

the history is there and the present. I'll

1:27:00

read another line from Trump's speech. Uh,

1:27:03

you know, uh, we need to take

1:27:06

back our streets in public spaces from the homeless,

1:27:08

drug addicted and deranged. You

1:27:12

know, we the

1:27:15

homeless encampments are taking over the dangerously

1:27:17

deranged romar streets with impunity.

1:27:20

This is the same you know, uh language

1:27:23

that he was using about when he came down the escalator

1:27:25

and was talking about the rapists

1:27:28

and murders from Mexico like

1:27:30

this. It's it's all. It is part

1:27:32

of the same dog whistle rhetoric.

1:27:36

And you know, and I think

1:27:39

in the fact that the Cicero Institute and and Joe

1:27:41

Lonzil like I mean, they are explicitly attacking

1:27:44

advancing critical race theory,

1:27:47

racial equity as

1:27:49

part of their their push

1:27:52

for more criminalization. You

1:27:55

know, they're not going to say it explicitly,

1:27:57

of course, but yeah,

1:27:59

it's it is. It's right there. They see

1:28:02

the connection and lead

1:28:04

you to too Central

1:28:06

Park five. Is there any indication you remember

1:28:08

what his statements was he put the full page

1:28:10

ads out on these young teenagers

1:28:13

that and were innocent, calling for

1:28:15

the death only calling the animals. So

1:28:17

yes, it's pretty obvious. Shouldn't

1:28:20

that be our our our

1:28:23

public or our uh talking point

1:28:25

of these laws

1:28:27

are racist but unfortunate,

1:28:30

and and pointing out that

1:28:32

anybody who supports these is

1:28:35

in fact racist in

1:28:37

this situation. I mean, that's again

1:28:40

the same uh, along the same principle

1:28:42

they mentioned before about talking

1:28:45

about you know, simple people come up

1:28:47

with simple solutions and this. You

1:28:49

know, these are simple solutions,

1:28:51

and so yeah, you're simple. You know,

1:28:54

read the word you know, avacorant or whatever

1:28:57

you want to put it in there, you know, quotes or whatever.

1:28:59

But yeah, I mean it's the same thing.

1:29:01

People don't want to be People

1:29:04

don't want to be called racist cause I want

1:29:06

to be thought of as racist as a lot of men. I'm

1:29:08

gonna tell you straight out what

1:29:10

my experience is is just saying that you just see,

1:29:12

if you do support these things, a big racist,

1:29:14

I've got so much backlash for people that were

1:29:16

close to me, or for your friends or you

1:29:19

think to be called back. It's

1:29:21

like if you open up people of color to

1:29:23

a grounds up of violence and harassment

1:29:26

by the very same people that they thought that was in

1:29:28

their corner. So you

1:29:30

can say that, but I will tell people of

1:29:32

color, you know, be you choose your battles,

1:29:35

because y y, you're going to you're

1:29:37

gonna go through hell, try and explain why these

1:29:39

stings are racist, because they will tell you very

1:29:41

good people. They help people of color, they

1:29:43

help them move off the spreed and everything

1:29:45

out. And so you're gonna spend an enormal amount

1:29:48

of labor trying to explain to them why

1:29:50

these things are racist and our larger

1:29:52

impacts. So, yes, it is racist,

1:29:54

but that's a little extra burden for people

1:29:57

of color to have to say they were past is

1:29:59

act like a right exactly and

1:30:01

get upset. Yeah, so it won it will not. It's

1:30:03

good. I have had poor success.

1:30:06

But with that, but again for the

1:30:08

white privileged people in the room, yeah,

1:30:10

well for us to say that, yeah, and

1:30:13

I pointed out privilege,

1:30:15

you're right, but you're right, but we

1:30:18

just can't. I mean, yes, we we gonna

1:30:20

do it. You only be hounded forever.

1:30:24

What I was saying, is it time for us to step

1:30:26

up? Absolutely? And yes, absolutely absolute

1:30:31

and say it. But again, yes, no, I

1:30:33

guess that one. That's absolutely cric. Yes, So

1:30:35

it's like second in the question is how

1:30:38

does a sister of an instant to gather

1:30:40

so much of the power, uh by average

1:30:42

sort of About a year ago, the man Sent

1:30:44

Commission was considered the same type of protocol.

1:30:47

In fact, you're looking to deport

1:30:49

our holes populations on the island than

1:30:52

in the same bay. N actually

1:30:54

gonna banished this hid but if

1:30:57

they been around for a long period of time and

1:31:00

account to the Progress

1:31:04

Institute that account of that. I

1:31:07

think a lot of our the sort of progressive

1:31:09

think tanks aren't doing a whole lot on this issue

1:31:12

and have kind of shied away from homelessness,

1:31:15

housing poverty onto

1:31:17

other gend diagrams which are important

1:31:19

to genda items but aren't errors. I

1:31:22

don't know a lot about the Cisro Institute. I think it's

1:31:25

it's sort of there's a lot of funding

1:31:27

from a particular billionaire who's uh spouses

1:31:30

their views. But I feel I

1:31:33

do want to clarify part of what

1:31:35

I was trying to communicate. I think

1:31:38

the easiest thing we can do at this moment is

1:31:40

to vilify the Cicero

1:31:43

Institute or Donald Trump. This

1:31:46

is bigger than that of

1:31:48

that. This

1:31:51

has been observed by you know, more student people than

1:31:53

than me. But I mean Trump is a masterful

1:31:56

UH player of politics. He has

1:31:59

more talent in figuring out

1:32:02

the the the the

1:32:05

sort of just

1:32:08

how how to tap into the

1:32:11

the sentiments of so many people

1:32:13

who feel unheard and so

1:32:15

the Cicero Institute being aligned exactly

1:32:18

on the on the same message Trump delivered

1:32:20

yesterday of sanctioned encampments,

1:32:23

camps out in far away places. There's

1:32:25

something there that they you know,

1:32:28

we can criticize the institute, we

1:32:30

can institute, we can criticize

1:32:32

the former president. But this is

1:32:34

much more endemic

1:32:36

to where people are are shifting

1:32:40

and the fact that they're as leaders are are

1:32:42

trying to lead their constituents

1:32:44

in that direction. We need to be

1:32:47

ready for this in a way that isn't just simplate where against

1:32:49

Donald Trump because he said these these

1:32:51

horrible things. How do you think it's fear?

1:32:53

I think it's fear you're talking. That's what we're

1:32:56

playing on and when people are afraid,

1:32:58

and they will list you anybody

1:33:01

who speaks to that. Yeah. Start

1:33:04

in two quick comments and two

1:33:06

quick questions. One is I'd

1:33:08

love this confidence, but the three steps to get

1:33:10

to the mic is not physically accessible. Love

1:33:13

you have that conversation sometimes if you wanna

1:33:15

have maybe comments are physically accessible.

1:33:18

Two. Marisola's work addresses

1:33:20

how like people can use

1:33:22

language so it can be heard by

1:33:24

other people, so that it's

1:33:27

not just calling out the racism. It's

1:33:29

calling out the racism. So it gets you

1:33:31

to the goals that you

1:33:34

want. And it's really important

1:33:36

that we do it right. And it's it's

1:33:38

all database, so it's words looking

1:33:40

at My question one

1:33:42

is should be looking at lawsuits

1:33:46

or should we be looking at the able

1:33:48

but just live builds uh in

1:33:51

term more effective of the most states, since we have

1:33:53

to look at a laws and then we're not

1:33:55

buy again stuff. And my

1:33:58

second question is is well,

1:34:00

our home listeners, we already talking about

1:34:03

constitute a guild the way

1:34:05

you run a person's way in a supreme

1:34:07

or our

1:34:10

gay Yeah. So

1:34:15

to follow up on your question as well, and

1:34:17

partially to answer yours, it there

1:34:20

there is no kind of counter

1:34:23

institute to the Cisero Institute, but many

1:34:26

of the national organizations are

1:34:28

right now working on like kind of a collective

1:34:31

how do we collectively come together?

1:34:34

How does the Alliance use its networks

1:34:36

with service providers, the National Coalition use

1:34:38

its networks with grassroots organizers, l Law

1:34:41

Center use its networks with the attorneys

1:34:43

to help work on this from

1:34:46

all angles and come up with a collective strategy.

1:34:48

So we we are we are

1:34:50

the people the change, We're we're looking for UH.

1:34:54

And on that front, you

1:34:57

know, in terms of lawsuits,

1:34:59

lawsuit I think

1:35:03

help. I think part of the reason that the

1:35:06

effort in Los Angeles under

1:35:08

the Trump administration stopped when it did was because

1:35:10

the Ninth Circuit or that was exactly

1:35:13

when the Supreme Court said it wasn't going to

1:35:15

take on the Martin case, and they

1:35:17

said, saw that the Ninth Circuit ruling was going

1:35:19

to stand there. But you

1:35:22

know, we have to see this as the

1:35:25

lawsuits can only get us so far. You

1:35:27

know, all that Martin actually says

1:35:29

is you can't criminally punish somebody if

1:35:32

you don't give them another place to go.

1:35:34

Like that doesn't get us to housing as a human

1:35:36

right. It doesn't get us. So we need the

1:35:38

affirmative solutions. We need the legislative

1:35:40

solutions. It would be great if

1:35:43

we had legislative solutions that also actively

1:35:45

prevented criminalization, homeless bills, uprights,

1:35:47

right to rest at that sort of thing. But

1:35:52

so we definitely need both at the

1:35:54

same time. And the litigation

1:35:59

can be seen as part of a

1:36:01

a broader strategy and the

1:36:03

same as with the civil rights movement where

1:36:06

the courts, you know NBOC he was working

1:36:09

UH, hand in hand with uh, you know,

1:36:11

the organizing on the ground, and so that's the

1:36:14

movement biing is is how we should be doing this.

1:36:16

We're we're going to take one more or last question

1:36:18

and we'll wrap it up. I got my notes

1:36:21

to get you guys opening along nineteen

1:36:24

thanks on anyway, one

1:36:26

of the things that I've noticed is some of the efforts

1:36:28

that we've made to your

1:36:30

rid criminalizing laws and

1:36:33

up e doing against us, and then in

1:36:35

our solutions added too. For example,

1:36:38

like one things I've seen as people having to grab

1:36:40

a housing adverts so that there'll be shifted

1:36:43

chine a way to make it more rapid shelter

1:36:45

which is actually kind

1:36:47

of continuing the process and the

1:36:50

people live as in later all

1:36:52

of this. Do you have any advice on how

1:36:55

to counter that? And we love hap

1:36:57

way in back or I

1:37:00

we would like to say, I think also not only to

1:37:02

the right and shelter, but also trying to get

1:37:04

other our art, because no,

1:37:07

we would have to give the devil is due. They're

1:37:09

organized and know how to dis discompopulate,

1:37:12

and they utilize people that

1:37:14

don't understand the full of the l end game like

1:37:16

I I've seen with the project room

1:37:19

key and situation. They'll try out people

1:37:21

with thick it's just wonderful. But they're not understanding

1:37:23

that if they're being shunted out on the street at

1:37:25

a certain time, so it was a temporary solution

1:37:28

or like tiny sheds, they thought that they had

1:37:30

their own room. Then they throw in that they're gonna

1:37:32

put in people that are not their partners

1:37:34

or may have COVID and all of these things. To

1:37:37

understand that this is not the solutions

1:37:39

that they are offering. They're this is a

1:37:41

game that they're playing for people

1:37:44

to pick activists against each

1:37:46

other and to say no, we want housing,

1:37:48

we don't want any more of these damn shelters, we don't want

1:37:50

any more of these these temporary solutions because

1:37:53

we know what the game is and it's very

1:37:55

hard to get some of Again,

1:37:57

this goes into the privilege they deliber

1:38:00

of some of the liberal privilege individuals

1:38:02

to get their understanding the end game, particularly

1:38:05

for people of color, to tell this

1:38:07

is not the move. But that's what

1:38:10

conversation for another day. This

1:38:40

is theo Henderson from Unhoused News

1:38:43

our top story. An unhoused man

1:38:46

actually for unhoused people on the River

1:38:49

and the valley were attacked with a pelic

1:38:51

gun and staffed and incidentally

1:38:53

a sad news, satter news, an unhoused

1:38:56

gentleman by the name of Jonathan has unlived

1:38:58

himself. We wished you remember

1:39:01

and uplift his name and his trauma and his

1:39:03

story. For the last two weeks on

1:39:05

Widian House has covered and have

1:39:08

featured. There was Nissi

1:39:10

Week in Little Tokyo, and it is a

1:39:12

very cruel irony that this is

1:39:14

a remembrance of the detention camp

1:39:17

and the erasure attempts of the Japanese community

1:39:19

over seventy nine years ago. And in

1:39:21

addition, right and juxtaposed by

1:39:24

forty one eighteen or the unhoused

1:39:26

black and brown communities that live in Little Tokyo,

1:39:29

by this very same descendants and some of the

1:39:31

advocates, they state that this is

1:39:33

not the same their

1:39:36

racial attempts or their carcer solutions

1:39:38

and removing unhoused people because

1:39:41

they are using the stereotypes that

1:39:43

they are criminals. They have trashed, they're

1:39:45

using good bathroom and if

1:39:48

you go into the community, there are aggressive

1:39:50

attempts of house security officers

1:39:53

attacking unhoused people for recycling

1:39:56

and also unhouse people

1:39:59

trying to survive in the and there

1:40:01

is very little empathy. Fortunately,

1:40:03

we have Jaytown Action and Solidarity that has

1:40:05

comes every Saturday to provide mutual

1:40:08

aid, a place of safe space, and

1:40:10

a way of seeing the unhoused community.

1:40:13

Unfortunately, members of the Japanese

1:40:15

house community a look on it with very

1:40:17

hostility, disdain and an

1:40:20

aggression, with the exception of a say

1:40:22

restaurant as well. A

1:40:27

restaurant has also implemented a cold

1:40:30

water policy for unhoused people

1:40:33

enduring the heat wave, which

1:40:35

is very commendable and unfortunately

1:40:37

our house community members

1:40:40

in Little Tokyo do not see

1:40:42

unhoused people as human beings. Los

1:40:49

Angeles has a new Bike Repair

1:40:51

Ordnance against the Unhoused Community

1:40:54

UH. What is prohibited under the ordinance,

1:40:56

which has not taken effect yet, is

1:40:58

people will be prohibited from assimbling,

1:41:01

disassembling, selling or

1:41:03

offering to sell, distributing,

1:41:06

offering to distribute, or storing on

1:41:08

public pike public property, five

1:41:11

of my more bicycle parts, a

1:41:13

bicycle frame without gear of bright cables,

1:41:16

two or more bicycles with missing bicycle

1:41:18

parts, or three or more bicycles. It

1:41:22

will take effect on August

1:41:24

eighth, twenty twenty two.

1:41:28

Who was behind the ordnance was council

1:41:30

member Joe Basquino and February

1:41:32

twenty two, Cindy Council approved it. On June

1:41:34

twenty one, with all council members voting

1:41:37

in favor except Mike Bonnan,

1:41:39

Marquise Dawson, Nathian Rahman, and current

1:41:41

Price. In

1:41:46

Happier un Housed News activists

1:41:48

Miss Carla and mister

1:41:51

Paisley were happily wed recently

1:41:53

and they are currently on their honeymoon. We

1:41:55

wished him a happy union

1:41:58

and also will take care and enjoy

1:42:00

your time. And we thank you for your

1:42:03

continued activism dealing

1:42:05

with the cartural solutions and carceral

1:42:07

environment that the in House are facing. On

1:42:13

August nine, two thousand and twenty

1:42:15

two, City Hall was faced

1:42:17

with activists protesting against the

1:42:19

forty one to eighteen Holocaust

1:42:22

to procedure rollout that they were trying to impose

1:42:24

across the city and the

1:42:27

protesters and activists have been featured

1:42:30

several weeks going and speaking out against

1:42:32

it. If you want to see the live live

1:42:35

streams, I strongly encourage that you

1:42:37

go and Lincoln to see it

1:42:40

on THEO Henderson's Widian House Live. In

1:42:45

other News in South Carolina, men

1:42:47

brutally beat unhoused camp as

1:42:50

others cheered on and video. David

1:42:54

Norris, Steph Norris, Joshua

1:42:57

Norris, Logan Holmes,

1:43:00

and Tristan Ramsey were

1:43:02

the men that were attacking unhoused people. These

1:43:04

people were housed. The videos showed men

1:43:07

brutally attacking people at unhoused

1:43:09

encampments while others stood by, cheering and

1:43:12

filming. And

1:43:15

this is some house