How many does it take to....... (10-13-08)

I am sure there is a joke in here somewhere about how many people from Columbia does it take to recognize a homeless shelter, since Columbia City Council paid to fly 24 people to Miami for a day to visit a homeless shelter there. I wonder why 24? And I wonder, how much? Since the city cannot afford Christmas lights, where did they find the money for such a junket? And who were the privileged few? Was this a good buddy networking junket, as useless as Coble’s NYC Macy’s junket in the early 90’s? (Don’t remember that one? Macy’s announced plans to abandoned downtown, so our mayor makes a special trip to NYC to visit them. Of course, Macy’s had already made the decision, so his junket was useless, except a nice fall holiday trip to the city for our mayor.)

So, why so many? Maybe a nice reward for a group of people who support our council and mayor? In this economic climate I would want to believe our council would be much more cautious about the money they spend, applying it to the necessities and being frugal in the way they research issues.

In the early 90’s, Rick Baty had an idea for a program he called Agriculture in the City. A brilliant idea I thought, whereby the homeless would plant, cultivate and harvest fruits, vegetables and flowers on unused city land. With these, they could either feed themselves, or sell for income. Rick identified many plots, including small ones in traffic circles and rights of ways. I was so taken with the idea that I promoted it every council race I was in, and promised Rick that I would do so until either it happened or I quit running. Unfortunately, Rick passed away at a young age, and I quit running 2 ½ years ago. But his concept led me to think about possibilities for the homeless and add to his concept.

My thinking led me to propose a comprehensive homeless facility by the river. There is much land, unattractive to most, noisy and dirty next to I-126, Huger, Elmwood and the cemetery, industrial in nature, some being in the floodplain and under the overpass, that could be used. It is not very desirable, yet meets the requirements of those I talked with about being on a bus line and close to the in town services the homeless need. On the floodplain areas, recreation fields for soccer, baseball and other sports can be created, along with land for agriculture, as it floods infrequently. There is also more land adjacent that is out of the floodplain that may be used for those activities along with building a comprehensive facility with showers, mail stop, telephones, day shelter, wet shelter, night shelter, education, job training, and satellite offices of most of the agencies that work with the homeless. If memory serves me correctly, the idea for the recreation fields was also Rick’s, not mine. The rest, mine, cultivated from the ideas Rick seeded.

This concept I have pushed for years, mostly against the grain of the powers that be, including the intelligentsia of Columbia. Now, many years later, they “discover” the area and its suitability for the homeless. Though it is still a reasonable place to create this concept, it is not as suitable as it was even 4 years ago. Now it has new housing, new offices, a children’s puppet theater, revitalized neighborhoods, more retail, all competing to be viable. Mixing in the homeless is not a grand idea in this situation.

Let me stop here and say that the Main and Elmwood location is absolutely the wrong place to establish a comprehensive homeless center. The neighbors do not want it, the businesses of Downtown, 5 Points and the Vista do not, the library staff does not, and the police do not. But many affected will not voice opposition due to political correctness or political reasons. I can speak from experience in 5 Points as to the intensity of the situation as I am panhandled frequently every day, find clothes and materials on my roof and behind my dumpster that the area police recognize as from homeless, find soiled diapers and human excrement frequently behind the dumpster throughout the week, and last week found excrement in my doorway on ground level. I have even found homeless using my dumpster area as a home. I have a heart and have tried to help in many ways, including employment, but handling these types of homeless people is beyond my skill level. Not all homeless are this way, with many desiring to improve and rise out of the situation they are in. Not all Wall St. bankers are crooks either, but how do you tell the difference? Mixing people of different cultures and attitudes that clash horrendously just invites seething anger and fear, as well as physical confrontations.

There is a better place to situate the shelter, one that would cost less, provide more area, be well buffered from the city population, reduce confrontations, and allow dignity for the homeless. Fields for recreation and agriculture would be available, potential river access for fishing, area for shelters and training facilities, along with satellite offices for helping agencies. It would reduce the homeless population within the city that causes so much of a problem and allow easier enforcement of city laws that are so often broken by the homeless, but ignored by the police due to necessity. Reducing the city center homeless population and confrontations with citizens will help to revitalize central retail efforts and protect central housing growth.

This and more I will discuss in my next issue. In the meantime, your comments are welcomed.

Joseph Azar