General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsFeeding Homeless Apparently Illegal in Raleigh, NC (w/MAJOR update at 4:43 PM)
Last edited Sun Aug 25, 2013, 04:44 PM - Edit history (3)
Occupy Raleigh just posted this at 4:43:
"We are happy to report food is being distributed to those in need at Moore Square peacefully and without incident at this time."
They tell how we can help at the end of the blog post, with contact info. NC's demise continues...
What Happened
This morning (8/24/13) we showed up at Moore Square at 9:00 a.m., just like we have done virtually every Saturday and Sunday for the last six years. We provide, without cost or obligation, hot coffee and a breakfast sandwich to anyone who wants one. We keep this promise to our community in cooperation with five different large suburban churches that help us with manpower and funding.
Today officers from Raleigh Police Department prevented us from doing our work, for the first time ever. An officer said, quite bluntly, that if we attempted to distribute food, we would be arrested.
Our partner church brought 100 sausage biscuits and large amounts of coffee. We asked the officers for permission to disperse the biscuits to the over 70 people who had lined up, waiting to eat. They said no. I had to face those who were waiting and tell them that I could not feed them, or I would be arrested.
In the past, we have had a good working relationship with the Raleigh Police Department. We knew that we could not use the park itself, as doing so required a permit, but that it was fine if we wanted to set up on the sidewalk, as long as we did not block the sidewalk and cleaned up after ourselves. We have operated, unmolested, under this assumption for the last six years.
http://lovewins.info/2013/08/feeding-homeless-apparently-illegal-in-raleigh-nc/
EDIT TO ADD UPDATE: This group's FB page shows the local news station interviewing people in Moore Square several hours ago, one would assume about this situation. I personally know a lot of people who contacted the media -- and the recommended contacts noted at the blog -- about this. It does seem to be going viral.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151814044045342&set=a.10150703584175342.448130.345936410341&type=1&theater
3:00 PM Sunday news update:
http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=9218431
Raleigh police spokesman Jim Sughrue told ABC11 that no arrests were made Saturday in connection with the feeding activity.
"People were simply informed the ordinance prohibits the kinds of actions some groups have been engaged in at the park. Work is ongoing with those involved, some of whom are developing alternative sites, etc.," Sughrue said.
The group has asked for help from the public in finding a private building or parking lot downtown that they can use to feed the hungry.
A rally is scheduled for Sunday at 4 p.m. in Moore Square.
Another good link with mayor and city council input, thanks to DUer, rubluetoo:
http://www.candidslice.com/city-council-responds-to-lovewins-ministries-viral-blog-feeding-homeless-apparently-illegal-in-raleigh-nc/
Mnemosyne
(21,363 posts)Heather MC
(8,084 posts)I would have drop the sandwhiches in a box in a nearby trash can and left. I m not distributing them if I am not there right?
Mnemosyne
(21,363 posts)theHandpuppet
(19,964 posts)1. Below are the email addresses and phone numbers of the Mayor and of the City Council members. We encourage you to email them and ask A) why organizations, such as Love Wins Ministries, are being prevented from feeding people in the park, when the City of Raleigh has no means of or plans to feed them and B) encourage them to allow said feeding to continue.
Keeping in mind that we win over no one with anger or rudeness. Anger does not cast out fear only love can do that.
* Out of town folks, call any and all of the City Council members.
* Raleigh residents, call the City Council member representing your district. You can find your district by entering your address here.
City Council At Large
Mary-Ann Baldwin - Email - 919-996-3050
City Council At Large/Mayor Pro Tem
Russ Stephenson - Email - 919-996-3050
District A
Randall Stagner - Email - 919-996-3050
District B
John Odom - Email - 919-996-3050
District C
Eugene Weeks - Email - 919-996-3050
District D
Thomas Crowder - Email - 919-996-3050
District E
Bonner Gaylord - Email - 919-996-3050
Mayor
Nancy McFarlane - Email - 919-996-3050
2. Post the link to this post on Facebook, Twitter, Reddit or any other social media outlets you have access to. Again, we have done nothing wrong, and have no desire to hide.
zazen
(2,978 posts)OneGrassRoot
(22,917 posts)to see that. Couldn't post everything due to four-paragraph rule, but thank you for posting it instead!!!
theHandpuppet
(19,964 posts)Y'know, I'm sure the city itself has plenty of properties, even empty buildings or lots, that could serve as a distribution center for these efforts. I'd personally recommend that someone local look into this and ask the city officials why one of the taxpayer funded properties couldn't be used for this purpose.
Mnemosyne
(21,363 posts)zazen
(2,978 posts)though I doubt it.
I wonder if this is part of a larger effort to start preventing and/or dispersing crowds throughout Raleigh (including Moral Monday demonstrations against our crazy NC legislature four blocks away or at the Governor's Mansion three blocks away). Theoretically the Raleigh PD is local and not beholden to McCrory et al, but they may feel stressed with the additional activities in our downtown, which are only going to increase.
I hope they go to the Unity Church across the street from Moore Square and start giving them out through the front door. I don't think the PD could stop that. Moore Square is between the Bus Station and a homeless shelter--it's the primary gathering place of Raleigh's homeless. I don't see how they're going to be able to stop that, ultimately.
Synthesize
(19 posts)theHandpuppet
(19,964 posts)Just asking.
Synthesize
(19 posts)... would try and break up and discourage any regular gathering of the homeless in a public area like that.
theHandpuppet
(19,964 posts)What possible threat does this pose to the public?
Synthesize
(19 posts)Many business owners and residents would prefer not to have a large congregation of homeless waiting for a handout (i.e. coffee and a sandwich)
That's probably the reason the police were called and why I'm surprised they made it six years without a complaint.
theHandpuppet
(19,964 posts)..."a large congregation of homeless waiting for a handout."
Okay, your initial response to this threat raised the red flags for me and I can see that my instincts were right.
Good day to you. I'll leave it at that.
oldhippie
(3,249 posts)The poster made no such comment as you alleging. He talked about the business owners and residents, not themself.
You are doing the typical reading into something what is not there just to feed your outrage. I see that way too much here.
theHandpuppet
(19,964 posts)In the meanwhile, have a nice day.
TransitJohn
(6,932 posts)Weird.
theHandpuppet
(19,964 posts)Weird, huh?
malthaussen
(17,066 posts)... when no one can try to make a point without raising offense and "red flags." I'm surprised it lasted as long as it did, too. Many property owners do think that homeless people scare away their customers and lower their property values. It doesn't have to be "true" for them to think it, and as for something as nebulous as "property values," thinking it might just make it so. Most people, and certainly just about all our local legislatures, want the homeless problem (or at least, the homeless!) to just "go away," and they don't want to have to deal with it any further. Typical ostrich mentality. But refusing to acknowledge that this mindset does exist is just as bad.
-- Mal
theHandpuppet
(19,964 posts)... without referring to a "congregation of homeless waiting for a handout", as they so put it. To me that is an insulting expression when it would have been so much easier simply to say "meal". The word "handout/s" if oft used in a derogatory manner; in fact, one of the official definitions of "handout" is food or money given to a beggar. If it was the intention of the poster to use that language not in their own voice but in speaking for those who oppose the efforts to feed the hungry, it was not certainly not clear to me.
malthaussen
(17,066 posts)I frequently use the rhetorical approach of speaking in "another's" voice, so I tend to give doubt's benefit when another poster can be construed as having done so.
-- Mal
totodeinhere
(13,037 posts)given that the poster is a new poster I would think that a polite reminder that there are better ways of putting it might be sufficient. As a progressive I have always believed in giving people the benefit of the doubt until such time as I have a concrete reason not to. I think you are too quick to jump to a negative conclusion.
oldhippie
(3,249 posts).... add "handout" to the list of forbidden words.
totodeinhere
(13,037 posts)I got in trouble for using the term "pro life" even though I meant no harm. I used the word without thinking about any implication that it might have. I was using the term as a part of a comment that showed support for abortion rights but nevertheless my mere use of the term got somebody angry.
BlueJazz
(25,348 posts)Synthesize
(19 posts)They are handing out sandwiches and coffee..
totodeinhere
(13,037 posts)The theory is that having a concentration of homeless people in a particular area will be an "inconvenience" to their customers and drive some of them away. Then there are some people who simply are uncomfortable with actually observing homeless people as if keeping homeless people out of sight will somehow drive away the problem of homelessness itself, which of course it won't. Pointing out these sad facts in no way should suggest agreement with it. Of course I would hope and expect that everyone at DU supports homeless people and people who are attempting to help them. And we should do all we can to personally help as well. If we don't have that attitude then we are at the wrong forum. But pointing out reasons why some people might oppose helping the homeless is important too. We can't fight the problem if we don't understand the roots of the problem.
TroglodyteScholar
(5,477 posts)How does that justify attacking the poster who is explaining this? This certainly was *not* presented as the poster's view. Ignore me, too, if you must, but it's incredibly obvious that you've misread the poster's tone/attitude.
Bay Boy
(1,689 posts)Or were you suggesting that is what the previous poster was saying?
And that is what the previous poster was doing. He was saying that
the business owners were against the homeless waiting for a handout. They were his own thoughts of the situation.
theHandpuppet
(19,964 posts)...that with perhaps one exception, most of you have no idea what my objection was about.
marions ghost
(19,841 posts)--the "homeless" congregating on the street for regular food distribution programs by churches and other groups.
Why not in Raleigh?
Because Raleigh has been taken over by a band of RethugliCons who lack any sort of compassion.
totodeinhere
(13,037 posts)Philadelphia, among other cities, has recently passed a ban on public feeding meaning that a church congregation seeking to feed the homeless in a public place would now be violating the law.
http://www.crosswalk.com/church/giving/permission-feed-poor-anti-homelessness-legislation.html
marions ghost
(19,841 posts)--That statement from your article rings true. And what can we do about it? If compassion is out of style, how about Justice?
I think there's not enough room for all of us Bleeding Heart Liberals in Rhode Island:
"For Joel John Roberts, the reality he sees in cities across America represents a problem for the homeless population People are tired of compassion, he says. Irritation has trumped tolerance for those who are homeless. He believes it's a failure to think long-term about the problem. Enforcing anti-homeless ordinances is more politically expedient than actually addressing the root causes and long-term solutions to homelessness, he says.
But not every state is trending toward an inhospitable response to its street-bound citizens. A few days ago the governor of Rhode Island signed on to the state's Homeless Bill of Rights, a piece of legislation designed to welcome and protect homeless individuals by protecting their rights. "I think we've set the bar high in the U.S. for homeless people, and I'm very proud of that," said one Senate sponsor of the bill, Sen. John Tassoni. The bill protects a homeless individual's reasonable expectation of privacy, and prohibits discrimination against those living on the streets.
Neil Donovan is the executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless. He applauds the passage of the bill. "It's important as a standalone piece of legislation but also as it's juxtaposed with other communities that are in the process of criminalizing homelessness," he says.
Groups and individuals working on behalf of the homeless might have an easier time of it in Rhode Island than many other states. In Houston, Texas, the act of feeding five or more homeless people in public without written permission from the city is now punishable as a misdemeanor, carrying a fine of $500. But churches, individuals, and faith-based groups are protesting the new restriction. Manual Sanchez, a volunteer with Simple Feast, a church ministry, summed up his group's feelings on the subject. "We have a huge problem asking the city for permission to feed the poor, he said.
------------
--We need to really push hard for bills like Rhode Island's....!
SummerSnow
(12,608 posts)Scuba
(53,475 posts)What laws prevent churches from feeding people?
meti57b
(3,584 posts)If not, there wouldn't be anything they could charge you with.
malthaussen
(17,066 posts)"May I please see the statute, officer?" Really, I think it should become a mantra.
-- Mal
former9thward
(31,805 posts)Almost everywhere. To make sure food is properly prepared, stored, etc. There can be exceptions to the license when you are inviting people to your own business (church building) on your own property but once you carry food outside then you are on your own.
leftstreet
(36,081 posts)That's usually the ordinance being broken
oldhippie
(3,249 posts).. and restaurant (food service) inspection and licensing laws.
Babel_17
(5,400 posts)The world is what the world is and Raleigh is full of hungry people. You can't pass a law saying hunger is illegal.
It sounds like the city council has a problem with Christians doing their thing. Sending out the police shows a lack of leadership.
The city council, if they really needed to limit traffic in that area, should have applauded the efforts to feed the homeless and also offered some alternative suggestions. One might suspect that the city council is more concerned with appearing to side with those who are against the homeless being visible in large numbers in their areas.
TRoN33
(769 posts)And that is Republicans. Ever since they took over North Carolina, they are doing everything to destroy North Carolina and turn it into Republic of Kochistan. They sold out North Carolinian people, even if they are registered Republican voters.
atreides1
(16,046 posts)I think they've already done it...and I don't see much hope of real change in sight!
But good luck to North Carolina, Wisconsin, Texas, Ohio, and Maine!
Dustlawyer
(10,493 posts)That would bring sme heat!
kenny blankenship
(15,689 posts)but that, henceforth, any feeding of any particular homeless individuals would be required to take place only in the privacy of those particular individuals' homes.
Lady Freedom Returns
(14,120 posts)Springfield MO, you give anything to someone on the street and you get caought, You get a ticket and the homeless person goes to jail.
However you can get a permit to do stuff in a park or get a business owner to give you an OK.
Tucson AZ, many parks have markers say not give anything to homeless or get fined, some don't.
But I find it funny that the biggest culprits are the cops.
Joplin Mo, last I heard one can get a daily permit to panhandle. But if you don't have it, it is a week in jail.
But that was pre-tornado, so not sure now.
HardTimes99
(2,049 posts)you gave assistance to someone requesting it? These local ordinances seem tailor-made for a campaign of creative non-violent civil disobedience, a la Martin Luther King, Jr.
Lady Freedom Returns
(14,120 posts)And in Joplin I am not sure. I did a Story on the panhandling licenses some time ago for the campus news show. That was back in 2007. But since it is now pre-tornado in Joplin, it may have changed since then. They may just through you in jail period.
HardTimes99
(2,049 posts)ripe for a campaign of creative non-violent civil disobedience, a la Martin Luther King.
Wife and I are stuck in LA with a finicky cat, otherwise I'd be thinking about going there or Raleigh to put my ass on the line.
Nuclear Unicorn
(19,497 posts)BlueJazz
(25,348 posts)...the powerful/corporations make sure the public stays in the gutter.
theHandpuppet
(19,964 posts)... had their say in this matter, too.
BlueJazz
(25,348 posts)"If you're ever confused about who to vote for in a race, just find out who the Chamber of Commerce endorses and vote for the other person"
theHandpuppet
(19,964 posts)I know who the CoC endorses around here and it wouldn't be any candidate with a (D) beside their name!
littlewolf
(3,813 posts)Supersedeas
(20,630 posts)littlewolf
(3,813 posts)in their swat gear and amoured personnel carriers ... but in this case
it is higher up ... business owners or the chamber of commerce or
the city councils ...
gollygee
(22,336 posts)The really disgusting thing is that the attitude of Republicans is, and I've both heard this and read it, that homeless people are like stray animals. They actually compare them to animals and say that if you feed them they'll never go away and you'll have tons show up. They don't even treat homeless people like human beings.
HardTimes99
(2,049 posts)stayed in New Orleans in the wake of Katrina. (The Repulsivo who said it to me did so with eyes cast down, sneaking a glance at me to see if I were paying attention.)
marions ghost
(19,841 posts)...and maybe McCrony will bring em some cookies...
roody
(10,849 posts)attention to this travesty.
Shankapotomus
(4,840 posts)feeding the homeless produces? It's staggering. And then it attracts ants. It's a huge mess. It's just not worth it.
Bay Boy
(1,689 posts)we see in the photo, I would be asking him "Who authorized this?" and demand his supervisor come out and explain it.
burnsei sensei
(1,820 posts)As a Christian, in the practice of your religion, you have been circumscribed by the state.
I would sue on those grounds.
Every ordinance of this type should be challenged on those grounds.
It really goes to basic human agency-- the ability not just to serve one's self, but serve others, is central in our society.
gollygee
(22,336 posts)(In caps for it's religious significance to these folks.)
You don't have a right to spend your own money how you want? Big government nanny state, right? Funny how that argument only comes up when people are greedy and want to keep their money. When pepole want to give away their money, suddenly the libertarians aren't worried about the magical Free Market.
gulliver
(13,142 posts)Bring signs and food for the protesters.
onethatcares
(16,133 posts)"bastions of Christianity"???
What do you think they would do to Jesus?
malthaussen
(17,066 posts)Lindsay
(3,276 posts)those same lines.
Loaves and fishes? That'd be right out.
papa3times
(150 posts)a form of neo-fascism then I don't know what is. How can the state prevent anyone from doing charitable work like this? Where are all the mega-church money-grubbing whores?
mountain grammy
(26,571 posts)valerief
(53,235 posts)marble falls
(56,359 posts)marble falls
(56,359 posts)RevStPatrick
(2,208 posts)Dunkin' Donuts, is of course, owned by a consortium of investment firms including the Carlyle Group - the company that brought us George W Bush, 9/11 and the Iraq War, and Bain Capital - Mitt Romney's company. So naturally, it makes sense for the cop to be drinkin' Dunkin'.
marble falls
(56,359 posts)RevStPatrick
(2,208 posts)...and coffee and then get arrested?
If not, why not?
Samantha
(9,314 posts)I can't believe this story. It makes me sick. I don't live in NC but I am going to try to call some of those numbers. Also, maybe Rachel Maddow would feature this story since she has taken a keen interest in NC. I am thinking for sure Ed would leap on it.
Sam
CrispyQ
(36,231 posts)leftstreet
(36,081 posts)Nothing on Google news
totodeinhere
(13,037 posts)lots of hits.
http://tinyurl.com/k5kedbl
leftstreet
(36,081 posts)OneGrassRoot
(22,917 posts)As posted on the ministry's FB page from several hours ago:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151814044045342&set=a.10150703584175342.448130.345936410341&type=1&theater
I live in the Raleigh area. Given that this is Ground Zero for Moral Mondays, I'd be shocked if this group -- which I'm vaguely familiar with and never heard anything negative about them -- made this up in any way. The truth would come out big time, really fast.
Granted, if there was a misunderstanding, I'm sure the RPD will issue a statement soon.
leftstreet
(36,081 posts)I wondered if they'd left off any details
The primary reason these efforts get shut down - no local food service and/or handlers permit
OneGrassRoot
(22,917 posts)I lean toward skepticism myself whenever there are a gazillion links and only one source. Hopefully WRAL will have a story posted soon, with more back story, as you say.
limpyhobbler
(8,244 posts)Homelessness is illegal. Gathering in public spaces is forbidden. Feeding people makes you criminal.
Maybe we are further down the slippery slope than we realized.
Cleita
(75,480 posts)it seems since they own everything and have all the power, they are turning us into an ugly society. It's the one thing that is trickling down from them.
demwing
(16,916 posts)There's no other word for criminalizing charity
Fire Walk With Me
(38,893 posts)The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me:
I lift my lamp beside the golden door."
~The Statue of Liberty
WorseBeforeBetter
(11,441 posts)while reading this post.
Natalie Merchant / Christian Burial Music © 1987
Heaven, is this heaven where we are?
See them walking, if you dare
if you call that walking
stumble, stagger, fall and drag themselves
along the streets of heaven
Where is the blessed table
to feed all who hunger on earth
welcomed and seated each one joyfully served?
see them walking, if you dare
if you call that walking
stumble, stagger, fall and drag themselves
along the streets of heaven
Where is the halo
that should glow 'round your face
and where are the wings that
should grow from your shoulder blades?
These sobering sights I've seen
in the City of Angels
have all been one rude awakening
that was due to me in heaven
There would have been heavenly music
I was convinced before
and a host of the dearly to meet me
with hosannas sung at the door
But these sobering sights I've seen
in the City of Angels
have all been one rude awakening
that was due to me
in this city of fallen angels
I've been to Occupy Raleigh and a couple of Moral Mondays, and the cops were generally "polite." Not all are flaming assholes, they're just enforcing the shitty laws handed down by our fearless leaders.
"Photo of the Day - We are celebrating with Jeanette and Isaiah as they move to their first home after 12 years of homelessness. We sure will miss them, but we couldn't be happier for them.
Pictured with them are Officer Everette and Officer Clark, RPD community officers."
Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)rubluetoo
(16 posts)City Council and Mayor McFarlane are on our side homeless people should be aided!
http://www.candidslice.com/city-council-responds-to-lovewins-ministries-viral-blog-feeding-homeless-apparently-illegal-in-raleigh-nc/
OneGrassRoot
(22,917 posts)OneGrassRoot
(22,917 posts)http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=9218431
Raleigh police spokesman Jim Sughrue told ABC11 that no arrests were made Saturday in connection with the feeding activity.
"People were simply informed the ordinance prohibits the kinds of actions some groups have been engaged in at the park. Work is ongoing with those involved, some of whom are developing alternative sites, etc.," Sughrue said.
The group has asked for help from the public in finding a private building or parking lot downtown that they can use to feed the hungry.
A rally is scheduled for Sunday at 4 p.m. in Moore Square.
Cleita
(75,480 posts)I was once told not to feed stray cats or I'd get fined, but people? Since when did they become stray cats?
OneGrassRoot
(22,917 posts)"We are happy to report food is being distributed to those in need at Moore Square peacefully and without incident at this time."
WorseBeforeBetter
(11,441 posts)and for Occupy Raleigh.
theHandpuppet
(19,964 posts)Any details as to how this was arranged?
WorseBeforeBetter
(11,441 posts)RALEIGH The mayor and a city councilwoman pledged Sunday to find a solution after police barred charitable groups from feeding the homeless in downtown Raleighs Moore Square during the weekend. In the last month or so, police have been telling these volunteers to pack up their buffet tables, slow cookers and coolers or face being arrested. A city ordinance prohibits individuals or groups from distributing food in city parks without a permit.
Mayor Nancy McFarlane and City Council member Mary-Ann Baldwin said Sunday afternoon that a council committee will address the matter this week and that city leaders had not been involved in the decision to end the weekend food distribution.
....
Raleigh is a progressive city that believes in the values of each of its citizens, McFarlane said. We are so fortunate to have dedicated citizens that want to reach out to those in need. We will be taking this issue into the Law and Public Safety Committee immediately to bring all the partners together for a transparent discussion to work out a plan to address the questions surrounding this issue.
....
Baldwin, who chairs that committee, said Sunday: I feel horrible that this happened. I want to find a solution that is collaborative so that were doing the smart thing as well as the right thing.
http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/08/25/3135843/police-stop-charities-feeding.html#storylink=cpy
leftstreet
(36,081 posts)Last year, the City Council decided to purchase the former Salvation Army headquarters for $2.1 million as part of a broader redevelopment effort on the eastern side of Moore Square.
$2 million for gentrification, but no $ for the people
freshwest
(53,661 posts)FDR's campaign trip to Pittsburgh, PA, during which he dedicated the Terrace Village housing project on October 11, 1940.
FDR and Housing Legislation
In his State of the Union Message of January 6, 1937, President Roosevelt spoke of the urgent need for the new Congress to address the housing situation:
There are far-reaching problems still with us for which democracy must find solutions if it is to consider itself successful. For example, many millions of Americans still live in habitations which not only fail to provide the physical benefits of modern civilization but breed disease and impair the health of future generations. The menace exists not only in the slum areas of the very large cities, but in many smaller cities as well. It exists on tens of thousands of farms, in varying degrees, in every part of the country.
Two weeks later, Roosevelt made the point more succinctly in his Second Inaugural Address:
"I see one-third of a nation ill-housed, ill-clad, ill-nourished. . . . The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.
FDR then worked behind the scenes with lawmakers and administration officials on the housing bill. Issues such as financing of projects, caps on costs per unit, and the staffing and governance of the proposed housing authority were sorted out in conferences held at the White House. With the major concerns of various Congressmenincluding Rep. Steagallresolved, the bill finally went to a vote. President Roosevelt signed the Wagner-Steagall Housing Act into law on September 1, 1937.
The new law established the United States Housing Authority (USHA) that provided $500 million in loans for low-cost housing projects across the country. Under the new law, the USHA acted as a loan granting agency to state and local housing authorities to build low-cost housing in both small and large urban areas. The USHA was empowered to advance loans amounting to 90% of project costs, at low-interest and on 60-year terms. By the end of 1940, over 500 USHA projects were in progress or had been completed, with loan contracts of $691 million. The goal was to make the program self-sustainable through the collection of rents: one-half of rent from the tenants themselves, one-third paid by contributions from the Federal government; and one-sixth paid by annual contributions made by the localities themselves. During World War II, the USHA was instrumental in planning and constructing housing for defense workers.
To Franklin Roosevelt, adequate housing was not just a need, but a right. The Wagner-Steagall Housing Act of 1937, along with other New Deal housing and mortgage initiatives, brought greater economic security to hundreds of thousands of Americans. In his January 11, 1944 State of the Union address, FDR declared a second Bill of Rights that included the right of every family to a decent home.
I watched these public projects, which in my city were in good shape, and all but one of the city's public hospitals all sold off to developers in the era of Reagan. That reduced health care and housing to the poor. I know that some were in bad conditions in other places, which spurred part of the changes.
It was the beginning of chronic homelessness for many people. And by putting the problems of anyone up for public ridicule as Reagan did with the welfare queen meme, his anti-union, anti-civil rights agenda, add deregulation, and we have this problem continuing to fester.
Where I live, there is a good deal of subsidized housing that does not depend on large projects being built, and it works better than nothing. I'm not sure what's going on in Raleigh, but listening to Reverend Barber, the GOP has cut everything.
With all due respect to private charities, it is the lack of affordable, free or subsidized housing with unemployment payments and other social needs that need to be addressed. There is no lack of housing but there is NIMBYism.
We should not just be having the homeless fed while they are still left homeless as if we didn't know any better. I see communities that have banished those without homes, and others who grant them the right to be homeless without being bothered. What I want to see them not be homeless, period.
It is sad to think we are reduced to cheering a daily hand out to the homeless that equals the price of a cup of coffee and a sandwich. Such nominal efforts show a good heart but do not solve the problem.
Don't get me wrong, I've been homeless. When the big churches would not help me, a small one did give me coupons to get fast food meals. I am grateful for that to this day. Also, my situation was temporary and I was between places to live for a while.
Fortunately I did have a vehicle and people do live out of their vehicles. The church that gave me the coupons also told me where to park, as none would allow me to park overnight since their insurance didn't allow it. The woman pastor told me of a quiet state rest area with a bathroom and highway patrol office there for my safety. I was touched by her heartfelt concern after being dismissed by other churches and scared. It was also in late November and the autumn rain and gales were in full force.
And I was not asked anything by the police at the rest area until my second week. Then a patrol officer came to tell me kindly that they did not allow people to stay there permanently. I said I had found a place to stay and would be moving on as soon as it was available, which was true. The officer said alright and good luck.
Money exists to house people, but this is NOT the America of FDR. The will of Amercans to take care of strangers as a matter of human dignity seems to have left us years ago. Charity is an optional act and people should have rights, not live off the whims of others. We have been taken over by Randians who see nothing wrong with this state of affairs.
JHMOs.
P. S. About half the people in the USA are recieving sufficient services to not be homeless, without meals, or healthcare, all paid by the federal government and the states that are committed to doing so. We need more humane representatives in every state that this is not the case. The purpose of Social Security, Disability, unemployment payments and all the other programs prevent homelessness and chaos in millions of lives everyday of the year. Those stories are not brought up, they are taken for granted. We must extend these, not let the states get away with leaving their citizens without jobs, food, health care and housing.