Saturday, March 5, 2016

Why Removing "Tiny Homes" is Detrimental to LA's Homeless and Society

A week ago, I began the Change.org petition: Curren Price: Reverse Your Order to Confiscate and Destroy "Tiny Homes" for LA's Homeless and I've been tracking both sides of this issue every waking hour.

I decided to petition help from outside of the US (the Canadian Red Cross) because the number of homeless people is growing exponentially. As of June 2015, there were an estimated 44,359 homeless souls (an increase of 55 percent) since 2013.

In fact, over a third of America's chronically homeless live in California. Source: Now Calling Upon the Canadian Red Cross to Help

People are and will be dying in the streets.

Emotional Confrontation of Tiny Home Removal by Marisol Medina and Elvis Summers
Screenshot of Marisol Medina's Video Post / Homeless Woman Clearly Distraught

What's more: Elvis Summers and Marisol Medina are working around the clock to salvage their hard work and assure the homeless "they will get their Tiny Homes back". Take a peek at this heartbreaking footage.

The gist: a homeless woman is frantic (naturally) that her Tiny Home is being taken away from her. Marisol, Elvis, and their team are bearing the brunt of this woman's outrage.
And the homeless woman is right: the Tiny Home was gifted to her (and legally belongs to her). But because the city has already removed (without notice) and destroyed three Tiny Homes, Elvis and Marisol are simply trying to save the rest of them.

Now, the "city" has managed to make the good guys look like the bad guys.

Ripping these homes away from the homeless is clearly detrimental to their mental and emotional health. Can you imagine how hard Elvis and Marisol need to work on maintaining trust with people they've been helping all along?

And if it's hard for Elvis and Marisol, it will be impossible for city workers to gain their trust.

Of course, all of this is a violation of basic human rights. One cannot move forward in life without having basic needs met. The most simplistic reference – that still holds true today – is Maslow's hierachy of needs:

"One must satisfy lower level basic needs before progressing on to meet higher-level growth needs. Unfortunately, progress is often disrupted by failure to meet lower-level needs."

In fact, Maslow predicted that "only one in a hundred people become fully self-actualized" because of how our society operates. To spell it out for the Curren Price et al:

  • All humans need air, food, water, and shelter from the elements. 
  • All humans need to feel safe, secure, and free of any fear. The stability provided by laws (especially human rights laws) in a society are of utmost importance to uphold.
  • Next, we need to feel cared for, loved, and that we belong. (Not feel like an outcast or be forced into hiding).

For the city to make it impossible to have these basic human needs met and expect the homeless to "find a good paying job and get off the streets" is asking the impossible.

The impossible.

The one night I spent (as a teen, huddled next to my then boyfriend) went like this:

Slept on and off from 1 am - 2:30 am. Got startled by strange noises. Worried about being asked to leave or having our few belongings stolen. At 3 am, security told us to leave. From 3 am until 6 am, we walked around in a park, rested on park benches, grew hungrier and more tired.
At 6 am, a coffee shop opened and we sat there trying to figure out what to do next (and where to get more sleep). We were hungry for the next 6 hours until about noon (when high school friends offered us some of their lunch). We just had to keep moving to avoid anyone asking us to "leave the premises".
We had no money.

I simply cannot fathom how anyone can "turn their homeless life around" carrying on like this for more than a few days. Without adequate sleep, food and water, you cannot live. You cannot sleep if you are fearful.

And to maintain a sense of safety (as well as dignity and privacy): a room with a locking door is crucial.

Furthermore, it is entirely false that these Tiny Homes have no ventilation. They have two windows and eight vents. Yeah, EIGHT vents.

And when I viewed this video of Curren Price claiming that drug paraphernalia was found by city workers, I had a good chuckle. It's obvious they've copped a brand new box of needles (off the shelf) as opposed to providing REAL footage.

Sure enough, I later learned that these allegations were false and misleading. Click to enlarge:
George Palaziol constantly harasses Tiny Homes team on Facebook
Facebook feed of Welcome Home: A Tiny House, Huge Purpose

And it seems that Joe Busciano (one of the most vocal opponents of Summer's projects) has George Palaziol on his team to troll, bully, and threaten Marisol Medina.

Yeah, I'm not exaggerating. Click to enlarge:

Lauren Buzard told Marisol Medina George Palaziol has Mob Ties
Facebook feed: Tiny Houses for the Homeless Rally!

Gee, for someone on the San Pedro Community Homelessness task force, George Palaziol is spending an inordinate amount of time abusing Marisol Medina. In fact, I'm still finding commentary of his.

You'd think he'd be out there trying to help the homeless. 

So, I tried to find out what he actually does do and found this post by Donna Littlejohn of the Daily Breeze. Notably, Littlejohn's article confirmed that Los Angeles City Councilman, Joe Buscaino, appointed the group (shown in a photo, further along) and:
"Meetings are not expected to be open to the public but will be structured as working sessions."
"The intention of this task force is to create a smart, effective and civil dialogue between San Pedro stakeholders about issues caused by homelessness."
WAIT . . WHAT!!

The public cannot attend (unlike what Tiny Homes is trying to accomplish with their rally) and it appears that stakeholders are more concerned about their bottom line (money).

Ohhh now I understand why George Palaziol is publicly bashing Marisol Medina and Elvis Summers (and probably other members of their team).

Hmm, yeah. Better beware of this guy. Click to enlarge to get a good look:

George Palaziol is on San Pedro Homelessness Task Force via Joe Buscaino Facebook Feed
Facebook photo via Joe Buscaino September 16th, 2015

Want to help? Please sign and share our petition, Curren Price: Reverse Your Order to Confiscate and Destroy "Tiny Homes" for LA's Homeless

11 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  2. Should be called Rosewriteswrongs

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  3. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    1. Gee, you never stop harassing people that are trying to help the homeless, do you? Oh and LOVE your macho Popeye avatar (so appropriate).

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  4. Have you reached out to me and asked me where I'm coming from? Have you done anything else besides Google my name? You drug yourself into this, not me. Keep deleting my posts if you want but don't expect me to sit silent while you paint a false picture of me.

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  5. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    1. Hey George,

      I didn't NEED to reach out to you, because you've left your mark all over this issue.

      Your public posts have spoken volumes about your character and about what matters to you.

      You see, Popeye, I watch what people do. I see who is helping and who isn't.

      It's really quite that simple.

      You've painted the picture, I'm simply documenting it.

      Delete
  6. Keep on deleting. I'll keep on posting. You've obviously deleted my comments that would show you twisting articles and words to make your point seem credible. I can play this game too honey. Portraying a false image isn't very kind. Try sharing a vegan recipe or showing us a little of your humor niche because biased blogging doesn't suit you.

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  7. Keep on deleting. I'll keep on posting. You've obviously deleted my comments that would show you twisting articles and words to make your point seem credible. I can play this game too honey. Portraying a false image isn't very kind. Try sharing a vegan recipe or showing us a little of your humor niche because biased blogging doesn't suit you.

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  8. God bless you, Rose. God bless Elvis and Marisol for the compassion and love you have shown the homeless.

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    1. Thank you Snooty Aunt Cynthia (great pen name, btw). But in all fairness, it's Elvis, Marisol, and others (like those attending the rally on the 18th) that deserve most of the credit.

      I'm just watching and documenting all of this from the comfort of my igloo in Canada. But hey, if it gets the word out and more support for their Starting Human/Tiny Home movement, it's worth it.

      We are all in this together.

      Thanks for dropping by and taking the time to comment,

      Rose

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