And Shanty Towns will spring up all over America, as Americans lose their homes. On the depressing video the depressing video maker said Shanty Towns are already springing up, some big, like in Fresno, California, visited by that savior of the downtrodden, Oprah Winfrey.
The depressing video did not mention depressing Fort Worth and its Shanty Town. I knew of Fort Worth's Homeless Person Problem. But I did not know we had a Shanty Town of around 50 tents, until one of Fort Worth's Best Texans, Steve Doeung told me about it.
The Shanty Town is not all that far from my abode. Just a short distance west of the Tandy Hills Natural Area, on the south side of the Trinity River near Riverside Drive and Lancaster Avenue.
The Fort Worth Shanty Town has a mayor, There is a kitchen tent with two camp stoves. Another tent serves as the camp's food storehouse. The residents of Fort Worth's Shanty Town are pretty much a cross section of America; Black, White, Mexican, a mom with a baby in a stroller, some old, some young.
Some of the residents have lived in Fort Worth's Shanty Town since it was first founded, over two years ago.
Despite sending out study groups to other towns to take a look at their Homeless People Programs, in places like Portland, Seattle and Denver, the City of Fort Worth has not come up with any new solutions to the Homeless Problem
Local churches fill the void, delivering supplies to Fort Worth's Shanty Town.
And now, despite Fort Worth's Shanty Town not really creating any real problems. And despite the fact that Fort Worth's Shanty Town is providing a community where Homeless People can sleep safe at night, the City of Fort Worth apparently has decided the Homeless People must abandon their camp and move elsewhere.
City Code Officers descended upon Fort Worth's Shanty Town and supposedly found many violations.
I can't help but wonder if the veracity of those violations is just as legitimate as what Fort Worth Code Officers found during their Gestapo Raids on Steve Doeung's Carter Avenue home, in ham-handed attempts to stifle Steve Doeung in his successful fight against the City of Fort Worth and Chesapeake Energy.
Supposedly the Fort Worth Shanty Town is on private property with the owner unaware his property has sprouted a town and with the owner telling the Code Officers that the Shanty Town residents did not have his permission to set up camp.
The residents of Fort Worth's Shanty Town believe they have been given 10 days to get out of their Shanty Town. However, Brandon Bennett, he being Fort Worth's Code Compliance Director said no vacate deadline has been issued, but criminal trespass citations could start being issued if the property owner wants the Homeless People off his property.
The whole scenario reminds me of the Grapes of Wrath. The part where the Joad Family finally got to a safe camp, ironically run by the government, with the locals not wanting them there and trying to stage an incident to cause the shut down of the camp.
Methinks that since it seems obvious that Fort Worth's Shanty Town is solving a problem the City of Fort Worth has not addressed, as in, finding a safe place for Homeless People to seek refuge, that rather than working to destroy the Shanty Town, the City of Fort Worth, working with area churches, should find an acceptable piece of land, somewhere, land with running water. Bring in Port-a-Potties. Fort Worth has a big supply of Port-a-Potties in its parks. And bring in a couple big trash bins.
Fort Worth's City Homeless Program Director, Otis Thornton, claims Fort Worth's homeless shelters have room to accommodate the Shanty Town's residents and blames the church groups for causing the Shanty Town to grow by delivering food and supplies.
I really find it hard to believe that all these people would prefer living in tents in a Shanty Town if there were decent facilities available to accommodate them.
And, please, don't let me hear some City of Fort Worth official get all high and mighty about supposed code violations in Fort Worth's Shanty Town, not when more than one Fort Worth City Park lacks running water or restrooms, but has picnic facilities.
I wonder if my favorite Cambodian-American ever thought he would see something like Fort Worth's Shanty Town in the America he envisioned when his family escaped Cambodia to start a new life in the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave?
That is, the Brave who have a Home....
You have a way of expressing what regular every day people think and feel about things, Mr. Durango Texas. Your common sensible analysis and compassionate solutions make you the voice of the people in FW, which is refreshing compared to the platitudes from politicians and bureaucrats.
ReplyDeleteWhat you did not point out was the amazing coincidence between this new found interest and concern on the part of our fair city at this time...just a couple weeks before the nation (and at least international media) focus their attention on FW where ESPN will set up a temporary headquarter and the AFC champ will make a temporary home in the swanky Omni Hotel one exit down from these people's less than temporary home. These well-off pro athletes and their families should have a very good view of FW's "Homeless District" (although there's no official signs put up yet to direct folks to this district) and Cowtown's Shantytown.
Your solution is so much more humane and dignified than Moncrief's minions' show of force, intimidation, and criminalizing a socioeconomic issue. Who is/are the owner/s of this land? And why does the city not put the onus on them to take care of their property and to be responsible for what they had obviously allowed to occur on their land? Instead of using the supposedly scarce law and code enforcement personnel to act like the owners' personal security force. The city, especially the defensive and PR-concerned councilwoman, apparently knew of this sad state of existence for over a year. But chose to do little or nothing. Until Moncrief's moral twin Jerry Jones' carnival was coming to town. Hmmmm.
This heartbreaking story does indeed parallel what we neighbors had heard consistently about how and why Steve was singled out and treated...again simply because he and his home were in the way of this Fort-less and Worth-less city where profit and PR concerns trump people and their dignity and their rights. His drawing your attention to this people-focused issue is consistent with this unassuming family man, neighbor, and citizen, whose childhood of homelessness (and even country-lessness as political refugees coming to America yearning to be free) and recent recipient of this aspect of the FW Way. As you pointed out, Steve obviously has found a home in the land of the FREE. And he's reminding us to live our lives as citizens in "the home of the BRAVE".
Wow, Mr.Durango. Thank you for painting an accurate and compelling picture of the real America and the people whose lives in the midst of overwhelming challenges remind us all who and what qualities make this nation great. God bless you and bless those unfortunate people.
I've noticed this encampment, first because of the American flag flying at a tattered angle over the site. I can't say that I know what the city's homeless facilities are like, but I suspect they are institutionally depressing and offer no private space and probably no dignity. Perhaps I'm wrong.
ReplyDeleteWhen I see the tent city up on the bluff I think, well, at least those poor souls have a little patch of ground they can call home.
Although FW officials pay little attention to the best practices of other cities, it is unsurprising they follow the established lead by pushing out "undesirables" before a spotlight is directed on them. For shame.
Thanks as always for YOUR spotlight, Durango.
There is one discordant note. Why would any rational person choose Fort Worth as a place to be homeless? OTOH, irrational people might well chose to live on their own rather than in one of the City homeless shelters. Actually, though I consider myself rational, I'm not sure I wouldn't rather avoid the City homeless shelters.
ReplyDeleteWith a few exceptions, the homeless shelters are not much more than the cramped warehousing of homeless PEOPLE. ..OVERNIGHT. These unfortunate souls, due to whatever cause, have to line up around four in the afternoon to make sure they get a voucher that provides them a little spot on the gym like floor that night. The extreme closeness to others along with their unpleasant odors (and sometimes menacing vibes and even criminal intent, especially if one owns anything of significance or just "bothers" them somehow) make sleeping difficult and a restful night's sleep practically impossible. They then must evacuate the facility around six in the morning and try to find some place to clean up. Fortunately, food is not too hard to come by and can be quite good, thanks to southern hospitality and church outreach teams, who are often seen handing out home cooked food out of car trunks and vans.
ReplyDeleteThe brick and motar missions like the Presbyterian NIGHT Shelter, Salvation Army, and such do the best they can with whatever resources they have, mostly private donations and volunteers from the community.
One can understand why many prefer living in shantytown, where they find a sense of community, some dignity and security, and quite frankly a stable home that they don't have to move out of at the crack of dawn every day. As the old saying goes, it ain't much but it's home.
Too bad, the city won't spend significant taxpayer money to work on both short and long term solutions for what Jesus had called "the least of these my brethren"...like it does in paying for "studies" about things like streetcars that coated tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of dollars.
The skewered priorities and rank hypocracy of this city government, OUR government, are breathtakingly shameful. Even more, shame on "we the people" for allowing these things to occur and to continue without putting up much of a fight.
@Steve, sometimes setbacks accumulate and cause people to be homeless where they are. Lose a job- use up the reserves while you look for work- meals get smaller, bills go unpaid and then suddenly you are out of the house in foreclosure or out for non-payment of rent.
ReplyDeleteWhile some have families to fold back into- a whole lot of people land where they are, doing the best they can.
The economy has changed- demand for physical labor shrinks and leaves people wondering what is happening and waiting for things to get better.
We have serious dislocation of talent in this country. This problem requires hard thinking to solve but our leaders are busy worrying about taking care of their friends and getting re-elected. They are not willing to put much effort into comprehensive solutions to helping people get a foothold on new opportunities.
We will probably just watch and wait for all that wealth at the top to dribble downhill and land like fairy dust on people who need it.
Important issue Steve the crazy pipeline fighter brought your attentio, Durango. You incisive analysis and these thoughtfu comments gives hope that there are decent, intelligent, and compassion people living in this city who might just help bring about some common sense solutions to this issue (and "problem" for those who fail to see that these people are our neighbors, possibly our friends and family, and very well be us--just a few unfortunate set of events away, you know ).
ReplyDeleteDurango and his readers should be given a chance to be in charge of this issue. Crazy proposal, you say. Well if my failing memory serves me right, it was Durango who spearheaded the public unity that helped Steve achieve his amazing victory over a corporate giant with the awesome power of eminent domain and the city with its signifant police power. People called my neighbor Steve crazy for even trying to tackle an insurmountable foe, but his resourcefulness--esp. his willingness to work with others because he said his fight was "more about WE than just about ME", resulted in Durango and people from far and wide coming together to bring about a rare upset, to use a sports analogy.
I don't recall local politicians being on Steve's side, and the same with these homeless underdogs.
hi.you will forgive me,as i am not as well spoken as most of the cmooneters here,nor as well though out.i am a homeless person.i am in mcdonalds as we speak with my 300 dollar laptop writing this.i wanted to weigh in on this because it hits personally for me.as i have a tent in my military issue backpack and i cant even place it without fear of getting fined or arrested.homeless shelters are just what they say.they put a roof over your head so that normal people feel safer at night.i understand the point of view and dont argue witht he concept.note,many homeless people suffer from mental problems of various sorts,very bad health,and many come from a criminal background.how does a 42 year old man who suffers from diabetes and degenerative disc desease like me hope to defend himself in such a close knit environment from illnesses and theifs,or just bad personalitys.homeless people such as myself stand apart.the police who protect everyone else are agrresive about discouraging our presence,the home and business owners understandably try to discourage our presence,and our own kind are just as big of a threat to us as anyone else,except when you have nothing to lose there is little to stop you.when you allow a community for the good people to build a sense of belonging,to make friends,to have a area to feel safe and belong too,it gives you a sense of purpose that breaks the cycle,and add a little normality back to a completely confusing and abnormal situation.these camps,if allowed properly,protect not only the homeless people,they help protect society from the desperate acts of people with nothing to lose.i hope you guys do ban together and help these people.as for me,i am a wanderer,iw ill hitchike to the next town,and monitor your progress on here,in hopes that before my days end i see someone make a stand somewhere.all this unused land in america and no one can stick up a portolet and say hey,good luck.it saddens me.
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