the REFUGE

I have been thinking alot in the last few days about what is happening here in this city with the homeless. The problems we will face are growing steadily with the new moves to drive us out of the city entirely,no sleeping outdoors at all, no showers at St Vincent De Paul, no shelter space,no panhandling,the petty police harassment,and the Final Solution mentality of the mayor and the city council are very disturbing.Perhaps even more so is the apparent attitude of the citizenry at large. At best they are apathetic at worse actively supportive.The activities of the Kenwood neighborhood association in picketing the St Pete Times for it’s suit against the city is one example of people who dont want the homeless in their neighborhoods and use the council to get laws passed to prevent the homeless from getting work or even a bit of change.Granted many would use panhandling as a way to buy booze or drugs but GW has pointed out that for many it is the difference bet ween having a place and not.The alarming increase in the number of people eating in shelters as well as the decrease in the amount of meals provided is endemic of the situation. The talk of St Vincent de Paul forcing the homeless out from under the bridge is also a big issue but one thing I dont think we are hearing alot about is why are they doing this. Has anyone who is well regarded in the community gone to them and asked why these things are happening? Is there pressure from government or community groups that is difficult for them to resist? If so is there anything that the homeless advocate community can do to help? Can we help them to stand up to those pressures if any? Are they facing funding cuts? Can we help to find alternate sources of funding? Is it a staffing issue? Can we help there with volunteers or assist in funding for paid staff? Is it just too big of a legal issue with constant calls to the police to deal with various problems every night? If this is the case we have powerful advocates for the homeless who are immensely respected by those who are homeless. Words from those individuals to those who are homeless will probably mean far more than a cop saying if you drink here under the bridge we will arrest you. Those who speak for the homeless are often the ones we are mostly likely to listen to.
I am gravely concerned about this situation not just because I am desperately afraid for Alicia but for all those who sleep on the streets. These people are not just my friends but they are all our brothers and sisters in Christ. They like us are Children of God and deserve to be treated as such.We shouldnt turn away when the vans pull up to the sidewalk and men with badges, guns and dogs come and take these people away perhaps to camps somewhere that only lack a sign over the gate saying “Arbeit Macht Frei”
Germany in the 30′s was regarded as one of the most civilized countries in Europe and yet brought to past perhaps the most horrific period in all human history with the Holocaust.The homeless are todays Jews here in St Petersburg. Before the Pogrom we should do everything we can to prevent another horror.
In Christ
David Taylor

FACT SHEET REGARDING THE HOMELESS SITUATION IN ST. PETERSBURG

1. ACCORDING TO THE UN DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS, ARTICLES 23, 25, AND 26 EVERYONE IS GUARANTEED THE RIGHT TO HOUSING, SHELTER, FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT, HEALTHCARE ( INCLUDING THE RIGHT TO PERFORM BODILY FUNCTIONS), AMONG OTHER THINGS AND THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN SUPPORTED BY THE US.
2. ACCORDING THE US CONSTITUTION, AMENDMENTS 1 AND 8, EVERYONE IS GUARANTEED FREEDOM OF SPEECH, FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT AND THE RIGHT TO NOT BE DISCRIMINATED.
3. THERE ARE NOT ENOUGH SHELTER BEDS IN ST. PETESBURG TO ACCOMMODATE ALL THOSE WHO ARE HOMELESS AND THEREFORE, ACCORDING TO THE CITIES OWN ORDINANCE, THEY CANNOT BE ARRESTED FOR BEING ON THE STREET. ACCORDING TO THE PINELLAS COUNTY COALITION FOR THE HOMELESS’ OWN SURVEY, THERE ARE MORE THEN 6200 HOMELESS IN PINELLAS COUNTY, HALF OF WHICH OR MORE, ARE SOUTH OF ULMERTON RD. THE BED SPACE AVAILABLE FOR THE HOMELESS ONLY NUMBERS IN THE HUNDREDS.
4. SOLUTIONS HAVE BEEN PRESENTED IN THE PAST TO THE CITY BY BOTH THE HOMELESS COMMUNITY AND IT’S ADVOCATES, AND THOSE SOLUTIONS HAVE BEEN IGNORED.
5. THERE ARE NO BATHROOMS THAT ARE OPEN 24/7 IN ST. PETERSBURG AND THE CONTINUED HARASSMENT OF THE HOMELESS COMMUNITY FOR PERFORMING BODILY FUNCTIONS IS UNJUST AND IMMORAL.
6. ACCORDING TO THE 10 YEAR PLAN TO END HOMELESSNESS, THERE WAS TO BE A LARGE BED SHELTER PUT IN ST. PETERSBURG AND THAT HAS NEVER BEEN DONE.
7. THE TREATMENT OF MEMBERS OF THE HOMELESS COMMUNITY STAYING IN FRONT OF ST. VINCENT HAS BEEN APPAULING AND NOT IN KEEP WITH A CHRISTIAN ORGANIZATION, ST. VINCENT, AND JESUS HIMSELF.
A. WHENEVER IT RAINS THE HOMELESS ARE DRIVEN OUT FROM UNDER THE OVERPASS INTO THE RAIN. THIS INCLUDES HANDICAPPED AND ELDERLY. JUST RECENTLY 2 DIFFERENT HOMELESS INDIVIDUALS MIGHT HAVE DIED, HAD NOT A VOLUNTEER EMT WITH THE REFUGE HELPED THEM GET TO HOSPITAL, AND THIS WAS DIRECTLY RELATED TO THOSE HOMELESS INDIVIDUALS BEING IN POOR HEALTH DUE TO THE WEATHER.
B. AT LEAST 2 TIMES A WEEK DINNER IS NOT SERVED TO THE HOMELESS COMMUNITY DUE TO CHURCHES NOT SHOWING UP, AND THERE BEING NO BACK UP PLAN.
8. PINELLAS HOPE IS NOT A PERMANENT SOLUTION AND HAS IT’S OWN PROBLEMS
A. THERE IS NO REAL VOICE OF MEMBERS OF THE HOMELESS COMMUNITY IN THE GOVERNANCE OF PINELLAS HOPE OR ON A BOARD.
B. DURING RAINY/STORMY WEATHER AND VERY HOT SUNNY DAYS, TENTS OFFER NO REAL PROTECTION.
C. THE CLOSEST BUS STOP IS NEARLY A MILE AWAY.
D. THEY ARE CAMPED NEXT TO A GRAVEYARD AND HALF – MILE AWAY FROM JAIL,
E. THERE HAS BEEN NO REAL PUBLIC ACCOUNTING OF WHERE 3 AND ½ MILLION DOLLARS GIVEN TO PINELLAS HOPE, ON DONATED LAND, AND MOSTLY DONATED FOOD, IN A 2 YEAR PERIOD HAS WENT.
F. MONEY HAS BEEN DEPRIVED OF LOCAL LONG STANDING ORGANIZATIONS TO FUND “TENT CITY”.
G. THE HOMELESS COMMUNITY PROVED THAT THEY COULD RUN THEIR OWN COMMUNITY, LIKE HAS BEEN DONE IN NUMEROUS COMMUNITIES IN THIS COUNTRY, A FEW YEARS AGO WHEN THE TENTS WERE SLASHED AND THE HOMELESS COMMUNITY WAS ATTACKED BY THE CITY OF ST. PETE AND IT’S POLICE FORCE.
H. MANY WHO HAVE WANTED TO VOLUNTEER OR DONATE HAVE BEEN TURNED BACK.
9. THERE HAVE BEEN NUMEROUS ATTACKS ON THE HOMELESS BY PEOPLE IN THE COMMUNITY AND LITTLE HAS BEEN DONE TO ADDRESS THAT BY THE CITY.
10. THE HOMELESS HAVE HAD THEIR PERSONAL PROPERTY CONVISCATED BY THE POLICE AND CITY, EVEN WHILE MANY OF THE HOMELESS WERE AT WORK.
11. ANY ATTEMPT TO CREATE A DROP IN STORAGE, WITH LOCKERS, SHOWERS, AND BATHROOMS HAS BEEN DISRUPTED BY THE CITY.
12. THERE IS ONLY ONE MEMBER OF THE HOMELESS LEADERSHIP NETWORK THAT HAS BEEN HOMELESS AND YET THEY CALL THEMSELVES A “HOMELESS LEADERSHIP NETWORK’. IN FACT, OFTEN THAT NETWORK HAS REMAINED SILENT OR VOTED AGAINST THE NEEDS OF THE HOMELESS. AND, SOME OF IT’S MEMBERSHIP ARE HOSTILE TO THE HOMELESS. FURTHERMORE, SOME OF THE LEADERSHIP ARE FORMER OR CURRENT MEMBERS OF ST. PETE. CITY GOVERNMENT AND HAVEN’T RECUSED THEMSELVES ON SOME OF THE VOTES.
13. LASTLY, IT DEFIES ALL HUMANE, RELIGIOUS, AND SPIRITUAL SENSIBILITIES TO DO SOME OF THE THINGS THIS CITY HAS DONE AGAINST THE HOMELESS COMMUNITY, ESPECIALLY THIS LASTEST MOVE TO ARREST THE HOMELESS WHOLESALE FOR SLEEPING ON THE STREETS.

“WOE TO YOU WHO MAKE UNJUST LAWS TO DEPRIVE THE POOR OF THEIR RIGHTS” ISAIAH 10
“WHEN YOU HAVE DONE IT TO THE LEAST OF THESE, YOU HAVE DONE IT TO ME” JESUS

FOR MORE INFO GO TO WWW.ECONOMICHUMANRIGHTS.ORG OR CALL 7727 727 278 1547

The scholar is considered a threat to the faith of the unlearned because he or she proposes opinions and conclusions which cannot be reconciled with popular belief.

Reasons are found why scholars should not disturb popular belief even when it is in error, for it is alleged that it is better to leave people in error, which they have so long cherished and from which they have reaped so much devotion, rather than shock and disturb them with the truth.

This principle by logical dexterity is maintained together with another favorite principle, the principle that “error has no right to exist.”

When both principles are applied, it means that the scholar should propose nothing which might possibly be erroneous, while the faithful are free to retain errors as long as they are old errors and not new errors.

The faith of many has been shaken when the teaching of the Church has been reduced to less that its full truth; the faith of just as many, or more, has been shaken when unenlightened teachers impose upon them as beliefs of the Church things which are not true…It is not, and we trust never will be, necessary and proper to explain and defend our faith by anything else but the truth.

*Now it is quite possible to speak from the Gospel to war and peace but I know of no way in which what the Gospel tells us about war and peace can be presented to modern governments in a form acceptable to them.

Our temptation then has been since we know people will not accept it, therefore don’t say it.

Another temptation is to try to produce a form of Christianity that will be tolerable to those who believe that the best way to deal with your enemies is to beat their heads in. And, we have done this. We have produced the Christian ethic of the just war.

This is not the New Testament and every theologian knows it. But the implication that Jesus spent His time producing impractical ideals of moral conduct has other implications. It is effectively going to lead to the denial of Christianity as a valid system of human life.

John L. McKenzie
Myths and Realities, pages 30, 31, 233. *How Relevant is the Bible?, page 213.

____________

www.centerforchristiannonviolence.org

Hello friends,

Anti-flag has a new album with tons of anti-war music (as we’d expect!), here is the “official” video for the song “$1Trillion”

I think the song and the imagery in this are right-on. The lyrics are something that would make the FCC lose their heads, so until I do some editing, we won’t be able to play it on our show. I wanted to share it with all of you first. Hope you like it, ignore the ads…

peace & Love,
Heidi
=

Dear Friends and Supporters,
I hope and pray that all is well with you. I intend to send out a newsletter very soon, but for now I will just update you. Currently, I am on a sabbatical. I basically taking a break from local work and staying with other organizations or ministries around the country. I recently stayed with the Poor People’s Campaign office in Philadelphia, PA. I also visited the Simple Way while up there. I am n…ow in South Florida in Lakeworth with an intentional community there. While at both of these locations, I worked with them. With the Poor People’s Campaign, I am working as co-chair of Education Committee and am working with their drop in center, as well as coordinating council. While in south Florida, worked with drop in and homeless outreaches. Continued to work by phone and communicated with volunteers in St. Pete. We recently dealt with just yesterday 3 phone calls for addictions help, one of whom was suicidal. Fortunately, they are okay now. Additionally, we provided financial help for 3 single mothers. So, the work continues. Funds right now are low, but appreciate two donors who came through in a big way to help these families. But, we still need help. Right now we are trying to raise about $1500 for operating costs, my sabbatical, and to help an additional family, and very importantly we need $500 to register a donated car. Title is from out of state and that is why it so expensive. If you can help, please call me at 727 278 1574 or send check to the Refuge at 1818 29th ave. North, St. Petersburg, Florida 33713 or you can go to pay pal at www.refugestpete.org. For more info. about Poor People’s Campaign go to www.economichumanrights.org. Thanks, Bruce

PS. As some may know or not know I am currently “couch homeless”. I am currently look for a place to live really inexpensively or Free. If you can help, please call me I will give you details. Thanks, BRuce