Hunger in America

"Just Jeepin'" (macintux) 01/10/2020 at 08:31 • Filed to: None

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Behind this sign is a story. It’s not the story you expect.

And I do mean quite literally behind.

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This sign overlooks a small piece of (apparently) public property with evergreen trees as you can see in the photo.

Below: yellow is the sign, red are the trees. I walk along the sidewalk south of those trees every day at work.

What you can’t see from either of these images are the tents pitched among the trees. They started popping up in the fall, at first very well- hidden by the trees, to the point where I smelled them before I noticed they were there.

The fact that this is a better situation than their neighbors a half block away who live under a leaky bridge is small comfort. This country can do better, but that’s not why I’m writing this.

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Wednesday as I walked along that sidewalk I heard the loud sounds of birds.

I noticed this in particular because often as I’ve walked that very sidewalk over last year I’ve contemplated how few birds there are in the area, despite the vegetation. Yes, it’s near the heart of a city, but birds are in trouble. We’re all in trouble.

That, too, is not why I’m writing this.

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I had a sinking feeling as I walked and listen to the bird cries that they were not, in fact, birds. I confirmed this after stopping to look up at the billboard.

Because the property where the trees and the tents and few birds reside is public, the police can’t chase the tent-dwellers away for trespassing.

Instead, someone has decided to make their lives even more miserable by putting speakers behind the sign and playing a recording, loudly, of birds. All day and as far as I can tell all night. Certainly at 5:3 0 Thursday morning I heard them.

That they chose this particular sign as an instrument of harassment of desperate, hungry people, is why I write this.

I wish I had a solution. I just hope that isn’t me in my old age. I’ve given up hope that no one would have to liv e that way.

DipodomysDeserti > Just Jeepin' 01/10/2020 at 08:55

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Pretty dick move. Probably disrupts whatever wildlife is in the area as well.

One solution, at least for that, would be to hand out some ear plugs. Or tag the speaker with a .22.

Ash78, voting early and often > Just Jeepin' 01/10/2020 at 09:07

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Maybe the sign company thought the benefits would “ trickle down” to the people below the sign. /s

It’s definitely a shame — feeding the homeless is one my main hands-on charity efforts. Sometimes its inside a shelter with a full kitchen, but other times we pre-prepare food (like 300 hamburgers) and just take them in giant coolers to city parks or warming stations. It’s like a full pop-up restaurant, and our contacts with in the homeless (or ex-homeless) community help us keep things running smoothly.

It all goes pretty well, but you have to wonder what everyone does after their meal is done. There’s still the issue of housing, or at least temporary sheltering. The people we feed outside are usually there because the shelters are full or because they’ve got other circumstances that keep them out of shelters (eg substance abuse, prior altercations, or just distrust of being on a list).

Giving someone a meal is pretty cheap and easy, but sustainable dwellings are a lot more complicated. My view on the tents are that as long as they break down their camp each day, the city should let it slide. If they’re leaving it all set up, then clearly there’s need for more formal sheltering. 

Sovande > Just Jeepin' 01/10/2020 at 09:17

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Add $2 to the cost of a gallon of gas  and use that revenue to build affordable housing with a job training stipulation - something akin to workfare. Guaranteed housing and food for guaranteed work.

Sovande > DipodomysDeserti 01/10/2020 at 09:18

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We stop at just shooting annoying speakers? Shoot everything. Arm the tent dwellers.

Chariotoflove > Ash78, voting early and often 01/10/2020 at 09:32

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I like the idea of mobile meals. It’d be cool to have a food truck just for the purpose. 

someassemblyrequired > Just Jeepin' 01/10/2020 at 09:33

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This article was eye-opening for me:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/local/wp/2019/03/22/feature/homeless-living-in-a-tent-blocks-from-the-u-s-capitol-and-working-full-time/

Chariotoflove > Just Jeepin' 01/10/2020 at 09:33

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Wait, so these speakers are affixed to the billboard?  Or they are on the ground behind it?  How is this set up?  Where is the power coming from?  Can you trace the cords?  Just cut them?  Is it some private citizen nearby or a commercial concern?

Ash78, voting early and often > Chariotoflove 01/10/2020 at 09:37

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That’s basically what we do, but because we unload a 20-passenger van and serve on the sidewalk, we can avoid all the registration/regulation issues of food trucks :)

For some reason, the city is ok with charity service on the sidewalk, but not directly from a truck. Rules are stupid.

Just Jeepin' > Chariotoflove 01/10/2020 at 09:41

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I can’t see them, but they’re clearly between the billboards. There’s power for the lights on the signs that the speakers are presumably tapping into. Also security cameras.

It’s in a company’s parking lot, so I would assume they’re the culprits, but I’m not sufficiently motivated or clued  into the backstory to sabotage it.

Chariotoflove > Ash78, voting early and often 01/10/2020 at 09:42

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If I had to guess, I’d bet the regs have to do with food prep mostly, which with a truck would be happening on site, vs delivery, where the prep is happening in a kitchen elsewhere that is probably already under city codes. 

Just Jeepin' > Ash78, voting early and often 01/10/2020 at 09:44

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They’ve been in the same spot for months, the tents never go down . Nothing (deliberately) temporary about it.

We used to have a large tent city near downtown, but it was disrupted a couple of years ago. No idea where everyone landed. 

Just Jeepin' > someassemblyrequired 01/10/2020 at 09:48

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Oof. That strikes close to home.

Thanks. 

My bird IS the word > Just Jeepin' 01/10/2020 at 09:51

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The problem with public housing is that people who cant take care of themselves certainly cant take care of a building.

Snuze: Needs another Swede > My bird IS the word 01/10/2020 at 10:05

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I think that’s a good point but it should also be remembered that not everyone ended up in this situation because they can’t take care of themselves. Sometimes people are just unlucky. Sometimes people make a poor choice that is unrelated to their ability to physically care for a dwelling. That’s why we need a variety of options - mental health facilities for those unable to care for themselves or property, substance abuse rehabilitation facilities, and “workfare” type housing for people who may just be unlucky and need help in transition.

Mid Engine > Just Jeepin' 01/10/2020 at 10:24

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It’s a huge problem in Seat tle, with rents over $2000/month people end up in tent cities, and it’s not just the folks fighting addiction or those with mental illness. There’s teachers and first responders living in tents or their car. Hey Bezos, you have e nough money to hop on your jet and drag your girlfriend to exotic places, do something . Yeah, Amazon chipped in a few bucks for Mary’s Place (evidently PR trumps solutions) , but it’s nowhere near enough and YOU created this mess by making housing unattainable. Same goes for Zuckerberg, Ellison, and so many other 1%ers. We need to tax the ever loving fuck out of these elitists since they clearly don’t give a shit (Gates is doing more than his part). When you hear all the democrats rallying for redistribution of wealth this is why. We treat our pets better than our brothers and sisters living in misery. 

fintail > Mid Engine 01/10/2020 at 11:36

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Seattle and adjacent suburbs should also tax the living shit out of offshore-based money launderers/capital hiders/residency purchasers who want to be absentee owners of local property, using it as a game. Not the lame 20% tax seen in Vancouver (money laundering center of the west coast), but something like 200% or more. Use the proceeds for affordable housing, and I don’t mean slightly less expensive “luxury” condos.

ShrimpHappens, née WJalopy > Just Jeepin' 01/10/2020 at 11:54

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What’s the quote about Americans being a bunch of temporarily embarrassed millionaires?

I also recently read somewhere that the root of the problem is that Americans view poverty as a moral problem. That is, you’re poor because you’re a bad person and have brought these circumstances upon yourself and therefore deserve them.

just-a-scratch > Just Jeepin' 01/10/2020 at 12:04

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Here in Seattle, homelessness ranks above the economy, climate change, taxes, and rivals traffic for importance in local politics.

Chariotoflove > Just Jeepin' 01/10/2020 at 12:19

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Got it.  

Mid Engine > fintail 01/10/2020 at 13:25

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Absolutely agree with you, it’s become an epidemic. My old neighborhood in Bothell has become a haven for Chinese “investors”, at least half the houses around me were turned into rentals. Buy a three or four bedroom house, rent it out for $2500/month to millenials, usually six people or more. And everyone has a car, so parking became a huge issue. I’m glad I’m outta that area.

ZHP Sparky, the 5th > Just Jeepin' 01/10/2020 at 13:55

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Wow this is so sad and horrible – do these people not even see the irony (?) of what they’re doing given the content on that billboard??

Unfortunately such crap is nothing new. I don’t live in SF anymore but still follow developments regarding the homeless situation down there. There are regular sweeps by the cops where homeless peoples’ belongings are either trashed/destroyed, or soaked with hoses – WHAT do they think this achieves?? Pure meanness. There has also been an effort to open a new homeless navigation center (i.e. beds, resources to help direct them towards help they need whether it be rehab, applying for jobs, getting to family and support networks elsewhere, etc.) near the ballpark in a currently empty lot on the Embarcadero – and get this, there are residents of nearby buildings who have collected hundreds of thousands of dollars in a legal fund to fight this proposal. Because of “property values” apparently – yes because their property values are better with homeless people sleeping in every doorstep and with feces all over the sidewalks instead of them having access to a structured environment where they’re safe, and can get the help they need to NOT BE HOMELESS???

I’m in Portland now where the city in general is a lot more understanding of the plight of the homeless – and there are resources and shelters, but not nearly enough (and of course property prices are going crazy here too, although not to the same extent, driving people out of their homes). And of course people from outside the city are constantly complaining that all the money being spent on the problem is a waste (while also complaining that the homeless problem needs to be fixed?) of their tax money that amounts to socialism.

United we stand, divided we fall my ass.

fintail > Mid Engine 01/10/2020 at 16:32

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I’m in Bellevue. You can’t believe how bad it is here in terms of offshore-based dirty money speculating in real estate, and the amount of empty properties in the midst of a housing crisis. I have seen stats that over half of detached sales were to offshore cash buyers (ask no questions), and I suspect some of the highrises are more. I like the sarcastic quotes around “investors”, too, as these properties are vehicles to buy residency and hide ill-gotten gains (there is virtually no vetting of the money coming in).

Sadly, it won’t change as the luckyboomers are cashing in on it, the real estate caba l (sales, development) which also has political clout don’t want the gravy train to end, and the cities themselves want the property tax revenue.

DipodomysDeserti > Sovande 01/11/2020 at 00:55

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Well...if you’re homeless in the most wealthy country to ever exist, there’s probably a mental health issue that needs to be dealt with. Firearms aren’t the best solution in that case.