No easy answers

I’ve always liked the fairy tale of there being a magic wand that can be waved that instantly makes everything OK. Then again, that is a fairy tale and there is no such thing as a real magic wand. In reality, problems are complex and there are many variables.

The crisis with the homeless is no different. There is no quick easy solution that can be fixed in a snap. We have cities looking out for the concerns of economic development on one side and the souls who are chronically challenged migrating to cities for services on the other. Where CAN the homeless go legally? Where do you go when you are not welcome anywhere?

Then there are service providers. They need rules and structure but the rules can chase away the very people they are meant to serve.  Shelters are not places that fling open their doors and welcome you in with easy and grace. If you go to a shelter you sign over everything you have including your money. You get searched. You get a promise to get your stuff back when you leave. You may be required to pay a fee for the bed and meal. You are not allowed to visit more then a set amount of times a month. You share a room with people you may feel uncomfortable around. You may need to accept Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior too depending on which shelter is visited. Shelters need to have a plan and follow it to offer a safe and valuable service. They are doing the best they can. Even if the people in need of services can find fault with shelters at least they are doing something.

The homeless population is a reflection of our society. Some of them are as good as gold and are loving beautiful souls. Others are not so charming. People can have so many dysfunctions and issues that sorting them out could be endless. Like I said, the homeless are a refection of our society as a whole and we are all a mix of good, bad and ugly.

Since there is no national policy to deal with homelessness, the problems are pushed around from place to place. Literally some cities do offer one way bus tickets to unload the issue elsewhere. When one city does a good job being graceful than it attracts more people in need of services.

On the other hand, when a city is too strict and heartless they risk being sued for civil rights violations. Lets be honest, if city government can succeed at stripping people in poverty of their civil rights they may attack the middle class next.  Where do you draw the line?

The solutions to easing chronic homelessness are not easy. Humanity has it weaknesses. It is easy to find people to complain about and to point fingers at. No one is perfect. The city government certainly does not want to put out a welcome mat and attract more people in need of services. The issue does not come with an easy button.

The best we can hope for is that we as a society face the challenges without trying to sweep it all away. While the solutions presently available may not make everyone happy, trying to do what is right is better than not doing not doing anything at all. At the end of the day we should hope that everyone tries to “do the right thing ” and that those actions ease the problems without adding to it.

What we resist persists. WILL THEY SWEEP AGAIN?

New Orleans Homeless Camps update:  Last week 160 homeless people were swept away from under an elevated highway  on the edge of New Orleans Central Business District. The homeless camps were visible to local traffic. The displaced residents set up camps in new locations close to were they were evicted last week. One of those sites is visible to the public and has about 20 tents. The campers requested that I not photograph it yet.

Last night on the news the city promised to do another sweep to finish the job they started and cleanse the city of  the homeless problem. Today I went out to visit the new camps.  None of the faces of the homeless residents were familiar to me.  These new people didn’t know what to think of me either. I’m used to this process.

One camp leader agreed to speak with me. He is planning a meeting tonight with the other campers to discuss their issues including whether or not I would be able to document their story. It is hard for them to trust the media. These people are vulnerable. I get it. I understand and appreciate their apprehension.

As I stood there and chatted with him he was articulate, polite and clean. In the middle of our chat a passing car threw trash out the window and he was disgusted and worried that his camp would be blamed. No doubt he will take responsibility for the motorist and clean it up. The camp was clean and organized and had no smell of human waste.  Many of the residents were away at work.

On the news the neighbors in the warehouse district were interviewed about the homeless issue and the message was that the homeless problems should be cleaned up. I found it odd that in four different camps I visited all of them were out of the line of sight from the apartments and condos. You couldn’t see several of the camps unless you went looking for them. The only house that had a view of the tent city was on Camp Street and they were not on the news complaining about it.

This is a continual dance around human and civil rights inside the world of chronic poverty. There are ways to confront, address and heal these homeless issues on a local scale without constantly fight against it. The universal law is that what we resist persists and what we accept we move beyond. Chances are most local governments will choose to fight homelessness since they have the upper hand and that is the easiest path. And the campers will continue their battle because they have no other choice.  I expect the tent city on Camp street will get a sweep very soon but the issue will persist and the story of homelessness in New Orleans will continue.

Sweep away the problem

[New Orleans, Louisiana USA] Today New Orleans police conducted a sweep from St Charles Avenue to Claiborne along Calliope where the homeless population lives in tents under an elevated expressway. A sweep is where they clean out all the homeless from their campsites and return the area to a clean vacant lot. The excuse for the sweep was that the camps attract rats, are in the way of termite exterminators, campers have it too good being fed leftover’s from fancy restaurants and the camps are a public health hazard.

Let us not forget that the opening PRESEASON SAINT’S game is taking place tomorrow is also an important factor in eliminating the camps today. Homelessness is bad for tourism and New Orleans is a tourist destination.

It is a violation of homeless people’s civil rights to arrest them prior to public events as  the city of Miami, Florida found out in the 1990’s. However it is totally legal to sweep them away and suggesting they get into a treatment program. Anyone in resistance of a sweep can be arrested.

Some sweeps include help with treatment alternatives, hotel or shelter vouchers, or other offers of assistance. From the people I spoke to today alternatives were not offered or explained but extra shelter beds became available. Most campers do not feel comfortable going to a shelter. This is a population that does not cope well with rules and regulations and shelters are full of rules.

Residents who did not remove belongings from their campsite on time lost all their treasures to a bulldozer, cleaning crew and a garbage truck. The area looks really clean now and the 12 block stretch was cleared out by 11 am.  There were still plenty of panhandlers everywhere and many campers just relocated to another areas.

One homeless man I spoke to said that the SPCA took his dog. He had no choice in the matter. The SPCA said they would license, spay and give shots to the dog before returning it to him. He expects to see his pet again.  I really hope they keep that promise. He showed me the business card of his dog shelter contact. He will know in a few days if they keep their word. I have never heard of the SPCA returning an animal. It would be very nice if they did.

On the news this event was reported as part of the process towards ending homelessness in the city. Unfortunately, all a sweep does is add chaos to the lives of people who are already experiencing the worst possible reality.  

Steve lost everything to a sweep

(NEW ORLEANS, LA  2014 ) My friend Steve lost his home of 12 years yesterday. He lost his clothes, his documents, his photos, his books, his cookware, his bed and absolutely everything he owned and needed. He felt safe there. He didn’t bother anyone and no one bothered him. Officials came and took everything he owned and destroyed all his treasures as he was passed out drunk a short distance away. EVERYTHING he worked to build is now gone. Now all he has is the clothes he was wearing.

If you lost everything you would call your insurance agent. He doesn’t have one.  He didn’t own the land where he lived and he didn’t pay rent.  Basically, Steve has NO RIGHTS. He was not warned of his eviction. He was not offered any help or social services for his loss.

I heard a homeless service administrator say on a news interview that the people living on the streets have it too good.  Perhaps they should even outlaw feeding them in public too. They have done so in other cities.  She said that maybe if life became a little harder for them they would decide not to be homeless anymore.  

In Steve’s case, he is a chronic alcoholic. If he doesn’t have alcohol he goes into withdraw. At this point the alcohol is killing him but he needs it. So he drinks. He stays out of trouble.  The only person he ever hurts is himself. Now the only structure he did have is gone. Nothing remains but a mud puddle. If he thought he had nothing before now he will truly know what it is like to not have anything.

If a person is down and out and living on the edge in the United States they have no civil rights. They can be arrested and jailed for silly reasons. Federal courts have ruled that harassment of the homeless is unconstitutional and yet this goes on daily. Sweeping away the homeless to deter their presence is a common strategy to end homelessness in every city. For the record, it doesn’t end it, it only make life harder for people who are already struggling.

I wonder what it would take to shift the consciousness of how our society deals with this epidemic? Presently what they are doing does not resolve the issue. I wonder if the person who ordered the destruction of Steve’s home would have done so if they ever met and spoke to him? I bet they have no idea who he is.  All they know is that he has no legal right to reside there and they have the right to sweep him away and they did.

Steve still lives there in the same spot. He still drinks.  He just doesn’t own anything anymore, no bed, no pillow, no roof to protect him from the elements.  Steve is a sweet, kind and polite man who has no ability to cope with his disease.  Even after loosing everything he owns, I doubt he is going to choose to stop being homeless.

Las Vegas Tunnels

There are hundreds of people living beneath the city of Las Vegas in Storm drains.  Tunnels are cool and dry in hot humid weather and appear to make good shelter. The danger is that when least expected a flash flood can occur and within seconds wash the tunnels clean. The encampments in a tunnel can disappear instantly and residents need to watch the weather and have an escape plan.

I went to Las Vegas, Nevada to see if I could get into the tunnels underneath the city and photograph the encampments there. I spent weeks making calls to outreach workers all of which fell flat. It was hard to get my calls returned and when I did get through to a human it would lead to a dead end over and over again.

The voices that I spoke to on the phone said the outreach teams are too afraid to enter the tunnels and they only go down with a police escort to do an annual head count. One social worker even came out and said that Las Vegas was not a homeless friendly city and that there are more laws against these people than to help them. I was warned to avoid the very tunnels I came to visit. The police do not enter the tunnels, in the underworld there is no protection, you are on your own.

To tag along with people who already knows the camps is always a blessing.  They know where it is safe and where to avoid.  Without that heads up I am destine to discover those facts on my own.

I can’t just show up at someone’s door and trust that I will be welcome with open arms. It is really a hit or miss sort of deal. I may click with a person that allows me into their world or I may not.  I never assume that the people I want to photograph are out to hurt me but it makes sense to take extra sets of eyes to help monitor the surroundings. 

We went directly to the tunnels without a guide. It was not hard to find what I was looking for but the next question becomes “ How smart is this to do alone being a female with expensive gear?”

I was hoping to have a support team and what I ended up with was just myself and a girlfriend. While she is a loving compassionate person, I’m not sure she could handle it if we went down a dark tunnel and ended up in harms way. As a photographer looking through a lense, I am the last person who is aware of the surroundings and thus I become very vulnerable. Now I not only have to be concerned about myself but for my assistant.  

We did introduce ourselves and were able to shoot a bit at the entrance of the tunnel but  my gut feeling was NOT to go inside yet. The homeless man we spoke with was drunk. It didn’t feel very wise to travel into a long dark tunnel where I already knew I we were outnumbered.  I could see and hear many other people back in the darkness and they made it clear they were not interested in our company.

I held out hope that before I left town I would be able to hook up with an outreach worker but that plan fell through. It will certainly take more time and energy before I can accomplish my goals of documenting the Vegas underground.

To do this work I spend countless hours building relationships with people and returning to work with the same people that I have built a trust with. It is hard to build relationships as I quickly breeze through a town but as I travel to new cities I will need to get used to working this way. This challenge is harder than I had anticipated but it is an issue I have to learn to flow with.

Doc says to keep shooting

I am doing several projects at the same time. Some personal projects bring in clients and help me earn my living. This homeless project doesn’t do that at all. Structure out of Chaos has always been a personal expense and a labor of love. At times I need to take a break from it to make money and pay bills but it always there in the background calling my name.

That is exactly what happened back in June.  I was milling around the streets of New Orleans shooting for something else.  One particular day I found myself in Jackson Square in front of St Louis Cathedral waiting on a person I needed to photograph.  From behind me I heard a man yelling, “ Hey Miss,  Hey Miss,  I want to talk to you!” I turned around and met Doc.

I can’t help but describe Doc as a stereotypical homeless man. He was drinking a draft beer and omitted an odor that made me take a step backwards every few minutes when the wind changed direction.  The smell was so bad that flies were actually swarming around his bottom.

He introduced himself and he was very interested in why I was taking photographs.  I explained my current project and also told him about this homeless documentary to see if he could give me leads. I assume there is nowhere I can photograph in New Orleans.  Encampments are not visible here probably due to all the abandoned property around town.

As I spoke with him a tourist came up and put a camera in our face for a quick shot. Apparently, if you are a tourist you need to take a snapshot of the local homeless people during your visit?  Doc took it in stride. I thought it was sort of rude. He says it happens all the time. I have learned to ask before  taking photos of homeless people even if it means I miss a good shot.  Hence, my homeless work becomes portraiture more than journalism.

Doc wanted to tell me about his life, as the beer appeared to be making him chatty. He said he served in Vietnam and that when he was there he had to kill babies. He started to point out children in the square and said that he had killed children that same age. “How can people live with themselves after that? ”Tears welled up in his eyes as he took another gulp of draft beer. He changed the subject briefly by telling me he thought I was pretty.

I don’t know if he is a veteran or just a delusional alcoholic. I have known drunks who have told war stories even though they had never been in the service. One thing was for sure, he was homeless and he had a story to tell about his daily survival on the streets. In spite of his stench, I couldn’t help but feel the kindness of his warm heart.

Everything happens for a reason right?  This is not who I came here to photograph but since I am here I will snap off a few frames ( with his permission) and pump him for information about how he lives. As it turned out he loved the attention of getting his portrait made and this was probably the reason he called me over.

Doc does NOT fit the profile of the people I photograph for my project.  The people in my documentary go to great lengths to make a home. Doc however lives on a park bench.

To discourage homelessness, the city of New Orleans removed park benches from parks, they lock many parks and the few places where the public can sit the bench is made so you can not lay down.  In Jackson Square where Doc lives the park benches have armrests. Since he can’t lay down he says he has trained himself to sleep sitting up. He has a folding parade chair to prop his feet and he stows his earthly belongings under the bench. To stay out of trouble he has to move his location around in the square but anyway you look at it, Jackson Square is his home.

“Doc, what do you do if it rains?”

“Well, you get wet.”

“Doesn’t that bother you?”

“Na, you get used to it.”

Doc is nothing like the people who build camps. They bath, they care about their little homes, they work jobs, they have bank accounts.  Doc did not impress me as someone who was too concerned about his own physical survival except for one thing, he was wearing bandages and pointed out that he was under a doctors care.

I decided that meeting him was a sign that I needed to keep shooting on my project. I was on the fence about whether to take a trip and invest even more finances into this documentary. After meeting Doc, I took it as a sign to keep pushing forward with this work. The invisible people of our society need to be seen and heard. As we educate ourselves perhaps we may inspire viable solutions to chronic homelessness such as improving the mental health system in the United States.

Building a new network

Las Vegas, Nevada Panhandlers with a sense of humor.

My goal is to travel around the United States to document the story of homeless encampments on a national scale. I was at ground zero in Miami when the epidemic began now there seems to be an a silent battle between people who need personal shelter and the places that do not want them to set down roots.

There are attempts all over the country to end homelessness and prevent people from squatting on public and private land. My mission is to show the stories taking place as homeless people try to organize themselves and systems seek to prevent the epidemic from getting worse. 

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While we watch stories we want to pick out the good guys from the bad guys but it is really hard to do.   The roles tend to reverse and flip around and keep us guessing. So my job is not to takes sides or to judge but to just document the issue.

In order to do this I need to shift the way I work.  In the past, I spent a huge amount of time creating relationships both in the homeless communities and with the social workers. Due to the limited time I can afford to stay in each city I am now relying on making good connections with social services. When I find a good homeless outreach team I can use them as bridge to get introduced. But in each city the relationship between the team and the communities change.

To test my ability to network I planned two trips with the goal of hitting two cities on each trip.  I spent about a month making phone calls and trying to set up alliances. In Miami doing this was rather easy.  Now even with experience I must say that the adventure felt like I was pulling people’s teeth.

The first trip was to Las Vegas, NV and Los Angeles, CA  The second trip was to Pittsburgh, PA and Wheeling, WV. In three of the cities after endless phone calls all I reached was deadends. Outreach services either didn’t know much about homeless squats or they were not interested in participating in exchange for photographs. One city wanted me to tell them where the camps were so that they could shut them down.   I’m not willing to reveal a source if it means the people I meet will end up losing their homes. I can’t become part of the story. I’m only there to document it.

I can and did go out on my own and could see exactly what I was looking to shoot but I was not willing to jump in and get deep into my work without at least one assistant. When my attention is through the camera I am no longer aware of my surroundings. Even if my lookout is a homeless person I know to ALWAYS have an extra set of eyes around. It may be that I can’t rely on homeless outreach services as a partner and may need to assemble my own team. I am still working out the kinks of how to do this and I have not exhausted all my ideas. Meanwhile in places like Las Vegas I spoke with endless people and gathered information for a return trip. 

The very best shooting experience of the month was in Los Angeles where I hope to return and work in more depth. While the city has a really bad image regarding the topic of coping with the homelessness, which we shall discuss at another time, the city’s outreach teams were excellent at communication and building relationships with the community.

Expect to see photos and hear stories about these adventures in future blog posts.