00:00:57.460 --> 00:01:01.340
People in California have
become increasingly frustrated
with homelessness in

00:01:01.380 --> 00:01:04.320
the richest state, in the
richest country in the world.

00:01:06.640 --> 00:01:08.120
In the state capital of Sacramento,

00:01:08.580 --> 00:01:11.340
three people become homeless
for everyone who gets housed.

00:01:12.380 --> 00:01:16.500
Tolerance and empathy are at an all
time low while finger pointing from

00:01:16.560 --> 00:01:19.000
government officials
is at an all time high.

00:01:21.520 --> 00:01:24.300
People are so exhausted
they just look away,

00:01:25.520 --> 00:01:26.880
but that only makes things worse.

00:01:28.200 --> 00:01:32.141
In a time when high rises
and new developments stretch
as far as the eye can see

00:01:32.741 --> 00:01:34.241
without an affordable home in sight,

00:01:34.901 --> 00:01:38.821
we have to ask ourselves what
sort of society we hope to build.

00:01:46.141 --> 00:01:47.721
Our homeless crisis,

00:01:47.881 --> 00:01:52.721
our unsheltered crisis is
economics and the cost of housing

00:01:53.121 --> 00:01:55.981
and the cost of living. There
is no question about it.

00:01:56.201 --> 00:02:00.781
The fundamental problem
is that housing is a pure

00:02:00.881 --> 00:02:01.921
economic commodity.

00:02:02.521 --> 00:02:07.021
You can either afford it
or you're high enough on

00:02:07.621 --> 00:02:12.361
the waiting list to qualify for
a subsidized department or a

00:02:12.441 --> 00:02:17.401
supportive housing unit. And
for everybody else, we're sorry,

00:02:18.381 --> 00:02:19.214
you're on your own.

00:02:20.561 --> 00:02:23.541
That's the reality and we're
living with the consequences of it.

00:02:25.861 --> 00:02:30.621
Sacramento has a huge
unsheltered homeless population.

00:02:30.941 --> 00:02:33.081
We not only have a lot of people
experiencing homelessness,

00:02:33.421 --> 00:02:35.781
we have a lot of people who
are sleeping literally outside.

00:02:36.341 --> 00:02:40.201
And I was just checking the numbers.
As you know, the numbers are growing,

00:02:40.621 --> 00:02:44.461
but we have more people sleeping outside
in Sacramento than people sleeping

00:02:44.501 --> 00:02:45.481
outside in New York City.

00:02:47.381 --> 00:02:50.741
There's 3,900 people who are out
sleeping outside New York City.

00:02:51.241 --> 00:02:54.261
There was over 5,000
here in Sacramento. Now,

00:02:54.461 --> 00:02:59.061
New York City has a much higher per
capita of homelessness than Sacramento.

00:02:59.162 --> 00:03:03.322
About 90,000 people are
experiencing homelessness on
any given night in New York

00:03:03.382 --> 00:03:05.902
City. 10,000 in Sacramento.

00:03:06.902 --> 00:03:10.382
The difference really is, is that
the people who are sleeping outside.

00:03:11.602 --> 00:03:13.662
New York has a law called
the right to shelter.

00:03:14.562 --> 00:03:18.282
We don't have that law and we don't have
anywhere near the capacity of shelter

00:03:18.322 --> 00:03:20.662
space to offer folks. And in fact,

00:03:21.002 --> 00:03:24.282
we only have shelter enough for
one out of four people experiencing

00:03:24.322 --> 00:03:28.622
homelessness. And that's true of the
entire West Coast. The West Coast,

00:03:28.682 --> 00:03:32.162
about 75% of people
experiencing homelessness are
sleeping outside on any given

00:03:32.222 --> 00:03:34.762
night. And that's why we have encampments.

00:03:36.782 --> 00:03:40.142
So we hear a lot of explanations of
what's causing modern homelessness.

00:03:40.262 --> 00:03:44.022
It's a choice, it's the
climate, it's liberal policies.

00:03:44.602 --> 00:03:48.202
I think for any cause of homelessness
to really have true explanatory power,

00:03:48.622 --> 00:03:50.382
it needs to be predictive in some way.

00:03:50.922 --> 00:03:54.662
And I think what we find now is that the
communities with the highest rates of

00:03:54.722 --> 00:03:57.602
homelessness have the highest
rates of housing costs.

00:03:57.982 --> 00:03:59.842
So at the core of this crisis right now,

00:03:59.902 --> 00:04:04.102
we're really talking about the increasing
rates of rental housing prices in some

00:04:04.122 --> 00:04:05.602
of the most affluent parts of the country.

00:04:06.442 --> 00:04:11.082
The reason we have so much homelessness
in California is that housing costs have

00:04:11.142 --> 00:04:13.582
exploded and wages have not.

00:04:14.082 --> 00:04:18.462
So let's say someone is living on social
security or someone has a disability

00:04:18.682 --> 00:04:22.982
and is on SSDI, Social Security
Disability Income or SSI.

00:04:23.502 --> 00:04:25.262
Those have not in any way,

00:04:25.382 --> 00:04:29.003
shape or form kept up with
the increase in housing costs,

00:04:29.243 --> 00:04:33.223
which if you've spent any
time in California and
frankly all over the country

00:04:34.003 --> 00:04:38.623
have just absolutely exploded.
If you're making minimum wage,

00:04:38.723 --> 00:04:43.003
even though there have been great efforts
to boost the minimum wage to $15 an

00:04:43.063 --> 00:04:46.223
hour, it doesn't come
anywhere near covering it.

00:04:47.243 --> 00:04:51.963
We have not meaningfully
increased the federal minimum wage

00:04:52.143 --> 00:04:56.803
in many, many years and housing costs
have just completely disconnected.

00:04:56.963 --> 00:04:59.963
Government doesn't operate for
people on the edges of our society.

00:05:00.363 --> 00:05:04.843
It's all about keeping people or pushing
people that are in the edges either out

00:05:04.883 --> 00:05:09.243
of sight or pushing them back into what
we think should be normal and what we're

00:05:09.263 --> 00:05:10.643
deciding is normal.

00:05:10.983 --> 00:05:15.443
So government will always fail
in that way to acknowledge and

00:05:15.483 --> 00:05:19.423
understand what is happening on the
edges of human suffering that's created

00:05:19.703 --> 00:05:24.383
because of the very systems of government.
It can't really acknowledge it.

00:05:24.523 --> 00:05:29.063
It can't really look at it because to do
so would be to look at its own failure.

00:05:29.903 --> 00:05:34.363
I helped run the city's response
to homelessness for three years.

00:05:34.923 --> 00:05:39.143
I am a social worker with an
advanced degree and it would take me

00:05:40.423 --> 00:05:44.563
years to navigate someone through
this process as it exists now.

00:05:49.503 --> 00:05:53.880
I don't want to blame this all
in Nimbyism, but before 2021,

00:05:54.363 --> 00:05:58.744
the mayor had announced that he wanted
to open up nine homeless shelters or

00:05:59.083 --> 00:06:02.364
nine encampments. They
opened up none, right?

00:06:02.744 --> 00:06:05.624
Or there are various reasons why
they didn't open up any of them.

00:06:05.784 --> 00:06:08.884
Camp Resolution is an
example of that. They said,

00:06:09.044 --> 00:06:11.444
"We're going to create tiny home
communities in this space where there's

00:06:11.464 --> 00:06:14.064
currently a lot of homeless folks."
So they cleared out the homeless folks

00:06:14.084 --> 00:06:17.384
there. Then they did nothing.
Then they said, "Actually,

00:06:17.444 --> 00:06:19.584
tiny home communities
are too expensive. Okay,

00:06:19.664 --> 00:06:23.864
we're going to do a safe parking." So
they spent $100,000 and paved that space.

00:06:24.444 --> 00:06:25.244
And then they said, "Actually,

00:06:25.244 --> 00:06:29.644
we did an environmental study and it's
too toxic to have cars parking here." At

00:06:29.684 --> 00:06:30.964
that point, people just got fed up.

00:06:31.444 --> 00:06:33.844
And so they just squatted
the land and they said,

00:06:33.904 --> 00:06:34.844
"You're not going to kick us out.

00:06:34.924 --> 00:06:38.404
We have a quadriplegic woman here who
has no place to live and we're going to

00:06:38.424 --> 00:06:43.404
take over this place." That embarrassed
the city to the extent that they made an

00:06:43.444 --> 00:06:47.764
agreement to lease out that parking
space that became Camp Resolution.

00:06:56.080 --> 00:06:58.024
So I'm heading down to
Camp Resolution today.

00:06:58.244 --> 00:07:01.504
I want to get to know the founder Sharon
a little bit better and invite her to

00:07:01.564 --> 00:07:06.384
speak at Sac State as a spokesperson
for a potentially new model for how

00:07:06.484 --> 00:07:09.164
communities throughout California
are addressing homelessness.

00:07:10.524 --> 00:07:14.924
Camp Resolution's name was for us to
try to resolve what the city can't

00:07:15.724 --> 00:07:16.557
and won't.

00:07:17.284 --> 00:07:22.084
And so that's why it's called
Resolution because just by getting the

00:07:22.144 --> 00:07:26.564
trailers and getting... There was 25
tents here before. Now there's not.

00:07:26.964 --> 00:07:30.124
Now there's 17 trailers
and it looks a lot nicer.

00:07:30.785 --> 00:07:33.685
It doesn't look like a homeless
camp. And we've done this.

00:07:33.845 --> 00:07:35.625
We accomplished this ourselves

00:07:37.305 --> 00:07:41.085
and that's what makes us so
good is that we accomplish this.

00:07:41.945 --> 00:07:42.945
I think you guys should be proud of it,

00:07:43.005 --> 00:07:44.925
not only for what you've
accomplished for yourself. I mean,

00:07:44.985 --> 00:07:46.985
you really did change the
politics of it too. Yeah.

00:07:47.305 --> 00:07:51.425
Because I think with all of this, I
mean, it changed the conversation.

00:07:51.945 --> 00:07:52.445
Yes.

00:07:52.445 --> 00:07:57.065
It's a protest camp because there are
too many promises that the city has made

00:07:57.145 --> 00:08:01.565
to so many individuals in this
town and have fallen through.

00:08:02.465 --> 00:08:05.305
Like right now their thing is
they want to make eight sites,

00:08:05.445 --> 00:08:08.905
one in each district like this. And
they want us to be the model. Well,

00:08:09.085 --> 00:08:12.045
how can we be the model if you
won't give us the tools to operate?

00:08:14.465 --> 00:08:14.845
I mean,

00:08:14.845 --> 00:08:19.065
it's more of a personal struggle than
it would be a model because we're still

00:08:19.085 --> 00:08:22.965
fighting for basic things.
And it's frustrating.

00:08:23.825 --> 00:08:26.105
If they're going to do that though,
they need to provide the tools,

00:08:26.685 --> 00:08:29.445
the basic tools, electricity, water,

00:08:30.085 --> 00:08:33.485
because those have been a hardship
for us that we've had to struggle for.

00:08:33.565 --> 00:08:37.405
So we haven't been able to accomplish
other things because we have to

00:08:38.925 --> 00:08:41.625
fight for that and to be able to
provide that for ourselves every day.

00:08:42.645 --> 00:08:44.485
Well.

00:08:44.685 --> 00:08:47.845
I really appreciate you allowing us
to come here because as somebody who

00:08:47.985 --> 00:08:50.825
researches this, I mean, I've
never seen anything like this.

00:08:51.585 --> 00:08:55.245
And I think it could be a
model that could be replicated.

00:08:55.805 --> 00:08:59.426
There's something that's unique about
this and I like that my students study it

00:08:59.466 --> 00:09:00.299
and kind of observe.

00:09:00.666 --> 00:09:03.286
It. And the uniqueness of it is love.

00:09:04.166 --> 00:09:07.646
It was thought of and created with love.

00:09:08.846 --> 00:09:09.679
Jared and Joyce,

00:09:11.046 --> 00:09:15.386
they're the founders of Camp
Resolution and they risk

00:09:15.906 --> 00:09:18.846
their livelihood,

00:09:19.186 --> 00:09:23.946
their freedom for us to
sit here for this to go on.

00:09:27.320 --> 00:09:29.926
Then my sisters no matter what. It's.

00:09:30.286 --> 00:09:31.966
Just nice up here. It's
nice to be able to,

00:09:32.446 --> 00:09:34.306
when he's gone and a generator
shuts off or something,

00:09:34.386 --> 00:09:35.386
I can't get out to start it.

00:09:36.046 --> 00:09:38.286
I can go to the door and yell for
help and somebody will come help me.

00:09:40.306 --> 00:09:42.386
I go out to the door when I'm out there
and yell for help when someone's coming

00:09:42.406 --> 00:09:46.546
to take advantage of me, not help
me. And I don't want to do that.

00:09:46.706 --> 00:09:49.346
I don't want to feel that
way. I can't do that again.

00:09:51.666 --> 00:09:52.126
We're here.

00:09:52.126 --> 00:09:54.866
All you got to do is come and ask to
help and we'll help you as best we can.

00:09:54.926 --> 00:09:57.106
And if we can't do it, we'll
help find somebody that can.

00:09:58.946 --> 00:10:02.946
The only problem we have now is
fighting housing. Other than that,

00:10:03.026 --> 00:10:07.726
we're doing good. Just need housing,
man. I need a place to live.

00:10:09.106 --> 00:10:13.246
It's the place. Camp resolution
is the place. I mean,

00:10:13.346 --> 00:10:15.866
I came in here not knowing nobody. Nobody.

00:10:16.586 --> 00:10:21.286
And people who are following behind
me from research from Harris to

00:10:21.486 --> 00:10:24.766
Commerce, they follow me in here.
So now they're residents here.

00:10:25.227 --> 00:10:28.927
And you can ask them, they'll
tell you they feel safe. I mean,

00:10:29.967 --> 00:10:32.567
besides that, I mean, it's a
community. I love this community.

00:10:33.327 --> 00:10:37.127
I wouldn't trade it. It's really scary
out there. I can say for one thing,

00:10:38.007 --> 00:10:40.947
before I came to Cal Resolution,
my husband, he was working.

00:10:42.027 --> 00:10:44.760
He had a nine to five. He lost his 95.

00:10:46.047 --> 00:10:50.067
Lost his 95 because he didn't feel
comfortable leaving me out there on the

00:10:50.147 --> 00:10:53.227
streets where everybody's
getting swept, go to work,

00:10:53.447 --> 00:10:56.107
knowing that when he comes
home, it's going to be okay.

00:10:56.167 --> 00:10:58.367
Everything's going to be all right.
Nobody came by. Since I've been here,

00:10:58.467 --> 00:11:01.717
he don't have to worry about that. He
can go to work. He can go pull a 13,

00:11:02.127 --> 00:11:04.967
14-hour shift if he wants
to and know that I'm safe,

00:11:05.087 --> 00:11:06.547
I'm comfortable and I'm okay here.

00:11:07.247 --> 00:11:09.347
Not just because I know
how to protect myself now,

00:11:09.647 --> 00:11:11.207
but because I have a community around me,

00:11:11.307 --> 00:11:14.167
I have family around me who's willing
to help me as well if there is any needs

00:11:14.187 --> 00:11:15.020
to be helped.

00:11:21.067 --> 00:11:25.847
We create our rules for our own living.

00:11:26.667 --> 00:11:28.607
Yeah. It's just basically
like in your own home.

00:11:29.927 --> 00:11:31.187
It's just basically like in your own home.

00:11:31.247 --> 00:11:35.127
You're not have somebody from the city
coming to your home telling you how to

00:11:35.167 --> 00:11:40.027
live in your own house. Same thing
here. Same here. It's a hard fight,

00:11:40.807 --> 00:11:42.107
but it's happening.

00:11:43.807 --> 00:11:47.987
Everywhere else they're not letting
them have a chance to let loose a little

00:11:48.007 --> 00:11:51.547
bit, relax, kick back,
but we're doing that here.

00:11:51.987 --> 00:11:55.907
So how many homeless camps do you know
that's telling you to come on over for

00:11:55.928 --> 00:11:59.960
the barbecue? Not too many. That's
really why we're doing that here.

00:12:02.568 --> 00:12:06.028
That's amazing that people are actually
really coming and showing support and

00:12:06.108 --> 00:12:09.848
showing love and eating our food.
No, they're dirty down there.

00:12:10.320 --> 00:12:14.508
They're not going to eat it, but
they're coming and it's a good feeling.

00:12:15.248 --> 00:12:19.468
They see us as for people
and not just something else.

00:12:21.288 --> 00:12:25.168
But it's just a celebration for the camp
and then tomorrow the Wood Street folks

00:12:25.268 --> 00:12:28.708
and us are going to have a barbecue to
celebrate because if it wasn't for them,

00:12:28.808 --> 00:12:29.608
we wouldn't be here.

00:12:29.608 --> 00:12:33.148
Yeah. Is today the one year anniversary
of - Yesterday was. Yesterday was.

00:12:33.208 --> 00:12:34.048
Yes. Yesterday was. Yeah.

00:12:34.408 --> 00:12:37.488
Camp resolution. We got in the gates. We
stood our ground. We went to city hall.

00:12:37.548 --> 00:12:39.888
We fought with city hall. We
had activists that help us.

00:12:39.948 --> 00:12:43.148
We had Crystal Sanchez who helped
us and is still helping us.

00:12:43.608 --> 00:12:48.080
We also have our coastliners, our
backers, which is the safe ground folks.

00:12:49.508 --> 00:12:53.040
Thank you to them. It's to where now
we have a lease for the property.

00:12:53.600 --> 00:12:54.800
So we've done big things.

00:12:55.680 --> 00:12:57.720
They're able to get cars there.
They're able to get jobs there.

00:12:57.880 --> 00:13:01.320
They're able to take showers there.
They aren't running for survival.

00:13:01.520 --> 00:13:04.120
They aren't having to get up in the
morning and go look for the water for the

00:13:04.160 --> 00:13:05.640
day or the food for the day.

00:13:06.160 --> 00:13:10.280
It is allotted this space again for
people to sustain and to be able to

00:13:10.360 --> 00:13:13.040
progress, which is different
than what's on the outsides.

00:13:18.120 --> 00:13:18.953
We now move to

00:13:20.720 --> 00:13:24.760
the final item of the special
meeting, and that is item five.

00:13:25.800 --> 00:13:28.560
After the 2017 and 18 strategy,

00:13:30.840 --> 00:13:34.640
I brought forward the comprehensive
siting plan of 2020 and 2021,

00:13:35.720 --> 00:13:39.720
which despite its failures, and
obviously there were some failures,

00:13:40.080 --> 00:13:44.160
none of the 21 sites actually got

00:13:45.000 --> 00:13:47.480
up and running except for camp resolution.

00:13:49.440 --> 00:13:54.160
So today I am recommending
to the city council that we

00:13:54.240 --> 00:13:58.920
hand over the implementation
of picking sites for

00:13:59.110 --> 00:14:02.560
safe ground to the city manager. He
goes, you can't have an operator.

00:14:03.520 --> 00:14:06.680
It's more like the camp
resolution thing, self-governance.

00:14:07.600 --> 00:14:10.360
They may have said like camp
resolution, but in reality,

00:14:11.560 --> 00:14:15.160
the city manager's office was given
the authority to establish safe grounds

00:14:15.200 --> 00:14:16.120
throughout the community.

00:14:16.600 --> 00:14:20.720
He had the authority to stand up a
camp resolution style encampment,

00:14:21.520 --> 00:14:25.480
but that was never the goal in the work.

00:14:25.840 --> 00:14:29.880
There were never plans to establish
more self-governing encampments.

00:14:31.720 --> 00:14:34.200
Call the roll please on
the substitute motion.

00:14:35.360 --> 00:14:39.520
Council Member Kaplan? No.
Councilmember Laloi? No.

00:14:40.000 --> 00:14:43.880
Council Member Talimontes? No.
Council Member Valenzuela? Yes.

00:14:44.200 --> 00:14:44.600
Council.

00:14:44.600 --> 00:14:49.400
Member Maple. Aye. Vice Mayor
Getta. Aye. Council Member Jennings?

00:14:49.640 --> 00:14:53.240
Yes. Mayor Pro Temvang?
No. Mayor Steinberg.

00:14:53.520 --> 00:14:57.680
Yes. The motion passes five to
four. Thank you all very much.

00:14:58.360 --> 00:15:02.440
If there's nothing else to come before
the city council, we are adjourned.

00:15:04.620 --> 00:15:09.120
For a while we thought that we would see
a lot of Camp Res type models popping

00:15:09.160 --> 00:15:13.400
up because it gives people a sense of
community and really extreme conditions of

00:15:13.600 --> 00:15:14.433
isolation,

00:15:14.760 --> 00:15:18.120
offers them an opportunity to have
the structure of a mailing address,

00:15:18.320 --> 00:15:22.280
a place to get support, the
safety of connection and care.

00:15:23.280 --> 00:15:27.800
And that really isn't the experience
of most people who are experiencing

00:15:27.840 --> 00:15:28.673
homelessness.

00:15:29.360 --> 00:15:32.640
Janelle, would you like to have
some water? I would love that. A.

00:15:32.640 --> 00:15:36.360
Lot of times people really blame the
people that are out there. They're like,

00:15:37.520 --> 00:15:39.520
"You did this to yourself." I.

00:15:39.560 --> 00:15:40.680
Didn't do it to myself.

00:15:44.000 --> 00:15:48.960
I told everybody when that came
and they said the rent was going to

00:15:49.040 --> 00:15:53.400
go high in Oak Park, I said, "Oh,
my landlord ain't going to raise my

00:15:56.180 --> 00:15:59.120
rent." My landlord raised my rent to 1,500

00:16:01.080 --> 00:16:02.600
knowing I didn't have 1,500.

00:16:06.560 --> 00:16:10.280
It's scary, really scary out there.
People out there raping people,

00:16:11.600 --> 00:16:15.760
taking their money. I had
a friend died out there.

00:16:16.360 --> 00:16:19.880
Her name was Karen. She froze to death.

00:16:21.500 --> 00:16:22.360
She was my friend.

00:16:29.080 --> 00:16:32.400
So this is under 12th Street Bridge.
We used to call it 12th Street.

00:16:32.920 --> 00:16:34.880
This was the beginning of my journey,

00:16:35.080 --> 00:16:38.920
my nine-year homeless journey on the
river. I got evicted from my apartment.

00:16:39.800 --> 00:16:43.680
I had lost my kids because I had drugs
in my system when I gave birth to my

00:16:43.720 --> 00:16:48.000
second child and I just
pretty much lost it. Yeah,

00:16:48.280 --> 00:16:50.080
I just lost it. I went back and relapsed,

00:16:50.240 --> 00:16:53.160
went straight on into the drug life again.

00:16:54.160 --> 00:16:55.760
A lot happened while I was out here.

00:16:56.400 --> 00:16:59.000
I've been to the hospital probably
five or six times while I was out here.

00:16:59.400 --> 00:17:03.760
I've had a heart attack. I gave
birth to two of my kids out here.

00:17:04.520 --> 00:17:07.520
I gave birth to one, was
pregnant with both out here.

00:17:09.160 --> 00:17:13.760
A guy had me behind a trail
one day and he choked me

00:17:13.800 --> 00:17:16.160
unconscious. And when I came to,

00:17:17.120 --> 00:17:19.360
I believe it was probably two or
three days later, I still don't know,

00:17:19.640 --> 00:17:24.160
but they said my eye was falling out of
my face and they had to surgically put

00:17:24.200 --> 00:17:26.720
it back in and rebuild
the wall on this eye.

00:17:27.480 --> 00:17:31.120
I didn't think I'd ever be able to see
straight again. It was mental health,

00:17:31.240 --> 00:17:33.040
substance use, abuse,

00:17:35.880 --> 00:17:40.160
definitely being violated before.
And that's the life out here.

00:17:40.240 --> 00:17:41.240
You almost get used to it.

00:17:45.320 --> 00:17:49.331
I think that there's this
really challenging narrative
right now that people are

00:17:49.351 --> 00:17:51.692
somehow choosing to be homeless.
They don't want our services.

00:17:52.280 --> 00:17:54.872
The reality is that in many cases,

00:17:54.931 --> 00:17:57.632
our systems of care have
failed people in the past.

00:17:57.800 --> 00:18:02.680
And so they're skeptical and cynical and
distrustful of actually engaging with

00:18:02.680 --> 00:18:07.672
us. It takes ongoing engagement for
long periods of time to build that

00:18:07.752 --> 00:18:09.232
trust. When given enough time,

00:18:10.332 --> 00:18:12.692
when given enough patience to
actually work with someone,

00:18:13.072 --> 00:18:16.832
people who have been outside for
a long time will come inside.

00:18:17.252 --> 00:18:19.432
The answer is not
criminalizing those people.

00:18:19.532 --> 00:18:22.572
It's not forcing them into treatment.
It's really working with them,

00:18:22.652 --> 00:18:23.485
building that trust,

00:18:23.592 --> 00:18:26.872
and then that trust and care relationship
can help them get back inside.

00:18:28.132 --> 00:18:30.000
But the child, they got rough.

00:18:31.372 --> 00:18:33.672
And tobacco wasn't seven.

00:18:35.232 --> 00:18:40.152
And all granddad knew what
he did to survive. Well.

00:18:40.292 --> 00:18:45.252
My mom died when I was 16 and
I basically just been out here

00:18:45.352 --> 00:18:48.992
ever since. I was real naive. I always
believed everything everybody said.

00:18:50.072 --> 00:18:54.812
And being thrown out into the world green

00:18:54.972 --> 00:18:59.592
by myself like that, it was a wake-up
experience. It was pretty scary.

00:18:59.712 --> 00:19:02.452
I didn't go to sleep for the
first week I was outside.

00:19:02.892 --> 00:19:06.952
Majority of us have been homeless
for years. Most of the originals,

00:19:08.512 --> 00:19:11.952
all camped in this area
for all those years,

00:19:13.432 --> 00:19:15.012
but we've never camped together.

00:19:16.572 --> 00:19:20.792
In this area general from bridge to
bridge, but not in a bunch together.

00:19:21.752 --> 00:19:24.553
We all come from different levels
of homelessness, different traumas.

00:19:25.413 --> 00:19:28.753
My mom was homeless.
Grandmother was homeless.

00:19:29.713 --> 00:19:33.233
So it's a generational thing.
It's natural to me to be outside.

00:19:33.633 --> 00:19:36.633
We had our own apartment
right in the area.

00:19:37.893 --> 00:19:42.133
My husband had a job. I was working. I
get income. So the rent was no problem.

00:19:42.193 --> 00:19:45.893
It was always taken care of. It was
just the guy wanted to really just be

00:19:47.613 --> 00:19:50.753
obnoxious. So we lost our place.

00:19:51.773 --> 00:19:54.873
We followed him to the city dump with
the U-Haul with my stuff in the back of

00:19:54.993 --> 00:19:59.353
the truck watching it going to
the city dump. Not only just mine,

00:19:59.513 --> 00:20:02.013
but my husband, my
children and my grandson.

00:20:03.133 --> 00:20:08.113
So a whole family gone and that's

00:20:08.193 --> 00:20:09.026
where we sit.

00:20:09.693 --> 00:20:11.733
I worked for SBC for the phone company.

00:20:12.393 --> 00:20:14.053
I worked in El Dorado
Hills at their call center.

00:20:15.053 --> 00:20:17.313
And then when they merged with
AT&T, they laid us all off.

00:20:17.433 --> 00:20:21.233
They shut the whole call center down.
Still emotional from losing my house.

00:20:21.593 --> 00:20:22.573
I lost everything I owned.

00:20:24.233 --> 00:20:28.813
I was able to leave with my bicycle
and a trailer with three cats and a

00:20:28.893 --> 00:20:29.726
dog.

00:20:36.093 --> 00:20:37.393
We spent our first night in the park.

00:20:38.973 --> 00:20:41.413
The Rangers just make you lose
everything every time they make the move.

00:20:41.513 --> 00:20:45.073
Y don't move everything fast enough.
They threatened to take my dogs. Well,

00:20:45.173 --> 00:20:49.473
they shot at my dogs before and one of
the rangers out there threatened my dog

00:20:49.773 --> 00:20:53.993
came after her with a shotgun because
she missed her when she shot at her and

00:20:54.154 --> 00:20:55.154
because she was trying to protect me.

00:20:56.573 --> 00:20:59.834
We had to hide from her in the
grass and the bushes and stuff hide,

00:20:59.914 --> 00:21:01.554
literally hide. If it wasn't for my dog,

00:21:01.634 --> 00:21:02.814
I wouldn't have been able
to make it out there.

00:21:03.914 --> 00:21:07.654
I would've got beat up or robbed or
beat. Anything can happen to me out there

00:21:09.154 --> 00:21:12.734
because nobody cares if you
scream out there. Nobody cares.

00:21:14.014 --> 00:21:18.014
I lost my job and so we
went into a shared rental

00:21:18.534 --> 00:21:20.874
because we could afford that. And

00:21:22.774 --> 00:21:27.154
we woke up one night pounding on the door
and there were seven women outside of

00:21:27.194 --> 00:21:29.574
our bedroom door and
they tried to... Well,

00:21:29.634 --> 00:21:34.454
they physically assaulted us and then we
were escorted by the Sacramento Sheriff

00:21:35.254 --> 00:21:38.854
to a hotel that they knew we couldn't
check into because we both didn't have ID.

00:21:39.794 --> 00:21:43.914
So the next day we went to legal services
and they gave us a list of all these

00:21:43.974 --> 00:21:45.854
outlets of people that can help us.

00:21:46.334 --> 00:21:50.894
It's the same list they still are handing
out that is still outdated and half

00:21:50.914 --> 00:21:51.747
the numbers don't work.

00:21:52.794 --> 00:21:55.534
But everybody on that list that
we did contact all told us no,

00:21:55.734 --> 00:21:56.567
they couldn't help us.

00:22:03.394 --> 00:22:03.594
Well,

00:22:03.594 --> 00:22:08.354
we spent a lot of time
talking about housing and
employment and living wages and

00:22:08.374 --> 00:22:10.074
things like that as it
relates to homelessness.

00:22:10.714 --> 00:22:14.194
What I've noticed for a lot of people
that actually end up becoming homeless,

00:22:14.854 --> 00:22:19.114
the final step, that final crisis
really has to do with social capital.

00:22:19.294 --> 00:22:21.155
It's the relationships in people's lives.

00:22:21.574 --> 00:22:24.434
Do they have friends that they can
call? Do they have family they can call?

00:22:24.974 --> 00:22:27.355
And the really sad thing is that for a
lot of people that end up on the street,

00:22:27.414 --> 00:22:29.775
they don't have those relationships
that they can lean on.

00:22:30.335 --> 00:22:34.155
And so I think one of the most powerful
ways that we can help respond to

00:22:34.215 --> 00:22:36.575
homelessness, anyone can
help respond to homelessness,

00:22:37.155 --> 00:22:41.495
is to move from the idea of sort of
transactional things that we do like

00:22:41.695 --> 00:22:45.415
providing meals or things like
that, which are helpful in a way,

00:22:45.735 --> 00:22:48.835
but moving more towards
transformational relationships.

00:22:48.895 --> 00:22:52.155
So can I hire someone who
has experienced homelessness?

00:22:53.355 --> 00:22:57.015
If I own property, can I rent to someone
who has experienced homelessness?

00:22:57.415 --> 00:23:01.575
I think really finding one person
going deep building that relationship,

00:23:01.955 --> 00:23:05.035
that's one of the best ways
to help people long term.

00:23:18.715 --> 00:23:22.855
We've called this pres conference to
strongly condemn and oppose the recent

00:23:22.975 --> 00:23:25.735
actions of Sacramento County
District Attorney Tian Ho.

00:23:26.755 --> 00:23:30.875
The DA wants to criminalize homelessness
instead of finding solutions to it.

00:23:31.495 --> 00:23:35.615
The DA wants to criminalize city officials
instead of working with them to find

00:23:35.655 --> 00:23:36.488
solutions.

00:23:36.535 --> 00:23:41.355
The district attorney has taken the
position that the city's actions to

00:23:41.435 --> 00:23:45.515
try to help homeless people is
actually a nuisance and is a criminal.

00:23:45.815 --> 00:23:50.575
And he has in fact filed an action
against the city saying that, oh,

00:23:50.915 --> 00:23:55.435
the city is doing damage to the homeless
people who are for the first time are

00:23:55.475 --> 00:24:00.196
actually finding some refuge from the
concerted actions of law enforcement.

00:24:00.916 --> 00:24:04.416
You come out here and live. Let
him come out here and be homeless.

00:24:05.516 --> 00:24:07.536
Let somebody throw bottles at
him when he's trying to get money

00:24:10.016 --> 00:24:14.096
or throw eggs at him or shoot him with
paint gut and try to run you over when

00:24:14.116 --> 00:24:14.949
you're on your bike.

00:24:16.596 --> 00:24:19.166
Let him go through that
shit because we have.

00:24:22.876 --> 00:24:25.896
I've been through all those situations
being homeless in the last 13 years.

00:24:28.816 --> 00:24:30.976
It's more than most people could handle.

00:24:31.036 --> 00:24:32.516
And sometimes I didn't
think I could either.

00:24:36.936 --> 00:24:41.236
Tian Ho's lawsuit and allegations against
the city that they were failing to

00:24:41.656 --> 00:24:44.956
enforce their ordinances
changed the environment.

00:24:46.156 --> 00:24:48.936
It created a world where

00:24:51.076 --> 00:24:53.076
it didn't spur more enforcement,

00:24:53.236 --> 00:24:58.196
but it created a world where
enforcement was seen as

00:24:58.556 --> 00:25:02.896
much more necessary and a much larger
part of the work being done by the city.

00:25:03.256 --> 00:25:08.156
There's no way that enforcement
only and ratcheting up enforcement

00:25:08.196 --> 00:25:10.816
practices helpful to
the unhoused community.

00:25:12.556 --> 00:25:13.416
It's just not true.

00:25:14.116 --> 00:25:18.596
And I don't see any factual
basis for that idea.

00:25:18.976 --> 00:25:22.457
Many of us believe for some reason
that homelessness is unsolvable.

00:25:22.956 --> 00:25:23.897
And as a result,

00:25:24.076 --> 00:25:28.096
we are unwilling to make the systemic
policy changes or investments that are

00:25:28.137 --> 00:25:30.077
needed to actually do something about it.

00:25:30.437 --> 00:25:34.977
And as we continue to not act as that
inaction perpetuates the status quo,

00:25:35.597 --> 00:25:39.177
it then reinforces this idea that we're
not making any progress because of

00:25:39.237 --> 00:25:42.597
course we haven't made those
investments and this cycle continues.

00:25:43.337 --> 00:25:45.000
I'm a millennial. I was born in 1986.

00:25:45.957 --> 00:25:48.937
I think what's really powerful when you
look back at the history of homelessness

00:25:48.977 --> 00:25:52.257
in our country is that there's actually
been many eras of homelessness.

00:25:52.337 --> 00:25:56.017
So homelessness has arisen for certain
reasons and then it has gone away.

00:25:56.157 --> 00:25:59.897
And so it's easy to think because I've
never seen a United States without

00:25:59.937 --> 00:26:01.817
homelessness that it's
just always existed.

00:26:02.197 --> 00:26:06.177
But the reality is that we are living
through a very unique moment of conditions

00:26:06.197 --> 00:26:08.577
that are making it more likely
for people to become homeless.

00:26:08.637 --> 00:26:13.437
And so the number one thing that we need
from anyone right now is the political

00:26:13.497 --> 00:26:14.037
will,

00:26:14.037 --> 00:26:18.837
the public courage to stand up
and demand housing justice and to

00:26:18.917 --> 00:26:21.637
really improve the conditions that
are making homelessness more likely.

00:26:26.017 --> 00:26:30.797
I was really excited that Sharon and
Joyce agreed to come to Sac State and talk

00:26:30.817 --> 00:26:33.037
a little bit about Camp
Resolution. And while they're here,

00:26:33.097 --> 00:26:37.577
I want to hear a little bit more about
what they think about this lawsuit that

00:26:37.597 --> 00:26:38.430
the district attorney,

00:26:38.477 --> 00:26:42.017
the county district attorney Tion Hos
threatening against the city for allowing

00:26:42.037 --> 00:26:43.197
camp resolution to exist.

00:26:43.757 --> 00:26:47.717
So Tian Ho has been kind of making the
rounds with different press conferences,

00:26:47.817 --> 00:26:51.877
threatening the city, the mayor
directly for allowing camp resolution,

00:26:52.037 --> 00:26:54.158
essentially threatening
the city for taking action.

00:26:54.817 --> 00:26:57.837
We don't get any support
from the city or the county,

00:26:57.958 --> 00:26:59.878
so we need all the support we can get.

00:27:00.058 --> 00:27:04.398
Right. And the little support that they
are offering, he's criminalizing that.

00:27:05.118 --> 00:27:05.358
Yeah.

00:27:05.358 --> 00:27:09.238
The only support that they've given us
is those trailers and the garbage and the

00:27:09.338 --> 00:27:10.171
bathroom.

00:27:10.478 --> 00:27:15.138
And we had to practically beg for those
things before they wanted to work with

00:27:15.158 --> 00:27:15.258
it.

00:27:15.258 --> 00:27:18.338
The garbage man told us
he wouldn't deliver to us
because it was a protest camp.

00:27:18.818 --> 00:27:20.918
That's why they were afraid
to deliver garbage cans there.

00:27:21.278 --> 00:27:22.111
Yeah.

00:27:22.498 --> 00:27:25.338
Next we have our keynote
speakers, Sharon Jones.

00:27:25.538 --> 00:27:27.978
Very excited that she came to campus.

00:27:28.398 --> 00:27:31.658
This is a really unique
opportunity and a special guest.

00:27:32.278 --> 00:27:36.818
So Sharon Jones and Joyce are
the founders of Camp Resolution,

00:27:37.238 --> 00:27:40.878
but I think it's truly incredible
what they've achieved and what they're

00:27:40.918 --> 00:27:44.158
achieving. And I don't know
how long it's going to last.

00:27:44.238 --> 00:27:47.198
I hope it lasts very long, but
it's always being challenged.

00:27:48.038 --> 00:27:51.258
I'm not just saying that it
is beautiful when I go there.

00:27:51.478 --> 00:27:53.618
I'm very impressed by the
community that you guys built.

00:27:54.658 --> 00:27:58.478
And so I wanted to make sure we
give them a round welcome aplause.

00:27:58.538 --> 00:28:00.138
Thank you so much for being here in Tampa.

00:28:08.338 --> 00:28:09.318
We're self-governed.

00:28:09.878 --> 00:28:13.458
We have to take care of ourselves
before we can take care of a community.

00:28:13.618 --> 00:28:17.778
So we've learned how to build
a community. We have meetings.

00:28:18.258 --> 00:28:22.778
We try to have meetings once a week and
we have community events to bring the

00:28:22.818 --> 00:28:27.219
attention of homelessness to
the public and the public has

00:28:27.879 --> 00:28:32.439
welcomed us into their
neighborhood. Not everybody,

00:28:32.939 --> 00:28:35.019
but we're working on
it a day ahead of time.

00:28:38.459 --> 00:28:42.159
What's really difficult about the modern
homelessness crisis is that it is often

00:28:42.219 --> 00:28:45.779
reduced to one thing. It's about housing.

00:28:45.939 --> 00:28:49.459
It's about mental health. It's about
addiction. It's something else.

00:28:49.999 --> 00:28:54.779
The reality is that the modern
homelessness crisis is a long-term ongoing

00:28:54.819 --> 00:28:57.679
problem that our country has been
facing for the last 40 years.

00:28:57.759 --> 00:29:02.019
It began in the early 1980s and as
a result of all of these long-term

00:29:02.179 --> 00:29:04.959
socioeconomic issues coming together. Yes,

00:29:05.099 --> 00:29:08.859
it's the rising cost of rental housing.
Yes, it's declining real wages.

00:29:09.219 --> 00:29:13.939
It's the ongoing impact of systemic
racism on wealth and inequality.

00:29:14.359 --> 00:29:17.439
It's the lack of mental health services,
the lack of addiction services.

00:29:17.959 --> 00:29:22.439
All of these conditions are happening
at the same time reinforcing each other.

00:29:22.979 --> 00:29:26.679
And the cumulative result is
that when people have crises,

00:29:27.159 --> 00:29:31.939
these conditions are making it more likely
that those crises are going to result

00:29:31.999 --> 00:29:35.699
in episodes of homelessness. That
is the modern homelessness crisis.

00:29:37.199 --> 00:29:41.039
If you've ever played a game of
musical chairs, you've got 10 kids,

00:29:41.160 --> 00:29:42.359
10 chairs,

00:29:42.739 --> 00:29:46.199
the kids are walking around the chairs
when the music plays the grownup pulls

00:29:46.239 --> 00:29:48.259
away a chair and the kids scramble,

00:29:48.379 --> 00:29:51.440
turns off the music and the kids
scramble for the nine remaining chairs.

00:29:51.939 --> 00:29:55.299
And they ask you to do a
thought experiment of a
birthday party where one of the

00:29:55.360 --> 00:29:58.920
kids sprained their ankle the day
before playing soccer. They show up,

00:29:59.080 --> 00:30:01.420
they're on crutches that don't They really
fit, they don't know how to use them.

00:30:02.060 --> 00:30:06.240
They were going to take bets of which
kid was going to still be standing when

00:30:06.260 --> 00:30:07.140
they pull away the chair.

00:30:07.540 --> 00:30:10.700
It'd be a pretty good bet that
it was that kid on the crutches.

00:30:11.660 --> 00:30:15.620
But if you ask a different question,
why is there a kid standing? Well, duh,

00:30:15.680 --> 00:30:18.620
there's a kid standing because
you have nine chairs, 10 kids,

00:30:18.860 --> 00:30:22.580
and either two kids are sitting on top
of each other or some kid is standing.

00:30:24.340 --> 00:30:29.000
If that kid had not sprained their
ankle and you had nine chairs,

00:30:29.300 --> 00:30:31.080
there still would be a kid standing.

00:30:32.420 --> 00:30:36.180
And if you had 10 chairs and
that kid were on crutches,

00:30:36.460 --> 00:30:40.600
eventually that kid would find that
chair and everyone would be seating.

00:30:41.680 --> 00:30:46.200
We have so much homelessness because we

00:30:46.680 --> 00:30:48.660
don't have enough chairs.

00:30:49.320 --> 00:30:54.120
It's not a surprise that people with
more individual vulnerabilities,

00:30:54.440 --> 00:30:59.260
people with problems that interfere with
their ability to compete in a brutal

00:30:59.320 --> 00:31:03.280
housing market are going to
be more likely to be homeless.

00:31:03.480 --> 00:31:08.420
The system is extremely confusing and
it's extremely difficult to get into these

00:31:08.440 --> 00:31:12.620
programs. There are dozens of
nonprofits, there are federal agencies,

00:31:12.680 --> 00:31:15.260
there are state agencies,
there are local jurisdictions.

00:31:15.660 --> 00:31:20.420
There are nonprofits who organize all of
it and everybody who ever put any money

00:31:20.540 --> 00:31:23.740
inside of it wants a say in how it's done.

00:31:23.880 --> 00:31:26.920
No only is there a supply
and demand problem,

00:31:27.400 --> 00:31:29.260
but the application process,

00:31:29.461 --> 00:31:34.221
if you ask the entity who
runs the program how to apply,

00:31:34.321 --> 00:31:38.461
they will give you a different answer
than the government agency that funded the

00:31:38.501 --> 00:31:42.941
program who will give you a
completely different answer is the

00:31:42.981 --> 00:31:47.181
nonprofit who's involved in
deciding who goes into the program.

00:31:47.281 --> 00:31:50.841
And so with three different
application processes and then

00:31:51.781 --> 00:31:54.881
requirements that are
different all across the board,

00:31:55.701 --> 00:31:59.301
it's impossible for somebody experiencing
unsheltered homelessness to follow the

00:31:59.341 --> 00:32:02.301
process and to meet all of the benchmarks.

00:32:02.681 --> 00:32:06.721
You need stability before you can
even think of navigating this system.

00:32:14.901 --> 00:32:19.161
The calls for the meeting is because
they are trying to sleep us May 16th

00:32:20.001 --> 00:32:23.261
and we want to find out
what camp wants to do.

00:32:24.821 --> 00:32:28.701
We want it for everyone to be involved
in the decisions that come next

00:32:29.701 --> 00:32:33.181
about what we do and how we go about
doing it. We're like family now.

00:32:34.101 --> 00:32:36.921
We have our differences, we have our
ups and downs, but for the most part,

00:32:36.981 --> 00:32:41.901
as you can see, when it's time to come
together and do, we come together and do.

00:32:42.961 --> 00:32:47.361
Look at what Camp
Resolution is doing. Look,

00:32:47.881 --> 00:32:49.381
we have people here that...

00:32:52.981 --> 00:32:54.181
Where they going to go for it?

00:32:55.440 --> 00:32:57.581
I'll take myself to the gate
if that's where it needs to be.

00:32:58.221 --> 00:32:58.862
You know what I'm saying?

00:32:58.862 --> 00:33:00.822
And I'll fight with it because
this is where I want to call home.

00:33:01.242 --> 00:33:04.082
Everybody's scared. Don't know
where we're going to go next.

00:33:04.222 --> 00:33:05.182
Don't know what we're going to do.

00:33:06.982 --> 00:33:09.382
She really just lost by it.

00:33:10.082 --> 00:33:12.842
It's clear that folks are nervous, angry,

00:33:14.162 --> 00:33:18.182
mixed emotions. What have
we done? Why are we here?

00:33:19.242 --> 00:33:20.462
What is the city complaining about?

00:33:20.522 --> 00:33:24.702
So we're here because the city says
it's okay for us to be here even though

00:33:25.302 --> 00:33:26.702
there's this toxicity issue.

00:33:26.842 --> 00:33:29.242
Water board's given this
variance allowing us to be here,

00:33:29.882 --> 00:33:33.682
but the city is still going
to move forward with kicking
us out even though the

00:33:33.702 --> 00:33:38.402
water board said it's okay. I
mean, this is a remarkable place.

00:33:39.002 --> 00:33:42.602
It's a remarkable community
that's in response.

00:33:42.662 --> 00:33:46.122
A sanctioned encampments is not a
new thing. There's no vendor here.

00:33:46.362 --> 00:33:49.382
There's no social service provider.
Nobody's getting paid to run this.

00:33:50.442 --> 00:33:54.642
And so it's a unique constellation
of events that kind of make this camp

00:33:54.962 --> 00:33:57.962
possible. And I think the city feels
a little bit uncomfortable with that.

00:33:58.102 --> 00:34:00.622
I think that means that these
people have gotten some power.

00:34:01.182 --> 00:34:05.142
They're raising their voice. The city's
also getting it from the other side,

00:34:05.282 --> 00:34:09.762
from the district attorney who's
saying that what's happening here,

00:34:09.962 --> 00:34:13.882
the city is making the city liable
for lawsuits or criminal charges.

00:34:14.302 --> 00:34:18.662
I think this meeting is setting up.
Maybe there'll be more paved areas,

00:34:18.762 --> 00:34:20.762
maybe there'll be more trailers,

00:34:22.522 --> 00:34:26.022
or maybe the city really are going to
try to force these people out of here,

00:34:26.102 --> 00:34:29.823
but I don't see how it won't be
a public relations nightmare.

00:34:30.563 --> 00:34:31.396
These people aren't going to go.

00:34:31.983 --> 00:34:34.383
You just heard a woman saying she's
going to chain herself to the fence.

00:34:34.523 --> 00:34:35.563
I totally believe her.

00:34:36.103 --> 00:34:39.883
There's a disabled woman here who's been
here for two years waiting for housing.

00:34:40.063 --> 00:34:40.896
So

00:34:42.443 --> 00:34:45.643
there's going to be something that's going
to come down for certain by May 16th.

00:34:46.023 --> 00:34:50.703
For me personally, it feels like if
they close the camp, they're killing us.

00:34:52.723 --> 00:34:55.463
Being swept, it's a danger
that's killing people.

00:34:56.723 --> 00:34:57.803
And I don't want to die out here.

00:34:59.003 --> 00:35:01.343
I didn't ask to be out here and
I don't want to die out here.

00:35:11.303 --> 00:35:13.603
When a contract is executed,

00:35:14.003 --> 00:35:17.103
it's executed so that we have an
agreement on how things will move forward.

00:35:17.643 --> 00:35:22.543
The agreement was that until
permanent housing was found

00:35:22.563 --> 00:35:25.703
for everybody at Camp Resolution,
it would be allowed to remain open.

00:35:26.543 --> 00:35:29.603
And so breaking that promise
does two things. Number one,

00:35:29.663 --> 00:35:33.563
it erodes trust at a time when we
desperately need to be able to trust one

00:35:33.583 --> 00:35:35.163
another. And number two,

00:35:36.183 --> 00:35:39.743
it goes in the opposite direction of
what we say we're supposed to be doing,

00:35:40.123 --> 00:35:44.943
which is creating more opportunities
for people to be housed so that we don't

00:35:45.023 --> 00:35:47.383
have to sleep in the conditions
that we are right now.

00:35:47.843 --> 00:35:51.523
And I have really apreciated the way
in which Camp Resolution has been

00:35:51.583 --> 00:35:53.083
self-governed. Why?

00:35:53.483 --> 00:35:57.103
Because it allows us to be able to have
a model for how communities can be run.

00:35:58.003 --> 00:36:01.004
A way for us to be able to
resolve conflict together,

00:36:01.324 --> 00:36:04.644
to be able to set goals together and
to be able to live in harmony with one

00:36:04.664 --> 00:36:05.344
another.

00:36:05.344 --> 00:36:07.000
Camp resolution costs 300,

00:36:08.290 --> 00:36:10.984
3,900 according to the city's audit.

00:36:12.144 --> 00:36:16.704
While First Step Community
City costs $3.3 million.

00:36:17.844 --> 00:36:22.794
We have a conflict more in 600
days than the city has in 600

00:36:22.964 --> 00:36:23.444
months.

00:36:23.444 --> 00:36:24.277
That's right.

00:36:26.844 --> 00:36:29.524
And we want to say thank you to
everybody that's been supportive to us.

00:36:33.804 --> 00:36:34.904
She does not talk to public.

00:36:35.704 --> 00:36:38.784
I do not talk in public, but
I'm not crying. I'm not crying.

00:36:40.644 --> 00:36:45.624
Who do I want? Love it. Where
do we want it now? Who are we?

00:36:47.184 --> 00:36:50.704
What do we want? Housing.
Where do we want it?

00:36:50.764 --> 00:36:52.504
Go more sweet.

00:36:52.804 --> 00:36:53.784
Go more sweet.

00:36:53.844 --> 00:36:55.264
Go more suite. Go more.

00:36:55.384 --> 00:36:56.217
Suite.

00:36:56.464 --> 00:36:59.184
Who are we? Camp resolution.
My name is Susan Allhawk.

00:36:59.464 --> 00:37:03.764
I am a resident council of camp
resolution. This is my family here.

00:37:04.144 --> 00:37:07.844
We are camp resolution here. Steinberg,
you know you've been out to our camp.

00:37:08.444 --> 00:37:09.277
You walk through our camp.

00:37:09.364 --> 00:37:12.544
Do you guys seem comfortable that night
knowing that you got people on the

00:37:12.604 --> 00:37:16.284
streets that are dying? I just lost my
brother-in-law not even four days ago.

00:37:16.984 --> 00:37:20.244
A heart attack on Roseville Road.
Nobody came and assisted him.

00:37:20.364 --> 00:37:22.704
They looked at him like he was a
piece of shit and he kept on going.

00:37:23.584 --> 00:37:25.604
Nobody picked him up,
not even an ambulance.

00:37:25.864 --> 00:37:28.584
How are you going to see him knowing that
you got people out here that are dying

00:37:28.605 --> 00:37:32.325
on these streets? You got people down
here that are unhoused. House us.

00:37:32.385 --> 00:37:34.525
That's all you guys got to do
and we'll leave you all alone.

00:37:34.585 --> 00:37:37.365
You wouldn't have to see us out
here. Just give us our housing.

00:37:38.025 --> 00:37:40.305
I stay camper position too.
And if it wasn't for there,

00:37:40.425 --> 00:37:44.425
I wouldn't be here because running around,

00:37:44.485 --> 00:37:48.205
trying to keep my oxygen
on twenty four seven,

00:37:48.325 --> 00:37:51.425
I couldn't do while running
into the suites on the street.

00:37:52.185 --> 00:37:55.145
I did everything that you all do in
the houses, the moms and the dads.

00:37:55.245 --> 00:37:58.145
I did that. I got laid off
one job and lost everything.

00:37:58.845 --> 00:38:01.365
And then I have to go through the
suites and lose everything over and over

00:38:01.405 --> 00:38:05.105
again. I finally have a safe place
to be until I find somewhere to live.

00:38:05.585 --> 00:38:10.185
And now you want to take it away from
me. I can't go back out to the suites.

00:38:10.325 --> 00:38:11.785
I can't go back to the street like that.

00:38:13.085 --> 00:38:16.505
She's not the only one with a disability
there. These people deserve better.

00:38:17.025 --> 00:38:19.845
They deserve the housing that
you promised. And until then,

00:38:19.905 --> 00:38:24.725
they at least deserve power and water
so that they don't live in little

00:38:24.785 --> 00:38:25.618
ovens.

00:38:25.645 --> 00:38:28.605
Because we can't use any of the amenities
in these trailers that you gave us.

00:38:30.705 --> 00:38:34.025
Come on, how is that okay? How's
that all right? Let's not help.

00:38:34.985 --> 00:38:38.005
If you guys don't feel
it in your heart for us,

00:38:38.625 --> 00:38:41.505
then that's sad because we're somebody.

00:38:42.725 --> 00:38:44.065
We are somebody in this world.

00:38:44.625 --> 00:38:47.685
And you guys made a contract with
us and now you want to take it back.

00:38:48.465 --> 00:38:51.085
We've been begging you for housing.
We've been begging you for shelter.

00:38:51.985 --> 00:38:54.605
And now you're having people come in
here again begging you not to sweep them.

00:38:55.405 --> 00:38:58.986
Sending them to Roseville Road while
you figure out how to build affordable

00:38:59.026 --> 00:38:59.446
housing,

00:38:59.446 --> 00:39:01.826
sending them somewhere else while you
figure out how to build affordable

00:39:01.866 --> 00:39:04.586
housing. No, actually
we're not going anywhere.

00:39:07.506 --> 00:39:10.846
So you know we're not going anywhere.

00:39:12.726 --> 00:39:17.146
Whether you have to drag people out, man,
handcuffs. The city will be so shamed.

00:39:17.206 --> 00:39:18.766
I can't wait. I dare you.

00:39:20.426 --> 00:39:21.259
We will

00:39:24.166 --> 00:39:28.986
not displace you from camp
resolution without some other

00:39:29.146 --> 00:39:33.646
alternatives that are safe,
dignified and indoors.

00:39:35.886 --> 00:39:38.286
So after the camp
marched to the city hall,

00:39:38.386 --> 00:39:42.126
the water board announced that they
were going to renew the variance on the

00:39:42.166 --> 00:39:45.526
property, basically allowing
residents to stay on the property.

00:39:45.646 --> 00:39:47.526
And I think they said
renewing it until December.

00:39:48.266 --> 00:39:52.526
The city has essentially dropped its
eviction notice and so they have said that

00:39:52.566 --> 00:39:56.846
there's no plans to close the
camp. Clearly people are excited,

00:39:57.686 --> 00:40:00.086
rejoicing and celebrating
that they have this big win.

00:40:09.960 --> 00:40:12.760
Are they fucking around
with me right now? No. Okay.

00:41:27.767 --> 00:41:32.727
Now we have to talk about Grants Pass
and this new Supreme Court ruling that

00:41:32.807 --> 00:41:37.407
I think really will change the calculus
of homeless politics in places like

00:41:37.427 --> 00:41:42.287
California and really will have
a negative effect on experiments

00:41:42.527 --> 00:41:44.247
and models like camp resolution.

00:41:44.567 --> 00:41:49.007
The Grants Pass decision all of a sudden
allowed every local jurisdiction in the

00:41:49.167 --> 00:41:53.247
Nth Circuit the ability to enforce any
camping ban that they had on the books.

00:41:53.487 --> 00:41:55.047
And as soon as that was overturned,

00:41:55.667 --> 00:42:00.328
that immediately became a tool in the
incident management team's toolbox and it

00:42:00.348 --> 00:42:03.268
was time to begin enforcing
the no camping ordinance.

00:42:03.708 --> 00:42:07.988
The notices in the past had been
anywhere between 24 to 72 hours.

00:42:08.248 --> 00:42:09.528
So after grants pass,

00:42:10.288 --> 00:42:13.708
the instruction was 24 hours
notice is not required.

00:42:15.408 --> 00:42:18.168
You are able to conduct
enforcement immediately.

00:42:18.968 --> 00:42:20.228
It's like it's illegal to be homeless.

00:42:20.688 --> 00:42:24.348
It's against the law because everything
you do, you get in trouble for

00:42:26.308 --> 00:42:27.668
and everybody's out to chase you off.

00:42:29.168 --> 00:42:31.268
I stayed at the river because I didn't
want to be in front of somebody's

00:42:31.308 --> 00:42:33.448
doorstep or a business's place,
so I stayed at the river.

00:42:33.748 --> 00:42:38.068
I couldn't even do that
without them bothering me. I
don't want to be a problem.

00:42:38.248 --> 00:42:39.368
I just want to have a home.

00:42:40.188 --> 00:42:44.468
They're making all their policies and
rules and everything on their perception

00:42:44.508 --> 00:42:45.341
of homelessness,

00:42:45.368 --> 00:42:49.388
not what exactly happening and
down on the streets we're doing it.

00:42:52.128 --> 00:42:56.928
I think that's a lot of the policies
that they're making that we can't be

00:42:57.008 --> 00:43:01.848
anywhere. It's an infraction or a
misdemeanor. You go to jail for that.

00:43:03.168 --> 00:43:04.001
I don't think that's cool.

00:43:14.008 --> 00:43:17.888
I think two events that really
also shaped this summer,

00:43:18.328 --> 00:43:23.008
one was the point in time count reporting
this big decrease in homelessness.

00:43:23.608 --> 00:43:26.880
And then the Supreme Court, this
Johnsons versus Grants Pass.

00:43:27.200 --> 00:43:31.880
I think that gave them the green light
in their head to move forward on sweeps

00:43:32.040 --> 00:43:36.649
and clearing encampments
and not necessarily focusing
on truly sheltering people

00:43:36.869 --> 00:43:37.702
before they.

00:43:37.749 --> 00:43:37.849
Did that.

00:43:37.849 --> 00:43:41.200
And as somebody who has conducted or
helped conduct the point in time count,

00:43:41.480 --> 00:43:44.960
doesn't capture everyone.
But a 40% reduction,

00:43:46.009 --> 00:43:46.842
that's hard to believe.

00:43:47.840 --> 00:43:51.160
Right. So the pit in time count we
know across the board is inaccurate.

00:43:51.360 --> 00:43:54.800
What we know is it is based on
volunteers, it is based on a time limit,

00:43:55.400 --> 00:43:57.800
which we can't adequately
define those numbers.

00:43:58.360 --> 00:44:01.240
We know that some of our major
encampments weren't counted.

00:44:01.680 --> 00:44:05.600
Prior to the pit count, the cities are
sweeping these people out of sight,

00:44:05.640 --> 00:44:06.240
out of mind.

00:44:06.240 --> 00:44:10.120
We're not going to send maybe
an 80-year-old volunteer
out to the riverbeds.

00:44:10.160 --> 00:44:12.160
That's not going to happen. So
those people don't get counted.

00:44:12.880 --> 00:44:15.800
And so the numbers just don't match. The.

00:44:15.920 --> 00:44:20.760
Most recent pit count was extremely
beneficial for the city and

00:44:20.880 --> 00:44:21.600
county.

00:44:21.600 --> 00:44:26.600
The city proudly stood
behind that 41% number

00:44:26.840 --> 00:44:30.320
while at the same time some
community-based organizations and people

00:44:30.640 --> 00:44:33.480
experiencing unsheltered
homelessness found it to be

00:44:35.820 --> 00:44:39.120
untrue or chicken shit.

00:44:40.720 --> 00:44:43.880
They didn't believe that there was
a 41% reduction in homelessness.

00:44:44.000 --> 00:44:45.760
That's not what they were
seeing in their community.

00:44:46.480 --> 00:44:51.400
So the pit count proved that enforcement
worked and Grants Pass allowed them to

00:44:53.160 --> 00:44:54.040
do it on steroids.

00:44:57.220 --> 00:45:00.560
By criminalizing the
effect of being homos,

00:45:00.760 --> 00:45:02.480
we just compound our problems.

00:45:02.840 --> 00:45:06.720
If you wind up giving people a criminal
record because you're throwing them into

00:45:06.960 --> 00:45:10.040
jail, you make it harder for
them to exit homelessness.

00:45:10.800 --> 00:45:14.400
The harm of sweeps is
multiple. First of all,

00:45:14.810 --> 00:45:16.880
let's just talk what most
people are concerned about,

00:45:17.040 --> 00:45:20.280
which is related to the cost of
things, right? Sweeps are expensive.

00:45:20.560 --> 00:45:22.360
They're a lot of money to run and operate.

00:45:22.520 --> 00:45:24.720
They involve lots of
coordinated personnel.

00:45:25.280 --> 00:45:27.200
So sometimes people just
kind of recognizing,

00:45:27.440 --> 00:45:30.440
is this where we want to be spending our
money and where we want our resources

00:45:30.560 --> 00:45:31.393
to be going?

00:45:33.400 --> 00:45:34.760
A cop shows up and says, "Hey,

00:45:34.880 --> 00:45:37.480
you've got..." And sometimes
it's in less than 24 hours,

00:45:37.640 --> 00:45:41.880
but at other times it's up to 72
hours. Like you got 72 hours to move.

00:45:43.640 --> 00:45:48.640
If you don't move, you can be arrested,
recited and go to jail or fined,

00:45:48.800 --> 00:45:50.720
which makes no sense
because you live outside.

00:45:51.160 --> 00:45:53.680
And so then within the 24 to 72 hours,

00:45:53.760 --> 00:45:58.640
a cop comes and then they grab all of
your things with this giant bear claw

00:45:59.440 --> 00:46:00.800
and throw it into a dumpster.

00:46:01.680 --> 00:46:05.760
And then you have to go find
another corner and a new tent.

00:46:05.960 --> 00:46:08.640
That means that you've lost everything,
all of your important paperwork,

00:46:08.800 --> 00:46:09.800
all of your important things.

00:46:10.160 --> 00:46:14.440
You are no longer what they call paper
ready so that you can get into housing or

00:46:14.600 --> 00:46:16.320
get access to services or resources.

00:46:16.760 --> 00:46:19.360
And so now you have to figure out how
you're going to get to the social security

00:46:19.440 --> 00:46:22.040
office to get a new one or maybe
how you're going to get a new birth

00:46:22.080 --> 00:46:24.840
certificate. How can you even get a
job if you can't prove who you are?

00:46:25.200 --> 00:46:27.960
What if you've lost your medications
and you can't take those on a day?

00:46:29.360 --> 00:46:30.240
They don't give you time.

00:46:30.560 --> 00:46:35.520
What they've given you in those 72
hours is the choice to pick what

00:46:35.680 --> 00:46:37.520
you can carry with you to somewhere else.

00:46:38.840 --> 00:46:42.800
It perpetuates a cycle. As
an unhoused community member,

00:46:43.040 --> 00:46:46.611
I don't know why I would
trust a system that has

00:46:47.531 --> 00:46:49.811
penalized me for trying to exist.

00:46:50.631 --> 00:46:55.151
The same hand that's going to write
you a ticket or put you in handcuffs is

00:46:55.271 --> 00:46:58.791
telling you to trust them. They
will get you the help that you need.

00:46:59.631 --> 00:47:02.191
I don't see how those go hand in hand.

00:47:02.811 --> 00:47:06.551
I don't see how you can say that with a
straight face and think that people will

00:47:06.631 --> 00:47:07.631
trust you and believe you.

00:47:08.971 --> 00:47:11.631
Even though the modern homelessness
crisis is playing out all across the

00:47:11.651 --> 00:47:12.484
country,

00:47:12.531 --> 00:47:16.611
the way we have responded systemically
is that we have hyper localized the

00:47:16.631 --> 00:47:19.111
response to homelessness.
In many communities,

00:47:19.631 --> 00:47:24.051
cities which have more of the reactive
tools in terms of local government like

00:47:24.071 --> 00:47:25.231
police and fire,

00:47:25.791 --> 00:47:30.391
they seem pitted against counties which
have more of the historic healthcare and

00:47:30.451 --> 00:47:31.284
human services.

00:47:31.671 --> 00:47:35.591
And these two entities are fighting each
other and not coming to agreement about

00:47:35.651 --> 00:47:37.111
how best to respond.

00:47:37.611 --> 00:47:41.111
And the communities that are having
the most success ending homelessness,

00:47:41.531 --> 00:47:44.911
they have moved past this division
of it's the county's fault,

00:47:44.991 --> 00:47:48.311
it's the city's fault. And they're
coming together to work together,

00:47:48.771 --> 00:47:52.451
figuring out how to invest together,
how to share resources together.

00:47:52.892 --> 00:47:56.131
Those communities are making the
most progress ending homelessness.

00:47:57.772 --> 00:48:01.752
The public I think needs
to be honest with itself

00:48:02.632 --> 00:48:06.872
about the choices here and
that if we are going to

00:48:07.172 --> 00:48:10.372
actually make it better
for the general public,

00:48:11.052 --> 00:48:15.052
that the only answer in the
end is to help the people.

00:48:15.392 --> 00:48:16.752
And if we don't do that,

00:48:17.732 --> 00:48:21.332
the policy of moving people from
one neighborhood to another,

00:48:22.052 --> 00:48:23.132
one block to another,

00:48:23.212 --> 00:48:28.152
even from one city to another is
ultimately unsatisfying because it

00:48:28.212 --> 00:48:33.092
doesn't do anything to
actually end the cycle.

00:48:34.872 --> 00:48:39.432
My impression is that the idea and
the drive to close Camp Resolution

00:48:39.612 --> 00:48:44.172
started sometime around maybe the end
of 2023 in earnest and the beginning of

00:48:44.310 --> 00:48:46.032
2024. But at that time,

00:48:46.732 --> 00:48:50.112
the variance that the water board
had issued was about to expire.

00:48:50.372 --> 00:48:53.832
And so the city sort of sat back and
though there was an appetite to close it,

00:48:54.772 --> 00:48:55.605
they thought, "Well,

00:48:55.892 --> 00:49:00.472
the question is going to be answered
for us come June one." Much to their

00:49:00.512 --> 00:49:01.345
disappointment,

00:49:02.972 --> 00:49:07.592
the community went around the city and
got the board to extend the variance on

00:49:07.612 --> 00:49:10.932
their own. And at that point,
everything got kicked into high gear.

00:49:11.332 --> 00:49:15.332
At that point, they needed to find
a way to now close it themselves.

00:49:24.972 --> 00:49:29.053
I can't help but think that the lawsuit
that the district attorney threatened

00:49:29.073 --> 00:49:31.133
the city with had an effect. Personally,

00:49:31.553 --> 00:49:35.553
I don't imagine he really cared about
what was happening in camp resolution.

00:49:35.913 --> 00:49:37.773
I think this was really a political move,

00:49:38.213 --> 00:49:42.333
but unfortunately it did pressure the
city and I think the city eventually

00:49:43.673 --> 00:49:44.833
acquesced to that pressure.

00:49:53.853 --> 00:49:55.293
Why do you think they're
trying to close camp?

00:49:57.413 --> 00:50:01.073
I think that a few things have happened.

00:50:01.573 --> 00:50:05.173
You have been successful in some ways that

00:50:06.453 --> 00:50:10.373
can kind of embarrass the people who
make it seem like this is just so

00:50:10.473 --> 00:50:11.373
incredibly hard to do.

00:50:12.533 --> 00:50:17.133
So I think that in some
ways camp resolution

00:50:18.593 --> 00:50:19.933
highlights that

00:50:22.013 --> 00:50:26.593
we could do a lot more if
we weren't so committed to

00:50:26.953 --> 00:50:30.873
having to do it ourselves and that
it would look a little different,

00:50:31.373 --> 00:50:36.273
but we could serve people for
less money and we could create

00:50:36.353 --> 00:50:37.333
real communities.

00:50:37.973 --> 00:50:42.573
And it's a little bit embarrassing
to be able to see that happen when so

00:50:43.053 --> 00:50:47.673
many dollars have been spent
sometimes less effectively.

00:50:48.093 --> 00:50:51.393
Are we supposed to be going to city
hall today? Do they want to evict us?

00:50:52.234 --> 00:50:57.053
Which is crazy to me. But
this is what they do, right?

00:50:57.873 --> 00:51:02.374
And I just now recently am being able to
be aware of this since we've been doing

00:51:02.394 --> 00:51:04.514
camp resolution and going to the city.

00:51:04.574 --> 00:51:05.874
I didn't even know you
could go to city hall.

00:51:07.374 --> 00:51:10.754
They don't teach you that in
school. Not around here, they don't.

00:51:15.334 --> 00:51:18.754
Yeah, I want all residents present,
please. City and the county.

00:51:19.094 --> 00:51:21.414
They have not done shit for us. Nothing.

00:51:22.334 --> 00:51:25.294
They haven't done shit for us on the
county side and they think you ship right

00:51:25.354 --> 00:51:26.187
over here.

00:51:26.334 --> 00:51:29.574
And now it's time to hold them accountable
for it because you got damn right.

00:51:29.714 --> 00:51:31.394
Yo guys will all be
held accountable for it.

00:51:31.514 --> 00:51:33.614
You're going to lose everything we've got.

00:51:35.014 --> 00:51:37.674
Everything's really out on the screen
where you're going to fucking be shackled

00:51:37.754 --> 00:51:40.834
up. And that's a fact. Where do we want?

00:51:41.014 --> 00:51:43.814
Where do we want it? Who.

00:51:43.954 --> 00:51:45.254
Didn't help give it to us?

00:51:48.110 --> 00:51:49.160
Camp resolution.

00:51:49.720 --> 00:51:53.200
Where do we want? Out for
me. Where do we want now?

00:51:55.040 --> 00:51:58.640
Shut it down. Who are we? Camp resolution.

00:51:59.240 --> 00:52:01.920
Where do we want? Where do we.

00:52:02.000 --> 00:52:02.833
Want that?

00:52:03.814 --> 00:52:07.974
No. Camp resolution is an incredible
thing. I've never seen anything like this.

00:52:08.174 --> 00:52:10.194
It's a project that should be duplicated.

00:52:10.534 --> 00:52:13.794
The city should be studying it and
seeing how they could have 10 camp

00:52:13.854 --> 00:52:16.174
resolutions because this
is actually working.

00:52:16.334 --> 00:52:20.374
What I've witnessed and observed after
a year is a community of people who are

00:52:20.474 --> 00:52:23.094
fighting and working together
to help each other out.

00:52:23.515 --> 00:52:27.274
I don't understand why the city is
reneging on its agreement to house these

00:52:27.295 --> 00:52:30.535
people, reneging on its agreement to
let these people do what they're doing,

00:52:30.595 --> 00:52:34.355
which is surviving and thriving.
Instead, they're being bullied.

00:52:34.555 --> 00:52:36.155
They're being bullied by
the district attorney.

00:52:36.575 --> 00:52:40.415
They're being bullied by false narratives
and stigma of homelessness and it's

00:52:40.435 --> 00:52:41.175
shameful.

00:52:41.175 --> 00:52:45.555
They should allow camp resolution to
occupy an abandoned lot that's not being

00:52:45.655 --> 00:52:46.495
used for anything.

00:52:46.955 --> 00:52:49.895
These people want to be visible and they
want to be heard and the city should

00:52:49.955 --> 00:52:50.788
hear them.

00:52:50.875 --> 00:52:54.495
The camp resolution has given
us a jumpstart back into

00:52:54.655 --> 00:52:58.255
society.People getting
housed and getting jobs.

00:52:59.235 --> 00:53:03.935
It's not easy being homeless. It's a
24-hour job day. Day job. Being homeless.

00:53:04.135 --> 00:53:07.515
Ain't a joke. We didn't all ask to
be homeless. We're not all druggies.

00:53:07.595 --> 00:53:08.515
We're not all strung out.

00:53:09.075 --> 00:53:11.595
There's a lot of people out there with
mental health problems and none of you,

00:53:11.675 --> 00:53:14.555
none of the city, you guys aren't helping
them like you're supposed to. So yeah,

00:53:14.615 --> 00:53:15.595
you're just taking them to jail,

00:53:15.695 --> 00:53:17.535
putting them in jail or putting
them into some mental place.

00:53:17.895 --> 00:53:20.355
Wha goods are going to do? Get them
help. Just throwing them someplace.

00:53:20.475 --> 00:53:21.455
Isn't he helping them?

00:53:22.455 --> 00:53:27.360
What about us? We're human too. We
are human too. They can ride with it.

00:53:28.320 --> 00:53:32.055
They can ride with it. We're count
resolution. We're not going nowhere.

00:53:32.575 --> 00:53:36.555
Housing to us is an opportunity.
You know what I'm saying?

00:53:36.995 --> 00:53:40.915
To do something with ourselves
to show that we can act

00:53:41.435 --> 00:53:44.915
productive members of the community
for real. You know what I mean?

00:53:44.975 --> 00:53:47.095
Because we're already doing that
within the homeless community.

00:53:49.040 --> 00:53:52.075
We're not the only people that
are benefiting from being there.

00:53:53.035 --> 00:53:55.796
The people outside that
gate come for food. Yes.

00:53:55.915 --> 00:53:59.376
Sometimes shelter because it didn't matter
if none of us dealt with each other.

00:54:00.216 --> 00:54:05.196
We all know somebody else that's
homeless and we all help somebody

00:54:05.276 --> 00:54:09.276
else that's homeless. Camp resolution
is about the homeless, not.

00:54:09.436 --> 00:54:10.269
Just.

00:54:10.396 --> 00:54:11.656
Camp resolution though.

00:54:11.976 --> 00:54:13.756
Just because I have this homeless title,

00:54:14.376 --> 00:54:17.916
it keeps me under the line
of any kind of advancements.

00:54:20.156 --> 00:54:22.416
And it's messed up because
it's just with no address,

00:54:22.476 --> 00:54:24.116
you get treated so differently.

00:54:25.316 --> 00:54:29.416
They keep you in this box and it's like
there's no way you could get out of it.

00:54:30.716 --> 00:54:34.796
How are we supposed to be
able to do something for
ourselves if y'all keep us in

00:54:34.816 --> 00:54:38.616
this box? A little bit of housing or

00:54:40.436 --> 00:54:44.996
some efforts that shows that
they're actually really trying to

00:54:45.736 --> 00:54:47.816
help us with some housing
and go a long way.

00:54:48.316 --> 00:54:52.126
If they're not making money, they
don't want to do nothing for you.

00:54:59.976 --> 00:55:03.296
I think service resistance
is clearly a myth.

00:55:04.316 --> 00:55:08.096
I've never spoken to an unhoused community
member who wasn't willing to accept

00:55:08.856 --> 00:55:12.656
some form of service so long as
it was what they were looking for.

00:55:13.116 --> 00:55:17.496
I think the service resistance that people
speak of is when you offer someone a

00:55:17.556 --> 00:55:20.976
spot at a congregate shelter,
that's not going to be for everyone.

00:55:21.236 --> 00:55:22.756
Everyone can't be successful in that.

00:55:23.037 --> 00:55:27.797
There is no panacea that you can
slap on every human and solve their

00:55:27.937 --> 00:55:28.757
issues.

00:55:28.757 --> 00:55:33.317
If you are asking someone to participate
in a service that will help them

00:55:33.857 --> 00:55:36.617
and that they're open to,
they're not service resistant.

00:55:37.017 --> 00:55:39.997
You need to have a variety
of services to offer people.

00:55:40.217 --> 00:55:43.877
The service resistance myth comes from
the fact that we only have a limited

00:55:43.937 --> 00:55:46.817
number of things to offer
a wide variety of people.

00:55:47.897 --> 00:55:52.277
You and your partner, what made you
guys want to come to Camp Resolution.

00:55:52.317 --> 00:55:54.157
Then? When you go up
there, you're homeless.

00:55:57.097 --> 00:55:58.297
Neither one of us have the credit rating.

00:55:59.017 --> 00:56:01.217
We've had a couple of people
come up in here and say, "Okay,

00:56:01.497 --> 00:56:06.197
we're going to sign you up and help you
out and all of this and we'll be back

00:56:06.237 --> 00:56:09.477
next week." We call and -.

00:56:09.877 --> 00:56:10.737
Never hear from them again.

00:56:10.797 --> 00:56:11.757
Never hear from them.

00:56:11.777 --> 00:56:11.997
Again.

00:56:11.997 --> 00:56:12.717
A couple times.

00:56:12.717 --> 00:56:13.550
Wow.

00:56:14.637 --> 00:56:16.877
What we really wanted is to be talenting.

00:56:17.037 --> 00:56:21.617
Her and I both have money coming in
now. We get about almost $2,000 a month.

00:56:22.960 --> 00:56:26.777
But we can't find it. Any
housing that will let us come in

00:56:28.480 --> 00:56:33.137
and have a place to live. We've tried.

00:56:35.477 --> 00:56:38.757
A lot of times people say, "Oh,
individuals out there don't want help.

00:56:38.817 --> 00:56:42.557
They refuse help." All
the time I hear that,

00:56:42.877 --> 00:56:45.097
that the individuals that
they're choosing to be unhoused,

00:56:45.157 --> 00:56:48.617
they're choosing homelessness.
And yet day in and day out,

00:56:48.757 --> 00:56:50.337
phone call after phone call,

00:56:50.557 --> 00:56:53.957
I'm experiencing working with
individuals that are desperate for help,

00:56:54.377 --> 00:56:59.037
that we support to try to access every
form of help and they're still not

00:56:59.098 --> 00:57:02.918
housed and they're still not
being cared for and provided for.

00:57:03.238 --> 00:57:04.158
As an outreach worker,

00:57:04.658 --> 00:57:08.898
you're trying to rebuild people's
faith in the community around them.

00:57:09.538 --> 00:57:13.318
They have tried to sign up
for benefits and failed.

00:57:13.438 --> 00:57:16.678
They maybe were evicted
because of a rent increase.

00:57:16.998 --> 00:57:21.238
There's a whole host of things that have
failed them and led them to experience

00:57:21.278 --> 00:57:22.398
unsheltered homelessness.

00:57:22.958 --> 00:57:26.398
Not only do you have to build a personal
rapport with that individual where you

00:57:26.498 --> 00:57:30.298
build trust that you will do what
you tell them you're going to,

00:57:30.758 --> 00:57:35.598
but you also have to completely
rebuild their trust in systems

00:57:35.718 --> 00:57:36.551
as a whole.

00:57:36.858 --> 00:57:41.318
They have to turn over the
management of their life to

00:57:41.578 --> 00:57:45.518
community-based organizations that
right now they don't know. And

00:57:47.198 --> 00:57:48.558
it's a hard thing to put together.

00:57:49.198 --> 00:57:53.598
Folks at the camp also had stories about
people who had left the camp and got

00:57:53.638 --> 00:57:55.538
into housing, but then were evicted later.

00:57:56.058 --> 00:57:59.278
And so there is this
fear that people have of

00:58:01.298 --> 00:58:04.778
losing more if they take these
offers. There's a great reluctance.

00:58:05.638 --> 00:58:07.118
And all the media and stuff,

00:58:07.178 --> 00:58:11.898
they got it saying that
the homeless are bad.

00:58:12.538 --> 00:58:13.638
They're all on drugs. They're all

00:58:15.158 --> 00:58:19.638
choosing to deny services
and everything like that.

00:58:19.738 --> 00:58:23.738
And that's not the case at all.
People have been out here for 20 plus,

00:58:23.748 --> 00:58:26.539
30 plus years and they've
been out here for so long.

00:58:27.818 --> 00:58:30.459
They get tired of waiting. They
get tired of being lied to,

00:58:30.919 --> 00:58:33.559
get tired of being put on the back
burner, discriminated against.

00:58:33.839 --> 00:58:38.519
And so they quit, they give up. So
for people that's denying services,

00:58:38.679 --> 00:58:42.019
a lot of times that's the case.
All these city ran programs,

00:58:42.539 --> 00:58:44.259
they want to search you
every time you show up.

00:58:45.459 --> 00:58:49.219
You can't have any kind of visitors.
You have curfews and stuff.

00:58:49.279 --> 00:58:52.179
We're all grown individuals.
We can't handle ourselves.

00:58:52.239 --> 00:58:53.379
We know what we need to do in a day.

00:58:53.799 --> 00:58:57.539
Being treated like a child in your place
of residence where you're supposed to

00:58:57.559 --> 00:58:59.279
be comfortable, that's
just out of the question.

00:58:59.879 --> 00:59:03.279
You're right to complain that people
are on the streets. It isn't right.

00:59:03.339 --> 00:59:08.219
It isn't safe. It isn't healthy. And
at the same time, you then can't say,

00:59:08.379 --> 00:59:08.759
"Well,

00:59:08.759 --> 00:59:13.459
we don't want a well-run
50 or 100 bed tiny home

00:59:13.499 --> 00:59:18.179
village or shelter or
healthcare facility in our

00:59:18.459 --> 00:59:20.859
neighborhood." The two don't go together.

00:59:21.959 --> 00:59:25.099
There's a really interesting narrative
in a lot of local communities that if we

00:59:25.339 --> 00:59:29.439
actually invest in housing and resources
and we put them in our neighborhoods,

00:59:29.899 --> 00:59:33.179
that somehow that's going to drive
down property values or be bad for

00:59:33.239 --> 00:59:34.879
communities. At the same time,

00:59:34.939 --> 00:59:38.679
we're also saying that homelessness is
bad for property values and communities.

00:59:39.199 --> 00:59:42.519
I think what communities find when they
actually invest in these programs and

00:59:42.539 --> 00:59:47.499
these solutions is that not only does
it make the overall economic activity

00:59:47.539 --> 00:59:50.380
in their community
elevated and more robust,

00:59:50.719 --> 00:59:53.799
but they don't see those kind of
harms to their property values.

00:59:53.899 --> 00:59:57.020
They don't see those kind
of negative manifestations.

00:59:57.280 --> 00:59:59.040
It really is a win-win for everyone. Do.

01:00:00.060 --> 01:00:04.740
When the person who's
driving Uber and doing

01:00:04.800 --> 01:00:07.220
DoorDash and living in their car,

01:00:07.720 --> 01:00:11.480
they are experiencing homelessness,
but the general public,

01:00:11.880 --> 01:00:16.100
they don't see them as homeless.
They just get into their Uber, drive,

01:00:16.160 --> 01:00:19.300
have a pleasant conversation
and then move about their day.

01:00:20.100 --> 01:00:24.480
When there is somebody
experiencing homelessness who has a

01:00:24.540 --> 01:00:28.700
profound behavioral health disability,
it confirms people's prior,

01:00:29.060 --> 01:00:29.893
oh look,

01:00:30.140 --> 01:00:34.660
everybody who's experiencing
homelessness has these problems

01:00:35.620 --> 01:00:39.000
because really the people who
don't have the problems are there,

01:00:39.820 --> 01:00:42.080
but they're invisible
to the general public.

01:00:42.140 --> 01:00:45.320
When I talk to people and I've talked to
people in countless communities across

01:00:45.340 --> 01:00:46.173
the country,

01:00:46.400 --> 01:00:49.860
it's almost always these experiences
with people that have significant mental

01:00:49.920 --> 01:00:52.840
health issues, significant
drug and alcohol issues,

01:00:53.220 --> 01:00:57.020
or other health conditions that make
them and they actually are extremely

01:00:57.340 --> 01:00:58.173
vulnerable.

01:00:58.380 --> 01:01:01.600
The reality is that that's actually
a very small percentage of people

01:01:01.620 --> 01:01:02.660
experiencing homelessness.

01:01:03.140 --> 01:01:07.060
So people experiencing what's called
long-term chronic homelessness on average

01:01:07.080 --> 01:01:10.060
are only about 30% of the
overall homeless community.

01:01:10.520 --> 01:01:12.980
And so this idea that everyone
experiencing homelessness,

01:01:13.040 --> 01:01:16.560
that's because of alcohol issues,
drug issues, behavioral health issues.

01:01:16.980 --> 01:01:18.120
It's just not true,

01:01:18.600 --> 01:01:23.480
but it does resonate with the emotional
experience of how we see homelessness on

01:01:23.500 --> 01:01:24.333
the street.

01:01:25.020 --> 01:01:26.580
Oftentimes people will ask,

01:01:27.060 --> 01:01:30.100
do individuals that are unhoused,

01:01:30.480 --> 01:01:34.540
they just need job training or they
need job skills, they need to work.

01:01:34.820 --> 01:01:38.620
And of course, a huge portion of
individuals who are unhoused are working.

01:01:38.820 --> 01:01:43.280
They are working at wages that are
not going to be able to make rent

01:01:43.340 --> 01:01:45.940
affordable. So that's one
thing that is very interesting.

01:01:46.160 --> 01:01:50.780
The other thing is that that question
is so ableist because a lot of folks out

01:01:50.800 --> 01:01:54.260
there are disabled and receive a check
from the government because they're

01:01:54.280 --> 01:01:59.120
disabled that says they cannot work.
And then that amount that they receive,

01:01:59.400 --> 01:02:01.300
it still means that
they can't afford rent.

01:02:01.900 --> 01:02:05.440
So you have multiple layers to
that question. Number one, yes,

01:02:05.540 --> 01:02:07.920
people are working who
can work. Number two,

01:02:08.120 --> 01:02:11.640
there are seniors and disabled individuals
out there who cannot work even if

01:02:11.680 --> 01:02:12.513
they wanted to,

01:02:13.240 --> 01:02:17.760
have been declared disabled and cannot
afford to live or rent on their small

01:02:18.280 --> 01:02:19.560
disability check each month.

01:02:20.700 --> 01:02:24.540
Whether you're disabled or not, they
don't care because you're nothing.

01:02:24.600 --> 01:02:28.060
Get a job. That's what they tell you.
If I could get a job, I would've.

01:02:30.121 --> 01:02:35.121
I liked working. They don't understand
that. We were you too. We worked.

01:02:35.201 --> 01:02:36.861
We did all that. I went to college here.

01:02:37.741 --> 01:02:41.081
Went to Consumers River College for
three years. Had to be a vet tech,

01:02:43.041 --> 01:02:46.031
but they don't care. They don't
treat you like people out here.

01:02:47.981 --> 01:02:51.581
When I had got my first
job at Hertz Rental,

01:02:52.741 --> 01:02:55.381
because I was stressed out.

01:02:56.141 --> 01:03:00.240
It was like the last day before
I had to go into my interview and

01:03:02.461 --> 01:03:05.601
I needed a haircut, I needed
clothes, I needed shoes,

01:03:05.781 --> 01:03:10.361
I needed all the stuff and
everybody here scrambled together

01:03:11.241 --> 01:03:15.521
and I killed it. And they loved
me and they hired me that day.

01:03:16.161 --> 01:03:19.861
And I came back and told everybody as
soon as I walked through the gates,

01:03:19.941 --> 01:03:21.941
they was like, "Well, how
did it go? How did it go?

01:03:21.951 --> 01:03:23.821
" They were just waiting
on me to come home and

01:03:25.400 --> 01:03:29.661
I told them I got it and everybody
just cheered and was happy and

01:03:30.421 --> 01:03:33.901
they helped me make sure I
made this work every day.

01:03:34.701 --> 01:03:36.381
That was beautiful for me.

01:03:53.321 --> 01:03:58.141
Yu got this notice yesterday from the
Department of Community Response and

01:03:58.181 --> 01:03:59.901
it's partly a notice to vacate.

01:04:00.301 --> 01:04:03.521
They're basically saying
by 120 AM on August 26th,

01:04:04.481 --> 01:04:06.261
it is a violation for people to be here.

01:04:06.481 --> 01:04:09.361
And they list the penal codes
and the different violations.

01:04:09.901 --> 01:04:13.901
And I thougt was interesting they say
part of the lease agreement is that we

01:04:14.001 --> 01:04:15.321
offer permanent supportive housing,

01:04:15.801 --> 01:04:20.121
but it's either you have a choice of
either the outreach engagement center or

01:04:20.141 --> 01:04:23.561
the city's Roseville Road campus.
So what do you think about,

01:04:23.621 --> 01:04:25.481
what's your response to this offer?

01:04:26.601 --> 01:04:27.641
That's not what they promised us.

01:04:27.981 --> 01:04:28.561
Yeah.

01:04:28.561 --> 01:04:31.221
I don't care if the lease is over
or not. They promised us housing.

01:04:31.701 --> 01:04:36.541
This is an attempt to shove us in
a hole and keep us down because

01:04:36.981 --> 01:04:39.381
the circumstances are much worse at
Roseville Road than they are here.

01:04:40.521 --> 01:04:43.661
That's jail to me. If they
come and take the trailer back,

01:04:44.021 --> 01:04:46.581
we're on the street because
we don't even have a tenant.

01:04:47.981 --> 01:04:51.251
We're in the same boat as most of
these people out of here. We don't.

01:04:51.251 --> 01:04:55.561
Have a place to go. But if is not for
myself, but the rest of us residents,

01:04:55.661 --> 01:05:00.342
which is 52 of us here, we don't have
nowhere. We won't have nowhere to go.

01:05:01.122 --> 01:05:04.382
We'll be right out there with the
rest of the unhoused people sweat,

01:05:04.682 --> 01:05:08.722
losing things, watching them all farfed
up. But that's just it right now.

01:05:08.840 --> 01:05:10.782
We don't have no options.

01:05:12.642 --> 01:05:15.042
So the week before the
camp was set to close,

01:05:15.122 --> 01:05:19.762
Sharon invited me to one last dinner
at the camp, the last community event,

01:05:19.882 --> 01:05:21.642
last community dinner that
they were going to have.

01:05:21.742 --> 01:05:23.922
And even though they didn't
use the word the last supper,

01:05:24.282 --> 01:05:27.822
it very much felt like the last supper,
the way that they set up the tables.

01:05:28.862 --> 01:05:31.562
People giving speeches
about the coming end.

01:05:32.462 --> 01:05:35.462
Some people were getting already
prepared to leave. They were packing.

01:05:36.122 --> 01:05:39.882
Other folks were talking about next steps
about how they could fight and resist

01:05:39.922 --> 01:05:44.762
the city and what would
happen on the morning of the

01:05:44.842 --> 01:05:49.722
sweep if it was going to
come. But overall, it was a
real mixed bag of feelings,

01:05:49.782 --> 01:05:50.615
I would say.

01:05:59.322 --> 01:06:02.302
We're not giving up yet. We
still got eight and a half days

01:06:04.782 --> 01:06:09.082
and we're doing something that
is proactive every day. So

01:06:11.742 --> 01:06:16.462
I'm really hoping for last
minute fucking Hail Mary and

01:06:16.582 --> 01:06:21.362
something's going to work. As of now,

01:06:21.522 --> 01:06:22.702
the city wants to tear it down.

01:06:25.142 --> 01:06:27.322
We did pretty much everything
that they wanted us to do.

01:06:27.622 --> 01:06:32.202
And I don't understand why
if it's not costing them

01:06:32.982 --> 01:06:37.162
any money and it working, why
are they going to mess with it?

01:06:37.942 --> 01:06:39.782
Just to me,

01:06:39.842 --> 01:06:43.142
I'm going to feel embarrassed
that I didn't succeed in this.

01:06:46.262 --> 01:06:47.362
Maybe not embarrassed, but

01:06:49.982 --> 01:06:54.182
I have put everything I have into
this for fucking almost two years.

01:06:54.242 --> 01:06:55.075
Me and my wife have.

01:06:57.602 --> 01:07:02.582
I'm going to sacrifice everything
for the camp and for them to shut

01:07:02.622 --> 01:07:05.342
it down. It's unreal to me.

01:07:23.560 --> 01:07:28.223
We did. We have accomplished a lot
and the city will never give us credit

01:07:29.223 --> 01:07:30.523
for everything we accomplished.

01:07:33.560 --> 01:07:37.083
I bet 16 people have houses
themselves out of there

01:07:38.383 --> 01:07:42.683
without the city. As a camp
we've had our differences,

01:07:42.743 --> 01:07:45.883
but when we really needed to
come together, we all did.

01:07:46.663 --> 01:07:47.883
And I'm proud of them for that.

01:07:57.183 --> 01:08:00.883
Not only is this like a place of
beautiful people. I mean, what it is,

01:08:00.943 --> 01:08:02.703
is it's a place that
gives everybody stability.

01:08:04.863 --> 01:08:09.643
I've gotten to have so many conversations
and so many moments with folks

01:08:10.623 --> 01:08:11.903
just because they got to stay still.

01:08:13.963 --> 01:08:18.483
They got to have a place to
be, to exist, to process,

01:08:18.563 --> 01:08:19.123
to live.

01:08:19.123 --> 01:08:24.023
It's a place for community of all
kinds to come together to learn

01:08:24.083 --> 01:08:26.343
about it. Yeah,

01:08:27.760 --> 01:08:30.803
it's so important and it was
such an honor to be a part of it.

01:08:33.063 --> 01:08:37.143
The energy at the camp was
really chaotic before the sweep.

01:08:38.383 --> 01:08:42.723
People were somewhat in a disarray in
terms of their preparation for what's

01:08:42.763 --> 01:08:43.596
coming next.

01:08:43.803 --> 01:08:46.303
Folks were debating whether to give
their pets to Front Street Shelter.

01:08:46.623 --> 01:08:49.723
Pets were almost like family that
offered companionship, mental health,

01:08:49.823 --> 01:08:53.143
and even security. You could tell
that emotions were running high.

01:08:53.543 --> 01:08:55.363
People were frustrated,
people were scared.

01:08:56.063 --> 01:09:00.723
And it was sad to see this strong
community begin to disintegrate.

01:09:01.263 --> 01:09:05.283
You could tell it was very, very
tense right before the sweeps.

01:09:59.920 --> 01:10:04.684
The day of the sweep was
really sad and traumatic

01:10:05.004 --> 01:10:06.084
to be honest with you.

01:10:07.104 --> 01:10:11.564
And it was difficult to see my
city mobilize a large police force

01:10:12.284 --> 01:10:17.244
to essentially destroy this community
that these mostly disabled women had

01:10:17.284 --> 01:10:18.244
created for themselves.

01:10:23.744 --> 01:10:25.880
We want housing right now.

01:10:27.524 --> 01:10:30.564
It felt like a disaster,

01:10:31.804 --> 01:10:36.004
an earthquake, a
life-changing thing happening,

01:10:36.464 --> 01:10:39.004
somebody's worst day
happening in front of you.

01:10:41.304 --> 01:10:45.664
I've witnessed evictions before.
I've witnessed camp sweeps before.

01:10:47.404 --> 01:10:49.804
I've never witnessed
anything like this before.

01:10:52.840 --> 01:10:54.904
I'm sorry? We're dying out here.

01:10:56.164 --> 01:10:59.184
The city turned on us. And
so is everybody fucking new.

01:11:00.184 --> 01:11:04.064
Nothing legally is going to change the
situation of a fact is that we're being

01:11:04.164 --> 01:11:07.424
discriminated and being oppressed.
I have nowhere else to fucking go.

01:11:08.004 --> 01:11:09.024
And you're going to push the media.

01:11:09.084 --> 01:11:10.640
Away. Beer phone a lot.

01:11:12.104 --> 01:11:15.624
We have a penal code that allows us in
front of the police line and lets it

01:11:15.784 --> 01:11:18.784
seriously is a danger.
This doesn't seem like a.

01:11:19.104 --> 01:11:19.464
Danger.

01:11:19.464 --> 01:11:20.297
Right now.

01:11:25.844 --> 01:11:28.924
How you doing this morning? I'm fine.
We're born a cow resolution for what?

01:11:29.564 --> 01:11:30.760
Just fucking out of house people.

01:11:34.160 --> 01:11:37.000
Just don't forget all y'all
law enforcement's out here.

01:11:37.320 --> 01:11:39.760
Y'all just want to pay a check
away from being homos too.

01:12:03.444 --> 01:12:06.424
I'm here to try to save the camp.

01:12:07.524 --> 01:12:10.044
I want to save the camp. That's our home.

01:12:18.600 --> 01:12:21.945
I can't live without my
oxygen. I'm so tired of this.

01:12:22.120 --> 01:12:23.965
I'm tired of feeding like garbage.

01:12:24.764 --> 01:12:28.545
It was awful to see this
disintegration of a community.

01:12:28.985 --> 01:12:33.705
It was awful to see people lose their
belongings and not know where they were

01:12:33.745 --> 01:12:38.025
going. I know people were scared.
I know people were devastated.

01:12:39.825 --> 01:12:40.658
Let's go.

01:12:42.425 --> 01:12:45.385
It is a difficult reality to look at.

01:12:45.525 --> 01:12:49.005
It's a difficult reality to deal with
and there's a discomfort in that.

01:12:50.005 --> 01:12:52.525
But I don't think we should
look away from that discomfort,

01:12:52.645 --> 01:12:55.745
but really explore why it
makes us feel uncomfortable.

01:12:56.965 --> 01:13:01.005
This incidental criminalization that
happens to people who are living in the

01:13:01.065 --> 01:13:04.745
margins is a real thing that is
happening every day in our city.

01:13:05.725 --> 01:13:10.085
And while there were cameras and
media there to document that,

01:13:10.745 --> 01:13:15.405
that sort of stuff happens every
day somewhere in our city or in our

01:13:15.465 --> 01:13:16.298
county.

01:13:16.565 --> 01:13:21.185
I think that as a society we have
to be willing to look at those

01:13:21.305 --> 01:13:22.285
uncomfortable things.

01:13:23.085 --> 01:13:26.245
And I think it's important that we see
that because these are the consequences

01:13:26.305 --> 01:13:29.585
of our policies, of the people
that we elect into office.

01:13:30.385 --> 01:13:33.525
Those are decisions that we're making
whether we are aware of them or not,

01:13:34.385 --> 01:13:36.905
to displace people, to
destroy their homes.

01:13:57.385 --> 01:14:01.105
A lot has happened since camp
closed. Everyone is in survival mode.

01:14:01.665 --> 01:14:06.425
They're sweeping everybody constantly,
continuously. For like a week after camp,

01:14:07.025 --> 01:14:09.425
anywhere we would go, they would
come in immediately and sweeping us.

01:14:09.485 --> 01:14:13.185
They slept back here almost
like 10 times in four days,

01:14:14.125 --> 01:14:17.145
multiple times a day. I don't
see no solutions being made.

01:14:18.005 --> 01:14:19.685
They closed camp with no solution.

01:14:20.905 --> 01:14:25.545
What was the difference besides
you making people leave their

01:14:25.585 --> 01:14:27.245
dogs, lose their things?

01:14:28.005 --> 01:14:30.765
Everyone at Camp Resolution
lost everything that day.

01:14:31.725 --> 01:14:32.905
The closure of Camp Rez,

01:14:33.025 --> 01:14:36.645
as well as just all of the sweeping that's
happening right now is reverberating

01:14:36.705 --> 01:14:40.705
in the community and a lot of
people are afraid and scared.

01:14:41.745 --> 01:14:44.525
They're trying to figure
out where they can camp,

01:14:44.665 --> 01:14:48.225
where they're going to be safe.
They're running scared and afraid,

01:14:48.305 --> 01:14:51.425
and it's probably reduced the likelihood
that they'll engage in care and

01:14:51.465 --> 01:14:54.145
services because it's fractured the trust.

01:14:54.665 --> 01:14:59.345
We need more camp resolutions
because we don't have a solution to

01:14:59.426 --> 01:15:02.146
homelessness. We can't solve it right now.

01:15:02.826 --> 01:15:06.366
And camp resolutions are the
best harm reduction model.

01:15:06.546 --> 01:15:11.106
They offer an experience for the
individual to have more choice in agency

01:15:11.726 --> 01:15:16.326
and have less harm created through
homelessness and they offer harm

01:15:16.386 --> 01:15:18.626
reduction for the public, for a community.

01:15:19.286 --> 01:15:23.606
And so it's an ideal approach when
you're looking at the fact that we really

01:15:23.786 --> 01:15:26.386
don't have affordable housing
for everybody who needs it.

01:15:26.926 --> 01:15:29.946
The status quo approach to addressing
homelessness throughout much of our

01:15:29.986 --> 01:15:34.206
country has been to try to lead with
solving the issues that led to a person's

01:15:34.246 --> 01:15:36.686
homelessness. So if it's
drug and alcohol issues,

01:15:36.786 --> 01:15:39.146
we need to solve that person's
drug and alcohol issues,

01:15:39.206 --> 01:15:41.706
help them get into sobriety,
then they can get to housing.

01:15:42.086 --> 01:15:45.366
What has been much more
effective in communities all
across the United States is

01:15:45.406 --> 01:15:47.546
to actually lead with housing first.

01:15:47.626 --> 01:15:51.186
So the idea is you help someone get
instead, you help them stabilize,

01:15:51.426 --> 01:15:54.426
and then you wrap them in supportive
services so that they can be more

01:15:54.486 --> 01:15:55.319
successful.

01:15:55.586 --> 01:15:59.646
So the idea of housing first is that
let's address that underlying issue that's

01:15:59.726 --> 01:16:03.966
causing your homelessness a lack of
housing. And then once you're inside,

01:16:04.306 --> 01:16:08.366
then we work on those bigger
transformational issues
to help you sustain and

01:16:08.386 --> 01:16:09.266
thrive in that housing.

01:16:09.886 --> 01:16:14.046
We have to make sure to not be blinded
by the idea of we just need more

01:16:14.106 --> 01:16:18.286
development and more apartment complexes
and that will solve homelessness.

01:16:19.526 --> 01:16:22.606
There are people who need support.

01:16:23.426 --> 01:16:26.086
We need to build up this
social service network.

01:16:26.146 --> 01:16:30.186
We need case managers who will stay
with people while they go into housing.

01:16:30.586 --> 01:16:34.746
We need substance abuse counselors. We
need more mental health professionals.

01:16:35.306 --> 01:16:40.026
We need kind people doing kind things
to help support their fellow humans

01:16:40.546 --> 01:16:42.746
and not just brick and mortar housing.

01:16:43.326 --> 01:16:48.226
The issue we have is that it's not
that there's any question that Housing

01:16:48.266 --> 01:16:51.066
First is the way to go. People
have tried that head-to-head.

01:16:51.146 --> 01:16:53.766
The housing outcomes in Housing
First studies are usually show,

01:16:54.426 --> 01:16:55.259
depending on the study,

01:16:55.266 --> 01:16:59.846
between 85 and 90% of people
are successfully housed,

01:17:00.266 --> 01:17:03.346
even if they're people with lots and lots
and lots of behavioral health problems

01:17:03.686 --> 01:17:06.946
compared to like 20 to
30% in the other models.

01:17:07.106 --> 01:17:09.246
A huge difference slammed on.

01:17:09.546 --> 01:17:14.006
One of the things that I like to say is
that there is no medicine as powerful as

01:17:14.086 --> 01:17:14.919
housing.

01:17:15.286 --> 01:17:18.986
It's something that folks at Camp
Resolution absolutely agree with.

01:17:19.207 --> 01:17:23.127
Without that housing piece, it's hard
to work on those other issues first.

01:17:23.546 --> 01:17:25.466
It's hard to work on your
emotional and mental health,

01:17:25.546 --> 01:17:28.827
your substance use issues if
you feel housing insecure.

01:17:29.467 --> 01:17:33.927
Every single person that came
here elevated in some sort of way,

01:17:34.487 --> 01:17:39.267
whether it was doing something positive,
getting a job, going back to school,

01:17:39.847 --> 01:17:44.107
even if it was small as keeping your
space cleaner than you did originally

01:17:44.167 --> 01:17:48.327
before you came through
those gates, that's a change.

01:17:48.387 --> 01:17:53.307
That shows growth. That shows that if
you give somebody something to stand on,

01:17:53.787 --> 01:17:58.667
that they can do something different.
We did all that off of community, love,

01:17:59.447 --> 01:18:02.267
togetherness, hard work.

01:18:02.887 --> 01:18:06.747
We came up with a solution for
real and was helping the problem,

01:18:06.847 --> 01:18:09.487
not just the people that live there,
but the people outside of that gate.

01:18:09.547 --> 01:18:12.067
While y'all still doing the
same shit that don't work.

01:18:12.967 --> 01:18:14.307
So who was the real failure?

01:18:14.607 --> 01:18:18.447
In Sacramento, what gives me hope is
that there are a lot of people that care.

01:18:19.887 --> 01:18:22.987
I see people coming to city council
meetings. They want to get involved.

01:18:23.087 --> 01:18:26.367
They want to help their fellow
humans. And working with the city,

01:18:26.467 --> 01:18:31.347
we held contracts with multiple nonprofits
in the Sacramento area and every

01:18:31.447 --> 01:18:35.087
single one of those employees is there
because they want to help people.

01:18:35.427 --> 01:18:39.527
There is an avenue towards
success. We just need to,

01:18:40.167 --> 01:18:40.927
my opinion,

01:18:40.927 --> 01:18:45.667
is get the enforcement and government
out of the way and allow people who

01:18:45.747 --> 01:18:50.707
care to do the work and
not try to spend our

01:18:50.747 --> 01:18:54.567
way out of it, but rather try to
think and care our way out of it.

01:18:55.887 --> 01:18:58.447
The city calls camp
resolution a field experiment,

01:18:58.967 --> 01:19:03.707
but I think that's really unfair
and misses I think the potential

01:19:03.827 --> 01:19:08.387
for what the model was. For
a certain time and place,

01:19:09.467 --> 01:19:12.127
the camp accomplished
something that was incredible.

01:19:12.567 --> 01:19:15.967
It provided a safe place for
people to form a community,

01:19:16.347 --> 01:19:18.447
to start their journey towards recovery.

01:19:19.167 --> 01:19:22.447
It provided a point for the community
to come in and provide resources.

01:19:23.367 --> 01:19:25.607
And so for a while, I
think it was a success.

01:19:26.467 --> 01:19:30.567
One of the things that I found inspiring
throughout my experiences with Camp

01:19:30.627 --> 01:19:35.287
Resolution is seeing people who
don't have a lot helping other people

01:19:35.587 --> 01:19:36.627
who also don't have a lot.

01:19:37.547 --> 01:19:41.927
And it became known in Sacramento
as a safe haven for folks.

01:19:42.987 --> 01:19:45.727
We did need 21 more camp resolutions.

01:19:46.587 --> 01:19:51.548
I think calling it failed experiment
is incredibly demeaning to

01:19:52.368 --> 01:19:54.908
the reality that these people
actually experienced for a time.

01:19:56.048 --> 01:20:00.208
I think we are going to see more
camp resolutions in the future.

01:20:00.888 --> 01:20:05.408
It shows the potential what can happen
when we engage with these communities,

01:20:05.468 --> 01:20:07.448
when we provide support
with these communities.

01:20:07.768 --> 01:20:12.508
It shows the potential of how people can
recover from homelessness once we are

01:20:12.548 --> 01:20:15.408
willing to kind of engage with
them and not just push them aside.

01:20:16.208 --> 01:20:19.668
I'm not sure we need more
programs to control people,

01:20:19.848 --> 01:20:22.628
more programs to force people into,

01:20:23.248 --> 01:20:27.308
but we do have to offer people ways out
of homelessness in which they get to

01:20:27.368 --> 01:20:29.768
define success in their own terms.

01:20:30.868 --> 01:20:34.248
And that's what was nice
about Camp Resolution. They
had institutionalized that.

01:20:34.848 --> 01:20:38.448
And for a while and for a time,
it was a great place for folks.

01:20:45.608 --> 01:20:49.948
The strength behind the women
who stood up for Camp Resolution,

01:20:50.828 --> 01:20:53.948
the hearts of the women that
stood up for Camp Resolution,

01:20:54.688 --> 01:20:59.488
the fight in the women that were
here. That's what it's all about.

01:21:00.588 --> 01:21:01.748
Be a champion of change.

01:21:01.828 --> 01:21:06.448
That's what I want for Camp
Resolutions to be remembered as a

01:21:06.508 --> 01:21:07.388
champion of change.

01:22:16.360 --> 01:22:20.349
I miss it. I miss the people,
all the people and whatnot.

01:22:20.489 --> 01:22:24.229
I wish it could be again, but hey,

01:22:24.629 --> 01:22:29.549
can't go back in time. Just got to keep
moving forward and keep your head up.

01:22:31.009 --> 01:22:32.149
Here's the camp resolution.

01:22:33.129 --> 01:22:38.089
I'm currently at Roseboro Road. Firstdale
Community, I guess, Project Housing,

01:22:38.149 --> 01:22:40.429
whatever or not. My experience
here, I want to get out.

01:22:40.549 --> 01:22:42.560
I don't want to be here no more.
I've been here long enough.

01:22:46.809 --> 01:22:49.109
It's jail. It's jail.

01:22:49.669 --> 01:22:53.709
We have a place to stay, but
we were blessed to be here.

01:22:54.049 --> 01:22:57.549
We didn't know where we were going
when we left camp. People have died.

01:22:59.049 --> 01:23:03.709
That weighs heavy up my heart because
we brought those people together.

01:23:05.329 --> 01:23:10.189
I tried. That's all I said. Thats all
I have to say is I tried. Sharon tried.

01:23:11.829 --> 01:23:16.789
There was people in there that tried.
Sean tried. The ones that tried,

01:23:17.229 --> 01:23:22.129
they shouldn't. You know that you've
done everything you can possibly,

01:23:22.189 --> 01:23:23.629
you know that you've done it all.

01:23:24.189 --> 01:23:27.989
And I feel at times like we let
everybody down, but we did it.

01:23:28.069 --> 01:23:29.569
We did what we could.

01:23:34.109 --> 01:23:36.189
I miss everybody. We were one.

01:23:39.729 --> 01:23:40.029
Yeah.