Orlando homeless laws stir heated debate

NF Reporter · 02-03-2007, 04:52 PM

AP - At Lake Eola park, there is much beauty to behold: robust palms, beds of cheery begonias, a cascading lake fountain, clusters of friendly egrets and swans, an amphitheater named in honor of Walt Disney.

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waltky · 01-25-2008, 10:45 PM

Marietta Ga. too...

Police sweep homeless camps
Jan. 25, 2008 -- Police in Marietta, Ga., cleared out several homeless camps after warning residents to move out.

Quote:

The sweep Thursday turned up only one homeless person, a man who had pitched a tent in a wooded area near the county bus depot, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. Police officers accompanied sanitation workers who removed debris and personal items left behind. Tents, plastic sheeting and old denims were loaded on garbage trucks.

Plastic jugs of urine and an unopened can of King Cobra malt liquor also turned up. Officials said that the camps are a potential environmental problem. The homeless set up housekeeping on Rottenwood Creek, a tributary of the Chattahoochee River.

The Rev. Andrew Peabody, who runs MUST Ministries, which operates a shelter and other services, praised police for discussing the sweep with him beforehand and giving the homeless advance notice. "We have got to find a common ground. There are always going to be people that need to find shelter outside, that have no place to go," Peabody said. "But pushing them along can't be the answer."

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sunken · 01-26-2008, 08:05 PM

There would be a lot less homeless people if there was a system in place where people could get short term help. For instance, if a person falls ill temporarily and can't work. There is no one to help him stay on track. If he winds up losing his house, it's awful hard to pull back out of that hole. Then they are accused of mental problems. Well of course they have mental problems. Who wouldn't after being shoved out in the street, because of an illness that they didn't cause. Sometimes the gap between homelessness and a home isn't that much, but it seems like a lot to someone in that position.

bizwiz · 01-26-2008, 10:49 PM

They should not treat the homeless like that. They are already down on their luck and now even the government wants to sweep them away and under the rug. Although I don't encourage dole outs, they should give assistance to those who are really in need.

waltky · 09-19-2008, 11:57 PM

Homeless in Seattle...

Tent Cities Spread In U.S. As Economy Sags
Sept. 19, 2008 - Foreclosure Crisis Blamed For Rise Of Homeless Camps In Cities

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A few tents cropped up hard by the railroad tracks, pitched by men left with nowhere to go once the emergency winter shelter closed for the summer. Then others appeared - people who had lost their jobs to the ailing economy, or newcomers who had moved to Reno for work and discovered no one was hiring. Within weeks, more than 150 people were living in tents big and small, barely a foot apart in a patch of dirt slated to be a parking lot for a campus of shelters Reno is building for its homeless population. Like many other cities, Reno has found itself with a "tent city" - an encampment of people who had nowhere else to go.

From Seattle to Athens, Ga., homeless advocacy groups and city agencies are reporting the most visible rise in homeless encampments in a generation. Nearly 61 percent of local and state homeless coalitions say they've experienced a rise in homelessness since the foreclosure crisis began in 2007, according to a report by the National Coalition for the Homeless. The group says the problem has worsened since the report's release in April, with foreclosures mounting, gas and food prices rising and the job market tightening.

"It's clear that poverty and homelessness have increased," said Michael Stoops, acting executive director of the coalition. "The economy is in chaos, we're in an unofficial recession and Americans are worried, from the homeless to the middle class, about their future." The phenomenon of encampments has caught advocacy groups somewhat by surprise, largely because of how quickly they have sprung up. "What you're seeing is encampments that I haven't seen since the 80s," said Paul Boden, executive director of the Western Regional Advocacy Project, an umbrella group for homeless advocacy organizations in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland, Calif., Portland, Ore. and Seattle.

The relatively tony city of Santa Barbara has given over a parking lot to people who sleep in cars and vans. The city of Fresno, Calif., is trying to manage several proliferating tent cities, including an encampment where people have made shelters out of scrap wood. In Portland, Ore., and Seattle, homeless advocacy groups have paired with nonprofits or faith-based groups to manage tent cities as outdoor shelters. Other cities where tent cities have either appeared or expanded include include Chattanooga, Tenn., San Diego, and Columbus, Ohio.

More Tent Cities Spread In U.S. As Economy Sags, Foreclosure Crisis Blamed For Rise Of Homeless Camps In Cities - CBS News