TAKE NOTICE: A Camp for the Homeless

it was called camp take notice dozens of homeless people living in tents just outside Ann Arbor home of the University of Michigan they called it camp take notice because they wanted the outside world to take notice of homelessness and treat them with respect hi how are you the camp was located to the west of Ann Arbor on a triangle of land about 500 feet from the nearest house he was on a wide median strip for the m14 highway splits off from interstate 94 and just before it passes under Wagner Road the camp was hidden behind the trees invisible to the outside world it was a relatively clean well-organized safe haven a refuge for homeless people like Jackie but that person that year at camp I don't think I was so much scared with my surroundings I was scaring the bet that myself I had just lost nothing everything my digging shocked myself look at me let go what do we do mom when you're a caretaker bristle water you take care of other people and all of a sudden you will have nothing it's not yours I hurt I had a broken heart for a second she soon became part of the community in the main tent every Sunday they gathered for a hot meal donated by churches that come after dinner a meeting to discuss camp issues this tent looks like crap the camp was largely self-governing discussion has followed parliamentary procedure we have a second for that let's open it up for discussion further the total population varied some 25 in the winter up to 70 in the summer average stay several months one new arrival a deaf-mute man unlike some other camps here there were strict rules no alcohol no drugs no violence if caught violators were expelled sometimes just for two weeks this man had been expelled and applied to be readmitted he asked not to be identified he doesn't want his teenage son or employer to know he's homeless yesterday there was a fight hidden called alcohol it came across The Situation's who can happen he can follow game but hey how we know or we don't know please I say please open the door will you die then I take our chances Thank You mundo I think one - thanks leave Oda to readmit soon he was preparing to move back in funded by churches and other donors the campers got weekly allotments bus tokens and propane for their tent heaters but only if they obeyed the rules attended meetings and helped with chores the camp had some of the comforts of home but not all no running water so no showers some took the bus to Ann Arbor to shower at the homeless shelter people ought to take care of personal hygiene so other people don't smell like spelling there were no toilets chores included carting off bags of human waste the campers built their own steps and a dumpster at the entrance to the camp the main tent was dark part of the time until the camp generator kicked in some campers had health problem here one man fainted during a meeting a doctor a nurse happened to be visiting Corning over Thailand okay yeah tentative diagnosis not enough to eat that day the camp was founded in 2008 at another site by Caleb Poirier a former paramedic he says he became homeless and he was fired for absenteeism my problem is major depression he went to Seattle panhandled and wound up in a self-governing tent city people are able to band together and meet their common problems he applied the Seattle model to Ann Arbor behind a Toys R Us building in town his group set up tents police evicted them they moved to the side of a road police came again in 2010 the campers moved to the Wagner Road site just outside Ann Arbor Caleb says the public has an image of the homeless as disheveled panhandlers but that's not true of all of them the stories are are unique from person to person so you never thought this would happen to you loora looral a divorced mother of three Jackie Starkey worked at local government office jobs and struggled with personal issues you have yourself had an issue with alcohol yes she went through one job after another picked up the road infected of foreclosed homes that was a bell the county got lost their funding she stayed with a daughter then with friends but eventually at the age of 58 moved into the camp don't you following this you're done Pau camp life lifted her spirits but then came another blow her granddaughter died Sydney was 16 years old she met a guy on Facebook they rented a hotel room she died of an overdose of heroin Jackie herself has health issues she lives off food stamps worth $200 a month and finds occasional work at an auto body shop I can what's and cars I can clean the shop I usually make 10 bucks an hour she jokes about the large tent she shares with a man named Paul we call it the Taj Mahal I got tired of being on food clothes say Liam underneath my sleeping bag and the cot there press merkel free and war Jackie stays in touch with family and friends with a free government subsidized cellphone I take the bus into town usually go to the shelter check the mail at least once a week or maybe grab lunch I belong to the Y so I can go to the Y I can take a shower like come to the library she looks at photos of her two daughters her son and her four grandchildren this is Julian he's my youngest grandson he score years old he lives in Austin Texas and she looks for jobs I'm qualified for a lot but when you have so many people out of work that are younger than you who have transportation they're gonna get the job no I did set a limit I said one year I will do one year being homeless if I can't figure it out in that year then something's up what were you doing I don't know I haven't thought that far ahead again destiny Brown lived at the camp for five months she was 19 she tells of a troubled home life in Battle Creek an absent father an abusive mother my grandma got me when I was 2 and I lived with her ever since she raised me because my mom couldn't take care of me and she gave me up destiny later lived with her mother but after a quarrel she and her boyfriend Mike ran away to camp take notice I mean we had friends there and I was there with Mike so I felt safe while at camp she became pregnant I looked at Mike and I almost cried I was I was so scared she spent part of the time in town at the homeless shelter which has medical facilities just before Christmas Mike was arrested she says he had failed to register as a sex offender I was tremens juvenile with his girlfriend and she falsely accused him of raping her so she went to get in trouble destiny moved back to Battle Creek sleeping on her grandmother's couch and writing to Mike she visits him on Wednesdays at the jail see I get up I eat I take a shower I get dressed I look all pretty and stuff um like I get 40 minutes to talk to him over a phone and a glass window and it just makes my day so destiny says she plans to look for a job meanwhile she's on welfare food stamps and cash assistance 200 and food every month when the baby's born I get more I get like 400 I think I'll probably get like 415 425 in cash right now I only get three so six months by the spring of 2012 she was preparing to give birth to a son and hoping Mike would be released soon it's a lot to love us but we get Pat Dean's nickname is gripped because he likes cigarettes born in Detroit he went into the Marines unchallenging much different dickheads deal with there was heavy drinking in the military especially on weekends we got nothing else to do sometimes guys they come out of the military they people they sometimes don't have an alcohol problem mine started way before then it's being around it having an alcoholic father what were you drinking vodka to anything that's stronger than whiskey the one I kid myself of no it's been nine days I touching the alcohol grit tells of odd jobs as a carnival worker in Arizona and prison time in California he says he was falsely accused of burglary Grit worked at factories in wisconsin until he became homeless boy cool for Oscar Mayer or rave AK battery company I assembly line at the age of 31 he came to the camp in Ann Arbor he collects cans and bottles worth 10 cents each gasps Rin it's a great show cool sometimes he's lucky look like fun my dear Wow what's that $5.00 he takes the bus into Ann Arbor to eat at the homeless shelter on Christmas Eve he went to a Senior Center in Detroit to see his mother he said he had collected enough bottles and cans to buy her a Christmas present a candy bar Gail Johnson is 47 she became homeless because of substance abuse my life was pretty much out of control and had been for quite some time ended up spiraling out of control with drugs and alcohol and eventually lost everything apartment all belongings ended up trying to commit suicide she served time in prison she says she was falsely accused of stabbing a woman Gail and her boyfriend lived for a year at camp take notice she says it saved her life because of seeing all the selfless people all the great people that I met the serenity of it all now she lives in an apartment building with her boyfriend who asked not to be identified I have keys and doorknobs a shower and a bed no couch in the TV it's great it's living it's a home he does construction work she gets a government subsidy for her rent so my rent is 735 I pay 189 plus utilities gee are you on food stamps yes how much is it 189 a month I have disability so I have um I get six so good'd nine a month plus um I'm working part-time scrapping extract metal she can make up to $400 a week if she finds metal in one hour she collected cans and bottles worth three dollars and fifty cents not enough for what she wanted a pack of cigarettes Gail says having her own home makes all the difference now when you get the things that you really want that you dream for you finally got them it makes you so much more appreciative what you know I have and to never forget where you came from and what you lost in 2011 throughout the United States there were six hundred and thirty six thousand homeless people of that total 4700 were in Ann Arbor and its surrounding County contributing to homelessness unemployment Michigan's rate nine point three percent so that the loss of one paycheck could make the difference of being able to make rent or not and there are other causes of homelessness many of the people that are part of this community are people who have disabilities mental disabilities you also have to understand that there's physical disabilities you have veterans that come back with head injuries homelessness is not high on the political agenda I'm not concerned about the very poor we have a safety net there it's ridiculous I keep taking away money from the shelters and stuff yet there's more and more homeless people Ann Arbor is main shelter has only 75 beds basically the resource never meets the need and that frequently as a barrier people getting there getting what they need in order to end their homelessness with governments cutting back the homeless that can't take notice dependent on churches for help one church bought heaters for their tents I just didn't feel like I could drive by that place throughout the winter knowing that there might be men or women down there cold freezing to death today I'm not actually oh they're my life itself because if it hadn't been for them I don't know what I would have died church members provided other supplies coats and scarves and hats and gloves and boots had another church more donations sleeping like it's less tokens so but bus tokens aren't a particularly sexy gift but they're really really critical to the campers well-being at another church a benefit concert raised $1,800 at the home of Ann Arbor lawyer and camp supporter Peggy Lynch a Christmas party for the campers we are blessed to have a plus day to be here be live today worthy of it an Ann Arbor nonprofit called mission coordinated donations and provided services mission helped run camp meetings all abstentions in the case of a tie the motion fails mission organized an outing to a volunteers property campers cut firewood and brought it home the logs helped keep campers warm throughout the winter at their main tent our local woman brought sandwiches every Saturday I put a lot of peanut butter on him too because I think folks need protein a neighbor donated a blanket well I'm glad they have a place to live so I I welcome it in that sense one man who lived across the highway from the camp collected 114 signatures on a petition to have the campers evicted he asked not to be identified for fear of retaliation are any of them sex offenders they've had stolen property they've had an over drug overdose down near that there an our backyard one neighbor wrote to the governor he claimed camp rules were basically ignored camp supporters said rules were enforced as much as possible but unlike Ann Arbor sheltered the camp did not screen residents for substance abuse we dealt with all kinds of heroin addict tract addicts alcoholics there were occasions of theft the three chainsaws are now officially stolen and allegations of violence he physically hit her several times police reported no major crimes at the camp they had friendly meetings with camp leaders the campers were squatting on land owned by MDOT the Michigan Department of Transportation MDOT awarded the campers and adopt-a-highway sign for cleaning up part of i-94 but later citing concerns over safety and sanitation it said we do not want this camp on MDOT property meeting at a nearby bowling alley campers were shown letters from MDOT and an angry neighbor I don't think we should underestimate the risk of an addiction here at first some campers said they would ignore the demand that they leave but when the state threatened arrests they made plans to go as they neared the end the campers spoke of what they had achieved and would now lose when the camp closed I think there's very little money and stumbled on a little piece of happen the relationships they've made developed at captive notice make them feel safe make them feel wanted make them feel loved Colorado if if it isn't a community Brickley he'll look together pull together conscience I was kind of like camping all the time then I mean we had friends there and I don't know it was fun returning to people a sense of power over their environment it's funny how they think that homeless people have no morals or values but each and every one of us look out for the other person if we're gone we make sure that their campsite is okay that their tents okay we won't let it flood or let the snow pile up if they're not feeling well another camper will say well how can I help you you want a cup of coffee you need some coughs or if you need Tylenol if you get hurt cut your finger somebody's there too you know here let me get you a band-aid there's just a common bond a sense of club just belonging in late May the state ordered them to leave by June 22nd or face arrest townspeople staged protests against the eviction order they're the campus of solutions in it has helped me and my family so much and the people that are there they're like my family I'm going to help them as much as I can they help me the first time you get a piece of property and we'll do the first person out there with an axe they can look at hello everybody my name colosso young I'm the first camper that graduate from camp notice nice to be here today whole bunch view came out the or suppose today and the prices we going through we love you and we're here to support you in any way that we can despite the protests MDOT close the cam this date has started putting up this 8-foot chain-link fence and dozens of residents of this tent city have been ordered to leave I think it's a travesty in my opinion and it's totally heinous I mean we served hundreds of hundreds of people right now there's no rhyme the reason to get this out of here and they may do something like this this ain't justice there were 68 campers at the end who are evicted the state offered 40 of them vouchers for one year's subsidized rent but one month after the eviction mission said only 17 had moved into apartments many of the rest were wandering the streets of Ann Arbor some landlords refused to honor the vouchers I think the word is out don't render them I got turned out what apparently my credit history hands homelessness look hit your home taken away you keep car repo and I have student loans my history my credit history looks like garbage looks but then again I wouldn't be homeless if I could have taken care of that to begin with some of the former campers stayed temporarily at the homeless shelter sleeping on mats on the floor others slept near railroad tracks on Church steps or in public parks I am standing County Park with my sleeping bag underneath I sleep with one eye open I don't get a lot of sleep I'm scared when I get really tired of that I've reached my wit's end I go to a friend's house couchsurfing more or less but like everything else everybody gets tired of helping though I want to go back I had a home you you

Channel: Tony Collings

Views: 370,495

Rating: 4.8211479 out of 5

Keywords: homeless, homelessness, poverty, unemployment, recession, disability, disabilities, drug, alcohol, churches, camp, tent city, welfare, food stamps, Take Notice, Ann Arbor, human rights, nonprofit, Michigan, community, charity, government, Caleb Poirier, Anthony Collings, MDOT

Id: 1DXxxyp2uSg

Length: 27min 34sec (1654 seconds)

Published: Wed Aug 08 2012