Wednesday, January 28, 2015

MAYOR TOM HENRY'S HOMELESS PROBLEMS/ INCOME INEQUALITY

THINK- IF THE LOCAL ECONOMY IS SOO GOOD; AND THERE'S JOBS EVERYWHERE; AND THE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE IS SO LOW; AND THE ROSY PICTURE THE MAYOR PAINTS ISNT  LIPSTICK ON A WARTHOG-
WHY ARE THERE SO MANY HOMELESS IN FORT WAYNE LEFT OUT IN THE COLD? IF THE ECONOMY IS SO HOT?
HMMMM.
HOOVERVILLES; "HENRYVILLES" hmmmm.

factoid:
Pence failed to mention the plight of the wage earners here in Indiana. According to reports, Indiana’s wages rank 39th in the nation. The average pay here is $6,500 per year under the national average. Another report claims 35 percent of Hoosiers are living in poverty here. I suppose that when giving a presidential campaign speech there are things you just don’t talk about.


http://wane.com/2015/01/27/city-part-of-pilot-program-to-tackle-homelessness/

http://www.21alive.com/news/local/FW-To-Be-Pilot-Site-For-Homeless-Assessment-Program-289991511.html

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FW To Be Pilot Site For Homeless Assessment Program
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (21Alive) -- City leaders announced a new initiative designed to prioritize which homeless people in the area need help the most with housing.
21ALIVE.COM
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  • You and Gina Burgess like this.
  • Gina Burgess Charisse Beiswanger Orendorff -- Exactly! Is this just not some of the most heart-wrenching scenes you could imagine....and right here in the City of Churches.  Special thanks goes out to Pastor Donovan Anthony Coley Sr. for drawing attention to one really important fact about this latest "initiative": "...It doesn't address the fact that there are only 500 emergency beds in our community, and yet there are 3,000 homeless individuals. And so, this could be nothing more than a musical chair experimentation where we're literally moving folks into shelters, getting them on waiting lists..." This initiative is unfunded and nothing will come of it until April. It really bothers me that the Mayor and all members of City Council rallied around this initiative--taking advantage of the photo op and patting themselves on the back--all the while we have homeless out in the cold.
    7 hrs · Like
  • David Christopher Roach MONEY AND HELP TO ARRIVE IN APRIL; 
    ABOUT THE SAME TIME AS THE SPRING WEATHER.. 
    AND ANOTHER GREAT PHOTO OP RECEIVING A GIANT CARDBOARD "CHECK"- FROM OH- MAYBE DEMOCRAT SENATOR JOE DONNELLY? . WE CAN HAVE ALL THE DEMOCRAT CANDIDATES FOR CITY GOVERNMENT
    ( EXCEPT ROACH, OF COURSE- HES NOT WELCOME ANYWHERE.. )- 
    ANYWAY- REMEMBER THIS POST ANS SEE IF I CALLED IT.. 
    im guessing about 1 week to the day before the may primary election, or the SATURDAY JUST BEFORE- SO IT MAKES THE SUNDAY J-G NEWS PAPERS- ( the day with the largest circulation.. )
    55 mins · Like
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Gina Burgess
14 hrs · Edited · 
DEAR ELECTED LEADERS -- Hope you can sleep with a clear conscious tonight tucked in your comfortable warm beds while some of your constituents are sleeping on the cold hard ground, behind dumpsters, with no comforts. May God have mercy on you and not turn his eye to you in your time of need as you are turning your backs on those in our community in need.
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Gina Burgess
15 hrs ·
CITY COUNCIL REFUSES JEFF LANDIS HOMELESS CHALLENGE: "...I already know that it's freezing cold and the last thing I would want to do is I would want to be in the shoes they are in ......" said Didier. This sentiment offered by Thomas F. Didier is shared by ALL NINE members of City Council. Each and every one of these guys has refused to "walk the walk" of a homeless person. Why put yourself through an experience that might give you a deeper appreciation of a situation? Because if they did, then they would be morally obligated to do something tangible here and now, not wait until April.
No, instead, they propose the homeless who are outside freezing right now wait until April for grant money to come through and in the meantime, let's work on a collaborative effort to create a job description on how we're going to use/spend this grant money. Hey it's only human beings??? And hey, it sucks to be them?? I am so disappointed by the leaders of this, our City of Churches. I can't even express my utter disgust at this total lack of empathy and clear heartlessness.
It will take approximately $18,000 to $21,000 to outfit 100 homeless men and women with tents, sleeping bags, fleece liners, wool socks, wool gloves and hand warmers so that they are better equipped to deal with the conditions of winter--to make it a lil easier to get to April. Maybe its time to initiate my own challenge-- Burgess "Have a Heart" Challenge.
Check out the amount of money these guys have in their campaign accounts
Tom Henry - $500,000+
Mitch Harper -- $30,000+
John Crawford - $80,000+
Tom Didier - $7,000+
Just these four guys alone have $680,000+ sitting in their campaign accounts. And its the beginning of the 2015 campaign season, which means these guys will be fundraising soon to raise even more money to get re-elected. They have plenty of resources to spend to get themselves re-elected. Yeah, that "walk" they are more than willing to "walk." So disgusted.
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  • You, Michelle Hill, Kenneth White Jnr and 6 others like this.
  • Gina Burgess Russell Mcnutt -- Thank you for sharing your story (below). Please read the above post and share your thoughts, as a former homeless person. These guys just do NOT get how different it is to "know what its 'like' to be homeless" and actually experience it.
    15 hrs · Like · 2
  • Clinton Kelly Why buy tents when they can be confiscated by the police. These people need opportunities, not band-aids.
    15 hrs · Like · 6
  • Russell Mcnutt It's hard to fake the experience. Those four men could not fake it you have to loose everything and everyone has a different low. Some folks the threat of jail is enough others that don't scare them. Clinton Kelly is right no band aids you can't throw money at it or expect to fix in a few weeks. The person has to make up their mind I made up my mind that I was tired of being tired,you could not tell me that or throw money at it. Takes love and understanding and teaching but most of all you have to give these people reasons to improve their lives not a tent it takes time, patience and yes money.
    15 hrs · Like · 5
  • Joe Renner As someone who has experienced being out in the streets for more than 24 hours I can tell you it is tough. Hard beyond your understanding. I don't think it is fair to condemn Tom Didier for not taking on the challenge. He has been the most receptive to the idea as well as the only member of council to address it. He didn't give a BS answer like Mitch Harper. He hasn't avoided the issue at all. Instead he has reached out to his constituents in order to find a solution.
    15 hrs · Like · 3
  • Jonathan Moosey Why bring up how much money is sitting in their campaign accounts? You know as well as I do that what these guys can spend their campaign money on is tightly regulated by law. They simply can not spend their campaign money as they please, even on helping the homeless.
    15 hrs · Like · 2
  • Michelle Hill While I agree with Clinton and Russell that there is a need beyond 'giving a tent' to help the homeless, I believe it is at least a start to assist them while they 'wait until April' for assistance. There are a variety of reasons why some homeless people are on the street, and those reasons have already been given on Gina Burgess' wall. However, there are A LOT of empty buildings downtown that could at least be considered for a 'simpler project' until the 'special project' would begin in April. No human deserves to be out in this weather, regardless of their 'choices' (past or present). 
    15 hrs · Like · 5
  • Michelle Hill There has been a concern by the city's citizens that evicting and discarding the belongings of the homeless is an unacceptable solution to 'removing' the homeless from the downtown area. Yet they have not mentioned ending that 'solution' and asking the public for some solutions that could be implimented in the here and now. They merely saw a 'media opportunity' to show they are 'looking into' a possible solution that will not begin until April. As Mary said to them tonight: "what are the homeless supposed to do to survive until April?"
    15 hrs · Like · 2
  • Lisa McCall Wussy's!!!!
    15 hrs · Like · 5
  • Michelle Hill Mostly they claimed that doing The Homeless Challenge was not a 'solution' to the Homeless situation, so it would be a waste of their time to try the experience. 
    15 hrs · Like · 1
  • Gina Burgess Clinton Kelly -- Beause a bandaid is all we have to work with right now. A tent, sleeping bag, etc is better than nothing, which is what these guys have right now.
    15 hrs · Like · 2
  • Jeffery Wayne Landis I'm not shocked they turned it Dow.they let the community down.cause the community. Wanted them to do.
    15 hrs · Like · 1
  • Gina Burgess Russell Mcnutt -- I agree that tents are a bandaid, but it is better than absolutely nothing. That's what City Council and the Mayor is doing....relegating these guys to nothing. And actually--the tents and sleeping bags aren't necessarily a hand out. Its a step towards restoring the personal property that had been previously taken from them. These guys have lost what the community gives them. Talk about a two-fer...righting a wrong done to these guys by restoring their property AND giving them tools to help alleviate their suffering until April. I don't think that is too much to ask. I really don't.
    14 hrs · Like · 2
  • Gina Burgess Jonathan Moosey -- You are right campaign finance laws are regulated. But there are exceptions. Marlin Stutzman is buying a car with his campaign donations. Bill Brown bought his personal Segway with his campaign donations and help to underwrite the costs of BuskerFest. Campaigns make donations to other campaigns and causes all the time....ALL THE TIME. I've collected all the campaign finance reports for the past decade. (Btw, special thanks goes out to my research team for that!!)
    14 hrs · Like · 4
  • Gina Burgess AS A MATTER OF DISCLOSURE: Tom Didier unfriended me tonight. Apparently, the above quote that came from the WFFT interview he did tonight is now "mudslinging"??
    14 hrs · Like · 1
  • Jeffery Wayne Landis How is that?
    14 hrs · Like
  • Jeffery Wayne Landis I read it wrong sorry.your comment.
    14 hrs · Like
  • Russell Mcnutt That's not the way the homeless will take it..if there was a building and you told the person if you sweep around the building you can sleep in this bed for the night and told this woman if you help cook you can sleep here. That is more of a solution and most homeless would be accepting of that plus gives the day meaning that's the direction u want to go checkout what is going on in Alberqueque NM with their tent city. That's not the answer in their case. The answer probably lies somewhere in between
    14 hrs · Like · 3
  • Gina Burgess Russell Mcnutt -- You know what, I totally agree with you. When I operated my business out of Headwaters Park, I had a homeless man who wanted to ride. He worked a part-time job but it wasn't enough to sustain him. Everyday, like clockwork, he'd come down to ride a Model T Horseles Carriage. After a few days, it was really breaking my heart to know that a homeless man was paying me to ride novelty cycling equipment. He rode daily because it made him feel like everyone else. My mom gave me the most wonderful suggestion ever. She said barter with him. See if he would be willing to work in exchange for rides. And that's exactly what I ended up doing. He would keep Model T Bicycle Rentals trails clear and free of debris, let us know if there was any graffiti, etc. It was a great deal. Later, it morphed into us getting other help from the homeless in a variety of ways. In exchange, they had access to our storage tent afterhours--where they slept, took advantage of an emergency kit we had there, and they would do odd jobs for us. One of the best pieces of advice my mom ever gave. Thanks for reminding me of that. 
    14 hrs · Like · 6
  • Russell Mcnutt That's the way you want to go to find a solution that works. Remember what works for one person might not work for another and some will do everything you need and some may steal from you. I believe you're headed in right direction. Don't keep doing the same old things to help they obviously don't work step outside the box and be creative
    14 hrs · Like · 5
  • Gina Burgess Joe Renner -- Being "receptive" to a problem and doing something concrete, tangible, and timely about a problem is two different things. Harper may have given an amazing BS answer, but Didier's answer is just as much BS...just a different kind of BS. Btw, I am one of Didier's constituents.
    14 hrs · Like · 1
  • Gina Burgess Russell Mcnutt -- One of the reasons I'm pushing for getting tents, sleeping bags, etc from one vendor is that so these items can be tagged with an identifier so they can be returned to a set location, like Ava Maria House, if any of these items gets l...See More
    14 hrs · Like · 3
  • Kenneth White Jnr Gina I will spare you from the diatribe I just put on my wall in reference to this article but I will post the direct link to it here:https://www.facebook.com/frfozybearftwin/posts/10204994783764319 which includes four separate cite and cross references in response.
    10 hrs · Like
  • Gina Burgess Kenneth White Jnr -- Thanks for your "diatribe." I enjoyed the timeline of facts you presented. Sometimes people feel that I am too hard on members of City Council, but fact-finding is fact-finding. You used a different set of facts and still came to the same conclusions as me. Thank you for sharing! I sincerely mean that. I hope others who are reading this will review this information that you've shared above.
    6 hrs · Like · 1
  • David Christopher Roach note- at the very same city council meeting- they granted the "Superior Lofts " project a healthy tax abatement / giveaway ( around 2 million bucks to begin..) in which the concrete fronted building along Harrison St-which is vacant; a large ground floor; and a large "basement"; loading dock and would be perfect for a large "temporary overflow homeless shelter; and room for a "one stop social worker Triage"; as is the wayne township trustees office for that matter- 
    anyway- this NEW DOWNTOWN RIVERFRONT HOUSING PROJECT PRE-EMPTS THIS because the building will be turned into parking and self storage units for the FUTURE TENANTS- whenever the project starts. 
    meanwhile- the building will be sitting idle; vacant and un-used as an indoors; out of the elements temporary over flow shelter. for our downtown homeless folks..Fort Wayne Area Planning Council on Homelessness
    so- I expect the next building to be grabbed up/ pre-empted- will be the old Paint store on superior st; and the vacant old Shrine Circus ticket office on Main st. (ticket ffie to be snatched up by the Catholic churc; an Univ. of ST Francis .
    ANYWAY- expect all alternative RIGHT-NOW SIMPLE SOLUTIONS to be BLOCKED; OBSTRUCTED;ETC- 
    got to give the "middlemen" a cut of that Federal "ear-mark/pork barrell/special interest/block grant project- so all the local social service agencies can skim their cut right off the top; and pay their HUGE SALARIES; AND OVERHEAD.
    Meanwhile- theres HUNDRED OF MILLIONS SITTING IN THE BANKS-
    such as the FTW COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ; THE FOELLINGER FOUNDATION AND SO ON. 
    MILLIONS FOR THE RICH; AND FUTURE PROMISES AND SQUATTING FOR THE POOR AND HOMELESS.

    you know- for about 200 bucks or less per homeless person left out in the cold- we could buy them each a bus ticket to Texas where there's plenty of BIG OIL jobs available; and plenty of Republican Texans to foot their homeless bills- hey- why not send them to GEORGE W BUSH'S RANCH? ANYWAY- TEXAS HAS WARM WEATHER ALL YEAR AROUND, SO NO ONE WILL FREEZE TO DEATH.? TED CRUZ'S DOORSTEP
    cheap; done tomorrow- for those who want to leave; and there' plenty of homeless shelters in Texas. MIAMI TOO FOR THAT MATTER.-send them to Marco Rubios BACKYARD. 
    delightfully subversive; isnt it?
    26 mins · Like
  • David Christopher Roach I SEE THe CITY GoVT IS bulldozing several dozen "blighted" homes all all around the town. esp nearby anywhere the river front development will go- HIGH STREET; Barthold ( near the Mayors former bar)-and so on. also-nearby the homeless shelter;township trustees office.
    I expect this PILOT PROJECT- WILL BE SURE TO send these homeless folks all over town to meetings; appointments; workshops- ( all locations owned by Mayor Henrys cronies; ) - make those homeless folks walk; or ride the bus- heck- "theyre homeless- what else dotey have to do all day anyway- panhandle? beg?- 8 hours running all over town- 40 hours a week- thats incentive to make them find work, isnt it? 40 hours one way or the other? "- ( im being satirical here..) but im also not..
    19 mins · Like



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