Concerning the Registrants at the Tracks
As mentioned in a prior post; the ACLU filed it’s Appellate Brief on behalf of FAC and the 200+ registered citizens living alongside the railroad tracks at the corner of 79th Street and NW 36th Avenue in Miami.
Derek Logue of OnceFallen.com, who had traveled to Florida last week and visited the encampment initiated a post to which FAC replied. Since our reply contained a lot of information and could possibly be an action item for anyone (or group of people) who want to help these people, we’ve re-posted the information in this separate post.
If you are willing to make some calls (you don’t need to be in Florida) on behalf of these guys, please feel free to use this information.
| Derek W Logue of OnceFallen.com |
Submitted on 2016/04/07 at 10:11 am
Someone beat me to it. I shot a pretty good video of the current camp. My next question is, while we are waiting on the ACLU, would FAC put together a donation drive to help get some much needed supplies to these folks? What if FAC could sponsor some much needed porta-potties or at buy some of those commode chairs, as well as provide some toilet paper? Maybe we can get these folks some clothes, too, maybe some camping gear, cots, etc. Doesn’t have to be new, but some folks don’t have anything. I want to help them more than just by video but it is hard for me to do anything from Ohio. |
| fac-admin |
Submitted on 2016/04/07 at 12:34 pm | In reply to Derek W Logue of OnceFallen.com.
Derek – thanks for going out there. Wish you captured it after 10PM – that’s when people start showing up and it tells a much more horrifying tale. FAC members have individually brought stuff out there and if anyone wants to contribute items we’ll gladly coordinate delivery to the encampment. There are also religious groups that do some of that. One church is there every Sunday night serving food, giving out blankets, doing a bible study, etc. We can’t put in port-a-potties because it’s not our (or the registrant’s) property. During the day they need to be out of there because the warehouses don’t want them there and something permanent, like a port-a-potty or shipping container to use as shelter are all ideas that were approached and rejected. Also, during the day people need to hide their stuff in the bushes. A few times the County has come in, cut out the bushes and discarded all their property. It’s really shitty. This, being our most critical project since these guys were under the Tuttle, is something we’ve been working on for years and believe me; there are not many stones un-turned. The best thing FAC can do is to keep the lawsuit going by helping the ACLU with legwork, liaising with the guys out there and pushing people to get OUTSIDE media involved. When they were pouring out from under the Julia Tuttle it became an international embarrassment, which is why they moved them to the tracks. Now that they are tucked out there, it’s out of sight, out of mind… Also, Ron Book is the chair of the Miami-Dade homeless trust! If that irony doesn’t speak volumes about how corrupt and screwed up things are down here, nothing will convince anyone. The best thing you can do from Ohio is use your reach to tell people outside of Florida what’s going on here. The more attention we can bring to this disgrace, the better! For those who do want to offer some financial help to those living out there, if you earmark a contribution to FAC to “Outreach” under the drop down on https://floridaactioncommittee.org/donations/ we will have some volunteers pick up hygiene products and camping supplies and deliver it to the encampment. Additionally, FAC has put together resources for the people at the encampment. This list of resources are social services agencies in the County. Recognizing that most of the people who are out there are worried about where they going to sleep and in which bush to use the bathroom, not able to work out logistics for themselves (or reading this blog post), it would be useful for us to call these agencies on their behalf, letting them know that there are over 200 people out there after 10PM (stress AFTER 10PM, because if they come during the day they will see warehouses in operation). We could use some volunteers to call the below organizations asking for help. Camillus House Miami Coalition for the Homeless Chapman Partnership Miami-Dade Cty. Homeless Trust Concept House Douglas Gardens CMHC – Homeless Assistance Program M. Teresa Mission of Charity Miami City Mission Miami Rescue Mission New Life Family of Catholic Charities Salvation Army Miami VOA – Miami Transitional Housing For Veterans/Service Center Community Partnership for Homeless Miami Coalition for the Homeless Operation Sacred Trust (Homeless Veterans) Yvette Costa (Verde Gardens) City of Miami Homeless Housing Program Miami Dade County Homeless Program National Coalition for Homeless Veterans (NCHV) Advocate Program, Inc. America Works of Florida, Inc. Goodwill Industries of South Florida, Inc. HOPE South Florida, Inc. United Way of Broward County Veterans New Life Haven Veterans Support Organization Miami VA Healthcare System Healthcare for Homeless Veterans Miami Vet Center |
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Allow me to clarify a few things for everyone. David and I visited the Ft Lauderdale area to engage in a little demonstration against my least favorite Florida state senate candidate (that’s a story for a different day), but since I was there, I wanted to spend a little time visiting the camp before hopping the bus back to Ohio.
We arrived at the camp around 5 pm. Since this was on Saturday, there was little in the way of public transportation and we didn’t want to get stranded far from where any cab would dare to go so we had to leave before 9pm so i missed the chance to meet more folks than the few early birds setting up. Felix is relatively new to the camp but was willing to chat with us. He showed us at least part of the camp and we spoke with others who arrived as well. We were there for a couple of hours. What I know about the current status of the camp is from the few that were there and what I have stated was based upon what these folks were telling me. They stated they rarely see anyone come by to offer anything at all. It is a big place and there are parts of the camp I haven’t seen yet. I’d like to go back and spend a week there, even if it means registering in the land of ‘Duh. I’m already listed in two states, may as well start a registration collection. Perhaps a lengthier video with guys willing to share their routines for a week may help a little more.
If we can’t get porta-potties then at the least we could take some of those commode chairs out there and some plastic bags. Anyone who buys groceries probably has oodles of those annoying plastic bags that could be used and TP is still in high demand.
While some of you might have gone out there at one time or another, what I am suggesting is to take a bunch of stuff, make a video, take a few pics, and write an article about it. It would help the cause knowing that our meager resources go to more than just lawsuits and conferences. Some of you may be aware of the problem, but not everyone else is aware of the issue. Those I spoke to at the camp stated they almost never see anyone coming to offer anything these days. Someone down there could be giving us regular updates on the camp.
I was homeless once so this issue is pretty dear to my heart. I don’t have a lot of money to give, but I am willing to try to find them help. However, I wouldn’t bother with the Miami-Dade Homeless Trust, we all know who runs it– Ron Book. Instead of begging them, we should be protesting outside their doors. But since the JTC camp was dismantled, this issue has slowly disappeared from the public eye, and Ron and his daughter have continued their hate campaign.
I agree with everything you are saying Derek. Money and donations can help these guys in their day to day lives. Nobody who has a toilet to use, a sink to brush their teeth in or a bed to sleep in tonight should be reading this and ignoring it.
We all need to do something and for those who would like to and are not physically located anywhere near Miami, we set up the outreach donation option on our site and FAC will make sure those proceeds are used to buy stuff like TP.
Ron Book’s Homeless Trust is a dead end, we know that, but there are other organizations on that list, plus many, many more nationwide that can help. They don’t have to be in Florida. It can be your own churches or community groups. Anyone that cares about humanity.
There are TWO HUNDRED THIRTY people registered to the tracks! That’s A LOT of people!!! Supplies are a band aid but this problem is so far beyond that. The ACLU is on the legal end, maybe we can get the American Red Cross on the disaster relief end?
Tonight is our monthly member call. We have some stuff on the agenda, but we’ll try to dedicate some time on tonight’s call (see call-in information) to coming up with a plan to get some day-to-day help to those out there.
I spoke to the reporter from Minnesota regarding registered citizen’s difficulties living with the registry. At the end of the interview she asked me if I had anything else to add. Of the list I gave her I was specific in calling out Ron and Laura Book and this atrocity that (t)he(y) created. I was very persistent that she consider the fact that Ron Book was instrumental in creating these laws (read: problems) while at the same time being the Chair of the Homeless Trust commission. She was very interested in this point.
Great work Derrick! Has the ACLU talked to any of these Warehouse / property owners that do not want registered citizens lliving out there to help us with our lawsuit?