October 2001

public backing that simply sending in the cops might provoke a worse protest and give rise to another camp involving a larger number of people.
Besides, temporized Fitzmaurice, as he backpedaled his sullen opposition to Camp Paradise, the Winter Shelter Armory Program would not be opening until October 15 at the earliest (and possibly not at all this year, if the Armory gets used for military purposes), leaving Santa Cruz with only 39 floor spaces for 1000-2000 homeless people each night.
Commented Supervisorial candidate Michael Schmidt, who has been swimming upstream by advocating homeless civil rights and services for the last year and a half, "These folks have done more on their own than a ton of service providers and millions of dollars have accomplished on this issue..."
Jayjay, a Paradise resident, after introducing his wife Gypsy, hailed his new home as a place where I can "lay down... and go to sleep without having the cops come through and tear my tent up." He said the camp was a place where "I've found a little work, made a little money. We've got a place to get back on our feet. There are people there that's lived through the same things that you're going through that can help you with the addictions that you had, or maybe the addictions you still have."
Though the City Council voted for a month's reprieve, it would not spare the campers the court treadmill. The next morning, volunteer attorney Paul Sanford appeared at arraignment for 10 Camp Paradise residents who had been ticketed for "illegal camping" on August 3. Their cases go to trial on November 19.
Recalling the September 11th tragedy in New York (that may have buried an additional 100 homeless people in addition to the 6500 likely dead), activist Ruth Hunter concluded, "the residents of Camp Paradise... too were victims of an impersonal fate. But they have had the opportunity to change the course of their fate and did it with dignity, with courage, and a belief that life can be better."
To contact Camp Paradise, e-mail camppar-adise@hotmail.com. To join or contact Friends of Camp Paradise, e-mail Carl Wilson at rudio@cruzio.com or call (831) 425-4787. To contact any members of the Santa Cruz City Council, leave a phone message at (831) 420-5017. To contact Robert Norse and HUFF (Homeless United for Friendship & Freedom), e-mail rnorse@hotmail.com.