LAST DAY OF THE SAN LORENZO CAMPGROUND? COME DOWN TO DOCUMENT THE CREATION OF INTERNAL REFUGEES!

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According to Channel 8, today, Tuesday February 27th, is the last day for survival campers in the San Lorenzo Benchlands.  


      The only immediate campground alternatives is a barbed wire-ringed fenced-off space at the edge of town at 1220 River St.  It looks to be 1/3 the size of the current San Lorenzo campground.   Homeless people are considered too dangerous to be able to walk to and from the campground, so those using it must be ferried to and from.  It is reportedly already almost completely filled.  It costs $90,000 a month–which is likely far     more than was spent on San Lorenzo, with only a fraction of its clients.  Homeless advocates and homeless people were not consulted in its creation.  Its existence seems more of a fluffy PR cover for the elimination of the San Lorenzo campground with no real alternatives..

       The other “shelter alternative” is the Winter Shelter program slated to end in mid April. It involves body searches, strict entering and leaving times, and other aspects that make it unsuitable for many outside.  It is current limited to around 110 people.  There are no plans for a summer shelter program other than the “have your ‘Path to Housing’ cash or vouchers” ready program of the Homeless (Lack of) Services Center.

        Given these sober facts, it’s nonsense to believe government claims that San Lorenzo campers are being given a real alternative –at least for most.  Much of the ballyhoo around these “shelter proposals” seems simply to be a way of dressing up mass eviction & possible crackdown city-wide.

        The San Lorenzo campground was initially created as a “toleration” zone given the Hepatitis A epidemic.  Won’t removing the campground recreate the bad conditions?


       PLEASE COME DOWN TO SAN LORENZO PARK TODAY TO ASSIST FOLKS.

  •   Help document the mass deportation to nowhere with audio and camera
  •   Assist, if you wish, in helping move homeless gear
  •   Support the Warming Center, Food Not Bombs,  HUFF and other activists in documenting, providing resources, & publicizing the situation.
  •   Back up homeless efforts to organize either as in protest or to demand adequate and accessible facilities.
  •   Exchange information with other supporters there to generate more communication and better solutions in the future.


This e-mail is from HUFF and does not necessarily represent the views of the Warming Center or Food Not Bombs.

A LONGER E-MAIL WITH MORE DETAILS WILL FOLLOW

       PLEASE COME DOWN TO SAN LORENZO PARK TODAY 

    •   Help document the mass deportation to nowhere with audio and camera
  •   Assist, if you wish, in helping move homeless gear
  •   Support the Warming Center, Food Not Bombs,  HUFF and other activists in documenting, providing resources, & publicizing the situation.
  •   Back up homeless efforts to organize either as in protest or to demand adequate and accessible facilities.
  •   Exchange information with other supporters there to generate more communication and better solutions in the future.

This e-mail is the opinion of HUFF and does not necessarily represent the views of Food Not Bombs or the Warming Center.