Getting kicked out of coffee shops is a reality many houseless people face in Santa Cruz. While some are removed for what coffee shop managers describe as inappropriate behavior, such as being drunk or causing a disturbance, others voice they are being discriminated against for no apparent reason.<\/p>\n<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Around 40 houseless advocates rallied downtown on Jan. 25, stating the downtown caf\u00e9s are currently harboring an attitude of discrimination against the houseless population. The houseless individuals voiced complaints toward many caf\u00e9 workers\u2019 dismissing or refusing to serve them.<\/span>
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\nThe rally had been planned for four days since the last weekly Wednesday meeting of the Homeless United for Friendship and Freedom (HUFF), Santa Cruz\u2019s oldest houseless advocacy group. During the meeting, many members recounted reports of exclusions from the coffee shops and caf\u00e9s and being treated differently from other customers.<\/span>
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\nWhat started off as a group of 40 became a group of 10, as they marched through nine caf\u00e9s. At each location, the group of 10 houseless individuals attempted to address their stances and reach out to the managers.<\/span>
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\n\u201cThere is an atmosphere of repression that has descended on Santa Cruz and we\u2019re trying to encourage businesses and the community to resist this,\u201d said rally leader and independent writer Robert Norse. \u201cIt\u2019s one thing to exclude someone for a justifiable reason and another thing for our case.\u201d<\/span>
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\nAdvocates at the rally said the reasons they have been dismissed from the coffee shops and caf\u00e9s are almost entirely based on appearance, often toward those who carry large backpacks.<\/span>
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\nHouseless independent writer James Richard Armstrong, who was dismissed multiple times from different caf\u00e9s, came to the rally to march alongside those who have been rejected at these locations.<\/span>
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\n\u201cI got excluded because of my appearance and my backpack,\u201d Armstrong said. \u201cYesterday it was Peet\u2019s Coffee \u2014 the second time this has happened. This isn\u2019t the only caf\u00e9 that has kicked me out. A Santa Cruz Coffee Roasters worker told me I\u2019m not allowed to bring my backpack in.\u201d<\/span>
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\nSanta Cruz Coffee Roasters and other local coffee shops refused to comment on this issue. Peet\u2019s Coffee was the only caf\u00e9 willing to comment.<\/span>
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\nThe caf\u00e9 workers\u2019 reasons for dismissing any of the customers are almost entirely based on their guidelines.<\/span>
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\nPeet\u2019s Coffee shift manager Marissa Ramirez said the shop dismisses houseless individuals on a regular basis. About 30 houseless people visit Peet\u2019s Coffee every day and at least two get kicked out each day.<\/span>
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\nRamirez said though excluding the houseless may look discriminatory, the reasons for doing so are justified by the behavior of some individuals that violate the general rules for customers of Peet\u2019s Coffee.<\/span>
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\n\u201cWe don\u2019t serve them mostly due to certain inappropriate behavior \u2014 they sleep here, often they have a lot of baggage, but most of the time it has to do with their not buying coffee,\u201d Ramirez said. \u201cFor some situations when they did buy coffee, they asked other customers for the money outside the store, so they are not technically customers. Also, often a lot of other customers coming in can\u2019t sit down since a homeless person keeps buying coffee and never leaves.\u201d<\/span>
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\nAdvocates who are houseless expressed their concerns against being treated differently from other customers though they have paid for their food and coffee. A houseless individual at the rally who introduced himself as Sir William Blake also experienced such exclusions.<\/span>
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\n\u201cThey kicked me out of Caf\u00e9 Pergolesi because I kept buying coffees,\u201d Blake said. \u201cI was also eating a Subway sub against the wall one day and cops asked me to move \u2014 there was no traffic. Not many people were there.\u201d<\/span>
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\nThe houseless argued at the rally they should always be given the same individual rights as those of all other community members.<\/span>
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\n\u201cIf merchants truly believe what they say, that\u2019s fine,\u201d said rally leader and independent writer Robert Norse. \u201cIf those guidelines really include non-discrimination, they should post a non-discrimination pledge.\u201d<\/span>
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\nWhile caf\u00e9 shops are adamant their guidelines don\u2019t discriminate against anyone, the houseless community alongside its supporters remain insistent that if their appearance were similar to those who aren\u2019t houseless, they would be treated differently.<\/span>
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\n\u201cEveryone needs to have human rights here,\u201d Norse said. \u201cAs members of the community, homeless people care about liberties.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[58,1],"tags":[3,4,14],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1604"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1604"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1604\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1605,"href":"http:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1604\/revisions\/1605"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1604"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1604"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1604"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}