When you read articles like this one out of Baltimore, you begin to appreciatejust how much restraint and compassion our own Downtown Partnership has exhibited towards our Homeless brothers and sisters. I've said elsewhere on this blog that we've been quite fortunate with the practices of our own Downtown Partnership and while I know there are some advocates out there who will disagree (and some will do so quite vehemently), I would argue that those who do disagree haven't done the homework on the practices of partnerships elsewhere around the country.
Some might posit that DTP's restraint is a direct result of the influence of local advocacy groups and while there is almost certainly at least some truth to this, I think there is something else at work here as well. You see, for the most part, Nashville is blessed to have a large number of compassionate and caring individuals who want to do what's right for the members of our community - all the members. A large number of folks at the DTP fall into this category, but I'm thinking, based on what I've seen so far, that they've had to remain guarded and defensive over the past few years because of the intense opposition and stances assumed by some of the more outspoken and adversarial advocates in our community.
Now being strong, firm and resolute is not a bad thing at all for advocates; our constituency depends on that from us. But occasionally some advocates suffer from bouts of tunnel vision and are sometimes prone to focusing just a little too narrowly on whats good for our their clients while losing sight of the other residents that inhabit the city alongside them. While it is important to stand up for our less fortunate brothers and sisters, we shouldn't lose sight of the fact that they are not entitled to "special treatment," any more so than any other member of our community. I'll fight long and hard for my clients, but only if the fight is a fair one and we are not unnecessarily burdening others as a result of our own demands.
This drives home my longstanding belief that it pays to have working, peaceful, collaborative relationships with other advocacy groups, since it's always better to be proactively engaged in policy setting than reactively responding to new policies that have been formulated with limited or no input from those who will be most susceptible to the impact of such policies. One can only have these relationships if one is willing to lay down the sword and step up to the table, however, and it is up to each one of us to make sure we've sheathed that sword long before we initiate a dialogue with others.
After downtown cleaning, the homeless come back
Partnership says its efforts target litter, not people
By Nicole Fuller | Sun reporter
August 17, 2007
Homeless people were back sleeping along Guilford Avenue yesterday, a day after the Downtown Partnership cleaned the area in what the homeless charged was an effort to move them. The actions by the nonprofit business group have evoked complaints from the American Civil Liberties Union and social service providers that the initiative violated the rights of people to congregate in public space. The Downtown Partnership issued a statement yesterday denying that its workers intended to force the homeless to relocate.
"We do not have the power to evict, and we've never forcibly evicted homeless individuals," the statement from spokesman Mike Evitts said. "If we did, you'd never see any homeless on the streets of downtown. This is clearly not the case," the statement said. "Like any other private citizen, The Partnership has the right to ask people not to litter and not to take over benches. People do not have to listen to us. But, when it comes to litter, there should be no double standard when it comes to the homeless. Just like any other citizen, the homeless should not leave empty boxes and garbage on our streets in downtown." The spokesman and Kirby Fowler, president of the Downtown Partnership, declined a request for an interview. In the statement, the partnership said the Sun's article published yesterday was "one-sided at best" and "mischaracterized" its actions. Several homeless people who live in the area along Guilford Avenue and Bath Street said workers from the Downtown Partnership told them Wednesday to move from the area, and if they did not take their belongings the items would be thrown away. Downtown Partnership officials said they disposed only of cardboard boxes and empty food containers. Many of the homeless interviewed said this was not the first time the group had told them to leave an area and took items. Henry Sandler, 36, who is from Pikesville and has been homeless for 2 1/2 years, said that previously the workers had told him to leave nearby Mercy Park, forcing him to his current location. "Vacate. Their words are 'vacate the premises,' " Sandler said, shortly after waking up under the JFX yesterday morning. "We took our belongings, but what we couldn't take, they throw away. ...They violate civil rights. They don't care. They jumped out on us like it was a Baltimore City police raid." Advocates for the homeless, who canvassed the area yesterday, said they have been told that inhalers and other medication had been thrown away in past initiatives. "One of the most disturbing things is loss of medication," said Kevin Lindamood, a spokesman for Healthcare for the Homeless."Those kind of sweeps need to stop." Healthcare for the Homeless issued a statement calling for all public and private groups in the city to prohibit "activities that in effect move individuals or belongings from public areas, as long as the public right of way is not impeded." Adam Schneider, a community relations associate at Healthcare for the Homeless, who visited the site yesterday, said, "This has been going on for much longer. [Wednesday] wasn't an isolated incident. And that area isn't the only place that this has happened. This has been going on a while." John Polk, 40, lived in Charles Village and was a school bus driver for Howard County until he suffered an on-the-job injury last year and was unable to work. Denied workers' compensation, he said, he spent his savings after a few months, and in January he began living on the streets. "When [the Downtown Partnership] evicted people from War Memorial Plaza, I lost three T-shirts and a pair of socks," Polk said. "But that's minor in comparison to what other people lost. ... I'd gladly move along if I had some place to go."
