blog

Great turn out for community meeting

Sat, 14 Feb 2009 04:13:19 +0100

Thank you to all those that came out to the community meeting on Tuesday. I think the large turnout really got the Diocese attention that we do not agree with what they are trying to do to our community.
Your input on this Tent City issue is very important. If you would like your have your views posted on this site for all to see, please email us. (I am working on getting an area where you can just post comments, but I am experiencing technical difficulties, but check soon for this feature)

Street Corner Awareness Campaign

Sat, 31 Jan 2009 23:32:18 +0100

Our street corner awareness campaign was a success! On Firday, January 30th, we stood on the corners of Hillsborough & 56th, Harney Rd. and Orient Rd. We handed out flyers to get everyone in the community aware of what the Diocese is trying to do to our community.

Our Goal

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 00:09:30 +0100

Please understand our goal is not to oppose helping the homeless, it is opposing helping them in the well intentioned yet misguided way the St. Petersburg Diocese is proposing. While they have a noble goal of helping as many as possible as soon as possible, this is exactly where the problems are created. When they take people in and then figure out if they have a desire to be independent, we have a large amount of homeless who are accepting of their lifestyle and do not want to change now in our area. This is not the place for step one of the procees to filter out the bad eggs. We have 50% of the new tenants that have drug and/or alcohol addictions and/or mental illness wandering our streets all day long. We feel great sympathy for those homeless that really do want to be productive members of society and have trouble getting the hand up that they need. We don’t think that just because someone has mental illness they are dangerous, but we are concerned for their safety as well as ours. But, the 50% that have issues we don’t want brought into our area on a large scale. That high percent who don’t want to get a job or kick their addictions are ruining it for those who need and want the help. Our area cannot support a project that will bring that many people with severe issues and lack of drive to transition into society into our area.

We are not monsters, like the hate mail we have been getting suggests. I personally volunteer for an animal shelter weekly. My partner in this effort has worked extensively with the homeless for years and may of our volunteers and supporters also volunteer their time to help other great causes including helping the homeless. This effort is not about hating the homeless but about preserving the safety and tranquility of our community.

A group of supporters and opponents visited Pinellas Hope

Sun, 11 Jan 2009 18:21:48 +0100

A group of 8 residents from East Lake Park visited Pinellas Hope on Jan. 10th. We have posted some photos and will be updating the site with details and information we learned from Sheila Lopez, the COO of the Diocese of St. Peteersburg.

We would like to thank Sheila for having us out. She is a sweet lady and we appreciate her taking the time to answer our questions and give us a tour of the facility.

What we are doing...

Thu, 08 Jan 2009 02:14:41 +0100

We are diligently working on many projects. We need more volunteers to get out and gather petition signatures. It does not matter where you live, if you are 200 feet or 30 miles away from this proposed homeless tent site, you can get out in your area and help. This will affect everyone in Hillsborough County and potentially beyond when they try to put this in your neighborhood too. We will supply you with a clipboard, petitions, fliers, educational material and other supplies.

Your input for this website is needed too. It is tough for just two of us to gather all this information and we know there is a lot more out there. Anything you think would be great to add just email to us. We need some more people doing leg work in this area.

We have been in the news, in print, online and on tv! Keep an eye out for more articles and interviews.

Trying to get the Diocese to let a group tour Pinellas Hope

Sun, 11 Jan 2009 18:07:22 +0100

I have left a message for Shiela Lopez and gotten no response asking for a group of residents and buisness owners in Hillsborough County to tour the Pinellas facility. She has not returned my calls. The Facility Manager of Pinellas Hope is unreachable since her voicemail is full. Still trying to coordinate this effort.

Zoning Rescheduled

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 03:59:50 +0100

I spoke with planning and growth management today. They rescheduled the meeting for the 17th of February. They have not posted the correct signage yet. They are changing their request from 500 tents to 240 tents.

ELP Residents in the St Pete Times

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 03:50:46 +0100

Joanne and Hal made it in the St Pete times. See articles section for the link.

My Visit to Pinellas Tent City (Pinellas Hope)

Sat, 27 Dec 2008 00:07:57 +0100

My visit to Pinellas Tent City:

Dec 20^th, 2008 at 11am

My overall reaction to the operation is that it was even worse than I ever imagined. It is not families who fell on hard times and lost their homes. This is a gathering place for homeless people who are content being homeless. This operation does not help those in the immediate community, it brings the problems of other areas to Clearwater. This place is full of alcoholics and addicts. The conditions they are living in there are no better than on the street. The facility looks nothing like the “campground” that they show in pictures on their website. There are several hundred tents packed 3-4 feet apart. The bathroom and shower facilities are trailers that smell horrific. This is not a place fit for “transitional housing”. This tent and trailer facility is not something that I would wish for anyone to live in. It is definitely not something I want in my community!

As I drove up 126^th street, I could tell I was getting close to the entrance of the tent city. There were men riding bikes and walking in the road going to and coming from the tent city. I pulled up to the 6 foot chain link fence around the property. I walked through the gate and there were two volunteers there next to a sign stating the day and time of an AA meeting. I asked to tour the grounds and was told I can not walk around but one of them would show me around on a golf cart. We got in cart and we drove by the bathroom facilities and showers. The smell of feces and urine were overwhelming and powerful. This was right next to the dining tent. In regards to the smell and cleanliness, my tour guide said “some of them are good, but others are just like animals. They are the ones that are homeless because they just don’t care.” He also said that they have to tell some to just not come back. He did admit that some of the tenants have been caught drinking and doing things they shouldn’t be and they should really be kicked out, but Sheila doesn’t kick them out.

My tour guide told me there are no children in the facility. He said there are “married couples” who live in the tents together, but they all know they really are not married. They just say that so they are allowed to stay in the same tent. There are people who hook up at night there.

When I asked about the capacity of the tent city, he said they were full right now. Homeless people cone down from up north in the winter to get out of the cold weather. He said in the summer they are not as full because people go back north where they are from.

As we were driving around, one of the tenants complained about the zipper on their tent being broken. He also showed me some of the tents they had to put up on platforms because of the rain and flooding. There were also a few wood sheds. He told me one of the homeless guys there is building them with donated wood. There was one of the structures that was framed and not finished. Next to that there is a port-a-potty because the tenants won’t walk to the bathroom facilities when they have to go at night. There are several port-a-potty units through out the grounds because the tenants will urinate and defecate on the ground at night if the bathrooms are too far away.

This facility is not fit for anyone to live in. I strongly recommend visiting this facility yourself to see what the Diocese wants to bring to your community. If you think a facility like this one will be good for your community, I know your mind would be changed after a visit there.