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From:	"Becky Johnson" <becky_johnson222@hotmail.com>
Date:	 Fri, 4 May 2007 16:46:46 -0700
Subject:	 [huffsantacruz] Two meals a week cut for Santa Cruz Homeless

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/huffsantacruz

Two Meals a Week Cut
for Santa Cruz Homeless

by Becky Johnson
May 3 2007

Santa Cruz, Ca. --  In the latest rounds of budget woes, the Santa
Cruz Homeless Services Center, in order to balance out the loss of
some hoped for grant money, and a food service budget which has caused
a deficit for 2 years in a row, the Saturday and Sunday afternoon
dinners will be cut along with staffing cuts, and fewer hours of
service.

"They are taking the cuts right out of the homeless," said James
Sherman, who is homeless himself, but volunteers at the center. "They
used to have three mental health counselors.  But now they only have
one, and she works exclusively at the family shelter."  The Rowland
Rebele Family Homeless Shelter which opened 2 years ago, and currently
houses only 20 people, has been the centerpiece of tangible proof that
Mayor Emily Reilly's cares about the needs of homeless people to
sleep, eat, or live. The Family shelter cost $5 million to build, and
due to strict federal requirements, has failed to fill completely,
despite record need.

Meanwhile the heavily used HSC's hygiene bay includes 2 washing
machines, 4 dryers, 3 showers, and toilets for 2500 homeless clients.
Hours will be cut to 5 days a week instead of seven.  But the biggest
loss are those two, weekend meals which feed between 65 and 160 each
afternoon.  Without these meals, people will go hungry.

Sherman is skeptical that anyone really cares about the survival of
homeless people. Shelter which is chronically inadequate, is
especially so since the National Guard Armory closed its doors on
April 15th. The same people which the City and County sheltered on
April 15th, are now being cited with $90 sleeping ban tickets as of
April 16th by Santa Cruz Park Ranger Rick Wallace.  As soon as the
Armory closed, he began issuing a rash of citations to homeless
campers in the Pogonip and other greenbelt areas in the area.  The
City of Santa Cruz (population 54,000) has over 2000 acres of
parkland, greenbelt or watershed within the City limits alone, but not
even one acre is set aside for legal camping.

Homeless United for Friendship & Freedom (HUFF) has long held that the
City needs to open a homeless campground for legal camping options, or
stop writing citations under MC 6.35.010 which outlaws the act of
sleeping out of doors between 11PM and 8:30 AM.

 Human Rights Organization member, Bob Patton has called for the
public to contact 17th district Rep.Sam Farr to facilitate budget help
that the HSC needs to restore vital, life-saving services, and prevent
starvation.

Sherman is also concerned with winning back the right to camp
somewhere legally.  "I am putting out the call to the general public
to take the kids and come down to the river and go camping overnight
or over the weekend.  Camp out to help the homeless." HUFF member,
Robert Norse, who supports a public campout to protest the double-bind
homeless people are in, with no place to go and a sleeping ban
crackdown in force, also supports using the courts to fight the
Sleeping Ban.  "Since April of 2006 and the Jones decision in Los
Angeles, issuing tickets to homeless people for sleeping at night in a
situation in which inadequate shelter exists constitutes cruel and
unusual punishment.

City Council point man, Vice-Mayor Ryan Coonerty disagrees.  He
steadfastly supports enforcing the Sleeping Ban despite the 9th
circuit court ruling. Mayor Reilly and the council have been briefed
by City Attorney John Barisone regarding city liability for continued
enforcement of the ban in a post the Jones decision world.  But Reilly
refuses to divulge the contents of the Barisone's memo citing
"confidentiality of a client with legal counsel."

Photo by HUFF


Mayor Emily Reilly can be contacted at: (831) 420-5020  and press 2

Or write the entire council at:  citycouncil@ ci.santa- cruzca.us

See also: www.huffsantacruz. org

Congressman Sam Farr can be reached at (831)429-1976 and  at:
samfarr@mail. house.gov

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