Skip to main content

New, clandestine encampment, named Safe Ground, is established

A resourceful band of homeless people have identified a plot of ground in Sacramento for the establishment of a campground – a place to live and be in the absence of adequate shelter space or other ways and means to spend the night.

There is nothing unusual about this (there are many illicit homeless tent communities in the county), except that these campers have a written compact, regulations and self-governance. And they have named their encampment "Safe Ground," even though it is not sanctioned, as that name implies.

I am told that last evening two Sacramento Bee reporters came to the site and spoke with many of the inhabitants. A story in the paper is likely to appear tomorrow morning. [Update: As of the 8/7 issue, there has been no story re the camp in The Bee.]

The plot of ground was described to me as being as big as the cul-de-sac area at Loaves & Fishes, from Mercy Clinic to the end of the street, which is, perhaps, 25 yards by 70 yards. I was told the encampment is wooded and secluded.

I am told that campers there abide by rules that are much like those imposed on denizens of L&F's Friendship Park: Fights, drinking and use of mind-altering substances are disallowed. Several of the campers comprise a makeshift board of directors. At least one of the campers is tasked with the responsibility of enforcing abidance of the rules.

The group is hoping to establish a community of forty tents in their location. One idea is to have the tents belong to the encampment, itself, and not to the campers. It was implied that some homeless-aid-agency leaders and attorneys are very aware of the community, are encouraging it, and will aid in its development.

[Note that SacHo was given an OK to report on this matter from a couple residents of the encampment, so long as the campground location was not identified.]

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Ron Russell and Summerhills Realty

Readers of this blog should be aware that I am receiving some information that Summerhills Realty and someone named Ron E. Russell is using this blog as a reference in an effort to scam homeless people.  Be aware that Mr. Russell and his business is cited as a possible perpetrator of fraud by a website called Ripoff Report .  See this webpage .  Also, there is this claim of fraud against Ron Russell Properties at the website BizClaims - Latest scams, frauds and complaints . Please be aware that the information of being 'ripped off'' may be coming from only one source is coming from multiple sources, with perhaps as many as twelve persons/couples now pursuing legal action after paying thousands of dollars for services and receiving none of the services that were promised/contracted. While I know neither Mr. Russell nor Summerhills, I do know that an inordinate number of “in links” from readers of this blog have come via summerhillsrealestate.com for qui...

Schwarzenegger calls for SSI cutbacks

An article in the Feb. 5 issue of Sacramento Business Journal , " State ponders budget cuts for low-income seniors, disabled ," tells us that California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is proposing cutbacks in Supplemental Security Income/State Supplementary Payment (SSI/SSP) that "help low-income seniors and people with disabilities meet basic living expenses." The cutbacks and other reductions that Schwarzenegger seeks in SSI would impact many people in the Sacramento homeless community. Quoting the SBJ article, The governor has proposed cutting the grants to the minimum level required by federal law, starting May 1, and to suspend the June 2010 state cost-of-living adjustment. Together, they would eliminate $1.34 billion in grant payments [statewide]. The Central Valley Business Times breaks down statewide figures to give us this information with respect to Sacramento county: Here, 63,590 people will be impacted by a total amount of $78,728,000. That is an avera...

Sex, Lies and Exegesis

Definition: exegesis [ek-si-jee-sis]: critical explanation or interpretation of a text or portion of a text, especially of the Bible. Painting by He Qi , a prominent artist from China who focuses on Christian themes. This piece is inspired by The Song of Solomon. In his May 21 column, New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof stirred up a hornets’ nest. His column wasn’t really a column, it was a quiz, titled “ Religion and Sex Quiz .” The questions and what he provided as the answers were provocative, to say the least. We would later learn, in his follow-up, a post to the Times online in the afternoon of the same day, “ Reader Comments on my Religion Quiz ,” that the information that was used to create the quiz came with the help of Bible scholars, “including Jennifer Knust, whose book inspired [the quiz], and … Mark Jordan of Harvard Divinity School.” Kristof doesn’t name Knust’s book, but a quick googling reveals that it must certainly be Unprotected Texts: The Bible’s...