Skip to main content

... with Loaves & Fishes looking over your shoulder?

Is Loaves & Fishes ALWAYS adverse to doing something in a straightforward way? I do wonder.

Not content to take up its proper role in the 2010 Census as a non-invasive TNSOL [Targetted Non-Sheltered Outdoor Location], Loaves & Fishes has determined that it will add coercion to the mix, which is sure to make an expected undercount of Sacramento's homeless population that much greater.

Rather that benignly, non-invasively offering a location where homeless people could fulfill their obligation to report data for the 2010 Census to Census Bureau workers, Loaves & Fishes has decided to act as Big Mommy and stick in their big snorting nose. L&F's inveigling action is sure to scare off many homeless people who will understandably feel that their privacy is being invaded.

A flier, worded as follows, has been distributed to homeless denizens of L&F's Friendship Park the last couple days:
ATTENTION

On Tuesday, March 30th 2010 Loaves & Fishes will be hosting the 2010 U.S. census, the census is vital to our area receiving funding for many homeless programs. At this time we are asking all who come to Loaves and fishes to participate. Because you are a citizen and you count!

On this date Friendship Park will be closed to those who do not participate... Census staff will be set up in the cul-de-sac to assist you in completing the census. Once you've completed the census you will be given an admission ticket to Friendship Park and to access services at Loaves & Fishes. I.e.; lunch, showers telephone etc.

We apologize for any inconveniences, this may cause.
Reporting of Census data is solely the responsiblity of those reporting ― adult citizens and others living in the United States. The circumstance at Loaves & Fishes is surely a unique one where use of coersion is employed: "Fill out the datasheet, or you won't eat or bathe, you homeless dog!" Census reporting at gunpoint by an organization that has no business meddling!

It should be known that the official Census Date is April 1, and NOT March 30.

While the Census Bureau happily collects data given before the official date [How else could they hope to gather data from over 300 million Americans?], the obligation to report is by May 1 relating to one's circumstance on April 1 — but the sooner the better.

Homeless citizens, like all other Americans, have no legal obligation to report early. Nor should many of us report before the April 1 Census date, since, in many cases, homeless people's living circumstances can change day-by-day.

The logo of the 2010 Census appears in the upper-right of this blogpost.  Must I point out that it reads "It's in Our Hands," and NOT "It's in Our Hands with Loaves & Fishes twisting your arm and reading over your shoulder"?

Comments

DesElms said…
I perform pro bono agency and advocacy for the homeless and others similarly in need.

SEE: http://www.tinyurl.com/deselms-card

I am largely coordinating the TNSOL count in VALLEJO, California...

SEE: http://www.homelessvallejo.org

SEE: http://tinyurl.com/ykdo7ec

...and we are just hours, now, as I write this, away from going out for the all-night TNSOL count.

I am a big supporter of Loaves & Fishes, just generally; however, I confess to being troubled by any tactics even remotely resembling what I've read in this blog posting.

It's already bad that some of those who provide services to the homeless (specifically some of the faith-based groups) force said homeless to do things like pray or study the bible or attend worship services in order to avail themselves of services. When those helping agencies do things like what is described in this blog posting, that, too, is troubling.

The truth is, I have trouble believing that it's exactly as the blog posting describes. However, if it is, in fact, that way, then I'm sorry to hear that.

Tonight, we're going out and finding the homeless wherever they are. I've recently completed, and am now updating, a nearly 50-page report of TNSOLs in Vallejo...

...and we're by-golly going to try to hit every one of them tonight. Any homeless who refuse to participate will simply be reminded of the importance of it, and then if they insist, their decision will be honored.

I do not anticipate much resistence, though, because we all fanned-out across the city in advance and warned the homeless at the TNSOLs that the census workers were coming on the night of the 30th (morning of the 31st); and we explained to them the importance of it, and how they had nothing to fear from it, and how the census workers were not even remotely connected with law enforcement, etc. Nearly every homeless person agreed, by the time we finished explaining it, that it would be cool to be counted.

That's how we're doing it in Vallejo tonight. And I'm pretty proud of how we've put it all together.

Interestingly, we contemplated a "census barbeque" or something like that to draw the homeless in to eat for free, maybe get some information and services, and then fill-out a census form...

...but never in a million years would we make the eating part or the services part contingent upon filling-out the form.

I hope the Loaves & Fishes is, in fact, doing it differently than this blog posting describes; and more, perhaps, in the spirit of how we're doing it here in Vallejo.


__________________________________
Gregg L. DesElms
gregg at greggdeselms dot com
Unknown said…
Thanks for your comment, Gregg.

Indeed, Loaves & Fishes was ultimately far less invasive in their approach to things than their fliers proclaimed they would be.

While L&F mgmt is famously unresponsive toward doing things other than in whatever authoritative rights-disregarding fashion they choose to, it is likely that the Bureau and media notice and, frankly, THIS BLOG got them to scale back.

Popular posts from this blog

More obstacles revealed in effort to make Mather cottages habitable

Mold, asbestos and lead paint, oh my! The 35 cottages out at Mather Community Campus seem closer to being condemned today than ever again being inhabited. But the expectation that some of the cottages can and will be restored to house homeless families before spring abides. A report in the Sacramento Bee tells us ... Some [of the cottages] have extensive mold, a county analysis showed. It's not clear how the county planned to deal with lead paint and asbestos, [Rancho Cordova] Councilwoman Linda Budge said. Still, hope of getting some of the cottages in shape such that homeless families can move in is in play, though not before New Year's day.  Word of where the money might come from to make needed restorations has not been forthcoming, though it is known that the Winter Shelter Task Force hopes to hold a fundraiser to boost the pool of funds to meet the need to keep homeless people warm and safe. At the end of October, placing families, totalling 105 individuals, was

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 quite some time.  I

Loaves & Fishes implicates Buddhism and Jack Kornfield in its June Donations Plea.

The Sukhothai Traimit Golden Buddha was found in a clay-and-plaster overlaid buddha statue in 1959, after laying in wait for 500 years. It's huge and heavy: just under 10 feet tall and weighs 5 1/2 tons. At the beginning of their June newsletter , Loaves and Fishes relates a story, taken from the beginning of renowned Buddhist teacher Jack Kornfield's 2008 book The Wise Heart: A Guide to the Universal Teachings of Buddhist Psychology . The first part and first chapter in Kornfield's book is "Part I: Who are you really?" and chapter 1 is called "Nobility: Our Original Goodness," which ought to serve as a clue to what the beginning of the book is about, not that that sentiment isn't strewn through-out the chapter, section and book such that what Kornfield is telling us should be crystal clear. Somehow, the not-ready-for-primetime management at Loaves & Fishes have managed to use Kornfield's wise and kindly words in a way that mangles th