Burl 5/4/2015
The Menu: Chicken in sauce or pork ribs, scalloped potatoes,
garlic bread, and salad bar. Police Chief Andy Mills led us in the pledge. Carlton Nielsen gave the invocation.
President Gregg Gardiner recognized Neil Carnam, who had just returned from
Nepal. He was at the Mt. Everest base
camp four days before the earthquake. He
said the trip was a lifelong dream and he felt very lucky to have survived it.
He will give a brief travelogue next week before our program (Cal Fresh).
Our Prez recognized Ziggy Ziggenfuss for a
recent TV ad of him running the St. Joseph Hospital shuttle program. Dave Wells finally got his Blue Badge. Then
we had the drawing. Greg Bowen won the
bottle of wine and Jay Bahner, given a 1 out of 13 chance to win $740, drew the
ten of hearts.
Our program on the
homeless problem included 8 different presenters so we got right to it.
Supervisor Virginia Bass introduced the subject. She said it’s important to distinguish
between the homeless problem and the panhandling problem. Many panhandlers have homes. Some young families working low paying jobs
are homeless. The current estimate is
that there are 600 homeless, half local and half transients. 50-60% have mental issues and 70-80% abuse
drugs or alcohol. She’s a member of
CHIP, Creative Homeless Improvement Program.
The group meets every Thursday and includes business owners service
providers and the Police Chief. 
The
Police Chief then took his turn. He’s
for a compassionate solution, but is pressing to find a location for a more
structured and hygienic homeless camp.
They hauled off 100 tons of trash and 800 shopping carts from “The
Devil’s Playground”. They made over 5000
arrests and relocated 1800 people to other cities. Their mobile intervention services team swept
the camp and found 16 guns. They have
been passing out flyers telling people not to give cash to the
panhandlers. 
Phillip Crandall, Director
of the Humboldt County Health and Human Services Department, spoke next. They are planning to expand the MAC building
over by Target adding 60 beds. The
homeless need housing, it turns out. He
passed out a sheet that debunked some of the myths about General Relief. In spite of the general feeling that the
number of homeless is increasing, the GR caseload is 183, down from 227 in
2014. GR vouchers cannot be used for
drugs cigarettes and alcohol. DHHS
doesn’t provide any funding though any of its programs to support people’s dogs
or other pets. The average payment in California is $296 a month. Humboldt County pays $303. 
Betty Chin was next. She operates the Betty
Kwan Chinn Homeless foundation. She
feeds 450-500 people a day. She’s found
housing for 129 single men. She has
provided housing, transportation to schools, and other services She said we
don’t see some of the neediest homeless because they hide in the bushes and
never come out. 
Other speakers included Pamela Milsap EPD homeless liaison
officer who noted that there are no drug or alcohol treatment programs for
persons under 18. Fox Olsen Arcata
Homeless Advocate wanted a transitional housing program. She had an on the job
training plan that would pay half the salary of an employee. Nezzie Wade represented Affordable Homeless housing Alternatives. She co-managed micro housing.
Finally Bryan Lee Hall of
the Eureka Rescue Mission asked us what we thought when we saw a turtle on a
fencepost. “Someone put it there”. The homeless need to change the way they
think to become contributing members of the community and someone needs to give
them hope and training. Someone has to
put them on that fencepost. And how do
you get off the fencepost? Stay tuned.
Hank Ingham Burl Writer
