Tag Archives: homeless

Hollywood Homeless May Face Starvation

West Hollywood Food Coalition Under Assault by City, Cops, Big Real Estate Corporations

Class War Rages in Hollywood

Food TruckThe class war is intensifying in Hollywood, as it is nation-wide.  With millions of foreclosures each year, more and more people are being put on the street.  Combined with the exporting of good jobs to China, it’s hard for many to survive on the minimum wage jobs that still exist, and especially since a lot of these are part-time jobs.  Paying rent of $800 or more for a single apartment on a part-time minimum wage job is tough.  More people than ever are living in their vehicles or on the street.  One reason a lot of homeless go to Hollywood to “live” is that the image-myth of Hollywood attracts thousands of tourists from around the world, making pan-handling easier there than say, Pacoima or Long Beach.

But Hollywood continues to have a massive development scheme.  Big buildings, condos, and towers continue to be built.  Billions of dollars are pouring into the area’s real estate.  And if there is one thing the real estate moguls don’t like to see, it’s homeless people.  “It’s bad for business.”  It gives the lie to the image of growth and success that the moguls are trying to polish up. If they don’t keep up the “Rah Rah” then their buildings may end up vacant. Although the breaking point of rents is fast approaching, the big investors who now own so much of Hollywood’s commercial and office buildings, seem to be oblivious to the further eroding of the economy.  So the word is out: Get rid of the homeless.  Push them out to somewhere else.  Anywhere but Hollywood.

A Lesson From The History Books

One way is to take a lesson from the history books.  When the American Imperial expansion was in full swing, the main obstacle was the Native American tribes, who had been residents of the land,  now called “The United States of America”, for thousands of years.  Solution: kill off the buffalo, food supply for the Natives.  This ultimately weakened many tribes into submission and made them dependent on food from the government.  This same tactic is now being pushed in the Hollywood area.  Cut off the food supply, harass them at every turn, arrest them, push them out.  This combined assault by the City of Los Angeles and it’s big business backers is now threatening the 27 year old Greater West Hollywood Food Coalition (GWHFC).

The GWHFC has fed about 200-300 folks a night for 27 years.  Operating on the corner of Sycamore and Romaine in Hollywood, help is there with a hot meal and often with volunteers who help the seniors and homeless with issues like health, legal problems, and psychological counseling.  Now comes the class war:  the Health Department demanded that all the tables and chairs be removed from the sidewalks; microscopic inspection of the food prep building; citations for anything imaginable; cops trolling the food lines trying to find homeless who have warrants outstanding; cops and B.I.D. police hanging around looking to cite anyone.  If you ever wanted to know what it was like to eat a meal in a Nazi food distribution during WW2 (if there even was one), then this is it.  Even during the great depression, big mobsters like Al Capone set up food kitchens in Chicago and fed thousands on the streets.  The politicians of today aren’t even as nice as the 30’s mobsters.  They hate the thought of feeding anyone, other than their honorable selves, of course.

Homeless Treated Worse Than Animals by Cops, City Politicos

If you are a senior or homeless and would like a free hot meal at the GWHFC nightly food distro, get ready to be treated like a dog.  Not by the good folks at the Food Coalition, who are trying to cope with this attack, but by a heartless, cruel City and their squadrons of Cops.  There are no tables to sit down and enjoy a meal.  You have to sit on the ground.  There’s no place to wash your hands, no bathrooms or porta-poties. Men, women, and children grovel on the ground for their gruel because the Food Coalition can no longer put out chairs and tables.

Americans, Unlike Other Humans, Do Not Ever Have To Go To The Toilet – An Entire Nation of Anal Retentives

Business people and some residents complain about the damage done or the annoyance in the neighborhood.  “I saw a homeless guy pissing on a tree.”  What do you expect?  There’s no bathrooms in the area and a lot of Hollywood businesses and restaurants try to keep them out of their bathrooms.  If the City can’t provide some free bathrooms, then you get what you deserve.  An outsider or visitor from another planet would notice right away that Americans never go to the bathroom.  These places, if they exist at all, are hidden away in secret corners, even in Shopping Malls.  Contrast this with Europe.  Go to London or Paris.  Bathrooms everywhere. In London the “Water Closets” are manned by old pensioners who exist on tips.  They work shifts and keep the places clean.  Think of all the seniors here in Hollywood.  A lot of them would like a job like that, just as soon as America joins the rest of the civilized world.  Meanwhile, it’s “piss-o-rama” on the back streets of Hollywood and will continue to be until the City of L.A. and the Hollywood business people wake up to THEIR responsibility to provide bathrooms FOR EVERYONE. (Hey, even the beloved tourists have to “go”)  And they could also find a suitable building in the area of Romaine and Sycamore and let the good folks at the Greater West Hollywood Food Coalition go about their humane efforts to feed the hungry.  It is a responsibility for everyone to pitch in and help.  So to the Hollywood Fat Cats and Moguls: call off the Cops and sour-faced bureaucrats and lend a hand in finding a solution. Make the world a better place by becoming anal-expulsive.

Hidden Camera Shows Cops Lining Up Homeless “Suspects” at Sycamore and Romaine

Burbank Area Free Hot Meals

The Lord’s Kitchen

Free Saturday Lunches in Burbank

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1st Saturday

11am – Emmanuel Church 438 E. Harvard Rd. Burbank.

Nervous Rex 2Country Group Nervous Rex Performs Free at Emmanuel Church Lunch for Seniors and Homeless People.  Johnny Cash being good for the soul!

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2nd Saturday

2:00 pm. First Presbyterian Church, 521 E. Olive Ave.  Good Hot Lunch

IMG_0187Monster Thanksgiving Dinner at First Presbyterian Church – Gypsy Cool says that this was really delicious!  He took a Photo to remember it during the hard times when all there is to eat is can of sardines.

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3rd Saturday

2:00pm – Village Church, 3216 W. Victory Blvd, Burbank.  Downstairs in the Rec Hall.

IMG_0201Christmas Saturday Lunch at the Village Church. Their Girl Scout Troop often helps to plan, prepare and serve seniors and homeless.

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Last Saturday (ALWAYS THE LAST SATURDAY)

1:15pm – St. Jude’s Episcopal Church, 111 S. 6th St., Burbank.  These good folks who serve you usually pay for the food themselves.  God bless them a thousand times over for their generosity.

May 28, 2013 083 St Jude 2Boxes of Fresh Produce Sometimes Provided by the good folks of St. Jude’s and Gypsy Cool volunteers. Produce supplied by the generous folks at Trader Joes.

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When There Are 5 Saturdays then the 4th Saturday is at:

Noon – Westminster Presbyterian Church, 542 N. Buena Vista, Burbank.

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Every Saturday Free Breakfast

8:30 – 10:00am – Burbank Church of Christ, 3012 W. Burbank Blvd.

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3rd Sunday – Usually Sept. through June – Senior Lunch

12:15 pm – St. Finbar Catholic Church, Keystone and Olive Ave. (2010 W. Olive Ave.), Burbank.

Free Food in Hollywood

Hot Food Every Day at Sycamore and Romaine

Greater West Hollywood Food Coalition Feeds the Hungry

Hollywood food coalition

From their website:

Every night between 6:15 and 7:30 a community comes together at the barren street corner of Sycamore and Romaine, along the border of Hollywood and West Hollywood. On the one hand – on one side of the table – are the volunteers of The Greater West Hollywood Food Coalition, a broad-based grass-roots organization which for the past 25 years has served a hot, fresh, and nutritious meal every night to the homeless and hungry. On the other hand are between 150 and 200 men and women who have somehow or other fallen through the cracks, and for whom the meal they are about to eat, sumptuous as it is, might well be the only meal they have all day. The GWHFC is comprised of actors, producers, writers, artists, teachers, journalists, lawyers, housewives, and a corps of former “clients” who have all had a strong desire to give back by volunteering in Los Angeles. Serving a meal to the “homeless and hungry” is the smallest part of what we do. We meet them on their own turf, talk to them, and listen. We get to know them as individuals, and, little by little, in all kinds of ways, we then help them to think better of themselves and to not be shy about asking for specific, practical help – which the Greater West Hollywood Food Coalition, entirely unsystematically, then tries to provide. All together, volunteers and homeless, form a kind of microcosm of what the larger community ought to be, but now, in the big city, is no longer. The motto of the GWHFC is simply this (with no religious strings attached): I Am My Brother’s Keeper.

Their website is:  www.gwhfc.org

 

 

Life and Death in Dirty Dave’s Homeless Camp

Filmmaker Michael Arth Spent Years Documenting the Drama of

A Homeless Camp in the Woods of Florida

200px-Michael_E._Arth_5-21-09His film, “Out of the Woods” is an engrossing study of the folks who live in a camp in the Florida woods.  Some are drunks, fighting the demons created by alcohol; some are dopers, others just out of work or homeless with no place to lay their head at night.  Dirty Dave Grimsly, who weirdly has a slight resemblance to George Bush (the Junior one), takes them all in.  He feeds them, cooks meals, gives them a tent or a sleeping bag, and tends to them.  Because of their emotional and physical situations, the people who live in the camp provide us with dramatic statements of the personal horrors and the angst they are going through.  Michael Arth is to be honored for this timeless study of those who need a helping hand, but find that the there is none from the local government.  For those poor folks, the last stop is a tent deep in the woods, in a camp run by a good natured alcoholic nick-named Dirty Dave.  And if there is an unlikely saint in this film, it is Dave.  Every day he lives through his own hell of being a drunk and an ex-con sent to prison for manslaughter  But it is Dave who gives his love and attention to a squad of lost souls who occupy the camp. It will probably be a long time before you forget some of these characters and their sad and tragic lives.  Filmmaker.Arth holds up a backwards-looking mirror in which you not only see them in the present, but you see them as children, growing up, handsome and beautiful, ready to jump into the American dream.  The juxtaposition of their youthful years, so hopeful and full of life, with the shocking reality of their hopeless descent into the swirling hell that lies beneath the surface of our society, is a major achievement by Mr. Arth.

Mr. Arth made this film in part to promote the construction of a project called Tiger Bay Village, to give a last chance to homeless folks in the area, a place to detox and recover their health, as well as living quarters so they can recover their personal dignity. Michael Arth has been working for years to push through this project, which is still stalled by the local government.  The pathetic, actually enraging and ironic slap in the face to the American people, is that when our own folks need this kind of help it is not to be found, and our own government, year after year dumps millions of people into the U.S. as “refugees” or for “political asylum”.  As this is syrian_refugeeswritten, your tax paid mentally ill rulers at the Department of State are planning on bringing one and a half million refugees from Syria into the country.  What for?  We don’t need them or want them.  We have our own to take care of.  Every war that the CIA loses becomes another humanity dump of millions more into our decaying cities.  With the jobs sent to China, and the banksters pushing millions of families from their homes into the streets, the homeless population is increasing at a rapid pace. Tell Washington to STOP NOW.  Get out of these foreign countries, and please, no more refugees until the American born homeless are taken care of, and that includes our Veterans, 800,000 of whom have been waiting for years for their benefits. The smells in homeless encampments are nothing compared to the stink from the politicians in Washington, D.C., the world’s biggest sewage pit masquerading as a city. Those politicians are not fit to kiss the feet of a guy like Dirty Dave Grimsley.

Watch the film below, or find it directly on youtube:  Out of the Woods

Contact the filmmaker Michael Arth at www.goldenapplesmedia.com

Check out the Tiger Bay Village site at www.villagesforthehomeless.org

 

82 Year Old Barber Removed From Park For Giving Free Haircuts to Homeless

The Class War Against the Poor Continues Across America

Cops and Suits Say No More Free Haircuts for Homeless in Hartford

Good-bye Joe the Barber – God Bless You For Trying

Joe the barber 1HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Hartford officials say they ordered an 82-year-old good Samaritan out of a city park because residents were concerned about the safety and sanitation of his free haircuts to homeless people.

But city health officials said Thursday they’re trying to work with Anthony Cymerys (sih-MEHR’-is) so he can continue providing the valuable service in a more controlled environment. They also say Cymerys isn’t a licensed barber.

Cymerys is known as “Joe the Barber” and has been giving haircuts in exchange for hugs for 25 years in the city. He’s been a fixture at Bushnell Park every Wednesday, but authorities kicked him out of the park this week.

Cymerys’ friends questioned officials’ actions, saying it was only a year ago that the city honored Cymerys for his charitable deeds.

War on Haircuts.  What’s Next – A War on Nail Clippers?

Joe the barber 2The fact is that in cities across America, many homeless people help each other out, not only with food, but also with personal hygiene like haircuts.  So old Joe the Barber didn’t have a “license”, so what?  He still gives satisfactory haircuts to homeless folks who couldn’t afford it otherwise.  In the L.A. area there are at least 2 nice ladies who occasionally give haircuts to homeless and needy people for free.  Maybe some of the self-involved citizens who own actual barber shops should volunteer some time to help out.  The foreclosures by the banksters have put millions of middle-class Americans on the street;  now they have to face the realities of the life of poor folks, including such mundane things as haircuts.  When you are homeless you aren’t going to go to some fancy salon and plunk down $40 bucks for a trim.

To the people who forced old Joe the Barber out of the park:  May all your hair fall out and your finger and toenails become ingrown. 

 

L.A. Housing Partnership 2012 Holiday Food Distribution

Schedule of Food Distribution Nov/Dec 2012

Place:  2614 W. 7th Street, Los Angeles.

Date:  Wednesday November 21, 2012

Time: 4:00pm

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Date: December – No Food Distribution at that location.  But a big food distro at “Winter Festival” on Monday, December 17, 2012 at MacArthur Park.

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Posted by Uncle Paulie/ Thanks to Barbara B. for this update.

Los Angeles Area Food Distro

SOVA Food Bank Distribution

Click here SOVA to go to website to get complete information on their programs.

Here is some of the information, please visit their website.

METRO –

Our new Metro pantry is located in West Hollywood at 1140 N. La Brea Avenue, West Hollywood, CA 90038.

The METRO pantry is located on the east side of La Brea. Metered parking is available on La Brea as well as on surrounding streets.

WEST –

Our West pantry is located in the Pico-Robertson area of West Los Angeles at: 8846 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90035

The WEST pantry is located on the south side of Pico Blvd. one-half block west of Robertson Ave. Metered street parking is available on Pico Blvd. and surrounding streets as well as in a parking lot located just a few doors west of the building.

VALLEY –

Our Valley pantry is located in the middle of the San Fernando Valley at: 16439 Vanowen St., Van Nuys, CA 91406

The VALLEY pantry is located on the north side of Vanowen St. one-half block east of Hayvenhurst Ave. Our building is located off the street behind a row of storefronts. Follow the driveway that is between Taqueria San Jose and Costa Azul Restaurant to our parking lot.

Pantry Hours:

Metro

Sunday 9:00 am – 12:00 noon

(2nd and 4th Sunday of each month ONLY)

Monday 10:00 am – 1:30 pm

Tuesday 10:00 am – 1:30 pm

Wednesday 10:00 am – 1:30 pm

Thursday NO Food Distribution

Counseling services by appointment only.

Friday 10:00 am – 1:30 pm

West

Sunday 9:00 am – 12:00 noon

(1st and 3rd Sunday of each month ONLY)

Monday 10:00 am – 1:30 pm

Wednesday 10:00 am – 1:30 pm

Friday 10:00 am – 1:30 pm

Valley

Sunday 9:00 am – 12:00 noon

(Open every Sunday except holiday weekends)

Monday 10:00 am – 1:30 pm

Tuesday 10:00 am – 1:30 pm

Wednesday 10:00 am – 1:30 pm

Friday 10:00 am – 1:30 pm

 

 

Urban Rooftop Living

Urban Living on a Roof

Aside from living in a vehicle, there are other unusual places to reside, at least on a temporary basis.  (In a future series of posts I will cover squatting situations).  One of the weirdest I have discovered is roof-top living.  You see some of it even in movies.  In cities like New York, the hot summers in those squalid apartments with no air conditioning drives thousands of people to camp out on the roofs.  Hey, it’s cooler up there on a hot, sweltering night!

The first time I noticed this on the West Coast, I was visiting a friend in a small California city.  She had a shop in the downtown area.  One night late, we were sitting in her shop chatting and I heard a noise outside.  I looked out the back window and saw this guy going up the fire escape.  Even though it was dark, I recognized him, a homeless guy who hung around the area.  He was basically harmless, would pan-handle for food, and sit on a bench and talk sports to anyone who would listen.  He avidly read the sports pages of all the newspapers he could find abandoned in trash cans and Starbucks, and he was a sidewalk sports commando first class.

One day I went up on the roof to check out his lair.  He had put his bed roll in the shade of a giant air conditioner, and leaned cardboard over it.  Smart.  Best to be hidden from the searchlights of the ever-present helicopters at night.  He was tucked away from those eyes in the sky, a sleeping bag, a portable radio, a bag with a few personal items, a water bottle.  He would only go up the fire escape late at night, and come down early before people would notice him.  He had the perfect free apartment in the summer time in sunny Southern California.  During the winter months, when it got colder, he disappeared, who knows to where.  As long as he stayed out of sight, he was OK.  I imagine that once in a while an air conditioning repair man would see his stuff, maybe say something to the building owner, maybe not.  Once in a while he might lose his gear, but the local temporary aid would restock him with new stuff.  Go ahead and laugh, the dude was around for years, living free while YOU (and I) were paying thousands of dollars in rent.  Who’s the smarter one?

Paulie