Andy Bales at Union Rescue Mission continues to go against the flow- insists that containment policy needs to end
Andy Bales just can't keep his big mouth shut!!!! What's up Andy.... do you want to be marginalized like I am because I actually speak the truth?
Andy Bales is the CEO of the largest homeless mission west of the Mississippi and in a recent blog post he says things that, of course, would frighten homeless advocates. But as I walk the streets at night I watch how this area continues to draw those who prey on those who are addicted and even those who are lookouts for the drug dealers posing as entrepreneurs selling pirated DVDS etc on the sidewalk of San Julian Street.
Andy says at his blog after walking with the LAPD officer and standing over the body of a dead person lying on the streets of skid row after overdosing on Heroin the below.
Andy's blog
But Andy, haven't you insulted all of the social service providers that have saved lives? Have you now become a member of the Skid Row Community in agreeing that this is a disaster. Long before you arrived I went further than what you said when the low income advocates opposed the Safer Cities initiative and opposed any efforts to bring law and order. I have evidence to prove that Alice Callahan and those associated with the old Urban Design Center came up with the idea of containment and I went further and stated that if only we could go back in time; could we sue them and their policies as negligent homicide?For the thousands who were dumped here only to die. This was back when we only had the yahoogroup newdowntown. LACEHH and other organizations changed their tune quickly when they heard this... Now you want to dismantle skid row as a ceo of a mission? Most non-profits would kill to establish in skid row.
But Andy, wouldn't that mean that we would have to end homelessness as we know it and injure the homeless industry , which of course skid row is the goose that laid the golden egg for those employed at these social service providers in administrative capacities?
Andy we know that these SRO's are filled with sexual predators and many do not have to register on Megan's law website because they live in skid row. They love that because skid row becomes their preying ground. Even those who are addicted, who prey on the mentally ill and use them and manipulate them in perverse ways? DO we send them to mingle in normal neighborhoods where parents do not want to have those who would prey on their children? I have witnessed first hand a neighbor who uses his ability to not have to disclose on Megan's law website and his after being caught volunteering at events where young men he sought to prey on brought them to skid row into his hotel room with promise of marijauna etc. only to have his way with them...He doesn't volunteer at those events anymore because he would have to still disclose to a non-profit his registration status as a sex offender. Now he uses a medical marijuana card as an excuse to get marijuana and justify his behavior. I wonder if it wouldn't be better if he were in a normal neighborhood because he would be caught quickly. It is a tough proposition....It is easy to get a medical marijuana card...This man has lied about medical conditions the 9 years I have lived in the same building . How do I know?... because he changed his story constantly, before I knew what his behavior was like. I witnessed him volunteer at HIV fund raising events and claim to be HIV positive, then he changed his story when found out to being a survivor of prostate cancer. He would post on yahoogroups to get sympathy and say he was in hospitals getting chemo when I would see him at home with his door open . After I realized he was using this gaining sympathy method to infiltrate these non-profits to go after vulnerable young boys and men I stopped my friendship with him.
I do believe it would be a better atmosphere for the mentally ill who are disabled to live in a normal neighborhood simply because they wouldn't be berated by well meaning street preachers telling them not to take their medications because it is of the devil and they must depend on god only. That would help them to be medication compliant instead of being made to feel guilty for that deficit.
After the 600 units of housing is built. Then 41.18d takes effect. Which means no one on the streets of skid row at night ever. This will be the end of it ....
Skid Row was not meant to be what is has become, but it evolved into that. Community members know that if there was a better effort at bringing law and order to the neighborhood we could have families living here. But what of those sex offenders? It is a tough situation to plan for.
I know personally that many of those like the gentleman you witnessed dead from an overdose of heroin on the sidewalk aren't even sex offenders but those who just are stuck in a place where they are allowed to get their fix. I learned long ago that the reason for skid row was to keep people alive long enough until they reached a point of clarity to end their addictions, sometimes skid row fails them.
Having diabetes Andy, I know that you know it is like putting donuts in front of you and not expecting you to eat them if that was all there was for you to eat...
I learned in my time in the military that there is always a solution if we look hard enough. We can solve the problem of containment if we wanted to, and as a programmer now, I am learning that solutions can be made ,Esp in the open source community where many people contribute and cooperate and the the time it takes to find the solution decreases in proportion to how many people are working on that problem. We can do it Andy , but it is going to take people like you who are seen as credible to state it can be solved. If only we had elk season in Southern California we could fill your freezers at hope gardens with ton's of meat like they do in the pacific northwest. You fill me with much hope...
Andy Bales is the CEO of the largest homeless mission west of the Mississippi and in a recent blog post he says things that, of course, would frighten homeless advocates. But as I walk the streets at night I watch how this area continues to draw those who prey on those who are addicted and even those who are lookouts for the drug dealers posing as entrepreneurs selling pirated DVDS etc on the sidewalk of San Julian Street.
Andy says at his blog after walking with the LAPD officer and standing over the body of a dead person lying on the streets of skid row after overdosing on Heroin the below.
Andy's blog
“This area of Skid Row needs to be deconstructed, disestablished. The plan to corral/contain homelessness in the 50 square block area known as Skid Row over the past several decades has created, what I describe as, the worst human made disaster in the United States. Dropping off, dumping, and gathering all of our County’s most challenged, struggling, and, sometimes, desperate folks into one dense area has done the area and those individuals undue harm.”
But Andy, haven't you insulted all of the social service providers that have saved lives? Have you now become a member of the Skid Row Community in agreeing that this is a disaster. Long before you arrived I went further than what you said when the low income advocates opposed the Safer Cities initiative and opposed any efforts to bring law and order. I have evidence to prove that Alice Callahan and those associated with the old Urban Design Center came up with the idea of containment and I went further and stated that if only we could go back in time; could we sue them and their policies as negligent homicide?For the thousands who were dumped here only to die. This was back when we only had the yahoogroup newdowntown. LACEHH and other organizations changed their tune quickly when they heard this... Now you want to dismantle skid row as a ceo of a mission? Most non-profits would kill to establish in skid row.
But Andy, wouldn't that mean that we would have to end homelessness as we know it and injure the homeless industry , which of course skid row is the goose that laid the golden egg for those employed at these social service providers in administrative capacities?
Andy we know that these SRO's are filled with sexual predators and many do not have to register on Megan's law website because they live in skid row. They love that because skid row becomes their preying ground. Even those who are addicted, who prey on the mentally ill and use them and manipulate them in perverse ways? DO we send them to mingle in normal neighborhoods where parents do not want to have those who would prey on their children? I have witnessed first hand a neighbor who uses his ability to not have to disclose on Megan's law website and his after being caught volunteering at events where young men he sought to prey on brought them to skid row into his hotel room with promise of marijauna etc. only to have his way with them...He doesn't volunteer at those events anymore because he would have to still disclose to a non-profit his registration status as a sex offender. Now he uses a medical marijuana card as an excuse to get marijuana and justify his behavior. I wonder if it wouldn't be better if he were in a normal neighborhood because he would be caught quickly. It is a tough proposition....It is easy to get a medical marijuana card...This man has lied about medical conditions the 9 years I have lived in the same building . How do I know?... because he changed his story constantly, before I knew what his behavior was like. I witnessed him volunteer at HIV fund raising events and claim to be HIV positive, then he changed his story when found out to being a survivor of prostate cancer. He would post on yahoogroups to get sympathy and say he was in hospitals getting chemo when I would see him at home with his door open . After I realized he was using this gaining sympathy method to infiltrate these non-profits to go after vulnerable young boys and men I stopped my friendship with him.
I do believe it would be a better atmosphere for the mentally ill who are disabled to live in a normal neighborhood simply because they wouldn't be berated by well meaning street preachers telling them not to take their medications because it is of the devil and they must depend on god only. That would help them to be medication compliant instead of being made to feel guilty for that deficit.
After the 600 units of housing is built. Then 41.18d takes effect. Which means no one on the streets of skid row at night ever. This will be the end of it ....
Skid Row was not meant to be what is has become, but it evolved into that. Community members know that if there was a better effort at bringing law and order to the neighborhood we could have families living here. But what of those sex offenders? It is a tough situation to plan for.
I know personally that many of those like the gentleman you witnessed dead from an overdose of heroin on the sidewalk aren't even sex offenders but those who just are stuck in a place where they are allowed to get their fix. I learned long ago that the reason for skid row was to keep people alive long enough until they reached a point of clarity to end their addictions, sometimes skid row fails them.
Having diabetes Andy, I know that you know it is like putting donuts in front of you and not expecting you to eat them if that was all there was for you to eat...
I learned in my time in the military that there is always a solution if we look hard enough. We can solve the problem of containment if we wanted to, and as a programmer now, I am learning that solutions can be made ,Esp in the open source community where many people contribute and cooperate and the the time it takes to find the solution decreases in proportion to how many people are working on that problem. We can do it Andy , but it is going to take people like you who are seen as credible to state it can be solved. If only we had elk season in Southern California we could fill your freezers at hope gardens with ton's of meat like they do in the pacific northwest. You fill me with much hope...
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