Something has got to Change

 I would like to second the view expressed by Alice regarding the composition of the COC Board. More people with Living Experience should have a voice to raise issues I refer to as “the tyranny of helping”. Much of what is regarded as civilization is fraudulent in that it works against the individual, like the injection of 6T in newly printed money into the economy and telling everyone it will not trigger inflation, giving big pharma a pass on liability for irreparable harm caused by the not a vaccine needle stick. All claims to be paid by the Government and we all know the source of their money, the little guy taxpayer. The rehab programs run by former users who have “cleaned up” by confessing their addiction and finding a Doctor to prescribe psychoactive meds for depression and anxiety. The “war on drugs” was lost the moment it was declared because from the Coast Guard, DEA, Customs, Border Patrol, Homeland Security, Local Law Enforcement City and County, State Police, the Courts, Public Defenders and Prosecutors, Prisons and Jails, Parole and Probation, Rehab programs and all their Staff TOO MANY PAYCHECKS DEPEND ON IT. Same thing with Single Payer Health Insurance: it would put too many paper processors out of work, like maybe 1.5M. A lot of what puts people on the street is a consequence of feeling “no matter what, nothing ever gets fixed, it’s impossible”. Once they are on the street and scrambling to stay alive they learn after a time a person does not require all that we are programmed to aspire to, College, a Career, Marriage & family, Owning a home. College is NOT for everybody. A skilled tradesman can earn $100k and we have an inadequate supply. Nobody ever really owns a home, because after paying double the sales price for a mortgage, you are renting from the Government. Don’t pay your property taxes for five years and the Government takes it away and sells it. Or the Building Code is updated making the house you built 35 years ago non-conforming, Permits comes and tell you to vacate and demolish using a “licensed” contractor. I won’t belabor the point further except to say some have gone feral after having dreams crashed and learning survival skills. When the Fire Marshal ruled the HUTS not habitable it was a betrayal of the efforts and expectations, hopes of many. They were better than nothing and ten people were deprived of a small improvement.

It’s no better in shelters. If an accusation is made, no effort is made to get the accused version, the person is exited. Shelters may as well have revolving doors. I was put out of SJH twice for doing something I had a Doctor’s Letter for, saying it was a “medical necessity”. MIC is better but not much. I watched the previous shelter manager put out a woman for asking an innocent question; the woman was in tears before she got to the door, it was brutal. COTS rehired a former Program Director in mid 2019, she immediately terminated people and began to rewrite policy back to the Carrot and Stick model, including our PSH rental agreement.  A blatant violation of Ca. Real Estate Law. Nobody advocates for us and few are concerned because we are on the first plateau of being off the street. If I did not have stage 3 Kidney Disorder, I would have left here when the virus BS started. Another fraud. Fatalities among infected including poor souls with co-morbidities .2%, comparable to Flu season. This is not supposed to be about me, I have seen worse imposed on others. No staff here have been trained using HUD tutorials for PSH Staff, so nobody knows what it is intended to be.

The important thing is: almost all the successful programs out of homelessness have an element of self government. There is no consumer rating for shelters. If you read the reviews of COTS online almost all are written by DONORS, wtf do they know about how the clients are treated? Some former Staff reviews on Glassdoor are telling, “NO support from Senior staff”. In 18 months from a staff of 44, 26 are gone (6/19-1/21) 60%, that alone indicates problems. I have been in and out off this for 20 years. When people decide for others “for their own good” what is best for them, it is the worst tyranny imaginable. So sayeth C.S.Lewis. I do not hear any mention of the refuseniks, those who will not be housed, no matter what. You both are probably weary of hearing this same rant from me. I’ll conclude with problems cant be solved without the participation of all concerned. We are voiceless now, it has to change.

Albert