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City of Fresno spent $ 13,106,534 for 64 unit apartment for Homeless, ($ 190,000 per unit) Crooks!
Mike Rhodes has been editor for the Community Alliance newspaper, the only progressive newspaper in the Central Valley of CA.
Fresno. The link below is his last article. He has been reporting and documenting on the Homeless and attacks on the Homeless by the City of Fresno. I am often worried for his safety because of his reporting, especially on the police violence against the homeless and the questionable death of homeless woman Pam Kincaid. I have often posted Mike's exposed stories. And always hope these stories make their way to someone in power who can help. I have just post some paragraphs in his last article.
At the end of this is a link to see the long list of articles, each story heartbreaking and unbelievable. Unbelievable that the abuse by the City continues and the State of CA doesn't do anything to stop it.
One of the most amazing is how the Feds gave the City of Fresno millions of dollars to help the homeless, and that money was used to build an apartment with 64 units.. it is estimated there are over 5000 homeless people,, incredible !
Where is the accountability? Mike uncovers the truth or at least some of it. Where is the DA of CA ? Where is the US Attorney General?
Here is his whole article, but you can scroll down to the part on the Homeless.
http://fresnoalliance.com/wordpress/?p=8692
Speaking of the power elite in Fresno and their ability to tell a narrative about an important local issue, the mayor and her allies have a message for you about the homeless. It is a simple message that says homeless encampments in downtown Fresno were destroyed because they were not fit for human habitation and that the encampments should not exist. Permanent housing, they say, is the answer.
The problem with this simple message is that, as the mayor and the city’s elite well know, “permanent housing” to house the city’s homeless does not exist. Worse, there are no real plans to provide housing. The only plan is to destroy encampments, leaving the homeless with no shelter and pushing them further into desperate conditions.
If people in Fresno knew what the official City of Fresno policy was doing to the homeless they would be appalled. They might even be moved to do something about it.
The City of Fresno did destroy all of the homeless encampments in downtown Fresno. That much we agree on. The problem is that destroying the homeless encampments did not mean that the people living in them got housing. The homeless people who got displaced are now living under oleander bushes, in Courthouse Park, on the Fulton Mall and just about every place you can imagine. You have probably even seen them in your neighborhood. Destroying their humble shelters did not solve a thing, and the city has not been involved with building new housing for the homeless since the Renaissance at Santa Clara was opened in November 2012. They have no plans to build any new housing for the homeless.
The city’s elite celebrated the opening of the Renaissance at Santa Clara as a solution to homelessness. But take a closer look. The Renaissance at Santa Clara, built for $13,106,534, houses 69 people in 340-square-foot studio apartments. That is a breathtaking $190,000 per unit! Would it surprise you to know that Tom Richards of Penstar, who got the development contract for this project, is the chairperson of Fresno First Steps Home and was the chairperson of the city’s Ten-Year Plan to End Homelessness committee? Penstar executives contributed a significant amount of money to Mayor Swearengin’s reelection campaign, and Penstar made about $1,000,000 from its role in developing the Renaissance at Santa Clara. Meanwhile, the city’s homeless problem remains essentially unsolved.
Instead of lining the pockets of her political supporters, the city could have provided thousands of homeless people with housing, but they decided instead to put in granite countertops and other perks that cost taxpayers a fortune, while getting a relatively small number of homeless people off the streets.
The attacks on the homeless since the destruction of the encampments have been relentless. The Fresno Police Department (FPD) has an entire task force targeting them. The task force is busy taking homeless people’s property, issuing them citations (declaring their property is trash) and waking them up at dawn to tell them to “move on.”
There are homeless advocates in this community who are demanding that all people be treated with dignity and respect. They argue for a safe and legal place for the homeless to live, where basic public services (toilets, trash bins and drinking water) are available. Once homeless people’s lives are stabilized in these temporary camps, affordable and decent housing must be found. If our economic and political system was working, it would find a way to match all of the abandoned houses and buildings in Fresno with the thousands of homeless people living on the streets of Fresno. If you believe that another world is possible and want to be a part of the solution, then check out www.helpfresnoshomeless.org/ to get involved with others who are seeking positive solutions to end homelessness in this community.
********** How does the Attorney General of CA, and the US Attorney General ignore this abuse of power, and corruption ? ***
long list but all important articles, many are heartbreaking. Just think if these were your sons and daughters, brothers or sisters, or friends.
http://fresnoalliance.com/wordpress/?p=1313
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16 replies
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Boooooooooooooooooooooo 
http://fresnoalliance.com/wordpress/?p=8688
Eco Village Project and Dakota EcoGardenJoin Forces to House Fresno’s Homeless
I'm just post the 1st few paragraphs of the article:
The Eco Village project began as the brainchild of celebrated local architect Arthur Dyson. Dyson’s original idea was to create green, sustainable eco housing that would provide the homeless with an uplifting, dignified, harmonious and aesthetically pleasing living environment. The original concept involved creating communities of people with similar skills living and working together.
Perceiving an immediate need, however, in 2009, the original board (Dyson, Gerry Bill, Mike Rhodes, Dixie Salazar, Bill and Marla Hartman, Al Williams and Cynthia Greene) pooled their resources to develop a homeless drop-in center. This project, for many reasons, did not come to fruition; however, Cynthia Greene, who was formerly homeless, was able, with the group’s help, to buy the property, with the plan of helping her homeless friends.
After going through a few organizational changes, the board (currently consisting of Dyson, Bill, Salazar, Nancy Waidtlow, Alicia Andrade and Bev Fitzpatrick) has shifted its concentration to the Eco Village Project, which has a mission to provide safe, sanitary and dignified housing for the homeless in an environmentally sustainable manner. In 2010, the Eco Village Project, through Bill and Salazar’s efforts received 501(c)(3) status.
With a meandering pathway of housing units, arboreal landscaping, an organic garden and personal garden spaces around each individual unit, the Eco Village will promote a healthy, peaceful and enriching environment. Each dwelling will be approximately 110 square feet, with geothermal and convection cooling and solar heating. Other features will include rainwater catching and gray-water recycling systems. Communal aspects such as kitchens, laundry, showers, bathrooms, dining areas and workshops will foster an atmosphere of cooperation and a sense of investment in a shared living space.
Each village will have an economic and self-sustaining component such as an organic garden, solar chimney production, bicycle and auto repair, carpentry or sewing and garment repair and reconstruction. These aspects of the project will promote self-fulfillment and renewal to help the homeless transition into longer-term living situations, as well as eventual permanent housing. Mentoring and apprenticeship will be integral to the project, as well as community involvement.
Fresno State and Fresno Pacific University will work closely with the Eco Village residents in providing vital counseling and tutoring for the residents. Tree Fresno will assist in providing a park-like setting for the residents and surrounding neighbors.
Eco Village Project and Dakota EcoGardenJoin Forces to House Fresno’s Homeless
I'm just post the 1st few paragraphs of the article:
The Eco Village project began as the brainchild of celebrated local architect Arthur Dyson. Dyson’s original idea was to create green, sustainable eco housing that would provide the homeless with an uplifting, dignified, harmonious and aesthetically pleasing living environment. The original concept involved creating communities of people with similar skills living and working together.
Perceiving an immediate need, however, in 2009, the original board (Dyson, Gerry Bill, Mike Rhodes, Dixie Salazar, Bill and Marla Hartman, Al Williams and Cynthia Greene) pooled their resources to develop a homeless drop-in center. This project, for many reasons, did not come to fruition; however, Cynthia Greene, who was formerly homeless, was able, with the group’s help, to buy the property, with the plan of helping her homeless friends.
After going through a few organizational changes, the board (currently consisting of Dyson, Bill, Salazar, Nancy Waidtlow, Alicia Andrade and Bev Fitzpatrick) has shifted its concentration to the Eco Village Project, which has a mission to provide safe, sanitary and dignified housing for the homeless in an environmentally sustainable manner. In 2010, the Eco Village Project, through Bill and Salazar’s efforts received 501(c)(3) status.
With a meandering pathway of housing units, arboreal landscaping, an organic garden and personal garden spaces around each individual unit, the Eco Village will promote a healthy, peaceful and enriching environment. Each dwelling will be approximately 110 square feet, with geothermal and convection cooling and solar heating. Other features will include rainwater catching and gray-water recycling systems. Communal aspects such as kitchens, laundry, showers, bathrooms, dining areas and workshops will foster an atmosphere of cooperation and a sense of investment in a shared living space.
Each village will have an economic and self-sustaining component such as an organic garden, solar chimney production, bicycle and auto repair, carpentry or sewing and garment repair and reconstruction. These aspects of the project will promote self-fulfillment and renewal to help the homeless transition into longer-term living situations, as well as eventual permanent housing. Mentoring and apprenticeship will be integral to the project, as well as community involvement.
Fresno State and Fresno Pacific University will work closely with the Eco Village residents in providing vital counseling and tutoring for the residents. Tree Fresno will assist in providing a park-like setting for the residents and surrounding neighbors.
