The mayor and several aldermen recently have been talking about the great hopes they have for addressing homeless issues and the great plans they have for helping homeless people… then we see this sort of thing: the sweep.
Our coworkers at Block Club Chicago shared this post today, 9-24-21.
Readers should understand that these sweeps – all over the city – are a constant threat to the integrity of the private papers, storing of clean clothing, safe keeping of medications, and the dignity of homeless people in all neighborhoods. The homeless usually have no place whatsoever to keep these items and to have a “home base” for their living.
Taxpayers’ money is being used to destroy the home bases of these homeless brothers and sisters.
Yet when the homeless need to pay to replace items like birth certificates, state ID’s and drivers licenses, it is darn difficult to find someone who will take the responsibility for ruining this important documentation and pay for new copies.
There never seems to be funding that actually gets to the people who need it – the homeless people being a good example.
If the city wants to pay to destroy this documentation (plus clothing, shoes, etc., etc.) then the city should make it easy for people to access the funding to restore and replace those items the city workers have stolen from the homeless.
Currently, there is a HUGE amount of funding available for housing for all city residents – including the homeless -- from various funding streams full of COVID-19 relief dollars.
While the mayor is coming up with more ways to help house and rescue the homeless in this city, her city workers are running amok.
People do not want to see homeless persons sleeping on the sidewalk. They do not want to see their bags or boxes or shopping carts full of items. No tents! No blankets!
In some neighborhoods, the aldermen send fire trucks and ambulances for “fake fire runs” – meaning these vehicles drive past individuals, groups, or settlements of homeless people sleeping outdoors or in tents to wake them up.
The idiots driving these emergency vehicles can wake up the homeless good and early in the morning – but do not have coffee, rolls, showers, jobs, or clean socks for them. It is just a very funny way to harass the homeless.
Nice people.
Just like with the city workers doing the sweeps, some emergency-vehicle driving city workers really hate the homeless. Maybe they operate under this philosophy: “Swear there ain't no heaven and pray there ain't no hell…”
Read this and be disgusted: https://blockclubchicago.org/2021/09/24/residents-of-west-humboldt-park-encampment-lose-their-belongings-in-dehumanizing-city-sweep/