Thread by @ChampPR

🧵 For the past 15 yrs. I’ve done volunteer street outreach in #Phoenix with our unsheltered community. I’ve also tracked the rise in our unsheltered folks dying + our alarming number of heat deaths, as well as advocated for common sense SOLUTIONS.

https://twitter.com/azfamily/status/1640515366014308354

Many people are out to make advocates + unsheltered folks the “bad guys” in this story, which is BS. This is basically a failure of city, county & state over a number of years to not act proactively or responsibly, creating the perfect storm we see today. A huge & complex issue.

I said many things during this interview that didn’t air (often I’m meant to serve as the “antagonist” voice in these stories, & that’s fine, because I’m standing up for those who most often don’t have a voice or seat at the table) so I’ll share other thoughts & things I said.

I empathize & sympathize with the biz owners & residents in the area. I do. Nobody wants to clean up human shit in the morning. BUT, it took YEARS of shouting to get a still ridiculous amount of bathrooms + potable water for folks. This is on city/county/state. Everyone poops.

The NY Times piece about the sandwich shop owners blew up. Suddenly many elected officials who’ve been in power for yrs. are going for visits. No mention of DOJ investigation in story. Yet this 2020 story by @ByFernandaS is so important: nytimes.com/2020/09/30/mag…

The @azcentral editorial board then chimed in, blaming city (+ advocates again) - must be cleaned up, etc. & the issue just isn’t so black & white. It’s largely centered around poverty + trauma. But yes, our city/county/state have dismally failed poor people over too many years…

How the city previously conducted their sweeps was inhumane + absolutely violated people’s Constitutional rights. Don’t forget that. DOJ investigations don’t fall from the sky… But instead of addressing this humanitarian crisis in a meaningful way, PHX, IMHO, set it up to fail.

We’ve had an unchecked affordable housing & opioid (now fentanyl) crisis, low wages, high incarceration, high eviction rates, high energy bill burden, high DV rates, lots of folks on fixed incomes, broken healthcare system for past 10+ years, + Covid. A literal war on the poor.

So let’s talk solutions. Just last week, @CityofPhoenixAZ had an opportunity to meaningfully address mobile home parks - some of the last affordable housing out there, also a lot of seniors & others on fixed income. Did they do it? Nope. Should they? Yes.

And for every elected official bitching, what have you done to advocate for affordable housing — & even more importantly — what are you doing to keep people HOUSED. This is a landlord friendly state. Where is rent control? Where’s legal representation for those facing eviction?

The “us vs. them” mentality is dangerous rhetoric. Not every unsheltered person is a criminal, or a drug addict, or crazy. That’s a false narrative. Plus, more often than not, addiction starts AFTER folks are on the street. Feeling hopeless & beat down takes a toll on anyone.

And if you personally haven’t been touched by addiction in this crazy ass, big pharma world, count your blessings. ICYMI by @ninalakhani: amp.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/f…

When it takes nearly a YEAR to get a senior woman & her senior dog into housing, there’s a fucking problem. And the wait list is now 3x as long. But again, if you’ve never actually tried to HELP, you wouldn’t understand how broken the system really is…

But to continue to blame, deflect & criticize unsheltered people + those who believe in humanity & understand everyone has a story does nothing positive. Would YOU not appreciate kindness or help if you were at rock bottom? Unsheltered folks & advocates aren’t the villains here.

People are fucking DYING at an alarming rate. And with more & more people on the streets, lack of creative solutions & a continuation of this absurd blame game, it’s going to get worse. Also by @ninalakhani ICYMI: amp.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/j…

Some elected officials like @AnaliseOrtiz_AZ & @hernandezforaz have had the ovaries to walk their talk & join me to help people in the zone, have conversations & understand the bigger picture. Most people in power drive by. Or make too many assumptions like that judge.

HUMAN BEINGS. A hundred stories over all these years just like this one:

https://twitter.com/champpr/status/1601656052251996160

And this one. So my big, burning question for @CityofPhoenixAZ right now is, where will these 1000+ people go? What is your humane plan to deal with this? And how will you get creative to keep people alive in coming triple digit heat? People just like Kasey.

https://twitter.com/champpr/status/1595831158863847424

So I for one will continue to make time to help folks. I will continue to advocate for meaningful solutions. I am beyond thankful to orgs. like @AndreHouseofAZ + other orgs. & the 1000’s of people who work with this community every day. Those are the real unsung heroes in PHX.