I found a MASSIVE abandoned camp in our Oregon woods. Easily 2-3 million pounds of trash and no sign of people. Multiple half built houses, thousands of
pieces of clothing, hundreds of cans of paint, over a thousand bicycles piled up over 15 feet high, basements, treehouses, dozens of clearly stolen catalytic converters and a needle pit with over ten thousand needles.
I don’t know who lived here, how many lived here or why the left. I also counted over a hundred teddy bears. It was clear kids used to live there.
There was dozens of tricycles, toys kids clothes and even cribs. The camp is spread out over 4-5 acres. The cleanup will easily be a half million dollars. This is why I support sanctioned camping and to restrict all other
homeless camping. Kids for one should never be out there, the community should not continuously be responsible for messes like this and the fact is there is nothing compassionate with allowing the homeless to live this way.
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
“Door knobbing” is when you put fentanyl powder on a door knob of a business that an unsuspecting customer will touch and potentially consume” A fentanyl user describing the behaviors of certain “mean” addicts and what a “nice dealer” is. Fentanyl has flooded the market and
you can now buy a “roll” bag of 200 for $400. What they resell them for depends on a persons “privilege” Having served time in prison, know the person from school or simply if you are known as a good person. A good person is someone without a mean personality. When we were
done talking his friend sat down and described the “mean” ones and went into detail on “door knobbing” something I have never heard of and he admits is “messed up” Fentanyl has become so cheap there is a trend by some to apply the powder on everyday things, door handles being
I offered a ‘homeless and pregnant’ woman who was panhandling an immediate shelter and she declined. She did so because she never wanted a shelter, nor is she pregnant. (She admitted it) I have offered hundreds of panhandlers the same thing and only about 5 percent
have ever accepted help. They are not starving and are not interested in housing. They do it because they can make $300-500 a day which then usually goes to drugs. I have talked to hundreds of others that are not actually homeless, but panhandle because they make more money
doing that than working. People that give to panhandlers are very often being taken advantage of. Don’t believe me? I challenge anybody to stop and talk to one. By giving them money we are simply enabling and/or funding their habit. When you do so you make the job of an
“People are taking over the streets. They are attacking cops. They don’t feel scared. They are being emboldened” I returned to Chicago to do homeless outreach and asked the homeless about the SAFE-T Act which “creates a more equitable system where pre-trial
detention is based on community risk rather than financial means” This though opened up that flood gates and the message was sent. You commit a crime in Illinois there is a good chance you will not go to jail. There is a strong anti police sentiment in Chicago. Most homeless
non-profits such as @connect2home have a strict NEVER call the police regardless is through crime. I interviewed a man a few months ago that tried to stab another in one of their programs and the police were not called. He was kicked out and is still homeless with his knife.
“It’s a moral obligation” I met a homeless man that admits he uses fentanyl and regularly gets supplies to get high at the Multnomah county Harm reduction clinic. He routinely sees the severely mentally ill, the developmentally disabled and even kids receiving the same
supplies at both the county and the non-profit Harm Reduction clinics. They walk out with pipes, burners, straws foil and instruction guides. He says that particular group of people are the ones getting victimized the most after they become addicted. Once addicted
these extremely vulnerable people are targeted and victimized. Sexual assaults are commonplace and many get trafficked because they are the easiest to control. Just in case a newly vulnerable person doesn’t know how to use they are handed guides on how to use. Detailed
A homeless camp was found directly on a hiking trail in Willamette Valley that one man decided to make his home. I counted 35 carts, a good 30k lbs of trash and several cans of paint spilling into the dirt.
Incredibly he had a second camp twenty yards away where he sleeps. There was a dozen more carts, multiple bikes and two motorcycles. Again this was one person. He said he will never accept housing and he admitted people have offered for years.
A neighbor made a call and his camp was cleaned up and the area restored. Activists showed up and threatened everybody involved with the cleanup. The neighbors windows were broken. The homeless man said he was going deeper into the woods to make a new camp.
“It makes me feel good. Gives me purpose.” I met a young homeless couple in Bend picking up trash. Nobody was paying them and nobody asked them to do it. They were doing it because they want to “give back to the community” and to also fight the stigma that some have about the
homeless. This was wonderful to see and a great example of the importance of empowering a person. Everybody needs purpose, but when you are homeless that isn’t always possible to find on your own. They both want housing and are working on it. In the mean time they will
continue to pick up trash. In only minutes the area looked 100% better. Everybody needs purpose. It is what keeps hope alive. I have worked with the homeless almost thirty years now and hope and purpose is everything. Many homeless we see sitting/sleeping on the sidewalk