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Paul’s Remembrance of Ruth

December 26, 2017 by Jonathan 5 Comments

WRAP lost a very dear friend in 2017, Ruth Pleaner.  We feel the loss every day.  We are also uplifted by her friendship and supported by all the incredible systems and training she gave us with a huge heart full of love and vision.  At a recent 30 year anniversary party for the Coalition On Homelessness in San Francisco Paul Boden shared some memories of his 29 year friendship and the amazing work of Ruth Pleaner. Rest in power and peace.

Normally I would ask Ruth what I should say at something like this. But I can’t do that.  I do  have a short story that I think helps exemplify Ruth. This story is from early on when the  (San Francisco) Homeless Coalition was starting out. We were just coming up off the street and when poor people are coming off the street you’re not used to being around money the rules are not the most important thing you are doing. And well, we screwed some things up at first. It wasn’t because of stealing or cheating or anything, it was just mistakes. Stuff happens.  This type of thing happens with a lot of new businesses but when you’re poor people some folks want to shut you down for it.  We brought Ruth in to help us.  We were in a small, funky office in the Tenderloin neighborhood.  Really funky.

Ruth comes in and looks at our funky office and says “yeah, I’ll work for you. The only condition is I’m bringing my new baby to work with me every day.” And that’s how we met Max.  It’s not the response we were expecting.  A lot of people hid their kids behind them when they came in. But Ruth was different, she loved the space we were creating and she loved us. She started working for us and helped us to learn all the accounting rules and how to document and to be accountable to ourselves with money in a way that we understood, but would also help the foundations who were supporting us to understand what we were doing too. She taught us we didn’t need to be afraid of the arcane rules that were imposed on us or allow them to dictate how we do things. She taught us we could be accountable to ourselves first and foremost.  We would give people a small stipend when they helped us out. That’s what we did.  Most places didn’t do that but Ruth supported it and helped us do it right and explain it.

We celebrate 30 years of kick ass resistance tonight but the truth is we probably would not have made it through year three without Ruth. 

We worked together to start up WRAP, which is an extension of the Coalition and includes Portland, Los Angeles, Oakland, Sacramento and Denver.  Ruth helped us set this up.  She’s worked here for 12 years. Every single day for 12 years and not once asked “what’s in it for me.”  We’d have intense meetings and Ruth would be sitting there knitting. It’s hard to be too intense when someone is knitting. She knew us so well and she knew how to speak and act from the heart.

The first time she did payroll at the Coalition Ruth realized she was getting paid more than others and she lowered her wage so it would be the same as everyone.  I remember her saying “I didn’t think I needed to ask to pay myself less.”  To this day every position starts out at the same rate of pay at the Coalition. Work is of equal importance. She felt just because she was the book keeper she didn’t think that was more important than organizing.  When people admired or used this pay model Ruth never took credit. She gave the credit to the organization.   

It’s how she moved through the world, with a spirit of social justice. She devoted a big chunk of her time for 29 years to help new organizations and new projects by having us be their fiscal agent, setting up systems and training people so they could do it on their own.

Ruth strongly believed that it was really important that we all bring different skills to the table. We’re all learning from each other and we are all a part of the community.  And that’s how Ruth lived her life when she was with us and we thank her for it and miss her terribly.  

WRAP sends our love and care to Ruth’s family and all her many, many friends.

Filed Under: WRAP Staff Tagged With: WRAP Staff

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Laura Ware says

    December 26, 2017 at 10:01 pm

    Said in the best possible way. Ruth is missed in a thousand ways. Thanks for sharing these thoughts, Paul!
    Laura Ware

    Reply
  2. Laura Ware says

    December 26, 2017 at 10:02 pm

    Said in the best of ways. We miss Ruth a thousand times over. Thanks for sharing this, Paul.
    Laura Ware

    Reply
  3. Amy Grassette says

    December 26, 2017 at 10:34 pm

    Beautiful!

    Reply
  4. Natalie says

    December 28, 2017 at 7:47 pm

    So sorry to hear about Ruth’s passing. She was a strong, silent, kind, competent, force. Thank you for letting me know.

    Reply
  5. allan pleaner says

    December 30, 2017 at 1:12 am

    Thanks for sending this
    What a huge heart and fierce spirit
    She knew how to make things happen..

    Reply

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On August 11th, Newsom's "Care" Act passed out of On August 11th, Newsom's "Care" Act passed out of the Appropriations Committee. The bill was amended on the 15th and will be scheduled for a floor vote any time between August 17th and 31st. https://conta.cc/3dz2NzQ
Part 12... Infractions and Due Process Rights Ant Part 12...
Infractions and Due Process Rights 
Anti-homeless laws and ordinances and their application have, in fact, created a loophole that allows for the circumvention of a homeless person’s right to due process under law. The process by which homeless people face repeated incarceration generally follows this scenario: A homeless man is sleeping on the sidewalk. A local ordinance makes it illegal to do so. The man gets a ticket and is later arrested for not paying the ticket. He spends a couple of days in jail, and is just as homeless now as he was before, only now he has a criminal record. This was the case for many of the individuals interviewed by RWHP. One man relayed the familiar scenario, “I was sleeping in a tent in a hidden spot near the freeway. They gave me a ticket for trespassing. I don’t have money to pay it. I’ve never been in jail before. I keep to myself, but now they’re going to make me a convict just for sleeping.”
SHERIFFS DEPARTMENT TALKING DOWN THE PEOPLES TOWMH SHERIFFS DEPARTMENT TALKING DOWN THE PEOPLES TOWMHOMES ENCAMPMENT https://www.instagram.com/tv/ChAT9N5jNTY/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

This morning @phillysheriff ‘s came and evicted our protest encampment to Save the UC Townhomes. When asked why they were doing it, Rochelle Bilal responded that she “felt compassion for the townhomes residents but was just doing my job”

Even if the tents are gone WE AINT GOIN NOWHERE‼️
Saturday AUGUST 27 — 9 am to 4pm Sunday AUGUST 2 Saturday AUGUST 27 — 9 am to 4pm
Sunday AUGUST 28 — 12:30pm to 4pm

Westminster Presbyterian Church
1300 N Street, Sacramento

https://wraphome.org/2022/08/02/sacramento-ca-advocates-community-summit-on-homelessness-august-27-28th/
California. (S)Care Court Hearing Tomorrow 8/3 Las California. (S)Care Court Hearing Tomorrow 8/3 Last Hearing before floor Vote
https://conta.cc/3vzRoWo
Part 11 ... California’s “anti-Okie” laws of Part 11 ...
California’s “anti-Okie” laws of the 1930s and the South’s Jim Crow laws in effect from the late 1800s to the 1950s are examples of the kinds of local laws overturned in previous generations. Yet, modern “quality of life” legislation and enforcement targeting homeless people can be found in communities across the nation.
The City Council postponed their vote on the 41.18 The City Council postponed their vote on the 41.18 expansion to August 2nd. If passed, this motion will add approximately 1,900 additional sites–a 376% increase in exclusionary zones across the city. 41.18 would then cover at least 88 sq miles (that’s 20% of the entire city).

Services Not Sweeps is urging EVERYONE to come to City Hall at 9:00am on August 2 and tell City Council that 41.18 is BAD POLICY and should be repealed.

When we fight, we win. 
But this fight isn’t over.

The community flooded City Hall inside and out on Wednesday to protest the expansion of 41.18 but the fight is not over. It’s clear that President Nury Martinez and friends weren’t prepared for our numbers and realized they were unable to rally their (few but loud) 41.18 supporters. Council delayed the vote to Tuesday August 2nd in an attempt to erode our momentum and stifle our voices. 
 
We won’t let that happen. The fight now is to keep the pressure on and show up next week!! See you next Tuesday 9am. Bring a friend.
 
WHO: You and your friends!
WHERE: City Hall, 200 N Spring St 
WHEN: Tuesday August 2nd at 9:00am
HOW: Read more details on our toolkit.
AGENDA ITEM 14 https://lacity.primegov.com/Portal/Meeting?meetingTemplateId=102513
Part 10... In fact, however, enforcement is very m Part 10...
In fact, however, enforcement is very much impacted by both skin color and appearance. Local governments cannot legally discriminate against people strictly because they do not have housing. Federal protections prohibit local and state governments from removing people from their communities due to the color of their skin or economic/employment status.
Part 9... This nationwide pattern has escaped Civi Part 9... This nationwide pattern has escaped Civil Rights protections because on their face, these programs are not clearly discriminatory. Local laws are often drafted in such a way as to appear to apply equally to all people in a community.
Part 8... While certain communities highlight diff Part 8...
While certain communities highlight different controls at different times, often depending upon the outcome of local elections and legislative and court efforts, all have one primary common goal: to remove the presence and resulting impact of people without housing from local communities. As the Mayor of Las Vegas stated when she outlawed feeding people in city parks: “If we stop feeding them, they will leave.”
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On August 11th, Newsom's "Care" Act passed out of the Appropriations Committee. The bill was amended on the 15th and will be scheduled for a floor vote any time between August 17th and 31st. https://conta.cc/3JXM4SF
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#NoCARECourt KPFK Lawyers Guild Show "CARE" court Wed. 8/17 - 2-3pm - WRAP

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Thank you to everyone who signed the open letter to Governor Newsom urging him to reconsider his CARE Court proposal. There were over 500 signatories!

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Join us and our friends @APTPaction to say NO to C.A.R.E Court next Thursday, August 18th for a teach-in followed by feeding the people, and a march!

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