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Santa Cruz, CA. SURPRISE – You are under criminal investigation for buying hotel rooms for the homeless

February 5, 2023 by Jonathan Leave a Comment

New Voucher ChargesDownload

I was arrested while setting up for our daily meal in the garage during the torrents of rain in the atmospheric river of December 27th, spent 11 hours in jail on two misdemeanors charges and ordered to arraignment on January 30, 2023. When I arrived at court that morning I found that my name was not on the docket so I went up to the District Attorney’s Office to make sure I didn’t have court that morning.

The woman at the counter looked up my name. She said the December case was not being prosecuted but that I did have a second case from March 2020. She kindly wrote out the charges on a notepad and slipped the sheet to me under the plexiglass window.

Her text read:

22S – 07279 DCL
20S – 01888 PR
518 a  – extortion induced by wrongful use of force
472 – counterfeit seal
532A – false financial statement
182A – conspiracy to commit a crime
120275 – violation to comply with shelter in place

What a shock it was to learn that I was under investigation on felony charges for the crime of buying hotel rooms for nearly 200 of our unhoused neighbors during the early days of the lockdowns in March 2020.

When the COVID lockdowns started, California Governor Newsom announced that millions of dollars would be provided to place the homeless in hotels, but the City of Santa Cruz chose to place unhoused people in fenced in triage cages on the asphalt of seven downtown parking lots.

Mayor Cummings begged me to help the city lure people into their triage pens but I told him I would not destroy my reputation by endorsing such a degrading plan. Apparently the city doesn’t believe our homeless are worthy of a hotel bed even during a “deadly” pandemic. So to highlight their inhumane treatment of the homeless with a hint of hope that I could embarrass them to act with decency, I rented hotel rooms on Ocean Street for nearly 200 people using money from an award honoring my work and the sale of my farm in New Mexico.

I have been volunteering with Food Not Bombs since 1980. We are an all volunteer movement that shares vegan and vegetarian meals with the hungry in over 1000 cities in at least 65 countries.  We are not a charity and are dedicated to taking nonviolent direct action to change society so no one is forced to live on the streets or needs to seek food at a soup kitchen.

The local group has been sharing seven to ten five gallon hotel trays of hot food every day since March 14, 2020.  We have also been providing hundreds of dollars worth of pup tents, tarps and sleeping bags each month. If we have the resources we help repair and register vehicular homes to aid in their escape from the tow truck, connect missing family members and help people navigate the social service and legal system.

The police have stepped up their campaign of pushing people from place to place at a time when there are no shelter spaces available. A friend of the homeless community, Blake, was found dead of hypothermia outside the entrance to Housing Matters on January 25th. My friend Greg shared that he took the last tent space at Overlook, the city camp next to the already full Armory Shelter. I gave the last of our supply of tents and tarps to one of our unhoused volunteers who lost everything during this terror of sweeps.

The State is set to add even more hardships on the homeless with it’s Senate Bill 31 to prohibit a person from sitting, lying, sleeping, or storing, using, maintaining, or placing personal property upon any street, sidewalk, or other public right-of-way within 1000 feet of a sensitive area.”

The actions of government officials suggests they view the homeless as rodents or “useless eaters” to be eradicated. I have several friends who lived in the internment camps of Europe during World War II who tell me that they are distressed at what they are now witnessing.

What does the District Attorney expect to find? That I paid nearly $20,000 of my own money to provide a warm bed and hot shower to the cold and tired homeless?

Instead of providing housing, Santa Cruz officials are spending our money on pushing the homeless out of doorways and garages into the rain, towing peoples vehicular homes while investigating those of us who are actually supporting our unhoused community.

Keith McHenry
PO Box 422
Santa Cruz, CA 95061
USA

keith@foodnotbombs.net

SURPRISE – You are under criminal investigation for buying hotel rooms for the homeless

https://anarchistcook.wordpress.com/2023/02/03/surprise-you-are-under-criminal-investigation-for-buying-hotel-rooms-for-the-homeless/

Filed Under: Advocacy, California, Civil & Human Rights, Criminalization, Santa Cruz, Uncategorized, WRAP Allies

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Urgent Help Needed Grants Pass is facing over 100 Urgent Help Needed 
Grants Pass is facing over 100F temperatures for the next 4 days Our homeless neighbors have no shelter, no shade & no water. Please help by donating bottled water or funds - we'll put every drop to good use! 
Venmo | Helen Cruz 
https://account.venmo.com/u/Helen-Cruz-30

Let's come together for those left in the heat, every bottle & dollar makes a difference
Community spirit and perspective and a cool organi Community spirit and perspective and a cool organizing training!
With sweeps and fascist policing/immigration tactics ramping up all over the country, we must make sure our initiatives to fight them are informed by, come from and are supported by the people who are directly impacted!!! Street outreach is how we do this!
https://conta.cc/46GwXKG
Join WRAP on Tuesday, July 22 on zoom at 3pm pt | Join WRAP on Tuesday, July 22 on zoom at 3pm pt | 4 pm mt | 6 pm et for a training on the different methodologies, context and implementation of street outreach! There will be examples from WRAP members who represent organizations in different states who have been fighting back against criminalization and sweeps in their communities.
Accountable organizing through street outreach! 

With sweeps and fascist policing/immigration tactics ramping up all over the country, we must make sure our initiatives to fight them are informed by, come from and are supported by the people who are directly impacted!!! 

Street outreach is how we do this! 

📣 WRAP : STREET OUTREACH TRAINING 
🗓️ Tuesday, July 22 | 🕒 3pm PT | 4pm MT | 6pm ET
🎟️ RSVP : bit.ly/wrapoutreach 
✉️ Contact joemae@wraphome.org for any questions

Read More: https://conta.cc/3ZXkCxS
Last year, on April 22nd, I stood with over 700 pe Last year, on April 22nd, I stood with over 700 people from around the country in front of the US Supreme Court demanding that the court focus on proven solutions to homelessness like housing, and not on things like handcuffs and jails that make homelessness worse. Months later, SCOTUS shamefully decided that homeless people are not included in the Constitution’s protections against cruel and unusual punishment and could be ticketed or arrested for simply sleeping outside. https://conta.cc/44m9rjl
The city continues to sneak in their sweeps of our The city continues to sneak in their sweeps of our friends and neighbors to nowhere. They sneak their sweeps in and hope those that care and give a sh&! against this violence won’t show up. We will do all we can to challenge this and won’t let the city block us from the community care they are afraid of.

Join us for a virtual gathering to learn how to show up, how to build community care. July 10th from 7-8:30pm. DM us for more info.

#sweepskill #fucksweeps #stopthesweeps #stoptheharrellhorrorshow #communitycare #showup
🏠Housing is a human right, and it is about time 🏠Housing is a human right, and it is about time our communities actually accept this!

On June 28th 2024, Grants Pass v Johnson was overturned (a case that had required cities to not criminalize the unhoused if adequate shelter was not provided by the city). On June 28th from 10am-12pm, we are asking our community to gather on the Missoula Courthouse lawn to show our city that we don’t support the ways they are criminalizing unhoused Missoulians. 📣

After the rally, from 12-2pm we will hear from various local organizations that are impacted and addressing this issue in our community. 🫂 From those working in the legal system to renters to mutual aid groups, our entire community is impacted by the overturning of Grants Pass v Johnson, the closure of the Johnson Street shelter, and the criminalization of unhoused Missoulians. Municipal elections are coming up this year and it is critical that we show city council where our priorities lie.
The Sovereign Roses Virtual Alumni Chapter invites The Sovereign Roses Virtual Alumni Chapter invites you to WRAP with the Roses! Learn more about the Western Regional Advocacy Project (WRAP) and a potential Project I.M.P.A.C.T area we’re exploring. WRAP is dedicated to ending homelessness and poverty by uplifting the voices of those directly impacted and advocating for systemic change rooted in justice and equity.
Discover why WEE believe that partnering with WRAP is a powerful step toward making a real, sustainable difference in our communities.

📅 Date: June 30

🕔 Time: 5:52 PM CST

📍 Zoom:
Meeting ID: 98812438845
Code: 567524

🌐 Learn more about WRAP: www.wraphome.org (http://www.wraphome.org/)

Together, we can push for change, challenge injustice, and build impact that lasts. Don’t miss this opportunity to get informed and get involved!

#GammaSigmaSigma #ServiceSorority #SRVAC #WRAP #Projectimpact #GSS #SFE #ServiceFriendshipEquailty
June 28th marks the One Year Anniversary of the Su June 28th marks the One Year Anniversary of the Supreme Court making it illegal to be homeless. Join me in the fight to push back! Helen Cruz
June 28 4-7pm | Echo Park Lake, LA for more inform June 28 4-7pm | Echo Park Lake, LA
for more information: @lacanetwork_official
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