Ann Arbor's 'Camp Take Notice' put on notice by State Police
When the tent community known as Camp Take Notice was evicted from its unauthorized camp site behind Arborland Mall Tuesday, campers already had a Plan B in mind: They'd move to the field behind the park-and-ride lot at Ann Arbor-Saline Road and I-94.
But Wednesday evening, Michigan State Police arrested Caleb Poirier, the leader of the camp, and threatened to evict the group if it remained at the site. Poirier was arrested for trespassing and vagrancy, State Police said today.
By 5 p.m., two dump trucks from the Michigan Department of Transportation were sent to the site, where they stood for about an hour as people packed up their belongings. They left after television reporters from WXYZ arrived; they didn't load a single item onto either truck.
The very name of the tent community - Camp Take Notice - bespeaks its social mission: Beyond providing a safe, supportive, drug- and alcohol-free community for the Ann Arbor-area homeless, Camp Take Notice intends to bring the issue of homelessness to the forefront of the community consciousness. The camp is in the process of obtaining nonprofit designation.
Danielle Mack, a supporter of the community, said being recognized as a nonprofit might help Camp Take Notice qualify for grant funds that would allow it to buy a camp site to call its own. You can't get evicted from your own property.
"There are over 900 homeless in Ann Arbor," Mack said, "but only 60 beds," referring to the Robert J. Delonis shelter on West Huron Street. "We've got to go somewhere."
That they choose fields in semi-visible locations is all part of the plan.
When news cameras arrived, campers made sure to accommodate them.
"Krystle, we need you!" Jesse Ault, Krystle Mullin's fiance called. Ault joked that Mullin, who is seven and a half months pregnant, is Camp Take Notice's perfect face of a campaign designed to put a spotlight on the problem of homelessness.
Sure enough, Mullin was part of Brad Edwards' video for Fox 2 Detroit.
The couple moved to Ann Arbor from Jackson after being evicted when their apartment complex went into foreclosure. Once their 90 days at the Delonis Center were up - Ault had been kicked out beforehand for temper issues, Mullin said - they joined the tent community behind Arborland Mall.
Brian Durrance, a Camp Take Notice supporter who hired Poirier years ago for his carpentry business and has been his friend since, noted a considerable number of trees had been cleared from the lot.
"Two days ago this entire field was filled with trees," he said. "They're chopping down trees, in Ann Arbor of all places. That's how bad they want [the community] gone."
Now that Plan B has fallen through, Camp Take Notice will move onto Plan C - partnerships with local churches. The goal, camp residents and supporters noted, is to stay on church grounds - outside - rotating to a new church quarterly.
The camp has reached out to several Ann Arbor-area churches, supporters say, and talks have gone particularly well with about four of them. As of last night, none had signed on to be the first to host the Camp Take Notice community.
As day gave to night, a number of the camp's supporters with vehicles made their way to the site to store community members' personal effects. They debated whether the community should remain on-site or move on to a different location, one that hadn't been visited by state troopers and MDOT dump trucks.
Supporters who planned to sleep in their homes made sure campers had their cell phone numbers at the ready in case the dump trucks returned.
In the end, the campers decided to stay, but said they'd only keep tents and other necessities on-site.
Said Hunter Roberts, "Caleb would kill us if we left after all the work he's done. He's the one who actually got sent to jail."Â
Roberts used to stay at the Arborland site before he and his girlfriend, Sarah Luther, secured an apartment. Both were on-site supporting the campers and loading their items onto vehicles.
Durrance said Camp Take Notice had planned to move some of the tent community to the Diag and establish a makeshift shanty-town once classes resume at the University of Michigan on Sept. 8. He admitted the group's eviction from two consecutive campgrounds would probably toss some cold water on those plans.
"Ann Arbor is apparently pretty hostile to our efforts,"Â Durrance said.
James David Dickson reports on human interest stories for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at JamesDickson@AnnArbor.com, or (734) 623-2532.
Comments
Danielle Mack
Tue, Sep 8, 2009 : 10:48 a.m.
So many people have commented, some with negative uneducated responses, and some well written and researched comments. I thought that prehapes the best response for all is to tell you my story as to why I am living in the tent community and hope that this will give you a better perspective on the type of people living there. My name is Danielle Mack, the same one from all the publicity. I am a Cosmetology student at Douglas J Aveda Institute, right here in Ann Arbor on Maynard St. I am on a full ride financial aid package to cosmetology school. I am on a break right now with no financial aid overage checks to pay for things like rent. I was living in a student co-op till recently. Once school starts back up again, and I have financial aid coming in again I plan to get myself into an appartment. I have been homeless off and on for the past three years. My family doesn't support me. I have been out there trying my absolute hardest to find a job but no one wants to hire me for one reason or another, or the pay is too little to support myself. So I found out I qualify for a full ride with financial aid through the government. I came to Ann Arbor and lived at Delonis, and on the street working very hard getting myself set up for job retraining in a field of my choice. This is what I am doing and have been doing. I have maintained a 90% average in a very accelerated program at Douglas J, and am almost to my associates degree, and a cosmetology licence. My story is in no way unique. Most of those going though Camp Take Notice have similar stories. All of us are staying clean. Don't want to take my word for it? Don't, just know that so many employers, and schools do random drug tests, and don't allow alcohol. The last thing we want is to be cold and homless for the upcomming winter, so living a "dirty" lifestyle is the furthest thing from our minds. The average person living in Camp Take Notice is only there about three months before getting on their feet. We have quite a few sucess stories already. I would say that for at least 95% of us this is more of a transitional housing tent community than a homeless tent community. I should be back at Douglas J in October, if you want someone to talk to personally about all this. Come in for a haircut, manicure, pedicure, facial, or whatever and get to know one of us as we better ourself, and merge back into the working world. ~Danielle Mack
gamebuster
Mon, Sep 7, 2009 : 1:11 a.m.
Before "Camp Take Notice" was established, Caleb did communicate with the owner of the wooded area behind Arborland Mall. The wooded area belongs to a building company. Last year, the owner didn't give us written approval, but expressed that no legal steps will be taken to stop us. When we'd meeting at Mallet Creek, urgent call came. We adjourned the meeting as police declared that they got the permission of the land owner to evict the homeless camper. I witnessed Caleb searched the land owner telephone no and talked to him right away. After the call, Caleb said with grief," The owner told a different story!" We rushed back to help the campers. These few months, we've been heading different local churches to expect permission to build tent city on church property (three month rotation like what's being practiced in Seattle).
formsu
Sat, Sep 5, 2009 : 6:39 a.m.
Caleb was arrested again tonight just before midnight.
Eric P
Fri, Sep 4, 2009 : 3:11 p.m.
Alan Benard: you said "Pretending that Ronald Reagan didn't end the block grants to states that paid for treatment of the mentally ill does not change the fact." it also doesn't change the fact that congress didn't step in and restore funding, that the states did not step in an fully fund those programs. No one is saying that the economics of the time didn't play a role in what happened, but for to long the blame has been placed solely on the shoulders of which ever evil republican was in a position of power at the time. back onto the topic of the encampment, one thing that I am not seeing in this discussion is the lack of SRO hotels that used to serve the transient population in the United States. As someone who sees the homeless every day in Ann Arbor, another thing I am not seeing is interdiction for people that are just hitting the streets.
Mox La Push
Fri, Sep 4, 2009 : 2:50 p.m.
I lived for many years in Ann Arbor and moved to Seattle this summer. I met Caleb in A2--he's a great guy--and I once took him on a walking tour of many sites in A2 where homeless people had lived in small groups rather unobtrusively. But the A2 city council and business community have waged a low-grade war of sorts against poor people for years and rendered those sites unsuitable or uninhabitable. They have been aided and abetted in this war by many 'good liberals' who patted themselves on the back for breakfast programs, grossly and deliberately (in spite of the best efforts of Ellen Shulmeister et al) inadequate shelter facilities, etc. while they studiously ignored the larger structural issues of social injustice that lead to poverty and homelessness. a2doc writes: "These temporary tent communities have worked in Seattle, Washington state - allowing people to receive support / healthcare in a relative site of stability." That depends on what you mean by "have worked". They have provided some respite for a small percentage of Seattle's homeless population but Nickelsville--the tent community in Seattle--has been on the move and under siege almost continuously. It was forced to move twice this year and is now facing eviction proceedings by the Seattle Port Authority. By and large, the churches are NOT stepping forward to offer space for the encampment and haven't for months. In this regard, they're much like Ann Arbor churches--they just don't want Jesus sleeping on their steps or grounds. My old church in A2 has a standing policy of calling the police on homeless people for merely sleeping on the grounds.
sageaa
Fri, Sep 4, 2009 : 10:59 a.m.
Alan and Llsier, Wasn't it President Kennedy who pushed for the Community Mental Health Act in the 1960s that began the process of shifting the mentally ill from institutions to community care? Supposely to provide more "human" care, but the dollars did not follow them. I think the Republican/Democrat blame game is not helpful. The superceding issues are stigma and lack solutions in a society where you have a right to be homeless.
Alan Benard
Thu, Sep 3, 2009 : 10:53 p.m.
llspier - Pretending that Ronald Reagan didn't end the block grants to states that paid for treatment of the mentally ill does not change the fact. It was some republican, he had a name and he and states across the US took advantage of the legal situation you describe to dump the mentally ill on the streets.Judges also found that the way local housing authorities warehoused blacks in high-rise concentrated housing was unconstitutional, and put consent decrees in place to enforce scattered-site public housing. Which led to the eventual dismantling of first the towers, then the very idea of public housing. And democrats locally and nationally have been as gutless as the republicans on that one. The legal, constitutional way for both of these interdependent issues to be addressed has been presented, and we have all failed to achieve it.
llspier
Thu, Sep 3, 2009 : 8:52 p.m.
Eric P is correct. The existing mental health centers were snakepits and psychoactive drugs had been invented by the 80s. At that time, medical science had little idea what these drugs would accomplish and they seemed to believe they would 'cure' everything from schizophrenia to personality disorders. We now know they dont-and have to be carefully supervised and taken religiously. I personally have seen the-after effects of these people being so over-drugged in the 70s that they lost their speech and eventually their ability to walk right here in A2 at the Forensic Hospital. However, there was an even bigger issue that preceded the closing of the mental institutions: it was lawsuits brought on behalf of patients who were being held 'involuntarily'. It used to be relatively easy to have someone committed to an institution-and in many cases, it was probably the best thing for them-all things being equal. The chronic homeless were often judged mentally ill and many likely are in some way. Once such involuntary incarceration was adjudged un-Constitutional, the assumption was that some sort of community resource would take over the care of these folks so they didnt do themselves or others any harm. It was the beginning of our chronic homeless problem. The courts hands were tied and they were forced to leave these people on the streets to starve or freeze. Meanwhile, the do-gooders that brought the lawsuits never carried the ball. Instead, they used it to blame one administration or another for what happened. I know this to be true as I've tried to explain to my college junior granddaughter that some 'republican' didnt exactly throw these folks out in the street, but that's what she's being taught in her psych classes. And, where are the folks that brought these lawsuits without making any effort to put another system in place to solve the problem? Apparently they're out scrubbing the history books - and teaching psych classes!
Alan Benard
Thu, Sep 3, 2009 : 8:34 p.m.
Camp Take Notice was very effective in getting notice. This article, and a Michigan Radio piece. That's a public relations coup, seeing how most of the journalism locally is reactive and not terribly industrious. The solution to mental illness as a social problem is for federal, state and city governments to properly fund the care-in-the-community which was supposed to replace the state mental hospital system, dismantled by Ronald Reagan. 30 years on and we are no closer to undoing this horrible damage to the social fabric. The wealthy have to pay their taxes and provide for those who cannot provide for themselves, or live with the shame of having our mentally ill live in waste ground and Dumpsters. The solution to homelessness beyond mental illness is to provide affordable housing. The shelters advocate that the tent city people be housed in it, but none is being built. Health care reform is a magnificent distraction from this basic failure of U.S. government and society -- our inability to structure our tax code, regulations and government programs to create affordable housing. Frankly, it is an issue of race and class and since the GOP now appeals openly to racists, and the Democrats focus entirely on middle-class issues because warring on poverty no longer attracts votes, there will be no resolution. We need scattered-site public housing and tenant-run cooperatives, and we need them now.
UPSman
Thu, Sep 3, 2009 : 8:32 p.m.
Homeless and smoking cigarettes. Yikes at the cost of cigarettes these days I would think the choice to save a few dollars and put them to better use. If you take a $6 pack of cigarettes and multiply it by 30 that's a pretty substatial savings in a budget. I don't have any answers to a problem that will only get worse as the weather changes but quitting smoking is one of those things you would think a personal sacrifice would be a small step in the right direction.
JPLewis
Thu, Sep 3, 2009 : 7:35 p.m.
""Krystle, we need you!" Jesse Ault, Krystle Mullin's fiance called. Ault joked that Mullin, who is seven and a half months pregnant, is Camp Take Notice's perfect face of a campaign designed to put a spotlight on the problem of homelessness. Sure enough, Mullin was part of Brad Edwards' video for Fox 2 Detroit. The couple moved to Ann Arbor from Jackson after being evicted when their apartment complex went into foreclosure. Once their 90 days at the Delonis Center were up - Ault had been kicked out beforehand for temper issues, Mullin said - they joined the tent community behind Arborland Mall." I feel pity for the soon to be born baby of these two. I also seriously doubt that this "community" is drug free. Please.
Justavoice
Thu, Sep 3, 2009 : 6:38 p.m.
I really would like to help out those that need it, but squatting on private land without permission isn't sending the right message. As many of us know, we pull up to a freeway off ramp every day and those standing besides the road with a sign get 1 or 2 reactions. 1 being guilt, the other being that the person standing there with a sign is trying to exploit me not for a hot meal or a place to stay for the night but for something to shoot in their arm or up their nose. We also know that many people come to or are brought to Ann Arbor because of what programs there are and the wealth in the area. This compounds the problem with a normal reaction of "I want to help my community but I can't help the entire state". If the programs aren't working and it's a wide net with a lot of holes, then your going to have to tell me how to figure out who really needs my help and who is trying to exploit my kind wishes. I'm more than willing to give my few extra dollars to someone who really needs my help but at this point I can only give to the programs. There's no way for me to tell who needs my help and telling me I simply need to spend the time to get to know these people isn't an answer. I have enough time, as I'm sure many do, keeping food in the mouth of my family and a roof over our heads. There has to be a better way. Certainly squatting on private land without permission is only going to get you negative publicity that isn't going to help the cause. I do believe working with church organizations or private land owners that could give those a place to stay is a start, but I'm stuck on how the average person can help beyond giving to the existing programs. I'm sure most people will buy a person a meal, tent, blanket, or even a motel room for the night to get off the streets, but how do I really know that my money is going to a worthy cause? Very sad situation when you think about it, but at this point, I'm not sure a good answer exists. There has to be some middle ground. As always, I'm just a voice looking for a solution.
Eric P
Thu, Sep 3, 2009 : 5:25 p.m.
annarborgirl2007 said "many of our homeless are folks who would have been institutionalized in the past, but thanks to past administrations these people have been pushed onto the streets." which seems to be an often repeated half truth for the problem. Digging a little deeper it seems that state institutions for the mentally ill were closed in the 1980s after 2 big things happened. First was the coming to light that these state run institutions were often shoddily run and sometimes approached the horrors of death camps. Secondly and more importantly drugs came onto the market that helped people who would have previously been institutionalized, by taking these drugs these individuals should have been able to live fairly normal lives in society. The problem was that in many cases there wasn't anyone making sure that people were taking their meds. Lastly, us the federal and state governments were shutting down the institutions, but to simply blame someone who was in power at the time is not the whole story.
formsu
Thu, Sep 3, 2009 : 4:42 p.m.
roadie22, First and for most thank you for being in the militray. It can't be easy being so far way from your love ones. I wish that I could have done what you did, but the militray won't take me and I know that there are people just like me that if given the choice between homelessness and the militray would choose the militray ever time, but some people jusst can't. What are we do to with a person like me? ForMSU
formsu
Thu, Sep 3, 2009 : 4:32 p.m.
YouWhine, You are the one that needs to get their facts straight. I was one of the first campers out at Camp Take Notice behind Arborland. I moved out there in mid Feb. after hitting a brick wall with the Delonis Center. Yes there was a woman that was raped out there but first of all she was a friend of the jerk that did it, second he didn't drag her out there he just stopped her from leaving, and when I found out what happened I help the police out with all the info I had to find the man who did it he was arrest shortly thereafter and convicted. Are you trying to say that because I was in a tent near this crime that I should have gone to jail also? Do you think the neigbroughs to that guy in Cali that kidnapped that girl and held her for 18 years should go to jail, too? As for keeping a low key at Arborland we were trying to respect Arborland by not being noticeable as much as we could. I know that of the people that were actually living there no one was "showering in the bathrooms" or "building up trash" in fact we actually cleaned up the area up. We had trash cans and took the trash to approve location to throw it away. The spot that was at Arborland didn't move in the time that I was there, the cops knew we were there the 5 months I was there, so to make it sound like we were hiding is not right. PORT knew where we were the as did the Shelter, and they would send people out to us that wanted and needed safe and sober camp. Now after a while it got too much for me there were too many people (it got to 14 people) and I decided to move out to the location that they ended up moving to in this article. That was in early June at that time the field was over grown and full of trees. I stay out there for 2 weeks before I decide that it was better to be with a group of people than by myself. I moved back to Camp Take Notice and was there another 3 weeks when I was able to get an apartment of my own. I'm no longer homeless but I still care about my friends that having to put up with this. We have been meeting and working on Camp Take Notice as a nonprofit since I got out there in Feb and trying to improve each of our lot as best we can. I firmly believe that you have not met any of us and the judgment that you are passing is not from an educated viewpoint. I hope that you never have to spend a second in my shoes, walking 30 miles in a day just trying to get help just to be told that because you are different that there is no help for you. That you never have to know what is like to go days with just eating one thing or nothing at all. And finally that you will never know how it feels to wake up on a cold Feb. night gasping for breath because its feel like you throat is closing up on you because of the cold, begging for yourself to take another breathe and another. But then again you dont have to think about things like this as you sit in your home safe with knowledge that you will be warm to night, and youll go to bed with a full stomach. ForMSU
gamebuster
Thu, Sep 3, 2009 : 4:29 p.m.
Rusty Shackelford. Thanks for your offer to help. My e-mail is auwaiching@hotmail.com You could also go to www. twitter.com/gamebuster to follow our story. You could alos go to google.com (CampTake Notice) to make donation. Our non-profit 501c-3 will come out in 1 or 2 weeks. Here to clarify, all the summer, twice a week, we went different churches to ask for permission(3 MOnths) to build tents in church land (wooded area). This is the job we're doing.
jrigglem
Thu, Sep 3, 2009 : 3:45 p.m.
The homeless come to Ann Arbor because the people have no problem handing money to any schmoe on the street that asks for change. I've heard that the homeless make better money than those of us working at a minimum wage job. Secondly, I'm glad that the homeless still find time to have sex and bring children into that enviroment. Birth control and condoms are free for low income individuals.
sageaa
Thu, Sep 3, 2009 : 3:16 p.m.
As a community, A2 exceeds most in our response to aid the homeless---we have the Delonis Shelter, The Salvation Army facility, Alpha House for Families, St Andrews breakfast program to mention some. CSTS provides assertive outreach to help indiviudals with mental illness and addiction. Even given all of that, two things are evident: (1) there are those who choose, for their own reasons, to live "off the grid"-- and (2)-- we probably have become a magnet for homeless in neighboring communities. It is a "build it and they will come" situation. I rather like LLISPER's suggestion of a community project but the recipents would need to have a stake in the plan....otherwise we get into an ever increasing enabling spiral. Good discussion.
uawisok
Thu, Sep 3, 2009 : 3:09 p.m.
"Society is judged on how it treats it's most vulnerable" It would seem our capitalist society is failing these folks...the race to the bottom continues!!!
llspier
Thu, Sep 3, 2009 : 2:40 p.m.
The homeless come to Ann Arbor because it's the richest city in Michigan (except maybe Traverse City). A2 has far more resources for the homeless than most other areas. Here's another way to look at this that would actually make more sense and use tax dollars (from the entire state)that go into the universities and that's to make this a university project. Certainly there are some engineering students who could design cheap family-unit housing out of discarded shipping containers-they're available either free or for scrap price. (Its been done other places with great success). You can even stack them easily. It wouldnt make House Beautiful but it would sure beat a tent in February. It would take the involvement of the city council due to zoning concerns-exceptions would have to be made-a piece of land to be semi-permanently designated to the project, some source of heating the units a bit and a communal toilet/shower/laundry facility. Other resources can find each unit a two-burner hot plate, mini-fridge and a couple of reading lamps. Water isnt necessary for each unit individually but try getting that past zoning. As rent, each unit would have to donate a certain number of hours a week for trash detail, communal living cleaning, etc. All could be required to either go to job training or some type of educational experience. All would be in one place for access to social work (much of which could and should be performed by School of Social Work, etc). All it would take would be a commitment and some creative grant writing. Federal $$ are available for homeless projects and showing in-kind donations via university involvement would practically guarantee funds could be obtained.Maybe solar water heating could cover some of the energy costs.The same kinds of services provided by the Delonis Center could be provided on a limited scale-in a place where people could feel they had their own space, could lock their few possessions safely in place, could share a bicycle bank, start a community garden and have an address for social services and mail delivery. It could be done. All it would take is some creativity.
annarborgirl2007
Thu, Sep 3, 2009 : 1:39 p.m.
"There are over 900 homeless in Ann Arbor," Mack said, "but only 60 beds," That may be true but Ann Arbor is not the hometown for most of these folks. I've volunteered at the homeless shelter and been involved in many organizations in the area over the past 20 years. I've seen it and heard it first hand---people are coming to Ann Arbor because of an assumed acceptance. I for one have very mixed feelings. I know that many of our homeless are folks who would have been institutionalized in the past, but thanks to past administrations these people have been pushed onto the streets. However, I am getting tired of Ann Arbor bearing the brunt of the responsibilities especially financially for the care of the homeless population. Maybe I am saying not in my backyard, I don't know for sure, but I'd prefer to help folks who lived here when they lost their jobs and homes first. No, I don't have a perfect solution, and yes, I think we should do something. But allowing people to live in tents on state land or anything else really isn't humane either.
YouWhine
Thu, Sep 3, 2009 : 1:16 p.m.
Wow, this was a pretty one-sided story with little (if any) fact checking. First of all, the premise that this group PURPOSELY picked a spot that was in public view is false. They were camping for months on property behind Arborland. Their site was tucked out of site and they tried purposely to avoid any notice. When Arborland's management compay tried to get them to leave, they managed to find the very edge of the next property which was undeveloped and squatted there until being found out. A few campers, allegedly trying to stay sober, turned into a HUGE conglomeration of squatters. This brought on many problems such as turf wars, arguments, complaints from local businesses of the campers spending hours in their stores and bathing in the restrooms, a buildup of trash, and so on. You may remember a story a few months ago of a woman was kidnapped and raped in a tent... Yep it happened in the tent city behind Arborland. As for the clearcutting of the ramps around 94 and Ann Arbor Saline, this was done WEEKS ago at the beginning of the summer, not two days ago as suggested by a person in the story. This is nothing more than a group of people who are angry because they are not being allowed to trespass where they want to. This idea of being an organized "Camp Take Notice" was made up as an afterthought to garner sympathy. It is sad that there are homeless people. I feel bad for those affected by emnatl illness, addiction, and the economy. However, if you were to watch most of the people in this group for a day, you will see that they are doing little to improve their situation. Sadder yet, many of them MOVED to A2 to be homeless here.
EyeHeartA2
Thu, Sep 3, 2009 : 1:08 p.m.
> These temporary tent communities have worked in Seattle, > Washington state - allowing people to receive support / > healthcare in a relative site of stability. Where would we > rather have these people? Ummmmm.....Seattle?
gamebuster
Thu, Sep 3, 2009 : 11:42 a.m.
Homeless is not only from unemployed people: Around 25% veteran, 20-25% premature mental illness, people suffering from chronic disease which dry out all the money, people from homeless families, runaway from sexually assaulted, violence families, working poor (wages too low to pay the rent), foreclosure......many other sad stories there, we've to go there to know them.
cinnabar7071
Thu, Sep 3, 2009 : 11:12 a.m.
Top Cat you can help by finding them a job, anything short of that is not help, only enables.
dading dont delete me bro
Thu, Sep 3, 2009 : 11:05 a.m.
"field behind park and ride", don't you mean entrance ramp to i-94? haven't seen it yet this year, but last winter, there was a tent in the exit ramp area from eastbount i-94 for jackson ave, just west of weber's. i called a2 police, but it stayed. it could still be there. it's hard to see when the leaves are on the trees.
Top Cat
Thu, Sep 3, 2009 : 10:53 a.m.
How can we help these people? In the short run, do they need food, drinkable water, fire wood, tents, clothes, tarps, etc? Does anyone know?
roadie22
Thu, Sep 3, 2009 : 10:12 a.m.
i understand you obviously cant get a job in michigan you obviously cant find a place to stay cause you cant get a job you obviously dont have any family at all to depend on you know what i did when i couldnt keep a job cause i had a record i joined the army now i have hot chow everyday clothes on my kids back food in their stomachs a place to sleep everynight nice things for my wife money in the bank try doing something proactive instead of disrupting the peaceful town of ann arbor by being vagrants and getting arrested do something productive with your lives do something to give back to this country while your over their complaining about not having a home im thousands miles away from my wife and two kids fighting for you get next time you think about complaining about it being cold or hungry just remember their is always a 100 soldiers fighting for your 1 complaint
a2doc
Thu, Sep 3, 2009 : 10:01 a.m.
Caleb Poirier is a kind, sensitive, compassionate individual who was trying to do something for those people that Ann Arbor prefers to keep out of sight and out of mind. I am devastated that he has been arrested and put in prison. He came back to his hometown of Ann Arbor to help and this is how we repay him. Amazing. These temporary tent communities have worked in Seattle, Washington state - allowing people to receive support / healthcare in a relative site of stability. Where would we rather have these people?
cinnabar7071
Thu, Sep 3, 2009 : 9:08 a.m.
"You can't get evicted from your own property." If you don't pay your property taxes, that is exactly what will happen.
Top Cat
Thu, Sep 3, 2009 : 9:07 a.m.
Despite the global warning nonsense, all the weather predictions are for a very cold winter. There is lots of vacant land in this area. At minimum, there should be some designated place for these folks to go and prepare for the cold weather. God Bless them. Is there any way to reach them and help them?
Amy Lesemann
Thu, Sep 3, 2009 : 8:34 a.m.
Have they worked with Alpha House, the interfaith homeless shelter? That interdenominational organization isn't mentioned. I'd like to know if they're part of this.