This is a homeless person who could be housed at the proposed Wellness Center near Crab Cove in Alameda. His name is Lange. I found him in a Tampa jail – for stealing a quart of milk – after his children asked me to rescue him. He had been living in a homeless encampment like those we see in Oakland before crossing over the bridges into our safe little community
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What a life education Lange gave us during the six months my family housed him here in Alameda. We had to house him because you don’t just ‘rescue’ someone off the streets, you have to rescue them from the trauma of the long, hard fall from grace that homelessness is. The landing is hard no matter why you make the fall – drugs, alcoholism, mental issues, life incompetence, bad luck. You don’t bounce when you hit those pitiless streets. And getting off them, no matter how good a person you are, is nigh-impossible without help. Lots of help.
It took three months to clean Lange up, get meat back on his skeleton, and rebuild his mental state after he spent nearly a year living like a feral animal in the wilds of homelessness. Then it took three months to find affordable supportive housing where he could live on his own. Our search took us from Alameda, throughout Alameda County, to the Peninsula, and finally into the Central Valley – Lodi, fercrissakes. The manager of the facility prayed all weekend over whether to accept him. Finally, she said on a Monday, “Jesus told me to take him.” I almost collapsed in tears.
That was four years ago. He’s doing fine although I have to oversee his finances and make sure he isn’t scammed — as so many frail seniors are – or scam himself.
I thought about Lange last Sunday when I toured the proposed Wellness Center to learn more about Measure A before voting on it Tuesday. It was unnerving to first pass by anti-A demonstraters shouting expletives (“A is for assholes!”), but at least I didn’t have to endure the former mayor dressed in a crab costume as she shouted anti-A propaganda through a megaphone. Instead, I had the chance to speak with current Mayor Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft, county Supervisor (and Alameda resident) Wilma Chan, Doug Biggs with the Alameda Point Collabarative, and a city police commander. Here’s what I learned:
There is virtually no risk of homeless encampments cropping up around the center or in the cove for the same reason you don’t see them anywhere else in Alameda: policing and programs. It’s not tolerated now and won’t be if A passes. I am certain that some homeless may be walking about, but that doesn’t mean they are drug addicts, alkies, or crazed mental cases. I am assured the risk is slight.
This center is an ideal answer to the majority kind of homeless I have come to know – such as the unfortunate man my family worked with: help to transition off the streets and a place to live they (many if not most are on some form of Social Security) can afford (they pay a max of 1/3 their income – free if they have none.).
Funding is from multiple govt. sources other than Alameda.
The non-profit APC is a reputable organization with an excellent track record.
Open space is not now nor ever has been a viable option for this property. The issue is not a choice between parks for our kids or a land-grab to benefit down-and-out-out-of-town derelicts. It’s about an opportunity to easily do our small bit to combat a huge social problem. We are part of that world even if, like Sleepy Hollow, we are separated from it by bridges.
I don’t have ill feelings toward those who – having the same facts as I do – still oppose Measure A. It will alter the island a bit and there is an element of risk. I am convinced the risk is minimal and the reward great.
But, then, I am biased because of my experience with Lange. He had someone who was able and willing to give him a hand up. Most homeless don’t. That’s where the Wellness Center comes in – to help those who aren’t so fortunate. It will provide multiple hands of help to bring a homeless person back on his/her feet again. They are a heavy lift even if, like Lange, he’s your brother.