On the eve of the Fourth of July, our nation’s birthday, a passerby threw a lit firecracker at me while I was asleep. Luckily, I deflected it with my hand. Amid a large plume of smoke, it fizzled out and I was not seriously hurt.
The incident reminded me of my standing in U.S. society, as a marginalized citizen. It made me wonder if the American ideals we commemorate on the Fourth of July apply to me as a homeless person.
Indeed, this was a Fourth of July holiday that I will never forget. It was quite symbolic.
I am calling the city out. A 10-year plan, yeah, right. Let me be the guinea pig for this plan. If it works for me, it will work for anyone, because I don’t drink or do drugs. Let me see if it can end homelessness.
My name is Dan Qualls. I am one of the homeless people in Portland. Yes, there are many more homeless people here in Portland. You say that it is the city that works. Give us jobs where we won’t be a problem. It is so simple to give us jobs, not handouts. There are so many that want to work and be tax-paying citizens like other people here in Portland.
If the city uses their resources the right way, not the wrong way, it will happen. What I mean by this is if a man or woman wants a job and they are sincere about it, they are getting off the streets and making a difference in the city of Portland, making a difference in ourselves where we won’t be the problem any more and where we can move on with our lives.
About housing: The city has transitional housing, for people who are on drugs or alcohol. You have housing for runaways. You have homeless animals shelters. Homeless shelters are good for a night sleep where you won’t be harassed by the police. But if a man or woman is working at night and get up at 5:30 in the morning it still isn’t enough sleep to hold the job.
Shelters are supposed to be helping the homeless, but they need the homeless to make their money.
Now, what the city of Portland needs is a place where a man or woman can hold a full-time job and save their money. It has to be some type of transitional housing for single men and women only. That will be a start.
Now, I used to work in a shelter. It’s all about getting people into the shelter. The more you put in, the more money the shelter gets. So the biggest question is, where is the money going?
Now, you say that you can help the homeless in 10 years? Then start with me.
To our deepest shame, the Russian Federation has built a simple and inhumane practice of forcibly removing homeless people from cities where prominent ceremonial events are due to take place. For example, such forced evictions occurred during the preparations for the 300th anniversary of St. Petersburg, the International Goodwill Games, the 850th anniversary of Moscow, the 1,000th anniversary of Kazan and the 65th year victory of the Great Patriotic War.
The result of these “clean ups” is the gross violation of homeless people’s rights and freedom. As well as this, difficulties arise at those places where the homeless are moved out to, connected to the arrival of large groups of homeless torn away from the source of their means of existence and survival. There are no social institutions that could even temporarily accommodate the thousands of homeless that are evicted each time.
Today there are more than 8,000 homeless on the streets of St. Petersburg and there is every reason to believe that during the G8 Summit in St. Petersburg, the law enforcement agencies, under the guise of ensuring security in the city, will carry out a similar homeless “clean up.”
We believe that the moral responsibility for homeless rights violations timed to coincide with the meeting of leaders from the most developed countries, lies not only with the government of the Russian Federation, but also with the Summit guests themselves. The G8 was established with the objective of progress and universal security, so socially excluded groups’ rights, including those of homeless, should be one of the leading world powers’ policy priorities.
We are sure that homeless people do not represent any threat for the Summit representatives, and we believe that the security of the Summit participants can be provided at the expense of the relevant special services’ professionalism, and not at the expense of a mass human rights violation.
We call on the leaders of the leading world powers to appeal to the government of the Russian Federation and undertake other necessary measures to prevent the mass violation of the homeless people’s rights and freedom in the run up and holding of the G8 Summit in St. Petersburg in July.
We urge you to write to your heads of government, demanding that homeless people are protected during the G8 Summit in St. Petersburg.