Uncharted: The Truth Behind Homelessness (Review by an actual homeless camp leader)

Copyright 2014 by Michael-Tyrrannis I Saurranno-Schwing as far as is copyrightable.

All rights reserved. Movie revue written Saturday 30 Aug 2014 after a showing of this movie in the Toby Theater at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. The three men who made this movie were there as they are at all showings: Sam Miro (Mirpoonian), Adam Oppenheim, and the writer Don Sawyer. More information on the movie can be found in the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) : http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3755442/ . Revised and expanded 15 March 2016 (mostly marked by “NOTE”).

Movie Revue by Michael Schwing, then leader of the most important homeless camp in Indianapolis after the City closed the Davidson Street/Irish Hill Camp, and the camp where Maurice Young moved to–as no one leads Maurice, he is his own man– was staying at that time.

Best part of movie: Chronicling the demise of the Davidson Street/ Irish Hill Camp of 67 people living there in tents 24/7 (35 or so are river homeless who moved to the camp after theirs got flooded out about 3 months before the closure). Very touching and emotional views of the camp being illegally torn down by the City and the tents and personal belongings being placed into dumpsters. [NOTE: It was an illegal closure under the Federal Lavan Law which the City of Indianapolis chooses not to recognize. The belongings under said law should have been taken by the police, catalogued and held for 90 days, after which they could be legally disposed of. Items such as food and medical items that pose a health risk or would go bad before 90 days are up can be legally disposed of immediately.]

Statements made by:

Maurice Young the leader of the camp with the honorary title “Mayor” was right on target (as usual!)

Sergeant Hipple was right on target.

Julie Fidler (of the Mayor’s Office and at that time in charge of some of the HUD funding the City receives) was right on target.

Worst part of movie:  When Sam Miro (Milpoorian), one of the co-makers of the film, ends with a statement that they “haven’t spoken to anyone who knows what CHIP (Coalition for Homelessness Intervention and Prevention) or the Front Porch Alliance does for the homeless.” The Front Porch Alliance statement I can certainly understand personally as the  person running it (after a Blueprint II meeting) could not tell me much about what it was and directed me to their website which at that time caused me to know less about that organization than I knew before I went to the website.

     First, my personal belief (Mike Schwing’s) is that they interviewed the wrong camp. They at least should have interviewed me. Their film contributes to that idea which I am constantly fighting that Davidson Street Homeless are practically the only homeless and are ordinary homeless.When the river people started staying there, I knew Maurice would lose control, as they listen to no one, which is exactly what happened although no one will admit it.

     Second, the film’s title really is not  descriptive of the movie. The movie barely covers WHY people become homeless. It seems to be one long conversation on how the City needs to do more for the homeless, primarily build a taxpayer paid secular homeless shelter and an engagement center for the 35 alcoholic homeless men who refuse to control their drinking. NOTE: As of March 2015, the City-County Council has passed and the Mayor (Greg Ballard) signed the resolution creating the Engagement Center, formed a Board of Directors, and received commitments from various service agencies to provide the necessary services. It is only one third the planned size for the homeless (the City co-opting 2/3 of the beds) and remains to be opened. People swear that experts say the number of homeless that would benefit is higher. No alcoholic from my camp will go to the Engagement Center because there is no punishment for them getting arrested for Public Intoxication (PI) 50 to 100 times a year–no fines, no community service, nothing but a few days in jail, which despite the conditions, are still better than living on the street. Also, at the Engagement Center persons would try to get them off their alcohol dependency. Most do not wish to do that at this time and if they did they know where to go for detox (however many of the best places are not free!). Now I personally believe something like this is necessary, but I always thought there was an easier, less expensive way to do it. I have never been against the Center per se–just the size and their planned way of doing things. NOTE: Also in recent months in 2015 to 2016, many of our worst alcohol dependent homeless persons have been housed, some getting apartments for themselves by their jobs.

     Third, I am more interested in what they did not cover: how to get out of homelessness, because by no definition is a shelter housing nor is a tent in a camp housing, although for some people BOTH are home. And how former homeless help current homeless to get services and resources to get out of homelessness. This was covered some but not as well as I would have liked. And most importantly to me: homeless helping homeless as Maurice Young and I do.

     Fourth, why was not anyone from HACI (Homeless Advocacy Council of Indianapolis), the former Advocacy Council sponsored by CHIP, but dropped by them in 2015. They could have told you what CHIP does and could have given you even more information good and bad (originally I had here: “than Maurice and his camp mates”. Hence the following discourse on Maurice). Well you ask, “Isn’t Maurice a voice for the homeless?” Maurice is an ADVOCATE for the homeless. An advocate with no peer. He is like the General in the Pentagon and speaks to persons so high up in government they will speak with no one else about homeless person’s and their needs. He speaks at churches and civic functions that otherwise know little about homelessness. He voices ideas for change and betterment and the eventual ending of homelessness by utilizing the proper resources and services (it was Maurice Young who taught me the difference between these two things) in the proper way to help people end their homelessness. 

     But as for being a VOICE for the homeless, a large resounding “NO”. He was a media puppy whose power comes from the media placing a microphone in his face after which his natural charisma and speaking ability take over captivating most listeners including me. Maurice is homeless by choice as refusing to live in your house or with family and friends does not make you homeless. Sleeping in a homeless camp does not make you homeless (at Military Park we had several housed people sleeping out with us at times, mostly people just hanging with their friends, including Nathan Pfaff who made the movie about Maurice called “The Advocate” [NOTE: the movie can be seen here: http://www.nathanpfaff.com/#!doc/cmjm ). NOTE: As the media has passed us by, Maurice is doing more substantial and important things as regularly talking to IUPUI students (some of whom put up his informational webpages here: The Creative Change Project http://indy26aug.wix.com/indyhbr). Maurice was also instrumental in getting a homeless (camp) protection passed by the City-County Council which also passed a Homeless Bill of Rights in 2015 (Maurice and his people were the leading group organizing this with Councillor Robinson, the sponsor–I (Mike Schwing)spoke at the City Council meeting with several others in support of this and got two councillors to vote for it), only to be struck down by Mayor Ballard who had informed Robinson he would never sign a homeless bill of rights. He has been elected to the Blueprint Council which leads the Continuum of Care (the CoC, required by Federal mandate for the City to continue to get CoC HUD funding. Other HUD funding goes directly to the City without going through the CoC.

     Maurice also besides his Cultural Competency lectures has a “Walk In My Shoes” supposed homeless experience where the people stayed in their 50 dollar sleeping bags in the gazebo at Military Park and except for the first group do not interact with the homeless there who resent the strangers being brought into our bedroom (but nothing can be done to stop that as Maurice follows no one, so most the homeless still in the camp relocate for the night). NOTE: the Military Park sleep only homeless camp, which had to leave by 6 am and clean up the trash they made, has been officially closed by the placing of the signs stating the park closes at 11 pm. There are a few stragglers, but they can be arrested anytime the police desire after the signs went up. Fortunately, in the past 3 and 1/2 years under my leadership we 1) I got permission from the Park people to sleep there, 9 pm to 6 am. 2) Said permission is now rescinded. 3) We got over 50 people out of homelessness. Some went back to family, some were housed by the system, and most housed themselves or left the City. Midtown, Outreach, Inc, and Goodwill were the agencies most helpful. Connection to Midtown was through the PBSOT outreach team as this was state [property so the IMPD Homeless Outreach Team did not go there. For a complete list by first name of the people living in the Military Park Homeless Royal Clan Camp (or Camp of the 4 Clans: Homeless Royal and associates, Maurice Young and associates, the Beelzebub Clan-20 some years old persons and Sipho and his associates plus many unassociated people) see here    . For a camp history (both works still in progress by Michael Schwing) see here  . And for writings by Michael Schwing, including some on homelessness including a Homelessness musical see http://www.writingsofmichaelschwing.wordpress.com .

     Head’s up! Pay attention! All you people who think that by sleeping in a homeless camp or sleeping outside for a few days you have experienced homelessness: you CANNOT experience homelessness till you are homeless, a  lesson I had to learn the hard way myself. Now, interacting with homeless people WILL increase your knowledge of homelessness, your compassion, and how to help. The first group in Maurice’s Homeless Experience understood this and did learn something. They also took us to breakfast and to their church, for those who wished to go. But you won’t experience or know homelessness till you are there. Sleeping in a homeless camp no more makes you a homeless person or gives you the experience of being a homeless person than sleeping in a garage makes you a car or gives you the experience of being a car, or sleeping in a church makes you a Christian or gives you the experience of being a Christian.

     So, if you know nothing about homelessness in this city, go see this movie.  But if you are homeless, then there is nothing new for you here and no answers or help offered.  We do not need to know the specific names of specific people running these agencies as they are not elected officials we can replace.

[end of revue and diatribe]

Uncharted: The Truth Behind Homelessness

Twitter   @uncharteddoc

http://www.facebook.com/uncharteddoc

Interviewees:

Tina (who ran the Military Park camp before me.Since this movie she has been housed along with her boyfriend in Partners in Housing)

Sergeant Hipple-right on

Maurice Young–right on

Brown Bag Ministries from Brownsburg, Indiana (Mike Schwing is from Brownsburg)

Karin Thornburg of Midtown Mental Health who believes 80% of the homeless need mental illness treatment

Mr. Prolyfic–an actual homeless person

a corporation building in Indianapolis, but I didn’t catch full proper name 18 something

Hu…-I didn’t catch name

Julie Fidler, Mayor’s office–right on

Sharon Stark from HIP–right on

Sheila Kennedy from IUPUI

Andy Frazier of IACED

Ken Falk of the ACLU who spoke for the rights of panhandlers

Sandy Jeffers of Pathway to Recovery

Andrew (who?-didn’t catch name)

Stacy Nugent

COT Force is considered very successful by Sharon Stark and Karin Thornburg

Lavan Law from Los Angeles, effective in the 4th District Court (more info in this document–http://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2012/09/05/11-56253.pdf).  The 7th Circuit Court in Indiana can refuse to recognize. Six days notice to a camp is all Indianapolis has to furnish.

26 August 2013–Davidson Street/Irish Hill camp closed.

It is well known now but just suspected then that the City moved to close the camp for one alleged reason (Railroad needs to tend to the bridge–still not done as of March 2016) and a hidden reason (Tina LaGrotte, owner of the Milano Inn wanted to build condos on her property adjacent to the camp). The so-called Salt Mines Camp was closed later for the reason someone wished to develop a property and the camp was spilling over and trespassing on that property.