Establishing a self-organized camp

This is a paper written by Houseless Community Builders.  It was presented to the City of Portland as a model.  

Who are the Houseless?

The houseless are not just people between locations of residence.  They are those who have no safe location to sleep, to remain.  They are those who could be told at any moment that they must pack up and move.  They have no legal recourse to remain in a place where they are not wanted.  They might sleep on a couch, on a car, in a garage, on a living room floor, on a sidewalk, in a tent, in an RV, a shelter, or hidden under a table in a park.  

There are thousands of houseless every night in Multnomah County.  Millions in the United States.  No one can really count them because their number changes every night and they mostly remain hidden from sight. We know that the minimum number, every night in Multnomah County is 4000 individuals.  

The houseless face stigma just because of their poverty.  They are the public poor and much of the populace pour out their disdain of the poor upon them.  Dr. Susan Fiske demonstrated through her studies that the houseless are considered far more disgusting than any other social group in the United States.  She says that the average American considers a houseless person a “pile of garbage.”  Less than fully human, only worthy to be shuffled out of sight.   The typical term, “homeless” is used for these folks, which is filled with the stigma we wish to avoid.

This stigma is shown in the attitudes and public policies applied to these individuals.  They are considered criminals when they have done nothing wrong.  They are seen as addicts and mentally ill, even though the majority of them aren’t. They are commanded to leave public spaces, not allowed to sit or to lie down where those not obviously poor may.  They are given a few hundred spaces to sleep, cramped, after waiting for hours of the privilege of a bunk bed and a roof. They are pushed around by the police, legally given twenty four hours but practically given between seventy two hours and ten minutes.  They are treated as the “piles of garbage” that they are seen.  Showers are hard to come by, even by those who generously give them.  A full time job is out of the question without an address.  

With this stigma and the resulting public policy come health issues.  Lack of sleep is top of the list, because even if one is left alone, a houseless individual might sleep fitfully with fear of being awakened to be moved, stolen from or worse.  The result of lack of sleep is cognitive dissonance, anxiety, irritability, forgetfulness, lack of energy, inability to make decisions, high blood pressure, and possibly hallucinations.  

Then there is chronic stress, due to the justified fear that something traumatic might happen.   Some symptoms of chronic stress are: worn teeth (from grinding), sore muscles (from tensing up), increased number of accidents, difficulty concentrating, increased anxiety, depression, lack of appetite, heart attack, addiction (for self-medication), and impulsive behavior.  

Another condition is trauma.  According to an Australian Study, ninety five percent of all houseless men have experienced trauma, and a hundred percent of all women.  Trauma goes hand in hand with PTSD, anxiety and paranoia. 

The longer a person lives with chronic stress, lack of sleep and the more frequently they experience traumatic circumstances, the more severe their symptoms will display, and the longer the necessary time of healing will be.  Thus, the chronic houseless person, less than 30 percent of those who become houseless, will need the greater care to solve their problems. 

To solve the issues of houselessness is not just a matter of having sufficient shelters and homes for people to move into (although these are huge steps toward a solution).   The houseless must also have help dealing with their trauma, anxiety, and assistance in making clear decisions.  They must be allowed to make their own decisions, but granted help.  They must be eased into taking on the full weight of “normal” urban living, one step at a time.

Why houseless communities?

Each houseless person is a unique individual, with a unique solution to their problems.  Some are ready to move into an apartment immediately, with a minimum of help.  Others just need help finding a job or student loans and they will take care of the other steps themselves.  But the longer one is suffering from chronic stress and fatigue, the more difficult is the solution to their life issues.

There are many causes of houselessness.  Eviction, loss of job, abuse and for a few, mental illness or addiction issues.  However, in the end, there is only one cause of houselessness—a lack of family or friends to support one in crisis.  Most of us will never be houseless because we have family or friends who will take us in for as long as we need to get out of crisis.  This is the one luxury the houseless lack.  They lack the safe space, the encouragement and counsel to solve crises when they come.  And should they solve the crisis they are in, the most important thing they need is that support network and that safe place.

Establishing a safe place and developing a support network isn’t easy.  There isn’t enough money for a stigmatized group to receive the most basic help that they need: shelters, social workers, health care, mental health care, treatment, etc.   There is enough for some to receive the full package of assistance, but not all.  Is it enough for a thousand be given the services they need, while two thousand still live with the trauma?  As the thousand slowly obtain healing, there are thousands more who enter into the situation in which they will experience the chronic stress and trauma.

A solution for actually ending houselessness is for the houseless to have the space, training and volunteers to establish their own support network and to work on their own healing outside of an overcrowded shelter system.   Should the houseless be able to establish structures to live in which would not be moved, communities with organization and leadership, and some security, then they could be in a place for health care, mental health care and other services to reach them easily, and grant them opportunities for solid lives.   Houseless communities provide a temporary haven to develop social skills and personal strength to be able to be in more secure housing as it becomes available. 

What kind of communities?

There are some common features of the self-sustaining houseless communities.  They would all need to be on public land of at least a quarter acre, with permission from the city or county.   Each community should be a maximum of thirty individuals, with no more than twenty personal structures.  Each community should have public toilets and trash pickup.   Each community should have a leadership structure and a code of conduct.  They should also have positive relationship with their neighbors.  And each community should have access to donations and health services.

Apart from these basic structures, the communities might vary considerably.  There might be a clean and sober community, and a “wet” community.  There could be a women’s village and an LGBTQ village.  There could be a community for RVs and cars to park legally.   Some of the communities might live in framed tents, while others live in tiny houses, either manufactured or individually built.  Each community must establish how they will establish their separate group, in accord with some basic guidelines.

Separately, we will discuss emergency communities, where people can stay for a few nights due to an emergency situation (houseless in the middle of moving, those who have just become houseless).  That section is below.

How are communities established?

Space

The first thing found is space for a community to be established.  This is done with city and/or county officials, making certain that the establishment of a village is both legal and safe.  City property can be initially found through Portlandmaps.com, and then looked at by the founders.  Any chosen space must be approved by the city, the local police precinct and the fire marshal. 

Founders

An individual or small group of houseless has the basic idea of a community to establish.  These founders are the initial leaders and the neighborhood contacts.  The founders gather the initial group they want to establish the community with, between ten and fifteen people.  

Host

A community host from HCB begins to meet with the founding group. They establish the initial code of conduct and the group of leaders.  They meet at least weekly to discuss issues.  These weekly meetings will continue though the life of the community.  The host keeps in regular contact with the HCB.

Neighbors

The founding group with city or county officials contacts the neighborhood association and communicates their plans to establish the community in that neighborhood.  This gives the neighborhood an opportunity to react and to process the idea of their new neighbors.  Immediate neighbors might be contacted personally.

Planning

Before moving day, there must be a plan established to determine the kind of structures, where they will be placed and adequate pathways between them all.  The plan should include both private structures, a kitchen space, storage and a community gathering area. This plan should also be approved by the fire marshal.  Porta potties and trash pickup should be established before people move into the location.  All the materials necessary should be gathered before moving day, as well as a group of volunteers to move and build. 

Moving Day

A day is dedicated to moving in.  Volunteers, hopefully some from the neighborhood, are gathered to assist the new community.  Soon after, the city establishes a fence around the community.

How are established communities organized?

The core membership of each community are the residents.  Residents are voted in by the membership (begun by the founders).  Each community may have no more than thirty residents.   Each resident must agree to the code of conduct before they become a member.    There must be a residents meeting every week to discuss issues as raised by the leadership and by residents.  For any community decision to be made, there must be a quorum of residents (at least 50 percent plus one).   Emergency meetings may be called by the leadership if all the residents are contacted about the meeting at least six hours in advance of the meeting.  Residents may be voted out of the community by a majority of a quorum in a regular meeting.

There are leaders chosen to manage the community.  One leader (called here the “manager”) will call and moderate the meetings, make village decisions between meetings, organize the distribution of donations, and work to establish trust in the community.  Another leader (called here the “assistant manager) is chosen to assist the manager when the manager is unable to do her or his work.  Another leader (here called “Head peacemaker”) is chosen to oversee security of the community, choose assistants to establish peace in the community and to enforce the code of conduct in a peaceful manner.

A community might also have a secretary to keep the constitution, minutes and logs of the community.  A community might also have a spokesperson to publicly represent the community.  These tasks might also be taken on by other leaders of the community.

Leaders are voted in by a majority of a quorum of the residents.  If there are not enough leaders to run the community, or a leader is not voted in by the community, the HCB council might establish leadership.

If leaders are found to regularly break the community code of conduct, they will be asked to step down by the HCB or voted out by a quorum of the residents. 

A variety of other leaders might be established by any community.  Here are some examples of leadership that a community might vote in: 

Watchmen to keep an eye on the community at all times, under the Head Peacemaker

Utility staff to call and make sure trash and porta poties are serviced regularly.

Community clean up person to organize regular clean up.

Visitor overseer to make sure all visitors and economic refugees are welcome, have hosts and that they leave at the appropriate time.

Code of Conduct and Enforcement

Each community must vote in a code of conduct before they become established.  The following must be included in every code of conduct:

-No stealing or destruction of other’s property

-No selling of drugs

-No stolen property

-No violence on community space

-Keep personal items or issues in your personal structure (verbal outbursts, alcohol, knives, etc.)

-No guns

Keep property and sidewalk clean.

-Don’t do anything to disturb or harm neighbors.

There might be other regulations that are particular to a community, such as No drugs or alcohol; no overnight visitors; all dogs on a leash; etc. 

If a visitor is found to be breaking the code of conduct, they are to be asked to leave immediately.  

If a resident is found to be breaking the code of conduct, they can be given a warning and a period of probation as determined by the Head Peacemaker. A resident must be voted out by a quorum of residents, unless they are shown to endanger the safety of the community, and then they are given 24 hours to leave.   A ban might be as little as a week or as long as a year.  If a resident is asked to leave, to become a resident again, they will have to show growth (e.g. taking counselling, a period of time without a similar offence) and be voted into the community again.

If a resident is banned from a community, they may appeal the process with the HCB Community Builder Team.  They may also request a different placement from the Support Coordinator.

Community Infrastructure

Communities need to be more than a safe place to sleep; they are to be a place with every basic service available to people in housed shelter. We recommend shared facilities.

Built into these community communities, whether permanent or temporary, should be the following basic services.

Regular sanitation and garbage service

Regular food and water deliveries, and regular deliveries of necessities and clothing.

A community kitchen

Donation Storage with central organization and oversight

Showers, male and female, communal style or cubicle, with handwashing stations

Community meeting area

Shared resource/ community/ media center with shared terminals and internet

Neighborhood problems

There will inevitably be complaints from neighbors.  Some of these complaints will be legitimate and some will be borne out of the stigma that the houseless bear (for instance, a community might be blamed for the actions of a houseless person not in the community).  It is essential that each community have good relationships with neighbors, or else the community might be asked to leave.  Thus, each neighbor who has an issue with the community must be met with at a location of their choosing, and each complaint must be heard by community leadership, possibly with the community host.  It is fair for the community leadership to ask for evidence as to who was involved in the complaint (e.g. eyewitness, video), and to allow any resident complained about to have their perspective heard.

If enough complaints emerge, there should be a Good Neighbor Agreement established (sample at the end of this workbook).  The GNA should include an agreement that the community agrees not to be a source of theft, drug sales, violence or trash in the neighborhood.  Should a resident be found to be bringing such activities into the neighborhood, they will be asked to leave the community.