The internally displaced; our own refugee crisis, right here in Los Angeles. Pisces, Shay and Amy bide their time on a city sidewalk in North Hills, CA.
Dec 13
Solutions to Homelessness: North Valley Caring Services (Pt. 1)
A breakfast program, started by Verna Porter in 1975, evolved to what we know as “North Valley Caring Services” today. Throughout the years, different programs have been created to provide services to homeless community and people in need. Programs such as breakfast, portable shower, haircut, bicycle and clothing have made big impacts on homeless people’s lives. In this series of photos, I focused on the services, provided in this center and people, who are involved with these services. People like Manny Flores, the community liaison, and Danny, coordinator of the breakfast program, who’re going beyond their responsibilities to make a change in the community. The services provided in this center are not limited to these. Thanksgiving lunch, annual memorial service or Christmas giveaway are some other events that attract a big number of people in need to this center.
Beside the regular services provided in the center, Manny reaches out to some homeless people or camps in the area to build the relationship with them and get them the help that they need. I accompanied Manny in his visits to 405 freeway off-ramp camp, Trails and abandoned Green Arrow, which has become a homeless camp. Our visit to these camps was full of sad, happy, hopeless and hopeful moments, from the stories of people under 405 freeway dealing with city and LAPD to China’s bike. These photos probably won’t change anything for these people, but this journey definitely changed my point of view on this issue.
Manny Flores and
Craig, October 26, 2016, 405 freeway off-ramp. Manny talks to Craig next to his encampment under the 405 freeway.
Craig, October 26, 2016, 405 freeway off-ramp. Craig holds the cereal bag, while chatting with Manny.
Manny Flores and Gracie, October 26, 2016, 405 freeway offramp. Manny talks to Gracie near her encampment under the 405 freeway.
Craig’s belongings, October 26, 2016, 405 freeway off-ramp. A sign, which reads “Homeless Please Help”, sitting on a box next to Craig’s tent.
Manny Flores and Stella, October 26, 2016,
North Valley Caring Services. Stella listens to Manny, talking about different types of homelessness.
Manny Flores, Trails camp, November 9, 2016. Manny walks with the bike through the Trails camp, on the freeway underpass, near the 405 Roscoe exit.
China, Trails Camp, November 9, 2016.
China, Trails Camp, November 9, 2016. China, ready to ride her new bike.
China and her homeboy, Trails camp, November 9, 2016. China poses with her homeboy on her new bike.
Trails camp, November 9, 2016. An old door is been used as a bridge.
Dec 10
[video]
Dec 08
[video]
Dec 04
I feel free
Poem written by Ashley Grant, for an assignment in a documentary photojournalism class at California State University, Northridge, 2014.
Here I sit beside you
With dirty palms and withered clothes.
This bench that we both share is small,
For that I am sorry.
I have no where else to reside, but
here.
Or beneath the freeway across town.
I am homeless, yes that’s true
But you should respect me, as I will
respect you.
I was wealthy once before.
College educated and happily married
I thought I had the world all figured
out.
But life hits you hard
And you can be thrown off your path.
Before I knew it, 30 years at a large
company
Had disappeared and I was pushed to the
side.
No warning, no back up plan.
There were no drugs or alcohol to blame
I just was a simple man trying to
survive.
Bills soon consumed me and
My wife and I began to fight almost
every second of the day.
Life was almost unbearable.
I was in a constant uphill battle with
myself.
Although I had all the qualifications,
jobs were scarce.
With no money coming in I knew my life
would further change.
My home was taken by the IRS and my wife
soon left me after.
She needed more she said.
I wanted that for her.
With nothing to hold onto
I allowed myself to be taken by the
streets.
Six years have come and gone,
And I sit beside you now.
Money is a hell of a thing.
It can allow you to have it all
or in the end leave you high and dry.
I am homeless, yes that’s true.
But I am alive and although I now have
nothing,
Only that cart across the way.
Somehow I feel like I’m better off that
way.
Dec 03
Skin
On Broadway Street, the heart of old Los Angeles. We recognized each other, and Ivy was pleased to find that I remembered the rabbit she kept tucked in her shirt when we had crossed paths back in March. Her speech today was not quite as impaired by substance as it had been that day, and she related that Raymond Yellowhawk had died, and pointed out that in fact, his prosthetic leg was now on display on a shelf in the store across the street, the very store where they had been sitting on the sidewalk that day in March. There was a little more conversation about sleeping conditions, prison tattoos, and we waved goodbye…
“What I’m trying to describe is that it’s impossible to get out of your skin into somebody else’s…. That somebody else’s tragedy is not the same as your own.” ― Diane Arbus
Relating these encounters anecdotally risks contextualizing the lives of Ivy and others as just “stories” leaving one with the sinking feeling that they carry semiotic and emotive pinpricks to the conscience not unlike those in fairy tales, anthropology and possibly religion (sure to be a debatable point, that last one).
There are enough pictures already, enough tales of suffering and despair, so that long ago if they were to be effective enough to make a bigger difference, society would have had to have been thoroughly shamed into whatever means necessary. But no, so more photographs are on the way regardless; even while I struggle with my own concerns about exploiting the drama of their circumstances, I hope the public sees it not as decorative art or entertainment.
Dec 02
Criminalizing poverty
Text messages from Linda this morning: “We are in dire straits at the moment…. the city has posted permanent signs saying no loitering no soliciting no stopping … it basically gives the LAPD the authority to come in an wipe us out and arrest or ticket us.. and it could be anytime…. I’m trying to find a place for my blankets, clothes and my art, and me… they did this right before the holidays just to make sure we can’t get help … this gives them so much power over us and we have no rights … now I feel that talking to any of these so-called concerned citizens is a waste of time… we don’t count, they have all counted us out. Send THAT to the mayor!!!!!”
So it happened that Amy and Terry heard the jackhammers roar right outside their makeshift hovel on the sidewalk early this morning, as city workers erected a series of metal posts with signs, essentially laying the groundwork for what appears to be a move to sweep the underpass clean of everyone: Gracie, Linda, Craig, Rebecca and her daughter Rachel, and the others. With no alternatives offered, as the weather gets colder and windier and as the holidays approach, the frustration and anger of these people is understandable …
The L.A. Municipal Code 41.18 (d)remains an easy way for police to criminalize homeless individuals and make their lives more difficult than they already are, resulting in the U.S. 9th Circuit Court to rule in the “Jones vs. City of L.A.” case that this code violates the U.S. Constitution’s 8th Amendment (No cruel and unusual punishment). In spite of this ruling, certain officers issue citations to people arbitrarily without providing any time for individuals to comply.
Nov 30
“Good understanding gains favor, But the way of the unfaithful is hard. Every prudent man acts with knowledge, But a fool lays open his folly.”
PROVERBS 13:15-16
Gracie
Gracie is part of the community of homeless people that camp along the sidewalk and freeway ramps at the 405 and Nordhoff in North Hills. She belongs to a close-knit group of women who share a love of reading and help each other survive the elements and a bureaucracy that keeps them in a constant state of insecurity and limbo. We spoke in the photojournalism lab at California State University, Northridge.
Ok, my name is Grace Crilly. I’m 65 as we speak, I’ll be 66 in December. I grew up here in San Fernando Valley and I’ve seen it grow and change from what it was in ’61. I’ve been through two earthquakes and that’s quite a scary thing, but we did survive, with minimum loss. I went to high school here. I got to two years of college, almost, but I never completed and got an AA or anything (coughs). Excuse me. I, let’s see… I worked, put into the system, and in my too too poor life choices… wrong man…wrong… just bad situations that I got myself into. Wound up, found myself living on the streets, instead of an apartment, a home, or even worst case scenario, even the motels. They all got too expensive. That would be like in 2000. Around late 90’s and 2000.
Unfortunately due to my poor life choices, I’ve been to prison
three times, behind drug addiction and I can say thankfully, thank God now that
that’s not an issue. But some wise man also made Proposition, or Senate Bill 47
which reduces felony to a misdemeanor on these drug charges and that’s helped a
lot of people be able to gain employment now, because of that. ‘Cause not
having a felony on your record which is, I don’t care what anyone says, even
though they can’t ask you certain questions, they still find out and it’s
still… you know, lessens your chances of successfully finding employment.
It’s like virtually impossible if you are a single person to
find even temporary transitional housing, especially here in San Fernando
Valley. They’re just isn’t available. Now if you’re a single mom, your chances
are better. You have a much better chance of getting into transitional
temporary and also for getting onto Section 8 lists and things like that. Now
if you have mental issues, you stand a better chance, but I mean I do have
some. I go through depression, I think I’m Bipolar, but I haven’t been
officially, quote unquote, diagnosed as such. I know I do go through the
depression. I can cry at the drop of a hat, as per now. Um it’s uh, it just
gets very very frustrating. I have
COPD, which is chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, there’s no cure. They can like keep it in remission or it
progresses and last stop would be emphysema and we all know that’s not a fun
place to be. But so far so good, knock on wood. I’m like maintaining it, as
long as I keep taking my meds etcetera,
you know we’re doing ok. I am doing ok, considering.
Situations have come up, I lost my very best friend. He died,
he got hit by a train … we had a dog together, and due to peoples’ busybody
ways, the dog got taken away from me, and that was my very best friend. It was
a beautiful dog, loved everybody and everybody loved him. There isn’t a day
that doesn’t go by that I don’t miss him. You know, it’s just one of those
things and then some other stupid fool.
Um, there was a dog that was like, got adopted through the gang, we’re
talking Langdon boys, and you know despite what everybody says about these
gangbangers, they’re not that bad. They really aren’t. I mean yes, there are
some, there are and they do what they have to do or what they think they have
to do, but that’s them. And many of time ‘Moms are you hungry? Go to Jack in
the Box. Here, here’s a card. Go to Jack in the Box.’ And you know the kids are
very respectful to us. Of course, we give them the same respect in return, you
know. You give what you get.
Ok, well within ourselves, we can kind of police ourselves and
keep ourselves in check. So, it doesn’t have to go to the next level, which of
course would be law enforcement. There are some that have sticky fingers, shall
we say… we try to, you know, put that in check and so far we have not had to go
to the next level. Now, our dealings with law enforcement, for the most part,
had been… well I can only speak for Nordhoff, ‘cause we are such a small group.
There’s only like maybe, a dozen of us. We don’t encourage newcomers, what we
do have we’ll keep, but if opportunity presents itself for someone to leave,
we’re all for it. You know, bon voyage, etcetera. Um, we have more things in
common with each other, and yet we come from diverse backgrounds. We’ve got
Catholics, we have Jewish, we have…just people, you know, and it’s like some
are rich. Some came from a rich background, their parents were wealthy, this
and that. Some from a medium, you know. Uh, and then others came from a poor
background. Or educational wise, you know, it runs college education to barely
made it out of high school type of thing, and yet we do all get along
basically.
To minimize like the danger, we close ranks, so to speak. You
know, circle up the wagons and so far there has not been any tragedies of that
nature. At least as far as the Nordhoff group goes. Now, I’ve heard there has
been some tragedy down at Roscoe. It’s a shame because it was unnecessary. It
shouldn’t have happened. A girl got killed. She got beaten to death. Yeah, a
homeless girl. It was emotional, because I guess, from my understanding, the
person, or persons that did it were jealous of her and a relationship with
somebody else…and it just, it makes no sense.
Well there’s been an issue in the last week or so … the freeway
off ramps and on ramps, on the sides there are State property and when Caltrans
comes to clean up we move from there, and move under the bridge to city
property. City and State don’t mix. You know…but they are joining forces. And
now what the story is, that I hear, of course it hasn’t been verified, but what
I hear is that when the State kicks us out the City is going to be there,
Department of Sanitation, to pick up our stuff and throw it in the trash, and
that way… I don’t know what they think they’re going to accomplish other than
having a bunch of people that are cold. They are not giving us an alternative.
They’re not telling us where to go. I mean, they’re just abandoning us, so to
speak. Now granted we really aren’t their responsibility, but yes we are. Um,
unfortunately by whatever acts have happened, or reasons, or situations, we
kinda are their responsibility. And if you’re going to be, be part of the
solution not part of the problem.
We have a councilman that lives up the street and I’ll just
leave it as, ‘in the neighborhood, up the street’ and he is so gung-ho on
getting rid of us and getting us out of there, but I don’t see him showing any
alternatives. Just that he wants it cleaned up. Ok, yes it needs to be cleaned
up. I can full heartedly agree with him. I know if I was a homeowner I would
probably have the same sentiments, ‘cause you know property values, etcetera,
etcetera. But just because your kid stepped on a piece of glass, that was
determined to have come from a liquor bottle, I’m sorry, but we’re not the only
people that drink. I heard that one of your other children, or one of his
friends got stuck by a needle. Well we’re not the only ones that use needles.
Diabetics use needles. Have you ever considered that? It’s so easy to put the
blame on one group, but without considering the alternatives. And I think we’re
being unfairly accused of a lot of stuff that we don’t do.
I’d say 80% are very kind, they bring us food, you know, care
packages things like that. It’s the other 20% that I’ve had some insults yelled
at me that were… I wouldn’t even repeat.
If they’re coming down the freeway ramp, you know the usual ‘get a job,’ you
know I could understand, but I’m 65. Come on.
But what’s available is, well we can get GR, general relief. We
can get SSI, if you have a medical condition, or a mental condition that
prohibits you from like maintaining a job or you know, holding a job down.
Medi-Cal, which you know helps because a lot of us are getting sick and it’s
due to, I think, this is personal opinion, that it’s due to… there’s so much
filth in the air and on the ground and it’s a sooty kind of thing that just
sticks to everything and it gets inside of you. And I also remember a couple
years ago Linda’s doctor did a culture on the soil from the side of the freeway
and they found over 13 different bacterias and we’re exposed to all of this…
unfortunately.
Just regard your preconceived notions, because all of you are
really one paycheck away from being where we are. It can happen to anybody. You
get downsized. A foreign nation buys your company and says, you know, they’re
bringing their own people in and then what recourse do you have? You don’t.
Nov 29
In Plain Sight
Excerpts from interview with Linda, Terry and Amy, three members of a community of experienced homeless survivors that occupy public space along the sidewalk and on the freeway ramps of the 405 at Nordhoff in North Hills. We sat at a local fast food restaurant that serves as a focal point in their lives.
Can you tell me about the situation
down here by the 405. Even as we speak there are Caltrans workers there, moving
some people around.
Linda: The situation is, that there are laws that say you can’t
sit, sleep, squat, kneel on the sidewalk. On city sidewalks between, I think
it’s like 6 am and 9 pm.
Terry: I was told by officers 9pm to 6 am you can be on where you
sleep. Only you can’t have anything attached to any of the wires, or fences, or
anything else. From 9 to 6 though. I would figure maybe 6 am to 6 pm would be
more reasonable, that’s what they do downtown.
Linda : And also, there’s a law that says you can sleep anywhere
you want on the sidewalk, as long as you’re 20 feet from any entry door. That
isn’t brought up. That doesn’t even come out of their mouth.
Do the police
come and tell you to move all of the time?
Linda: All the time
Terry: Not all the time. No. Well, the law…
Linda: On a regular basis Terry. Come on, think about it.
Terry: Well once a month they do, at least. But the law states that
sanitation deals with the city. Caltrans deals with the state property.
Anything about or on the freeway onramp is the state property. They have four
sections they gotta deal with, with state property. Each section has a corner
and that’s all they deal with. They don’t deal with any other corner. Now what
there are doing, is they are trying to incorporate Caltrans and sanitation
together, to work together.
Linda: Oh, they’re doing it.
Terry: Once you hit city property they take your stuff and throw it
in the dumpster, right in front of you. They don’t even give you a chance to
move it off and put it somewhere else outside.
Linda: It depends on which CHP officers are there.
Terry: The CHP officers by that point, they wouldn’t do anything,
LAPD is responsible for the city, not state. CHP are much more giving and they
are much more flexible.
Linda: They have heart.
Terry: They give you privacy. They keep your privacy.
Linda: And they give you a chance to get as much as you can, in a
certain amount of time, out. You know.
But they give you warnings when they want
you to move?
Linda: Not always. No. They have a new supervisor. Excuse me, but
he’s a total a-hole.
Which agency?
Linda: Um, Caltrans. And he’s in charge of supervising the corners.
Terry: He’s the district manager.
Linda: Yeah, regional manager.
Terry: The supervisor over here is a young boy, young kid, he’s
maybe 25 or 30.
Linda: And he’s a dickhead. Excuse me.
Terry: Well, he’s been very informative to me. He told me a lot of
stuff that I needed to know. That maybe he shouldn’t have said but he does it…
Linda: ‘Cause he has heart.
Terry: So, I don’t have a problem with that. See, I know now that
they’re going to put us in a position now to where Caltrans is gonna kick us
off of state property, we’re going to take our stuff and put it on city
property, and sanitation is going take it as soon as we put it on city
sidewalk. So try to imagine this is state property, I take all my stuff, I go
out and put it there, go back get some more, and come back, all of that stuff
is going to be in the trash. They are not going to give us a chance.
Linda: And they put it in a trash truck. A smelly, stinky, dirty
trash truck. That goes around down the street, empties the blue bins and the
black bins, and you know all of the bins that are in front of your house.
That’s what they put our stuff in and then they say you have 30 days to go pick
it up, by appointment. Get ‘em to answer the phone.
So they took some of your artwork?
What happened?
Linda: They took it. They took it all. For two years I’ve been
doing my artwork. For two years I’ve been collecting jewelry, so I could open a
store. In January, OK, I had two of the counselors from LA Family Housing that
were my helpers, that were willing to go and say that I was highly recommended
to get this loan. Ok? I was going in January. I was ready for it and sanitation
took it all. I mean, took my future. I tried for two years to get up out of
here and it’s like now I’m right back where I started. It’s been 15 years, come
on, give me a break! (Crying) A
person doesn’t try that hard and work as hard as I have, 18 hours a day, seven
days a week, to try and get out of here if they didn’t want to get out of here,
get out of this situation. They wouldn’t do it. They’d say “Hey screw it!”
So, they came at night and took it?
Linda: No, during the day. And there was a three-day notice, but I
wasn’t in town. And then I had some of my stuff over there and then this police
officer comes up to me, and I had five carts sticking out, and he said, “How many carts are you going to take” and I
said “Well, I’m gonna take all of my carts.” And he said, “No you’re not.
You’re taking two.” You know? I mean who are you to tell me after everything
I’ve done for the last two years, to get out of here? Who are you to put me
back at the bottom? By taking everything I own (crying). That was of value that meant anything to me.
Terry: Same thing with me, but they only had me take one cart.
Threw six of my carts in the trash.
Linda: You know I love jewelry. I always will. And I never had… I
never really had a lot of jewelry but the things that I collected for my store,
I took very few for my own. You know I kept very few, everything was gonna go
in the store. And you can ask Terry. Terry seen some of it and it was
beautiful. And I got it really cheap and I took advantage of that because I
know the prices I know, you know, what it’s value is and what they could have
gotten. And they were generous enough to accept what I offered them and they’re
homeless too, you know. But, my mom did not raise a quitter and I love my mom.
And my mom gave me my values and my standards and my morals and I won’t go back
on them. I won’t waiver on them. You know I’m fortunate, I’ve never had to go
out and turn a trick, do a date, do any of that. You know, I’ve…I’ve
panhandled or I drew the ramp, I recycle and I have people who give to me and
I’m very grateful. I’m very appreciative of that. Therefore, when I find things
I can’t use and I don’t need, I give to the Our Lady of Peace Catholic church and I
don’t even believe in the Catholic religion. Ok? And it’s like you have to give
back. You have to keep the circle going, it can’t be broken. That’s what has
done all of this. That’s what is dividing this country.
How do people treat you when they see you on
the sidewalk under the freeway? Do they yell things at you?
Terry: “Get a job you crusty old man!”
Linda: Like, three weeks ago, there was… for like an hour, excuse
me but, “Fuck the homeless. Fuck the homeless. They ain’t nothing. They ain’t
nothing.” And that’s how they feel, we’re worthless, we’re helpless, we’re
useless.
Who’s saying those things?
Linda: The neighborhood and the kids. I mean the kids are not
taught anything by the parents about respect and all that. And that’s the
situation possibly… yeah a lot of them are out here by choice, but I’m not. I
lost my job at Denny’s because I didn’t speak Spanish.
When was that?
L: 15 years ago and you know, when you don’t have income… and
now at 62 I can’t get a job, because I’m too old. You know? So, I tried… well,
you know, somebody said “Linda, you know so much about jewelry, and about
stones, and about emeralds, and about metals, when it comes to jewelry. Why
don’t you try and open up your own store?” I have a friend, there’s a couple,
that are real good friends of mine, and we all recycle and we have all found,
beautiful, wonderful, expensive valuable things. And a lot of them aren’t
valuable, but they’re beautiful and they’re still able to be sold. So, I was
going to open a store and then by chance I just happened to pick up the statue.
That went into the trash.
Terry: You can’t keep anything
Linda: Anyway, she was all white when I got her and I happened to
just start, you know, messing around with nail polish and painting, and trying
to get a little color on her. And people were commenting and saying “Wow that’s
beautiful.” You know? And so I decide to paint her dress all black and I built
her hat up to make it look like it had a feather on it. There was a lot and the
thing that is so hard… I was gonna have my grand opening at night and I was
going to auction her off for a shelter for single women. It was gonna go for
good.
Terry: The way that people behave…and all of the name calling,
throwing stuff at us, you know all of the stuff that they do, is creating a
very hostile, angry place for us to be and not all of us are staying there.
Some of us are staying there, we’ll manage our mood and manage our behavior.
Some of ‘em aren’t. Some of them if they do it too much they’re going to go
postal on them and they will. They’re
just not in their right mind. And down here, to be treated the way I’ve been,
the way my wife and I have been, they could push someone over the edge. You’ve
been out here long enough to know. What I am saying is, she can sit here and
cry and feel like she does. And I’ve seen her depressed and I’ve seen her in
the best spirits. 100% difference. And it’s because of the way that people are
treating us.
Linda: And the way the city is treating us.
Terry: We’re less than–
Linda: –you know were less than human. You know how there’s a
saying that says, you know, “You’re lower than the crap on an ant’s ass.” I
mean that’s how I’m starting to feel and why keep trying? (Crying) why keep trying if they are just going to come in and say
“No, you can only have this.”
Terry: The state is supposed to help us. This is supposed to be
people that are saying “Hey, we’re going to help you. We’re going to send a cop
down here and the cops going to say all this stuff that’s good and positive,
and follows up on everything he says he’s gonna. And then he comes back, another cop telling
me this and this and this, and meanwhile, you’ve gotta to take all of your
stuff out of your carts and leave it here because the guys here to take your
carts. I’ve got ten carts full …
Linda: And then sanitation comes right up behind them and takes it.
And then Chacon, Officer Chacon, he’s a really good man. He really is. And we
understand that they’re doing their job. But you changed the law to make new
rules yourself. He said, “Well, there’s a new rule.” Now if there’s one
complaint from one parent that their child has to walk in the street to go
around you, they’re calling. Sanitation is there and you’re losing everything.
Terry: And they don’t have to give you a three-day notice. ‘Cause
that negates it.
Linda: But the law is, that they have to give us three-day notice.
And they just said, “No. There’s a new rule.” That was officer Chacon.
Terry: He’s a very nice, gentle, caring officer.
Linda: But his watch commander is getting on his butt.
Terry: If any other cop could be like that. We’d get a lot more
done. He’s kind. He’s gentle. He’s friendly. He’s considerate about feelings.
Linda: They need to teach cops that they’re not machines. They
still have to have heart. They still could be human and it would help more if
they would be more human and teach them under these circumstances work with
them. I mean how would they feel if we went in their three-bedroom house, that
they’re making their payments for and say, “No, you can’t live here, you have
to move into a one bedroom apartment and the only thing you can take is your
clothes.” What would they feel?
Terry: I asked the cop that when he took my stuff. What would you
think if you had to tell your wife all of her clothes are gone. Bet you
wouldn’t like it is what I said. She would be devastated. She would be torn up
inside. All her jewelry, all her personal belongings, all her hygiene products.
Linda: All of her photographs.
Terry: You gotta try and imagine that these women out here on the
street, work hard to get all their hygiene products together, all their
personal stuff. It’s important to them more than it is to guys. I can smell
like a goat for a week. It takes a lot of doing to get all those hundred
things, the makeup, the perfumes, the sanitation stuff and all of the soaps,
creams, and all of the stuff. I mean we’re talking about a fucking shopping
cart full of crap and if one of the things are missing, they’re gonna know. My
wife does. If one little teeny jar of something, if it’s gone she knows.
What about the housing situation? Any prospects for getting out of this situation?
Terry: There are no prospects whatsoever. There’s a couple things
that we need to do.
Linda: If you’re homeless you can’t even get a job because you
don’t have an address.
Terry: It’s kind of like this… If I go to work for example. I went
to work and I worked eight hours a day, everyday, five days a week. It would at
least be up to three week before I would get any money. Everyday I have to come
up with at least fifteen bucks to survive that day. If I don’t we don’t eat. I
didn’t eat yesterday. Why? Because the ramp wasn’t giving me any money. I
tried. I was on the ramp for three or four hours throughout the day, I didn’t
make enough money. That’s just the way the ramp works. Not always it’s like
that, most times it’s not. But you know, I have to provide for my wife, that’s
one thing. Two, it’s a competition out here. There’s a lot of competition for
the ramp.
How do you guys divide that up?
Linda: We don’t. It’s each person that gets on the ramp, keeps what
they have.
How do you decide who gets on the ramp when?
Terry: Well it’s supposed to be an hour, if you have any sort of decency.
Linda: If someone is waiting it’s an hour.
Terry: As a man I will defer always for a woman, I always do.
Linda: And the ones that actually live here and are a part of our
own little circle and family, you know are first. And the ones that have been
here the longest. Ok, like me and Gracie and Leprechaun, we have seniority. But
I don’t care about seniority just do your hour and then let me have the ramp
and if someone else is waiting and I feel like getting off, I’ll get off. You
know, like “here.” If they start giving me money, or I have what I want or what
I need.
Terry: I know that they can’t handle more than a half an hour.
Linda: I can’t
Terry: Twenty, thirty minutes they are done.
Linda: Whether we made money or not. It doesn’t matter.
Terry: On the other hand if I see Leprechaun on the ramp, forget
it. It’s a fight. I’m talking physical. It’s a fight for the ramp.
Linda: Oh don’t ask. Don’t ask. Don’t get us into Leprechaun.
Terry: He’s the most stubborn person that comes to the ramp. You
know, he’s got his reasons, he’s got his let’s say monkeys, but he doesn’t care
about anybody but himself.
Linda: It’s that way all of the time.
Amy: He is a nice guy. He has character. He’s fun.
Linda: Yes, he is a nice guy. Oh he’s stupidly funny. Oh my God.
Terry: He won’t give it up and he will get to the point where he
will throw clothes at you if you persist.
Linda: Yeah, if he’s been up for a couple of days.
Have you fought with him physically?
Terry: I have almost fought more than once, from getting so angry,
because I have to provide for my wife and myself and he provides for his bottle
and his whatever … just him.
Where does he sleep?
Linda: He’s back under the road. He’s been with us… he got out of
prison three years ago and he’s been over here ‘cause you know, I’m like his
best friend. And I love him to death but he … can be physically violent.
He’s gotten in my face and I’ve gotten right back in his. That why he doesn’t
put a hand on me because he knows. He may be old Leprechaun, but I’m the witch
that will take you out.
Terry: Yeah, he’s OK. He’s not a bad person.
Linda: Yeah, he’s got a good heart.
Terry: But when it comes to money he don’t care.
Linda: But that’s the Irish in him. (laughs)
Terry: And that really upsets me because I really do have a
responsibility to myself and to her, to get some necessities. And it’s not easy
to do. As a matter of fact most of the time we don’t.
Can you tell me the story you told me the
other morning about the Section 8 housing Amy got?
Terry: You know we got through Cornerstone, she got Section 8. And
it didn’t take very long, about a month. She wasn’t as stable as she is now.
She was a little more scattered and a lot more worried. Very depressed.
Amy: I had gone through a breakdown when we lost the house and
when everything was happening, I kind of like lost it. My parents were there
and my ex-husband was renting a room. The epicenter of it all was coming at me.
And my dad has got this like gambling habit, which is part of the reason why
the house got lost.