Campout to call attention to homeless
Union-Tribne
April 28, 2007
SAN DIEGO – Two weeks after the city closed its homeless shelter for the season, hundreds of men, women and children plan to sleep in a makeshift encampment tonight at the steps of City Hall.
This is not a gathering for the homeless. In fact they're not invited. It is aimed at calling attention to this chronic social problem and raising money for a longtime San Diego shelter and treatment center.
The San Diego Rescue Mission will host “Sleepless in San Diego” at the Community Concourse, where they will accommodate up to 500 people.
Mayor Jerry Sanders and City Councilman Kevin Faulconer will greet the public campers. Private security, medical care, cots, live music, a movie, snacks and breakfast will provide participants with comforts not typically available to the region's 10,000 homeless residents.
“This is not sleeping with the homeless, this is about making a statement,” said Rescue Mission CEO Herb Johnson. “In a town with the money we have, people can either roll up their windows and look the other way or they can help.”
Such an event is a first for San Diego and was planned with help from police, business and civic leaders. Cities across the country have hosted similar campouts – often with homeless people as speakers – with varying success.
“These events give the middle class a chance to learn about homelessness,” said Michael Stoops, acting executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless in Washington, D.C. “You don't want them to be homeless for a night, but you don't want a slumber party either. You want to rough it.”
Each participant in tonight's event is encouraged to secure at least $40 in donations. As of yesterday, 295 people had registered and submitted pledges totaling $18,471. An additional $130,000 has been collected from corporate sponsors, organizers said.
Proceeds will support Rescue Mission programs, including its emergency shelter for women and children, and yearlong rehabilitation and housing for homeless.
Raising money is not the priority, Johnson said. He wants to educate the public and, he acknowledges, generate publicity for the mission.
The cost for staging the event has not been determined, Johnson said. But his goal is to spend no more than 25 percent of the total amount raised.
The program begins at 7 p.m. and ends at 8 a.m. tomorrow. Registration information is available at www.sleeplessinsandiego.org. Participants may show up tonight with a sleeping bag and other items listed on the Web site.
Accommodations include cots that will be arranged on the courtyard of the Concourse and on the upstairs balcony, an area that is covered. KUSI NEWS anchorwoman Kimberly Hunt will emcee the sleep-out. Entertainment includes live music and a showing of the movie “The Pursuit of Happyness” on a 16-by-20-foot projection screen. There will not be any homeless speakers, but organizers will show a video of a woman who went through the Rescue Mission.
Although the event is not targeting the homeless, a team will be on hand to try and arrange for lodging elsewhere should anyone show up off the streets, Johnson said.
The city closed its emergency winter shelter for the season two weeks ago. Earlier this year, the city announced a policy – as part of a settlement to a lawsuit – that makes it legal to sleep in public overnight.
But with the California Democratic Party convention in San Diego this weekend, and a Padres/Dodgers game scheduled at Petco Park tonight and tomorrow, some predict the homeless will have a hard time finding a spot to sleep in public.
Homeless advocate Kyle Pruitt, who lived on the streets of San Diego for years, said he worries the event is nothing more than a publicity stunt.
“What about the people who are really homeless? What is the city going to do about housing for people who can't afford condos for $1,700 a month?” Pruitt said. “I'm OK with the fundraising thing. But this thing shouldn't be for political images.”
Like other cities nationwide, San Diego has committed to ending chronic homelessness through building permanent housing for the most severe homeless. City officials, business leaders and nonprofits are working to find ways to consolidate homeless funding to build housing and provide treatment.