Failure Mode: An Overlooked Aspect of Homeless Abuse

We have all been made painfully aware that we have not only a national homelessness crisis, but one that is rapidly recognized as a global crisis. We have seen and heard countless stories about "bum bashing" videos, police brutality against the homeless, and even the criminalization of services to the homeless such as public park feeding activities or "urban" camping bans. We have even seen videos of police officers taking blankets from the homeless on nights the temperature dipped down to life threatening levels. Yet there is another aspect of the abuse that few people hear about, primarily because the organizations cover-up the incidents - abuse perpetrated by the very persons, programs and organizations that are supposed to be helping them.

I speak primarily at this point of the Salvation Army Crossroads Center in Denver, Colorado, though similar reports have come from the nearby Denver Rescue Mission and Samaritan House facilities. Crossroads serves emergency overnight clients, usually referred to as simply "mat clients", as well as longer term "bed clients" who are currently charged $59 per week for a bed that has a footlocker and sometimes a school- or gym-style wall locker. Mat clients must be either in by 6pm (unless they have work verification) or wait until after 9pm for admission. Bed clients generally have a curfew of 11pm. At one point, no client was allowed in the facility between 8am and 4:30pm, though accommodations have more recently been made for those who work at night.

Bed clients are supposed to be limited to their lockers and two large plastic boxes (one under each end of their bed). This may sound a lot, but consider your basic needs of life, could you fit your necessities into space that amounts to a broom closet? Granted some enhance this through the use of backpacks, roll bags, etc. that are taken with them each morning, but I think the point is made. Exceptions seem to be made for those favored by the staff of the facility, meaning some get away with more stuff or with the use of bags and cardboard boxes, both of which make attractive nesting areas for the mice in the building.

Over the past few years, residents at the Crossroads Center have also, for example, been subjected to "in-house" problems of physical abuse by staff members (though admittedly the offenders have been fired at this point in time after multiple complaints against them), "accidental" cutting of their footlocker locks (with valuables vanishing, though they are told no one was seen on the security cameras), and multiple incidents of "group punishment" caused by mat-side clients getting caught smoking in the bathrooms, eating in the library room, or (disgustingly) defecating in the shower room, resulting in those areas being "shutdown", sometimes for a couple hours, sometimes for a week or more. Imagine the frustration of half your toilet facilities being shutdown on a night you have 500-600 men sheltering, leaving only four working toilets and 1 (yes, one) working urinal, all because one individual decided to light incense in two of the four bathrooms. Granted after staff realized they had major lines forming, they rescinded the closure after an hour or two.

The most recent insult to the bed clients occurred on January 11th when bed clients were informed they would no longer be allowed to use personal sleeping linens (blankets) and MUST use facility-provided linens. Ostensibly, this is out of concern for "bed bug" risks. An understandable issue, but with the declaration came also a "no exceptions" attitude, even if the client involved has legitimate medical reasons (such as being allergic to the laundry soap used by the facility). Bear in mind the "blankets" the facility uses are rather thin, you only get one of them, and even at this, they rarely seem to have enough for all the clients. If you come in late from work, you risk not getting a blanket at all. Add to this the staff failing to turn the heating system on, even on sub-freezing nights, and you quickly see the abusive nature of this issue.

This is not the first time such issues have been brought to public light. In April 2011, the Grassmarket Community Project (GCP) called upon the City of Edinburgh Council to act against Bed and Breakfast accommodations discrimination and abuse towards the homeless. At the time (no information found on if this practice is still underway), the homeless unit of the Council placed some homeless citizens in temporary accommodations with local Bed and Breakfast operations. GCP cited numerous violations of human rights and discriminatory practices. The operations seemed focused entirely on the money earned, having no respect for the homeless person's rights or personal property (by some accounts throwing the individual out without cause and disposing of their property if the homeless person wasn't in by an 11pm curfew).

While the curfew problem isn't an issue with Crossroads, tenants frequently suffer the loss of property through the facility's "bag out" process, particularly items that can be easily pawned or any currency (usually laundry quarters). Staff typically fail to record such issues in any way when reported, instead citing the facilities policy refuting responsibility for lost items, though one can hardly call property stolen by staff and volunteers "lost items".

This is also not a new or isolated situation. One Homeworld contact in Atlanta, Georgia, speaking of the time she was homeless in Orlando, Florida, described an event in which she was taken to the hospital from the Salvation Army's women's facility and, upon returning the next day, found her bed had been reassigned and her personal belongings (hygiene, a few clothing articles, and personal reading materials) thrown out.

Adding insult to injury, when anyone complains about the abusive treatment are told "if you don't like it, you don't have to stay here." So much for addressing the issues and improving the state of the homeless, eh?

One glimmer of hope seems to remain, however, and it lays in Salvation Army's General André Cox's call for an "accountability movement" within the organization. It is hoped that this push for accountability will include action to address the indignities being inflicted upon the organization's homeless clientele. After all, don't the homeless suffer enough abuse from our municipalities and police forces? Shouldn't a Christian organization, under the stewardship charge of their own faith, set higher standards of accountability for the treatment of what are some of our most vulnerable citizens?

One might think so and I, for one, certainly hope so.

Episode One - The Rebel Fans Unite

Interesting that our first official blog post begins with a story of resistance to corporate tyranny, about the courage and dedication of individuals seeking to change the world.  Truly the heart of Homeworld Foundation's mission ... and with that said ...



 In a galaxy not so far away ...



... science fiction fan films were facing an onslaught on corporate directives and litigation.  In their fervor to protect the Corporation, lawyers for CBS/Paramount Pictures, lawsuits were launched against Axanar, an independent production company that sought to return Star Trek to its "original series" flavor.  The backlash from fans hit at Warp 9.5, catching the Corporation off-guard.  In an effort to recover, the Corporate forces issued "guidelines" for all future "fan film" productions.

The "guidelines", if you can call them that, demanded many things from the producers:

1. The fan production must be less than 15 minutes for a single self-contained story, or no more than 2 segments, episodes or parts, not to exceed 30 minutes total, with no additional seasons, episodes, parts, sequels or remakes.  

This disrupts any plans for long-term story lines, a mainstay for the Star Trek universe and limits the fan production to nothing more than campfire skits.  Even the studios require three times that to cultivate a proper story line.

 
2. The title of the fan production or any parts cannot include the name “Star Trek.” However, the title must contain a subtitle with the phrase: “A STAR TREK FAN PRODUCTION” in plain typeface. The fan production cannot use the term “official” in either its title or subtitle or in any marketing, promotions or social media for the fan production.

This is so ludicrous, I am at a loss as to what to say about it, other than "idiots, who are they kidding ... plain typeface?  What the hell is that supposed to mean?  Arial?  Times New Roman?  Comic Book Sans?"

3. The content in the fan production must be original, not reproductions, recreations or clips from any Star Trek production. If non-Star Trek third party content is used, all necessary permissions for any third party content should be obtained in writing.

... right, with virtual no room (time-wise) for character introductions, scenario set up, etc.

4. If the fan production uses commercially-available Star Trek uniforms, accessories, toys and props, these items must be official merchandise and not bootleg items or imitations of such commercially available products.

 ... do we have to provide receipts and photocopies of authentication documents?


5. The fan production must be a real “fan” production, i.e., creators, actors and all other participants must be amateurs, cannot be compensated for their services, and cannot be currently or previously employed on any Star Trek series, films, production of DVDs or with any of CBS or Paramount Pictures’ licensees.

... so a fan who also happens to be a professional video producer is disqualified ... really?

6. The fan production must be non-commercial:

• CBS and Paramount Pictures do not object to limited fundraising for the creation of a fan production, whether 1 or 2 segments and consistent with these guidelines, so long as the total amount does not exceed $50,000, including all platform fees, and when the $50,000 goal is reached, all fundraising must cease.
• The fan production must only be exhibited or distributed on a no-charge basis and/or shared via streaming services without generating revenue.
• The fan production cannot be distributed in a physical format such as DVD or Blu-ray.
• The fan production cannot be used to derive advertising revenue including, but not limited to, through for example, the use of pre or post-roll advertising, click-through advertising banners, that is associated with the fan production.
• No unlicensed Star Trek-related or fan production-related merchandise or services can be offered for sale or given away as premiums, perks or rewards or in connection with the fan production fundraising.
• The fan production cannot derive revenue by selling or licensing fan-created production sets, props or costumes.

Okay, one - you obviously have no clue how crowdfunding works, and two - you mean the producers can't even recoup the costs incurred in buying the "official" uniforms?  What about productions shown at conventions, or is that not allowed either?

7. The fan production must be family friendly and suitable for public presentation. Videos must not include profanity, nudity, obscenity, pornography, depictions of drugs, alcohol, tobacco, or any harmful or illegal activity, or any material that is offensive, fraudulent, defamatory, libelous, disparaging, sexually explicit, threatening, hateful, or any other inappropriate content. The content of the fan production cannot violate any individual’s right of privacy.

 So no half-naked Orion slavegirls, scenes showing the crew being sold as slaves, drinking Romulan ale ... huh?!?!?  Didn't the original series show that kind of stuff?


8. The fan production must display the following disclaimer in the on-screen credits of the fan productions and on any marketing material including the fan production website or page hosting the fan production:
“Star Trek and all related marks, logos and characters are solely owned by CBS Studios Inc. This fan production is not endorsed by, sponsored by, nor affiliated with CBS, Paramount Pictures, or any other Star Trek franchise, and is a non-commercial fan-made film intended for recreational use. No commercial exhibition or distribution is permitted. No alleged independent rights will be asserted against CBS or Paramount Pictures.”

... you know, this doesn't even deserve a comment ...

9. Creators of fan productions must not seek to register their works, nor any elements of the works, under copyright or trademark law.

In other words, they want exclusive control over their copyright and trademarks, but fans have no rights over their own creations?  Sorry, but this flies contrary to international law ... copyright exists from the moment of creation and it is the right of every creator to be protected.  You cannot have it both ways, idiots.

10. Fan productions cannot create or imply any association or endorsement by CBS or Paramount Pictures.

 Considering the asinine position of CBS and Paramount Pictures, who in their right mind would ever want to be associated with them ...

... fans on Facebook, however, have a plan ... enter the "Open Universe" movement ... Star Trek fans (no doubt now 'former' Star Trek fans) have decided to act en masse, creating a science fiction universe of their own in which all independent producers, film and literary, may participate.  Work is beginning on the development of a wiki that will be used by everyone to share story lines and keep track of the new universe' timeline as it develops.

Stay tuned for the next exciting episode ...