"fix up" = homeless holocaust

9/15/2013 8:13:00 PM

we're not killing any, just sending them to Rock Hill, SC

9/15/2013 8:20:46 PM

this has all the trappings of right thing for the wrong reasons and wrong thing for the right reasons.

9/15/2013 8:26:55 PM

nah just government incompetence with a troll thread

9/16/2013 5:39:05 AM

Seems that this has echoed to the mayoral election. Candidates are:

Nancy McFarlane, Mayor since 2011
Venita Peyton
Robert Weltzin

The incumbent mentions the issue on her site, but in a sort of strange way. This is within a quote from the Independent Weekly, which apparently endorsed her.

http://nancymcfarlane.com/indy-week-endorses-mayor-mcfarlane/

Quote :

"And when the homeless issue flared up in Moore Square, McFarlane came the same day to meet with the providers there and the folks they were providing for, telling city staff in no uncertain terms to back off."

Peyton apparently has some words about this.

http://www.venitapeyton.com/IssuesImpactingUs.php

Quote :

"FEEDING THE HOMELESS DOWNTOWN A strong leader stands behind staff. Claiming ignorance is not a defense. What’s worse is there has been absolutely NO compassion for either the homeless receiving services or the providers. Someone is being untruthful in why the ordinance against feeding the homeless is suddenly being implemented. The truth is hidden because city employees are also afraid of being fired – like the City Manager was."

Weltzin too. It starts to look like the ministry is a group that none of the candidates want to upset...

http://www.robertweltzin.com/robertweltzin/issues

Quote :

"The Mayor of Raleigh and Councilor Baldwin have a lot to account for regarding the City's interference with feeding the homeless. I sat behind Love Wins during the 3 hour special meeting yesterday to address the issue."

9/21/2013 12:54:43 PM

God no, we want Raleigh to be the homeless friendly town in the south east

9/21/2013 1:15:05 PM

this one time a crusty punk tried to lure me into the park to "meet his girlfriend"

I told him "No."

9/21/2013 4:20:40 PM

Life Goes On // A letter from Hugh
Dear Friends,

The last month has been unreal.

The media attention in the aftermath of what we lovingly call Biscuitgate was overwhelming. In one 24 hour period, for example, I was interviewed by Fox News, NPR, and Al Jazeera. I was almost interviewed by the 700 Club, but my cell phone malfunctioned. Not sure if that was divine providence or not.

I know some of you are wanting me to talk about the incident, or the media attention, or how this has changed us. That is a valid request, but I am, quite frankly, a bit tired of talking about it. Instead, I would rather talk about how it has not changed us.

See, the day before I was threatened with arrest for sharing food, Shelden's brother died. And during the hubbub of it all, Steven lost his bed in the shelter. And Sonya and Darius cooked dinner for my wife and I in the kitchen of the house you helped them get two years ago. And Cassie found out she might get custody of her daughter again. And we threw Ashley and Charlie a baby shower. And Valerie miscarried - in the front room of our building.

In other words, life goes on.

Because, in the grand scheme of things, it doesn't matter that now your little ministry is now famous, or that people from around the world are emailing you wanting advice on how to keep poverty from being criminalized in their area, or that you need to write a letter to the donors to explain what is happening. Our fame has not brought Steven a bed or given Shelden a way to make sense of the loss of his brother. Fame cannot do that.

And fame cannot heal the long loneliness we all feel. Only relationship can do that. Only sitting with someone, sharing loss together, celebrating together, laughing together, and crying together can do that. And you can't do that while you are on TV.

So, like I said, life is going on. And it is not always happy - but neither is it always sad. It is just life. And we are very aware that even if we were not here, Shelden's brother still would have died, and Valerie would still have miscarried, and Steven would still have lost his bed at the shelter. Our being here did not change any of that.

But I do know that because we were here, Shelden had someone to cry with him in the hospital hallway. Valerie had someone to call the ambulance. Steven had someone to discuss options with. And because of that, in a time of stress and fear and anger, they all felt a little less alone. And that is not a small thing.

Not a small thing at all.

Grace and Peace,


Rev. Hugh Hollowell
Pastor & Director

9/26/2013 2:32:21 AM

Nothing makes your city look good like giving handouts to homeless people. "A little compassion goes a long way"

Moore square is a dump, the city needs to clean it up.

9/26/2013 6:34:11 AM

Quote :

"wanting advice on how to keep poverty from being criminalized in their area"

They're not criminalizing poverty

9/26/2013 9:08:56 AM

^^^
i like that guy

9/26/2013 9:11:26 AM

Quote :

"i like that guy"

+1

9/26/2013 9:46:38 AM

what a fucking attention whore

9/26/2013 9:51:27 AM

on the twitters people have been offering or recommending other locations

9/26/2013 10:28:09 AM

Nope, Moore Square is the only option. Moore Square it is, or you hate the poor and want them to die.

9/26/2013 10:32:44 AM

^^ I would be curious to what the church would say to moving it inside the actual church facilities

If this was purely altruistic that wouldn't be a problem right?

[Edited on September 26, 2013 at 10:33 AM. Reason : ]

9/26/2013 10:33:01 AM

you think any of the rich downtown churches want homeless people hanging around? their members don't want to drive all the way from Brier Creek or Bedford and have to see homeless people!

One church was offered and I've seen a few people suggesting the parking lot of some facilities that are closed and also parts of the city in the state government district that are empty on the weekends (for example, the large field behind the state legislature building was recommended)

9/26/2013 10:37:54 AM

Quote :

"I would be curious to what the church would say to moving it inside the actual church facilities"

That's what I'm having trouble understanding. With the number of churches and church organizations located downtown, they can't find private property to hand out biscuits?

9/26/2013 1:27:12 PM

churches just want to build gyms for the church league basketball teams, fancy speaker systems so the kids can put on expensive plays, and they want to send aid to some organization in a foreign country so their high school youth groups can go there for 6 days and come back and write about it in their college applications. churches don't give a shit about poverty in their own community.

9/26/2013 1:38:16 PM

^ yep

9/26/2013 2:41:17 PM

9/26/2013 2:41:54 PM

http://www.wral.com/raleigh-parks-director-moore-square-feedings-out-of-control-/12929555/

Quote :

"The charitable groups have said they're doubtful that a reasonable compromise can be achieved and that city leaders are just trying to save face."

the reasonable compromise is to change locations

9/27/2013 9:40:57 AM

Yep, it's ridiculous that in the time this issue got publicity, there haven't been churches and religious groups falling all over themselves to let these poor, less-fortunate, hungry people be fed on their own church property. And it's not like there is a shortage of churches downtown.

They want to help the homeless, just not on their own private land. Pot, kettle.

9/27/2013 9:52:04 AM

Life Goes On // A letter from a fuckface
Dear Friends,

The last month has been unreal.

The media attention in the aftermath of what we lovingly call The Jesus Biscuit Extravaganza was overwhelming. In one 24 hour period, for example, I was interviewed by soooooooo many people that it made me feel better about my menial existence and getting beat up a lot as a child. I was almost interviewed by the 700 Club, but my cell phone malfunctioned. Please donate more money to my organization, Love Whines, so I can get a new iPhone 5. Here's the link: http://lovewins.info/donate. The default amount is $50 because I don't want the cheaper 5C.

I know some of you are wanting me to talk about the incident, or the media attention, or how this has changed us. That is a valid request, but I am, quite frankly, a bit tired of talking about it. Instead, I would rather use inflammatory language to elicit some emotional response and make you want to donate money.

See, the day before I was threatened with arrest for sharing food, some stuff happened that I don't genuinely care about, but let me give these homeless people a name and a story so you'll be more likely to donate money. Shelden's brother died because he was a drug addict with hepatitis and AIDS. And during the hubbub of it all, Steven lost his bed in the shelter because he was too busy getting drunk to follow the rules and be in by a certain time. And Sonya and Darius cooked a meal for for my wife and I that contained gluten. I told them she had a gluten allergy but it's not that bad - we really wanted to get out of that trailer park anyway. Desmond has his barrow in the market place. Molly is the singer in a band. And Cassie found out she might get custody of her daughter again even though she still sucks dick for crack. And we threw Ashley and Charlie a baby shower for a child they didn't want and can't afford, but god loves all children! And Valerie miscarried - in the front room of our building. It was a bitch to clean up.

In other words, I'm a money-grubbing Jesus freak who didn't have a lot of friends as a child, but now I'm like soooooooo popular. Please donate, I'd like to get an Otter Box to cover my new phone in case a homeless person urinates on it.

Because, in the grand scheme of things, all that matters now is that I am popular and my organization is getting lots of attention (read: money).

And fame cannot heal that innate desire we all have... it's not just about being popular, it's about being a total dick too. How good does it feel to tease someone with food? I know our jesus biscuits aren't actually helping anyone, and in fact it's making the problem worse. That means more publicity and more donations for Love Whines!

So, like I said, O-bla-di, o-bla-da, life goes on, brah. La la la la life goes on.

But I do know that because you are still reading this, you're still considering donating money. Maybe if we get get enough money, we can open a legitimate brick and mortar homeless shelter that actually helps people. And that is not a small amount of money.

Not a small amount at all.

Grace and Peace,


Rev. OMG LOOK AT ME
Biscuit Maker Extraordinaire

[Edited on September 27, 2013 at 11:17 AM. Reason : too much?]

9/27/2013 11:15:21 AM

[Edited on September 27, 2013 at 11:39 AM. Reason : ^]

9/27/2013 11:36:48 AM

whats a reasonable compromise distance to look for alternate locations to still serve the same area? 1/2 mile? 1 mile?

9/27/2013 11:39:11 AM

^^^
you sure are mad at a guy who is trying to do good things

9/27/2013 11:42:38 AM

>Derides pastor for attention-seeking and being a "total dick"
>Posts racy photos to TWW, calls pastor a "fuckface"

CircleOfLife.mp3

9/27/2013 11:53:56 AM

conservative cynicism makes me laugh

9/27/2013 12:02:37 PM

My father is a minister, and apparently since this issue has been in the state-level media spotlight, there's been some discussion among district leaders. According to him, quite a few other districts are pissed that leaders in Wake county are, in their eyes, milking this for PR, instead of actually putting resources and effort into relocating the service to a downtown church. I was surprised because I thought he'd take the side of "they're making it illegal for us to do God's work!" but instead he sees them as selfishly ignoring an easy and potentially better compromise with neighboring churches.

Just to illustrate that this isn't a one-sided matter as far as demographics go.

9/27/2013 1:17:32 PM

^^^except I admit that I'm an attention whore, which totally makes it ok and not hypocritical at all

LOOK AT ME

GIVE ME MONEY



[Edited on September 27, 2013 at 1:37 PM. Reason : warning: offensive, satire, I take nothing seriously]

9/27/2013 1:36:33 PM

do you think admitting to being an attention whore makes it any less pathetic?

9/27/2013 1:39:03 PM

Yes

9/27/2013 1:39:18 PM

cool

9/27/2013 1:43:21 PM

9/27/2013 1:45:50 PM

cause then they'll just keep coming back

9/27/2013 1:47:27 PM

It looks like its basically a done deal for the new location. They didn't choose my recommendation, and I'm worried its not far enough to improve the park completely, but it should definitely help at least. The new location should last until the new apartments are built, and probably see pressure to move again at that point. since the new location is city property the city will have the clear power to do that.

I guess the attention must have slowed where the Jesus Biscuit group could no longer cash in on the attention and decided to accept a suggestion from a list of alternate locations. The local elections being over helped too.

10/23/2013 7:05:48 AM

cool

10/23/2013 8:21:46 AM

Quote :

"BREAKING NEWS: A COMMITTEE OF THE RALEIGH CITY COUNCIL HAS RECOMMENDED THAT A TEMPORARY FOOD DISTRIBUTION FACILITY FOR THE HOMELESS BE SET UP IN MOORE SQUARE. CITY COUNCIL WILL CONSIDER THE RECOMMENDATION DURING ITS DEC. 3 MEETING. THE CITY HAS BEEN STUDYING THE ISSUE SINCE AUGUST, WHEN VOLUNTEERS SAID THEY WERE THREATENED WITH ARREST FOR FEEDING THE HOMELESS IN THE HISTORIC SQUARE."

11/26/2013 4:46:59 PM

oops

11/26/2013 4:50:21 PM

they were planning to setup a temporary facility at the city owned property adjacent to moore square, i bet that's what that release is about


EDIT:
and yep, i was right. this is the same thing that I posted above. the location is 215 S. Person St in the warehouse behind the old Salvation Army. its been basically a done deal for awhile, the city is going to control it so they can move it out of the park and take over from the jesus biscuit group. (they have to raise the money first, I think the estimate was about $100k to renovate the last I heard plus staffing costs)


[Edited on November 26, 2013 at 5:04 PM. Reason : .]

11/26/2013 4:52:11 PM

2 people stabbed in Moore Square

12/29/2013 10:31:20 AM

stabbing on a Friday night? must have to do with the homeless being fed on Sunday morning

12/29/2013 11:14:19 AM

its related to the feeding on the weekend, the proximity to the bus station, and Raleigh's tolerance towards drinking in public

12/29/2013 11:24:14 AM

Because the people were stabbed by a homeless drunk guy that was fed on the weekend and rode the bus?

12/29/2013 12:31:06 PM

Because we have created a park that the general public can't use and Police dont go into

12/29/2013 12:54:42 PM

Just because you're scared of hungry people doesn't mean the general public is

12/29/2013 1:10:27 PM

Scared isn't why the park is unusable, read the yelp reviews

[Edited on December 29, 2013 at 1:11 PM. Reason : autocorrect]

12/29/2013 1:11:21 PM

it's got a 3 out of 5 on yelp, and even the lone 1 star rater said it's a great spot if there is an event going on...so...what are you babbling about?

12/29/2013 5:00:22 PM

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g49463-d277306-Reviews-Moore_Square-Raleigh_North_Carolina.html

Quote :

"Moore Square is a great location when attending an event. Lots of parking and near city market and a number of restaurants and bars. When there isn't an event, it is filled with homeless people and you want to avoid it. "

Quote :

"...I think City Market could be a lot more successful if only Moore Square wasn't in such a sad state. I get that the homeless are there because of the bus station and soup kitchens...and I certainly don't know where else they can go. What I do know is that I absolutely will not walk through there alone...It's an eye sore, with huge blad spots in the grass. it's great when they have free concerts out there, though. "

Quote :

"this sad area is a place where homeless sleep on the park benches. there is nothing remotely attractive about this place. i hate how there is so much money dumped into revamping Raleigh's downtown but this area and the square in front of the Tir Na Nog are squalid and barren. They could be beautiful but no. Any city in Europe would know what to do with such a place but here? No charming fountain, no street vendors, no view, no manicured flowers, no nothing. depressing"

Quote :

"I don't see how this is listed as an attraction. It's a park for the homeless and is across from the soup kitchen at the Salavation Army. Most of downtown Raleigh is a moribound abandoned area that longs for the "good old days" when it was the center of commerce. The city endlessly pours money into downtown trying to revitalize it and get people to move back from the suburbs. It would be my opinion to stay away from Moore Park. It is an unsafe area in my opinion."

Quote :

"I try to avoid Moore square. It is where the homeless hang out. Nowever I do enjoy going there when I have something to give away, and I know the homeless will take whatever I have. I do like being able to help them out. but to just go hang out at the park, no. Occationally the city will have events there. But then it just a bunch of people getting drunk in public. I will pass."

Quote :

"Not worth a trip unless they have an event. Yes it is sketchy and a lot of homeless hang out near here."

Quote :

"There are a lot rough folks in this area. The only time I have felt comfortable at Moore Square is during events there when they have loads of Police presence."

Quote :

"A find Moore square to be a little sketchy where they don't have an event there. There are places that do food handouts on one side of the square, so the square is usually full of people who are facing desperate times. I wish them well, but it does not make for an inviting space."

Quote :

"This is a feeding ground for the homeless by the churches and people who do not live in the area. One of the favorites is chicken and the homeless just toss their bones everywhere causing a choking hazard for dogs."

[Edited on December 29, 2013 at 5:23 PM. Reason : etc...]

12/29/2013 5:18:12 PM