On The Mark
KCAA: On The Mark with Mark Westwood (Thu, 8 Aug, 2024)
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K-C-A-A K-C-A-A now presents Crossroads, a program in the public interest, bringing you the issues you need to hear about here in our community. Now here's your host, Mark Westwood. And good afternoon to you, everybody out there in Radio Land, everywhere to the ships to the seas to all the Southern California. It's good to be back with you here as we start to roll into the election season. It's a big day all around the area as we have election filing periods closing. So if you're running for office or putting an issue on the ballot, a lot of you know that we will be cutting the date off at five o'clock. And that's why I just brought this up as we enter into this. On the phone, I have a good friend and somebody who has some news for us. The former city clerk for the City of San Bernardino for umpteenth number of years. And Community Actives is now currently, I believe the director of Habitat for Humanity as well. And Gigi is now engaging in something else. And I would like to welcome Gigi so she can make the announcement. Hello Gigi. Hello Mark, thank you for having me. Wonderful. I turned in my papers today to run for Ucaypa City Council District 3. Well congratulations. Yay, we always like to hear people stepping up to the table to make a difference, to help their community because they care and they love their community. And Gigi, you're originally from San Bernardino and then you moved to South Dakota I think. And now you've been in the Ucaypa for a little bit. And tell us what you like most about Ucaypa. Well, I really like where I'm living is very walkable. So I can go to the historic downtown area. There's great shops, I feel safe. And so I like the walkability, the safeness. I like the rural feel and yet it's, you know, close to everything you need to be. I've lived there for 21 years Gigi, I love it. A lot of changes, a lot of changes, but you know what? There's been some changes that are good, some changes that aren't bad. But, you know, I just wanted to introduce you to folks today. And we're going to have you come on the radio in a little bit in a few days. And we'll interview you and talk about all your goals and your visions for the city of Ucaypa. You just, we have this mutual Ucaypa love admiration society. And it is a beautiful place to live and in many ways. And we're glad to have a very qualified person who can not only be running your own campaign if she wanted to, but a political consultant. Say folks, Gigi, you have a website, right? I do. It's called GG4. That's the numeral for Ucaypa3, the numeral3.com. G-I-G-I-4. And I lost the rest of it. Ucaypa3. I have to think about that. Okay, say it all again. G-I-4. Ucaypa3. G-I-4. Ucaypa3. Okay, @.com, just.com. Yeah, yeah, I'm sorry, I'm like, what? Yeah, yeah. That's the word. I'll get that right. Eventually, I'll get that right. And you're off to the races. And you're making appearances here and there and whatnot? Can I believe? Oh, yes. Yes. Without a national night out the other night, that was fun. A little warm, but fun. Okay, we're all good. And GG's living in District 3. And we are glad to have you in Ucaypa, and I look forward to you being on our City Council. Thank you, Gigi. Thank you very much. Thank you. We're going to get on with our program. This is kind of quick add-on. Just want to say hello and shout out and congratulations for getting that. All those petitions signed and all that paperwork done and being right on the road at the very first congratulations. Gigi Hannah, candidate for District 3, Ucaypa City Council. Thank you. All right. All right. And we're going to move on from there. As we move into things today, we're going to talk momentarily to Suzette Scott about National Solidarity Week and some other challenges in the community of San Bernardino all around, really, the homeless program, problem rather than homeless problem, not the program. And welcome, Suzette. Hi, thank you Mark for having me. Great. And I'll get back with you in just a minute. I've got a couple other things to talk about. Always open up our show with some community announcements. First of all, I want to send a big congratulations to Rachel Gustason. Now for people in Ucaypa, you know her very well. She's the editor of the Ucaypa Calamisa News Mirror, the newspaper, the weekly newspaper in Ucaypa has been for quite some time active in the community. And just recently the papers that she works for are chain of newspapers, not just the Ucaypa Calamisa News Mirror, but the Redlands Community News, the Banning and Beaumont Gazette, the Fontana Herald, and the Redlands Community News. Well, she was recently also made editor of the Redlands Community News. There's been a lot of changes there. I've kept the reporters. I kept all the reporters. Some of their, you know, hired freelance reporters are not quite using right now. They're kind of redesigning the paper a little bit. But they, this company out of Arizona that purchased Century Newspaper Group, out of Arizona has about 60 papers and they are committed to keeping the news local and keeping that paper local and all those papers local. So we congratulate them. We welcome them to community and they'll have another edition coming out this Friday and every Friday, happily ever after. And we want to welcome and congratulate the new owner and also Rachel Gustason, who's been a longtime friend and supporter of our radio stations here and we've collaborated quite a bit. So we're, we're glad she's still on board and we're glad they're still around and that will be local news. We also want to support local news. So that, that's a good thing. In the city of San Bernardino coming up tonight, I know it were the events. The election is about maybe 90 days away now. As, you know, everybody's talking about, you know, Kamala Harris and Tim Wells and the Democratic ticket. There's been a lot of talk about that. We talked a lot about Olympics, but you know, we haven't heard about a lot about local races, like what we just announced in Yucaypa, but there's also a local race for city council in San Bernardino. I believe the seventh ward. And if I'm not mistaken, it's the seventh ward. There's a debate tonight by the two candidates that made it through the primary. That would be Jim Penman, former city attorney, who was recalled, but he committed to his community, I guess, and he's running for city council again against treasure Ortiz, a longtime community activist. If you know treasure, she is very well informed. She is a very passionate person about San Bernardino. So this, this promises to be, you know, a city attorney, a former city attorney, and treasure Ortiz, very knowledgeable, very learned. This promises to be a very good debate, and it's taking place tonight at the Arrowhead Country Club. That's right above 30th Street off of Country Club Drive. Arrowhead Country Club, it starts at 6.30. There'll be a little mixer where people can talk beforehand, some appetizers I'm told, and then at seven o'clock, the debate, the meat is served. The main entree is served, and it should be very informative, very eye-opening, maybe very air-opening, interesting, and maybe entertaining debate. I think those are the best adjectives I can put about it, but, you know, you might want to bring your seatbelts and sit down. Hold on, is this going to be a good one? Anyway, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, shill of all ages, ding, ding, ding, ding, the world wrestling. No, anyway, I digress. You've got to have a little sense of humor in this life, right? Jim Pentman versus treasure Ortiz. Anyway, it's the WWE. No, it won't be that hopefully. You know, I really wish the best for San Bernardino. It has so many challenges, so many challenges. It's my hometown, all my degrees, all my, you know, graduation certificates and diplomas and everything come with the word San Bernardino on them. So, and I lived in San Bernardino for 35 years, and it's my hometown, basically. I have a lot of hometowns, but that's the primary hometown. I went to Lincoln Elementary School, Arrowview Junior High School, San Bernardino High School, San Bernardino Valley College, Cal State, San Bernardino, before I went on to Cal State for a little while. I got to tell you, I think I'm pretty well educated, and I have to say this. I just have to say this. Some cheering to go on the San Bernardino High School District is performing better than the national advertising, average, national average in test scores. Did you know that? Oh, no, I did. Yes, and then, and particularly their continuation high schools are having a high rate of graduation, and they're continuing on to college. That's a lot of them are continuing on to college, and that's a real challenge with a continuation school. They're usually there because there's either some social problems, there's some family problems, some economic problems, some challenge that is aside from just the learning, or maybe there was a learning disability, but most often, it's, you know, a challenge to students in the first place, so to get them through school, to get them past the test scores, to test above the national average, to get them to graduate, and stay in school, and then want to go on and learn, and continue their education. Big applause, we had applause, big applause for the San Bernardino High School District, and a lot of people don't know that, because, you know, the city of San Bernardino has kind of a little bit of reputation, a little bit of reputation, and anything with the words "San Bernardino" on it tends to get a little tarnished, you know, and so when people ask about, you know, how the schools are in San Bernardino, a lot of times they say, "Well, you know, I'm very good, I hear people are getting murdered," you know, that's not happening at all, there's not been a single murder, not in a single gun incident, in, in a few years, and, and they're performing well on their test scores, they're graduating their students, so congratulations to them, they're growing school district, they've got new buildings going up, they're, they're prosperous, and they're progressive, and congratulations for all their hard work, so with that being said, now we turn to another item, and that is, we need to talk about National Solidarity Week, and I have Zazette Scott, who also used to be formerly of the Foothill AIDS Project, and now she works for the family assistance program in San Bernardino, and tell us what does the family assistance program do? Thank you Mark for having me, thank you Radio World, it's good to be here to talk a little bit about my agency family assistance program, I'm one of the program managers there for our coordinated entry system, family assistance program is working in this county to combat homelessness, we have DV shelters, we have runaway homeless youth shelters, we have Tay Age shelters, we have the only, sorry, Tay Age shelters, yes, so let me, I know there's acronyms, transitional age youth aged 18 to 24, that's why I stopped you, transitional and assistance youth, Tay as they come, and it's 18 to 24, a lot of times, you know, students, let's face it, apartment rent, it's too darn high, auto insurance, auto payments, job availability, payment, health insurance, all that stuff, all of a sudden if they're from a challenged family, or they're a foster family, or maybe they're from the LGBT community or something like that, they're bumped out in the community and made instantly homeless, because the families are no longer maybe you see receiving assistance, and so, or they come from a culture or a family that has been chronically homeless also, yes, right, and you know, there's some wild statistics that we can talk about, but the fact is they get dumped, and they're perfectly, you know, able, they have a lot of capacity, they're good kids, they're, you know, and all of a sudden they find themselves in this challenge, so we do have a little bit of a safety net, but not a big enough one, but we have a little bit of one right, called the transitional assistance youth program, yes, and we have, so we have a great strong program here in San Bernardino for our, for our transitional age youth, family assistance, the part that we play is that we provide shelter transitional programs, we have drop-in centers here locally in San Bernardino, where we can, they can come to us, and they can get up to a year sometimes to help get themselves together and find work and try to find affordable living, we have the only LGBTQIA two-spirit plus shelter here in San Bernardino, that caters specifically to that population. Yes, it is, they are targeted more for crime, marginalization, their families often don't understand, you know, so they end up homeless without having safety net of a family event, so our family, our, our case managers and our advocates, we welcome into, to the home and to the shelter and we work with them. And this underlines something homeless, as people think of it, you know, sometimes it's just this old ragtag guy, maybe an alcoholic, they come in all shapes, sizes, gender, all shapes, all sizes, ages, every nationality, there's no, there's no defining, there's no, it's like saying, oh, you look like a poor person, well, technically a lot of us are poor, but we still work, we are the working poor, some of us are a lot of paycheck away from being homeless, so there's nothing that's going to define what you, you know, you could, I've worked with widows who never worked because the husband was an electrician, she never had to, he passes and now she's homeless, because technically being homeless, even if you're living with your kids, that's not your home, you're, so you're still homeless and it can happen to anyone. And it does and everywhere, and there's no excuse for it, there really isn't, we have the resources, the country has the resources, the state has the resources, the county has the resources, the city has the resources. We are the richest state in this country, we have our own, we can have our own independent economy, so it doesn't make sense that we have not come up with solutions for affordable housing, transitional housing, shelter housing to accommodate, there's a housing model for every type of person with schizophrenia, bipolar, what have you, the ailment, recovering addicts, you know, some folks, they need, we have shelters that, you know, they preach beings, rights, Jesus Christ, we have people that work and recover great under those programs. And there's one size fits all doesn't work. It does not work. Specialized, you know, multilateral, instead of a unilateral approach, you know, it's not because people don't want to work, it's not because people don't have the capacity or whatever, there's a lot of reasons, and like I said, all shapes and sizes, and you know, for seniors, for instance, we have, you know, social security, there's pension programs, there are housing that you can rent, the senior citizens, housing, it's discounted greatly, but you know, we need to work with our youth. In the city of Redlands about three years ago already, there was about 2,500, 2,500 housing challenged, you know, you know, kids that didn't, they were couch surfing, it's a travesty. And then you get to the other reasons why people do this. I always put this statistic out when I talk about this, it says that, and a lot of people are shocked by it. I'm going to ask you the question, you probably already know it, but then I'll tell. What is the number one way people get off the streets? There's always silence in others, I won't hold you off to it anymore. It's death. Yes, sadly, it's death in a homeless sentence. It's about five and a half years. From the time somebody becomes homeless to the point where they no longer exist is five and a half years. It's a death sentence that nobody deserves. Right. And people, they see the homeless and they think it's a condition that they are temporarily in because they see it and they don't, they're not interacting so they don't know the stories or how long they've been or where this other person was homeless before they came here. But the homeless population are susceptible to so many public health risks. They're vulnerable to attack from other homeless people in encampments. They're subject to infectious diseases more. So yes, you're right. Well, homelessness naturally among even healthy minded people causes a kind of almost a schizophrenia, yes, mental illness, you know, conspiracy kind of. Right. I talked to folks and I say if you weren't, if you didn't have issues before you were homeless, becoming homeless or ending up homeless has definitely made you more fragile mentally, mental health is more fragile because now you're in constant survival mode. And family assistance, what I loved about the agency when I learned about the agency was that they were trying to, they were capturing the youth because that's where you have to capture it in order to stop it to this progression, this continual increasing population of homeless, you have to show them different options and family assistance bringing these kids in and showing them, you know, you don't have to continue this cycle of homelessness. Here's how you get out and it doesn't take a lot sometimes. There's so many different models of housing shared living where you can go in and share a house, a four or five bedroom house and you pay seven, eight, nine hundred dollars with some, several other folks in order to share that house. That's affordable. And you can make that work in $20 an hour out of fast food job. It'll be tight, but you can do it. You know, homeless people have so many challenges. You know, there's so many reasons. It's not all drug and alcohol addiction, but that's a good part of it. It can be, you know, mental illness, it could be an anti-social thing. It could also just simply be, you know, economic disparity. Something has happened and emotional to malt in your life, like a death, death is the most in the leading cause of that. Someone who supported you, who helped you, who you were dependent on dies and they're no longer there for you, whether it's a parent, whether it's a spouse, whoever that might be. You know, you know, all those things are reasons why this happens. And then economics is the fact that, you know, houses are $2,500 for an apartment, you know, it costs roughly about $400 at the very minimum to eat, $100 a week, maybe $500 to eat, just if you're eating is simply, you're not eating out or splurging or anything like that. It also, you have car insurance, you have your incidental utility fees and everything. It's just expensive to live. It's expensive for us, grown folks that have jobs. And I got to tell you, it takes all my creativity sometimes. Exactly. To get by and I'm a pretty able-minded person, I think. I'm not dumb, but there are some people that don't have that same capacity. Right. And bless their hearts, they don't have that coping capacity. Right. They weren't taught it, they didn't learn it, or they never had to use those skills. Or some of it's just not in their DNA. It's just right. It's sad. I had a recent client, a gentle man. Personality is not just learned, but okay. Right. And he is a recent widow and his wife did everything. She paid all the bills, she bought all the clothes, she bought all the food. And he was lost after. And he had income. He has my, he has social security. Nothing wrong with him. He's just a little more passive. My wife might have been a little bit more dominant in the relationship. They were probably married for years and years and years. So there's an emotional- Fourteen years. That happens and then all of a sudden they don't have the coping mechanism. And he's in mourning. Right. And he's in mourning. I have a friend, he's an artist, loved the guy, wish I could help him more. We're all having our own struggles, but his house burned down. Just he lost everything. Right. And he didn't have a lot to begin with. And gosh darn it. This is so hard to hear and trying to figure out how to help him or what to do. And this will be a person who, you know, we'll talk about after the break, the current status of homelessness in this area. But you know. Absolutely. Like I said, there's all kinds of reasons. It's economic disparities, civil to moat, to molt, again in trouble with the law, trauma. I know a guy, you know, unfortunately he had a little bit of a drinking problem. But not a horrible drinking problem. It's still functional until he got a DUI. And he had his license taken away from him. And he couldn't go to work. And because he couldn't get to work because he had to commute. Right. You know, he lost his job. And then there's a down here, a little spiral from that point on. And I saw this guy go from, you know, this really virile, healthy kind of guy to, I saw him not too long ago. And I'm like, oh my gosh, you know. Right. That's why we have to still keep making the argument to not criminalize homelessness, because we understand what having to become justice involved means. People lose jobs. They have to take time off work. It could be something simple. I mean, if you have a drinking problem, that should always, I feel that you should have the option of being able to go to treatment as opposed to go into jail. You know, you should have those options. I think that's happening more. And treatment doesn't happen on our time clock? No. So sometimes we think, well, we sent them to rehab. They were there for three months, and then they went into their treatment, and they should be fine now. And it's their own fault. Right. It may take two or three times. It may take two or three times. It's not easy to get over a chemical dependency or a drug dependency. But those initial involvement, justice involvement, they can change your life. Absolutely. They can, they make you spend money that you didn't have with attorneys and so. So I've been speaking with Shazetta Scott. She's with the Family Assistance Program. And she was telling me it's National Solidarity Week. Yes. National Solidarity Week for homeless housing. So it's from the 3rd through the 10th of August every year. And it's just advocacy around housing, getting smart about it, finding out what the statistics are for homelessness, and trying to come up with solutions. So you just have many agencies, homeless advocacy agencies that they get really, really diligent around this time to come up with solutions, share solutions, and talk about ways to help get our unhoused folks off the streets. Absolutely. And that's what we need to talk about. And we're going to talk about the second half of that, about the status of homelessness in San Bernardino, Redlands, Riverside, in the Empire, and what maybe we can do to challenge or secure this challenge? We need everybody. Okay. Mark Westwood, along with Eric Casario in the control room, says that Scott will be back right after these messages on KCAA 1050 AM on a 6.5 FM, the stations that leave no listener behind. 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Whether you're providing creative services, construction or entertainment or websites to photography, banks and beyond, you can expand your horizons where potential is nurtured. You'll have the opportunity to explore, learn and be inspired where you can discover new prospects to ignite your business or bring new life to your special program, nonprofit or organization. You can go to MegamixExpo.com. That's MegamixExpo.com or call 626-268-3590. Join this station at the Megamix Expo, August 7th and 8th at the Ontario Convention Center. K-C-A-A. And we're back. I'm Mark Westwood on Community Crossroads. It is National Solidarity Week and we're talking with Zedda Scott about homelessness. And if there was ever a subject, you need to turn the radio up, listen to. If you're listening to us on your smartphone, on our app, you can just download K-C-A-A on the app and an Apple or Android and you'll find us there and you can listen to us anywhere. But if you're listening to us right now, turn it up and listen. This is a worthy subject to listen to. This is a worthy subject. If you ever want to get involved and make a difference in this world, this is something you need to listen to. There's all kinds of approaches to this, but it's about homelessness. And particularly we're going to talk this half hour about homelessness and the status in San Bernardino and Riverside a little bit in the county. So welcome back, Zedda. Thank you. Thank you. And thank you for talking about this. Zedda works with a family assistance program of San Bernardino. Yes. And that is... And a high desert. And a high desert. That's an organization that helps homeless families. Yes. You know, no longer is it just the hobo with a stogi cigar and a paper bag with some ripple in it. There's a whole families that are homeless. Yes. Senior citizens that are homeless. Young people that are homeless. Single people. Single ladies with cats. Yes. Or the dog. That's the dog part of it. And you know, we need to stop discriminating against them. I know that sometimes maybe they don't smell pleasant. Or maybe they don't look good. Or maybe they're dumping some trash or whatever. We know that they're thinking be a nuisance. And sometimes they're not always good, just to add people in water. They're not everybody's good. So we need to talk about this homelessness. And specifically I want to zero in on San Bernardino. Because there's a lot going on. And if you haven't San Bernardino, you know there's a huge gigantic, gigantic homeless problem. Yes, there is. So I have, I choose to work in San Bernardino. I actually live in Chino. But I choose to work in San Bernardino and I've chosen to work in San Bernardino because I love this city. I've been out here for over four years. And I kind of grew up at the Carousel Mall. My first the first date was there at the Carousel Mall when I was like 17. And so I think lots of me has romanticized old San Bernardino and but it's changed so much. And unfortunately San Bernardino has the largest homeless population in the county. The city the city proper has the largest homeless population. Well, it's location location location. Exactly. It's a beautiful community. Yes. And you know, it's a little bit more affordable. Yes. It starts off as being a little bit more affordable. Even though it costs believe it or not about $600 a month just to be homeless. Yes. You know that's a surprising statistic. You think, well, they're not paying rent or anything else. Yeah, it does cost about six hours a month. Because they have to utilize a lot of the public services. So they they use emergency rooms as like the regular doctors for treatment and things like that. So it's costing us we we may not see it come out of our pocket directly but it's costing us the count it's costing the city and it's costing the county. So there's over like 300 homeless people in Paracel Park. Unfortunately, unfortunately, they've they've whatever reason congregated at Paracel Park. Yes. I gotta be honest, it's a sad thing because Paracel Park is one of my lovely places I live. It is. I used to run a market night in the middle of it. I was a parks and recreation commission in the second ward and that is in the second ward of San Bernardino. And and it just pains me to drive by there. They're all over the lawn in front of the weather swimming pool is they're backing me behind the fences and everything like fiscollini field and right against there. They're up on the top of the mountain. Right. They're you know, honestly honest with you, they have probably caused a couple million dollars of damage in that park at the very least. Right. And that's because they're trying to survive. They need something. Right. Take it out of the ground. They need some wire. They take it out of the lamp posts. Yes. You know, and you know, they can't mow the lawn. They can't maintain the park right now because they have to mow around homeless people. Right. I think it's almost impossible right now to maintain the park and to condition where the public would, you know, feel comfortable or feel good about going there. It's sad. But I try to be optimistic about the situation. I pastor every day because my office is about a stone's throw away from the park. So I pastor every day for a homeless advocate. It's always it's like a recommitment every single time. Okay. Who am I going to get out of there today? I drove through there in the back. Yes. You told me and I says like the Pirates of the Caribbean. There was a guy stuck up on the fence trying to get over into the Roosevelt Bowl. Right. Right. There's some characters in there. And boy, we're over there. We go out there, you know, and there's some characters out there. They had an abandoned piano and the lady was playing the piano, playing and plucking away. Right. There's just it's just it's it's it's unfortunate. But I know that being in that park is better than the folks that we work with behind the cemetery over off a water man. So no homelessness is good homelessness point to this is is that homelessness is costly. More costly than just you know, just ignore them, let them do what they want. No, it's not going to happen. They have to survive. They have to live. They're going to use things. They're going to abuse things. They cause fires and I don't mean to degrade the homeless because they're in a desperate situation. And some of them are out of their minds on drugs, Vietnam, something like that. So it's more costly. And my point is it's more costly not to do anything about it. Right. And to do something about it. Absolutely right. It is more costly to try to take care of the folks on the street than it would be to open up a transitional shelter or a wellness center like in Victorville. It's it's we need but that's what we need. We need the next step. Well, homeless people, they need someplace to shower. Yes. We need some place to prepare a meal. Right. They need someplace to sleep. We can't ask them to do anything else outside of them being homeless if we can't give them what they need to try to go to work. I've heard some people that are more conservative mindset. Well, this should just go get a job. Oh, are you wanting to apply for a job these days? You need a computer. Right. Even if you if you can find something remote, you you still have to have a place. You still need to be able to plug in somewhere. And you know what homeless people really need? They need their dignity. Yes. They need their dignity and hope. You know, they need to they need to have hope that the people that are around them that are seeing them care enough to want to help them get out of that situation. Excuse me for saying this, is that it's not rocket science, is it? No, it's not. It's not rocket science. No. How easy would it be to find a location? Well, I was just talking about somebody with it today because they were talking about Paris whole Park to me. I hear this all the time because people come to me from the community. What's going on here? And you know, I say, how hard would it be to create a space where there were showers, where there were facilities to, you know, go to the bathroom even? Gosh. Imagine being without any place to go to the bathroom. Right. You know, toilet paper, a place to prepare a little food, a place to get some information like internet. How about, you know, washing machine and dryers where they could go wash their clothes and stuff like that? That's why they're at the park. That's why they're there. That's why they're there because they can, they have facilities, they have bathrooms, they can, you know, do the basics. They're outside, they can cook. They all have portable little grills, things like that. They can cook outside. But it's not an optimal way to do it. No, no, but this is... That's how they have to do it. This is how they've accommodated for their situation. They have enough outreach agencies that will come to them to hand out food bags, toiletries, things, you know. But they, they, we're not going behind, you know, encampments behind bushes. They're out in the public at that park for that reason. We need to find a, I know why they're there, but we need to find another place. Yes. Because that's where our community goes. Right. For like, there was a national light out that was supposed to happen that got canceled. Right. I'm fortunate. The reason that got canceled, because it's always taking place in Paracel Park. So festivals, music, and picnics, birthdays, celebrations. And that did not make me personally feel good. No. Imagine if you want to send your kid to the plunge today, because it's a hundred degrees outside. You know, you can't... But instead of canceling your national night out, why not have it? Because people need to come. It's, they, you know... Don't turn the blind eye to it, you know, because it's, it's, yes. But that's the reality of it. And national night out is supposed to be about public safety. So what is our leader? I mean, it's not rocket science. We said this, right? Right. Now we're supposed to have some pretty able-minded, minded people in our leadership and San Bernardino and other places. We're supposed to have, you know, in the county of San Bernardino as well. There's, we elect them to be, you know, because they have the capacity to think, to have logic. Why isn't this stuff happening? It's, it's happening. It's just happening really slow. It's happening really slow. But it can't, that they can't have it. Right. And I was at City Council last night. I, I went as a, as a employee and a CES person. And you know, I work with the homeless in their city and I have data. I have numbers. I know how many people come in and how many keep, you know, people called 2-1-1 and said, "I need help." And I wanted to let them know because I heard that their navigation center was being, it's, it's been on the slow, slow freight training. And then there's supposed to be a shelter. They were awarded $800,000. I've had funding to open a shelter. And I see the sign, but it's been, you know, coming soon for quite a while now. And so I went last night because our numbers are increasing. So I'm asking- Oh, yeah. By the way. This isn't getting any better, folks. It just consistently gets worse and worse and worse. Right. Right. We had a fire this week on the north side of the freeway up to the sea. And last week in the Harris Building Company. Exactly. And we're, these people are being displaced. So, these people, so we're not only adding to our numbers, but they are increasing in, in homelessness in the streets. It's, it's just, it's what it is. It's- And it's increasing exponentially. Yes. It's not like one or two dribble dribble dribble, dribble the slight level increase. No. 20, 30, 60, 120. No. No. We have a whole, we have a whole generation of folks that are coming into late age where a lot of them came out of this society at the time where, you know, the wives didn't work and, you know, the baby, the baby boomers, you know, we, you know, and we're having to take care of them. Senior homeless. Right. Senior homeless. People assume that, oh, you work just senior, you, you get money, you got retirement, you got benefits, you're pension. Most senior citizens get SSI. If you did not work sufficiently to put into SSI, your maximum award benefit could be anywhere between 700 to $1,200. You tell me where you're going to live for that. You can't. You can't. And see, this is what we need to do. So those, first of all, we have the immediate need. Yes. Which is what I'm talking about, you know, creating a place, a space that is in the dignity where they can do quandary, where they can have internet, where they can eat, where they can, you know, the first step internet and social and the first step. And then you have transitional, right? Am I off? Yes. No. Well, you assess their needs. Yes. You figure out what their deal is, whether it's drug dependency, chemical dependency, whether it's social, anti-social, you know, all those things. You're getting their IDs, they're getting their eyes checked, they're going to health, they're going to their health care, they're getting their teeth cleaned, their teeth checked. So many folks are out there and they're just, you know, they're disintegrating because they're not attached to their services. And they have some sort of a disease, communicable disease. Exactly. And you want to make sure that they're not giving it out to the community. Exactly. I mean, so yes, transitional is of the utmost importance because that's when your case management comes in and grabs you by the hand and they say, come on, let's, you know, let's get, let's get going. And let's get going because I'm going to tell you something else, folks, it's going to scare the heck out of you. But it's true. Paris Hill Park in the core in the center of San Bernardino with the big hill with all the businesses around it with a high school and an elementary school next to it with residences around it is not just for recreation and stuff like that. That park was built in the WPA, the Works Progress Administration era, not because it was going to be, they built that park as a benefit because they were going to put an aqueduct through San Bernardino to transport water to and from San Bernardino in and out of San Bernardino to other cities. And there's these huge water tanks up on the top of the hill that they're living around that they're getting breached and they're dumping trash and sewage and hey, you're a homeless person, you got to go pee, where are you going to go pee into the aqueduct? Now that's all a problem that's going to cause third world problems in our area. Rats, bubonic plague, that's been an increase in LA. It's coming to San Bernardino. Heaven forbid because it seems like it seems like fires always follow these homeless people. Heaven forbid that core of San Bernardino catches on fire. We could not only just lose the park, we could lose the hill, we could lose the hill. Backing the hill are all kinds of businesses, mortuaries, Jack White or Meyer Insurance, Flowerland. And it's a hop skipping a jump from St. Bernard's. Hey, it's a hop skipping a jump from St. Bernard's hospital too. That doesn't make it convenient for them to get treated. That means it could catch the hospital on fire. There's all kinds of homes and residences around there. Not to mention the brand new Pacific High School they're building that they're trying to get reopened again and all kinds of problems. You know, I call it the Harris and the Paris problem. The Harris district being where the Harris building is, got on fire already and there's only a matter of time before city hall goes, the convention center goes, the hotel goes because they're empty, they're not being utilized. There's only a matter of time, if Paris goes, Paris Health Park goes, so goes San Bernardino. Yes. The city might. And I say that, and I say that also in a different way because I feel that's the largest occupation of homeless is Paris Hill Park. There's lots of other smaller encampments, but when I say small, I can count 10 or 15 in one area and that's not small. Driving across the city block, if you think about some city blocks, I'd only have 10 houses on them or nine houses. That's a city block. Right, headed east on the 210, look up on the freeway encampment on the other side of the road by 30th Street. They have a homeless encampment there all along that ridge right there, tents and everything. In Paris Hill Park, they did two and three tents a piece. There's one guy that's built like a whole like fort up there against the hill with steps he's built. Yes. You know, he's really built up like a compound up there. Yeah. And he might be the king of the homeless. And that's the other thing. It's an interesting social thing. Yes. They are, they're organizing. Yes. Their own community. Their community. Their hierarchy. Their hierarchy. Who's in charge? Who's the one you pay attention to? Yes. The communications. The easiest. So I used to do shared living and set up shared living and shared housing, especially right after the pandemic after Operation Home Key. And the easiest group of people that I was able to get off the streets and into a shared living home, they were all homeless on the street together. They already knew each other. They one had one had a vehicle. So they all had a vehicle and they wanted to go together. They knew each other and they have been facing the same conditions. It's important now with the Grants Past Act that, you know, they're moving folks off of the public state property with their homeless, but we don't have options for them to go anywhere. So we really need to look and see now. That blows my mind. We do have options. They're not just making them available. Right. We need to get serious about them. Yes, we do. And like for certain patients, I call them patients, St. Bernie's Hospital has two wings. They're not using two. Five stories, a hundred rooms, right on one floor. Right. They could do that. There's the Radisson Hotel, you know, there's not easy population. People know the challenges of the population. It's not easy population. Sometimes you're dealing with, you know, a mix of different type of, you know, disabilities and conditions. North and Air Force Base. But it's worth it. It's worth it. We have a whole commissary building that was built brand new. They got abandoned when they closed the base in 1990 through that building has not been used since 1993. It's a huge 50,000 square foot building. We have armories throughout the county that we don't use anymore. They're outdated. They're solutions. They are solutions. No, I heard a figure and maybe you know about this. Maybe you don't and maybe coming crossways at you. I heard that the city of San Bernardino has like $800,000. Yes. So the city of San Bernardino was awarded HAP funding a few, a couple of years. HAP funding. Yes. Don't ask me about the aircraft. I'm going to tell you HAP. It's a definite fund. AP. Yes. And they were awarded $800,000. And the reason that they were allowed to apply for that much was because they had a capital project attached. So they were, so when they were awarded that much, we haven't seen anything come out of that quite yet. They say it's in the progress. But that amount toward anything that they produce would significantly help us address the problem of homelessness. Yes. And you know, we need to advocate and go to city council more often and tell them, you know what, we really need you to get going with that $800,000 and that project for the shelter. That would be a little bit of a bandage for some transition stuff. Yes. You can't create permanent housing, but it could create an area that can level the ground, mow it, you know, make it livable. You know, we have all of these construction tank things that they put on the backs of ships to ship cargo containers. Cart. Yeah. I've seen those. They're amazing. They could easily be developed into like rooms, right? With like a spoke kind of an area where they put them around and spoke. And the hub has the showers, the laundry facilities, the internet. Right. So that we could do. That's their temporary home housing. Some financial assistance. We could do, we could get that for them. We could get that. That's available. And then then the couch, excuse me, coaching, coaching, we need live coaches, we need people to go out there and help these people. Right. Case managers, advocates, that's what we need. We have, we don't need some high paid person. No, person with a good heart and a logic. And you have those in San Bernardino. I'm privileged to know so many people, so many agencies you have a little stipend, but you don't need $300,000. You have agencies like Operation Grace, Pastor Jessica Alexander, she's right here in San Bernardino. She's building a campus for youth housing and youth sheltering. And it doesn't take a lot. It doesn't. It takes the will. It takes the will and the one. We have a project family assistance that we've been trying to get off the ground for a while for some tiny homes and a shelter bed project. And we're working diligently to bring that to the county. Pastor Sharon Green at VVFRC up in the high desert, she is constantly creating shelter shared living spaces for seniors, for families. We don't have a place up there anymore shelter for families. We just open, they just open pods for families, homeless families at the Victorville Wellness Center. There's eight. They're full and they're going to be full. We had a list of over 60 families in the high desert that were homeless. Pods and only eight. You know, there are literally millions of these places. You can put this little styrofoam insulation in them. They don't have to be fancy. Just a home because I tell you what, it's hot right now and I feel bad for them being out there and they need water and then thirsty and it's a miserable form out there, but give it a few months and then it gets miserable the other way. Exactly. And now it won't be just dehydration and problems like that, then it will be the other opposite. And it gets down into the nature. I think it's terrible that we do. We have a season, a homeless season, but it's from June until February. It's from June until February because that's when it's the hottest and it starts to get the coldest. And in the winters when the mountain homeless, they come down from the mountains during that time. So we have even an increased number of homeless on our streets because they're trying to get away from the elements. Yeah. So today we've been talking with Suzetta Scott and we were talking about National Solid Area Week and the approaches to homelessness, causes of homelessness, why people are homeless. You know, it takes a unilateral approach, not a holistic, you know, one approach to it. Takes us off. You can't just round them up and take them and put them someplace. They got to go someplace, those types of things. And speaking of that, now, is, you know, are there some maybe just some places that we can go to right now? Yes. Is there like an overall listing of these places? Well, to get help, we, I recommend folks use ConnectIE. You go online is Connect, C-O-N-N-E-C-T-I-E online. And you can find out where the resources are in the county according to where you live. ConnectIE. ConnectIE. Just the way it sounds. And you can go on and you can find out and you'll get numbers and you'll see listings of people who have shelter. The best, best way is to call 2-1-1. And that's the beginning of our coordinated entry system. You call 2-1-1 and then you get, you start, you get your assessments, you find out what your needs are, and then they're going to direct you to your region where you are. If you're homeless, you should call that. If you are homeless. Yes. And there are phones out. They have phones. Oh, yes. Yes. People. Yeah. Yeah. But you know, they're getting more resourceful, but you know, we need to give them those resources and hope. There's help and there's hope and there's people like, you know, all the folks in market agency that that's that's we lived to help and we want to help. We have such a committed staff to domestic violence victims, human trafficking victims, reentry and the youth. That's what we do. And I'm so proud to work for this agency because as a homeless advocate, the most you want is to work for somebody that believes and holds your values just like you do. Absolutely. And you know, the last thing we need to supply to our homeless, and you might think it's frivolous and it's not because it's part of their spiritual. It's part of their mental well-being is to help provide a little joy. Yes. A little happiness. Can you imagine being homeless and it's just so downtrodden. You're fighting and you're trying to survive and you're trying to hold on your belongings, not just from the people homeless around you, but possibly from government entities that want to come and take it from you to get rid of you, to move you on. They don't care what happens to you. They just don't want you where you are. And so, you know, there is a place down in Los Angeles where they provide a homeless day, a homeless festival. And it is amazing what they do. They bring in bands, they bring in face painting, they bring in the showers, they bring in everything they need, food, they're dancing, they're having a good time. It's a joyous time and giving them little things like backpacks and their little belongings and stuff like that. Also, homeless counseling, you know, where can they go, social programs. They also bring in medical staff and personnel to do health checks, a little bit of health checks and, you know, things like that. And they even have dentists that come down, people that cut hair, they give them all these services. And these people are so happy and they're dancing and they're having a great time. And that, for you, that would be over the day that ends, the hour that ends. But then, that lasts for weeks and weeks and weeks. It makes a difference in their lives for a long time. So, we need to look at doing that, too, and look at doing some stuff like that. And that's what that $800,000, you know, spend 10, 15,000 of it to do something like that. You know, do it at Paracel Park, you know, as they're kicking them out, before you kick them out, you know, fire up the barbecues, put on the hot dogs, the hamburgers, whatever, bring in the bands, the DJs, you know, face painters. I like that because it, it just gives folks something not only to look forward to. But there's lots of kids out there. The Hope Festival. Just call it the Hope Festival. Yeah. Something like that. Bring in other advocates so they can come and see the folks that they're advocating for. Right. So, I hope we can do something together like that. And the police come there and the firefighters come there. Right. And they have a one-on-one instead of just get out of there. Maybe that could replace our last night, our last national night. Our last national night out. Yeah, a Hope Festival. Wouldn't that be great? Could we could do that? The Paracel Park is designed for that. It is. I helped design that little roadway down there. And that's why that market night was there. And that's why that electricity is there. I was the first president of the Paracels and the Roosevelt Bowl. We could do a concert in the bowl. We could have all that stuff. Why not do that to show us it's the Hope and Heart Festival. Right. And it's designed for them. And you bring in the showers, you bring in some clothes for them, you give them some hope, you give them some counseling, you help them up, you give them a hand up. Yeah. Let them know that folks really do care about them. Not just a hand out, a hand up. Right. And, you know, just throwing bread at them and food. Right. Right. Can I share a few things that folks can do if they don't know what to do and they want to know what to do? Sure. Volunteer shelters. Find out where they are. Go on volunteer. Find out who some of these folks are. I guarantee you once you start to meet some of the folks that are unhoused, you're going to want to help them. You are. It's just it's something about it. Donate to local shelters or nonprofits. Like our nonprofit, we have donate. We take donations. We have a gala every year and we raise money. All that money is used in our programs. It goes back out to our programs. Like you said, Mark, just show kindness to those living unhoused on the streets. You know, first, the first face they see is judgment on us most of the time. You know, smile. I always make a point in smiling, you know, because it just look, I come in peace. Just saying hello. Show some some respect and some dignity. Yes. Right. You know, and that that really goes a long way. And like why I wanted to come on today and thank you for having me educate others to decrease the stigma. Tell folks, you know, education. That's what we're doing today. Yes. Tell you know, let folks know. I want you to have your own show. That's soon. I hope so because I want to talk about this. And then Oregon, like you said, organized community outreach events. That's what we need to do. You know, we don't not necessarily to go out and just give give them stuff, but find out what they need. You know, how can I help you to make sure that you get to a food pantry every week? Yes, absolutely. Well, we need to talk more about this. Yes. Most definitely. There's so much more to talk about. And once again, it is Connect IE Connect IE. Connect IE. Yes. Is that a Scott, the family assistance program? Thank you for coming today. Thank you, Mark, for having me such a joy to have you here. Thank you so much. This is great. We got to wrap it up because we're coming up the top of the hour. I'm Mark Westwood with Community Crossroads. We'll be back next week. We'll talk more about this on KCAA 1050 AM 106.5 FM. Take it away, Eric. Thank you for listening to Crossroads. This program has been designed to present you with the issues of face our area. Your host has been Mark Westwood. MBC News on KCAA Loma Lida. Sponsored by Teamsters Local 1932. Protecting the future of working families. Teamsters 1932. MBC News Radio. I'm Brian Shook. Former President Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris will face off in at least one debate. ABC News announced