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Adelaide Homeless Journal
1 Jan 2008 to 30 June 2008
Living Inside a
Car Park
The “Franklin Apartments”, operated by Theo Maras’s “Common Ground”, look so good in the photographs. Up close it’s a different story: they’re actually above a bus station, ten metres above where the buses will load and unload. Alongside in the same building there is a carpark, not in the basement but alongside the units. The units appear "tacked on" as an afterthought. Anyway, no one is complaining because they're still empty despite all that publicity fanfare last October and November. 7 January 2008 Boom time for “trainers” David Cappo has announced another scheme to “socially include” disadvantaged and long-term unemployed people. It theoretically will involve “training”. “The next Pope” lurches from one tokenistic disaster to another. It will probably creates many new jobs for spin doctors, bureaucrats and “trainers” who will put people through short Mickey-mouse courses that employers don’t treat seriously and the only result will be people kicked off the dole for not doing them. It will resemble the “homeless” scam Cappo has been running for five or six years. Meanwhile, last night’s Fred’s Van was attended by over 100 people, one of the biggest turnouts ever. It caught everyone by surprise and the food ran out in sixteen-minutes, with some missing out completely. It’s like two parallel societies: Cappo and his crowd; and those in the “homeless” scene, and the two never meet. 7 January 2008 Strange Help Toby Garratt’s body was found in the West Terrace parklands on the Monday morning of 31 December, 2007. She had been treated by South Australia’s mental health system. They had previously put her in backpackers’ hostels. They doused her with extra drugs just before she died. She was 22. Survival in the homeless scene is difficult and being on psychiatric drugs makes it harder. Pharmaceutical drugs anaesthetise parts of the brain making one more vulnerable to the vicissitudes of the inner-city homeless scene. Then putting the drugged-out patient in a backpackers' hostel becomes the same as putting that person in a dangerous situation. These joints are places of partying, travel and drugs, not places of recovery and social rehabilitation. They’re crawling with dodgy characters who stay there for the primary purpose of preying on international travellers. Jay Weatherill, the Minister for Destroying the Housing Trust, quoting someone in the Mental Health department, denied on ABC Radio 5AN on 4 January 2008, that psychiatric patients were put into backpacker hostels yet Sarah Curtis-Fawley, a psychologist at the Royal Adelaide Hospital, told me in a recorded interview, (admittedly 18-months ago), that they sent homeless patients being discharged, (many of whom are classed as mentally ill), to backpacker hostels. I said at the time that these places didn’t seem right people for people just being discharged from hospital. Weatherill also said that Toby Garratt, “had to leave Palm Lodge”, a government-run half-way joint. The question is why did she have to leave: was she kicked out, or what? It is not known whether Street-to-home played a role in shunting Toby back and forth to various accommodation joints. The Adelaide woman charged with Toby's murder will attend court this week. Meanwhile, the sell-off of part of the Glenside Psychiatric Hospital continues. The shrinkage is being promoted by the Social Inclusion Commission as an improvement. It makes one wonder if somewhere down the line there might be set up a special tribunal like the war crimes tribunal at The Hague, to deal with people who destroyed social, educational and medical infrastructure. From the former Editor 7 January 2008 "Media Mike" and Phil the Can Collector meet face-to-face Premier Mike Rann was happy enough to have his picture taken with Phil, the can collector at the Hutt Street Centre Christmas Party. The picture appeared in the Adelaide Advertiser. Phil, who has been banned from using Trans Adelaide trains with his fridge trolley and bags of cans, was refused entry again last Thursday, 27 December. They wouldn't let him board the 4:50am Outer Harbour train leaving Adelaide Station after he'd spent the night collecting one bag of cans. The shift co-ordinator was Trans Adelaide employee number 21 33 14. The 4:50 train is the first one out. It runs express to Woodville where Phil gets out. Phil said it left empty. So much for that phoney "social inclusion" touted by "the next Pope", David Cappo. 7 January 2008 The Cox Plates The Hutt Street Centre Christmas meal was held in three shifts due to limited space and popular demand. One source reports there was a sign at the Centre saying that media Mike and "the media" might be attending the first shift. The sign also said there would be "no media" at the second and third shifts. 7 January 2008 Salvation Army "They're wonderful people. Where would we be without them? Locked up," said a thin, white man with a black eye and wearing a straw hat at Fred's Van on Monday, 28 December, 2007. 7 January 2008 More Salvo Praise I feel safer from food poisoning at the Salvo-run Fred's Van meal than when St Vincent de Paul do that job. The Salvos use disposable cups and have plenty of spoons. St Vinnies china coffee mugs always seem a little dirty and who wants to catch Hep A. St Vinnies give away more food though. 7 January 2008 Barry Dead Barry, aged about 50, died of bone cancer. He was a gambling friend of Sam who can be spotted in a number of J-Card pokies joints and also at Fred's Van. Another gambler told me this though the subject of Barry dying had been prominent in the homeless scene for a few weeks. He was popular. "PJ" said 35 people attended his funeral in Prospect. 7 January 2008 Another Cancer Legalised gambling is a government-sponsored cancer introduced into society and is a plague on the homeless. 50% of venue operators' profits are from problem gamblers. I regularly see them encouraged with extra freebies that responsible gamblers don't receive. The more a person loses the more he or she is encouraged at the venue. Those in positions of trust and power who could stop legalised gambling become hostage to those who put them there. For example: David Cappo might whisper privately that gambling is a plague but he won't risk his political position or the Papacy to challenge these semi-criminals who run gambling joints. 7 January 2008 "Homeless" Numbers Down? The most recently published figures for "homelessness" in Adelaide, published by the Department of Families and Communities, indicate: Homeless Unsheltered is down from 108 to 93 while the number of those questioned who refused to answer where they lived was up from 56 to 66. Numbers living in toilets was down from 5 to 1. The number in tents went from 13 to 0. However, those living on streets or in parks rose from 64 to 71. Men unsheltered numbers are 74 and Women 13. There are two children recorded as living as unsheltered homeless. Are these accurate figures? This homeless census was undertaken by counting the numbers of people visiting Hutt Street Centre, WestCare and Byron Place while Street-to-home counted numbers elsewhere. All counting was done on just one morning of one day. What the count missed out? Those under 18 aren't allowed at the Day Centres mentioned above so they weren't counted. Those not visiting those places or spotted by Street-to-home that one morning weren't counted. Those living outside and never using the three homeless centres weren't counted. Those hiding well enough to evade Street-to-home (and this isn't hard) weren't counted. One of the stranger aspects of this survey is the "Individual Identifier" where a respondent will be identified with their birth date and initials. Of those questioned, including tertiary homeless and non-homeless, "261 people provided individual identifiers in August compared to 265 in June. Of those who gave identifiers 43 people participated in both surveys." So what does this indicate? It shows that less than 20% of those in the June survey were still in the visible homeless scene for the August survey. To those familiar with the Day Centres it seems that one sees the same people there over a long period and such a high turnover seems unbelievable. The survey results are available at the Families and Communites website: http://whttp://www.familiesandcommunities.sa.gov.au/Default.aspx?tabid=1998ww.familiesandcommunities.sa.gov.au/Default.aspx?tabid=1998 7 January 2008 Cappo's Refrain "The next Pope" won't agree to a free range interview about homelessness but he will use the media to sell his story about homeless numbers dropping in South Australia. He has "statistics" to back up his claim, but is his claim true? There is a constant movement of "homeless" people throughout Australia. You can be in the dreaded Mathew Talbot hostel in Sydney and talk to someone from Adelaide whom you both know from Perth. It's that kind of small, closed system. So if "homelessness" is dropping in South Australia, as "the next Pope" claims, then why isn't there a rush of interstate "homeless" to take advantage of better conditions here, which would equalise homeless numbers between states? 7 January 2008 Some more “violence” at Fred’s Van The 3 January, 2008 Fred’s Van meal was marred by a number of drunks. One tough-looking fellow grabbed a tray from Chloe, banging it on the table. He was trying to start a fight with anyone and eventually shoved Mark, the old guy who races bicycles and pays 60% of his gross income in rent a city flat. Then he swung his big fist at my face and I ducked. He shoved Dr X aside then punched “D” very hard. “D” can hardly stand up anyway due to balancing problems. I tried to appease the drunk with a packet of Fred’s Van Kellogg’s Nutri-Grain Bars (Best Before 18/7/07), but he simply punched the box. He and his pals were trouble the whole time though only “D” seems to have been bruised. Chloe, aged about 18, appeared, unfairly, the brunt of some anger from “D” who is sick of the threat of violence at Fred’s Van. She held up very well and after a minute of panic recovered her equilibrium. The police, as usual, were conspicuous by their absence from, arguably, the most dangerous quarter acre in Adelaide, and just 80 metres from the front entrance of their Wakefield Street police station. It was noticeable that on the following evening the three older men who were shoved or punched were all absent. 7 January 2008 Media Mike Premier Mike Rann has been asked to phone Phil the Can Collector on his mobile. 7 January 2008 Weatherill in denial? Jay Weatherill, Minister for Destroying the Housing Trust, has been heard calling HousingSA, the Housing Trust. Doesn’t he remember that he changed the Trust’s name to HousingSA? 7 January 2008 “Very Poor” An older man with cancer went to the Hutt Street Centre Christmas lunch. He described it, unprompted, as, “A bit of turkey, a bit of ham, you came away hungry. Very poor”. 7 January 2008 “Big Man” in Town A man aged about 30 smacked a woman in the face in front of the Strathmore Hotel last week at about 6:15pm. She fell to the ground screaming, somewhat theatrically, while he hot-footed it to Fred’s Van. He appeared quite friendly behind his sunglasses until recognising two Strathmore customers also at Fred’s Van. 7 January 2008 Yoga Teacher The yoga teacher who transports her blankets and mats on a fridge trolley on the trains says Trans Adelaide staff have warned her they might one day tell her she isn’t allowed to board. She said they wouldn’t be specific about why they might stop her because then she would replace the trolley with something that was allowable. The strange thing is that I saw yesterday morning on the Gawler line train a dope dealer selling a small bag of “heads” to a couple of crims for $15. They exchanged the stuff in front of a train guard and ticket inspector. Neither of the Trans Adelaide staff said or did anything. The dealer and crims walked out of Adelaide railway station without a worry in the world. Meanwhile, Phil the Can Collector got a letter from Trans Adelaide saying it isn’t illegal to carry bags of cans on the train, but no word about his frdige trolley. Mick, the can collector from Rosewater, carries striped “derro” bags full of cans on his bicycle. He doesn’t have any problems despite being more overloaded than Phil or the Yoga teacher. Mick even gets elderly grey-haired women passengers to help him off the train. 8 January 2008 Weatherill the Deceiver Mental Patients Dumped in Backpacker’s Hostels This is an updated version of the 7 January posting, now deleted. Toby Garratt’s body was found in the West Terrace parklands on the Monday morning of 31 December, 2007. She had been treated by South Australia’s mental health system. They had previously put her in backpackers’ hostels. They doused her with extra drugs just before she died. She was 22. Survival in the homeless scene is difficult and being on psychiatric drugs makes it harder. Pharmaceutical drugs anaesthetise parts of the brain making one more vulnerable to the vicissitudes of the inner-city homeless scene. Then putting the drugged-out patient in a backpackers' hostel becomes the same as putting that person in a dangerous situation. These joints are places of partying, travel and drugs, not places of recovery and social rehabilitation. They’re crawling with dodgy characters who stay there for the primary purpose of preying on international travellers. Jay Weatherill, the Minister for Destroying the Housing Trust, quoting someone in the Mental Health department, denied on ABC Radio 5AN on 4 January 2008, that psychiatric patients were put into backpacker hostels. Yet Sarah Curtis-Fawley, a psychologist at the Royal Adelaide Hospital, told me in a recorded interview, (admittedly 18-months ago), that they sent discharged homeless patients, (many of whom are classed as mentally ill), to backpacker hostels. I told her at the time that these places didn’t seem appropriate for people being discharged from hospital. Weatherill also said that Toby Garratt, “had to leave Palm Lodge”, a government-run half-way joint. The question is why did she have to leave: was she kicked out, or what? The Adelaide woman charged with Toby's murder will attend court this week. Weatherill changed his tune a few days later when it was revealed that Terry Attridge, another psychiatric patient found dead in the same week as Toby, had also been dumped into a backpacker’s hostel. Like any slick lawyer/politician changing his story, Weatherill adopted the ambiguous line: “…there is no policy to direct mental patients to backpacker’s hostels.” So, is he saying they don’t do it? Well, no, he’s saying it may be done by psychiatric staff and social workers: it just isn’t official policy. Meanwhile, the sell-off of part of the Glenside Psychiatric Hospital continues. The shrinkage is being promoted by the Social Inclusion Commission as an improvement. It makes one wonder if somewhere down the line there might be set up a special tribunal like the war crimes tribunal at The Hague, to deal with people in power who destroyed our social, educational and medical infrastructure. From the former Editor 8 January 2008 Yet More “Incidents” at Fred’s Van Policy Security officers watched the Fred’s Van meal last night. John Lamprell, the St Vinnies organiser of the meal service said there had been “incidents” on the last four meals done by St Vincent de Paul. One man from a different clan group said it was the mob from Ernabella causing the trouble. He said they probably got kicked out of there then went to Alice Springs where they had more trouble then came down here because they’re guaranteed a feed every day in Adelaide. I asked some of them if they were the Evil Warriors or Judas Priest. They said they weren’t the former and didn’t want to talk about the latter. Numbers at Fred’s Van were higher than ever and the food ran out in fifteen-minutes while numbers at the Teen Challenge meal in Hindmarsh Square are low, down from a previous high of 80 to about 32. 8 January 2008 Media Mike "I lost respect for him at Christmas at Hutt Street. Sure, it was alright to hand out meals but to bring the media, that's not on. I can't forgive him for that." The above was overheard during a conversation between two older men in the city. 14 January 2008 Trans Adelaide Phil, the celebrity Can Collector, said he'd received a letter from Trans Adelaide saying it wasn't illegal to carry bags of cans on the train. Trans Adelaide was ominously silent about the fridge trolley carrying the bags. 14 January 2008 Sodoku Addict "Trevor", the man who lives outside, stopped while we were walking down Pirie Street. He began looking in rubbish bins for newspapers. He found half a dozen then ripped out the Sodoku pages. Medium and Hard he took but the Easy puzzles he threw back in. No challenge. 14 January 2008 Burner returns from Sydney “Jed”, who displays a deft hand with meths and matches, returned from Sydney yesterday. He appeared in fine spirits and was talking pleasantly to the regulars at Fred’s Van, (including one of his victims). He was looking healthy and said he returned to Adelaide to briefly appear in court, but upon leaving the court two police officers slapped handcuffs on his wrists and he spent the day resting in a cell. It did him the world of good. His calmness evaporated the next evening when he was in volatile spirits. John from the Sudan entered the scene complaining that police had put him into handcuffs that day so "Jed" welcomed him as a lost son returning home. John, aka "Jimmy from Uganda"; "Kevin Rudd", carries an aura of humour whilst "Jed" and most Aboriginals in the homeless scene are bristling with resentment and "payback". They haven't forgotten or forgiven. 14 January 2008 Correction of Mistake Some time ago I said that, Mark, the old guy with a white beard who rides a bicycle and does voluntary work paid 60% of his gross income on rent. He corrected me yesterday saying he paid 70% and it was going up to 81% next month due to a rent increase. 14 January 2008 Calder’s sense of humour Greg Calder, the short-fused manager of the psychiatric agency, Street-to-home showed he wasn’t simply the humourless thug that he appears to be. He said in the City Messenger Newspaper that outreach workers took extra water to rough sleepers every morning. Then, to prove he had a sense of humour, he added, “But obviously we don’t see everybody.” 14 January 2008 Homelessness up One You can hear “T” phoning Peter Goers on 5AN to talk about football. Last week "T" vacated his unit and now lives outside. He didn’t specify the reasons for leaving. Someone suggested he stay at St Vinnies Night Shelter or Lady Adolph’s East Park Lodge. He replied they wanted too much personal information plus his permission for them to contact his doctor. So he’s staying outside. “Rough sleepers” previously stayed at homeless shelters for a few weeks, few questions asked. Those days are gone. These joints now require that prospective residents sign away privacy rights so the shelter staff can contact doctors, social workers, Centrelink, etc. This is called Social Inclusion and in the case of “T” means that he's continuing to live outside because of Social Inclusion rather than being helped by it. 14 January 2008 Quality Assessment Three men were talking at Fred's Van. One said he gained more rehabilitation from three-weeks in the Salvation Army Towards Independence place than three months at the Woolshed. He said they treated him like a fool at the WoolShed with too many rules. He said the Salvation Army treated him like a human being. He said three years ago he had a job, a house, a family and then lost it all. He said it could happen to anyone. He admitted to the other two men that drinking alcohol had been a problem. His speech was full of positive thoughts and he belittled no one present or absent. 14 January 2008 Starvation Army The bread ran out before the hot dogs (frankfurts) at the Salvo Fred's Van meal last Friday night. "Isn't that just f**king typical?" someone shouted as people were handed hot wieners. One black man was wearing red flesh where his black skin had been ripped away. A white woman had a huge abrasion on her waist. Police Security were present. The "derro" ambulance (Emergency Medical Technician) was there One regular diner said he'd back me up at WestCare because the cook was out to get me. Another person advised me to avoid WestCare because the cook was out to get me. I hope the Emergency Medical Technician ambulance starts hanging around WestCare. 14 January 2008 Real Indians Real Indians delivered the rice and curry for the Thursday, 3 January Fred's Van meal. I'd always thought that white folk pretending to be Indians cooked it, but no, they were genuine authentic Indians. "Wow, real Indians," I exclaimed a little loudly. "That's pretty obvious," Trevor said, drinking coffee under a tree. "Real Indians," I repeated to others present as one of the Indians looked up, smiling. 14 January 2008 Peter Bagdi Mr Peter Bagdi, of Kilburn, announced at the Adelaide Railway Station on Friday night that Hitler married Eva Braun because she made the best coffee in the bunker. 21 January 2008 Esmerelda Tabitha "Esmerelda" Collings, of Hutt Street Centre says they remind "homeless" people to fill their water bottles on hot days. Duh! Why doesn't Hutt Street Centre put a spring-loaded mains water tap outside so people can refill their bottles 24 hours a day? On one blistering December afternoon the Bryon Place Community Centre had a sign on their front window saying: No Water, Knock on Window for Nurse. 21 January 2008 The Anatomy of Political Lying The Minister for Destroying the Housing Trust, Jay Weatherill, was caught deceiving the public about the government's policy of dumping psychiatric patients in backpacker hostels (see 8 January, 2008 posting: Weatherill the Deceiver). Since then Sam Twelftree of Backpacker Oz in Wakefield Street, Adelaide has told the City Messenger newspaper of 17 January, 2008 that his hostel is still receiving calls from the Royal Adelaide Hospital, Crisis Care and other agencies wanting to place patients in his hostel. So how can Jay Weatherill lie his way out of this claim? He can't so Gale Gago, a former nurse and now Mental Health Minister enters the debate. She justifies the government policy of dumping patients in dormitory and shared room holiday hostels by saying: "Given that one-in-five people suffer mental illness it's not unreasonable that people, including those with a mental illness, go on holidays and use backpacker accommodation." But the one-in-five figure includes people who work in medicine, government, welfare and dentistry that would have diagnosable mental illnesses that don't affect their ability to do their jobs. But those with "mental illness" dumped in hostels aren't workers on holiday. They're usually heavily sedated, recently discharged patients who need a safe environment; they find living in a shared-room tourist hostel with strangers very difficult. Their hands tremble, their teeth are ruined by medication, they often smell strongly; they're paranoid, usually addicted to sedatives; they're vulnerable patients, not wild young backpackers from overseas. So Gale Gago equating the "one-in-five" people with homeless and recently discharged patients is a false comparison. She deceives the public but those employed in the homeless and psychiatric field know she is lying. Nurses know she is lying. Gago has also gagged public servants in the Department of Health from speaking to the media. What a horrible culture of deceit and cover-up Gale Gago perpetuates? 21 January 2008 Bill Returns Billy has returned from one-year in Melbourne. He worked with Demi and Warren of Teen Challenge when the three of them distributed the food provided by the Jasmin Restaurant at theThursday meal in Hindmarsh Square. In those days they provided coffee and unlimited cold cordial, plus soup in winter. Bill is the sort of person around whom one feels safe and positive. The three of them added a subtle atmosphere to the fine food from the Jasmin. 21 January 2008 Good News for Angelo Remember Angelo, the man from WestCare with kidney troubles. He would vomit in the early hours for no apparent reason. He said he'll go to the Royal Adelaide Hospital for either kidney surgery or the tube up the urinary tract procedure in early February. The delay in getting treatment has probably made it worse but it is good he'll be having the treatment at last. He has retained his dignity through the whole year of waiting. 21 January 2008 Increased demand at Fred's Van "It's the same amount of food but more people," a man said explaining why there isn't enough food at Fred's Van on some nights. It's true. Numbers are much greater, partly bolstered by the Christmas and New Year's crisis of new homeless people plus the summer migration of Anangu from Ernabella and Alice Springs. 21 January 2008 WorkCover A government contracted employee told me last week he was formerly a welding supervisor at the Submarine Factory at Outer Harbour, when he suffered a neck injury. He was in hospital for three months then rehabilitated and trained via WorkCover funding so he is now qualified in another trade at which he currently works. "You beat the system," a WorkCover employee told him two years after the injury. "How?" the man asked. The WorkCover employee explained that to avoid the expense of rehabilitating and re-training injured workers WorkCover tries to break their spirit so they'll simply walk away. The re-trained man said he remembered that during and after his three months in hospital WorkCover employees visited him saying there wasn't anything the matter with him. Yes, he beat the system and despite having a 40% disability rating he works full time, using his brain, and pays taxes instead of shuffling about on an invalid pension. 21 January 2008 Journalism and Common Ground A major media outlet journalist told me that his income is apparently low enough to qualify as a resident at the Common Ground Bus Station units. 21 January 2008 Carl on the Warpath Not only is the WestCare cook reported to be out to get me but her "ex", according to two diners at Fred's Van, is similarly motivated. "Is he big?" I asked my informants. "He's out here," one said, stretching his arms out wide. "Is he dangerous?" "He's wild." 21 January 2008 Myer Centre Food Court Security Guards "D", the Elvis-look-alike diner seen at most "homeless" joints in Adelaide says security guards follow him about at the Myer Centre Food Court. Why? It is possibly because he sits at the tables without buying anything? They follow me through the food court as well. Why? Maybe my flannelette shirt creates suspicion. Who wears these types of eight-dollar shirts except drug addicts and others who expect to sleep in their clothing? "D" says he's thinking of becoming a hairdresser. This is worrying considering that he wears long sideburns so he won't cut his ears while shaving. 21 January 2008 Anonymous Contributor The following was received by post some time ago. The envelope didn’t have a return address though it bore the logo, “Street To Home”. "Hi Norm Love your Social Inclusion Wars site. It’s hilarious!! You are so clever with code-names for the main players. Of course we all know who you are talking about and we all also know that it is you writing all this stuff but you cleverly try to make it look like others are contributing. The facts don’t matter - we all know there is an element of fact behind your comments but the distortions make it all the more interesting and funny. I know and have spoken to a person in DFC and 2 who work for health department. They have all seen the site after I told them about it and they too find it extremely funny. No one takes it seriously. I talk to people at Hutt St Centre and a lot are aware of what you are doing. I saw you[r] comments about the recent counting and again some clever misrepresentation of the facts, in particular complimenting Central Northern Adelaide Health Service for their help when they were not involved. I found a copy of the official summary that was released to the participating agencies and have included a copy just so you have the official version in case anyone asks. Keep up the comedy Norm - any lightheartedness around homelessness is good value to break the monotony. Regards, Giles" Received about August 2007. Posted 23 January 2008 Increased Puff, Less Housing Rosseanne Haggerty’s image appeared in the December, 2007 Social Inclusion propaganda newsletter. She was inside one of the Franklin Street Common Ground “apartments”. Did she travel to Adelaide for the singular purpose of participating in a “media event”. It would have cost $10,000 to bring her out her business class (the next Pope wouldn’t have settled for less). Why doesn’t the Minister for Destroying the Housing Trust set up a media event every time he sells off a block of 200 Trust houses to corporate developers after evicting the long-term tenants? But what really bothers me is that on page two Roseanne Haggerty looks horribly like “the next Pope”, David Cappo. http://www.socialinclusion.sa.gov.au/files/SI_Newsletter_Dec07revised.pdf 23 January 2008 What actually happened? “You’re going to pay for this. You’re going to end up doing time in the can,” shouted a woman at police last Tuesday outside the Public Trustee in Franklin Street. Four officers pulled her outside the building. She was a female Caucasian aged was about 48. She had blond hair, was a little overweight and wore a floral dress. She was yelling and swearing at them. They turned her around and pushed her towards a window and cuffed her wrists. They must suffer from daily having to experience the worst of people. Her head moved forward and her face smacked against the window. She became increasingly upset at this. How did her face smack against the window? From across the street they were partly obscured by the shadows of the building so it is hard to say precisely what occurred. Did the police officer lift his hand and push her face into the window? Her head hit the window fast but I couldn’t see if he did it. The Public Trustee plays a part in the government’s Social Inclusion program. Welfare money is deducted from a client’s bank accounts to pay for gas, electricity, phone, rent, usually in the interests of the client but sometimes despite a person’s objections. The Public Trustee deducts a bit for itself as well. 23 January 2008 Parallel Universes Reading “Stepping up Base for New Hub of Mental Health” in the abovementioned newsletter http://www.socialinclusion.sa.gov.au/files/SI_Newsletter_Dec07revised.pdf one gets a feeling of parallel universes. One universe is the “spin” from David Waterford and “the next Pope” describing the sell-off of 40% of Glenside Hospital as an improvement while the reality is Toby Garrat getting kicked out of the government psychiatric joint called Palm Lodge into a backpacker hostel then off the West Parklands to be killed. 23 January 2008 Styrofoam Advocate “D” stopped me on King William Street yesterday saying he wants it reported in this column that he believes all coffee cups used at Fred’s Van should be made of Styrofoam rather than ceramic or glass. He says he had to dodge a flying cup on Sunday night when Coastlands did the Fred’s Van. He said a woman told him that another woman had her face cut up by her boyfriend using a Fred’s Van ceramic mug. The Starvation Army use soft cups at Fred’s Van but Coastlands and St Vincent de Paul use china and glass mugs. 23 January 2008 Food Anxiety Much of the food grabbing at Fred’s Van is a symptom of food anxiety. Most people there have gone hungry and they’re also trying to pick up the next day’s breakfast. Some who have gone hungry repeatedly and lost much weight go to extremes to obtain food then hide it. 23 January 2008 Tony abused at Crazy Cottage Tony is about sixty. He's had three strokes leaving his speech difficult to understand. The bleeding in his brain is inoperable though it has stopped presently. He gets shocking headaches but he doesn't complain loudly because his voice strength is almost gone. He collects cans from city rubbish bins. He uses a long hook device identical to those used by arthritis sufferers to grab things when they have difficulty getting up from chairs. Tony uses it because he can't fully bend over to grab the cans. The strokes affected his body. You can often see him at night pushing his shopping trolley half full of cans. He says he does it for exercise and to pay for coffee. Tony prefers the best coffee. Tony doesn't use drugs or drink alcohol or abuse pills. I've never seen him smoke. Tony lives at Crazy Cottage though he isn't crazy. Hardly anyone at Crazy Cottage is crazy. It's that large corner building at Hurtle Square. Crazy Cottage is also called Sister Betty's and is run by the Sisters of Mercy and owned by HousingSA. The caretaker at Crazy Cottage told Tony he can keep just two bags of cans in his room. Tony's social worker drives him to a recycling place in Kent Town every two weeks so Tony always accumulates more than two bags of cans during the fortnight. Tony has talked about finding a HousingSA unit in the city. It has to be ground floor because Tony has trouble with stairs. Big trouble. He could keep his cans in the HousingSA unit without the landlord becoming aggravated. Tony is currently classed as homeless because those living in rooming houses don't have tenancy agreements that protect them from instant evictions. The Sisters aren't going to kick Tony out but the stress is bothering him. You'd think that Tony could access Category 1 of the HousingSA waiting list and quickly be rented a ground floor HousingSA unit. There are heaps in the city and Tony fits all the criteria. But, no. The government housing bureaucracy is geared to grind and humiliate, to make false promises, to engage dozens of bureaucrats in what could be a simple transfer. Tony will probably get better housing in the city, eventually, if he survives that long, but in the meantime the "homeless" bureaucracy will create weeks of employment for itself and when Tony finally moves to a unit multiple agencies will claim credit for housing another "homeless" person. What we need is a Social Inclusion Commissioner with the power to cut through bureaucracies to ensure that those classed as "homeless" get secure housing. Then "homelessness" could be "eradicated". Instead we've got a pompous "next Pope", Monsignor, Vicar General, Corporate Director, Social Inclusion Commissioner, Film Reviewer David Cappo whose priorities seem to be that of expanding prisoner numbers and using psychiatric drugs as a "tool" in reducing homelessness. 28 January 2008 Eviction Notice Celebrity Can Collector, Phil, has been told to vacate his rented house. He pays a fortune in rent but the landlord wants to renovate it. Phil wants a new place where he can also keep his scrap and cans. Government and church housing is cheap to rent but they rarely allow people to keep their trade materials on the property. This means the social exclusion of about thirty can and scrap collectors from government housing. Would you think the government's Social Inclusion Commission would be up-in-arms over this policy of HousingSA? 28 January 2008 Sleeping Pills for nine-year-old FamiliesSA placed Gale’s daughter with a foster mother at birth. Gale has been trying to regain custody of her daughter for years. FamiliesSA now have her nine-year-old daughter on sleeping pills, more in the interests of the foster mother than for the child. FamiliesSA social workers say Gale's daughter is doing well in foster care. Gale asks how can she be doing well if she's put on sleeping pills at nine years of age. It isn’t hard to think that the girl will develop into a drug-dependent adolescent. Gale says most of the FamiliesSA women making decisions to take children away from their parents don’t have children themselves. 28 January 2008 Best Before September 2007 “They’re stale. Ooh, yuck,” said a woman at a Job Network Joint after biting into a packet of biscuits I’d left at the coffee urn. I’d removed the outer box so clients wouldn't see the contents were past the "Best Before" date. They were from the Wesley Uniting Christmas Hamper from Hell. “Trevor”, who lives outside, said I was ungrateful in condemning old food that was still edible. He said there was nothing wrong with it but I found the unpleasant odour of the damp biscuits unsettling and decided to give them away to the Job Network Joint crowd. But hardly anyone would touch them. Even a fat woman who looked like she’d eat anything decided to give the old biscuits a miss. Yet Trevor is adamant even after I recounted the above Job Network observation. He says that old biscuits are fine two years past the "Best Before" date. He does agree, however, that marshmallow and jam-filled biscuits can become soggy after a year or two. 28 January 2008 Big Issue Alan B. sells Big Issue in Rundle Mall. He's that tall fellow who holds four issues side by side against a piece of cardboard and wears a red hat and a tortured expression on his face. He once had a loud argument in Rundle Mall with celebrity can collector, Phil, but they now speak of each other with respect, both being trend setters in their respective work. I once had a loud argument with Alan, too. He demolished me with his logic. You may or may not be surprised at his speech. 28 January 2008 Man helped by Common Ground Theo KalaMaras, the Chairman of Common Ground homeless housing project has been the only beneficiary of the project even before a single person has been housed. Theo was awarded an Order of Australia medal last week, mostly for his work “helping the homeless”. Meanwhile, the Common Ground organization doesn’t appear to have been even slightly concerned that its 38 units have remained empty despite Media Mike Rann, the Premier announcing in November that people would move in before Christmas. It was only when Adelaide Advertiser journalist Tory Shepherd brought this fact to the public attention (Advertiser, 1 February, 2008. page 6) that Sir Theo belatedly announced that four tenants would be housed in the units next Monday. Sir Theo is the land developer of whom allegations were made that he hired a thug in the 1970’s to intimidate homeless squatters into leaving a house he wanted to demolish. Meanwhile… A sunburnt man living outside, aged about forty, went up to Street to Home on the 1st floor at 15 Bentham Street in Adelaide yesterday to ask for contact details of Common Ground, so he could apply to move into one of the Bus Station units. Two employees of Street to Home refused to tell him where Common Ground could be contacted - not even a phone number. 1 February 2008 New Fan Mail Sunset at Sunrise The Sunrise Supported Residential Facility at Peterhead, near Semaphore, is being bulldozed in July. The owners don't want to spend the money needed to meet the government's new fire regulations and will replace the building with a block of flats. Sunrise is a rooming house that serves meals and is subsidised by the government. Its residents have serious disabilities and have lived there up to twelve years. They have been in shock for two months since learning of the closure. They don't know where they can go by June. There has been no government consultation with them despite these residents facing homelessness. HousingSA has not been reassuring because it's in the process of selling properties for military redevelopment and the transferred tenants have seized up movement on the waiting list. I won't betray the Sunrise Residents' privacy by detailing their disabilities or stress symptoms but they are serious, to say the least. If "Social Inclusion" was anything more than the re-institutionalisation of those in the "homeless" culture then they'd be onto this issue immediately. They'd at least assure the residents personally and in writing that they would be rehoused before the demolition date. They would also say that all attempts would be made to place them close to each other in the Port Adelaide/Semaphore area. Even better, they would begin the moving process immediately by giving them priority to appropriate government-owned housing. 4 February 2008 Mystery Photographer It was the Ernabella folk yelling at a photographer that drew our attention to a man taking photos of us at Fred's Van. He was using a Kodak 10X Optical Zoom from the corner of Wakefield Street and Gawler Place. He was within four metres of the entrance of the police station but he isn't with the police, but rather a diner at Fred's Van. 4 February 2008 The Suspect "Just say why was the car of a certain employee of a certain homeless place parked at the back at 11:00pm?" A person in the homeless scene asked me to place this question on the gossip column. 4 February 2008 Dental Waiting List Trickery When Media Mike says the waiting time for government dentistry is shrinking it isn't necessarily true. Previously a person having undergone dental treatment would within a month rejoin the waiting list. This was despite not having a dental problem but knowing that after three years on the waiting list there would be plenty of problems. So it was a matter of jumping in quick. The Dental Service has introduced a new rule saying that patients have to wait twelve months after dental treatment before rejoining the waiting list. This effectively creates a twelve month breathing space to allow the waiting list to shrink, but adds twelve months onto the waiting time for further treatment. So nothing actually changes for the patients but it allows the Premier of South Australia to claim a reduction in waiting for dental care when it may not have actually happened. 4 February 2008 Camera Phone The cook at WestCare has complained of kitchen staff displaying camera phones in the kitchen. 4 February 2008 "Break Up the Boys' Club" Receptionist Heather Mason is reported to have left the Seniors Information Service at 45 Flinders Street, Adelaide. Heather was momentarily famous for saying to me that new rules introduced to limit clients' use of the internet lounge to two hours a day was designed to "break up the boys' club". She said too many older men were using the computers and they wanted more women involved. Thereafter, you could walk by the Lounge in the afternoon and see an empty room. But this was okay for management because they could still claim to the government that a similar amount of people used the lounge, but just not say it was for shorter periods. It was also easier for staff to manage an empty room than one filled with people. A strange act of the purge was to personally hand Street-to-home leaflets to some of the elderly men. 4 February 2008 Fiddling the Books A "homeless" man last week told me his "support worker" told him that the most effective way of obtaining housing while living outside was to claim to be "ex-homeless". Her advice was to claim to be living somewhere temporarily but having once lived outside. The reason is that agencies housing "homeless" people find them difficult tenants but ex-homeless aren't so bad. They could still claim credit for "reducing homelessness" by housing someone at risk of homelessness and thus still justify government funding. 4 February 2008 Smokescreen over bedding destruction The Adelaide City Council waited until campers in the West Terrace parklands had gone to Byron Place Community Centre for showers and laundry before taking and destroying most their bedding and camping gear. Council CEO, Stuart Moseley, defended the action saying the Council had consulted with the psychiatric agency, Street-to-home, who, apparently, told the Council that the campers chose to live outside. (This somehow justified tossing their bedding into the rubbish). But Jo Wickes of HomelessnessSA said the Aboriginal campers couldn’t be housed because the hostels are full. So who is telling the truth? Street-to-home might have offered to help house the campers but under what conditions and in what accommodation. Clients of Street-to-home told me the agency requires people to complete dozens of pages of questions: intrusive personal questions. They also require the clients to sign away privacy rights allowing Street-to-home to make “any inquiries necessary”. And what are the options of housing? They might include: a one-way bus ticket to beautiful downtown Ernabella; a trip to the barbed-wire topped enclosure called the Port Augusta Transit Camp at the Davenport Community; a fast ride to Glenside Hospital or Palm Lodge; Hurtle Square rooming houses that don’t allow visitors; the HousingSA waiting list for units in suburbia; “monitor housing” at Lady Adolph’s East Park Lodge, etc. Unless we know what type of “housing” was offered to those in the parklands and under what conditions then it is difficult to determine whether they chose to be “homeless” or not. If the “housing” was an agreement for them to be effectively institutionalized then it can hardly be called housing per se. Under the present policy of secrecy in Media Mike Rann’s government we are unable to discover the full story and must rely on government spin doctors and Stuart Mosely. Therefore, we’re left in the dark. 7 February 2008 Fred’s Van loses volunteers after this week’s violence A diner at Fred’s Van threw food into the face of a volunteer server at Fred’s Van this week. The diner wanted more than one serving to take to friends but Fred’s Van rules are that a person gets just one plate or sandwich at a time. This is to ensure everyone gets a first serving before anyone else gets a second. The client didn’t like this so tossed the food into the server’s face. John Lamprell, the coordinator, said there were more threats on the following days resulting in two volunteers quitting. Dr X said four volunteers quit. On Thursday evening two servers appeared just sixteen-years-old while the rest are over 65. There wasn’t any violence but plenty of paranoia. 7 February 2008 Mystery Photographer The man taking photos of clients of Fred’s Van said he was simply testing his camera in low light and just happened to be pointing it at us in Gawler Court. 7 February 2008 Update on Sunrise Closure A person connected with Sunrise Supported Residential Facility said there won’t be a problem relocating residents to other government subsidized boarding houses. She said it was closing in May and that few residents would go to HousingSA units because they needed constant support. One resident says he’s going to SeaBreeze rooming house in Semaphore but that he will have to share a room with strangers whereas at Sunrise he had his own room. He is unhappy about this as well as losing contact with other people, but at least it is in the Semaphore area. 7 February 2008 The Stolen Property Drama Street-to-home's involvement in Adelaide City Council's confiscation and destruction of homeless peoples' bedding last week. "…I am concerned that Monsignor Cappo does not feel well informed because through Street-to-home we understood that he was being kept informed and we have been working closely with that agency…" Stuart Mosely, Adelaide City Council CEO talking to Mathew Abraham and David Bevan on ABC Radio 5AN last week. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, "the next Pope" vows to update his telephonist skills. "I just don't understand it. It's really annoying and, um, I'll be making lots of phone calls for the next couple of hours to find out what in Heaven's name has gone on." David Cappo, also on 5AN. So has Street-to-home deliberately kept Cappo in the dark? The difference of opinion first surfaced publicly 18-months ago when the Council placed eviction notices on the bedding of people sleeping in the parklands. David Cappo was outraged yet Greg Calder of Street-to-home expressed agreement with the Council. Readers might be surprised how an agency supposedly helping homeless people could condone the Council making life harder for them. Both Calder and Cappo want reduced "homeless" statistics but "the next Pope" can justify his position by playing around with regional homeless statistics to make it look like he's having some effect. Calder's brief is far more focused. His only job is to get people "off the streets", one way or another, in the city area and because they're more visible in the CBD it's harder for him to fake the stats. Last year two surveys were done of "homelessness" in the Adelaide CBD. The second survey concluded that the numbers of unsheltered people dropped from 108 to 93, which was a coup for Greg Calder. But the reduced numbers were, apparently, due mostly to 13 people in tents leaving or being expelled from the West Terrace Parklands. But they came back, and despite losing their bedding last week they might remain and stay visible until the next survey, which then might show that homeless numbers in the Adelaide CBD haven't dropped at all. Then the number crunchers in Media Mike's government might ask if the 15 or twenty employees of Street-to-home are having any effect at all. The above slant might provide some insight as to why Stuart Mosely implied the Council had a tacit agreement with Street-to-home to confiscate and destroy most of the bedding and personal effects of the 20 campers. The modus operandi of this "agreement" appears to be that Street-to-home social workers visited the campers in the weeks and days prior to the confiscation to gather intelligence. They determined the numbers, the "homeless status" and movements of the campers then passed this information to the Council who then knew to pounce at a time when the campers were showering and doing laundry at Byron Place Homeless Centre. The result is that the campers will become more furtive and invisible and may even miss being counted on next winter's homeless count. Or they may be encouraged by their celebrity status and be feted and supported by political groups that want to align themselves with the campers. 11 February 2008 Big People "Big people laugh at us [Centrelink] because they reckon we're hopeless. Premier Rann every Christmas he goes to Hutt Street. That's leading the people on. I reckon he's a crawler only because he wants a vote…Aboriginals [are] acting too smart. You write that" A man speaking at a homeless centre last week. 11 February 2008 "Common Ground" from the Street Another man, this one living under bushes, told me that the proclaimed 24/7 presence of a social worker at the Common Ground Bus Station units won't be kept. He said instead there would be a Pakistani social worker from London, England who will be available once in a while. 11 February 2008 Top Service After ordering employees not to speak to members of the public but to instead refer all enquiries to their call centre in Pirie Street, the Adelaide City Council conducted a survey to register public satisfaction with its reduced services. Guess where the survey was conducted? It was in front of the security guard and people working in the call centre. The customers pay traffic fines or negotiate building permission applications there. The normally loud Muzak was turned down while the verbal question and answer survey was being conducted. We all know how payback works in Adelaide so will the survey results conclude that most are ecstatically happy with service provided by the Adelaide City Council? 11 February 2008 Cappo's Face Closet Looking at the Social Inclusion Unit's newsletters one can't help but notice the many pictures showing the choreographed facial expressions of our humble man of God, Vicar General Monsignor Company Director David Cappo. With "homeless" people he invariably wears a broad shark-like smile. With Media Mike he wears his deadly serious look, which is quite a feat considering Mike's silly looking face. But how does he choose the right face when appearing in a photograph with both a "homeless" type person and a government minister like Jay Weatherill? He goes half-and-half. http://www.socialinclusion.sa.gov.au/files/SI_Newsletter_Dec07revised.pdf 11 February 2008 The Good Old Days? Dr X was saying last week that once he held up a banana to tell Fred's Van diners that staff were distributing bananas. He said the response of one woman was to run up to him and punch him in the jaw knocking out two teeth. 11 February 2008 Extra Nasty Fan mail The Psychology of David Cappo Below is a section of an interview between David Bevan of ABC radio 5AN and David Cappo of the Catholic Church and the South Australian Government from Monday, 11 February 2008. It is interesting to see Cappo’s response to Bevan’s critical question on his performance. This interview followed the Adelaide City Council’s removal and destruction of bedding and personal effects of 20 Aboriginals camping in the west parklands. David Cappo: “Then on Sunday morning I, I just thought dropped over to the West Parklands to look at the site and talk to the Aboriginal people there. Um, look, it is clear to me, uh, that, um, the city council must never do this again. I think we’ve moved beyond this sort of action…” David Bevan: “Do you see the situation there in any way as evidence of a failure on your part or on the part of the Social Inclusion Board? David Cappo: “I, I think it, it’s, it more, ah, to me, highlights the fact that we are dealing with an incredibly complex issue. You know, we’re dealing with mental health issues, drug and alcohol issues, dysfunction in, in family networks, a whole range of issues.” 12 February 2008 Jay Weatherill and Machiavelli The comments by Jay Weatherill concerning the destruction and theft of homeless people's property in the west parklands by people acting on orders from the Adelaide City Council are very revealing indeed. Weatherill said that government policy was working in homeless scene and that this occurrence had turned the situation into a "cause celebre" - THAT is the only thing creatures like Weatherill fear - a light being shone on his insidious nature. It takes an episode like this, publicly reported, to expose the sort of paradigm politicians set for the treatment of vulnerable and disadvantaged people. I'm sure the irony of all the publicity to say "sorry" to Aboriginal people is not lost, even on a Labor lacky like George Weatherill MLC, Jay Weatherill’s father. What they have done is absolutely disgusting. Mick 12 February 2008 Homelessness Down Three? “Three people have died crossing West Terrace trying to get over to where they can actually gather.” From a woman calling a radio station saying that by banning the consumption of alcohol in Victoria Square the Aboriginals have been forced to relocate in the West Terrace parklands and three have been killed crossing that difficult road. 12 February 2008 Blood spilt on the eve of Sorry Day “We kill ‘em tonight. We got plenty of time,” said one of three fat Aboriginal women who were yelling at another older fat woman at Fred’s Van last night. The older woman retreated towards the police station while returning her own threats. The Emergency Medical Technology (free homeless ambulance) arrived just behind Fred’s Van. Police were speaking to a Fred’s Van worker when the older woman returned and a fight broke out with the “We kill ‘em” woman. They used broken cups as weapons. The older woman suffered a wound that quickly covered her face and breasts with thick, glistening blood. Another ambulance arrived, this one from the SA Ambulance Service, with its new paint job saying “Emergency Ambulance”. Two officers pulled a trolley stretcher to the bleeding woman who jumped up and tried to restart the fight with the other woman. Two police blocked her movement with outstretched arms. (They weren’t game to touch her with all that blood.) The bleeding woman rejected the trolley so they pulled it back to the ambulance. Three ambulance officers, both from EMT and SA Ambulance then stopped the bleeding and applied bandages. Meanwhile, as comic relief, a Fred’s Van volunteer threw out-of-date packaged muffins at the diners. It was like a zoo and some police present, by now there were seven or eight, smiled at our antics - people enjoy zoos. “He means well,” a patron said of the man, who raised a few smiles on this terrible night. Posted 13 Wednesday 2008 Fun and Games ? “Are you depressed? Ha,ha,ha,” jeered a young Aboriginal woman in a group of three while they expelled an older white woman from a bench. The white woman suffers from depression and usually lies on the bench while waiting for Fred’s Van. The others, drinking white cask wine from dirty Coke bottles, wanted the bench for themselves. 13 Wednesday 2008 Scary “Coastland Scares,” said a man in the Fred’s Van queue after being handed a red notice saying that violence and the grabbing of food would not be tolerated. The notice was from St Vincent de Paul, Salvation Army and CoastlandsCares. The notice was distributed by an aggressive, threatening woman who is often the instigator of abuse. Last night she was charming and said she was going to become a Fred’s Van worker. People respond to opportunity to give. 13 February 2008 WestCare Two reliable sources at WestCare, 212 Wright Street, Adelaide told me that while paid employees must now pay for meals the volunteers get a free meal if they work a minimum of ninety-minutes. 13 February 2008 Praise for Fred’s Van A veteran in the homeless scene told me last night that he measured the worth of government spending on welfare on what actually reached ground level. On that score Fred’s Van might be on the top of his list. Government funding to them apparently grows as it moves to “ground level”. 14 February 2008 Inside the Big Lie “The next Pope” this week was promoting himself on radio by saying primary homeless numbers had dropped from 130 to 90 in the Adelaide CBD. When you consider the cost of employing 15-20 people in Street-to-home; the cost of monitor housing at East Park Lodge; the cost of the empty Common Ground units; government funded social workers administering empty beds in St Vinnies Night Shelter; and what Cappo and his group in Social Inclusion Unit siphon off then the cost of reducing homelessness during the last four years might have built enough houses and units to house hundreds of people. But those living outside have seen little benefit: just more control freaks. 14 February 2008 “Write This” “Write this,” a diner at WestCare told me, describing the $2 lunch at WestCare. “Today there was no soup, main course was a snag and a chop and two leaves and desert was a muesli bar. The Aboriginals got kangaroo steak. 14 February 2008 Latest Picture of the back of the Stalag Afton Redevelopment "Social Inclusion" keeping another man living outside There is a man living outside who often reads reference books at the State Library. He’s never been mentioned previously in this column. He told me last night that he was saving most of his welfare money to rent a flat. I asked him why he didn’t stay at St Vincent de Paul night shelter in Whitmore Square for $5 a night until he saved enough cash. They invariably have lots of vacancies. He said he tried to stay there but they wanted too much information, especially about his medical condition; He suffers asthma and arthritis and another major condition that he didn’t want to tell them about. He’s in his mid-fifties, sunburnt and looks shattered though he speaks clearly and with humour. They refused him entry to the hostel despite having empty cubicles so he continues to sleep on the ground. This policy of St Vincent de Paul of refusing accommodation to “homeless” people isn’t isolated to St Vinnies. It’s the Rann government’s Social Inclusion policy of “increased intervention”, which means accommodation previously available to those living outside is now subject to the surrendering of privacy rights. Thus, “Social Inclusion” and “the next Pope” are actually excluding some people even more than before, extending their period of “homelessness”. 15 August 2008 The Ghost-Who-Walks The Ghost was socialising with a dozen diners at Gawler Court last night. A woman from the West Terrace campers arrived thirty minutes after Fred’s Van had left. Bad luck, until the Ghost went to his clapped-out car and gave her sandwiches and jubes. She left. Then he put the rest of his food in a bag to hide for “PJ” who missed out on both the Teen Challenge meal and Fred’s Van because he said he had an “appointment”. “PJ” would pick it up later that night while heading for his secret camping area. 15 August 2008 Theo Kalamaras Sir Theo Maras, OA, said today that the claim that Common Ground excluded homeless drug users was “bunk”. A resident of East Park Lodge, another government-funded CBD project in Angas Street, Adelaide, told me that management “kept out the druggies”. Another man, living outside, said his Case Manager told him to pretend to be ex-homeless when seeking government-funded accommodation for the homeless, implying that these places don’t want homeless people applying for tenancy. The Advertiser newspaper reported today that Theo Maras stated the majority of tenants in the 37 Common Ground on top of the Bus Station will be university students and artists. This paints a grim picture made even grimmer when you think of the millions soaked up by David Cappo and his Social Inclusion bureaucrats, and the Street-to-home agency. 15 August 2008 Erica-on-the-Street Whatever happened to seventy-year-old “Erica”? For years she’s had trouble getting to the Teen Challenge meal because of a bad hip. She’s been on the hip replacement list for years. She complained a lot then ended up in Glenside, then released, still with the bad hip, but with a lower bicycle. She was always a lively personality in the scene, frequently recollecting the day the Russians entered her town at the end of World War 2. 15 February 2008 Chook The loud, aggressive woman at Fred’s Van who wants to become a worker for Fred’s Van was seen one evening shaking hands with everyone, introducing herself as “Chook”. She was simply captivating though by the end of the evening she was being held back by a friend while shouting angrily at a departing group of diners. “Chook” is a little rough around the edges, but there is potential. 15 February 2008 Strange Days Martin Hamilton-Smith, leader of the South Australian Opposition, is proposing to expand HousingSA by 1000 homes year. Jay Weatherill, Minister for Housing, is currently selling off housing stock. 20 February 2008 Health Raid? An informant says health inspectors examined WestCare’s kitchen last week. They took pictures. A hidden box of out-of-date Dove chocolate was quickly removed by staff and will, according to our informant, be distributed to clients today at 1:30pm. It has not been made clear why the inspectors chose WestCare. It might have been a routine inspection though a number of clients have longstanding grievances against the cook. One says the cook scoops ice-cream from a container then uses her hand to remove it from the scoop then plops it into a bowl. “At least she now wears a glove,” one informant stated, adding, “Where did she learn that technique?” It should be stated that the cook hasn’t had a chance to state her side of the story. I always found the food okay at WestCare except when the cook was absent for a few weeks and the fish overcooked. 22 Friday 2008 “Homeless” units not available to most “homeless”? “Tony rang to say that the word on the street is that you can’t get into this accommodation [Bus Station Common Ground units] if you have a drug or alcohol problem, or a criminal record. He said that makes it quite difficult for the homeless.” Matthew Abraham on ABC 5AN on Friday, 15 February 2008 “Rumours,” responded Jay Weatherill, Minister for Destroying the Housing Trust Posted 22 February 2008 Vacancies for three “Defrosters” MACHA is advertising in the Adelaide Advertiser newspaper for three new employees. One job offers a car for personal use. But what need is there for three new employees for a small organisation with a frozen waiting list? Maybe they need “defrosters” for the waiting list. Or maybe a couple of armed guards for their Alcatraz units at Lockleys. Being a tenant in that dump is a dangerous occupation. Even Frank “Banjo” Jones was run out of there by drug addicts. 25 Frebruary 2008 Housing Disincentives Most HousingSA units and houses are single occupancy meaning just one person lives in each dwelling. This is despite many occupants wanting to share with others. For example: a man and woman may occupy two HousingSA dwellings despite each of them having two or three bedrooms. They don't move in together because the rent would double, or even more than double. This is because rent is based on household income and as the income increases not just the amount paid increases but also the percentage of income charged. Another disincentive is that if the shared arrangements are discontinued the person who gave up his or her unit might wait ten to fifteen years to get back into another one. So there is no incentive to live together. This means a number of HousingSA's 40,000 dwellings are under utilised. Reducing rent for couples would encourage the sharing of houses and make the vacated houses available for the "homeless". The argument against the above is that HousingSA would have to reduce rent for all couples. But so few HousingSA dwelling are occupied by couples or families that the loss of rent would be minimal and this could be offset by the increased availability of properties vacated as tenants "doubled up". Sadly, the Minister for Destroying the Housing Trust can't contemplate this scenario. He's paralysed by the ideology of selling off government housing to developers who knock down the buildings then construct "Mickey Mouse" dwellings and rent them back to the previous and new tenants at higher rents. And don't expect anything positive from "the next Pope". He's off on a new project to increase South Australia's population to two million. And even if he did address this issue could he resist adding coercion into the mix. 25 February 2008 Jasmin Restaurant The Jasmin restaurant meal last Thursday in Hindmarsh Square was exceptionally good, as always. The meal contained big cubes of seasoned meat (if you like meat). I figure their curries are better than those produced by the Real Indians at Fred's Van. Fred's Van was short on food and they didn't bring enough plastic bowls for the vegetarian curry delivered by the Real Indians. At least nobody got beat up. One man said he goes to the Krishna meal in Hurtle Square on Monday and Wednesdays. He says no one ever gets beaten up there. 25 February 2008 Altercation in library toilets Barmera scam artist, John Green, surprised an older man with a punch to the mouth last Tuesday in the men's toilets on the ground floor at the State Library on North Terrace, Adelaide. The time was 5:40pm, just before the lending library closed. There was one witness. The recipient of the punch was a mildly disabled man who experiences reduced mobility. "Do you want a go? I'm ready," Green shouted at the retreating figure, after he hit him. It was a dispute over money. The man fled with a split lip as Green paced him to North Terrace. Green has dozens of convictions for fraud and forgery and targets vulnerable people who don't call the police. He has obtained substantial amounts of money from a church pastor at WestCare in Wright Street and from a seventy-five-year old volunteer at the Byron Place Community Centre. Both places provide services for those living outside. He has fraudulently obtained money from a former ABC radio programmer then gone around claiming they were great friends. Green gains the confidence of well meaning people by telling them his troubles and the intimate details of his children; their mothers; his parents, his brother at SAWater; all his relatives in Adelaide, Port Pirie and Barmera. He emphasises his desire to protect and care for his children, but ominously hints that dark forces threaten them. He paints the picture of a good family man temporarily down on his luck. Then he announces, often with tears, that a crisis in the family requires a considerable amount of money and would the well meaning person provide a short term loan. When the loan is made he disappears to the Casino, the horse races and various pokies joints like the Metropolitan Hotel, losing everything. Within a fortnight he's back on the streets but instead of being shamefaced he's angry, telling others that the person who lent him the money is a threat to his children. This gains sympathy and sooner or later another well meaning person rescues him and the cycle continues. What makes this rather predictable case of serial fraud fascinating is that Family Court of Australia records indicate that Green was denied access to his children for their own safety. But in Green's mind it's those who want to recover their loans that are threatening his children. He has psychologically subverted his children into representing the money he fraudulently obtains from others. This means, in his mind, that anyone wanting repayment is threatening his children. He actually believes this. This gives him an enhanced ability to approach others for help against creditors. He believes he's protecting his children. He'll sacrifice his life for his "children": aka to avoid repaying the loan. Thus Green, as was seen in the library toilets, has become physically dangerous to others as well as financially dangerous. This chilly scenario is similar to the mind of Albert DeSalvo, the Boston Strangler. DeSalvo strangled a number of women in the 1960s and was bemused when police detectives took him in for questioning. He didn't know he was the strangler and it took an astute psychiatrist to bring the "nice personality" section of his mind into contact with the "strangler". Green is certainly not a strangler but the mechanisms of denial appear identical. Green can't admit he's a fraudster and gambling addict; he thinks he's a nice family man being persecuted by others. Listening to him talk about his Family Court drama resembles a monologue about a third party. While Green's ruthlessness with the man in the toilet displays his Boston Strangler personality he's a timid and withdrawn figure around the hard men in the homeless scene. The confusion Green experiences in private and in public is when his contrasting split-personalities briefly make contact. Police were called to the Myer Centre food court some time ago where Green was the subject of a disturbance. His split personalities gave him conflicting impulses and despite all attempts he couldn't find his way out of the food court. He raged so vehemently that security guards called the police. One report indicates that attending police called ACIS, a Health Department psychiatric unit that responds to people having acute psychotic attacks. They bundled Green into either an ambulance or police van and took him to Glenside Psychiatric Hospital. Greg Calder, now of Street-to-home, was then in charge of ACIS. Green was detained for quite some time on Calder's recommendation and now vows revenge on Calder. But the reality is that Green prefers soft targets: well meaning people with money to support his gambling addiction. Green regularly finds a safe haven at the Catholic Hutt Street Centre. Staff treat him with kindness and respect though keep him under constant observation. He occupies a bench on most mornings that allows three escape routes in case "they" come to get him. ("They" is whichever of his personalities is dormant at that time). Two enforcers in the homeless scene have openly offered to have Green bashed, severely, the level that might leave him with permanent disabilities but compassion is more appropriate for a person with a split personality. His "takings" have dropped in the previous year due to exposure on this gossip column so he is much less a threat. Nevertheless, it remains to be seen whether Green ends up in James Nash House, a secure facility on the grounds of the dismantled Hillcrest Hospital, or, mellows with age, accepting that his predatory life has been concentrated on people who were moved by his suffering, by those that wanted to help him. The other man is receiving dental treatment. Anatomy of a Scam Attack Pictures of John Green 1, 2, 3 27 February 2008 More Housing Disincentives A man with a wife and step daughter worked part-time for one year pushing supermarket trolleys in Port Adelaide. He got four dollars an hour for most of that year. HousingSA increased his rent one dollar for every four dollars per hour he earned. This was like taxing someone 25% on four bucks an hour. A friend of the man visited Jay Weatherill, Minister for Destroying the Housing Trust. She said he said the deduction wasn't fair, but hasn't changed the regulations that allow its enforcement. 3 March 2008 WestCare Gourmet Extras “Do you want to watch me pick my nose?” said the cook at WestCare this week to a customer at the $2 meal. 7 March 2008 Latest Housing Trust Statistics From South Australian Housing Trust Trust in Focus 2006-2007 Department for Families and Communities Government of South Australia New Tenancies p11 61% single 23% single parent New Applications for Housing p11 1997-98 - 14,000 2006-07 - just over 6000 Waiting List p12 1998 - 30,489 2007 - 22,339 New Applications for Housing p12 Category 1 - 14% Category 2 - 25.2% Category 3 - 56.4% New Tenancies p14 Category 1 - 14.5% Category 2 - 25.2% Category 3 - 56.4% Existing Tenancies p16 2003 - 45,377 2007 - 42,548 Homeless p23 7.4% of Waiting List are "Homeless" 13.8% of allocations go to those classed as "Homeless" Housing Trust Income p34 34% of Trust income was from selling off stock Rental Stock Rental Housing reached a peak of 63,022 in 1992 p55 More recent rental stock figures p39 1998 - 55,996 1999 - 54,530 2000 - 53,310 2001 - 51,251 2002 - 49,543 2003 - 47,551 2004 - 46,727 2005 - 46,122 2006 - 45,455 2007 - 44,886 Types of Rental Housing p40 Attached Houses (also called semi-detached) - 53% Detached (separate houses and units) - 30% Flats - 6% Cottage Flats (for old people) - 11% Gender Ratio of Staff p50 61.6% female 38.4% male From South Australia Housing Trust Trust in Focus 2006-2007 Department for Families and Communities Government of South Australia The Housing Trust is now called HousingSA 7 March 2008 Homeless Gossip of Adelaide has tripled its visitor counts over the past two weeks. 7 March 2008 Common Ground I was walking along Franklin Street with Ugandan John and the West Terrace campers last Thursday when we passed the Common Ground Bus Station units. A two-metre vinyl roll-out display advertising the project was located on the ground floor in front of the elevator that goes up to the flats. Its message was, basically, that the people living upstairs were pathetic charity cases. Yet Sir Theo Kalamaras, chairman of Common Ground, and its main beneficiary, claims the project is to improve the self-esteem of residents. Is Sir Theo naive or ignorant or simply Machiavellian? 11 March 2008 Alan B., the Big Issue Vendor Alan sells Big Issue magazine Monday to Saturday afternoons in Rundle Mall in front of the Myer Centre and on Sunday afternoons further down near Pulteney Street. The cover price is five-dollars of which Vendors get half. Alan frequently sells for three-dollars to pensioners and other low-income people. He's a rather classy sort of vendor. 11 March 2008 Proud Trevor Trevor, who lives outside and doesn't collect welfare, was proudly displaying his can opener at the Teen Challenge meal. It's the size of a twenty-cent piece. He is a minimalist who carries all his belongings, including tarp and blanket, in a small backpack. 11 March 2008 South Australian Dental Service Private dentists perform better dental work than those contract dentists at the government dental clinics, right? Most of us think this. So when the SA Dental Service sends a low income patient to a private dentist for a ten-dollar appointment it appears a dream come true. But private dentists get paid less by the government when treating welfare patients. One dentist described working on welfare patients as "community service". This prompts them to do less work; to leave minor problems untouched, so they can concentrate their labours on richer customers who pay the full rate. Some welfare patients react by expressing preference for the underpaid dentists at the government dental clinics. Others prefer to go private, especially if they’ve found a superb dentist. So you'd think the South Australian Dental Service would let welfare patients decide on private or government dentists. It makes no difference to them. But they don't allow choice; when your name comes up its one or the other, whatever. Why should they offer choice to welfare patients when it's just as easy to show contempt by denying choice? 11 March 2008 WestCare Homeless Centre Saga continues Client 1 Reports "Take out your notebook," a commanding voice ordered as I slumped seizure-like on a Rundle Mall bench on a hot day last week. The voice began: "Tuesday, 4th of March, 2008 at "WestCare, ****, the so-called Chef, was handling plates and serving meals without wearing gloves. On Thursday: handling desert with glove on left hand, none on right. John, in charge, never said anything about her not wearing gloves. Others [in the kitchen] had gloves." Client 2 Reports "The cook brings in this huge amount of food to the Art Space on Wednesdays and sits there and gorges," said a WestCare client not previously quoted on this gossip column. Client 3 (kicked out for one-month) "You got it wrong last week. They didn't kick me out. They said either apologise to **** [the cook] or leave voluntarily for a month." [He chose the latter]. The Manager's Viewpoint Hi *****, "I am happy to chat with you generally about issues. A staff member felt she was being harrassed by a client and I must take this seriously. The client decided to take a holiday for a nominated period. The details you printed were inaccurate. We gave chocolate out, as our policy is to offer in the yard whatever Foodbank offers us for our clients. So we did this. We also give out buns and cakes and bread. There were no timing issues that is our work, and it was given out on a different day to the routine health inspection. And plastic gloves for food handlers are enforced at Westcare precisely because they allow staff to handle food." Cheers John [Hannaford] Westcare Day centre Coordinator Client 4 (about infections spread from the cook's ungloved hand) "They're putting out lives at risk; you don't know where her hands have been." And the same client comments on the man who left for one-month for criticising the cook. "I don't see how anyone should have to leave for a month because everyone should have the right to free speech. The cook, in my opinion, has paranoia." And on the WestCare cook's ability "I've worked in a lot of restaurants and they reckon there's an art to cooking and she ain't got it…the woman at Hutt Street is a brilliant cook. She 100% better than ****." Posted 11 March 2008 The Streets are paved with gold? There was a tinkling of coins rolling down the street opposite the RAA building last week, possibly thrown from a car. Two smiling can collectors collected them while a woman took pictures from across the street. Don, another collector, said he doesn't perform tricks and left the coins alone. 14 March 2008 No Teeth We were talking at the Teen Challenge meal about scam artist John Green punching the partially disabled man in the library toilets. Two men both opened their mouths to show no teeth at all. "At least you don't have to worry about getting them punched out," one laughed. They're both on dental waiting lists but it takes years to see a cheapo government dentist then another two years to get dentures. It's sort of sad. 14 March 2008 Pathos "The government is trying to sell off the parklands," said a man living outside, last week. "It's pathetic." 14 March 2008 Common Ground Bus Station "Studio Apartments" "T.O.", recently living in his car, said the Common Ground Bus Station units were already full. He said two people had already left. He was referring to the "homeless" component of the units. The majority of units are still empty and they will eventually be occupied by artists and students. T.O. also said no druggies will be allowed to live in the Bus Station units but they'll go to the new project in Light Square, when it's completed: Glenside-in-the-city. You'd think Jo Wickes or Sally "Our Sal" Langton of HomelessnessSA would be up-in-arms over the fact that most of the Bus Station units won't be for "homeless" people. You'd think they'd be talking to the media. You'd think Ian Cox of Hutt Street Centre or Marj at Byron Place would be shouting from the rooves. You'd think… 14 March 2008 PJ's bedding slashed PJ went "home" to his campsite one night last week and found his bedding and clothing slashed. "Even my pillow," he said. 14 March 2008 Food Round-up Jasmin Restaurant George, the chef from the Jasmin Restaurant was telling Mark, the grey bearded cyclist who pays 80% of his income on rent, that he couldn't make up a special meal for him because then everyone who came late would want one. George was dressed in black instead of his usual white. The system, as it stands, is that people collect tickets from the Teen Challenge fellow from 4:40pm to 5:45pm; George then takes the tickets back to the Jasmin and fills that amount of meals in plastic containers. The Jasmin do this so no food is wasted, which was what happened last year. The Jasmin food distributed to homeless-style people is the same quality as that served in their restaurant at $23 for a main course. "I don't know how they keep it up," one man living outside said last Thursday. The meal was prawns, fish, curried rice, and lightly fried cauliflower, carrots and other vegetables. Teen Challenge contributed the cordial but it ran out. That wouldn't have happened in Warren's and Demi's day. Mark, the 80% cyclist got up for a second cup of cordial but returned with a chunk of ice that he promptly dropped onto the footpath. He picked it up, wiped off the dirt and grass and began eating it. Fred's Van The rice and curry made by Real Indians for Fred's Van each Thursday ran out before everyone had gotten a serving two weeks ago but last Thursday there was enough for everyone. The Bags were a little light. Loud Aboriginals highlighted the evening by spreading out across the courtyard. Their shouting and movement was as if they were mimicking their behaviour during a Kangaroo hunt - spreading over the land and closing in on their prey. They enlivened the atmosphere so even us dour white folk were affected and became freer and more animated. These Aboriginals were a welcome new crowd in town. The teenage Aboriginal who can do bird whistles better than the birds themselves became wild when The Bags momentarily ran out. He tried to humbug a Bag from a white fella until distracted by a six-year-old with a lime coloured ball. They threw it back and forth while a new box of Bags came from the Van. The white fella, the-ghost-who-walks and I all offered the teenager a bag each, which confused the hell out of him and he gave them all away. Everyone seemed happy from the transactions. "C", the scrap collector, and The Removalist continued their long running feud. Last week the Removalist called "C" "a parasite" and the latter responded by calling The Removalist "a loser", and threw a paper bag at him. This week "C" called The Removalist a "retard" whilst the latter responded again by calling "C" a "parasite". The blond woman serving the food became distraught after someone threw their food straight into the rubbish bin. She corrected herself, saying she shouldn't respond like that. She wears Kevin 07 glasses and is always a pleasure to meet. Last Monday six patrol cars and two ambulances were called to the Fred’s Van meal after fighting broke out. 14 March 2008 Australia Day Honours The list of Australia Day awards often leave people dismayed. Why are those who work for years, even decades for Fred's Van and other homeless services ignored while the likes of John Friedrich, Sir Theo Kalamaras, and The Next Pope given awards? The reason is that awards are given mostly to "Movers and Shakers", those with power and influence. They're not necessarily good humans but rather influential citizens or at least useful to those with power. 14 March 2008 Another experience of WestCare "My experience of WestCare since 1987 has been good. I eat there on occasional Fridays for fish and chips though there should be vinegar with the meal. The dining areas are roomy and they let you sit where you want, not crowded together at the tables like at Hutt Street. WestCare don't demand to see ID, either, from diners eating their two-dollar meal as do staff at Hutt Street Centre. "Joe de Souza often plays the piano while we eat and Centrelink employees hang out in the back room on Fridays. They're kind and decent at WestCare before doing a Jekyll and Hyde switch upon returning to the Currie Street Centrelink office. "The toilets make me nervous, however, like visiting Germ Central. But in the balance I'm surprised at the level and multitude of complaints from diners about ****, the cook." 18 March 2008 Firing on all one cylinder Rex Jory, from the Adelaide Advertiser newspaper is rumoured to be firing on all one cylinder. My informant says he’s been advised to reduce his food intake or go for long walks. 18 March 2008 A sharp question Áre you trying to shut it down?" asked B. at the Teen Challenge meal last Thursday. He was referring to critical comments on this gossip column of Fred's Van. "No," I replied. Dr "X" has since confirmed that Fred's Van has been given notice, officially, to find another place to serve meals. They have, I believe, 12-months notice. 20 March 2008 Methods of Self-Empowerment "About time you did some work, John? shouted the woman known as "The Chook" to a maintenance employee in Railway Arcade that runs from the railway station to Hindley Street. His body stiffened as he pretended to ignore her. The Chook's attention wandered to the scarf display next to the massage joint as her boyfriend's arm encircled her waste. The Chook eats at Fred's Van and resembles Rachel, the five-tooth woman who dines with Teen Challenge and the Jasmin Restaurant on Thursdays. "About time you did some work," Rachel regularly admonishes employees in her loud voice in the city council library on North Terrace. They're both rough women who walk around Adelaide with their backs straight and heads held high. 20 March 2008 Danger at Fred's Van "It's too scary," "A" said, about Fred's Van. "Not worth getting beat up for a meal?" I suggested. "Exactly," he said. "A" was smiling broadly in expectation of his date with two women that evening and he didn't know what would happen. 20 March 2008 Coming Soon: Latest Technology for Street to Home; The man who exploits children for his gain Special Note: There has been some delay in producing the prototype technology for Street-to-home, but after extensive testing we're close to being able to display this ground breaking technology. The good side of social inclusion The partially disabled man punched in the teeth by John Green in the State Library toilets last month presented at the Emergency Department at the Lyell McEwin Hospital a few days previously. He had inflamed knee joints due to a chronic condition and now walks with a temporary walking frame. He said that: "There were a few A4-sized pages stuck on the staff notice board showing how to identify homeless people and to call Kate or Sarah when they treated one. The notice board was in the waiting room so patients could also see there might be some added benefit to admitting they lived outside or in dangerous accommodation. The Nurse Facilitator asked me quite a few questions about my accommodation because their data base records me on a previous visit as being "homeless". The medical treatment was terrific and they treated me as if I was a human with a brain and emotions and not merely a piece of meat." 31 March 2008 Whatever happened to …? The dyed-hair woman is bundled in her Sunday best long coat from the 1950s as she sits tensely in the courtyard on this 40 degree day. A wide-brimmed hat covers her head and her bulging bag waits next to her chair. The courtyard is enclosed in fences too high for teenage ferals to surmount. The shut gate isn't locked but its hidden latch would fool many trying to enter, or exit. Her eyes follow me like a surveillance camera in Rundle Mall as I walk down First Street at Brompton. She raises her hand as I nod acknowledgement. Am I her rescuer? No, I turn into the pokies joint that offers free lunch if you change $30 into coin. It's a mystery to many what happens to the old timers in the homeless scene; those dipsomaniacs or simply humans who've been overtaken by the fog that clears the mind of yesterday and today and tomorrow but leaves the rich memories of their youths untouched. Government social inclusion bureaucrats save them from the ravages of life under trees, rotting in dirty hotels and rooming houses, or simply lost in their own homes. They're shipped out via the Public Trustee, to places like Ian George Court in Brompton where they live a safe life in limbo. After my free lunch and with thirty one-dollar coins weighing down my pocket I trudge past the old lady, wave again and crunch my way up the sharp shale railway bed to the city for coffee at the Otherway Centre. Tomorrow I'll exchange the coins for notes at the Talbot Hotel near the Central Markets then crunch my way back down the railway line to the Brompton pokies joint for another free lunch. I know my new friend will be there, still waiting for her lift. 20 March 2008 Posted 31 March 2008 Bunfight at the Magdalene Coral The long simmering feud between "C", a high-powered scrap collector and the veteran ,"The Removalist", peaked at last Saturday's free Magdalene Centre evening meal. "C" threw a bun at The Removalist who jumped from his chair and ran over to punch "C" in the head. Staff ordered "C" from the premises, presumably because he threw the first bun and is a generation younger than The Removalist. Insiders say their feud began two years previously at the Otherway Centre Christmas barbecue. "C" and the Ghost-who-walks along with The Removalist were clearing the place of anything edible as if they'd been contracted to empty the joint. The Removalist was caught in the act and drew attention to the others and, red faced, they returned their booty to the hall. "C", apparently, has never forgiven The Removalist for the humiliation while the latter won't accept a smidgin of blame. Thus the feud continues. The sad part is that both are respected in the scavenger scene and could almost be father and son - Steptoe and son. 25 March 2008 $100 for nine days work Ali is a quietly spoken Sudanese-Australian man of fragile appearance who recently worked nine days for Solitaire Automotive at Mile End where he washed Jaguar, Volvo and Volkswagen cars. He was referred to Solitaire by Job Prospects, a Job Network Member in Currie Street, Adelaide. There was an alleged agreement that Job Prospects would pay part of his wages for the first six weeks. After nine days of washing cars Ali was paid just $100. Ali said Job Prospects are backing away from the wage subsidy agreement and want him to forget the disappointing wages and start another job. But Ali has made a complaint with the employee Ombudsman though he doesn't expect a resolution for quite some time. He was visibly shattered by his experience. 25 March 2008 Changing their tune After one-year of claiming that the Common Ground Bus Station units would include a mix of homeless people, artists and students the latest pronouncement is that 34 of the 37 units will be occupied by "single homeless" people. Whatever happened to all those "artists and students" that were scheduled to move in? Did they receive shock emails saying: "Don't pack your bags just yet"? What isn't clear is what percentage of these 34 "single homeless" tenants actually lived outside before moving into the Bus Station Units. It appears most have been living in other accommodation but conveniently reclassed as being "at risk of homelessness". We already know homeless housing agencies prefer housing those already in accommodation rather than people living outside. They disguise this fact by reclassifying the already housed tenants as being "at risk of homelessness". Perhaps the new tenants for the Bus Station units have been reclassified from "artists and students" to people "at risk of homelessness". This subterfuge would suit Common Ground's latest media statements but such lack of transparency must surely breed corruption. The Bus Station units cost $6.1 million, which was paid for by the South Australian government. Ikea provided the furniture. Sir Theo Kalamaras' role in the Bus Station units isn't clear except him getting an Australian Day award for his involvement. What isn't disputable is that the project has been a bonanza for bureaucrats prying into the personal lives of 146 people who have tried to rent one of the units: all the paperwork, the interviews, the false promises and the additions to the secret Homeless Register data base. 25 March 2008 Prayers at WestCare Prayers were held at WestCare asking that "attacks" on them, (including from this gossip column), stop. The prayers worked. One person suggested they also pray for better efficiency in the kitchen. That caused a momentary stir, but thing are smoothing out. What remains to be seen is whether the whistleblowers will be excluded from welfare services for alerting this gossip column of strife in the kitchen. My experience with WestCare over the previous three decades indicates they'll probably not seek revenge on the whistleblowers. 25 March 2008 Back in the old days Gunfire was heard at the Magdalene Centre free Saturday meal back in 1993 according to Anton K of Beaumont. He provoked the church minister by saying that the food quality failed to meet his Beaumont standards. The minister turned away as if sneakily pulling a derringer from his coat then a gunshot sounded as hot air puffed out the back of his trousers. Anton said it was a strange restaurant. 31 March 2008 Chain Gang Boss Speaks Out Mark Herselman, the state director of Mission Australia spoke on ABC radio, 5AN, last week about those living outside during the recent record breaking heat wave. He said: "A number of our clients started presenting with all the symptoms of heat stress, dehydration, heat stroke, severe sunburn…yeah, well…there was a young lady virtually staying, well, she was staying in her car for about four or five nights. She just couldn't deal with it anymore. When we saw her she was severely dehydrated, heat stressed and, um, not pretty…a lot of agencies such as ourselves do take, I guess, action and provide, uh, these people with water and sort of sunscreen and try to find temporary accommodation for them." "I think what we'd like to do over the winter is to talk to the Adelaide City Council and the state government about preparing some sort of, uh, emerging plan for any heat waves that converge next year. We'll see." Mission Australia is best known for running the federally funded Work for the dole programs. Some church agencies won't accept these lucrative government contracts because it necessitates kicking people off the dole who are already the poorest in the country. 31 March 2008 Man living outside gets lens replacement The man in his fifties living outside because welfare housing won't rent him accommodation because he won't provide names of his doctor and family, and give bureaucrats permission to contact them, has undergone eye surgery. The natural lens on his blind eye has been replaced by an artificial lens, but complications have set in. He said he's got to see the surgeon tomorrow, possibly for more surgery because the bleeding won't stop. He asked the woman coffee server at Fred's Van to put drops in his eyes. Apart from the bleeding he said the sight in his previously blind eye is better than that given to him by God. It isn't known if he's living outside still but he certainly continues to dine at Fred's Van. 2 April 2008 Pisspots "Was there much trouble at Fred's Van last week?" I asked Trevor. "Yep," he replied "Aboriginals?" "Not Aboriginals. Pisspot Aboriginals. They're not all pisspots," he emphasised. 2 April 2008 What month is it? A man at the Otherway Centre told me that he found a watch on the street. "It shows the day of the month but not the month," he said, adding, "That's alright. I don't need to know what month it is. Doesn't make any difference though I know, roughly, that it's June or July." He said this in March, that is, last week. This man has more integrity than myself, more than most church and bureaucracy bosses I've met. He thinks rationally, hasn't a history of mental illness, drug or alcohol use, but he lives independently of the control mechanisms that force the rest of us to live by a timepiece, and to the morality of nameless others. He lives outside and has found his place on this earth. 2 April 2008 Violent thugs usually escape the law "D" said a thug hit him while he was buying a Multitrip bus ticket last week. The man asked for a dollar and "D" told him to "piss off". The man smacked "D" who suffers extreme balancing problems: he can hardly walk. A bystander asked the thug if he wanted a fight, but like most thugs he slunk away when confronted by an able-bodied opponent. "D" said it was the same fellow who hit him at Fred's Van. He asked us if he should go to the police. Only if you have visible injuries, or are bleeding, need hospital treatment or suffer trauma as evidenced by a psychiatrist, the Teen Challenge worker told "D". "Huh?" replied "D" 2 April 2008 Man living outside gets lens replacement The man in his fifties living outside because welfare housing won't rent him accommodation because he won't provide names of his doctor and family, and give bureaucrats permission to contact them, has undergone eye surgery. The natural lens on his blind eye has been replaced by an artificial lens, but complications have set in. He said he's got to see the surgeon tomorrow, possibly for more surgery because the bleeding won't stop. He asked the woman coffee server at Fred's Van to put drops in his eyes. Apart from the bleeding he said the sight in his previously blind eye is better than that given to him by God. It isn't known if he's living outside still but he certainly continues to dine at Fred's Van. 2 April 2008 Riders in the Storm “I don’t have anything medically wrong except my glands are f**ked and I have to take ten pills a day for the rest of my life. They could cut them out but I’d swell up like a ballon.” A thin fellow at Fred’s Van with his wife and three kids. 4 April 2008 Rough treatment of volunteers Anna hasn't been to Chat'n'Chew at UnitingCare Wesley Port Adelaide for the past few months. She volunteered in the kitchen. Chat'n'Chew is a fortnightly free meal served at the Family Centre of UnitingCare Wesley Port Adelaide. It's for disabled people, their friends and relatives. Anna was in K-Mart yesterday and told me management kicked her out because of complaints made against her. She said the complaints weren't from diners but rather from "outside" people. Neil Trotter invited me to Chat'n'Chew in 2001 when I was living under trees on the mud flats near the submarine factory, saying, "You seem like the type of bloke who likes a free feed." Anna was there then. But what about Anna? You can see her at many disability functions doing unpaid work, that is, when she isn't working for three-dollars an hour at Port Partnerships, another Wesley project. In the Chat'n'Chew kitchen she's a sixty-year-old powerhouse of energy who some find intimidating while others are energised by her presence. She's brusque, opinionated, entertaining, hard working and certainly not bitter or vicious. However, when I asked two diners at last week's meal about Anna's departure, they expressed satisfaction that she had left. After getting kicked out Anna advised management she'd return as a guest to the meal but the social worker in charge forbade that, Anna told me. This is despite Anna fitting the criteria for being allowed to attend, especially when compared to an interloper like myself. Tracy, the paid cook, has also missed the last four meals, apparently because she was being undermined by management despite producing good meals under budget. She, too, worked unpaid for years before replacing the former cook. Paid social worker staff recently introduced a new rule banning diners from entering the kitchen due to Health and Safety rules despite the fact that socialising at the meal is recognised as a major therapeutic tool for people who lead isolated lives in abandonment and poverty. This new barrier makes it difficult for diners to speak to the kitchen staff except when they're delivering meals to the tables in the dinning room - the friendliness of the occasion has been weakened. I worked unpaid in the 1970's and was treated like royalty by both paid workers and by numerous Boards of Directors. But in 2008 volunteers are treated similarly to work-for-the-dole and day-release prisoners, as if their involvement is compulsory rather than voluntary - as if volunteering in itself indicates some social or personal deficiency. Anna finished her seven years in the kitchen without any expression of gratitude by UnitingCare Wesley Port Adelaide, without any gift, without a farewell mention and of course, without super annuity or holiday pay. It was like: we don't need you anymore so leave. 7 April 2008 Empty Trolleys Not Allowed Trans Adelaide staff prevented Phil, the Celebrity Can Collector from boarding the train with his empty fridge trolley last week. He has recently been shifting his stuff after being given notice to move from his expensive rented house in Woodville. "I was only going two stations," Phil said, astounded. He walked. 7 April 2008 Typical Scam Letter We've all received those smooth talking Nigerian scam emails promising a share in the haul from a deceased estate. Another though less visible tool in the arsenal of the smooth talking scammers is violent criminality. Below is a progressive scam email from convicted fraudster, John Andrew Green, formerly of Barmera in the South Australian Riverland, to a naïve partially disabled benefactor. Green obtained $1400 the day before and in the following email tries to get another $1600. The email didn't work so Green followed the man to the library of the Disability Information and Resource Centre. Green got down on his knees and with tears flowing down his face begged for the further $1600 to buy a car for his son, Mitchell, 18. There wasn't, of course, any car and it is doubtful there is an eighteen-year-old "Mitchell". Green's tearful display was followed a few weeks later by him providing money to a homeless man to dissuade the partially disabled lender from simply asking for repayment. The dispute hasn't ended and last month the athletic Green punched the disabled man in the teeth in the ground floor toilets of the State Library building. From : john green <[email protected]> "Hi ******, I need another favour, a big one. Went with my boy to get the car last evening and when we were there the bloke had another vehicle for sale. It was a much better car, condition and age but it was $3800, I took that car instead of the Camira ($2200). It means I am $1600 short, can I add that to what you loaned me yesterday and owe you $3000. I know that is a big ask but I could pay it back by Thursday next week and I will add $200 for interest and you time and effort. I am in a spot and if you could help I would appreciate that so much. The next problem is that I am not in the city today. I am with my boy and I need to go and pay the balance for the car. The dealer let me have it last night but I need to get it paid asap, this morning if possible. I also need to register and arrange some insurance as well. To register the vehicle in my name I need a licence so I will try to arrange that today as well. My boy will come with me to drive me around, if I don't have a licence it could be a bit risky driving myself too far. This means as I said I am not in the city. So, if you can help with the extra $1600 until next week (Thursday) then I would need you to go to an Adelaide Bank branch to deposit it into my account. I know that is another big ask but I am in a really tight spot, odd really when you consider my funds of today sitting unopened and my last few years of battling on nothing. But there it is, if you can help with the extra loan and make the deposit I would be ever grateful. My bank account details are listed below. Adelaide Bank A/C Name: John Andrew Green BSB: 601-101 A/C number: 070974920 (It is a Merlin Account but mark cheque on the deposit slip if they need that infomation) Adelaide Bank has city branches on King William Street (by Grenfell Street), Gawler Place (By City Cross) and on Pirie Street by The Otherway Centre. Thanks so much *****, that's one I owe you, it is a big ask but I appreciate your help in this tight and odd situation. Regards, John [Andrew Green] North Terrace Light Display "Trevor" and I spent thirty-minutes on North Terrace after Fred's Van last week. He explained the creation of the film used for the projector that displayed images on the Institute, Museum and other buildings. He described the technical expertise needed to colour and align the images so they fitted perfectly into the nooks and crannies and created that 3-D illusion. "Now you'll have something more to write about than homelessness," he said as we parted. "Huh," I called back. 9 April 2008 Fred's Van staff perspective A white-haired veteran volunteer at Fred's Van was heard saying that the key reason for him working at Fred's Van was gratitude from the customers. Customers do feel gratitude and respect for the unpaid workers. Even thugs, when they decide to smash a stranger in the face, carefully avoid choosing a Fred's Van worker as their victim. Another Fred's Van worker said her time at Fred's Van once every three weeks was sometimes the most important part of her three weeks. Last Thursday was a pleasant night at Fred's Van. There were twenty desert Aboriginals sitting on the pine chips who created a mood that might be summed up as: this is how life should be. 9 April 2008 The Ghost "If there's a free meal in Adelaide he knows where it is," said "B" about The-Ghost-Who-Walks. 9 April 2008 She won’t touch chemical anti-depressants "D" is worried that his girlfriend won't use the medication prescribed by her doctor. "I don't know what's wrong with that girl," he said about his 61-year-old girlfriend. "B" was listening to "D" talk about his troubled life. He's recently finished his Care Worker course, but in the proximity of "D's" staccato monologue he looked as if he wanted to return to his previous metal fabrication career. "D" has that intense anxiety of someone in deep depression. He'd could play the "funny guy" in a comedy duo. 9 April 2008 Dangerous Client One of the hard men in the Adelaide homeless scene was jumping amongst the Fred's Van crowd pretending he was a bunny rabbit. Staff distributed scarves and beanies for the approaching cooler weather and the "hard man" got a pastel green beanie with ears. He later decided the colour didn't suit his deathly pallor so he gave it to a teenage girl who looked quite fetching in it. 9 April 2008 Minister for Transport writes to the Homeless Gossip Column Patrick Conlon responded in a letter dated 24 March 2008 to Trans Adelaide excluding celebrity can collector Phil from trains when he was accompanied by his fridge trolley loaded with striped "derro" bags full of deposit cans. He said, in part: "…I have sympathy for Mr ****'s situation however I am advised that his trolley is considered a dangerous and/or offensive item and is therefore prohibited under the Passenger Transport Act and Regulations. TransAdelaide has advised that there are several reasons for this: • The laden trolley is large and cumbersome and poses a hazard to other passengers as well as TransAdelaide staff: it is a trip hazard; it restricts movement and could block exits thereby providing an additional danger in any emergency; • Spillage from bottles and cans poses a slip hazard; • Besides unpleasant odours, the bottles also pose safety concerns should they contain insects such as European wasps, which could become loose in a railcard." Yet Patrick Conlon's reasons for social excluding Phil from the trains is contradicted by what he said back on 29 November 2007, on the "Mornings" program on ABC Radio 5AN with Mathew Abraham and David Bevan: "…you know, you can take cans, you can take bags on trains." It seems the real reason for excluding Phil is that the government wants to stop Can Collectors from carrying their cans on trains and, possibly, to use this as a weapon to discourage them from collecting cans at all. And Conlon's reasons for excluding Can Collectors and their fridge trolleys should be seen in the context of what is tolerated on trains: 1) drunks, no problems. 2) passengers putting their feet on seats: guards may ask offenders to take their feet off seats but generally they say nothing. 3) passengers eating and drinking and spilling food on the floor and seats: no problems. 4) drug dealing on trains: no problems. I've seen it happen and guards didn't say a word nor asked police be there when we reached Adelaide station. 5) healthy passengers hogging three seats thus forcing older and weaker people stand up: no problems. 6) threatening behaviour: no problems unless it is against Trans Adelaide staff. What we need is a social inclusion commission with a brave commissioner who stands up for those without influence in government circles, rather than the media strutting "next Pope" who puts the word "I" into almost every sentence he utters. 11 April 2008 The SwagMan Can Collector Phil, the innovative Celebrity Can Collector has been upstaged by the SwagMan from Elizabeth who has worked around TransAdelaide's social exclusion policy by replacing his fridge trolley with a golf cart. "It's a miracle," he told me last week in Woolworths at Elizabeth when I congratulated him on his lateral thinking. He said he made enough in cans that day to buy food for that day, and enough the day before to also buy food for that day. "They're raising the deposit to ten-cents," he said, adding, "Miracles happen." You can spot the swag man collector by his wide-brimmed hat with its corks and do-dads dangling from strings as he stands near the carriage doorway, waving to boarding and alighting train passengers. "It's a miracle," he might add to no one in particular, as if contemplating life itself. 11 April 2008 Waste Not Want Not PJ was seen at Fred's Van putting three half-eaten bowls of rice and curry into one bowl then eating the lot. This was despite having gotten a container of superior Jasmin Restaurant food an hour before that he had placed in safe-keeping with Sam. "Ugh," said Ali, the Sudanese man when the scene was recounted to him. "There could have been flies on it." "Or Hepatitis A," I added, each of us projecting our personal fears. Neither of us understood the survival imperative of PJ's actions where overcoming culinary squeamishness is a prerequisite for a life on the streets - especially when you don't have a financial income. PJ is a worldly wise, sharp witted man of nearly seventy-years-old and would make a superb mentor for many younger street people staggering from day to day, from one disaster to another. 11 April 2008 Ken Henderson I saw Ken Henderson last week at Anglicare in beautiful downtown Elizabeth North, where he works. Ken is a veteran from the WestCare Baptist homeless centre in Wright Street near Whitmore Square. Ken was still looking very Ken Henderson-ish though his slightly fatter and older look-alike replacement at WestCare is beginning to look more like Ken Henderson than Ken himself. They both look bright and one feels energised in their presence though the look-alike Ken has a certain disguise artist countenance. 11 April 2008 Paying for your neighbours' excess water use Jay Weatherill, the Minister for Destroying the Housing Trust, has announced that HousingSA tenants who live in blocks of flats or groups of units where there is just one water metre will have to pay a portion of excess water used by other tenants. Where twenty flats or units are on one metre each tenancy will pay for one-twentieth of excess water charges regardless of who used the excess water. This is similar to strata title units on single metres however amongst HousingSA tenants there is often strange behaviour. I've seen one tenant leave a shower going 24-hours a day to make burglars think someone was at home. Another tenant used 450 kilolitres of water in one-month to offset poisons dumped on his lawn by Housing Trust staff. (This latter example was me, actually.) Weatherill says single household metres will eventually be installed on all HousingSA units within a few years. But in the meantime tenants who use water sparsely will pay for the 24-hour shower man and people like me. It isn't fair. 14 April 2008 Weatherill not all bad I've written this before but yesterday a novel writer reminded me that he once took his unpublished manuscript to Jay Weatherill's electorate office. An assistant to Weatherill typed it onto a disk from longhand then printed multiple paper copies for the writer who isn't even in Weatherill's electorate area. 14 April 2008 Five Foot Bags A woman can collector at Fred's Van told Phil, the celebrity can collector, that Go-Lo and the Reject Shop were selling five-foot striped "derro" bags for three dollars. (She didn't call them "derro" bags). Another person in the food queue said that you could draw the bag over yourself on a rainy night and stay dry. One can imagine the “short fuse” from Street-to-home reacting to this information: Gregory Calder running to Go-Lo, ordering a hundred three-dollar bags, rushing about the parklands throwing the flattened bags here and there just like back in his frisby days. Any “rough sleeper” picking up a bag could then be classed as “having found accommodation”. 14 April 2008 Crazy Cottage Can Collector Tony, from Sister Betty's Crazy Cottage, (he isn't crazy), is being admitted into hospital this week for exploratory procedures. It isn't related to Tony's three strokes. Good luck Tony. 14 April 2008 WestCare management incites further unrest. The one-month suspension given an older client by WestCare management has been extended to one year. The elderly man said he didn't understand why the ban had been extended except that Jane, the paid cook, wants him excluded permanently from the homeless centre. The older man has purchased the two-dollar lunch at WestCare for many years. Another source claims that Jane sought legal advice with the intention of obtaining a restraint order stopping the older man from entering the dining area of WestCare forever. Sadly, for Jane, the legal advice was she didn't have a case. My source says this is, however, just a rumour. This second source says Jane has such influence that when a WestCare employee named Arthur advised her twice, in writing, to "life her game" in the kitchen, he was effectively sacked then transferred to Port Pirie. (This claim has not been corroborated). A third source says Jane is paid $22 an hour for five-hours a day but works just one hour while the volunteers do all the work. All three sources claim that at one lunch last week the pork chops were raw. The excuse given was that an unusually large number of diners didn't allow Jane enough time to cook the chops. The third source says Jane regularly fails to wear gloves on both hands when serving food while the volunteers cover both hands. This person says, "She does hardly anything there. She's not a qualified chef. A ten-year-old could cook those meals. Schnitzel has been removed from the menu because she found it too hard to cook." Personally, I've found the meals quite good, not great, but the church atmosphere and politeness of staff is terrific. John the Baptist is an inspiring waiter. Yet, I've watched the banned man for two years and while he is intellectually challenging I've never seen him do anything reprehensible. He gave a white man a lift home for safety reasons after the latter was targeted by a white gang for mixing with black folk. He gave his own scavenged food to a black woman who arrived late at Fred's Van. His banning seems a similar case to Frank Jones and PJ getting kicked out of Hutt Street Centre. All three are clever old men in their sixties and seventies who have the knack of "rattling management". Words are dangerous weapons and homeless centre managers fear the words of old men wise in the ways of the homeless scene. 18 April 2008 The Removalist The Removalist was seen at Byron Place recently. Both he and "C", the high-powered scrap collector, have been absent from their usual haunts ever since the Bun Fight at the Magdalene Coral. 18 April 2008 Unnatural Justice "They didn't tell him why he was being banned; they didn't give him a chance to defend himself; there wasn't an independent arbiter. It's a denial of natural justice." A person, (not previously having been quoted), in the homeless scene commenting on WestCare kicking out a regular diner for one-year because of complaints from the paid cook. The above quote is from my memory of the conversation. 28 April 2008 Cecil dead Cecil, a regular patron of the Hurtle Square Soup Van died in the Royal Adelaide Hospital last week after a heart attack. A friend commented somewhat wryly that: "He ate all those health foods. Didn't help him in the end." The speaker's voice rang with fatalism and regret. Meanwhile, Tony, the can collector from Crazy Cottage, (he isn't crazy), has returned from hospital after extensive tests. He says they told him no further tests were required for five-years so it looks pretty good. He was first in the RAH then shipped to a hospital near Campbelltown. Tony now sports a plastic card allowing him to catch Taxis for half-price. He also uses the Adelaide Day Centre soup van in Hurtle Square. 28 April 2008 The Ghost Laughed The-ghost-who-walks laughed at Phil, the Celebrity Can Collector earlier this week. Phil sold a stainless-steel barrel from a salvaged dish washer to NorMetals for eighty-cents a kilo when other places pay over two-dollars. 28 April 2008 The Emperor has no clothes "The next Pope" is feted across Australia by our carnal rulers; he can't do anything wrong. While Premiers and the Prime Minister imply he is creating social miracles, history may be less kind to David Cappo. There is less sexual abuse prevalent in government and church institutions today compared to last century. But the abuse has simply changed its ugly face. Homeless people are encouraged, even required to use addictive and destructive prescription drugs as a condition for moving into government housing. Government NewSpeak labels it as "support" and "mental health" but it is abuse, nevertheless. Those "rough sleepers" not accepting "support" are denied priority access to declining government housing stocks. Public housing was previously rented to low income people for money alone. But now homeless prospective tenants must accept "support" as a precondition for housing. This means housing options have decreased for those living outside who won't accept "support". This housing policy has been imposed amidst government and media propaganda saying options for the homeless have increased. Cappo rides the wave. 28 April 2008 The Meat Factory A man aged sixty and living in his car went to the RAH for a standard heart check after complaining of chronic chest pains. He said he told the nurse he had low blood pressure because he hasn't eaten salt for twenty-eight years. The nurse sprayed something under his tongue then something went wrong. "I can't see anything. My eyes can't see," Then said he was feeling sick and when he regained consciousness nine medical staff were jumping around his bed. A doctor was yelling at the nurse while another was asking if he remembered his name and how many fingers was the doctor holding up. The RAH staff didn't want to let him leave that day but he did, anyway, because the vehicle he sleeps in was parked alongside the Torrens and wouldn't survive the night without being robbed and vandalised. He returned the next week for a follow-up check and they told him there was nothing wrong with him except a bit of gastric reflux and that he should leave. But the man says he still has serious chest pains and it isn't reflux at all because he once had that and he knows what it feels like and that his chest pains are different. 29 April 2008 Don't play with fire Lots of people warned Frank Jones to be careful with those One flew over the cuckoo nest crowd at Street-to-home. Except his enemies, of course; they didn't warn him. Frank, the banjo player, then living in his black van, was helped into yet more inappropriate accommodation: a unit in a retirement village with a shared wall. Frank told them he wanted to live in his van until an unattached unit was available with a lock-up carport. (Most of the new HousingSA units are of this type). The Street-to-home crowd said Frank didn't have to worry because the retirement village was only temporary. They weren't lying. The latest rumour flowing around the homeless scene is that they've now got him in Glenside Hospital, which was their aim in the first instance. Poor Frank trusted the government. 29 April 2008 “Real homeless” not welcome at renovated Afton House “The homeless won’t move into Afton House; they’ll stay homeless,” an older man living outside told me today. He's lived outside for many years, never collects welfare and works eight hours a week for less than half the weekly dole rate. His job yesterday was delivering materials to Afton House being renovated these previous 18-months. When finished itwill house over one-hundred "homeless" people. He says the “real homeless” don’t have any income, not even welfare so they can’t afford Afton House. “And they can’t go through the bullshit of identity checks, medical referrals, all the things that make a person homeless in the first place,” he says, adding, “Like kids running away from home.” “All those moving into Afton House are already living in units,” his voice rises. “You should be talking about this instead of [people] getting kicked off the train,” he shouts. 29 April 2008 Another Description “Cubby house rooms,” another person said of the Afton House redevelopment. “Sort of two rooms: a toilet/shower, kitchenette, bed and a balcony. You can bet there will be a few deaths like some drug addict saying, ‘I can fly, I can fly’, and jumping over.” 29 April 2008 Whatever happened to …? The dyed-hair woman is bundled in her Sunday best long coat from the 1950s as she sits tensely in the courtyard on this 40 degree day. A wide-brimmed hat covers her head and her bulging bag waits next to her chair. The courtyard is enclosed in fences too high for teenage ferals to surmount. The shut gate isn't locked but its hidden latch would fool many trying to enter, or exit. Her eyes follow me like a surveillance camera in Rundle Mall as I walk down First Street at Brompton. She raises her hand as I nod acknowledgement. Am I her rescuer? No, I turn into the pokies joint that offers free lunch if you change $30 into coin. It's a mystery to many what happens to the old timers in the homeless scene; those dipsomaniacs or simply humans who've been overtaken by the fog that clears the mind of yesterday and today and tomorrow but leaves the rich memories of their youths untouched. Government social inclusion bureaucrats save them from the ravages of life under trees, rotting in dirty hotels and rooming houses, or simply lost in their own homes. They're shipped out via the Public Trustee, to places like Ian George Court in Brompton where they live a safe life in limbo. After my free lunch and with thirty one-dollar coins weighing down my pocket I trudge past the old lady, wave again and crunch my way up the sharp shale railway bed to the city for coffee at the Otherway Centre. Tomorrow I'll exchange the coins for notes at the Talbot Hotel near the Central Markets then crunch my way back down the railway line to the Brompton pokies joint for another free lunch. I know my new friend will be there, still waiting for her lift. 20 March 2008 Posted 12 May 2008 Back in the old days Gunfire was heard at the Magdalene Centre free Saturday meal back in 1993 according to Anton K of Beaumont. He provoked the church minister by saying that the food quality failed to meet his Beaumont standards. The minister turned as if sneakily pulling a derringer from his coat and a gunshot sounded as he expelled gas from the lower section of his intestinal tract. Anton said it was a strange restaurant. 12May 2008 Grand Theft Homeless Those diabolically clever bureaucrats last week diverted a huge sum of money to themselves: money that should have been for the homeless. They pulled off this clever stunt by staging the 5th National Homeless Conference in Adelaide from 21-23 May, 2008. They not only got free tickets but most of them were paid by their organisation or government department to attend. Some will even have their accommodation paid for. And guess who the two top-billed speakers were: Jay Weatherill, the Minister for Destroying the South Australian Housing Trust and Tim Costello, front man for an organisation that uses international disaster relief to plant spies in "helped" countries. You can imagine the chuckles when delegates to the homeless conference bed down at night at the Stamford, when they realise that within half a kilometre someone is sleeping outside in a dangerous situation. Below are the ticket prices for those of attending the "Homeless Conference", and some of the recommended accommodation. 21-23 May 2008, Adelaide Convention Centre Cost: $550 to $750 including meals Recommended Accommodation: Hyatt Regency at $205 a night; Stamford Plaza at $210 a night; or the Rockford at $149 for each night. 28 May 2008 "Play for Fun" That's what the Adelaide Casino writes on their toilet door posters. If you look at the "players" in the Casino very few seem to be having "fun". 28 May 2008 Surveillance? Is it reassuring? "This building is under 24 hour video surveillance." That's what is written next to the elevator leading up to the Bus Station "studio apartments" run by Common Ground. Should residents be reassured by this surveillance? Are they told how long the surveillance files are kept? Are these files sold or traded? Who actually is keeping surveillance? Will it actually protect the residents or is it a tool to monitor the movements in and out of the "apartments" of the residents? By the way, the surveillance must have missed the faulty front door that has sat half open, half shut for days. 28 May 2008 Another Description "Cubby house rooms," another person said of the Afton House redevelopment. "Sort of two rooms: a toilet/shower, kitchenette, bed and a balcony. You can bet there will be a few deaths like some drug addict saying, 'I can fly, I can fly', and jumping over." 28 May 2008 Something wrong at Byron Place Community Centre Meeting Centrelink employees at "homeless" centres is usually more effective than going to the main Centrelink offices. They offer better service at the homeless joints because they know they're dealing with tough characters. The routine at Byron Place Community Centre has been that one of the two Centrelink employees would stand outside the consulting room and put clients on the appointment list while the other employee finished writing notes on the previous customer. Sadly, things have deteriorated. Sonya, and whoever else is with her lock themselves in the room for inordinate periods then when ready for another client they simply open the door part way. That's it. There isn't even a sign to say they're from Centrelink and will receive customers. This makes it incumbent on the customer to peek into the room to ask the apparently depressed occupants for entry. This subtle power shift against the homeless client is enhanced by what seems a routine by Sonya and the other employee to dumb down the interaction so that nothing whatsoever is achieved. So what is the purpose of this apparently choreographed dumbing down of the Centrelink presence at the Byron Place Community Centre? The answer is less Centrelink face-to-face interaction with the clients, which is what most government departments over the past decade have sought to achieve. Less Byron Place people use the Centrelink outreach and soon Centrelink can say the service is therefore not required. It's all choreography. The downside of this dumbing-down creates a feeling of powerlessness and fear in the homeless person, which is compensated by withdrawing into a psychological cocoon where the brain fills the body with natural pain reducers and the person moves into a state called depression. 28 May 2008 Just another free welfare meal Pauline, (not her real name), was crying throughout the free meal at Port Adelaide. She's about sixty, lives alone and gets around in a walking frame. She has about seven children. At last week's meal she showed us a picture of her father, recently deceased, alongside a picture of a cow and a dog. She was worried about what would happen to the animals now that her father had died. Her face was bruised due to a recent fall. She's waiting on a long list for knee surgery due to "arthuritis". During her crying she went into a seizure then recovered and began rubbing a table as if cleaning it. "She doesn't know where she is," a friend told us. Then she recovered and returned to crying. Staff gave her a lift home, afterward. Andy, (not his real name), was also there. He was in agony from an infected tooth. He couldn't eat most of his meal. He works for three-dollars an hour at the UnitingCareWesley Port Adelaide enterprise called Port Partnership. He'd been to the government dental clinic on Dale Street, Port Adelaide that day but they wouldn't let him see a dentist. The receptionist said his pain didn't appear bad enough to warrant an emergency examination. Andy has a stoical demeanour and said he didn't want to miss another day at Port Partnerships and would simply suffer further (though he didn't use the word "suffer"). His girlfriend urged him to go back and refuse to leave until a dentist looked at his infected tooth and gum. I said he should exaggerate the pain because that is the only language the receptionist understands. He said he'd go to work. It was just another free meal in Port Adelaide. 17 June 2008 A life of disasters "T" didn't want to talk about his date with two women last fortnight. He was happy in expectation then but now he says that is the past and he doesn't want to talk about it. He is currently "homeless", crashing at various peoples' houses for a night or two. He left his rented unit due to a neighbour's intimidation. He doesn't want to go into detail. I told him about the Common Ground and Social Inclusion programs to house homeless people, but the paperwork and humiliation was too much for him to deal with. We both knew I was sprouting government propaganda. He's verging on desperate. "T" had a job in Ovingham but lasted half a day. There are things he simply can't do. Things seize up in his brain. He's excitable and loud but easily intimidated by life. Like many people outside "T" has an instinct that keeps him away from drugs and excessive alcohol. His life is full of sadness interspersed with bouts of joyous expectation of some new adventure, which always contains the seeds of another disaster. He is both a tragedy and a triumph of human faith. 17 June 2008 Grand Theft Homeless continued While many in the homeless industry joined the gravy train by attending the 5th National Homeless Conference in Adelaide, others did not. It would be nice to read a list of those who didn't attend on moral grounds. 17 June 2008 Snot "He touched me down below so I kneecapped him. A male friend said he's snot him for me." A woman can collector on Grenfell Street 17 June 2008 Using children Ripped Off "I've been ripped off all my life." A woman at Byron Place 25 June 2008 Jasmin Restaurant George, the Chef from the Jasmin Restaurant was worried by one new client at the Teen Challenge meal in the park opposite the RAA. "Is he a regular?" he asked the Teen Challenge fellow. George always worries that people eating his free food aren't really from the "homeless" class. It turned out that this new guy was a former regular paying customer at the Jasmin Restaurant but since has fallen on hard times. He now eats free charity food. Maybe George subconsciously recognised him from his terrific restaurant. George might worry that his customers might stop buying his food instead patronising his free meal service. George's worst nightmare would be the Indian Cricket team lining up in the park on Thursdays. 25 June 2008 Interstate Criminals The South Australian Police want the formation of and access to a register of people using homeless services so they can track interstate criminals coming to Adelaide. They want the travelling poor to register with the police like in apartheid South Africa. Richer folk wouldn't have to register, just those using "homeless services". I asked people in the homeless scene last week if they'd spotted new arrivals of interstate crims. No one reported any sightings. I didn't see any, either, although crims are in constant movement between states and don't necessarily use "homeless" services. Jo Wickes of HomelessnessSA condemned the idea as "ridiculous" while Ian Cox, ever so political, described it as "unhelpful". The "short fuse" and "the next Pope" were conspicuous by their silence. Their actions are criminalising and mentalising the "homeless class", but they can't admit this publicly, especially "the next Pope". 25 June 2008 |
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