6 GROUNDCOVER NEWS NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS Growing hopeless Growing Hope is a food justice nonprofit in Ypsilanti that manages a Farmers Marketplace Hall where they also host an incubator kitchen. It is located at 16 Black Lives Matter Blvd (S. Washington St). The kitchen provides a space for small start-up businesses to use a licensed kitchen for an hourly or monthly rent. Recently some people have sought shelter under the awning in the parking lot of the Marketplace Hall. The people sleeping under the awning are homeless. The neighboring residents and business owners were disgusted by them, referring to their belongings as “litter,” and their presence as “an eyesore.” These words in quotes were actually used by a Ypsilanti city inspector who came with the threat of legal action. Initially, the inspector spoke with Bee Mayhew, the former manager of the Incubator Kitchen. Bee had shown up for work five minutes before the inspector arrived. The sudden arrival of the official caused a visceral reaction in Bee, who told him to speak to the Growing Hope board of directors. Bee has borne the brunt of the neighborhood complaints since the people began to sleep outside the kitchen. Angry phone calls and visits and the JIM CLARK Groundcover vendor No. 139 frequent presence of the police were part of her daily encounters. Bee thought about taking matters into her own hands. She spoke of creating a positive, neighborly community vibe filled with people at picnic tables eating, making music and art, playing games, including other things for kids and young people to do. The goal for the parking lot would be to become a community hub where people are offered a supportive environment instead of being treated like trash. The response from Growing Hope? Instead of compassion, the police were dispatched on August 23 around 7 p.m. to evict the people under the awning. The board of directors of Growing Hope made the call. It appears that a landlord who owns Ypsilanti community members blocking the installation of a fence at the Growing Hope Marketplace Hall. several buildings downtown threatened a lawsuit against Growing Hope for violating their 501(c)3 mission. As a result, the board voted to have the people removed. In other words, “take out the trash.” The police were sympathetic yet carried out the eviction. A large group of angry community members appeared at the awning to protest the eviction. They were told that Community Mental Health would put the people up for a night at a motel and that Growing Hope would pay for four more days. This remains to be seen. Why won’t these landlords, business owners, and Growing Hope be good neighbors? Why won’t they do the right thing and advocate for a supportive shelter in Ypsilanti? That shelter would serve as that community hub Bee and the people want. They need a place to sleep safely and to receive support from the professional community. It would be a place to get help with addiction and mental illness and a place to get help finding employment. Most importantly it would be a place to belong and feel like human beings rather than trash. We can do better. Editor’s Note: This is an ongoing story and Groundcover News will be updating it in future issues. SEPTEMBER 8, 2023 Toliets before tickets: Anti-homeless law charges $250 fine, jail time or community service LINDSAY CALKA Publisher Who would have thought an alleyway in downtown Ann Arbor would be the most expensive bathroom in the city? For many months, Roberto Isla Caballero, Groundcover vendor No. 347, has slept rough on the corner of Main and Washington Streets, a place some might recognize as his Groundcover News sales corner. On June 28, around 8 p.m, Caballero was far from a bathroom and couldn’t wait. It’s a discomfort many have experienced before. But for Caballero, the wait to the next restroom was a matter of time not distance — and so he relieved himself in “public.” He was caught and received a ticket. Now he is facing the decision of paying $250, spending 90 days in jail, or working 40 hours of community service. The lack of public restrooms in downtown Ann Arbor and its disparate impact on the homeless community has always been a public health issue, but it was exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic. When the downtown library, Blake Transit Center and businesses closed bathrooms even to paying customers, individuals who had no shelter in which to "shelter in place," also had no reliable bathroom to use. The Office of Community Economic Development collaborated with the Parks and Recreation Department and installed a port-a-potty in Liberty Plaza for a couple weeks, then took it away after complaints of it inspiring dangerous activity. Homeless individuals and activists protested against this solution, and it was put back until COVID cases died down. Nowadays, bathrooms are not necessarily unavailable, per se, but are only accessible at key parts of the city, and during waking hours. The only free public restrooms are located at Blake Transit Center, Ypsilanti Transit Center, the Ann Arbor District Library, the Delonis Center, and maybe on infrequent occasions, a coffee shop will let people use their bathroom, which is oftentimes locked under code or key. And that is only when they are open. In Caballero’s case, the only bathroom that was open to him was the Blake Transit Center. This human need to urinate was criminalized because of the inhumane public spaces we have. If it was a few hours later, he would have had no option. The consequences of public urination have the possibility to be greatly misaligned to the scale of misconduct. Caballero got off “easy,” as he was not placed on the sex-offender list. Being on that list could bar him from accessing future jobs and housing, not to mention the social stigma. But that is not to say the consequences were light. Caballero’s bold response to the judge’s offer of 90 days of jail, paying a $250 fine, or 40 hours of community service reveals the sometimes dystopian reality of the homeless experience. “90 days in jail? That’s 90 days of three meals a day, 90 days with a bed and sleep, maybe TV.” And, I would add, 90 days of a 24/7 accessible restroom. Author’s note: During a follow-up court date after the completion of the article, Caballero’s charge was rightfully dismissed by Judge Miriam Perry.
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