Kris Pavek, a 71-year-old retired midwife and photographer, has often stayed in Brattleboro in summer months, in the van she calls her home, since 2021. This post originally appeared on her Substack site.
THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST-Cornelius Taylor, crushed to death as he slept in his tent in Atlanta. Run over by a bulldozer destroying a homeless camp.
Our president, two days ago, issued Executive Order #5,000.
It's a long read. In short, it orders states to purge homeless folks off the streets and force them into nonexistent treatment programs.
Yes, nonexistent.
It orders states to do the same with folks living with mental illness. Lock them up. Against their will, but where?
Will ICE now be tasked with making our homeless disappear? Let's be clear. There are no existing free treatment programs with housing! I smell for-profit prisons.
A rank, dank, disgusting odor is blowing across the U.S.A.
The bulldozers are coming to a city near you.
Cars, trucks, campers, RVs will be towed away, with or without elderly occupants and terrified children in the vehicles.
Make America beautiful again. (When was it?)
* * *
I'm on the list, a target of the most recent executive order to cleanse the surface appearance of the U.S.A.
Suddenly, there are treatment programs? That are paid for by the government? How long have we begged for that for our communities, our friends, our families, ourselves?
And now they exist. What a joke.
Will ICE be branching out? Grabbing addicts off the streets? No warrant, no trial? Just gone - where?
Whitewashing and sanitizing the surface of the U.S.A.
Of course, the executive order includes persons struggling with mental health challenges. Free treatment for life. Where? Again, no evaluation or examination or hearing.
And then, let's get rid of the unhoused living in vehicles and tents solely due to unaffordable and nonexistent housing. The victims of the climate, fires, floods, and economy, their presence is a blight.
Bulldoze their tents and tow away their RVs while occupied.
The sanctity of our gated communities must not be tarnished. Truth must be hidden, rewritten.
* * *
I, and many of my friends, live in vehicles for many reasons. Lack of housing and lack of income are two of the main causes, not drug use or mental health challenges.
Yes, I am old enough to get my name on subsidized housing lists. The average wait is four years.
But I will not do that. Families with young children need that housing, domestic violence victims need that housing, folks with disabilities need that housing, our veterans need that housing.
What do I need? Just safe places to legally park. Paid campsites are not in the budget. I have enough money for food, laundry, showers, gasoline, and lemonade (in the summer) or hot coffee (in the winter).
I still have the skills and ability to create and tend gardens. On rare occasions I get a pet-sitting gig.
I am truly privileged. This, to me, means that I have the responsibility to help others, share their words, advocate for those who have lost hope.
And I have you. Please advocate in your communities for safe parking on private property. Support any local addiction treatment programs. Ask your city to hire day labor with cash paid daily. Urge libraries and churches to offer regulated parking. They are logical locations.
Talk about this executive order.
I am not terrified. I am crushed. I have no energy for anger.
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