Man’s Best Friend, A Uniter or a Divider?
Last evening I attended Larry Rice’s “Night with the Homeless” rally inside The New Life Evangelistic Center located exactly two blocks East of my downtown loft on Locust. In the coming days I’ll do a more complete report. With some exceptions Rice’s words were intended to paint the loft dwellers as newcomers hellbent on pushing out the homeless.
In the last month as local residents took an active roll in cleaning up deferred maintenance in Lucas Park I’ve seen so much more positive interaction between residents & resident homeless. I’ve become engaged in the struggle to the point where I’m doing what I can to understand the situation these people are in and to help in any way I can to get a few out of being homeless.
Although I knew this before I hadn’t really experienced it — much of the homeless population is just like you or me but without shelter. Last night KMOV’s Robin Smith said a very true statement – -“Most of us are one paycheck away from being homeless.” Sad but true and with our current economy things may only get worse.
To me dogs are like kids — I don’t have one but in small doses I like other people’s. Dogs can be a way to unite people. I’ve seen homeless & dog owners talking about the breeds and so on. Granted,some of the dog owners need to learn to pick up after their dogs. Earlier this week Larry Rice was seen in Lucas Park with a photographer picking up dog doo. Photo taken and he is gone. The rest of us have spent hours in the park cleaning up green mud from under benches after spending more hours assessing the issues in the park and where we could make a difference. We’ve addressed maintenance issues long ignored by both the city & Rice.
Rice, I believe, doesn’t want residents & the homeless to have positive interaction as that will break down the wall he is trying to build between us. I see dogs & the park as a means of increasing discussion & understanding on all sides.
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This reminds me of what happened at a small pocket park near my home in Washington, DC. Some local residents kicked out drug dealers, fixed up the park, and the next thing they knew, it had turned into a dog park–literally all of the grass and shrubbery they had planted was ripped up by canines. Needless to say, the people who worked so hard to tidy up the park weren’t pleased. Perhaps a compromise is in order like I saw in New York City; a portion of the park should be fenced off for the dog park, allowing most of the park to remain open to the public. You know–gasp–not all people love dogs, and some quite frankly are terrified of them. Not all people have had good experiences with dogs, and the sight of a particular breed may bring back bad memories of an attack, etc. Yes, yes, I know, everyone thinks their own dog is wonderful, but let’s consider everyone in this situation.
â€Most of us are one paycheck away from being homeless.â€
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Ummmm….no. Most of us aren’t. This is a common tactic used by the homeless “advocates” to try to guilt others into contributing to their cause. It won’t work. I can state with 100% certainty that I will never be homeless. 100%.
I put Larry Rice on the same level as Chrissy King. Both are ego maniacs that do not really care about anyone else besides themselves. Larry has power over peoples minds. He does not want to help them, he only wants to hold power over them. Homeless people need help not hand outs. Helping a person with transitional housing does more than driving from west county giving some guy a sandwich, dropping off a check for Larry and heading back to the county. The folks need treatment for mental disabilities and chemical dependency. They need to be mentored to re-enter society. Larry and Chrissy are the problem not the solution. Both these men manipulate everyday people feel bad for doing the right thing, i.e. cleaning up the park for use by the whole community. Why don’t Larry and Chrissy go to the park and teach the homeless people there how to read or write a resume? I’ll tell you why, it is easier to blame others than to be part of a real solution. Larry and Chrissy are pure scum and I pray the someday see the error of their ways.
I’m not very familiar with the in and outs of Rice’s organization. To me it’s about motives; what drives a person’s altruism? For example, it seems our blog host is learning more about why people are in these types of situations and his empathy is growing as a result. That is encouraging.
If one’s motives are anything less than an inate desire to be of service than I think you run into problems. It’s when you would do the very same charitable act whether it was recognized by a 100…or by none. So Steve, maybe Mr. Rice would be available for an Urban Review STL interview? Give him some of the tough questinons and perceptions that are out there and let’s see his side of things. If he desires to bring the community together then one would think he would jump at the chance. I can’t even imagine the amount of traffic your site would receive.
BTW, Meg’s advice about Octoberfest was correct. While they had some bouncy things for the kids, overall it was mostly for the twenty and thirty somethings who were there for the brew. We quickly made our exit and had a good meal at Norton’s Cafe on Geyer.
Many homeless persons grew up with pets in their family. Unfortunately, it’s hard for them to own a pet without a home. Creating an environment where residents, pets and homeless can interact is positive. I think the idea of having surrogate pets could be very healing for the homeless community.
> To me it’s about motives; what drives a person’s altruism?
Actually, it isn’t about motives, it’s about results. Personally, I think Larry Rice is an egotistical scumbag who has done more to hurt the homeless than anyone else in St. Louis. He sucks a huge amount of money and attention from people who care about the homeless, and delivers services which don’t turn homeless people into people with a stable residence and employment. And he does so in a way which alienates much of the community.
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Is there a better way than Larry Rice? Fortunately, yes. Just a few blocks west of Larry Rice’s dump is St. Patrick Center. Unlike Rice, St. Patrick Center works hard to move people permanently away from homelessness, by constructively addressing the root causes. No television stations. No free light bulbs. Just the hard work it takes to repair broken lives. If you care about the homeless, don’t sent Larry Rice a dime, support St. Patrick Center instead. Check out their website for details:
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http://www.stpatrickcenter.org
Steve,
Can you, or anyone else reading this, point me in the direction of some actual documentation of just what Larry Rice has done to earn the “scum” label for some folks in here? I’d really like to know more. Thank you.
From, not for, in my above question.
Me flunk grammar? That’s unpossible!
THIS IS MY FIRST TIME ON THIS SITE BECAUSE USING THE NET FOR MORE THAN JUST LOOKING FOR A JOB IS NEW TO ME. I AM THE FWC THAT STEVE MENTION IN HIS WRITING SO I AM VERY INTERESTED IN THE COMMENTS. LARRY RICE HAS SOME GOOD AND BAD POINTS FIRST LET ME TELL YOU IF YOU ARE REALLY REALLY HUNGRY YOU KNOW THAT YOU CAN ALWAYS GET SOMETHING TO EAT FROM RICE’S AND WHEN IT IS 2 DEGREES OUTSIDE NLEC(RICE’S PLACE) WILL ALWAYS ALWAYS LET YOU IN NO MATTER WHAT TIME OF NIGHT AND IF YOU HAVE NO STATE ID RICE WILL LET YOU IN AND HELP YOU GET AN ID WHICH YOU WILL NEED TO GET IN TO ANY OTHER SHELTER. NOW HAVING SAID ALL THAT THERE ARE MANY MANY THING RICE NEEDS TO GET TOGETHER I TOO BELIEVE THAT HE TRULY DOESN’T WANT TO SEE PEOPLE GET ON THIER FEET ONLY GET RECYCLED THRU A SYSTEM THAT KEEPS HIM IN BUSINESS.
JOBS AND HOUSING ARE THE TWO BIGGEST THINGS THAT THE HOMELESS NEED TO BECOME STABLE. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK AND THANKS FOR ALL YOUR CONCERN AND HELP. IF ANY OF YOU REALLY WHAT TO GET RID OF THE “HOMELESS PROBLEM” HELP THE HOMELESS GET “HOMES”!!!!!
THEN THIER WOULD BE NO NEED FOR LARRY RICE.
Nick,
St Patrick’s is a wonderful organization; I give money directly from every paycheck to it. But it is not a shelter like NLEC. It’s not a situation of “either/or”. Both shelters and programs like St. Patrick’s Center are necessary.
I don’t really know the entire situation, being that I literally stumbled across this page due to watching Donnybrook last night on Channel 9 and heard Bill McClellan (sp?) briefly address the homeless topic in Lucas Park. I live out way in west county (not wealthy by any means though – renter) and had never heard of Lucas Park, even though I have lived in the area for close to 9 years now. Bill’s comments spurred me to look up Lucas Park and what was going on there. Then I came across this site – and since this happened back in October, I don’t know if anyone will still be reading this (although I guess I am).
I have a dog, and I love her more than life. I also have seen Larry Rice on TV, and I think of all the good work he does for all of the people who are in need. I can understand the defences that both sides may have. I think compassion, patience, consideration, and perseverance are desparately needed, but those are sometimes hard things to dredge up. The outward expression of this I guess would be consideration. Dog owners, yes poop is gross (I still sometimes whince when I have to pick it up because it’s stinky – I’ve been with my pet for 8 years) but nine times out of ten I do (yes I am guilty of being a little lazy sometimes when it’s dark, cold and I think no one is looking). But I have learned over time that it is the considerate thing to do for others – for those who work so hard to keep the park clean and neat and for the homeless (beacuse in a way it makes it a beautiful place for those who @ this time have it as the only place to call home) and for fellow dog owners because we can step in dog poopy just as easliy as anyone. Although I will say they should start making more “biodegradable” doggy bags because how much sense does it make to pick up biodegradable dog poopy and put it in a non-biodegradable bag? I guess that’s not very considerate of the environment (I digress). Maybe I’ll work on that. I hope that through perseverance and consideration, that compassion will be given to all, the people keeping up maintenance of the park, dog owners, residents in homes or without them. I don’t have any sure fire solutions for the situation except for the above – which of course takes time. I just hope that everyone, finds within them some a little feeling of peace (no I’m not hippy) that may allow them the state of mind to think of others whenever the opportunity allows it. God bless – dog owners take good care of your dogs, neighbors- be good to each other, and everyone take good care of the homeless cause – if they are still homeless they still need our help. And if anyone knows of any volunteer work that needs to be done in that area ( I deal best with people telling me specifically what I need to do :)) Please enter your thoughts after you have read this and I will check back periodically to see. Thanks, and again – may God show His love and peace to all in the little ways.
On April 17th of 2009 I visited Lucas Park and the Dog Park. Both looked good. I saw about 20 bags of trash that had been picked up and were waiting to be trucked away. I spoke with a person at the Washington Post and commented on how nice the park looked. He said that the area residents got together and cleaned the park. He continued stating that a few people from the New Life Evangelistic Center came at the end with bags but did little if any work. I think Larry should encourage this interaction rather that continue with shoring up his personnally built wall of negativity between loft residents and people who are homeless and in need of help.
As I monitored my puppy playing in the Park I noticed a homeless man sitting on the stone bench next to the wrought iron fence that surrounds the dog park. He looked dazed and was nursing a pint of cheap Vodka. At some point he tried to stand and fell to the ground, wedged between the bench and the fence. It was a soft landing. I approached him and asked him if he wanted help getting up, he declined.
I took a picture of this agonized man with the focus being the cheap bottle of Vodka. I will send it to Larry Rice. As I left the downtown area I stopped at the New Life Evangelistic Center and went in to see if they would help the man in the park. I fully expected them to say no. Surprise, surprise, several men from the front desk got up and went down to the park to help the man. At first glance I thought they were going to leave him on the nest available bench, only to fall down again. I was wrong on that count too.
TWO POINTS FOR THE MEN AT THE FRONT DESK OF THE NEW LIFE EVANGELISTIC CENTER.
I am glad that I was wrong on both counts. MAKE NO MISTAKE, LARRY RICE IS A DIVIDER NOT A UNITER. I hold that belief based on the following:
I am a retired St. Louis City Police Officer of 32 years. Most of my assignments were in Narcotics but for Two Years I was a Sgt in the downtown area in charge of a uniformed bike patrol. One of the main functions of my squad was to issue summonses for drinking on the street, aggressive begging and public urination.
Time and time again is was the homeless population that were cited. On some occasions they were arrested and booked for bench warrants. This approach does not work. The system can’t handle the volume. The police officers were tied up with the booking process and sometimes had to sit at the hospital for hours as the offender for found fit for confinement. Getting locked up, especially in the frigid winter months was a break for the homeless, warmth, food and a night away from the streets.
The behavior of the homeless alcoholic is not likely to change. Addiction at any socio-economic level is tough to beat. I have some first hand experience with that issue.
QUESTION: WHAT IS THE SOURCE OF THE CHEAP ALCOHOL, HARD LIQOUR AND SINGLE LARGE SERVINGS OF BEER COMMONLY REFERRED TO AS 2×4’S (24 OUNCE SERVINGS)?
ANSWER: THERE ARE A NUMBER OF BUSINESSES THAT HAVE HIGH VOLUME SALES FOR CHEAP HARD LIQOUR AND 2X4’S.
SOLUTION: RESTRICT THE SALES OF THESE ITEMS WITHIN THE DOWNTOWN BUSINESS DISTRICT BY CITY ORDINANCE.
This is a solution that would help the situation and not facillitate the negativity associated with being homeless. There are a great number of homeless who are not alcoholics and/or drug addicts. The worthwhile mission of helping those who need help should not include making it easy to acquire the most common drug of choice. I think they call it facillitation.
Another way to approach the problem would to enforce the ordinance that makes it a violation for a store owner or his designate to sell alcohol to a habitual drunk. This is doable just not popular. A store clerk should be able to identify the repeat customers who are habitual alcoholics. If they can’t they should not be qualified to sell alcoholic beverages. Repeat violations should be reported to the City Excise Commisioner.
LARRY RICE, HERE IS AN OPPORTUNITY TO HELP THE HOMELESS AND THE OVERALL QUALITY OF LIFE FOR EVERYONE. TAKE THE WALL OF DIVISIVENESS DOWN A BRICK OR TWO.
Lets face it Larry, the people who aggrevisvely beg (approach people on foot rather than sit with a sign asking for donations) go right to the closest facillitator (cheap liqour business), get drunk, urinate and/or passout at the most convenient location and start the process again. Food becomes a secondary issue. Help those in need not facillitate the negative image that comes with the territory.
I am part owner in a downtown loft that is leased as well as a unit in the “Old City Hospital #1” in the Lafayette and Tucker (12th Street) Area. I would like to be part of the ongoing process of making the St. Louis Downtown Area and adjoining areas a good place to live.
Congratulations to all those who are worked hard to make this happen.
Hope to see a response from Larry Rice and Alderwoman Triplett. Larry this is an invitation or perhaps a challenge for an open debate, you can bring your media machine. We could as for a donation for those who wanted to attend and give it to the needy. Stand up or shut up Larry. Can you be a uniter? By the way, where does Larry Live and does he ever come out to Lucas Park or just do controlled and sometimes contrived media releases?
Nick Frederiksen
frednik48@sbcglobal.net
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