Street roots., August 31, 2012, Page 3, Image 3

Street roots
3
Aug. 31, 2012
Plaintiff in camping lawsuit puts award toward homeless campers
BY JOANNE ZUHL
camp, extending certain protections to the
property and people in sleeping bags or
eo Rhodes, one of nine plaintiffs in a
sleeping outdoors. That includes longer
lawsuit against the city over homeless
advanced warnings to vacate an area and
camping, says he will take his small
documentation of personal belongings by
payment from the settlement and give it to,
the police.
well, other controversial homeless campers.
Monica Goracke, the attorney with the
Rhodes was unhappy with the recent
center who worked on the case, says that
settlement, which presents new guidelines
while there is some progress made with the
for police but falls short of reversing the
settlement, the changes in police behavior
city’s anti-camping ordinances, because, he
and interaction with people actually have
says, it doesn’t address the larger problem
been occurring over the life of the lawsuit.
of people who are homeless having no place
“As we worked on the case over the past
to go.
four years, the city realized it needed to
“All my money is going toward Right 2
change some aspects of how they were
Dream Too,” Rhodes says, referring to the
enforcing this ordinance. The change
rest site for people experiencing
happened, I think in part, because of the
homelessness at the corner of Northwest
lawsuit. Instead of enforcing without
Fourth Avenue and Burnside. “Because this
warning, they could maintain better
is giving them a place to go — some stability
relationship with people on the streets in
and some sanity. Where they can have a
ways that didn’t lead to people getting
safety zone.”
citations and fines that they could never pay
It’s not a lot of money, a few hundred
that keep them in homelessness longer.”
dollars each under the terms of the
Mayor Sam Adams said in a prepared
settlement finalized earlier this month.
statement that the city’s work to prevent
The plaintiffs — all homeless men and
and end homelessness is ongoing.
women at the time - sued the city for
“This agreement is a step forward to
property damage and civil rights violations
improve relations between individuals
by the Portland Police Bureau. They were
experiencing homelessness and officers
represented by the Oregon Law Center. The enforcing the law,” he said.
monetary terms are inconsequential: The
Goracke said that when the case was
city has agreed to pay $3,200 in damages
filed, she heard many more complaints from
among the nine plaintiffs. In lieu of attorney
people saying police had taken their
fees, the city will pay $37,000 to the
property without warning and given them
Portland Housing Bureau to fund rental
citations for erecting a structure on the
assistance programs.
sidewalk. “I haven’t heard complaints like
The significant impact of the settlement
that in a while.”
comes in the non-monetary terms, which
Rhodes, who was homeless for many
expands the definition of an established
years before getting housing this year, said
S T A F F W R IT E R
L
W O R L D CUP, fr o m p a g e 1
“It’s fun to let steam off in the evenings here. A
lot of these guys have stressful days, this helps us
relax — just talk and play,” says Ramos, waving to a
teammate as he tightens his cleats. “We would do
this all day if we could.”
For other teams, focusing immigrantss efforts
toward the PWC is a replacement for other options.
Pupsa Sharma, the coach of the local Bhutanese
team, says he works hard to keep his players away
from drugs and gang violence. “I let my team play
soccer and organize some cultural program (for the
PWC event) yearly,” says Sharma. “This makes
them a dynamic, friendly and well-rounded group in
the community. Soccer helps them focus.”
Even the final PWC tournament is not solely
soccer-centric. As with the practices, VOZ uses the
September event as an organizing tool as well as a
cultural festival. Families and friends of players cook
traditional food and entertain the crowd with
cultural performances between matches. Unlike
most traditional soccer events in the States, this
tournament is a blend of both competition and
community festivities.
But the event is not entirely trouble-free to
everyone involved. Althea Mickiewicz, 24, found
herself behind the wheel of this year’s PWC event
and the coach of the Mexicos Jornoleros after
applying for an internship at VOZ. Interested in
social justice work, Mickiewicz took her background
in soccer and rusty knowledge of Spanish to the
field for the first time this past September. Within
weeks, she was the head of the event.
“It takes a source of undying commitment,”
Mickewicz says with a large grin. But it s so worth
it.”
With little information about the past years’
structure, and with the previous event staff lost to
funding cuts, Mickiewicz as thrown together her
own guidebook.
“I had to rethink how we did everything: finding
sponsors, finding teams, finding a spot to play.
Thankfully this community is receptive,” she says.
Mickiewicz found financial sponsors in a range of
local non-profits, including Causa Oregon and the
Cascade Aids Project, and even worked with
Concordia University to use their brand-new athletic
center to hold the tournament’s final games.
As for the structure of the event, Mickiewicz has
added a few new components. This year, the PWC
will welcome its first female league along with
opening the door for co-ed groups. And, in the
the biggest issue for him is that the
settlement still leaves no place for people to
go if they’re sleeping outdoors.
“They’re finding places to go out of
people’s comfort zones, and yet they’re still
being pushed out and still not given a place
to go,” he said. “That’s why it was so hard
for me to go with this.”
Right 2 Dream Too, however, has existed
as a peaceful overnight site for the
homeless for nearly a year. The city has
been fining the owners of the property,
which have a one-year lease with Right 2
Dream Too, for months over code violations.
Rhodes was involved in the creation of Right
2 Dream Too, and is also a board member
and vendor with Street Roots.
“There are people who are surviving
living in a tent, and yet this (the anti­
camping ordinance) is stopping them. It’s
really, really hard,” Rhodes said.
“There’s a long way to go,” Goracke
conceded. “This settlement marks an
improvement in the city’s treatment of
homeless people, but the reality is that
there are still a lot of people out there, and
the fact that they are cited for sleeping
outside is still a reality. The city needs to
keep improving its policies. Hopefully, one
day, there won’t be criminal penalties for
behavior that is life-sustaining.”
More than 2,700 people were sleeping in
shelters or on the street in the city/county
one-night count in 2011. The city and
Multnomah County estimate that the true
number of homeless people, including those
sleeping outside, in shelters or doubled up
in someone else’s home, is about 15,000
people.
future, Mickiewicz says, she hopes to start a youth
league.
Despite the hectic nature of planning the event,
Mickiewicz says she’s involved for the long run. She
says she wants to see the PWC round the corner
into becoming a key part of the region’s culture.
“In 10 years, I see the Portland World Cup
standing on its own as an independent
organization,” she says.
But how can it reach that stage?
In a city recently swept off its feet by the
Timbers’ jump to major league status, it’s hard to
see why the PWC can’t draw an equally passionate
crowd. According to Timbers Army co-founder and
PWC “uber” volunteer Eric Berg, this kind of
following takes more than just a T-shirt gun.
“Trying to link soccer supporters to the cup is
what really attracted me to the event,” says Berg.
“If we can bridge this traditional Anglo-Saxon,
hipster culture with the immigrant community, then
wow. We’ve done it. It’s so much more than a
game.”
Berg has been vital in connecting immigrant
players to the event, simply through soccer-centric
word-of-mouth. From chatting at a sports bar while
watching the Olympic soccer matches to stumbling
upon a scrimmage in a nearby park, Berg has
recruited a wide variety of teams. While he hopes to
see the PWC someday as successful as Seattle’s
equivalent, the All Nation’s Cup, Berg says he’s
unsure what popularity could do to the event.
“Once you jump into a bigger role, it could take
on an entirely different feel,” says Berg. “I mean, we
need funding and sponsorships, but big sponsors
could change the way it runs. A victim of success. It
may not be the cultural community organization it
currently is.”
But, he adds, there’s something irreplaceable in
bringing a city together through the sport.
“There’s something about soccer that brings
people together, making it a great organizing tool
for any group,” says Berg. “And in Portland, it’s hard
to say if we have a culture supporting soccer or if
soccer supports our culture. It’s a blurred line.”
At Fernhill Park, Mickiewicz struggles to attach a
ripped soccer net to the field’s goal posts in
preparation for a scrimmage. “Here, waitU shouts a
neighborhood man, emerging from his car with his
young daughter and a stuffed bag. “I’ve got a better
one.”
He helps Mickiewicz attach the new net and kicks
a soccer ball around with his young daughter on the
sidelines, only stopping to watch Mickiewicz’s team
G;—
ç.
Settlement terms
The definition of “established campsite”
will be revised to include “a camp
structure such as a hut, lean-to, tent or
other temporary structure such as carts
and/or personal property”.
Unless an exception applies, officers
will provide advance notice before
citation and property removal to all
campers. If a citation without property
removal is to occur, the minimum
notice will be a verbal warning with
reasonable time to relocate, which is
usually one hour but may be shorter.
Police will be required to post a seven-
day notice of a camp cleanup. Cleanup
may take place at any time within that
seven-day period.
Officers must keep for storage any item
that is reasonably recognizable as
belonging to a person and that has
apparent use.
Officers must photograph and
document all confiscated property.
Containers, including bags and
backpacks, will be photographed, but
their contents will not be inventoried or
photographed.
Police are required to videotape the
campsite after all items are collected,
to show what is being disposed of
instead of confiscated and maintained.
play. From surrounding fields, the other young
players stop mid-field to watch the team’s tricky
maneuvers and boisterous scuffles, awed.
But not all observers are taken by the
lighthearted team. An older white coach, sunglassed
and stern, walks by the group as they share jokes
and stretch before practice. “Buenos dias, Hello!”
one player says cheerfully to the man. Despite his
obvious recognition, the coach stoically passes
without a mere nod.
The player shrugs, but returns to his teammates’
lively conversation with a smile. “I’m not sure why
people do that. Ignore us,” he says, furrowing his
sweaty brow. “We’re both enjoying the same game.
If people here are going to support our league,
they’ve got to see that. It’s what counts.”
Participants in the
Portland World
Cup practice
Tuesday evening,
Aug. 28th.
P H O T O BY KEN
H A W K IN S