The first night approximately 80 people slept out in the camp, about 20 of them women. The second night there were more than 100 people, lulled to sleep by the rainstorms and thundering drums. All of my squats started being shut off one by one, boarded up, policed. The Mayor and our Souls Thirty or forty homeless campers participated in the Mayor's Housing Conference at the Northwest Rooms. They felt the Mayor's closing comments at the conference showed he had not heard their message about the desperate need for shelter for the thousands of people who are suffering and struggling on the street.
Every soul needs shelter.
Homelessness was not part of the agenda. As I see it, the system is designed to keep people in this situation. It's not heart. Remembering Those Who Have Passed On Saturday night the group gathered to pay homage to those homeless friends and family members who have died so far already this year. Candles were lit, and memories were shared of Cathy, who died of complications of hypothermia after sleeping out, of Olivia and Crystal, two young African-American women who were murdered, of Ramona Jackson who died after contracting a rare form of pneumonia, also after sleeping out.