urbanSTL

I've noticed that another favorite of theirs is to pull the race card or actually call me a "racist" when I say no. That's my favorite.

^Don't fret. Larry Rice called me a "racist" after the final NLEC hearing at city hall. Never-mind the fact that I used to peel people that had OD'd off the sidewalk in front of his place, brought water to the kids and elderly he pushed out on the street in front of his place in July, and picked up the street in front of his place weekly so it didn't drive me crazy.

If you're not for Larry Rice you are a racist in his distorted world.

robertn42 wrote:^Don't fret. Larry Rice called me a "racist" after the final NLEC hearing at city hall. Never-mind the fact that I used to peel people that had OD'd off the sidewalk in front of his place, brought water to the kids and elderly he pushed out on the street in front of his place in July, and picked up the street in front of his place weekly so it didn't drive me crazy.

If you're not for Larry Rice you are a racist in his distorted world.

Keep pushing back hard. When Cincinnati broke the 'poverty industry' that dominated its Over-The-Rhine neighborhood, it opened it up of hundreds of millions in new investment. It will be worth it. But, be careful, like all sanctimonious 'heros,' they play VERY dirty. As they see it, if you are 'on the right side' everything you do is 'right' by definition. You can only beat them, you can't deal with them.

I just came across a GoFundMe fundraiser calling itself the "Greater STL Homeless Jesus Fund," which was started in April.
Its website states:
"The purpose of this fundraiser is to raise $200,000 by September for the following three areas:
1. $90,000 for legal expenses in preparation for the Major Federal trial on September 21.
2. $75,000 for repairs to the 1411 Locust Building.
3. $35,000 for the Homeless Jesus Statue that will be placed in front of the 1411 Locust Building."
This is, of course, the NLEC building. So far it has raised $96,500 of its $200,000 goal. The site has a picture of the proposed statue, which is a life-sized figure wrapped in a blanket lying on a park bench.
I'm posting this not because I'm advocating for or against it, but because I hadn't heard about it before and wondered if anyone else knew about it.
The one judgment I will make is to say I think its deplorable they are planning to spend more money on legal fees than to fix up their wreck of a building.
The site:

5 $10k donations, wow.

I was in Grand Haven, Michigan last month and saw this homeless Jesus. I will say, from across the street, it's tough to tell it's a statue and not an actual homeless person. It's kinda creepy if you ask me.

This wonderful man is from the address 1400 Olive...http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crim ... bb67a.html

ImprovSTL wrote:This wonderful man is from the address 1400 Olive...http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crim ... bb67a.html

So BJC behavioral health?

Is there any update on Larry getting his Hotel license revoked or whatever was happening a year ago?

mjbais1489 wrote:Is there any update on Larry getting his Hotel license revoked or whatever was happening a year ago?

Hold on, now, that was only a year ago; we don't do things that fast here in St. Louis.

Larry is in a direct violation of city code and has been for years. He flaunts it in the city's face and he gets away with it.

The city's lack of action here is a kick in the nuts to all of us that have invested time and money in reviving downtown.

Suburbanites are becoming the new face of homelessness in America

“People look at me and say, ‘You’re not homeless,’” says Rita Sharratt, a 57-year-old grandmother of three. “And I look right at them and say, ‘Yes I am.’”

Sharratt is sitting at a table at the New Life Evangelistic Center, a homeless shelter in the heart of downtown St Louis. New Life is a 25-minute drive from Bridgeton, Missouri, the quiet suburban town where Sharratt lived until 2013. In her former life, Sharratt was a telecommunications specialist, earning an average of $50,000-$60,000 a year. In 2000 her husband fell ill, and as his health worsened she quit her job to care for him full time. They lived off his retirement money and Social Security until February 2012, when he passed away.

That’s when everything fell apart.

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015 ... burbanites

That's a sad story, but back to Larry Rice. When does he get shut down? He uses the homeless as pawns for his little religious, money stealing empire. There are quality homeless organizations in the city, and for those that still don't fully understand, Larry Rice is NOT one of those. He needs to be shut down as this area continues to be redeveloped. I wish Slay would grow a pair and go after him. He's coming up on his FIFTH term now, and this place is still open?!

If the city wanted to shut it down the could. Instead residents had to get involved and issue a lawsuit.

Mound City wrote:Suburbanites are becoming the new face of homelessness in America

“People look at me and say, ‘You’re not homeless,’” says Rita Sharratt, a 57-year-old grandmother of three. “And I look right at them and say, ‘Yes I am.’”

Sharratt is sitting at a table at the New Life Evangelistic Center, a homeless shelter in the heart of downtown St Louis. New Life is a 25-minute drive from Bridgeton, Missouri, the quiet suburban town where Sharratt lived until 2013. In her former life, Sharratt was a telecommunications specialist, earning an average of $50,000-$60,000 a year. In 2000 her husband fell ill, and as his health worsened she quit her job to care for him full time. They lived off his retirement money and Social Security until February 2012, when he passed away.

That’s when everything fell apart.

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015 ... burbanites

Thanks for posting.

bprop wrote:

Mound City wrote:Suburbanites are becoming the new face of homelessness in America

“People look at me and say, ‘You’re not homeless,’” says Rita Sharratt, a 57-year-old grandmother of three. “And I look right at them and say, ‘Yes I am.’”

Sharratt is sitting at a table at the New Life Evangelistic Center, a homeless shelter in the heart of downtown St Louis. New Life is a 25-minute drive from Bridgeton, Missouri, the quiet suburban town where Sharratt lived until 2013. In her former life, Sharratt was a telecommunications specialist, earning an average of $50,000-$60,000 a year. In 2000 her husband fell ill, and as his health worsened she quit her job to care for him full time. They lived off his retirement money and Social Security until February 2012, when he passed away.

That’s when everything fell apart.

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015 ... burbanites

Thanks for posting.

Thanks for reading it.

I think all too often, based on the posts in this thread, people don't actually care about the reality that hundreds of homeless people rely on the New Life Evangelistic Center as a lifeline, they just want the shelter with all its icky homeless people away from their downtown lofts and coffee shops ASAP. The people relying on this shelter and its services deserve a say, too. I'm glad the author of this piece is giving voice to them.

We should demand that the rest of the region step up. The city can't and shouldn't be expected to shoulder most of the burden.

Sharratt and her grandchildren lived in her car, searching for shelter, but there was nowhere for them to go. Not only is there no homeless shelter in Bridgeton, there are no homeless shelters anywhere in St Louis County, a region of over one million people (St Louis the city is not part of the county).

Thanks for reading it.

I think all too often, based on the posts in this thread, people don't actually care about the reality that hundreds of homeless people rely on the New Life Evangelistic Center as a lifeline, they just want the shelter with all its icky homeless people away from their downtown lofts and coffee shops ASAP. The people relying on this shelter and its services deserve a say, too. I'm glad the author of this piece is giving voice to them.[/quote]

I guess I get annoyed at the image that a bunch of suburbanites flew into downtown and said hey get those gross people out of my sightlines.
I've lived in multiple city neighborhoods and areas since I was 14. When I moved downtown it was like nothing I ever saw before. Really useless to spend a ton of money fixing up Lucas park and the library if people wont go there because of the people hanging out there doing nothing. Lets not act Larry Rice is helping fix the problem though.

Thanks for posting.[/quote]

Thanks for reading it.

I think all too often, based on the posts in this thread, people don't actually care about the reality that hundreds of homeless people rely on the New Life Evangelistic Center as a lifeline, they just want the shelter with all its icky homeless people away from their downtown lofts and coffee shops ASAP. The people relying on this shelter and its services deserve a say, too. I'm glad the author of this piece is giving voice to them.[/quote]

I apologize for my crassness, but that is complete bleeding heart BS. The NLEC is a HUGE problem, not just for residents, not just for businesses, not just for visitors, not just for Downtown as a whole, the most affected group is the homeless that Larry puts in a constant state of danger through his archaic, unsafe practices.

This argument is so wrong it is maddening. Until you experience it you can't truly appreciate what a mess the NLEC is. Hiding behind the assumption that a homeless shelter, religion, or "pastor" is inherently good is ignorant. Assuming that DT residents are bad for caring about the state of their community, their NEIGHBORHOOD, is even more ignorant. The NLEC is a nuisance and a danger to everyone. That is not an opinion. That is a documented fact. It is unconscionable that the city has allowed it to exist in this state for as long as it has.

When I lived in the Paul Brown Lofts from 2012-2014 I volunteered there a couple times. The woman in that article relied on their services and now hopes to work there. Like any resource dedicated to helping our society's underprivileged, it is definitely overtaxed, understaffed, and insufficient. It is also completely necessary for those relying on it.

Does it offer an immediate service that is better than the immediate alternative for some people? Undoubtedly.

Does that mean it is good? Debatable.

Does that mean we can't and shouldn't do much better? Absolutely not. We should and we must.

The NLEC must go. And then we—as a region—must replace it with better options.