Monday, September 19, 2016

Brown Mountain Lights

By Grandma KoKo, September 17, 2016 - author of "More to Come" a view of the possibility of peaceful existence on this paradise of a planet.

The Brown Mountain Lights first came to my attention sometime in late July when my friend Marco sent an email. He had traveled by wild rafting to a central location of the Pan American primal jungle. Choosing an area rarely visited by humans as a great place to meditate and entertain visions, with the intent of connecting deeply to MOTHER. One of the insights had to do with our going to Brown Mountain next summer. Sounded intriguing and fun, as you can imagine; count me in!

Brown Mountain Overlook off Highway 181,
between
Linville Falls and Morganton, closer to Linville Falls.

A quick trip into Google search offered a lot of information about this amazing phenomenon. These lights have been seen and recorded going back hundreds of years. No one seems to have an explanation for them, and many generically call them ghost lights. Scientist have studied these lights and come up empty handed. People have created legends and lore. Some say it has to do with the devil or devil worshippers, some explain it as dead souls roaming around, like ghosts. There were even videos, taken by researchers. They showed white round globes, not really doing much.

About two weeks later, Marco had a change in travel plans. He was scheduled to be in Washington, DC for a couple nights before traveling via the Skyline Drive and Blue Ridge Parkway to his next engagement. Three of the 6 nights camping were selected to be near Brown Mountain. He invited me to accompany him. Big thrill for KoKo, oh yeah!

Grandma KoKo and Ranger Marco, picture taken in front of the White House, August 20, 2016.

Washington, DC was intense with a lot of sight-seeing and information about both history and current affairs of the Military-Industrial Complex. Staying in a penthouse suite high atop the Crystal Gateway Marriot, we could look out the window and see a tip end of the pentagon, (the pentagon was walking distance from where we were) and many other large buildings, each one the headquarters of  one of the big players in this mess. We also saw the full moon rising over everything.

Was glad to leave the city behind and head for the mountains. Driving slowly through the mountains and camping was dreamlike. Beautiful panoramic views at every turn, deer by the road that don’t even seem to notice the car driving by, it was certainly worth the trip. Best of all were the interesting conversations Marco and I were having. The first night camping near Brown Mountain, we arrived way after dark. So no going to see the lights that night. The next night we located a popular place to watch Brown Mountain, a scenic overlook directly off the Blue Ridge Parkway called BEACON HILL. We decided not to stay past dark to watch for the lights because the path seemed long, (0.2 miles seems longer on these mountain trails, especially to Grandma KoKo) and a bit treacherous. We hadn’t thought to bring the proper gear, hiking boots and flashlights needed to travel the path in the dark. Was interesting to note how many people were arriving and hiking up the trail, mostly young folks. I would estimate at least 20-30 folks up there on Beacon Hill watching for the lights, kind of like a little party.

Our last night camping, we decided to relax, stay close to the home fire, not attempt to find another lookout, then stay up late to watch for lights that most likely would not even show. After all, most of the time people DON’T see them. Marco was taking about maybe seeing them next summer. It was OK with me. He was leaving the next day and I was free to stay in the area. I was also intrigued by Grandfather Mountain and wanted to spend some more time exploring. I could watch for the lights another night.  We spent the evening talking and staring at the fire. As it turns out, we both LOVE to sit and stare at fire. There is so much to see in the flames of the fire.

The next afternoon we said farewell to one another. Earlier that morning I had talked with a local gentleman who was out fishing. He had seen the lights personally and told me about  the lookout where he had seen them. It was the Brown Mountain Overlook off Highway 181, located between Linville Falls and Morganton. There was only one outlook, he said, probably closer to Linville Falls.

 I had already talked with a few other locals who had seen the lights. Every person lit up happily at the mention of the lights. Proud to say they had seen them. Often asking others around if they had seen them, most people hadn’t. The fisherman had seen them as a child with his grandfather who was into this stuff. His wife is not into this stuff, so he hasn’t been that interested as an adult to try and see them again.

Famous Louise's RockHouse Restaurant is located in Linville Falls, North Carolina.
This is the place to go for great food and friendly local folks.  

Famous Louise, the founder of Famous Louise’s Roadside CafĂ©, located in Linville Falls, recently celebrated her 83rd birthday and was delighted to talk about her experience. She was just a girl, watching with her family. She was happily excited and shared that they were white globes of light and they just kind of rose upward…then…they G0 UP! (poof) She gestured with her hands and eyes to indicate that they kind of disappeared, UP! I asked her if she had a clue where they went. She shook her head slightly and her eyes told me she kind of knew but couldn’t find words. Out of sight, for sure, but not out of mind.

Of the handful of local folks I talked with who had seen the lights there seemed to be some common threads. They all LIT UP at the mention of the lights. They LOVED telling their story about it. They all seemed unable to provide much in the way of specific detail, but the strength of their positive experience was still very vibrant, despite in some cases the experience having been a long time ago. The stories were somewhat similar, yet there were noticeable variations in the way the lights were explained.

Before Marco took off, we talked about my going to the lookout that night and he suggested that I camp right there at the scenic turn out. Sounded like a good plan to me. Absolutely do not like driving the curvy mountain roads at night. I got there a few hours before sundown. Turns out it wasn’t that far from Linville Falls. Had a bite to eat, relaxed and waited for sundown. Sundown in the mountains is a fabulous show, and from that perch it was spectacular.

Lots of traffic stopping at the outlook until it got really dark. By 9:00 pm there were maybe 10-12 cars parked, all staying in hopes of seeing the lights. Most cars had more than one person. A few were pick-up trucks and backed in to park so they could sit in the back of the pick-up bed to see the view better. Some of the people were clumped together talking while we waited. I had picked out the best spot for my chair and was meditating on the mountains and everything else.

There was a gentleman standing just a few feet from my chair. At first, we exchanged pleasantries, and then were mostly silent. At one point he commented on hearing some Harley Davidson motorcycles in the distance. They do have a distinctive sound. Time went by and I forgot about that, so the first time he said excitedly, “There they are!” I thought he meant the lights and he was talking about the motorcycles had driven up. So when he said it again, even more excited, I couldn’t believe my luck. “There they are! That’s them! See the lights there, moving?”

Good thing he was there, I wouldn’t have seen them as soon as he did. There had been two small lights, stationary on the little ‘hill’ to the left of Brown Mountain. Kind of behind there was the more distant lights of a small town. The somewhat brighter light was white and a smaller red light to the left. I had been seeing those two lights all along, and that was where the action was. Skeptical at first, I squinted and tried to see what he was seeing. Little dots of light, so far away, barely a speck. My binoculars in the car came to mind. Why hadn’t I thought to bring them? I sprinted to the car to get them. So glad I did. A few other folks wanted to look thru the binoculars, and I settled back into my chair where I could better steady and focus the binoculars.

DISCLAIMER: Before I continue with the physical narrative there is something to ‘reveal’ or talk about. Based on my experience of the ‘event’, and my desire to remember it and write about it, I’m coming up with some possible strange explanations. First of all, am proposing that all viewers of this phenomenon are ‘drugged’ somehow by the experience of CONTACT with ‘something other’ that I will call inter-dimensional. First the euphoria of “I SEE THE LIGHTS!” continues with a most blissful feeling and I sense a big dose of…you will forget-about-it. You will not really remember what you have seen, except an exceptional, memorable light show. As I try now to describe it in detail, as I knew I would want to as I watched, there are various details that do not resolve or make sense. Perhaps I was viewing with both my outer eyes and my inner eye. Perhaps the state of AWE swept me to a non-verbal space where understanding certain things is different. I do remember specific ‘real’ points, a lot of them, but much of what should be in-between there seems a blur. That’s the disclaimer. Note: I plan to go deeper into the inter-dimensional analysis after completing the 3-D narrative.

 
View of Brown Mountain. The numbers 2-4 indicate the relative position of the craft. It first appeared to the left and stayed in that area for a number of minutes, then center for a few more, before ending in the right side of the sky. I believe it may have been farther away in position 2 and closer in position 4. Having used Photoshop to prepare the graphic, I drew in my version of the dancing lights. They are on that ‘bump’ to the left of Brown Mountain. Tiny hints of light and color that do seem to almost move/dance. They are so very far away to see with the naked eye. Even with the binoculars, they were still very far away.

Abstract:
So the first part, maybe 5 minutes or more was just the lights on the hill. That dance continued until I don’t know when, because the other ‘show’ began in the sky. The craft first appeared approximately where the 2 is in the left portion of the sky. The dancing lights on the hill probably continued while the craft was manipulating. I use the word manipulate because sometimes it would disappear then reappear, same place, often somewhere else. It would slide swiftly in a straight line to get to another place then be stationary. It would glow and kind of dim. Sometimes it would disappear altogether for what seemed like a while. So it was easy to keep an eye on the lights on the hill, also moving/dancing. The performance of the craft in the sky at position 4 was riveting, could not take my eyes away. It seemed so close. Like seeing the feathers on a bird while bird watching. I wanted to remember every detail. When that craft was gone, so were the lights on the hill. I felt a significant kind of sadness when it finally flickered out, gone, done. Desperately, I scanned the place where the lights had been dancing. There it looked exactly as it had before. I felt a deep emptiness or rather longing. The expected ‘down’ from the euphoria? I was glad to be camping there so I could spend more time with the experience of mountain magic, including sunrise, feeling blessed, grateful and loved by our Mother.


Drawing by Grandma KoKo after seeing this object in the sky above Brown Mountain
10:00 p.m. Saturday night, August 27, 2016.

Recap:
Apx 16 minutes total, divided into 4 parts approximately 4 minutes each.
Part 1 – lights dancing on hill (continues through to at least part 3)
Part 2 – craft appears around position 2 in sky, stage left. It first looks like just a bright star, maybe jet? Then it starts doing strange things, detailed below. We are very sure it is a ‘special’ craft while it is still in position 2
Part 3 – Craft moves to around position 3 in sky, center stage. It continues doing strange things and could have been getting bigger. I only see it as a bright light, nothing seemingly discernibly.
Part 4 – Craft moves to position 4 in sky, stage right. I am able to clearly see the object as I have drawn it. I am able to stare at it. It does the ‘jiggle thing’.

Sensing of time relativity:
Part 1 was the longest, Part 2 was also longer. Part 3 was the shortest and Part 4 was kind of longer than Part 3, but not much.
Perhaps Part 1=6 minutes, Part 2= 5 minutes, Part 3=2 minutes, part 4=3 minutes

Narrative:
It starts with the guy who sees it first and announces it. Others, about 10-12 people come over to gather around. There are some more people who do not come over. He goes to get his wife who is waiting in the car. I’m squinting and trying to see something, little lights, moving a little. Oh yeah, I guess I see it. Still kind of looks like it could be just a vehicle or something, far away. Not really looking so spectacular. I remember my binoculars in the car and wish I had them. Not wanting to miss a second of the show, I hesitate, plan the logistics. Could get them out of the car quickly, know just where they are. Remember people saying the show lasts for a while, some minutes at least. I sprint to the car and back. Naturally some others want to see through the binoculars, so it was a matter of minutes before settling back into the chair for a real good watch.

So during part 1, the lights are just beginning to move around and more lights gradually seem to appear. Not sure how many lights total; at some point it kind of blurs into light patterns. At first our group is talking about it. “Did you see that?” or “Wow, what was that?” Each event I was seeing was echoed by the commentary of the group.

As the craft in the left sky become increasingly prominent, (Part 2) we were watching both spaces. In a short matter of time it clearly was ‘something else’. At first it seemed to grow brighter in a stationary stance. It would entirely disappear; flash off, sometimes for a matter of seemingly long seconds. Then like a little surprise, it would flash on, this time brighter, perhaps, or in a place some distance from where it had been. It may have been steadily growing bigger and brighter. Then, to our amazement, it did a ‘slide’. It moved directly and quickly to some other point along what seemed a very straight trajectory. It was entertaining us in position 2, before disappearing and this time reappearing in position 3. It continued much the same antics, perhaps more and faster. The object displayed markedly bigger and brighter in the center of the sky, (position 3) still not discernible as anything other than a bright star, even with binoculars.

The commentary of the folks gathered trailed off and we were all just watching in awe. Sometime near the end of part 2, or more likely into part 3, we had all fallen into a hushed silence when the young girl exclaimed so sweetly. “They’re dancing on the mountain.” Reverence mixed with the excitement in her voice. Myself and others immediately echoed the statement. So true, so well put. It absolutely looked like dancing even though it seemed to start as dots. Dancing colors like an Art Deco depiction of flames from a fire.

After the bright, funny star/craft moved to the right side of the sky, I could see it so plainly. Focusing the binoculars and attempting to etch every detail into my memory banks. I don’t remember it getting bigger or smaller, but maybe a little. There was what is best described as billiard balls, rolling around, at least rotating, some kind of motion and flashing lights, glimmering, shining, radiating, brilliant pool balls, spheres. They were contained in a golden structure with tiers to hold the balls. It was shaped maybe like an acorn with a kind of long seed. The top or roof was a glow. It was more of a white light, but to draw it the yellow/gold color shows better. The whole thing was BUSY!!!



This graphic shows relative size of how the object appeared. I was able to focus in to really see some detail, just like I do when bird watching. Binoculars: Nikon Trailblazer

The top was in motion or flashing colors, it seemed a little like the roof of a carousel. I was surprised by all the gaudy-bright full pigment colors, seemingly embedded in the balls like flashes of accent color. These vibrant colors were active in the top/roof, radiating from the top point down, wave of color flashes formed lines like rafters to move around, giving the top/roof an illusion of motion. It almost would look like the object had 3-d depth, yet I knew it was not twirling around. Knew it was somehow flat, well not really flat, more like a pancake with a little dimension, primarily around the edges.

I was reminded of a scientific type drawing of an amoeba or single cell. The drawing looks 2-D, a 2-D slice thru a 3-D object. Perhaps the image I was seeing was some sort of ‘dimensional slice’, a 3-D representation of a x-D object.

It could have been rotating around like a carousel as anyone might have expected. Based on what I actually remember seeing; it would be hard to really know for sure. My logic supposes; if it was rotating around, I would have expected the edges to rotate around as crossbars to hold up the tiers. Perhaps the tiers are supported by a central attachment. I suppose the tiers of balls could be rotating around inside the frame of the edges. So that would mean the object aligned just right in the sky for me to see it straight on, with edges on side. I wondered what other people saw, viewing from other mountain look-outs.

And then it happened, the ‘jiggle’. While others were exclaiming, or catching their breath, I was sure I had simply jiggled the binoculars. It looked just like that, except it felt bigger, a little strange. I made sure to brace my binoculars carefully. It happened again.

The ‘jiggle’.
The actual ‘jiggle’ had many more vectors (lines), seemingly composed of the light trail of the object as a ‘dot’. The lines were actually thinner and a tad jagged with orange and black edge to the mostly LIGHT quality of the trails. The whole ‘jiggle’ happened quickly, in a microsecond, fraction of a second. Don’t blink, you would miss it entirely. After the ‘jiggle’ the object reappeared, looking all innocent, like nothing at all had happened. The trails disappeared as the object reappeared.


The ‘jiggle’.
The entire jiggle happened so fast, less than a second.
The object disappeared entirely. The dot of light it seemed to become traveled fast, leaving a trail of light to mark its path. There was definite color to the ‘trail/tail’ of light, it was a thin white line stroked with jagged orange edges, and a small black line edging the orange. The dot did seem to have a little width, the colorful ‘trails’ it left seemed wider. The trails disappeared as the object reappeared. There were at least 6, maybe as many as 8 jiggles before the show was over. After one of the ‘jiggles’, the same man even exclaimed, “I saw it! With my own eyes.”

In between the ‘jiggles’, I could watch and stare and wonder. The craft would also disappear, just blink out for a while then reappear, sometimes at a somewhat different location. Enthralling, exciting, full of surprises, the show seemed to go on and on. And then it was over. No fade to black, just gone. Those of us there mingled and talked for a long time, 20-30 minutes. I talked a lot with the woman who was the wife of the guy who saw it first. I wish I had gotten their contact information. It was fun to be able to talk about the experience and other related topics. Most of those people headed for home before long. Yet a few stayed and a few more came through the night to sit and watch for the lights.

It was disturbing and interesting that about the time the light show was ending the same girl who had exclaimed excitedly about seeing the dancing lights started to get freaked out. She was scared because apparently there are also rumors that people disappear, get abducted perhaps. Folks found gone while their car doors are left open. She was worried and fearful that something bad might happen to her. The reassurances from her people seemed only mildly effective. Some folks even think the lights have something to do with the devil or devil worship.

Inter-dimensional details, observations, proposals:
My first thought was it was some kind of medallion, or medal. Also considered it could be a chalice, as there had been mention of a chalice recently. It did seem to be pouring forth something, but the feeling was more emitting than pouring. Later I settled on the notion of bus, transport vehicle of some sort. It also seemed like a lamp or light.

Examining the nature of inter-dimensional objects meant for transport:
Was it 3-D round? It seemed more 2-D yet it had some depth, like flat pancake with contours. It looked like it should be rotating like a carousel, yet my sensing was more about the activity inside a cell given a 2-D slice of a 3-D organism. When I wondered about this, was told it has to do with inter-dimensional travel to serve as rev-up by moving through augmented dimensional space. Think about each ‘hitch’ (like push from lower dimension) gives a ‘push’ into the hyperspace that allows travel to other places. Not sure that means anything to me, but it kind of does. Basically a stair step process.
Object 2-D < 3-D < 4-D < 5-D < …..

I wondered about the motion of the balls, especially as I went to draw the picture of the object. Initially, I had assumed that they rolled around each other on their tier. Sensing the balls can move any direction, they can pass through one another, go left, right, up down, sideways. Yet there is a sense of formation and consistent motion. The balls of light have freedom to move and pass, while following cosmic controls or rules. Balls motion is every direction. The golden edges along side and forming the tiers are there like a light corral, to keep ‘things’ contained. To provide boundary, not restriction of motion within, they are only a 3-D representation of substance. These ‘edges’ are meant to be entirely permeable to allow easier embarking and disembarking at each multi-dimensional stop.

Got an image of the vehicle being “powered/force field activated” by a column of light in the center. That is the glowing light seen mostly at the top and some at the bottom. The light tube/cylinder provides all function we might imagine from a fuel. It also offers a form of gravity or rather attractor factor. This is the more powerful feature, to attract and then release. The passenger orbs are held in the vehicle in this manner.

It could be like a lamp because it was so full of light.
It felt more like a bus, a bus for spheres, balls of light. Perhaps they are both coming and going. Maybe it was letting off passengers and then picking them up. Could be the bus was just moving them around the mountain.



To consider that ET would pick a wonderful mountain area to establish a bus stop is not as far fetched as one might first imagine. During a talk by Jaggi Vasudev, an Indian yogi, mystic and author commonly known as Sadhguru by his followers, he spoke about ETs in the Himalayan Mountains. He had spent significant time living and meditating in the Himalayans. He called it a bus stop. So many beings of all kinds, coming and going. He said our concept of ET is very narrow and kind of humorous. Little green men, ha, ha! He talked about so many different realms, so many amazing ‘possibilities’ for the nature of being. He verified that there are all kinds of ETs all around us, all the time.

Even as I finish writing this I still say to myself, that was so unreal, what an odd thing. And I want to forget about it and not really talk about it. How weird is that?

Whatever!

Anyway, now I can truthfully say, “I have been to the mountain and I have seen the lights dancing.”



Tuesday, June 14, 2016

An Unintentional Community

An Unintentional Community
No rent zone
By Grandma KoKo, March 2016 - Author of More to Come

Learning to BE - A Human Being at E.A.S.E. (earth as sentient entity), living close to the earth. We believe no one should have to pay rent to live on this generous planet.
“No Shirt, No Shoes, No Problem” at the community center and kitchen.

An Unintentional Start
While most of the world was preparing for the new millennium, partying like its 1999, wondering what the computer brain would do about 1999 becoming 2000, and generally suspecting something is not right with the world, some folks in New Mexico were starting to begin a journey of homesteading. A generous person with a big heart owned a piece of land and had a greater vision. Her love of nature and hiking in the wilderness allowed her to become friends with a number of other folks she found who were also enjoying the free range part of New Mexico. New Mexico is a free range state meaning it is legal for people to move about and camp on the land in the wilderness. These are folks with a deep love of nature and wilderness. Some moved to camp on the land and provide stewardship, care and direction for this eco-friendly plan.

So, right around 2000 they devised a plan to make the property into a land trust. Remove the land from commerce, placing it into a stewardship under which it would never be bought or sold.

A land trust as defined by Wikipedia, is a private, nonprofit organization that, as all or part of its mission, actively works to conserve land by undertaking or assisting in land or conservation easement acquisition, or by its stewardship of such land or easements.

A land trust makes it so the land is not owned by anybody, a least by no one individual. Regulations or rules are established by the group rather than owner. While it took a long time to process through the slow-ass bureaucratic/legal machine the trust got put in place and signed in 2007.

Despite the land trust not being settled a couple of folks started building in 2000. Two more stayed there; one in a tent, another stayed in his bus. All four of these folks are still living rent free on this most beautiful tract of land near the wilderness.

Sometime around 2000 two dwellings were starting to be built. It was already becoming a community without really planning anything or having ‘rules’. The people who wanted to stay there longer, wanted to settle and make this their home had some things in common. They were all independent survivors, people who did not like the trappings of the civilization of EMPIRE. Each one offering a variety of survival and sustainability skills, and they all shared a great love for the earth and for the plants and animals that live among us. They were already living lives apart from the 9-5 grind.


Alice’s Home
Alice began building a home out of papercrete, this is like paper mache with cement as a stabilizer. By mixing cement, water and paper and shaping it into blocks that are allowed to dry, these blocks form the walls. The walls are about a foot (12 inches) thick, before plaster is added, and offer great insulation. Papercrete is load bearing and not as heavy as concrete so it did need to be framed, especially since this is a single story home.

The roof is made of papercrete. Held up by vigas (logs for rafters), the decking is lumber, then tarpaper, and then the 6 inch thick papercrete blocks are set in place. The papercrete is covered by elastomeric paint to be waterproof, and it looks really nice. Looks like snow on the roof, even in the middle of summer.  

The entire home is 24 x 24 square feet. The one big room is 24 x 12 feet and contains the kitchen and living room. The bedroom is 12 x 12 feet and the remaining area is the porch. It is 576 square feet including the porch.

Alice’s living room side of big room. 24 x 12 ft room.

Kitchen side of the big room in Alice’s home.


Bedroom – 12 x 12 feet
Outside view of Alice’s papercrete home. The bright white of the waterproof elastomeric paint on the roof is slightly visible here. It can be seen clearly from a distance. 

Sherpa’s Home
Sherpa began building a small round home she calls her ‘hooch’ or ‘kiva’. Starting with the posts from an old corral that was in the spot she liked to build. She had to move a few posts and put a tall one in the center. The walls were made of ‘put together what she had.’ And she was experimenting with a variety of available building materials. One wall was cobb, another stone adobe, bottle inserts, chicken wire strung between the posts, then stuffed with straw and then adobe plaster applied for finish. The little hooch is about 14-15’ in diameter, not symmetrical. She started with tarps for the roof. Because of the asymmetrical shape of the building she used repurposed lumber and fit it to size for the rafters. She used discarded paneling for the roof. Under the paneling is cardboard, used as the ceiling. Sherpa is enthusiastic about cardboard being an incredible structural material, most useful for building. Straw is stuffed between the cardboard and paneling for insulation. Cloth was attached under the cardboard to look better and help secure the cardboard.


Community Center and Kitchen 
Community Center and Kitchen, near Sherpa’s home. Also built by Sherpa.
No Shirt, No Shoes, No Problem at the community center and kitchen.
The kitchen walls are formed from recycled pallets, repurposed lumber to secure the pallets, cardboard to stuff inside the pallets for insulation, then chicken wire stuffed with straw before applying the plaster. This makes a wall about 12 inches thick and serves well to keep the place cool in summer and warm in winter.


Jacob’s Home
Jacob’s porch, an extension of the main home, seen on the right. 


Inside Jacob’s home, notice the rock and adobe stove to the right.
Looking from the front door offers a better view of the amazing rock and adobe stove, on left.
Jacob’s home is built predominantly from found material, free stuff. Insulated with cardboard and straw, cardboard is a great insulation. He used natural materials for functional and aesthetic values. The rock and adobe stove offers the stacked functionality of cooking and heating. The thermal mass of the stove works to cool the house in summer and warm in winter. Total sq. ft is about 300. The roof was inherited because this home started with a pavilion with a gabled roof of plywood and rolled asphalt roofing. Windows were important, and repurposed, offering lots of light and solar gain. 


The Sauna

The sauna is near the community center and the babbling brook. 
The sauna has bottle inserts that add light and color. When you step inside on a sunny day it seems like it is a stained glass window. The roof is a repurposed satellite dome.


Building Community
Along with building the actual structures to house them, the people were learning to live in community. A community of free spirits, who do NOT like rules, has to find a way to communicate and resolve ‘issues’. All people who want to live together have to find a way to get along. This part of the equation can often be the harder part of getting a community to form and work together.

After more than 16 years of learning to live together and get along the consortium has set some rules, yet no one likes anything to do with formal meetings. While members prepare their own food for the most part, every homestead has its own kitchen. There are times when they gather for food. Often, they are joined by neighbors or friends for the weekly pot luck, or the weekly peasant soup night. Other than the expected kind of visiting with neighbors and friends, the compound is NOT public. This is a CLOSED community. It is not accepting new members. It does not offer tours.

A couple of community members shared some insight as to how and why they have been successful as a peaceful community. At the forefront is choosing like minded folks who share the same values. For example, no one here wants to have any kind of toxic chemicals sprayed on plants in the garden or anywhere at all. Rather than have a rule about no spraying, rules often get ‘ignored’ by people who do as they wish. It is better that all members are in agreement about the importance of respecting the earth and each other.

So rather than have a lot of rules, forming the community around people who share the same values is the key. These are not poor homeless people, these are a proud people who love the land they stand on. A people who love and honor the world, the earth, all plants, animals and so much more. They don’t want to live the life of greed and excess that is dangled in front of the consumers of EMPIRE like a poison apple. They are content to live close the Mother, nestled in her bosom.

Sharing is caring. The other overriding value is that these people are givers, rather than takers. Community members love to share. The newer members worry if they are sharing enough. People value the gifts of one another, and everyone offers a variety of talents and skills. All members of the community have enough, they live a life of plenty. Plenty to eat, warm clean homes that are magnificent personal creations, fun things to do, but the best part of all is having a community that works. Shared values!

Respect is the bottom line.

Monday, May 16, 2016

State of Grace – Crack Whores

Monday May 16, 2016
Report by Grandma KoKo your scout in the homeless zone
Author of More to Come a story unfolding over time   http://moretocome.us/   first 4 chapters free pdf

I had expected to prepare a report about the many things that happen at Grace Marketplace/Dignity Village; both together are called The Empowerment Center, even though no one ever calls it that. It is NOT a homeless shelter, it is a one stop ‘shopping’ experience (hence the name Marketplace) supposedly dedicated to helping make it easier for the impoverished. It offers no shelter for the poor. There are less than a hundred indoor beds. In the men’s dorm are 60 beds. The men are packed in one big room on bunked beds. The women’s side has approximately 17 beds in a room the same size. Yet only people with a job and/or a monthly check coming in are allowed to sleep inside. Everyone else, the REAL impoverished homeless are outside in the cold of winter and the heat of summer. A majority of the unsheltered people are old, sick, mentally ill, developmentally disabled, handicapped and in wheelchairs. It is a convalescent home run like a jail. They sleep inside a tent if they are lucky, trudge long distances carrying heavy burdens including carrying water from the hose to their tent, no electricity and port-a-potties. At least there are two handicapped port-a-potties out by the tents. People survive best they can, despite the sorrowful lack of management or structure, while living outside with poisonous snakes and spiders in exceptionally meager accommodations.

Someone once explained how the situation of people sleeping in the pavilion creates a warm place snakes like to hang out in. Many people simple sleep outside somewhere-anywhere. Each night folks are packed in under the eves in front of the Administration building by the front gate, sleeping on the hard concrete sidewalk. About half of the buildings out there remain empty and unused. Another large open air pavilion remains locked while people are on a waiting list for the 60 beds crammed into the outdoor pavilion by the Welcome Center, there people sleep on plastic pallets called boats. I prefer to call (Grace/Dignity/Empowerment Marketplace/Village/Center) a helpless non-shelter. Homeless is NOT helpless, yet I am seeing how the set up at Grace Empowerment Center actually fosters helplessness among its ‘guests’.



It is my hope that by reporting on the many small things that are happening out at Grace, a.k.a. the Empowerment Center, it will help the good citizens of Gainesville to better understand the culture of poverty and together we can move in directions that will actually make a difference. We CAN do better. Impoverished people have an entirely unique culture that is often difficult for people still aligned with the EMPIRE of Consumerism to understand.

Like I said, I was planning to prepare a more illuminating and inspiring report full of some problems and offering solutions. That was before last week happened. A more full understanding of the drug use and human trafficking that is going on at the Empowerment Center was revealed to me. I came to better understand the ravishing effects of this hideous crime on the victims, the women of Grace. Is there anything worse to call a woman than a Crack Whore? We banter around the term Crack Whore sometimes in jest and often in anger. Yet I had never really thought through the mechanism that creates them.

Here is how the story unfolded for me. Tuesday evening the police officer and Steven Belk the manager of Dignity Village stopped by our section of this big tent city (estimated count, apx. 200 people in the tents) and informed us that a certain location of our section would soon become The Safety Zone. What’s going to make that little piece of ground SAFE I wondered, but no one could answer. We’ll talk about The Safety Zone another time. We have bigger fish to fry.

Mr. Belk left but the officer stayed to talk a while longer. We got onto the subject of the resident drug dealers/pimps. These are the hard drug dealers, not the ones who sell marijuana. I learned that selling crack and selling sex go together, are both part of the same bad news. Everybody knows who the dealers are, and that the guy nick named Snake is the head purveyor of vice at Dignity Village. Despite knowing who they are and what they are doing, the officer said they needed more information before they could take action. They are looking for an informant.



The next day, Wednesday morning I talked with someone who knows Snake better than I do. It was explained in detail how he uses roofies, a date rape drug also called a predator drug because it incapacitates the victim. He has his way with the victim; rumor has it he takes them out to the woods.  They wake, ‘come to’ remembering nothing.

What Snake does is solicit donations from local churches of all kinds of things. He hoards them in his tent complex and he does share them, when he feels like it, to people who are his friends or prey. He’s got aspirin, and other kinds of first aid supplies, all sorts of things people living in tents would want to use, most importantly he has tents and tarps. This makes Snake the lead person that people are sent to, especially new comers. “Need a tent? Go see Snake.”

Given the situation that Grace offers practically nothing in the way of even basic toiletries, no towels at the shower, no aspirin or Band-Aids, and absolutely nothing that would be handy to people living in tents. Grace says they offer laundry detergent but are often times out of it. So the predator Snake has no trouble luring victims into his trap.

Given the situation that there is no obvious method to assign people to camp sites, it means the new people are likely to arrive in Snakes domain. To anyone who didn’t know better it would appear that Snake is the one who runs things. He is a trusted helper of Dignity Village. I’ve heard he is a member on the board that decides about disputes regarding punitive action. Steve Belk, the city manager of Dignity Village seems quite chummy with Snake. If Mr. Belk doesn’t know what Snake is up to he would really have to have his head in the sand.

A couple of weeks ago, while having a brief informal conversation with Jon DeCarmine, the seemingly sole manager at Grace Marketplace, I casually, jokingly mentioned the fact that we all know who the drug dealers are. Jon didn’t reply with any verbal response. I got a sideways glance from him and silence before the conversation moved on. This happened before I realized how grave are the circumstances there. It would appear to me that Jon DeCarmine is giving silent consent.

So, I ask you, what should someone do with information like this? I really hadn’t thought a lot about human trafficking and all its nasty connotations before this came up, thanks to the GPD officer. As it turns out I was already planning on attending the Empowerment Center Oversight Committee regularly scheduled meeting that Wednesday afternoon. This Oversight Committee is composed of two city commissioners, two county commissioners and a retired college professor. At public comment time I spoke about discovering the modus operandi of the main pimp/drug dealer. I assumed they would become very interested and want to know more. WRONG! No one from the Oversight Committee or anyone in the audience listening wanted to engage me further in any way. Both Jon DeCarmine and Theresa Lowe were in the room when I spoke. No interest? What does that tell us? Complicity of Silence. They already know all about it, and just don’t want to talk or think about it. (Or just don’t care, or weren’t listening to me talk or didn’t understand what I was saying?)

The next morning I sent email with a brief description of how Snake operates to one city commissioner and to another person higher up in the command chain and from somewhere other than Gainesville. I also provided the same information to various people world wide via Social Media. I contacted the police. The police said they would have the person in charge of investigating this type of crime contact me. That didn’t happen, no follow up from the GPD.

What conclusions can be drawn from this scenario? The ones I can think up do not paint a pretty picture of Gainesville or Florida. My picture includes ugly words like corruption and complicit or even accessory to: illegal activities. I did a little Google search of ‘human trafficking Gainesville Florida’ and found a lot of information, including the following statistics available on the Alachua County Sheriff web site.

  • Did you know Florida has the highest number of Human Trafficking victims in the United States?

  • Did you know Florida is one of the top 3 states as a destination state for Human Trafficking in the United States?



The next day I attended the Thursday women’s group. Good thing, because I needed to talk about it. Learning all this awful stuff was no fun. Trying to think about the right people to share it with, all the while knowing I was sticking my head out and likely to not make Snake happy. I was feeling let down by the officials that I had expected to at least be a little interested, maybe even offer support or protection.  My internet friends were interested.

At that Woman’s meeting the other women shared what they knew about the plight of Crack Whores here in Gainesville and some history. Right off the bat we agreed that if they arrest Snake, so what, another will come to take his place. They talked about Tiger, the nick-name of Snakes predecessor. Tiger would kidnap/sequester his prey, his women somewhere back in the woods. It seems if any woman tried to escape he would break her leg and rape her while the broken leg is flapping. The person explaining wondered how the hospital ER could not notice a string of girls coming in all with the same kind of odd broken leg injuries. She indicated this atrocity was perpetrated often enough, girls getting their leg broken. Anyway, no one seemed to notice or connect the dots.


Another more recent event will illustrate how blatantly Snake operates. He has no fear at all of getting caught. Out in the common area of C with other clients around Snake addresses his Crack Whore. Hey bitch, where dat $30? She doesn’t have it and questions that she even owes it. He insists that she borrowed $20 at some previous date and should have paid it back by now, she got her check, right? And that $10 is from some guy who supposedly paid to eat her pussy, but since she hadn’t done that she owed him and he would forgive her the debt because he would eat her pussy. God it is so hard for me to even type these words. This cocky predator doesn’t care who’s listening because why should he.

What is to be done about this? Obviously, no one seems able to stop the criminal predator, so I don’t waste time on things I can’t change. What I can change is to get relief to the many victims of this unspeakable crime.  It makes me angry that the name of it, Human Trafficking, a sanctified kind of name that implies something humane, something in motion. It’s almost a pleasant sounding combination of positive words that most people may not ever think about or even know what that means.

George Carlin Shell Shock

Crack Whore is a more honest and descriptive term and readily describes a situation. I am now dedicated to getting as much relief, as fast as possible to these victims, women I know personally out at Grace/Dignity/Empowerment Center. I am calling now for the best people in this community who can provide what is needed here and now. We will need to provide victim restitution. I imagine the specific needs of the sufferers of this criminal activity are very much different than the standard treatment for drug abuse and crazy. This will need to be done by the private sector, probably the faith based community. If we expect the city or county to get anything done, it will not be in a timely fashion and probably not be effective.

Ok, enough for now. I’m tired of writing and thinking about this topic. The fact that I am writing and submitting this is putting myself personally in harms way. I am absolutely convinced that the bad guys will know about this report just as fast as the supposed good guys I am about to email it to. Never the less, it’s time for lots of people to stand up for these victims known as Crack Whores.

I am Grandma KoKo, your scout in the homeless zone and this is my report.
May 16, 2016


Human Trafficking: Your Child Might Be a Target

Elisabeth Meinecke | Jul 20, 2013


Human trafficking ring busted in New Port Richey   May 11, 2016
New Port Richey is a city in Pasco County, Florida, United States. It is a suburban city included in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Florida


Modern-day slavery: human trafficking
Mary-Lou Watkinson, Alligator Contributing Writer  Jan 11, 2016


FEDS: 6 remanded after human trafficking sting   July 17, 2015  WCJB Channel 20 news


  • Did you know Florida has the highest number of Human Trafficking victims in the United States?
  • Did you know Florida is one of the top 3 states as a destination state for Human Trafficking in the United States?



Friday, February 5, 2016

Evicted from Graceland

Post by Grandma KoKo, your scout in the homeless zone. Author of More to Come. A book written over time, part 1 chapters 1-4 are available.

Gainesville Florida, February 3, 2016

Grace Marketplace is supported by the City of Gainesville and Alachua County

ABSTRACT
Grace Marketplace, is the end of the line homeless place outside of Gainesville, Florida USA. This is where they dump human beings the system has designated as trash: out of sight, out of mind. Michael Davis, landed there over a year ago, after a brief hospitalization for back pain he was advised by Shands hospital to go there. Being elderly and disabled, he was looking for help. What he found was a 14 month ordeal of constant harassment, poor food and meager accommodations. Now, after failing him miserably in what should have been an easy and quick placement into housing, Grace Marketplace is evicting him from the Dorm because he has stayed there too long. He was forced to sign a ridiculous document called a BEHAVIORAL CONTRACT. It is worded to make him believe he is a naughty boy and has to behave or else, out in the cold. He was told if he didn’t sign this he was out of the Dorm that very day. He begged to let him have someone else present, but was bullied into signing it anyway. Meetings are not scheduled for any time, just maybe sometime tomorrow was all we knew. I couldn’t miss work to sit around all day waiting for a meeting that might not even happen.

In Mr. Davis’s case they plan to move him into the outdoor open air pavilion where he can sleep on a plastic pallet on the ground. With his fragile health and painful disability, this is a death sentence. He doesn’t know what to do or where to turn. He lives in constant terror. He is afraid for his life and I don't blame him. The staff can do whatever they like and ‘guests?’ must comply. After all, he doesn’t have to be there. (But where else can he go?) Homelessness is not a choice.

It is as if he is stranded on a deserted island that is more like a Nazi prison camp, except it is noisy and chaotic, populated by crazy, loud, sick and downtrodden people. Worst of all are the sloppy drunks who affectionately attempt to maul him. He suffers from an uncommon bone disease that makes it easy to break his bones, and he is in such constant pain that the slightest touch can be painful. Once he was almost strangled to death by a friendly drunk before help arrived.  Despite his meager circumstance Michael remains cheerful, compassionate, humble and loving.

Michael’s story is only one of the many stories of suffering caused in large part by the poor management. It seems as if there is no management. There are no written rules, yet inmates must comply with nebulous ‘rules’ on the whim of the staff who are few and far between. There are no rights for clients, simply obey or leave. The conditions at this place are deplorable, unsanitary, and unnecessary. We can do better.


CONTACT INFORMATION

Gainseville City Hall
200 East University Ave
Gainesville FL 32601
352-334-5000

Alachua County Contact
Adm., & Courts
201 E. University Avenue
Gainesville, FL 32601

Adm., Civil and Family
201 E. University Avenue
Gainesville, FL 32601

State of Florida
Office of Governor Rick Scott
State of Florida
The Capitol
400 S. Monroe St.
Tallahassee, FL 32399-0001
(850) 488-7146

Grace Marketplace  http://gracemarketplace.org/ 

Alachua County Coalition for the Homeless and Hungry   http://acchh.org/



WELCOME TO GRACE MARKETPLACE

GRACE Marketplace
Key service agencies in one location.
Phone: 352.792.0800
Address: 3055 NE 28th Drive, Gainesville, FL 32609

Site of Grace Marketplace sometime before it opened in the fall of 2014. Looks like a jail, feels like a loony bin/psycho asylum. Vast sturdy fencing surrounds the complex with only one gate for passage. The gate is kept locked sometimes, I'm not sure why. Are they locking people in or keeping people out? It sure makes it hard for people to get from the tents to the 'services'.
Grace Marketplace is NOT a homeless shelter. It does not offer shelter that is fit for humans. Yet the City of Gainesville considers it is the answer to homelessness and it is the best they offer. It is growing exponentially as people keep pouring in.  

The aerial photo was taken before Grace Marketplace opened in the fall of 2014. Now in February of 2016 it has hundreds of people sleeping outside, most in tents or nothing. Choice campsites may be sold for perhaps $100. Campsites can be rented. There are a few water spigots by the road and port-a-potties. All other amenities are located inside the complex, accessible only through the front gate, a long walk from the tents. The tents go way back into the woods. Let’s call them primitive campsites. 

WELCOME TO GRACE MARKETPLACE, your one stop homeless shopping stop. Bring your own cart. This used to be a jail and before that a psychiatric facility. It features tall secure fencing and one gate. About half of the large buildings stand empty with windows broken. Only one of the large buildings is used for people to sleep inside on a bed. The Dorm is the large building in the upper right, farthest away from the Welcome Center-Chapel-Dining Hall area located on the lower right. The Dorm has men on one wing and women on the other. Showers and bathrooms take up the third wing. There were 30 beds in the apx. 30x60 ft. open room men’s side, until recently when bunk-beds were put in to accommodate up to 60 men. There are significantly fewer women than men at Graceland, and only 17 beds on the woman’s side.

Oddly enough the few beds in the Dorm are only available to people who work or have money coming in, like a disability check. Everyone else sleeps outside. Grace Marketplace is NOT really a homeless shelter.

The Pavilion sleeps 60 on plastic pallets called ‘boats’ with makeshift padding. Places in the Pavilion are sought after and there is a waiting list. Both men and women are crammed in there and it is nick named ‘the pigeon coop’. Recently, body lice was found in there and everyone was required to take a pill and have there belongings sprayed. Rumor has it there is a guy, nicknamed ‘itchy-scratchy’ because he is always scratching himself, especially his crotch. And he smells bad, but he is still sleeping in the pavilion. I don’t like even going in there.



DIGNITY VILLAGE is the name given to where the tents are outside the fence. 

Home Sweet Home for Judy  -  January 2016

This is what Judy can call home. The other night she broke bones stumbling around in the night. I heard this from the woman who stays in a tent near her. She said she had also injured herself while helping Judy.

At the website of Grace Marketplace, Judy’s face is featured on their home page and in videos. Her picture that is used for the purpose of soliciting donations was taken over a year ago. Clearly Graceland has not helped her exit homelessness, while using her compelling beauty has likely charmed lots of donations. Judy tells me she has worked hard all her life, starting at the age of 13. She suffers from bi-polar and is still 2 years away from age 62 when she can draw Social Security.

Graceland should be called a homeless NON-shelter. Over half of the buildings stand empty, assumable waiting for more 'something' before renovation can continue. Initially, roofs were all repaired and a fresh coat of paint was applied, then they stopped renovations.

They do keep the fence up and intact. The only entrance to the compound is through the one front gate, slightly beyond the bottom of the aerial photo. They keep the compound locked a fair amount of the time. We wonder if they are keeping people out or locking people in. I was detained 45 minutes last night against my will. They have ‘rules’ that are not written down and change depending on what the staff member on duty is thinking or doing. I learned the hard way last night that the gate is locked at 9pm for the night. If people want to leave they have to wait until one opportunity to leave at 10pm and another at 11pm

I was pretty steamed at being locked in when I wanted out. On another night the gate had been open after 9pm. Another woman was weeping, sobbing pitifully. She had just found out her beloved aunt had passed away and they would not let her out the gate. Pictured below with Judy, I saw her one morning that was especially cold. She had arrived via police escort, with only the clothes on her back, basically pajamas, at 1:30 in the morning. Something about trumped up charges of trespassing. People are often given the choice of going to jail or Graceland. Which would you choose?

Woman at Graceland

MORE NOTES
  • The County Jail is located very nearby so when folks are released they naturally come to Grace.
  • The bus stop is a long walk and the bus on that route is reported to often run on an irregular schedule. One young man told me he waited over an hour, almost two, and was late to work because of that bus. Why not have the bus come down to Grace to pick up folks rather than causing all these people who are already challenged in so many ways, to have to walk so far?
  • There is no flashing stop-crossing on 39th to allow people to cross at that road to get to and from the bus stop by Grace Marketplace.  December 2015 a man and woman were hit by a car while crossing there to get the bus.
  • Disease and unsanitary conditions are rampant. When I arrived in early January, there was some kind of coughing sickness running through the place. Then there was the body lice in the Pavilion. In general people tend to be sickly. I have come to notice something resembling spotty eczema is common enough among the homeless. Poor food and unsanitary conditions breed more illness so I call that a downward spiral.
  • The so-called services that are supposed to come to us, Grace Marketplace ‘guests’ are sometimes not so available. One gentleman has been trying to meet up with Meridian for some time. They don’t show up for the scheduled time or make appointments. On the bright side, the Mobile Health Clinic has helped folks in many ways and is a great convenience to have it there. In general people don’t talk about actually using the services much.
  • When Grace Marketplace first opened about 80 people moved in from the tent city closer to town. They received no assistance in moving their belongings. Who would ever think of that, actually helping homeless people? Gainesville wanted to get rid of the people perceived as trash and clutter. Put them far away and ostensibly give them a little something. Free bus pass and meals. Many are still camping out after well over a year of ‘services’ at Grace Marketplace.

Keep in mind there is huge money in the charities business. When I visited the Grace Marketplace website I found it to be all about soliciting donations and fundraising activities. There not much else, and no contact information. 

Grace marketplace seems to be run by something called Alachua County Coalition for the Homeless and Hungry. They claim to be working together to end homelessness in our community. Their website is a little better, at least it offers one contact. The latest news offered is from March 2014. They have monthly meetings and someone who went once said it was basically a pat each other on the back situation.
Alachua County Coalition for the Homeless and Hungry   http://acchh.org/

Please watch this promotional video for Graceland, knowing the conditions are in fact deplorable. I invite you to come and see for yourselves.
YouTube: GRACE Marketplace 2015 #FundGRACE Campaign

Just like in Robin Hood’s time, the discarded people live as best they can in the wilderness. The camping section is officially called Dignity Village and is somehow a separate entity from Grace Marketplace. Some have nick-named it Sherwood Forest. Anyone interested in studying anarchy in action would have a field day here.

TWO BATHROOMS
Strangest of all is that there are only two indoor bathrooms available for the hundreds of people who live here and they are not available for an hour twice a day. Does that seem like a good plan? It isn’t, believe me. When I got here they would open the chapel so folks could use the bathrooms there while the Welcome Center was closed for cleaning. After someone made a mess in there it was decided to keep the Chapel closed, no matter that there is no toilet available for an hour.

The Welcome Center actually has three bathrooms, but one is not available, perhaps it is used for storage. The two available bathrooms are used both by men and women. They have no mirror. The other morning I was first in line for the next open door. As I waited over ten minutes a line of people, mostly women gathered and some were doing the pee-pee dance. My needs weren’t so urgent so I went elsewhere to be nice to the ones left waiting. 

Welcome Center bathrooms. Gotta love indoor plumbing.
Take it from me; don’t forget to wipe the seat first.

There are port-a-potties out closer to the tent area and quite a hike from the Welcome Center. I peeked into a couple of them and they weren’t too bad. Even with regular maintenance, you never know what surprises could lurk inside. The two handicapped port-a-potties are located way out in the tent area, the handicapped accessible tent area I presume?



MICHAEL’S STORY

Michael suffers constant chronic pain, with both hips replaced, osteoporosis, scoliosis and Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI)

Definition
Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) is a genetic disorder characterized by bones that break easily, often from little or no apparent cause. A classification system of different types of OI is commonly used to help describe how severely a person with OI is affected. For example, a person may have just a few or as many as several hundred fractures in a lifetime.

Recommending a person in fragile health go to Grace Marketplace is tantamount to condemning them to death row. It’s not a place for sissies. Michael is not a criminal or drug addict. He is charming, compassionate, and intelligent, has a great sense of humor and is a highly sensitive person who has a lot of wisdom about life to share. He has been a target for bullies all his life, and is not quick to defend himself. It’s often hard for him to express himself with words, especially when dealing with insensitive folks. He is especially shy about situations that involve authority and/or bureaucratic BS. So naturally, he took the suggestion of the nice people at the hospital, and rode the bus to Graceland.

Now after 14 months of austerity, having lots of stuff stolen, (including the back brace the hospital discharged him with) Michael continues to live his life as best he can. He was dreading the verdict about whether he could stay on after a year or be kicked out. On Tuesday January 26, 2016, his caseworker Jeff, the gentle giant, informed him it was over. He had to choose between assisted living or an apartment. Michael was overwhelmed with dismay and terror at the prospect of ending back on the streets. Jeff wanted an immediate answer right away. Michael, in shock about it managed to ask for another day. He could have easily answered, he absolutely DOES NOT want assisted living, but the news of eviction from the dorm was overwhelming.

The meeting the next day was not scheduled, Jeff just says sometime tomorrow and Michael waits where he always sits in the Welcome Center for the dreaded meeting, not knowing what to expect. He begged someone to go with him, preferable me. But I couldn’t take off work for a meeting that might not even happen. Scott was gone and Maria said she would go, but since we don’t have a time, she was also not to be found whenever Jeff did arrive for the meeting. Michael told him at the start he wanted someone else there. Jeff bullied him into proceeding anyway, and then told him to sign this thing called a BEHAVIORAL CONTRACT or he was out that very day.

 
BEHAVIORAL CONTRACT Michael was bullied into signing. 

BEHAVIORAL CONTRACT
I, Michael Davis acknowledge the fact that I have been in the Dorm for over a year and it is time to move on from Grace. I have been given 10 days to find suitable housing. By 10 days it means the days my case manager is working and does not include weekends and days the office are closed. I acknowledge that my Case manager will be working with me in depth to find housing. If I fail to work with the Case manager in any fashion my time in the dorm will come to an end. This does not mean that Michael Davis can not receive any services or get a spot in the pavilion however Dorm stay has reached its maximum time allowed. This contract goes into effect 1-27-2016 my exit date is 2-15-2016

Before I knew of the Behavioral Contract, I had the opportunity to talk with Jeff who wholeheartedly assured me they were NOT going to kick him out of the dorm before adequate housing was located. He was bald faced lying to me. The eviction date was set. It sounds to me like they plan on putting him in the Pavilion, whether or not Jeff succeeds in locating housing. Knowing that Jeff is a dishonest, uncaring person who can barely write a ‘legal’ contract (Michael tells me Jeff had made 2 or three attempts at writing this that got discarded prior to this one. I wonder about his education, qualifications, experience or training to prepare him as a case manager.  

In a desperate hope that maybe this was just some kind of misunderstanding or mistake and if someone higher up was contacted, we could work it out, I sent the following email.

from:    Grandma KoKo <gmakoko@gmail.com>
to:        Acchh.ed@gmail.com
date:     Wed, Jan 27, 2016 at 8:09 AM
subject: Grace Marketplace

Am writing to ask for your assistance. I have been homeless and living in my van for over a year. Just before new year I arrived in Gainesville and found Grace Marketplace, also found a great job north of town. So I plan to stay for the winter before I return to my hometown in Michigan.

During the weeks I have been at 'Graceland' I have witnessed many things as you can imagine. What I found out yesterday takes the prize for sinking to low levels of human depravity. An elderly handicapped, gentleman in a wheelchair, who has been there a year without 'Grace' being able to help him find housing was told yesterday that his time is up. He has ten days before he is turned back out into the streets. Imagine how worried he is about that.

Grace Marketplace has had a year to work with him and has failed to help him find something else. He doesn't know what to do. Frankly, my best advice is that he become suicidal, (quite understandable given his circumstance), and take a ride to the 'looney bin' where he will enjoy much better accommodations. Perhaps people there will be better equipped to help him find housing.

First of all he is starving like in a concentration camp. It is hard for him to get going in time for breakfast M-F and if it is raining he fears the raindrops will short out his motorized chair. So he misses breakfast and gets along on crackers and crumbs. He used to enjoy his dinner before a Nazi staff member decided to harass him about getting done with dinner at a certain time. She has threatened him and punished him by locking access to his wheelchair. He is so nervous about the harassment that it's hard for him to eat. He needs three square meals a day.

If any staff in a nursing home was found to deprive a person of their wheelchair as punishment, that is called elder abuse and we talk about resident's rights. The staff responsible should be fired immediately at the very least. Here at Grace it is simply called a domestic dispute. Despite filling out grievance forms and a direct email to Jon, nothing has changed regarding this violation of his civil rights and he continues to be harassed and now kicked out. 

I am literally begging and pleading for some help for this guy.



There was no response to this email. Yet the next day Jeff, his caseworker asked Michael if he was suicidal. I had not discussed my great advice about going to a mental hospital being better than Graceland with Michael. So I knew someone had gotten the email. This first email was sent before Michael was forced to sign the BEHAVIORAL CONTRACT, and before Jeff lied to me about not evicting Michael.

What follows is the next email I sent. This one got a brief and terse response, the only response to date I have received from anyone representing Grace Marketplace. The response directly follows the email.

from:    Grandma KoKo <gmakoko@gmail.com>
to:        Acchh.ed@gmail.com
date:     Thu, Jan 28, 2016 at 8:22 AM
subject: Michael at Grace

Hello Again, it’s me Grandma KoKo
I know you received the email I sent yesterday despite getting no response from you. So I will continue to attempt to communicate with this email.

Michael was apprehensive the night before about his meeting with Jeff on January 27, 2016. He desperately wanted someone to accompany him. Clearly he doesn’t feel Jeff is in his corner. When I arrived at the Welcome Center he was troubled but unwilling to talk about the problem in the busy noisy WC.

When I asked how it went he indicated not good, he surreptitiously indicated that something even more horrible had happened, but I had to wait until later to hear about it.

As it turned out Jeff came to the Welcome Center and I was able to talk with him. Jeff assured me Michael was not going to be expelled from the dorm before adequate housing was provided.

Sharing this with Michael didn’t reassure him. Later he talked about the horrible thing. It was that Jeff had betrayed him (my words) by talking with another client about the plans for his moving out. Michael was not ready to announce to ‘the community’ about this. He thought what they talked about was confidential and Jeff should not have done this.

Then we talked about the Behavioral Contract that he said he had been forced to sign under the threat of being expelled from the dorm that very day if he didn’t sign it. After reading that contract I myself am not reassured that he is not still under threat of having to move out of the dorm before his home is ready for him. .

I am asking you to respond to this email and I am asking you to state in writing that you are not intending to force him to leave the dorm before adequate housing is secured for him.

I assume since you expect this to happen in 10 business days that everything is already lined up and all he has to do is choose which apartment he wants. I also assume that a working budget has been planned for him. I would like to see that budget plan if possible. I know how long it can take to make this happen.

I am also offering to work with you to assist in his smooth transition out of Graceland.

Carolyn Maple ‘Grandma KoKo’
my phone number



from:    Executive Director <acchh.ed@gmail.com>
to:        Grandma KoKo <gmakoko@gmail.com>
date:     Thu, Jan 28, 2016 at 9:31 AM
subject: Re: Michael at Grace
mailed-by:        gmail.com

Good morning,

I relayed your concerns to our case managers. I am not at liberty to discuss our guests with others.

Theresa
--
Theresa

Theresa Lowe, Executive Director
Alachua County Coalition for the Homeless and Hungry, Inc.
dba North Central Florida Coalition for the Homeless and Hungry
3055 NE 28th Drive
Gainesville, FL 32609
(352) 792-0800
FAX: (352) 505-3977
acchh.ed@gmail.com
www.acchh.org
Serving Alachua, Bradford, Gilchrist, Levy and Putnam Counties

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On Friday I prepared an authorization to release information form. Michael signed it and I delivered it. On Sunday I happened to find Jeff on site. He was reluctant to speak with me. He venomously restated the Michael was out on the 15th of February. He said he was still checking but he didn’t think I could be Michaels advocate because I am also a client. Note: I really don’t know what to call myself, client, resident, or what? I can tell you I sure don’t feel like a guest, as Theresa Lowe chooses to call us. On Sunday I sent the following email. No surprise it got no response to date.

from:    Grandma KoKo <gmakoko@gmail.com>
to:        Acchh.ed@gmail.com
date:     Sun, Jan 31, 2016 at 6:29 AM
subject: finding a home for Michael Davis

Dear Executive Director for Grace Marketplace,

There has been no response from the case management at Grace Marketplace, so I will continue to communicate directly to you.

I am pleading and begging you for mercy. Do not continue to terrorize this gentle soul with your threat of eviction.

The so-called Behavioral Agreement he was forced to sign (by threat of eviction that very day if he didn't sign) Wed, January 27, 2016. Michael clearly stated to Jeff, his case worker that he wanted to have someone else present with him.

 I wanted to be there but the meeting was never scheduled. The day before Michael was told by Jeff there would be a meeting about ending his over a year stay in the dormitory. There was no set time, just sometime that day. In the past I had experienced a staff say there would be a meeting at some nebulous time, like 'in the morning' The meeting never happened. So there was no way of knowing when or if this meeting would occur.

Michael thought the Behavioral Agreement meant he needed to be doing something every day or he would be kicked out sooner than the February 15 deadline. He thought Jeff would be taking him out to look at apartments on Thursday, the next day. He waited all day for Jeff. The only contact from Jeff was that he stopped into the Welcome Center and asked Michael if he wanted to talk. Michael said no.

So Michael thinks because he isn't doing anything he will be evicted any day. Each night he asks me to stay until he checks in to be sure he has a bed.

In order to better understand the situation I request to see any records you have about his approximately 14 month stay as a guest at Grace Marketplace.

I had the opportunity to contact Occupy Gainesville. Perhaps they can help secure adequate housing for Michael. I, personally am not confident that Jeff -the gentle giant- will be successful in his quest to find Michael a home before Feb. 15.

Sincerely,

Carolyn Maple


I have not sent anymore emails, what’s the point?

Next I’d like to share more about another way the staff and management have been harassing Michael. Back in November of 2015 a staff member had withheld Michael’s wheelchair to punish him. A grievance form had been filled out at that time, the response to the grievance indicated that Michael really does have to follow the ‘rules’. End of story. No concern for his wheelchair problem or that this means he has about 15 minutes to eat his dinner in order to comply.

I was present on Tuesday, January 19, 2016 when his wheelchair was withheld for punishment. I called 911 and sent Jon DeCarmine the following email. I have worked in a nursing home and know this is unacceptable, possibly illegal. I assumed Jon would address this problem quickly. It turns out he walked by the dining hall at breakfast time the very next morning and someone pointed him out so I went to meet him and engage him in conversation about this. He said he got the email but was too busy with putting kids to bed and such to have given it any attention. He said, ‘Do me a favor and fill out a grievance form’. His demeanor was cold and uncaring. He didn’t really give a flying fig. I knew the request for a grievance form meant he wasn’t going to do anything about it. I didn’t know at that time about the previous incident and grievance form receiving no resolution.

The grievance form I did file will explain things in more detail and is included directly after the email to Jon.


Grandma KoKo <gmakoko@gmail.com>
to:        jdecarmine@gracemarketplace.org
date:     Tue, Jan 19, 2016 at 7:21 PM
subject: incident 1-19-16 at the Welcome center
Dear Jon,
Am writing to share the incident/disturbance that occurred tonight. Michael our elderly handicapped client who depends on his motorized wheelchair was harassed by Angelica. She refused to let him get it after dinner. Apparently she enjoys treating a small person like he is a naughty school boy.
He leaves his chair in the welcome center to keep it safe. The dining hall is not wheelchair friendly and he does not have room to maneuver in there. So he walks to the dining hall. His chair has his stuff so he can't leave it outside or his stuff could get stolen. Angelica is the only staff that gives him grief about this.
Am writing to tell you the story and to ask for help. Michael should be allowed to enjoy his dinner without rushing to meet her deadline. I'm sure together we can find a better way.
thank you,
Grandma KoKo
aka Carolyn Maple


Grievance and incident report  1-19-16  6:30 pm.

Brief description of incident as handwritten on the official NCFCHH/GRACE Marketplace Grievance Form

On Tuesday 1-19-2016 when Michael came to the Welcome Center to retrieve his motorized chair the door was locked and he was denied access to his chair. This is illegal, it is called elder abuse among other things. 911 was called at 6:40 by myself. Officer Meek was dispatched. He allowed Michael to get his chair. Angelica has harassed and threatened Michael on previous occasions regarding this issue. She continued to terrorize him later the same evening by threatening him with a meeting in the morning that was in fact fictional. She intentionally lied to him.

More details are attached.


Content of more details:
 On January 19, 2016 Michael was denied access to his motorized vehicle. A staff named Angelica was holding it hostage to punish him. She and she alone among the staff decided to harass Michael by insisting he move his cart by a certain time. Michael is a peaceful, gentle person, who simply wants to eat his supper with friends. Grace Marketplace is not equipped to adequately accommodate the needs of the handicapped client population.

Just a night or two before this incident, I had witnessed Michael returning from dinner to retrieve his motorized chair. Angelica met him at the door and verbally assaulted him. Michael is a mild mannered person who tries hard to follow the rules and not make trouble. Angelica treated him like he was a naughty child and her tone of voice was like a schoolmarm scolding a wayward child. At first I thought she was joking with him, but it quickly became apparent that she was in earnest. She said something like this “Now Michael, you know you HAVE to get your chair before we clean. You’ve been told repeatedly and you better shape up! Don’t let this happen again. You are handicapped so you can just go to the front of the line early, get your food and be done in time.”

I was shocked and appalled that something as insignificant as him coming in a few minutes after they start cleaning to get his chair should be any problem at all. According to Michael, none of the other staff have talked to him about this or prevented him from getting his chair. They start cleaning at the bathrooms on the other side of the room anyway.

On January 19, 2016, the night of the incident, Michael arrived very close to 6:30. Yet the door was locked. I knocked and the volunteer inside cleaning seemed flustered, but did not open the door. I continued to knock louder. The volunteer went to Mission Control, (the little office for staff in the Welcome Center) briefly to consult Angelica then returned to work by the door, ignoring me. I continued to bang on the door, after a long pause Angelica emerged from Mission Control and seems to ignore my pounding. I continued to pound and call, even after she waved dismissively at me. I directly asked her to open the door. She refused. I walked around the building to the open front entrance and spoke to her directly, rather than attempting to communicate through the locked door. After speaking with her, it took me a few minutes to find my phone to call 911 for assistance. The call was placed at 6:40.

Officer Meek arrived shortly and first consulted with Angelica. Then both Angelica and the Officer spoke with Michael. Angelica made it seem like Michael was deliberately not following ‘the rules’, when in reality there is no rule about this and Michael is an elder, disabled, slow moving gentleman who would enjoy having more than 15 minutes to eat his dinner. Michael manages to keep a cheerful and compassionate nature, despite his crippling pain and meager circumstance. He is well loved by so many. Michael was reminded by the officer that he doesn’t have to be here at Grace Marketplace. What a terrible thing to have said to him. Last I knew, homelessness is not a choice. Imagine how Michael felt being caught in the center of this chaotic storm, with a covert threat of being expelled from the compound. This incident comes while Michael is worried about getting kicked out anyway, not knowing if Grace would let him stay longer than a year. Michael feared the wheelchair ruckus would result in him being kicked out.

After the additional haranguing by the Officer, who later called it a domestic dispute, and  Angelica gloating because she feels somehow this justifies her cruelty; Michael was allowed to get his chair. Please note that in all this time Michael had been left standing.

Michael moved out in his chair by the back bench where he usually sits while they clean the Welcome Center for about an hour. Before long Angelica comes out to authoritatively say, “We’re having a meeting tomorrow morning, you, me and Ariel.” Angelica doesn’t provide a time or place for the meeting, only the threat. Michael was not looking forward to more humiliation and reprimand implicit at such a meeting. The next day we ascertained that Ariel knew nothing of such a meeting. Turns out it was cruel, falsehood concocted by Angelica alone. There was no meeting or any additional mention of it. Everything swept under the rug.

Michael was shaken by the incident and the police attention. (Not to mention being center show at the Graceland Welcome Center. Lots of people watching the goings-on) He thanked the officer repeatedly.

He was terrified at the prospect of the fictional meeting in the morning.

Next I’d like to explain a little more about the situation with his wheelchair and dinnertime by explaining more about suppertime at Graceland.

On Friday night January 22, 2016, the doors opened to begin serving about 5:45.  People stand in line outside. There is a separate line for the handicapped and they go first. The other line was already quite long. When the doors open there is more commotion than if a person waits until later. It is my preference, as well as many others to wait until the line gets down. Avoid the hubbub. Many people get their food and take it somewhere else, and that’s a good thing because the dining hall could not seat but a fraction of the meals served.

So Michael prefers to wait until the line is shorter. Then he walks over, leaving his wheelchair in the Welcome Center, moves toward the front of the line. Even with entering the line near the front he is still standing for a while before he gets through the line and seated. It would be swell if he could simply drive his chair over to the dining hall, but the space is very cramped and hard for even regular chairs to get thru. His motorized cart needs room to maneuver.

So on this night of January 22, 2016, I timed things exactly to give an accurate report. Michael headed over earlier than he might have and even so, by the time he got through the line and seated it was 6:10pm. Keep in mind it is an effort for him to walk over and stand so he likes to have a minute to settle and catch his breath. Michael is always joined by his friends and it is nice to be able to share some social time over dinner. Instead of being able to enjoy his dinner, Michael is nervous about the time, watching the clock, wondering if Angelica is working. Angelica wasn’t working, but at 6:30 promptly the staff closes the kitchen, asking people to leave so they can start cleaning. As it turned out that night they didn’t start cleaning the Welcome Center until after 7:00pm.

Michael would prefer to have his chair with him for dinner, but since he has to leave it somewhere, better in the Welcome Center than outside, because of the possibility of theft.

Possible solutions:
  1. Simply allow him to leave his chair in the Welcome Center until he gets done with dinner. This solution, while not optimal has worked well for some time, until Angelica made a big deal about it.

  1. Make a way for him to ride his chair to dinner.

  1. Change the time for cleaning the Welcome Center. Perhaps it should be at least an hour and a half after dinner is served, or an entirely different time. I wonder how the schedule for cleaning was decided. It seems to me and many others that right after dinner is a bad time.

Thank you for reading this, I hope and pray that you will find a speedy solution to this problem.


In closing I want to thank every brave soul who has read this far. I have many ideas about how to make Graceland a much better place. Thinking about calling it KoKo’s wish list; making a list, checking it twice, gonna find out who’s naughty or nice.  

This is but one of many stories about people ‘evicted’ from ‘Grace’. There will be more to come on telling stories.

I am your scout and this is my report.