We Who Do Not Exist

by Paul Behler

Jan. 25, 2013- 4:30 AM

The lights come on, “Feat On The Floor”, “Rise And Shine”, and whatever phrase is chosen; the 150+ (closer to 170) men at the City’s Men’s Overflow Shelter are woken up. By 5:00 AM (when you must be gone), the first out the door can get warm coffee or tea and a snack (60-100 men). By then they must be dressed, perform toilet duties, and venture forth to come what may. Oh, did I forget that this is the third day of a 5-day ‘Code Blue Status”, declared by the Mayor. ‘We Who Do Not Exist’ are then rousted out of Mercy Hospital E.R. to a 7-11, other convenience store, or Dunkin Donuts (who only allows 15 minutes; if you buy something), to brave the elements. A prediction for tomorrow is 5″ of snow.

Men who at worst just want to survive, men who write for publication (like myself), men who have jobs (the city shelter can not accommodate this function nor will it help in finding a job in spite of the operators name ‘JHR’), men who hustle each other to sell free food, clothes, toiletries, and any other marketable commodity, those crippled in body and mind: all walks of life come thru here on any date. As the day goes by, many of these men have only getting back here; to look forward to.

During Hurricane Sandy, this non-existent place; which used to be the “City Shelter” (up until 7/01/2010, housed 250 +/- men for 2 days. The operators of this non-disclosed location of a non-existent shelter (a block and a half from City Hall in the 200 Block of Davis St.) have been largely unpaid for these life saving days. They also can not afford towels for showers, clean sheets or clean blankets on a daily basis, and sometimes not even soap (I guess that the City pays for the hot water for the showers). Here is “The Journey Home” for ‘We Who Do Not Exist’!! Why the City chooses to NOT acknowledge this vital function is astounding!! The ‘Fact’ that it does not acknowledge this is appalling!! ‘We Who Do Not Exist’ will survive, and one day prosper or die (I choose not to die yet)!!! This is just one stitch in the seamy underbelly of a once, but, yet again potentially, great city. The city that is home to the probable (not bookmaker’s odds) Super Bowl Winning Baltimore Ravens; is host to ‘We Who Do Not Exist’!!!! AND YET WE DO!!!!

We Who Still Do Not Exist

by Paul Behler

2/17/14

The location has changed, and is due to change again in another month. The reason’s are the same; the city’s shame of the undersized (by design) City Shelter (Weinberg Housing and Resource Center), more of the Federal HUD designed recount (PIT from a year ago), mandated undercount (to justify ‘Sequester’ cuts) and, more of we who do not exist. The Men’s Overflow Shelter which could sleep in excess of 200, now mandated down to 135 (approx.) but, still taking in 170+/-; is due to have capacity reduced, in less than a year, to 125.

Yet, with all the negative federally mandated count changes (after the cuts); real homelessness has risen, joblessness is stubbornly high, housing overpriced and grossly insufficient and, tens of millions of $’s supplied to demolish vacants to create barren green space. These empty plots will be de-valued (just to supply profit) for the developers, to supply upscale housing for the Mayor’s ‘10,000 new resident’ initiative. Tens of millions spent, and millions more to spend, to create just a couple of million annually, in property taxes. The added infrastructure costs and need, probably project out to the break even point in 30-50 years without the interest payments tacked on for the needed City Bond Issues. Thusly, projecting a never ending drain of city coffers (instead of reversing that trend), to the possible end or mid-term eventuality of a ‘Detroit-like’ financial collapse and complete devaluation of the city as a whole. But, we are a tourist happy town and that justifies it !!

Yet, we who do not exist could build, re-build, forwardly design for future transportation design’s and needs, and double the mayors ‘10,000’ proposal: from within! This stagnant economic structure, for the lower class and lower wage earners, has probably stalled or made tough to implement the Governor’s Minimum Wage Initiative; when it is needed the most! What would most likely add a penny on a dollar at Wal-Mart, and 10-15 cents at most on a ‘Big Mac’, will pull pundits out of sundry crevasses to spout ‘Doom and Gloom’ for us all; if the lower class is helped this way. The impending doom of the middle class (already turned into the government employee class) and further unemployment for all; will be pounded onto even less powerful union ears. Yet, we who could fix the overspending are not allowed to bring ourselves up to higher economic standards, lest we disturb the 1% who control the 90% of the wealth. We, who against many odds, ‘STILL DO NOT EXIST’, will find our trickle-up, our ladder up to the “American Dream”, and live and prosper and create. We Who Still Do Not Exist; Do and Will, and Must, and Can create growth.

The ‘Code Blue’ is over, the warmth of the sun will provide energy, and the glare of our future is an uplifting beacon to us all! WE WILL EXIST AND PROSPER!!