Next Ocean Beach Community Forum on Homelessness Slated for August 24th

First community forum on July 6, 2010, Sacred Heart Parish.

Originally posted August 6, 2010

Alley clean-up being organized – (and we get to choose which alley) – August 21 or 28

The folks that organized the first Community Forum on homelessness in Ocean Beach have come out with their report on that open forum which was held on July 6th, and have called for a second forum for August 24th.   It will be held at the First Baptist Church of Ocean Beach, located at 4790 Santa Monica Avenue at 7pm.

That first forum was organized and sponsored by OB’s inter-faith community, and nearly 200 people participated. (See our articles on that forum here, here, and here.)  In their report, [which we post in both a pdf format here: download file, and in an edited version to follow as a separate post], the organizers state how the purpose of the first event was two-fold:

First, the inter-faith community recognized the escalating polarization and anger in the community regarding the issues involved with the homeless and the forum was viewed as a venue to de-escalate the growing animus in the community. Second, the forum was designed as a spring board to bring the community back together and begin working toward transforming the conflicts and collaborating on solutions.

The report is chock full of the “likes” and “dislikes” that the participates of the peace circles – the format of that first forum – came up with.

In furtherance of their second goal, the inter-faith community is calling for an alley clean-up that would benefit both merchants and residents, as well as being viewed “as the beginning of ongoing community process.”  Local residents and merchants of the alley would also involve the homeless community and other local volunteers.  Here is their recommendation for the clean-up:

Based upon the findings, and input from the community subsequent to the forum, the following was decided.

First, because cleanliness of Ocean Beach is a major issue, an Alley clean-up was viewed as a community event. With support from the Ocean Beach Town Council, and the Main Street Merchants’ Association, it was agreed to have the community to select a particular alley way to clean up. Ideally the alley selected would be one which serviced merchants and residents. The first clean-up would follow the Saturday morning Breakfasts for the needy provided by Second Chance Ministries, at the First Baptist Church. Tentative dates selected are either August 21 or 28, 2010.

The clean-up was viewed as the beginning of ongoing community process, selecting a particular alley, notifying the residents and merchants who lived on the alley, and starting after the Saturday morning breakfasts to involve the homeless community, and other community volunteers.

So, by commenting in the space below, give all of us some ideas of which alley you would like to see cleaned, at least initially.

The inter-faith community consists of representatives of St. Peters by the Sea Lutheran Church, Point Loma United Methodist Church , All Souls Episcopal Church , Second Chance Ministries, Sacred Heart of Ocean Beach Catholic Church, Holy Trinity Anglican Church, Bethany Lutheran Church, First Baptist Church of Ocean Beach.

The first forum was run by Jack Hamlin and the San Diego Restorative Justice Mediation Program.