Category: Homelessness

Hundreds of San Diegans rallied and marched today – May Day – in solidarity with janitors and teachers here – and joining a global May Day and Occupy joint focus in demonstrations around the nation and world.

Major protests were also held in New York City, Seattle, Oakland, San Francisco and up to a total of 135 cities across the U.S. Corporate media reports on these demonstrations – the first major wave of Occupy Wall Street protests in months – focused on some trashing and violence – plus arrests – in Seattle, New York City, and Oakland.

The day of rallies and protests in San Diego began at City College in downtown. There was another rally sponsored by mainly labor groups at the Civic Center Plaza at the noon hour – with a march from there to two local banks a couple of blocks away: Bank of America and Wells Fargo.

Meanwhile, teachers and their supporters were rallying up at the edge of Balboa Park in front of Roosevelt Middle School in protest of teacher and budget cuts. After hearing speeches – including one from mayoral candidate Congressman Bob Filner – the crowd marched to the Education Center.

By Andy Taubmann

Fellow readers of the OB Rag,

I have been a regular reader of the OB Rag for about ten years, although I have never commented or contributed. I read the Rag, because I believe that the Rag has a unique position to observe, chronicle, and comment on the happenings of Ocean Beach.

As such, the very valid question has been asked, what is the Respect OB movement and what is it about?

By Dave Rice / San Diego Reader / April 25, 2012

Well over 200 Ocean Beach residents showed up between the veterans’ memorial and main lifeguard tower at the foot of Santa Monica Avenue on the afternoon of April 24. They were there for an event titled “Respect O.B.,” billed as a forum to open dialogue between neighbors and to address common problems.

“Anyone who comes to live in peace and harmony is welcome, but to be accepted you must respect O.B.,” read a flyer left on locals’ doorsteps and posted at businesses in the days leading up to the event.

Attendees found three large maps of the neighborhood and were invited to write their names and contact information near their residences (or on a more discreet list alongside).

“We’re here because O.B. takes issues to the streets,” said event organizer Andy Taubman, who owns a computer business in the neighborhood. The idea for the gathering arose from a subcommittee of the Ocean Beach Mainstreet Association, a local business group.

There’s a new group in town called “Respect OB” and they are calling for a community meeting tonight – Tuesday, April 24th – on the grass at the foot of Newport Avenue. The individuals organizing the gathering have distributed fliers all over OB and have even gained some media traction.

Originally growing out of a sub-committee of the OB Mainstreet Association a couple of months ago, the group has evolved. And now it hopes to bring together all the disparate elements of the community, the homeless, the businesses, the residents, and the churches – in an effort to address what some see as the deterioration of relations, friendliness, caring for the village, etc., – hence the emphasis on “respect”.

The flier asks: “What is happening to the OB I Love?” and then: “ARE YOU BOTHERED BY” with a list of issues:

The morning grey still hung over OB as I parked my car up the street from the Episcopal Center Church on Sunset Cliffs Blvd. It was my first day of several much needed weeks off and I had made the mistake of responding to the Editordude’s request an hour earlier to cover the Maundy Thursday for the Needy at the Center. Groggily, as I walked down the street, I saw several familiar faces reclined on the grass outside the sanctuary, and the end of a line of folk stretching out to the street.

Ooops, I forgot my audience… what is Maundy Thursday you ask?

Come inside for the photo gallery…

The Ocean Beach branch of the Episcopal Church is holding a special event this morning – Thursday, April 5th.

The Episcopalian Bishop of San Diego is coming to OB to wash the feet of homeless people in our village. And it’s all being done to raise awareness about the homeless, homelessness, and the homeless population that seem to be “invisible” to the rest of society.

Bishop Jim Mathes will also put on new shoes and socks on them. Legal, medical and social services will also be available.

Where: The Episcopal Church Center, 2083 Sunset Cliffs Blvd, San Diego, in the courtyard

When: Thursday, April 5, 10:00am – 1:00pm

Why: To raise awareness about homelessness and to let our homeless population know they are not invisible; they are loved.

An ever-present demand of Ocean Beach residents since the mid-1970s has been to be granted “independence” by the City of San Diego. OB tenants, property owners, and businesspeople have been clamoring for the village to be its own city for all these years.

Well, it finally happened behind closed doors on Friday. City officials met and decided once and for all that the sea-side community of about one mile square with roughly 15,000 residents should be its own municipality. The announcement was met with cheers from the Planning Board to the Mainstreet Association, from southern OB where the breakers beat at the cliffs to the northern climes where musicians, ex-hippies, bikers mix it up with students, elderly, sailors and working class families.

Mayor Candidates Filner and Fletcher Will Join Count – As Will Kevin Faulconer and Toni Atkins

The Regional Task Force on the Homeless seeks volunteers to help with its annual countywide point-in-time count of homeless people in our region. Titled the “We all County Campaign,” the count will be held on Friday, January 27 from 5 a.m. to 8 a.m. To volunteer, sign up here.

Forming teams is encouraged, but not required. Another 200 volunteers are needed to reach this year’s goal of 750 volunteers.

Training will be provided at locations throughout the County. Register by January 22. Homeless people will be counted on the streets as well as those living in cars. The count also includes an in-depth survey of about 1,000 individuals.

Sacred Heart Kitchen: A Time and Place for Miracles

The week between Christmas and New Years is, and has, always been one of my favorite times of year. The madness of Christmas day preparations, regardless of how much you keep to the spirit, can be in a word, “draining.”

This special week between the culmination of the year and the leap into the next is my time of reflection… and not merely to read the media’s take on the highs and lows and celebrity events of the past year. It is my time and no one expects anything commercially productive out of me.

Amikas, a San Diego non-profit organization that helps house homeless U.S. military veteran women, will be raising crucial funds with a fundraising twist on an old-fashion idea – the quilting bee. On Veterans Day, San Diegans who care about our veteran women will have the opportunity to view and bid on antique quilts, provided by Martha Sullivan. There will also be a unique silent auction of quilt squares that will be assembled at the event into a crazy quilt to be displayed in the first Amikas home for female veterans and their children.

Why Homelessness Is Becoming an Occupy Wall Street Issue

By Barbara Ehrenreich / TomDispatch.com

As anyone knows who has ever had to set up a military encampment or build a village from the ground up, occupations pose staggering logistical problems. Large numbers of people must be fed and kept reasonably warm and dry. Trash has to be removed; medical care and rudimentary security provided — to which ends a dozen or more committees may toil night and day. But for the individual occupier, one problem often overshadows everything else, including job loss, the destruction of the middle class, and the reign of the 1%. And that is the single question: Where am I going to pee?

There was a story about the homeless and Ocean Beach that we missed last month. An article in the Peninsula Beacon by Bianca Koch in their June 16th edition described how a handful of local homeless people, aided by an OB homeowner named “Eric”, gave a new coat of paint to the OB Lifeguard Station.