Interesting letter from a homeless individual

Graton Homeless Community (I’m part of the community)
I am one of the individuals that stay on Bowen St. I read your article(September Gazette) and can appreciate all comments and points of view on this matter.

Everyone down here has a different story and I assure you everyone is harmless. We have even chased people out of the neighborhood who were in the backyards of these people saying bad things about us.

When here, I enjoy a parade of hurtful and uneducated comments from sun up to sun down as we are on the bike trail. As well as interactions with CHP and Sheriff. I work at the Day Labor center across the street, and even the illegal, undocumented workers look down upon us.

I do not agree with the late night tinkering on vehicles. I think we should at least respect some kind of curfew and I was just hollering at the guy next to me about all his junk/trash overflowing into the street. RV’s and trailers are ugly enough, we don’t need to add to it.

I am working on getting everyone together to discuss. I am going to have a little birthday get together and spring this out on them there.

Granted everyone, including myself, looks a little rough. There isn’t one person down this line that wouldn’t give you the dirty shirt off their back (that’s hilarious because we are homeless) or their last quarter if you needed it. And I repeat, nobody would harm a soul, especially women children and animals.

I’m interested in working with the community to try to alleviate some of their concerns, address some issues, give them a name and a face they can hate. People that live here do a lot of passive aggressive things to us like burnouts and throwing stuff, but in the end, there is no one to address.

As I mentioned, we all have our own stories. I myself have just returned from 1 year in Cambodia where I was teaching year round. Prior to that I lived and worked on Flag Ranch which is a non-profit organization. I do have a culinary degree but have a hard time finding a living wage because of severe carpal tunnel. This is why I work at the Day Labor Center. If I blow my hands and forearms out from overworking, I can take a day or two off without getting fired. I also have a side business that is starting to do well. (Totally legal). I’m saving so I can take my trailer down to Mexico and continue teaching English.

There’s another individual who works 7 days a week and supports his girlfriend and her mother. They are both not well. There is one individual who I think makes us all look bad, but I can't speak for him. There are also people dealing with serious injuries who can’t work.

I find that communication is the key to any and all relationships and without it, there is too much space for one to make up their versions of what’s going on. So I thought I’d reach out.

The fact of the matter is that we are within the law and know how to play the game. We are all well-versed on our rights in this area despite CHP’s lies and what feels like harassment. One officer even said he didn’t want to hear about the constitution, he doesn't care about the Constitution. That was just one guy though. I have to say that that the law has been very respectful when they come around.

Nobody is going anywhere until they can. There’s not one person that wants to be down here, believe that! We are all here cause we have nowhere else to go at the moment. Nobody wants to be treated like dirt all day, every day in the community they live in.

I want to sum this up by saying: we are within the law and we are U.S. citizens. If they can give the illegal aliens a place where they can work, get food stamps, financial aid and medical, why can’t they find a spot for us? We are willing to put some money forth and build it ourselves if need be. We need a voice and I guess that’s going to be me. You want to come down and speak with any of us or have any questions feel free to contact me. It’s funny... There is a lot of hub-bub about us, but not many have ever bothered to say much directly to us.

Kealii