6 January 12–18, 2023 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents They don’t give us enough time to get every- thing else. Ten minutes to get everything we could and get out before they brought the bulldozer in. They say they’re trying to help us, but they’re really not.” Thomas said he was visiting his proba- tion officer when the city swept the camp where he was living. “They didn’t give him any time,” Hollow- ell said. “No one was able to help him be- cause they were all in fear of their own camps getting demolished. He lost every single thing, including his Social Security card and ID, which he had to go get re- placed.” After that, Hollowell offered to let Thomas stay with her and her boyfriend, Ken McKee, in their tent. Hollowell said she knows several homeless communities that avoid seeking help because they’re afraid of losing all their belongings to the city’s sweeps. “I can think of at least six communities of homeless people where [the Office of Homeless Solutions] is not even involved because they have to stay hidden or they come and just bulldoze everything. How are they getting help? They’re not,” Hollowell said. “They’re literally subsisting off of what they can acquire, and panhandling, and scrapping metal or whatever ways they’ve figured out how to make money. Then, we get ostracized for doing it because that’s the only way we can support ourselves.” She said the only time the city comes out is to sweep them up. “And the only interac- tions we have is with [the Office of Home- less Solutions] bulldozing things, or the cops,” Hollowell said. “Like, when we went up there to get on the rapid rehousing list, it was supposed to be Homeless Solutions, CitySquare and Metrocare, and the first people that came up to us and physically talked to us was the Dallas Police Depart- ment, telling us we had to move. “No one wants to be accosted. They’re trying to come to the realization that they do need the help, but then they’re dealing with angry cops.” The Office of Homeless Solutions says it doesn’t conduct homeless encampment sweeps. The office refers to what it does as homeless encampment resolutions. It’s all the same to the homeless. The city will gen- erally give a three-day notice to camp resi- dents before coming in and clearing away an encampment. Throughout that time, the city tries to get the residents connected to services. But, it could take time to see the benefits of those services and there could be barriers along the way. A major barrier for Hollowell has been her pets, Bruce and Buddy Holly. “Because I have animals, they’re not willing to really help me other than to send me to The Bridge, and they have to be in a kennel,” she said. “I don’t have kennels to put them in.” Hollowell said only a couple of shelters allow animals, but they won’t take pitbulls. “I’m not going to give up these dogs,” Hollowell said. “I rescued these dogs. … It’d be like asking to get rid of your kids. So, I’m stuck here.” Hollowell said members of her camp have been hit by cars in recent months. The drivers didn’t always stop. A hit and run killed Hollowell’s boyfriend, Ken McKee. “Then, my boyfriend Ken, he died two weeks ago,” Hollowell said, starting to cry. “It wasn’t even in the news at all. I just feel like that’s unfair. Five people have been hit in two months, one of which that died. Didn’t even warrant a news report. I mean, he was a decorated Marine.” Across the street from the Moni Food Mart is a memorial for McKee. It’s a white cross surrounded by yellow and white flow- ers. A blue ribbon holds a small American flag at the top of the cross. It reads, “RIP Ken. 10/13/22.” That was the day someone hit McKee with their car. He died three days later on Oct. 16. DPD is investigating the hit and run but doesn’t have much to go on outside a blurry photo from a nearby surveillance camera of the car it says hit McKee. McKee, who served as a corporal in the U.S. Marines during the Gulf War, was bur- ied in the Dallas-Fort Worth National Ceme- tery in November. “Not even a report,” Hollowell said, wip- ing tears from her face. “But you hear about all the other hit and runs in the area. But not ours.” A short article covering the fatal hit-and- run of McKee was published by The Dallas Morning News two days after McKee died. Two other members of the camp got hit by cars, she said. One was put in a wheel- chair. Another had to get stitches in the back of their head, Hollowell said. Sowell said she moved to the northern Dallas camp because there were a lot of shootings near the last place she was stay- ing, a camp off Central Expressway. Sowell said she has lupus and was put on a priority list for housing, but she has waited the same amount of time as Thomas and Hollowell. “My wallet got stolen,” she said. “I can’t even get a hotel without my ID, and I don’t have anywhere to have it mailed to, so it’s just really difficult.” She said many organizations that provide services to the homeless, like local nonprofit and shelter OurCalling, are too far away to help. Hollowell chimed in, “Not all the home- less people live in downtown.” Sowell responded: “Yeah, go figure. We don’t actually live under bridges.” Sowell said she’s avoided shelters for the most part since becoming homeless. She was recommended for a year-long program where she’d need to stay in a shelter and wouldn’t be allowed to talk to her boyfriend, she said. “They’re not really couples friendly on the homeless front,” Howell said. “They want you to be single or married. You can’t be in a serious, long relationship and not be married for them to help you because they will not treat you like a couple.” The way the three see the situation, un- less you have children, a mental illness or drug addiction, no one wants to help you. “Hurry up and die or hurry up and wait — one of the two,” Hollowell said. “It’s infuriating,” Sowell said. Back at their camp, deep behind trees in a wooded area in northern Dallas, several tents are set up. Hollowell estimates some 40–50 people live there. The three have theirs around the same spot, along with a firepit to keep warm and cook when they need to. Black tarp is wrapped around their little part of the camp so they have a bit more protection from the elements. Their wet clothes hang up to dry behind them. “There’s a whole, like I said, at least 40– 50 people who live in this however-many- acre park,” Hollowell said. “They just bounce from camp to camp to camp be- cause they get tired of them taking their camps. We’re running out of forest to hide in, to the point where we’re dealing with flash-flooding creeks and stuff so they can’t get down to the camps so they can’t bull- doze everything. That’s where we’re at now.” In the meantime the trio wait for assis- tance that might not come. Robinson said the effectiveness of the rapid rehousing program is still a bit uncer- tain. It will soon be a year since the R.E.A.L. Time Rapid Rehousing Initiative placed cli- ents in housing, and the program will then be able to determine how those clients have fared. Robinson said she knows of at least two or three who have moved on to self-sustain- ability. “We’re just in the beginning phases of looking at the people that were originally placed, [and] what does it look like right now,” she said. “But we are so far seeing re- ally great rates of people remaining housed even through the 12 months.” But she said she also knows some people in the program won’t be ready to support themselves when their assistance runs out. Robinson said Housing Forward is working on a plan for them. Without one, they could end up back on the streets. “That is not our system’s desire in any way,” Robinson said. “I can’t say that 100% of people are going to move to self-suffi- ciency, but we do not want to be in the busi- ness of turning people back out into homelessness. I’m telling you, it is all hands Jacob Vaughn A memorial cross for Ken McKee, who was struck in a hit-and-run accident. Unfair Park from p4
