8 May 18th–May 24th, 2023 phoenixnewtimes.com phoenix new Times | music | cafe | film | culTuRe | NighT+Day | feaTuRe | NeWs | OPiNiON | feeDBacK | cONTeNTs | | NEWS | shelters aren’t good. We can’t all go there,” he said, adding that his prior experience at a shelter had proved “much worse than life” in the Zone. Jackson, Don and the few dozen others who were forced to move on May 10 represent just a slice of people living in the Zone. In order to offer housing to the hundreds of others who are still in area, the city is “exploring creating a safe, outdoor space with rest- rooms, 24/7 security, onsite services and shade,” city offi- cials said. Some neighbors have called for the city to use sanc- tioned campgrounds to house people living on the streets. But some activists worry that such sites might have wors- ened conditions and separate people from the service providers concentrated in the Zone. Activists closely monitor sweep As city staff and service workers helped people move their belongings on Ninth Avenue, Frank Urban and Faith Kearns watched closely. They are both organizers with the Fund for Empowerment, a homelessness advocacy organization, and formerly unsheltered themselves. Urban and Kearns recalled that in the past, the city often seized or destroyed people’s belong- ings during such sweeps. Urban said the city had taken from him “anything and everything that made life out here more bearable.” Urban, Kearns and Elizabeth Venable, another organizer with the Fund for Empowerment, were handing out flyers to people along the block. “Know your rights during encampment cleanups,” the flyer was titled. “The city must respect your property rights.” In November, the ACLU of Arizona filed a lawsuit on behalf of Urban, Kearns and the Fund for Empowerment over the city’s practice of destroying people’s property during sweeps. The group won an injunction from a federal judge, which barred the city from immediately destroying unattended property. Kristin Couturier, a spokesperson for the city, told New Times that the city was tagging and storing abandoned property, and would indefinitely store property that people could not take with them into shelters. O’Hara Shipe O’Hara Shipe Top: While her neighbors were cleared from Ninth Avenue, one woman held fast in her tent. She was the last person to be removed from the city block. Above: Antoin Jackson, and his dog, Ruckus, oversee the packing of residents’ belongings. Several times, Jackson prevented other residents from taking objects that were not theirs out of packed storage bins by loudly yelling, “Hey,” and staring at them. Dismantling from p 7
