In reality, the nonprofit provided cover for city efforts to roust people from their tent sites, according to activist complaints documented in a UCLA research paper describing Urban Alchemy workers as a surveillance group, an arm of the police and a mercenary outfit intent on exploiting their workers own precarity as feel-good media narratives.. Some Urban Alchemy staff members did drugs on the job and sexually exploited homeless females, according to more than 10 current and past residents of the Sausalito camp who spoke to the Pacific Sun. 0. In November of last year, the city awarded Urban Alchemy $2.6 million to lead a pilot program called CIRCLE, "Crisis and Incident Response through Community-Led Engagement." Some have brooms and plastic trash bags. Urban Alchemy has been an invaluable partner in keeping our city safe, clean, and welcoming for all. Helping with that transformational experience takes extensive preparation, said Lola Whittle, president of the Urban Alchemy board of directors. The first apartments in Enlightenment Plaza are expected to open to residents at the end of 2022. Since 2018, Urban Alchemy has grown to 1,100 employees in five cities, with projected revenue of $55 million for the fiscal year ending June 30, records show. With the rapid deindustrialization, many people lost their jobs. The organization birthed out of Hunters Point Family, an earlier non-profit Miller founded that focused on public housing. If you can paint lines on a sidewalk for the same cost that you can give someone the rent for an apartment, said Myers of the Legal Aid Foundation, I'm concerned that our city is making the choice to paint the lines rather than actually get people into housing.. We can help them recruit. Hassan Halfin, an Urban Alchemy supervisor who served 30 years in prison, said, I was amazed at how people were just lost in drugs, hustling, just walking around looking crazy. In our experience, cleaning is one of the . The Lee County Homeless Coalition reports 394 people were homeless on the night of Jan. 26, 2021 when volunteers fanned the community to conduct the annual "point in time" surveys, according . Right now in the City of Los Angeles, it's a free-for-all, said Buscaino, who is a former LAPD officer. Founded in 2018 with 30 staff, Urban Alchemy started out by providing one program that monitored public bathrooms in a San Francisco neighborhood. My lane is this part. He wanted information about whats going on at the camp, Kelly said. Mayor London Breed awarded the non-profit Urban Alchemy an $8.8 million grant to blanket the downtown area in August 2021. See how far weve come. That "super power" is needed to work the streets of LA says Kirkpatrick Tyler, the Chief of Government-Community Affairs for Urban Alchemy. Thats when the lot is scheduled to become a construction site. When a neighborhood, street or intersection earns a reputation as a place to avoid, we turn it around. Until now. Within seconds, he blocked all further communication. Sidewalks once crowded with people doing or selling drugs are now more passable, these people say. One of the worlds richest regions has some of its starkest divides, with its top 10% of households holding two-thirds of its wealth. All Rights Reserved. Urban Alchemy works with long-term offenders, integrating them back into society in order to prevent them from experiencing homelessness. She escaped Florida after college and now lives in Sausalito with her Chiweenie and an assortment of foster dogs. Some advocates are concerned, however, that even with a $1 billion homelessness spending plan proposed for this coming fiscal year, the city is investing too much in short-term band aids over long-term solutions. ADVERTISING Advertise Legal Notices Obituaries Writing An Obituary Submit an Obituary, COMPANY INFO Job Opportunities Privacy PolicyTerms of Service, What to Include in Your Marin County Obituary, Nikki Silverstein is an award-winning journalist who has written for the Pacific Sun since 2005. Urban Alchemy is a peaceful and supportive presence, inviting communities to rebuild and restore a sense of . But some advocates worry that officials are investing too much in The Armenian American community has been active in demanding for the United States to be on the right side of history, says Shant Sahakian, executive director of the After years of debate, Californias State Board of Education voted last month to adopt an ethnic studies model curriculum for K-12. The citys homeless services department said shelters run by Urban Alchemy have had few issues and that the organization has met the terms of its contracts. At the ASLA 2019 Conference on Landscape Architecture in San Diego, Brian Elliott, policy analyst for San Diego Councilmember Chris Ward; Brandon Davis with the California-based Downtown Streets Team; and Lena Miller with Urban Alchemy, discussed strategies to reintegrate homeless individuals into their communities, ranging from top-down policy decisions to empowering local unsheltered populations through employment options. The campsite, he said, offers a safer place to sleep than the streets. One of those projects, a multi-phase apartment complex called Enlightenment Plaza, partly funded by the voter-backed Proposition HHH bond measure, is slated to rise on the very same East Hollywood Parking lot where the campsite now sits. A video shot earlier this year by Deschamps shows Josh yelling at Kennedy. Councilmember Ward is the chair of the Regional Task Force on the Homeless, an integrated array of stakeholders committed to preventing and alleviating homelessness., Dispelling myths about who the homeless was paramount to all three speakers, but Elliott highlighted that in San Diego, the cause is primarily economic. 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In addition to CIRCLE, Urban Alchemy runs the city's mobile shower and restroom program, has "clean teams" working on streets with encampments, and operates several interim housing facilities. During the public comment period of a Dec. 7 city council meeting, he alleged that Urban Alchemy staff used drugs on the job. Miller started Urban Alchemy in 2018. As the Bayview Vehicle Triage Center reaches is first anniversary, questions remain over its success in meeting SFs shelter needs. The collectives co-founder, Aqeela Sherrills, called Urban Alchemy highly effective, saying it builds relationships, helps people with housing and reduces violence. If the conduct is egregious, which has happened, she said, the person is fired. But Millers core philosophythat long stints in prison can equip a person for handling crises in the streetsis a selling point that seems to run counter to mainstream psychology. Dawn Staley thinks so, Girls basketball: Webutuck grabs momentum, tops Manor for Class D title. On top of that, the city is also reeling from the rapid rise of housing costs and government cutbacks on social services. The organization conducted a review of its policies in response to the incident, Tyler said. The police are brought in to offer deescalation training, helping to establish a relationship between law enforcement and employees of Urban Alchemy. He bought her a sandwich, prayed with her, then took her to the citys linkage center. When the pandemic scrambled the city's homelessness strategy, Urban Alchemy parlayed the hygiene and vehicle work into much more. But for decades it was politically unpopular and considered radical. Campers can bring in their own tents and whatever other belongings fit inside their assigned space. Transitional Housing. The American Society of Landscape Architects And lets be honest, Galperin said, when people are on our sidewalks, that is already costing us money as a city in terms of public safety, police and fire emergency services, paramedic, sanitation, street services, hospitals, jails. Miller earns $220,000 a year, according to the same contract. I can attest to the fact the meth was real., Kennedy said he knows two Urban Alchemy practitioners who brought meth into the camp, although neither works at the Sausalito location any longer. He just gave it to me. The three organizations are the inaugural members of the Austin Street Outreach Collaborative. Mara Paradox, a nonbinary exhibition artist hired months ago, was in their second training after they relapsed in drug use and went back into rehab. Since 2019, the organization has won $62 million in. Start your review today. Ill say, Have a good day, sir, the trainee responded. Kirkpatrick Tyler, head of government and community affairs for Urban Alchemy, said it did not house pregnant women at the site as a policy but that staff was unaware of the pregnancy. Whether you are an abolitionist or a police cheerleader, we all agree whats been done in the past is not working.. The organization said it believes that engaging in conversations and encouraging folks to care about their neighborhood is a much more effective approach than forcing people to move or having police write tickets to those who cannot afford to pay them.. But their employers, he stressed, must make sure they have stable housing and support including treatment for mental illness or addiction if needed to succeed. I like them, Ken Kennedy, a camper who is in the process of leaving the Sausalito encampment, said. In Sausalito, where Urban Alchemy was hired to guard a tent encampment occupied by former residents of boats that had been confiscated, media reports described meth use, pot dealing and sexual encounters and assaults involving Urban Alchemy staff. We're a social enterprise that engages with situations where extreme poverty meets homelessness, mental illness and addiction. Urban Alchemy said its employees de-escalated 54,000 potentially dangerous situations in the Tenderloin and Mid-Market by calming a mental health crisis or preventing a fight, for example, during the 10 months ending in April. An hour after the interaction with Snider, Hammonds rolled a woman in a wheelchair out of the middle of Market Street, where she was screaming and refusing to move, and into a cafe. Kevin Fagan is a longtime, award-winning reporter at The San Francisco Chronicle, specializing in homelessness, enterprise news-feature writing, breaking news and crime. Several co-located agencies offer case management, job placement services, legal . Four homeless people told the Pacific Sun about Urban Alchemy employees who have brought methamphetamine into the encampment for their own use or to share with campers. The woman who spent time in the bushes with Josh had witnessed the incident and explained to the police what had occurred. Our people tell the rest. The Pacific Sun contacted Cook through Facebook for comment on the allegations. Training consists of two days in class, followed by a week in the field. Each call handled by CIRCLE, is a call LAPD doesn't need to answer, freeing officers up for other calls. The safe sleeping sites were opened after UC Hastings sued the city for deteriorating street conditions at the onset of the pandemic. The site closed in June 2022 after operating for a little over two years. In San Francisco, a shooting early last year highlighted workers role in the line of fire as private patrols paid with city funds. The police eventually arrived at the camp in response to the verbal altercation, although its not clear who called them. Despite skepticism from some homeless advocates, Urban Alchemy sees its separation from law enforcement as central to its mission. Some of these guys have got power trips, and they get pushy, but these guys here had the right thing going just now, Snider said. Fax: 1-202-898-1185, Copyright 2008 2019 Organizers believe those successes are possible because many were once homeless themselves and use that experience to make connections. of SF politics and culture. Mallory Moench (she/her) and Kevin Fagan (he/him) are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) The Clean. In 2021, San Francisco hired Urban Alchemy to take on a slightly different task: patrolling areas of the city with high concentrations of homeless camps and offering resources to those living outside. During training, students learn Urban Alchemys seven values respect, integrity, empowerment, empathy, self-discipline, self-control and self-esteem. We're a social enterprise that engages with situations where extreme poverty meets homelessness, mental illness and addiction. 'Urban Alchemy' responds to LA's homeless crisis 5 January 11, 2023, 8:41 PM Los Angeles is seeking answers to the homeless crisis. They were salesmen, you know, Powelson said. So we don't want to pick up anything that's theirs," says Sanchez. Urban Alchemy secured the bulk of its work during the pandemic. An employee who messes up may get another chance. Urban Alchemy provided services to homeless residents in Sausalito for almost a year. Employees report figures on their interactions after each shift. The group sells its service as partly spiritual, with a goal of transforming the energy of traumatized urban spaces. Employees are known inside the organization as practitioners. We didnt know who they were.. Clark-Johnson and Hammonds came back several times. So far, cities are willing to take the risks. that person was later asked by a UA director for details on the remark, and no details were provided, Clinebell wrote. Some unhoused people and their advocates, including Tracey Mixon, a formerly homeless Tenderloin resident who works with the Coalition on Homelessness, complain that some employees have gotten verbally or physically aggressive to make people move or stop problematic behavior. And they were also hired to help clear out Echo Park last summer. Homeless Population: 8,124. Wounded Warriors opened its first residence for homeless veterans, called Alpha House, at 1361 Fifth Ave. N. in the city of Naples in January 2020. In training, Hammonds taught the new employees to be patiently persuasive when asking people who may be homeless, addicted or traumatized to stop blocking sidewalks or using drugs in public. Founded in 2018, Urban Alchemy is based in San Francisco, CA, and claims to be a workforce development agency that hires former convicts and also aims to rebuild urban areas by supporting those struggling with homelessness, addiction, and mental illness. He later bought her a sandwich, prayed with her, and took her to the Tenderloin Linkage Center. We also acted immediately to notify the proper support and authorities, he said. In Sausalito, where city officials paid Urban Alchemy $464,000 to run a tent encampment for six months, a photo shows that a worker wearing shorts had a visible 88 tattoo on his right calf, a well-known code for Heil Hitler. (H is the eighth letter of the alphabet.) A report published by the UCLA Luskin Institute on Inequality and Democracy attacked the nonprofit, calling it a mercenary and saying its function is to disappear visible poverty in a manner that appears less violent and more palatable than previous sweep systems.. Miller pointed to their high levels of emotional intelligence, their ability to read people, and their ability to interact with different kinds of people. Despite enjoying fairly broad support in the neighborhood, though, the nonprofit has also faced an array of criticism. To date, Downtown Streets Team has secured over 1,900 jobs and homes for people. Security is something totally different. I heard it happening. They helped pick up trash, brought pizza and smoked concentrated marijuana oil out in the open with the homeless residents, according to Powelson. Urban Alchemy officials reject that characterization, saying they told Los Angeles officials they didnt want police involved in outreach to the unhoused and didnt coordinate with officers during sweeps. It can't be the type of offer that leads to criminalization and displacement and the shutting down of other public spaces, said Shayla Myers, an attorney with the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles. Downtown Streets Team employs local homeless populations to clean community spaces in San Jose and San Francisco. Shes just mad because I wont let her suck my dick, Josh said to the police, according to two campers. Bayron Wilson, Urban Alchemys director of operations, says the Sausalito allegations were false, and that the organization did a successful job helping the campers, who had just been kicked out of floating homes anchored in Richardson Bay. Hoffman said the nonprofit was first hired in February evaluate the health and safety of Dunphy Park. Gossage, a current camper, said Josh visited the camp within the last couple of weeks and told her that he is working for Urban Alchemy at a San Francisco location. They come through word of mouth, walk-ins, job fairs, online searches, and referrals from parole officers or other organizations. The few people who remained on the block stayed out of the middle of the sidewalk and tried to keep any drug use out of view. Del Seymour, a Tenderloin community leader, called Urban Alchemy phenomenal because it helped calm the streets without police and allowed the city to quickly open homeless shelters. Kirkpatrick Tyler, Urban Alchemy's chief of community affairs said in a statement that Perry was a long-time employee of another nonprofit homeless agency called Five Keys and was recently hired at Urban Alchemy. We can give them the training. Symptoms of post-incarceration syndrome include aggressive and antisocial behavior, a permanent, unbridgeable emotional distance from other people, panic attacks and recurrent nightmares, according to numerous studies and surveys. The Ending Community Homelessness Coalition partnered with Urban Alchemy and the nonprofit We Can Now on a grant-funded pilot for a street outreach team. She has acknowledged relationships that go back years with city power brokers, including Breed and former Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru, now charged with corruption. Throughout much of that period, Mike and Joseph oversaw the camp and helped move the encampment from downtown Sausalito to Marinship Park last June. I mean, Ive been to prison, but you cant even make up the stories of what we see.. All Rights Reserved One organization the city is working with, Urban Alchemy, was founded to provide career opportunities for the formerly incarcerated. It turned dark.. We try to make sure we're not getting into anybody's personal space. Building community and state level buy-in is central to achieving these goals. Urban Alchemy's 2022 budget shows the nonprofit receiving more than $43 million in total contract and grant revenue from the cityup from just under $36,000 in total revenue during 2018, the year it was founded. I believe it provides a good service for the community, said one, who only gave his first name, Eugene. You have some people who are very inappropriate.. Thanks to everyone for continuing to meet the moment with persistence, grit, resilience, and compassion, wrote Mayor Eric Garcettis homelessness czar in an April 2020 email chain involving Miller. A formerly homeless woman sued Urban Alchemy, saying employees asked her to leave U.N. Plaza while she prayed. If necessary, employees call paramedics, homeless outreach teams or if confronted with violence or the threat of violence police. S.F. "We have to have housing. For Urban Alchemys Executive Director Lena Miller, the organizations rapid San Francisco expansion is just the beginning. They offered similar services in San Francisco since 2018. Yeah my name is David and I have a similar issues the staff in Los Angeles that work in the urban alchemy 3rd Street 2301 West 3rd Street Los Angeles California accuse me of first breaking in the property which I lived on then excuse me of hateful words and they said I was using the n word and I was training staff I dont think I would ever do any of those things they just were caught sleeping and slang word for messing up I guess cuz one was asleep and the other one wasnt at the front gate and I let myself in and they changed it all around lie after lie. Mayor London Breed, along with many residents, businesses and community leaders in the Tenderloin and Mid-Market neighborhoods, praise Urban Alchemy for making streets cleaner and safer. Josh responded that he would take care of it. As can be seen below, veterans homelessness spreads across generations. Urban Alchemy is "moving the needle where nobody else is really able to move the needle, which is because they're doing the same old, same old," Miller said. All Rights Reserved. Newspapers from San Francisco to Los Angeles have recently reported on issues with Urban Alchemy, a nonprofit that manages homeless encampments, including the city-sanctioned camp in Sausalito. Starting salaries are less than half those of sworn police officers. The organization later urged employees to call police instead of engaging with dealers. Copyright 2023 Urban Alchemy. Alejandro Sanchez, who is on the clean team explains their approach. But where others in the nonprofit services sector and psychologists see prison trauma as debilitating, Millerwho recently received a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of San Franciscobelieves that struggling to survive on the inside requires expertise in an encyclopedias worth of social cues. Robert Milton, a supervisor at the Department of Public Works, the agency that funds much of Urban Alchemys work, said seeing people who served long sentences holding on to a steady job sends a message. Homelessness Rate: 0.93%. A comprehensive rundown Including them as part of the community helps ensure norms are met. Exactly how campers might transition to permanent housing, however, isnt clear. And then you can start planning: What do I need to do to start getting into a more permanent, secure situation?. City Controller Ron Galperin said that while the East Hollywood safe camping pilot is expensive, the costs support a professional staff skilled in case management, as well as necessary sanitation and security services. Hammonds said employees dont stop peoples addictions and dont force people on sidewalks to move although people usually do when asked.