All Rights Reserved 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. "We have to have housing. Start your review today. You hire the boosters, Miller said during a September 2021 Human Rights Commission meeting. Transitional Housing. While campers who come into the lot will still be without permanent housing, Urban Alchemy CEO Lena Miller says this type of site can be a first step towards that goal. We have to have wrap around services but we also have to have a compassionate informed connected engagement mechanism and I believe that the work of CIRCLE is a part of that mechanism," explains Tyler. Urban Alchemy has been an invaluable partner in keeping our city safe, clean, and welcoming for all. If the conduct is egregious, which has happened, she said, the person is fired. The city formally announced its relationship with Urban Alchemy in a Feb. 16, 2021 online statement. Were able to do this because we share a special bond with societys most vulnerable and because we see ourselves in their struggle. At the end of the day everybody has to have respect you know? When asked about the stories of assault, harassment and misdeeds at various projects, Miller said they paint an inaccurate picture and distract from the good Urban Alchemy has done. She listed examples as violence, discrimination and disrespect to women. California is ranked number 1 in homelessness, with nearly 130,000 homeless individuals, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and numbers only continue to rise. The ARCH is a City-owned facility providing shelter and resources in downtown Austin, managed by Urban Alchemy and Austin Area Urban League. "You don't just pick stuff up and throw it away. Curating the best of The Standards top-notch reporting, every Saturday. Urban Alchemy is moving the needle where nobody else is really able to move the needle, which is because theyre doing the same old, same old, Miller said. At least six lawsuits have been filed against Urban Alchemy since it was founded in 2018. A woman walking to her job and another making sandwiches at a nearby senior center praised the Urban Alchemy employees for keeping the streets safe. According to Deschamps, he heard Josh threatening Kennedy for a few minutes before he was able to turn on the video recorder on his phone. I like them, Ken Kennedy, a camper who is in the process of leaving the Sausalito encampment, said. The police are brought in to offer deescalation training, helping to establish a relationship between law enforcement and employees of Urban Alchemy. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) The Clean. Miller noted how the work provides not only an income but also a sense of pride, remarking on an anecdote where one employee called the Governor of California into a bathroom stall he had just cleaned to show him how clean it was. He wasnt trying to sell it., Mike drank a beer while working, according to Kennedy. Despite skepticism from some homeless advocates, Urban Alchemy sees its separation from law enforcement as central to its mission. The woman said she was at a vulnerable place in her life when she began making out with Josh in the bushes near the encampment. A fucking turd., Matt Smith can be reached at [emailprotected]. Now, faced with a ballooning homelessness crisis and a federal judge demanding emergency action, LA officials are embracing the concept. The class laughed. The only reason why were where we are is because we get to work. But it's the connection team members hope will reduce the number of lives lost to the streets. 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. The CIRCLE dispatch center can respond to 911 calls to LAPD that aren't criminal in nature. At the time, Powelson and the other campers had no idea Clark-Johnson and Hammonds were high-level managers in an organization retained by the City of Sausalito. Before that, she freelanced with a focus on the Yemeni diaspora while studying at the City University of New York Graduate School of Journalism. that person was later asked by a UA director for details on the remark, and no details were provided, Clinebell wrote. No arrests have been made in either case. The lawsuit, which also names the city as a defendant, is ongoing. As the Bayview Vehicle Triage Center reaches is first anniversary, questions remain over its success in meeting SFs shelter needs. Urban Alchemy first came to Los Angeles in 2020 as part of an effort to provide showers, handwashing stations, and cleaning to Skid Row. You have to understand why people do the things they do, what it looks like and the process. 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. Copyright Weeklys All rights reserved. When youre trying to prevent theft, who do you hire? A video shot earlier this year by Deschamps shows Josh yelling at Kennedy. Fearing retaliation, the campers have remained silent for months about serious allegations against Urban Alchemy employees. After the Pacific Sun revealed the names of Urban Alchemy staff who the campers allege participated in drug use and sexual predation, Clinebell responded with an email to two of the papers editors. The site closed in June 2022 after operating for a little over two years. Many team members spent time in prison and surviving that was possible, in part, because of an ability to deescalate a situation. The residents of the Sausalito homeless encampment emphatically disagree about the staffs qualifications. Not lead. Los Angeles is seeking answers to the homeless crisis. But there have been very notable setbacks in Urban Alchemys projects in the Bay Area and beyond that call into question the efficacy of this approach. Few people know how to withstand the trauma and chaos we see on the streets its usually those who have endured it themselves. You can camp, sleep, lie anywhere and everywhere that you so deem., He added, I've connected a lot of people to resources, to housing, and sometimes it was through the booking process.. DM B. He just gave it to me. 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." 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. In February, Miller said, a drug dealer shot an Urban Alchemy worker who had told the dealer to stop selling outside a city-run tent encampment. In terms of getting to the other side of it, that's not my lane. 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.. LA opens its first government-run homeless encampment. The city's Department of Homelessness and Supportive Services corroborated the claim. An Urban Alchemy "practitioner" monitors a mobile pit stop located at the intersection of W. 38th St. and Grand Ave. in Los Angeles. I know just about everyone in the city, she said. That goal was the focus of a recent training for new employees that The Chronicle attended. Security is something totally different. They dont understand how to engage with women, Dorsey said, describing one Urban Alchemy supervisor accused of assault who was merely shifted to another post. 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. A UA employee fucked [a female camper] in the tent next to the tent Im in, Deschamps said. Urban Alchemy Practitioners have been turning the San Francisco Clean program since 2015. 1. We can give them the training. The stillborn baby was found at a site that was located in a rotunda in front of San Francisco City Hall. Powelson said he reported drug use by Urban Alchemy staff to Josh, who was a shift supervisor. 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. The organization later urged employees to call police instead of engaging with dealers. After being hired to guard and provide other services to homeless encampments in the Los Angeles Skid Row neighborhood, workers became associated in the citys progressive media with a decision to evict homeless people from a downtown park. Fax: 1-202-898-1185, Copyright 2008 2019 The plan looked at three short-term goals to be achieved in three years: end youth homelessness; end veterans homelessness; and decrease unsheltered homelessness by 50 percent. People like Ronda Briggs, who was once homeless, hope to provide non-emergency help, homeless outreach and referrals to supportive services. Youre using force, he said. 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. For Davis, we are all here to hold each other accountable to be our better selves.. Urban Alchemys performance the value of the interactions it has on the streets is difficult to measure. The Urban Alchemy employee told police that Bruce had threatened him and that he pushed Bruce in self-defense. While an LA Homeless Services Authority spokesperson says that Urban Alchemys contract includes housing-focused case management, Miller says thats not her organizations speciality, and Urban Alchemy typically partners with other nonprofits for housing navigation. Audits by Galperin have shown that a yearslong effort to build 10,000 new subsidized apartments for formerly homeless people in the city has been slow and costly, with a typical project taking three to six years to complete and running as high as $700,000 per unit in some cases. 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. He asked if I want to do a line and I said sure. On top of that, the city is also reeling from the rapid rise of housing costs and government cutbacks on social services. The people that complain and dislike the homeless for whatever reason.. Josh, too, is no longer working in Sausalito. He put his face within a foot of one of the 16 new hires. Employees dont always succeed in deterring violence. So far, cities are willing to take the risks. He wanted information about whats going on at the camp, Kelly said. Students also learn that disrespect, defiance, doing drugs and showing up late will make you unsuccessful at Urban Alchemy, Hammonds said. They helped pick up trash, brought pizza and smoked concentrated marijuana oil out in the open with the homeless residents, according to Powelson. The San Francisco Standard. The site also provides showers, three meals a day and 24-hour security. The program offers people who have been out of work for a few years a platform to build their resume and eventually re-enter the workforce. Volunteers wear bright yellow shirts, denoting them as members of the community and part of the Downtown Streets Team. 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. Miller says this is the kind of fresh approach public officials have been drawn to when deciding to hire Urban Alchemy to provide security services for public toilets, street corners, BART elevators and homeless facilities, in addition to picking up trash. Council is set to vote July 28 on a $4.14 million agreement with Urban Alchemy that would establish the nonprofit as the ARCH's operator for 13 1/2 months. Breeds homeless services department awarded eight of 12 no-bid contracts to the organization to quickly set up homeless shelters. We found a turd and turned it into gold. They were salesmen, you know, Powelson said. Business and city leaders have credited Urban Alchemy with making streets cleaner and safer. Exactly how campers might transition to permanent housing, however, isnt clear. The four-bedroom residence serves as . 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. An increasingly bipartisan chorus is asking where all the money goes for the states homeless crisis. 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. Downtown Streets Team employs local homeless populations to clean community spaces in San Jose and San Francisco. However, Clinebell sent another email, stating that Urban Alchemy has investigated the allegations and did not find any of the misconduct allegations to be true.. When a neighborhood, street or intersection earns a reputation as a place to avoid, we turn it around. And, its always a firing offense., Theres no such thing as consent here, Clinebell wrote. A comprehensive rundown Some critics accuse the workers who are not state-licensed as private security guards of improperly policing public spaces. The current contract expires on June 25. And this is not easy., According to a report by the City Administrative Officer, the cost of the new East Hollywood campground runs approximately $2,663 per person per month. 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. Powelson claims Clark-Johnson was one of the two men in upper management who smoked concentrated marijuana oil with the campers. To do that legally, courts have said, city officials first must provide alternatives. When our person is wrong, the organization provides discipline and training, she said. Urban Alchemy has helped me to learn to help myself, Paradox said. But for decades it was politically unpopular and considered radical. It was along the lines of the right answer dont be confrontational. One reason the city cited for retaining Urban Alchemy was the amount of time the Sausalito police were spending at the camp. Dillon said nobody else had achieved what Miller had in Bayview and Hunters Point. Sidewalks once crowded with people doing or selling drugs are now more passable, these people say. 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. It represents a new strategy meant to corral the tents and cobbled-together structures that currently stand in parks, on sidewalks and below freeway overpasses, while providing services to the unhoused. Bruce criticized Urban Alchemys hiring model, saying it was a recipe for disaster to have people with troubled backgrounds acting as authority figures over the most vulnerable citizens. Urban Alchemy said issues have surfaced in a small fraction of interactions. She escaped Florida after college and now lives in Sausalito with her Chiweenie and an assortment of foster dogs. No one wants to touch that kind of liability.. 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 at Urban Alchemy, their skills are sought-after. 5 stars. In our experience, cleaning is one of the . Heres what we know. With this setup at the camp, you have males preying on vulnerable women.. SFs most important stories, delivered straight to your inbox, Urban Alchemy employees pick up trash, while homeless people gather belongings in the Tenderloin. Urban Alchemy made their first contact with Sausalitos homeless residents on Feb. 13, 2021, about two months after the first tent was pitched, according to Robbie Powelson, a former Sausalito camper and president of the Marin Homeless Union. Austin Resource Center for the Homeless. 2023 KCRW All Rights Reserved. In a Market street building, Louie Hammonds a former gang member who served 21 years in prison for attempted murder and is now Urban Alchemys chief of training role-played scenarios on the streets. You have entered an incorrect email address! Homelessness remains a core focus of his, close to his heart as a journalist who cares passionately about the human condition. You have some people who are very inappropriate.. "They've been great," he said. Clark-Johnson and Hammonds came back several times. 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Los Angeles is seeking answers to the homeless crisis. Jeff Kositsky, center, now works with the nonprofit Urban Alchemy after heading up the S.F. I did a line with an Urban Alchemy guy, Sarah Gossage, a current encampment resident, said. These guys were able to come out and talk to young guys and explain to them that they want to do something different, Milton said, adding that it can be inspiring when I see these guys in uniform, just guys out there working., In Los Angeles, Urban Alchemy was hired to provide services to homeless encampments. My lane is this part. bitea dose of arts, culture and more. The . I was in a vulnerable situation, she said. Miller became interested in public toilets, specifically their importance in ensuring the dignity of the homeless, but also their potential for jobs. The American Society of Landscape Architects 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. I was going to hit him, but UA escorted him off the property.. Marcia Gilmore, a Lower Nob Hill resident, pointed to an incident in which people asked an Urban Alchemy worker to intervene with a man banging a mailbox with a hammer and arguing with strangers. Reduce the number of homelessness-related calls to dispatch, in areas where the CART program's community-strengthening interventions have occurred. At times, tension has escalated between Urban Alchemy employees and the people theyre tasked with helping. 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. The three organizations are the inaugural members of the Austin Street Outreach Collaborative. At the Sausalito tent encampment, Urban Alchemy moved three employees to other locations after altercations with community members, the organization said. 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. Mayor London Breed awarded the non-profit Urban Alchemy an $8.8 million grant to blanket the downtown area in August 2021. Because a city this offbeat deserves a newsletter with some Email: mallory.moench@sfchronicle.com, kfagan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @mallorymoench, @kevinchron. Homeless Population: 8,124. LA has a well-documented shortage of affordable and subsidized apartments. Urban Alchemy saved 85 lives in 2018, through Narcan deployment, which brings back people from drug overdoses, and providing water to dehydrated people. See how far weve come. Miller said Urban Alchemy sends a supervisor to investigate every complaint. The city has also signed $53 million in contracts with Urban Alchemy to run eight homeless shelters and help staff the citys new Tenderloin Linkage Center near City Hall, where people can connect to services. Homelessness Rate: 0.93%. That "super power" is needed to work the streets of LA says Kirkpatrick Tyler, the Chief of Government-Community Affairs for Urban Alchemy. We teach that in our training.. The Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing was contacted for comment. The American Society of Landscape Architects On any given day, the employees of Urban Alchemy, a nonprofit that puts civilians on the sidewalks to address street-level issues rooted in addiction, mental illness and homelessness, might discourage someone in San Francisco from shooting up in public. They offered similar services in San Francisco since 2018. Aaron Kelly, a current resident of the camp, said he did crystal meth with the same Urban Alchemy employee, who no longer works at the Sausalito encampment. San Francisco's problem with homelessness started to emerge in the 1970s and 1980s. The organization birthed out of Hunters Point Family, an earlier non-profit Miller founded that focused on public housing. One organization the city is working with, Urban Alchemy, was founded to provide career opportunities for the formerly incarcerated. Sausalito Mayor Janelle Kellman didnt respond to the Pacific Suns request for comment, nor did the rest of the city council members. Ive had 20 years of homelessness off and on, and this has given me great purpose., David Harding, a professor of sociology at UC Berkeley, said he hasnt heard of another organization as large as Urban Alchemy thats not just willing to hire people with criminal records but actively seeks out those folks as employees.. Miller started Urban Alchemy in 2018. Last week on Tuesday, San Francisco housing project for homeless development is rejected by a majority of the city supervisors with an 8 to 3 vote. Urban Alchemy asserts that spending 20+ years in a confined environment teaches instincts that cant be learned in a classroom, making their practitioners uniquely qualified to work with homeless people. 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. Mara Paradox, who is nonbinary, raises their hand during a training session for new employees of the outreach group. 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. Each response includes a licensed mental health worker. Theres a lot of training, she said. Community Engagement and Outreach: calming neighborhoods and public spaces by forming bonds with residents, promoting positive behavior, and connecting people to services; this work includes placing outreach workers and community engagement specialists in neighborhoods as . On a recent morning in the Tenderloin, Hammonds and his crew squeezed past drug users, dealers and people sleeping on Golden Gate Avenue, asking those in the crowd whether they could clear out as kids headed to school and directing people to the linkage center if they wanted housing. They come through word of mouth, walk-ins, job fairs, online searches, and referrals from parole officers or other organizations. For longtime Bayview resident Yvonne Dillon, the nonprofits Miller has founded have been a blessing for the area because they provided jobs for people who had a hard time finding work. I mean, Ive been to prison, but you cant even make up the stories of what we see.. Urban Alchemy is a peaceful and supportive presence, inviting communities to rebuild and restore a sense of . There was a lot more anonymity and a lot more opportunity for exploitation. People coming out of prison, Harding said, are motivated to succeed and often equipped to help others with similar experiences. Steveo Cook, an Urban Alchemy staff member, told Kennedy he could bring in the really good meth.. Cities have hired Urban Alchemy because they see unique potential in its strategy, simultaneously employing people who typically struggle to get hired while reducing the role of armed officers amid a movement for police reform.

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