Why No Gardens?

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I have been researching through countless videos on tent cities and homeless villages. One thing that I have been shocked that I haven't seen is vegetable gardens! You see all these people living out in the woods, and out in wide open spaces, but no gardens growing.

I did see ONE village that homes the homeless that had some really nice raised bed gardens. Dignity Village
 Even though their village isn't built on soil, they manage to grow some of their food.

At some of the Tent Cities and Villages I have seen numerous people that have lived there long term . . . . 3, 5, even 10 years. It boggled my mind that they were so "in need", had ground space, yet didn't plant any gardens. Then I remembered what I have heard person after person, on those videos, say: "When I came here, I thought I would be here for only a few months, but years have passed and I am still here."  No one that goes into a Tent City to live expects to be there long enough to plant a garden!

With this in mind, this is one of the top priority items we want to set up for our homeless Eco Village (I hesitate to use the word 'homeless' because once they move here, even in a tent, they will no longer be homeless.) . . . . . vegetable gardens!!! No, we are not planning on people being here long enough to plant and harvest a full garden, but it does take a long while for some people to find jobs and get back on their feet, and in the meantime, they need inexpensive, yet healthy foods. All that healthy, fresh food, and the exercise people get maintaining the gardens will really benefit their health, which is important when trying to pull yourself back up, or any other time for that matter.  And if they end up having extra produce, they can sell it at the roadside and bring in some income to help run the Village.

Gardens will also give opportunity for the people that are currently here, to Pay It Forward to the next people that come after they, themselves have made it back on their feet. Even if someone isn't here long enough to harvest what they plant, the next people coming in will be able to, and then they can replant. It will be a constant, very positive, cycle that will benefit all that are involved.

What is your opinion of having vegetable gardens all around a Homeless Village?

Homeless In Muskogee

An Entire Block of Empty Buildings Downtown

I have done some researching around the nearest, medium-sized city (Muskogee, Oklahoma), on "shelter" that is available to the homeless in our area. What I found was maddening!

First, most of your homeless shelters are now CLOSED. We have one left that is open (the Gospel Rescue Mission), but it is for men ONLY. This shelter is so overfull that there is a long waiting list for a night's rest, there, and men are sleeping all over the area around it, even the cold, hard sidewalks. Although this would give men a place indoors, out of the weather, I have been told by a couple of homeless men that they actually feel much safer OUTDOORS, braving the elements, than sleeping inside that place. Another young man, just last week, told me that most of the men there are ex convicts. I am not saying that that means they are bad or dangerous, everyone makes mistakes from time to time, I am just saying that that makes other men nervous about staying there.

We have a Battered Women's shelter. It isn't JUST for homeless women, but it is for any women that have been battered, left their abuser, and have no where to go. But ONLY battered women (and maybe their children) qualify for this shelter.

Currently, there are NO shelters available in Muskogee for homeless single women, women with children, nor families (non abused). There are empty buildings all over this town, many areas look like Ghost Neighborhoods, yet NOTHING is available for the homeless in these groups! There used to be a small area in our downtown where some of the homeless "camped out", but it was shut down a few years back. Ever since I learned of this situation (homeless families, women and children, only having the open outdoors to sleep) it has been constantly on my mind and brings tears to my eyes. Husbands can leave their families and go get on the waiting list to sleep indoors at the Rescue Mission, but there are no safe places for the women and children!!!  Recently, I learned of one young mother with 2 small children. The mother had just had surgery and a near brush with death so cannot work at this time. Yet Human Services told her if she did not quickly find a house, with running water, they were going to take her kids and put them in foster care. GRRRRR!!!!

Just a little further away (about a 45-minute drive) is a large city.  They had a Tent City for a long, time, but I also learned last week that that, too, has been shut down and all of those people are now looking for somewhere else to sleep.

The availability of "safe" places to sleep - store belongings - etc. - in our area looks very GRIM!

A Dream Since Early Childhood - Part 2

My adult life has been an ultra busy whirlwind. Yet, from time to time, all through the years, I have often thought about my idea for a tiny community of tiny houses to give a place to people that didn't have a home, a chance to have a little roof over their head, plant their feet and start all over again. I can actually still picture one of the layouts (my favorite) on one of my old graph paper pages.

In my early adulthood, when I began working a job on our farthest West side of town (I seldom ever went that far that way), I got so excited one day! There, just back a little off the road, was a row of Tiny Little Houses just like the ones I had always pictured in my head! I don't know what they were originally intended for, but at present, they look like low income housing. As tiny as they were, families with children were milling about, looking happy to have a home. But it looked so hot, yet cold, there, as there was so much concrete and asphalt all around those tiny little houses. That was not in my image. Trees, flowers, and very productive vegetable gardens all around is what I have envisioned.

Lately, it has come to our attention, the drastically growing number of homeless of all walks and ages, coupled with a shameful lack of resources in our area for them. It just makes you want to cry, even if you don't know them. I had been trying and trying to figure out how I could best help them. Just handing them money and/or stuff doesn't feel like enough. I want to do something to help them get back on track, not just float along. Then I thought, why not bring that lifelong dream/vision I of mine to life, right here on my 5 acres!

We have Dave's much bigger farm where we are setting up our self-sustaining farm and the big gardens. So why not use my 5 acres to start an Eco Village of tiny little houses to home the homeless and aid in getting them back on their feet? I have no idea how we are going to do this. We have not near enough money at this time for ourselves, much less to build tiny houses and start a village (heck, we are still trying to get our own tiny house built), but maybe if we let people start with tents and work up from there, it will all eventually fall into place. You have to start somewhere, right?

I have had this dream, coupled with a hard drive to make it happen, ever since I was a little girl. Lately, the drive has become much, much harder. I am over halfway to 100, now and not getting any younger, so the time has finally come to do this, if I am going to do it. Again, I have no idea how we are ever going to accomplish this, but we have decided to just take baby steps with it, go with the flow, continue to dream, and brainstorm, let God guide us through, and enjoy watching it all fall into place. I am so excited and have such a great feeling about all of this. Although I have no idea how we could possibly ever accomplish this enormous task, and I can foresee quite a few obstacles in the way, I can feel, way down deep inside . . . . that my childhood dream is finally going to become a reality!