By Tommy Acosta
(June 17, 2021)
Yesterday, I saw a sight in the Safeway parking lot that just about broke my heart.
Parked next to me was this car, and when a woman opened the door and got out of it, I noticed that the car was totally packed with suitcases and belongings, blocking all the car windows save for the windshield.
There was not an excess inch one could pack anything into. The realization struck me that this woman was living out of her car.
She was haggard, shabby and unkempt. Her face was worn with worry and her eyes were dulled. I could see her hope was rapidly fading, if there was any left, anyway.
I almost said something to her, but I could not come up with anything to say. I did not want to embarrass her, but I don’t think she would have really cared or noticed me.
I am generally not affected when I see the beggars perched on the entrance and exits of the Safeway parking lot and the other supermarkets in town. They set up shop, play bongos and other instruments, and collect their toll while talking on their cell phones.
But seeing this woman touched me.
I wondered what happened to her? How did she end up like this? Did she have a family? Was she totally alone in this world? What circumstance conspired to rip her from her home and force her to live in her car, so stuffed with possessions she would only be able to sleep on the driver’s seat?
I tried to imagine myself in this situation. What would I do? Where would I go if I suddenly found myself with no place to live, no money, no friends and no one that I could rely on?
How would I eat? Where would I go to bath? Where would I sleep?
The thought of that possibility made my stomach churn.
We see them and yet we don’t.
After seeing this woman, I became acutely aware of other homeless victims shuffling up-and-down S.R. 89A, some pushing carts with all their worldly possessions in them. Other’s carrying everything they own on their backs in knapsacks.
And what of the families that are homeless in Sedona? Imagine what the parents of young children must feel like living out in their cars with no roof over their heads.
This is Sedona. Things like that aren’t supposed to happen here.
We are enlightened. We are spiritual. We are giving. Yet, the homeless haunt us and we offer too few resources for them in this town.
Fortunately, we have The Sedona Homeless Alliance and the City of Sedona Community Resources and Assistance program, to help.
But it’s obvious we need more. We need affordable housing.
Short-term rentals and Air B&B’s are limiting the housing choices for families living on the edge, forcing them to live too far away to be able to work in the city.
Tenants and families are being thrown into the streets by homeowners and investors profiting from the Air B&B phenomenon.
The city must focus its energy to provide affordable housing rather than trying to mitigate traffic congestion with multi-million-dollar solutions that will never work.
There needs to be a place where the homeless can eat, bath, rest and sleep; wash their clothes and dress.
The Sedona Homeless Alliance has been working hard towards that end but more financial help from the city and the community is needed.
The City of Sedona has the resources and money and property to build or lease such a shelter.
To do so would further enhance the image of Sedona as a giving and nurturing community and provide vital services to the homeless.
We count on the city government to take this challenge on and provide for our homeless Sedona brothers and sisters.
13 Comments
I’m a single dad with 3 kids and have been staying with friends occasionally but not very long as to not overstay our welcome. We camp out at Deadhorse state park but are limited to a 14 day maximum stay. And we stay at any hotel with the best deal when we can. I evidently have money coming in but who can afford to live in Sedona, Cottonwood or anywhere in the Verde Valley when everything has been turned into Air B&B’s and 300 people are applying for the same rental property as you are. All the property management companies also charge a $80 dollar background/application fee that’s nonrefundable. If you go to 4 different property management companies that’s $320 dollars.And that’s no guarantee you’ll get approved for the place either. If you’re not approved you’re still out that money and will have to pay it again if you want to apply for a different unit. It’s not only the lack of affordable housing but it’s also the Process of getting into a place. I found a 3 bedroom 2 bath home in cottonwood finally but when I inquired about it it was $2100 a month. They required 1st, last and a matching deposit. That’s $6,300 plus the $80 dollar background check so we’re at $6,380 dollars if you’re approved. Next ApS typically wants a $250 deposit if you don’t have a history with them, and water is like another $50 to $100. So now we’re looking at just over $6,600. Just to get into the residence. That’s not including any other moving costs like truck rentals or hired help if needed or things like phone, cable/satellite or internet. I can rent a studio at a hotel for $600 to $700 but that’s for only a 28 day stay maximum. And most of the time with something like that you have to change rooms midway through the stay. I remember when Sedona WAS a family oriented town. St. Patrick’s day parade was down 89A, the kids played in the streets and walked up and down 89A year round. There were actual full teams playing baseball and soccer at Possie Grounds. And it only took 9 minutes to drive from Red Rock Crossing to Bashas in west Sedona. Now you’re lucky to make it from Bashas to Safeway in 9 minutes. But nobody cares anymore. I’ve served this community at many different businesses over the years I’ve lived here. I’ve been here since 1994 and never did I ever imagine that this area and the majority of the people who call it home become so cold and complacent within their community and their fellow neighbors. If it doesn’t directly affect them then they don’t care to have a voice or to take any kind of action that is ultimately beneficial for their community. If I were to guess I would say that there’s more that 250 displaced FAMILIES, not individuals but actual families living/camping out and around the Sedona outskirts if not more. What’s anyone to do anymore? I can’t afford to live here but I also can’t afford to move either. My family and I deserve something better but there’s virtually no options. And when you have kids involved you are limited even more because of the fear of having your children taken away from you for the only reason that you don’t have a place to call home. And it’s not for lack of trying by any means, it’s because there’s nothing affordable anywhere. I will tell you this, you would never be able to tell that we’re homeless. My kids brush their teeth twice a day we still eat 3 meals plus a day, and our bodies and clothing are always clean. And we’re 90% of the time smiling and happy to have each other. For that alone I consider myself richer than the majority that’s for sure.
My heart goes out to you. Thank you for your eloquent and well written letter. We all need to wake up to the needs of our people.
The City of Sedona should assign the police to picking up every homeless person, beggar or vagrant and driving them to Cottonwood and dropping them off there, where they really belong. I’m sick and tired of having to run the gauntlet of beggars every time I go shopping.
Why don’t rich Sedona bitches and bastards donate your Motor Homes that get used one or twice per year to these homeless families?! It’s a great tax write-off and you can feel good about yourself while you’re telling the police to round them up like criminals. Just saying…
What makes you think those homeless families are entitled to my RV, which I paid for after working hours and hours of overtime? I feel good about myself because when I was down and out, I worked harder. I didn’t abandon my kids, i didn’t become addicted or alcoholic, I got up everyday and made looking for work my JOB until I had one. Why don’t you open your house and let homeless families sleep on your couch/ floor?
Why do you presume that some of the homeless haven’t done what you did…”didn’t abandon my kids, i didn’t become addicted or alcoholic, I got up everyday and made looking for work my JOB until I had one”? Did you even stop to consider that someone might have lost their job during Covid, lost their home because some greedy home owner decided they’d rather make $200 a night by renting a bedroom out, then providing a stable home for a long time worker? Do you not fathom the idea that someone might have lost their job, but there is nothing available to them now? So, your statement that you kept looking until you found one, might not be the same in their cases. Would you provide your history of job searches to prove your claim? Did you not read the article or did you not comprehend some of the points that were made?
Why do you ask the sarcastic, gotcha question, ” Why don’t you open your house and let homeless families sleep on your couch/ floor?” How do you know that some home owners might, if they had the room, or didn’t have renters already installed that they refuse to evict? Do you ask the same of the multitude of churches that exist in Sedona? Why aren’t they doing the Good Samaritan work you ask about? Aren’t they the ones that preach the Bible & Jesus’s teachings, which often state to help the poor, & hungry & give shelter? I’m sure many of those churches have more money than some of the older residents here that struggle to pay their bills.
I know many residents that were kicked out of their long term rentals because of those places being turned into Air b & b’s, which the article stated. Why do think they deserve to be kicked out from the home they’ve known, especially if they’ve contributed to this community, so the owner can make more profit, make them homeless, so people like you can sit in judgement? How do you know hard workers, or long term renters aren’t the unfortunate ones who find themselves homeless now. You don’t know, so don’t make assumptions.
Well, hang in there Single Dad. In a couple of years those that have taken the COVID “vaccine” will begin to die off, and more homes will become available. In the meantime, I’m sending you good vibes to win the lottery.
What an ignorant and arrogant statement. May the same level of compassion be returned to you.
Ignorant? really? Apparently you’re not keeping up on the news that more die from the vaxxx than the virus. Already 50,000 dead. Good luck.
What news is that JB the Qanon news. I like the way you respond to your own post using a different name(very distorted ego). Your a sheepie and a crackup sucker…LOL.
So, we have an anti vaxx, anti science expert here, declaring who will die because of an unproven conspiracy theory. How do you know that it might not be the opposite & that the ones who don’t receive the vaccine are the ones that will be the ones to die off, especially if they catch the new variant? You claim that 50,000 people died from the vaccine, more than the 500,000+ people who died from the virus. Where are your references, stats or studies to back up another generalized assumption? Your lack of empathy, callous attitude toward other human beings, & wishes for them to suffer, is a sad revelation about your character. I’d be cautious of attacking others. Have you not heard the saying, “But, for the Grace of God Go I”? I hope if you ever suffer from a health crisis, you won’t be treated the way you wish to treat others. Of course, not believing in preventative health, infectious diseases, doctors or science, you will never get sick or suffer. To use your own words, Good luck.
JB let’s suppose your 50K deaths by vaccine is correct…….which I do not think it is.
In USA alone over 600,000 people have died as a result of the virus. So the easy math is you are better off “taking a chance with the vaccine.” Why do I not believe your number? Answer – the J&J vaccine was pulled temporarily after only about 5 people had issues.
The former president got the vaccine before leaving office. He is ashamed that he did, but he knows it was important. I said he was ashamed because he does not talk about it. If he wanted it known and encourage others to make the same choice, he would have bragged about it. He was after all the president who would always brag, blame and lie.
Last summer the former president said that Covid-19 is “nothing to be afraid of” and “99% survive it without issues.” The truth is the White House was sterilized for him – who is afraid now? And, when he said “99% do not have issues” – wrong again. I did the math then infections verses deaths. There was a 96% survival rate (not 99%) and a 4% death rate.
Well, I see here many have swallowed the red pill and have chosen to believe the lies.
According to the usual definition of “vaccine”, the current injections are not “vaccines.” They are just another strain of dangerous technology that the parasitic overclass is funding and using for the purpose of global domination and control. (The same reason why the globalists HATE the 2nd Amendment; they’ll always be unable to control a well-armed people!)
A mass human die-off would be traumatic and threaten the status quo. If the human population crashes and the economy follows suit, the elite will have nothing, no innate superiority or adaptivity, that might protect them and conduce to their survival. Hence, they prefer mass sterilization and a slower (but still rapid) population decline.
While population growth concerns are legitimate the approach of the elite is highly unethical and misinformed.
In short, by virtue of stuffing their pockets and pushing everyone else around, the elite consider themselves a “Master Race”, a kind of global livestock breeding association to which the rest of the species is nothing but a herd of docile cattle to be bred for servility and barely enough intelligence to follow orders.
This has been clearly and irrefutably documented by e.g., the “White Genocide” agenda described a century ago by R.N. Coudenhove-Kalergi, originally funded by the Rothschilds, Warburgs and other international bankers and now pursued as international policy throughout the Western world. Look it up – a little research goes a long way to correct the propaganda spewed above.
It’s easy to see where this leads, and it’s nowhere good. Personally, I’m willing if necessary to do anything to anyone attempting to force one of these injections on me, and the same should be true of any other decent self-respecting person.
PS – those CDC numbers have been debunked. Now, there will be new “variant” for the vaxxx’d populace – more shots will be “needed.” Getting COVID jabs twice a year will be the “new normal.”
Good luck.