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. Instead of an hourly wage, they offer a non-cash basic-needs stipend, case management, employment services, and a support network within their community. Joseph gave me a quarter ounce of weed. The police are brought in to offer deescalation training, helping to establish a relationship between law enforcement and employees of Urban Alchemy. Based on Cooks Facebook profile, it appears he still works at Urban Alchemy; however, he is no longer on duty in the Sausalito encampment. Were a social enterprise that engages with situations where extreme poverty meets homelessness, mental illness and addiction. They told the class theyve been in jail, homeless and raped. Urban Alchemy offers four core services designed to meet the needs of the people and places in the communities we work. Another concern is that more government-approved campgrounds will mean more police enforcement for those who refuse or arent able to enter the sites similar to how the city recently resumed encampment sweeps near shelters, on the rationale that people in those areas have somewhere else to go. Miller attributed some lawsuits to growing pains as the group expanded without infrastructure it has now built and said others were bulls., Urban Alchemy grew fast and you make mistakes along the way, Miller said, adding that if there were real or serious complaints, we wouldnt have grown so fast. Los Angeles is seeking answers to the homeless crisis. Our agenda is humane treatment for people, and at Echo Park it meant offering them shelter as a safe place to go, which they took voluntarily simply by it being offered., Marco Tavanti, an expert on nonprofits at the University of San Francisco, said the five lawsuits against Urban Alchemy represented an elevated number compared to other nonprofits, except for some in the health sector. UA has a no drugs or alcohol policy while at work, and that includes a prohibition on showing up to work under the influence of those substances, Clinebell wrote. "It's impossible to serve people that you're afraid of and we have connected with folks on our teams who aren't afraid to be in what we would consider hairy areas or hairy situations oftentimes because they came from those places," says Tyler. The organization holds $62 million in contracts in San Francisco while also providing homeless services in a half-dozen cities. Employees called 911 nearly 300 times during the same time period. Some have a trash can on wheels. We provide a safe community for people to be in, so they're not out on the streets, said Miller. 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.. The American Society of Landscape Architects To achieve this, Elliott encouraged landscape architects to continue to design for everyone, not specific populations. The CAOs report did not contain a detailed breakdown of costs, but according to city officials most of the budget goes to 24/7 staffing, and maintaining a one to 12 staff to client ratio at all times. They dont have name tags on, and some were pretty confrontational. Los Angeles, CA. Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing for four years and running the Homeless Street. Hammonds admitted that such incidents have occurred, despite training that if you put your hands on someone, you lose your job.. 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. Made in L.A. Streaming music, news & culture from KCRW Santa Monica, Live streaming music, news & culture from KCRW Santa Monica. Josh treated me like trash. 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. Austin Resource Center for the Homeless. Urban Alchemy started back in 2018. Urban Alchemy notified the city on May 9 that they wouldnt be entering a new agreement, according to Urban Alchemys media representative. A fucking turd., Matt Smith can be reached at [emailprotected]. DM B. Employees report figures on their interactions after each shift. Los Angeles has opened its first government-run homeless encampment on a quiet, commercial block beside the 101 freeway in East Hollywood. The safe sleeping sites were opened after UC Hastings sued the city for deteriorating street conditions at the onset of the pandemic. Thanks for Not Procreating: Making Census of the Moment. Michael Clinebell, senior director of strategic initiatives at AMF Media Group, a public relations and crisis communications firm, is the spokesperson for Urban Alchemy. Thats when the lot is scheduled to become a construction site. 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. A year ago, the Community-Based Public Safety Collective formed with the aim of creating national best practices and training for roughly 200 similar organizations nationwide. The site also provides showers, three meals a day and 24-hour security. The operator of the site, the nonprofit Urban Alchemy, has since moved on to open a homeless shelter in Lower Nob Hill and was recently granted a contract by the city to perform homeless outreach. I know just about everyone in the city, she said. 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 the pandemic scrambled the city's homelessness strategy, Urban Alchemy parlayed the hygiene and vehicle work into much more. Urban Alchemys contract to run the Sausalito site expires at the end of June. 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. Steveo Cook, an Urban Alchemy staff member, told Kennedy he could bring in the really good meth.. The organization conducted a review of its policies in response to the incident, Tyler 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. Sidewalks once crowded with people doing or selling drugs are now more passable, these people say. Id rather see Urban Alchemy than the cops.. Urban Alchemy has helped me to learn to help myself, Paradox said. 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. The organization later urged employees to call police instead of engaging with dealers. Additionally, UA has a policy that requires practitioners to maintain workplace boundaries, and that includes no fraternization, such as not hanging out at the work site while not on duty., Clinebell said that Urban Alchemy hasnt received any reports of staff using drugs at the Sausalito camp, yet he concedes someone has a memory of a person reporting at a Sausalito City Council meeting that Urban Alchemy staff were smoking weed.. A majority of employees are people of color, and some have been homeless. They were salesmen, you know, Powelson said. Josh, too, is frequently mentioned by the campers. 4 stars. A third organization, Urban Alchemy, is based in California and is hiring staffers for Austin. 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. Urban Alchemy has been an invaluable partner in keeping our city safe, clean, and welcoming for all. They allege he is a bully. The only reason why were where we are is because we get to work. In December 2021, the Sausalito City Council approved a $463,620 contract with Urban Alchemy for around the clock site management services, from January through June 2022, at the Marinship encampment. With this setup at the camp, you have males preying on vulnerable women.. Funding would come from Austin Public. Give people the opportunity to take a shower, get them off the street, and give them a sense of hope and belonging., Another man, DJ Woods, agreed. Alejandro Sanchez, who is on the clean team explains their approach. Sausalito Mayor Janelle Kellman didnt respond to the Pacific Suns request for comment, nor did the rest of the city council members. The operator of the site, the nonprofit Urban Alchemy, has since moved on to open a homeless shelter in Lower Nob Hill and was recently granted a contract by the city to perform homeless outreach. No arrests have been made in either case. That goal was the focus of a recent training for new employees that The Chronicle attended. of SF politics and culture. Today, it's a $50 million agency with 1,200 employees . 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. Inside the fence, the parking lot-turned-campground can accommodate about 120 people at a time in 12-foot by 12-foot spots, marked by white squares painted on the asphalt. 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. 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. The marginalization of homeless individuals often leads them to ignore the social norms of public space. Kirkpatrick Tyler, who is in charge of government and community affairs for the organization, describes the past prison experience of Urban Alchemy workers as parallel to the story of every single superhero in every comic book that youve ever readthat they have a traumatic experience, [and] they have to make sure that traumatic experience has a sustainable transformational impact on who they are to their core.. For Urban Alchemys Executive Director Lena Miller, the organizations rapid San Francisco expansion is just the beginning. The situation came to a screeching halt after another Urban Alchemy employee told her Josh was taking time off work because he was getting married that weekend. 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. David Sjostedt can be reached at [emailprotected]. 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. 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. One of the worlds richest regions has some of its starkest divides, with its top 10% of households holding two-thirds of its wealth. Washington, DC 20001-3736, Phone: 202-898-2444 Miller said her organizations rise doesnt owe to her relationships with Nuru and Breed, though, but rather what it offered to cities overwhelmed by street problems. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) The Clean. | Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images, By clicking Subscribe you confirm you have read and agree to our. The entitys 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 site closed in June 2022 after operating for a little over two years. We can help them recruit. When a neighborhood, street or intersection earns a reputation as a place to avoid, we turn it around. The first step of the plan calls for transitioning away from using the police as a first point of contact and instead reaching out to social workers. 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. We recognize the humanity in those who are struggling and we treat them how we once wished others had treated us. Throughout much of that period, Mike and Joseph oversaw the camp and helped move the encampment from downtown Sausalito to Marinship Park last June. Theres a lot of training, she said. Wilson says Urban Alchemy workers dont fit the definition of patrol officer or security guard, and therein lies their advantage. The city's Department of Homelessness and Supportive Services corroborated the claim. And outsourcing government functions to nonprofits can make it more difficult for the public to evaluate whether spending is achieving results. We dont have weapons, mace. 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. Urban Alchemy also prohibits predatory sexual behavior because of the power dynamics, according to Clinebell. 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. Exactly how campers might transition to permanent housing, however, isnt clear. We found a turd and turned it into gold. The San Francisco-based nonprofit Urban Alchemy, which operates three similar campgrounds in the Bay Area, has a contract with the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, a city-county agency, to run the East Hollywood site. 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.. 5 stars. Within seconds, he blocked all further communication. In our experience, cleaning is one of the . Urban Alchemy practitioners assemble before starting their shift at 5 a.m. It turned dark.. The simple action of donning a yellow shirt and cleaning the community restores their dignity as people and members of their community. Homelessness remains a core focus of his, close to his heart as a journalist who cares passionately about the human condition. At the Sausalito tent encampment, Urban Alchemy moved three employees to other locations after altercations with community members, the organization said. Know Your City! of SF politics and culture. Not even base metal. Starting salaries are less than half those of sworn police officers. Urban Alchemy is a peaceful and supportive presence, inviting communities to rebuild and restore a sense of pride and respect in urban spaces. The Pacific Sun contacted Cook through Facebook for comment on the allegations. Once the city increased the contract, we got all these new Urban Alchemy people coming and going, Powelson said. Los Angeles is seeking answers to the homeless crisis. That, however, is a slow process, and the county has a long waiting list. A survey of homeless individuals by Downtown Streets Team yielded one overwhelming response: they felt completely ignored as human beings. 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 . Urban Alchemy provides four core services: community engagement and outreach, interim housing, hygiene services, and street-cleaning services. He asked if I want to do a line and I said sure. As the Bayview Vehicle Triage Center reaches is first anniversary, questions remain over its success in meeting SFs shelter needs. A stillborn baby was found in the port-a-potty of a city-sanctioned homeless encampment last January, the San Francisco Fire Department confirmed to The Standard. Founded in 2018 with 30 staff, Urban Alchemy started out by providing one program that monitored public bathrooms in a San Francisco neighborhood. Homelessness Rate: 0.93%. 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. There was a lot more anonymity and a lot more opportunity for exploitation. During training, students learn Urban Alchemys seven values respect, integrity, empowerment, empathy, self-discipline, self-control and self-esteem. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. The Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing was contacted for comment. We are alchemists, Hammonds told his class, and we want to make where we are a more golden, loving space.. And Ive been here for 87 damn years in this community, she said. Heres what we know. ECHO's executive director, Matt Mollica, said Urban Alchemy has been active in training opportunities and expanding on-the-ground outreach. These types of skills, she says, equip Urban Alchemy workers for interacting with people who are having a traumatic time on the street. Some critics accuse the workers who are not state-licensed as private security guards of improperly policing public spaces. S.F. SFs most important stories, delivered straight to your inbox, Urban Alchemy employees pick up trash, while homeless people gather belongings in the Tenderloin. The current contract expires on June 25. The residents of the Sausalito homeless encampment emphatically disagree about the staffs qualifications. Guests at the East Hollywood site, who Miller says are being found through outreach in the surrounding area, are likely to have a wide variety of needs and backgrounds.