What will these Hmong homeless folks that resist shelters do now??

[theking]

Homeless camp off Bruce Vento trail forcing advocates to explore new approaches
Officials say its many Hmong residents resist shelters, want to stick together.
Chue Yang, left, who was once homeless, checks in on his friend Long Vang, who lives at a homeless encampment with several dozen residents, many of them Hmong, near the Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary in St. Paul.

Long Vang, who goes by the name Lonely, first pitched his tent alongside the Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary two years ago. The spot seemed peaceful, tucked back near railroad tracks on the edge of downtown St. Paul.

The 43-year-old, who has been homeless for 15 years, quickly invited homeless friends and acquaintances to join him. More and more people showed up, creating a sprawling encampment of an estimated 60 people, about half of them Hmong.

“It’s the best place I’ve seen so far,” Vang said. “We formed a bond with each other. We learn from each other. We help one another.”

It’s that sense of community — that feeling of family among the camp’s Hmong residents — that’s making it hard to find housing for many of the adults, city and county housing advocates say.

Finding landlords willing to take dozens of unrelated adults, some with criminal records or chemical addiction, is proving difficult. But unless they move to a single property together, some of the camp’s Hmong residents say they would rather stay in their tents, officials say.

“Many of the constituents who are there don’t want to leave unless they can do it together,” said Keith Lattimore, Ramsey County’s director of housing stability. “We’re meeting with landlords about bigger multifamily spaces ... but we’ve got to have more space. We’ve got to have more landlords willing to come to the table.”

In many ways, officials say, the problems that prompted people to pitch tents and string tarps along the Vento trail are common to such encampments throughout the Twin Cities. With so many people living paycheck to paycheck, homelessness is often just one financial crisis away.

Others, who face mental illness or substance use and abuse, prefer to live outside — especially in summer — rather than follow the restrictions of shelters. Still others feel safer encamped with friends and family members, said Kahari Smith-Brewer, coordinator of St. Paul’s Homeless Assistance Response Team.

Meet the St. Paul writer and artist working to translate American Sign Language into a written medium

Some have lost necessary documentation for housing and other services, he said.

But after a different site was closed last summer, the camp along Bruce Vento trail swelled to include a large group of Hmong residents, many of whom are friends but unrelated, Smith-Brewer said.

“In my experience, they tend to move together,” he said.

Mai Chong Xiong, a Ramsey County commissioner representing the East Side of St. Paul, said a large group of Hmong residents choosing to live in a camp “is unusual. Usually, families choose to live together.”

Extended families banding together to share resources is not unusual in the Hmong community, said Xiong, the first Hmong American elected to the County Board. Her family banded together with her stepmother’s extended family on the East Side years ago.

She said she suspects that zoning restrictions limiting how many unrelated adults can live together, as well as a shortage of housing for very large families, have contributed to what’s happening in the Vento camp. Many there tell officials that they’re doing just fine.

“They’ve built a community,” Xiong said.

She said she has heard no calls to remove the camp, which mostly is out of view just south of the Bruce Vento trailhead and north of the nature area, now named Wakan Tipi. Xiong said her main concern is ensuring that the residents of the camp have access to basic needs: “clean water, a restroom, just public health.”

Long-term, however, she echoed Lattimore’s call for larger and more flexible housing options.

“I am just very hopeful that we can have partnerships with landlords,” she said. “We need help finding more than four-bedroom homes at affordable rents that can be subsidized.”

Smith-Brewer’s team of two inspectors and two outreach workers tries to visit the Vento site daily and conduct weekly cleaning there. There are currently no plans to disperse the residents, he said, unless a public safety problem arises, such as crime or repeated complaints.

Thursday afternoon, a man lugged a large catfish back to his tent. A nearby grill was at the ready to cook the catch for dinner.

Vang said he hopes to get a job and permanent shelter, though he worries about doing so without a support system. When people have left on their own or in small groups before, he said, they usually come back.

As Vang spoke, Chue Yang, a friend from his youth, stopped to visit. He waved to another friend, dropped off some laundry detergent and offered to bring cooking oil next time he came by — to fry the fish, Vang joked.

“Instead of coming down here and trying to give money, I just come down here and give them my time,” Yang said. “Sometimes, we need that positive conversation.”

[theking]

I'm sure the homeless Hmong folks in California have some concerns about this too thanks to Gov. "Nuisance"  :

Gavin Newsom's Crackdown: Clearing Homeless Camps Could Spark New Crisis

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is turning up the heat on homeless encampments, ordering state officials to dismantle thousands of them. But as the tents come down, critics say a new crisis could be just around the corner.

Take Oakland, for example. John Janosko used to call the Wood Street encampment home. The sprawling camp was one of the biggest in the state until it was bulldozed over a year ago. Some former residents, like Janosko, found a spot in tiny cabins or managed to secure permanent housing with help from nonprofits. But many others are still sleeping in cars, RVs, or makeshift shelters behind stores like Target.

[Hung_Low]

I'm sure the homeless Hmong folks in California have some concerns about this too thanks to Gov. "Nuisance"  :

Gavin Newsom's Crackdown: Clearing Homeless Camps Could Spark New Crisis

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is turning up the heat on homeless encampments, ordering state officials to dismantle thousands of them. But as the tents come down, critics say a new crisis could be just around the corner.

Take Oakland, for example. John Janosko used to call the Wood Street encampment home. The sprawling camp was one of the biggest in the state until it was bulldozed over a year ago. Some former residents, like Janosko, found a spot in tiny cabins or managed to secure permanent housing with help from nonprofits. But many others are still sleeping in cars, RVs, or makeshift shelters behind stores like Target.

I don't get it... CA spent $billions ($24billions for the last 5 years) on solving the homeless issue but has nothing to show for it. Now, they're forcibly removing these encampments... what happens to all the $billions? I bet the politicians and people in charge are lining their pockets with the $billions.

[Visualmon]

Can't homeless peeps sleep in the wilderness so they can live as primitive? Govt can be so anal. 

[TsovTom]

It's unfortunate our hmong people has reached another milestone, per cnn would have reported it, when we had that mass shooting that included the life of xy lee.
although I do not wish any ill will on our hmong people, there are people that deserves the misfortune and this Long Vang dude is no exception.
this dude will steal your last dime, not to mention your car without a care, even when you're a friend trying to help him out. 
His current suffering is what's called karma, mtfker did this to himself, robbing his friends and even his family.
some may have pity for him but that's because they know him less, he will f them over given the chance.

granted some of these homeless hmong does not deserve to be in their situation but most of them are there by choice. 

[Prude]

They don't know Minnesota winters, do they?