{"id":4480,"date":"2013-07-03T14:10:44","date_gmt":"2013-07-03T18:10:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/?p=4480"},"modified":"2013-07-03T14:13:11","modified_gmt":"2013-07-03T18:13:11","slug":"the-stars-all-lined-up-for-the-homeless-deidra-white-lcdp-2013-07-02","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2013\/07\/the-stars-all-lined-up-for-the-homeless-deidra-white-lcdp-2013-07-02.html","title":{"rendered":"The stars all lined up for the homeless &#8211;Deidra White @ LCDP 2013-07-02"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=V5VOullcL5Q&#038;t=10m47s\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"float:right;border:none;\" src=\"http:\/\/i1.ytimg.com\/vi\/V5VOullcL5Q\/default.jpg\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\nThe homeless formerly living under the<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/maps.google.com\/maps?f=q&amp;source=embed&amp;hl=en&amp;geocode=&amp;q=valdosta,+ga&amp;aq=&amp;sll=32.678125,-83.178297&amp;sspn=8.844275,14.403076&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;hq=&amp;hnear=Valdosta,+Lowndes,+Georgia&amp;t=m&amp;layer=c&amp;cbll=30.826725,-83.27656&amp;panoid=7lq0ti3I9LP9scvj4PFcsg&amp;cbp=13,344.6,,1,1.46&amp;ll=30.812205,-83.268256&amp;spn=0.02322,0.048323&amp;z=14\" style=\"color:#0000FF;text-align:left\"><br \/>\nJames Beck Overpass<\/a><br \/>\nnow have homes and most have jobs,<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=V5VOullcL5Q&#038;t=10m47s\"><br \/>\nsaid Valdosta City Council Deidra White<\/a><br \/>\nat last night&#8217;s<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/lowndesdems.org\/index.html\"><br \/>\nLowndes County Democratic Party<\/a> Annual 4th of July Barbecue.\n<\/p>\n<p>\nWhite said the encampment under the overpass had been growing<br \/>\nfor some time, and people in her district, which contains<br \/>\nthe overpass, were increasingly concerned<br \/>\nyet had had little success in dealing with the situation.\n<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/98706376@N00\/9203180048\/sizes\/z\/\" title=\"Deidra White speaking at Lowndes County Democratic Party July 4th BBQ\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"float:right;border:none;\" src=\"http:\/\/farm8.staticflickr.com\/7407\/9203180048_30bc095cf5_n.jpg\" alt=\"Deidra White speaking at Lowndes County Democratic Party July 4th BBQ\"><\/a><br \/>\nSo I contacted many people in the community,<br \/>\nhomeless advocates, churches, governmental, civil,<br \/>\nnonprofits; anyone that I&#8217;ve ever come across who has ever<br \/>\nworked in any capacity helping with the homeless situation.<br \/>\nAnd in a very,almost seemingly the stars all lined up a couple<br \/>\nof weeks ago.<br \/>\nMany people came together to do something<br \/>\nabout the specific eleven homeless persons who were living<br \/>\nunder the James Beck Overpass.<\/p>\n<p>\nA private citizen donated property and said<br \/>\nthat they could stay on this property for a temporary time<br \/>\nuntil we find a permanent solution.<br \/>\nMembers of the homeless coalition immediately<br \/>\nbegan identifying potential employers&#8230;.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>\nShe referred listeners to<br \/>\n<a href=\"#VDT\"><br \/>\nthe recent newspaper stories<\/a><br \/>\nfor some details, and then continued:\n<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><br \/>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"562\" height=\"314\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" marginheight=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/maps.google.com\/maps?f=q&amp;source=embed&amp;hl=en&amp;geocode=&amp;q=valdosta,+ga&amp;aq=&amp;sll=32.678125,-83.178297&amp;sspn=8.844275,14.403076&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;hq=&amp;hnear=Valdosta,+Lowndes,+Georgia&amp;t=m&amp;layer=c&amp;cbll=30.826725,-83.27656&amp;panoid=7lq0ti3I9LP9scvj4PFcsg&amp;cbp=13,344.6,,1,1.46&amp;ll=30.812205,-83.268256&amp;spn=0.02322,0.048323&amp;z=14&amp;output=svembed\"><\/iframe><br \/><small><a href=\"https:\/\/maps.google.com\/maps?f=q&amp;source=embed&amp;hl=en&amp;geocode=&amp;q=valdosta,+ga&amp;aq=&amp;sll=32.678125,-83.178297&amp;sspn=8.844275,14.403076&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;hq=&amp;hnear=Valdosta,+Lowndes,+Georgia&amp;t=m&amp;layer=c&amp;cbll=30.826725,-83.27656&amp;panoid=7lq0ti3I9LP9scvj4PFcsg&amp;cbp=13,344.6,,1,1.46&amp;ll=30.812205,-83.268256&amp;spn=0.02322,0.048323&amp;z=14\" style=\"color:#0000FF;text-align:left\">View Larger Map<\/a><\/small><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/98706376@N00\/9200394137\/sizes\/z\/\" title=\"Gretchen Quarterman, LCDP Chair, and Deidra White, Valdosta City Council District 2\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"float:right;border:none;\" src=\"http:\/\/farm8.staticflickr.com\/7418\/9200394137_c754d7c069_m.jpg\" alt=\"Gretchen Quarterman, LCDP Chair, and Deidra White, Valdosta City Council District 2\"><\/a><br \/>\nOther individuals committed they wanted to bring food every day<br \/>\nto the location.<br \/>\nOther commitments were made to help with personal facilities<br \/>\nthat were not available at the overpass.<br \/>\nAnd, to my surprise, there have been some criticism publicly<br \/>\nabout all this effort that was set for in regard to<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>\nthe residents of the south side<\/p>\n<li>\nthe homeless persons in particular\n<\/ol>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\nShe said this was an example of what she does, and she&#8217;s not<br \/>\na speaker; she&#8217;s a work horse, not show horse.\n<\/p>\n<p>\nAnd then she had news:\n<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\nAs of today, regarding the temporary voluntary location,<br \/>\nfour of the eleven homeless persons were helped<br \/>\nwithin 48 hours and moved to permanent locations.<br \/>\nTwo now have jobs.<br \/>\nThree more now have permanent locations,<br \/>\nand only four remain on our schedule to be<br \/>\nrelocated before, I believe by tomorrow is the deadline.<\/p>\n<p>\nNow, homelessness is an issue all over our nation;<br \/>\nwe all know this.<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/98706376@N00\/9203177010\/sizes\/m\/\" title=\"Homelessness is our issue --Deidra White\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"float:right;border:none;\" src=\"http:\/\/farm8.staticflickr.com\/7299\/9203177010_173721c5af_n.jpg\" alt=\"Homelessness is our issue --Deidra White\"><\/a><br \/>\nAnd lots of time it&#8217;s out of sight, it&#8217;s out of mind.<br \/>\nAnd I want to tell you it is not the responsibility<br \/>\nor in the scope of a local government to take this on.<br \/>\nThis is an issue that we as citizens,<br \/>\nthat our churches, our nonprofits, that every one of us,<br \/>\nthis is our issue.<br \/>\nIt is not &#8220;our local government&#8217;s responsibility&#8221;.<br \/>\nIt&#8217;s impossible for local government to take this on,<br \/>\nin my opinion, I don&#8217;t think that&#8217;s the place.<br \/>\nIt&#8217;s the place of caring community members like ourselves.<\/p>\n<p>\nSo, on behalf of these eleven homeless persons who have been relocated,<br \/>\nand who have now been positioned to improve their situation greatly.<br \/>\nTheir position was immediately improved by the donation of tents<br \/>\nto sleep in instead of just out on the ground.<br \/>\nIf you want to speak with me about it later I will be happy to.<br \/>\nBut the points I want to make specifically are.<br \/>\nThe city council representatives are here to be the voice for our little<br \/>\narea.<br \/>\nAnd you listen to your constituents and you do to the best of the ability<br \/>\nto represent them and what their needs are.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>\nShe continued saying she had done that and would continue to do so.\n<\/p>\n<p>\nRegarding local government and the homeless, seems to me she<br \/>\njust demonstrated how local government just did deal with the<br \/>\noverpass situation.<br \/>\nGovernment doesn&#8217;t just mean passing laws or paying for things.<br \/>\nMore importantly it means providing coordination, forums, and,<br \/>\nas she said, a voice for the community.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n<a name=\"VDT\"><\/a><br \/>\nThe VDT has run a long series of articles on the homeless situation:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n3 July 2013 by Jason Schaefer,<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/valdostadailytimes.com\/local\/x1952113780\/Chief-shares-the-facts-on-homeless\"><br \/>\nChief shares the facts on homeless:<br \/>\nCommunity unrest prompts second relocation<\/a><\/p>\n<li>\n2 July 2013 by Jason Schaefer,<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/valdostadailytimes.com\/todays-top-stories\/x881889311\/Valdosta-homeless-camp-moved-again\"><br \/>\nUpdate: Valdosta homeless camp in process of second move<\/a><\/p>\n<li>\n2 July 2013 by Jason Schaefer,<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/valdostadailytimes.com\/local\/x1320123101\/Homeless-intrusion-Neighbors-complain-council-members-say-they-weren-t-informed\">Homeless intrusion? Neighbors complain, council members say they weren\u2019t informed<\/a><\/p>\n<li>\n28 June 2013 Editorial,<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/valdostadailytimes.com\/opinion\/x1293876315\/Homeless-A-move-in-the-right-direction\"><br \/>\nHomeless: A move in the right direction<\/a><\/p>\n<li>\n27 June 2013<br \/>\nby<br \/>\nJason Schaefer,<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/valdostadailytimes.com\/local\/x331665921\/Homeless-move-to-safer-locale\"><br \/>\nHomeless move to safer locale<\/a><\/p>\n<li>\n12 June 2013 by Dean Poling,<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/valdostadailytimes.com\/features\/x1504163478\/New-mission-LAMP-focuses-on-homeless\"><br \/>\nNew mission: LAMP focuses on homeless<\/a>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\nHere&#8217;s<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=V5VOullcL5Q&#038;t=10m47s\"><br \/>\nthe video:<\/a>\n<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:center;font-size:80%\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/V5VOullcL5Q\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><br \/>\n<br \/>\nThe stars all lined up for the homeless &#8211;Deidra White<br \/>\n<br \/>\nJuly 4th BBQ, Lowndes County Democratic Party (LCDP),<br \/>\n<br \/>Gretchen Quarterman (Chair), Dennis Marks (Vice-Chair \/ Elections),<br \/>\nAmanda Hall (Vice-Chair \/ Membership), Richard Saeger (Vice-Chair \/ Qualifying), Jerrell Anderson (Secretary), James J. Parker (Treasurer),<br \/>\n<br \/>\nVideo by John S. Quarterman for Lowndes County Democratic Party (LCDP), Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 2 July 2013.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n -jsq<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The homeless formerly living under the James Beck Overpass now have homes and most have jobs, said Valdosta City Council Deidra White at last night&#8217;s Lowndes County Democratic Party Annual 4th of July Barbecue. White said the encampment under the overpass had been growing for some time, and people in her district, which contains the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40,14,49,321,322,22,73,74,54],"tags":[6571,6568,8717,344,1665,8704,8721,8761,8701,10,1664,6572,6573,1669,6570,548,6567,8762,7,938,8712,6569,8731,8732,6,8726],"class_list":["post-4480","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-community","category-economy","category-elections","category-food-and-drink","category-lcdp","category-politics","category-safety","category-security","category-valdosta-city-council","tag-2-july-2013","tag-amanda-hall-vice-chair-membership","tag-community","tag-deidra-white","tag-dennis-marks-vice-chair-elections","tag-economy","tag-elections","tag-food-and-drink","tag-georgia","tag-gretchen-quarterman","tag-gretchen-quarterman-chair","tag-homeless","tag-james-beck-overpass","tag-james-j-parker-treasurer","tag-jerrell-anderson-secretary","tag-john-s-quarterman","tag-july-4th-bbq","tag-lcdp","tag-lowndes-county","tag-lowndes-county-democratic-party","tag-politics","tag-richard-saeger-vice-chair-qualifying","tag-safety","tag-security","tag-valdosta","tag-valdosta-city-council"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4480","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4480"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4480\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4483,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4480\/revisions\/4483"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}