While Dearborn Wholesale Foods Corporation blithely ignores the homeless population living on their property, their Montrose and Agatite neighbors cannot share that luxury. That is because where the homeless live, eat and drink, the homeless must go - as in potty. And the property owner gets to clean it up.The unwilling recipients of Dearborn Wholesale Foods’ homeless policy are those next door neighbors who get the sh?t end of the deal. Here, one of our locals demonstrates how to use a neighbor’s dumpster to find relief. As this is a family blog, we only show her arm peeking out from the left side of the dumpster prior to her relief and the pant zip-up after her relief.
Does anyone call the police when they see this? Is there a low/non-response time for public defecation/urination?
ReplyDeleteSame problem I had in my alley on Bryn Mawr right near Sheridan (behind Edgewater Presbyterian Church). Many are the days that I turned the corner of that alley to enter my building from the rear entrance only to be met with several streams of urine heading my way as well as less-conspicuous evidence of other bodily functions. I called the alderman (Mary Ann Smith) and they did address it but some of the folks keep coming back. But yeah, I feel you pain on this one.
ReplyDeleteThats my girl Pookie(my nickname for her) in the picture.
ReplyDeleteI wish, god would erase the memory of seeing her pee in between two cars last summer. It was like a hose sparying out in to Montrose. Please god make me a forgot.
The problem with this crew is never going to be solved; even if a fence is installed. This crew hangs out in the parking lot until they are asked to move. Then they move to the alley behind Dearborn, only to make their way back to the parking lot once the security guard is no longer watching. Even if a fence is put up, they will continue to hang out in the alley, which is not really a solution at all.
ReplyDeletePublic peeing in front of children.
ReplyDeleteI have to say the behavior that is tolerated around this property really frustrates me. However, Dearborn’s ownership is clearly not motivated to do much about it. I know the manager I spoke to in the past was really frustrated but could not get the ownership to give extra funds for security. Instead they do call the police regularly. All I can say is if I lived within a block of this property I would be calling 911 about 10 times a day to report this type of behavior. If those who lived in this general area did that I know there would be less people hanging out there. The neighbors need to get together and as a group ask the Alderman’s office and Dearborn Management why the property is not compliant with the Chicago code regarding fencing. A group of my neighbors did this with the Uhaul on Broadway. Nothing was done about the issue until a representative from the 46th office saw 30 people at a community meeting angry about the code not being followed, along with lots of other issues that took place around Uhaul’s property. A letter was written the next day to Uhaul and the fence was installed about 30 days later.
ReplyDeleteI hope the people who own property around that area know that they could create a lot of change if they could get together. But until they do, there is not much the rest of us can do. Sure you can call 911 when you see things like this picture but unless you live in the area I fear much of it will go unreported. This only encourages people to continue to hang out there and treat it with disrespect.
Has anyone ever called the Alderman’s office about the Chicago Code not being followed around Dearborn? I know people have called 311 but what about just calling the 46-ward office. If you can site the code number it might help. I actually gave a copy of the code to the 46-ward employee when she asked what I was talking about. I got it from this very blog about a year ago.
UU is very bowel-oriented today..
ReplyDeleteI've only been in the immediate "hood" for 10 years.
Believe it or not, it has gotten better...
It used to be used needles, condoms and feces...
i don't know where you live larry, but I still see all those things in the 'hood.
ReplyDeleteCould it be that Kenmore Ave. has lost all of its third-world charm that the rest of Uptown still enjoys??? I have Sandra Reed a block away, and James Cappleman across the street... lucky I guess...
ReplyDeleteI think her name is Shirley. She also gets picked up in an ambulance once or twice a week.
ReplyDeleteI've been told by the police expressly that unless you witness it and our willing to find a witness report, there is little they can do. They will not cite someone for defecation in public unless they catch them in the act. I don't blame the police on this. I'm just saying that if you want to get the matter handled, you need to be willing to file a complaint.
ReplyDeletelarrynow: If you live where you say you live, cross the street sometime and hang out in the alleyway behind the east side of the street just north of that children's playcenter in the alleyway. I catch homeless doing this type of thing there about twice a month.
ReplyDeleteYep, nothing's changed all that much...just moved from the immediate area. I belonged to an earlier incarnation of the Truman Square Neighbors. Some of the earlier members had enough and moved. They were there since the early 1980's. Their stories make ours seem trivial.
ReplyDeleteJust out of curiosity...are there any restaurants, etc. in the area that take a "don't ask don't tell" attitude towards non-customers coming into use the "facilities," or are they all posting "Restrooms for customer use only" on their doors?
ReplyDeleteToo bad Chicago can't find a way to do what other cities in the US and elsewhere are doing with regard to public restrooms in areas other than city parks.
There's a public library two blocks away from Dearborn Market. There's a hospital 4 blocks away.
ReplyDeleteAll you have to do is ask any merchant if you may use their restroom. Just ask.
It's the presumption that you can use it that they dislike.
What's up with the crack-addicts and meth-heads in Uptown?
ReplyDeleteDoes Couraj, the Jesus People, and all the other bleeding heart Shilleristas train them to piss and crap all over this joint?
I've been having to step around a giant mound of man-mud on my way out our building's back gate. Shiller, have you been eating your All Bran ?
I was once jogging by, and the woman just pulled down her pants and sat on the railing next to the sidewalk to urinate in broad daylight. As sad and disgusting as this is, she was rocking and mumbling to herself as she was doing that - I think she is clearly just too disturbed to be able to function in any realistic sense of the word. I doubt that someone like this is able to seek help, shelter, facilities, etc.
ReplyDeleteAnd then I see Salvation Army handing out food in the middle of the day from their van, making it extremely comfortable for the homeless to stay stuck in the cycle of homelessness.
ReplyDeleteCan you say "enabling"?
The parking lot that belongs to dearborn grocery is a real unhealthy and unsafe condition. I see all day and night people drinking, doing drugs and it even smells like a pig pen. I called the corp. office and make complaints and told him what is he going to do about his lot. I am sick as well as my children are from seeing all unhealthy and unsafe conditions his lot has going on and yet he does nothing about it. He said he cannot do nothing. I told him hes full of BS and I was going to call the city on him. He said go ahead as they won`t do anything either. He has a business to run and does not care about us, residents, and our complaints..What a answer. I called the police and they said they are on private property and they cannot do anything about it either. People that own the lot has to chase them off. I called the aldermans office and her smart motuh worker siad all people which includes the street people have a right to live too. I said why don`t they let them live in frnot of thier office and take a crap on her doorstep as they do on ours. I have lived here 25 years and own property. I have never seen should unsafe and unhealthy conditions, specially at this bearborn parking lot..Please everyone call the city and the corp. office and make complaints as then maybe someone will care............
ReplyDeleteI have no problem with them handing out food. No one should be without food. They come for the methadone, drugs, and the Helen Shiller promise.
ReplyDeleteI work out at World Gym, so I see the action here when Im doing my cardio. I see the police kick them out time after time only to come back. I see the department of puplic heath giving them free health care. The police spend so many hours there that they miss the building (915 W Montrose) next to it that has drug buyers and sellers coming to and from at all hours.
It's amazing what you see in Uptown once you know what to look for.
Gayle are you seriously suggesting that the city should regulate the use of private business bathrooms for use of the homeless??? Or am I reading this wrong? Have you ever been privy enough to follow one of their acts in a Jewel or Gas station or starbucks bathroom? It is disgusting, they shower in the sink leaving a pool of mud, urine, lice, and grim all over the sink and floor and then "towel" off with every available towlette only to stuff the toilet with them afterward. If indeed that is how you feel why don't you let some of them use your bathroom and let me know how it works out for you.
ReplyDeleteChip:
ReplyDeleteWorld's tred mills are set up to give us a unique view of Dearborn as well as the constant flow of freaks that walk past the big gym windows. I share in the entertainment.
Same trouble in our alley, plus a new twist on Agatite near the east end of the Maryville parking lot where a group of 4 people 2 men 2 women(and an occasional child)took up temporary residence and just squatted between cars to urinate or in the grass, plus a good dose of drinking and fighting.I finally got 2 female officers from ClarendonPark to come over let them know that they needed to move on.The officers told me that we need to keep calling in situations like these.
ReplyDeletePookie is one of my favorites! She is so animated and that vest that she wears every day and smells like urine just makes me want to hug her.
ReplyDeleteAnyone want to try an experiment? Lets pay them each $10 to hang out in front of Shillers office or in front of her house. I wonder how quickly the police will round them up and move them along. I bet their "homeless need places to live too" attitude would take a quick U turn.
Her name is Cheryl. I had a wonderful time in the Louis Weiss
ReplyDeleteMemorial Hospital with her one afternoon after a bike accident. She's lovely and hilarious.
She sells such objects as:
Half of a egg-carton mattress pad
A Woman's Day magazine from 2006
A doll with no head
A lampshade
and children's denim
People do report her behavior quite frequently. She is sent to the hospital multiple times a week for detox and holding. It's not that there is a lack of consideration from the locals, but there is only so much that they can do to stop/prevent this from Good Ol' Cheryl.
I don't pretend to know all the answers for Cheryl. She certainly points out the broken system of care. Detoxing a person from alcohol wreaks havoc on one's body. Ideally, it's best to only detox people who are motivated to address their drug dependence. Getting treatment right after detox is another huge hurdle in Chicago.
ReplyDeleteOther cities like Portland, OR have educated their citizens to not give money to panhandlers, and to instead buy tokens to help these people out. The money goes toward various agencies that provide intensive case management services. They focus on the use of best practices to help out the homeless and others in need, which ensures that every dime of money donated is used wisely. Agencies with higher success rates of getting people independent again are given more funding.
Chicago is $469 million dollars in debt and so it's vital that our city spends its money wisely on programs that are able to demonstrate accountability to their mission. There are answers for people like Cheryl. The problem has been a lack of commitment to break through all the politics to get to the answers that other cities are already finding.
The real incentive for this to change will be the voters to elect officials who are committed to transparency, collaboration, ethics, accountability, and sound fiscal management. We could start by allowing the City Inspector General to investigate aldermen for fraud and abuse.
As a city, we're not there yet.
Mom? What are you doing?
ReplyDeleteI used to have the same problem on my block until I went to the Farm n' Fleet and bought me a cattle prod. There are some places that people just don't like touched with a cattle prod.
ReplyDeleteJames, could you email me offline at fremodada@yahoo.com? Thank you
ReplyDeleteProblems with our homeless neighbors need to be understood in terms of the recent shelter closings. We have lost nearly 200 beds on the northside in the last year. Whether these beds actually lead to personal change is debatable. The larger shelters tend to meet an emergency need but serve to enable the people they serve. We're seeing a lot more of the homeless staying outside without these beds and no good shelter alternatives. Also, I work with the homeless each and every day so don't ever equate them to cattle. They are human beings first. And they are ill. We as a community are responsible for providing treatment to people who are ill, and our system of treatment is broken, especially in Uptown.
ReplyDeleteDavid, the problems at Dearborn Wholesale have been going on for years and years.
ReplyDeleteI don't think there are many people who don't have sympathy for the homeless, but it's severely tested by neighbors who see crap (and I do mean that literally) right on their doorsteps day after day after day after day...
Yes, many homeless individuals are ill and they are to be pitied. However, there is a FEAST of social services agencies literally steps from the camping/ peeing/ crapping/ drinking locations in Uptown. When help is just around the corner, and someone would rather befoul my neighborhood than get help, that's pretty much where my sympathy ends.
Your sympathies are with the homeless, such as the woman pictured. Mine are more with the kids who have to see this as they walk to school, the businesses who endure this every day, and the neighbors who have to pick up the detritus of the homeless who don't want help, but who prefer to live in the parking lots and loading docks.
The one entity I have no sympathy for at all is Dearborn Wholesale, who have done nothing to alleviate the problem and have created a terrible situation in this neighborhood due to their lack of concern.
David, I have relatives who have been homeless, and who are just a generous aunt or cousin away from being homeless again. I certainly don't think of them as evil or cattle. However, the situation we have in this community, where homeless people squat between cars to do their business, leave booze bottles in school parks, and fornicate on the sidewalks is completely unacceptable. Perhaps we can agree on that much.