Favoritism and Retaliation

I have personally observed the favoritism practised by the Urban Alchemy staff.

Some people (disabled or not) are allowed to bring a secondary vehicle in to use to get to town. It’s remote out here and about half-a-mile walk to the nearest bus stop.

I have a vehicle because I am disabled and I was insisted I be allowed it BEFORE I moved here. The UA staff was told by Dept of Homelessness to allow me to have it. I am in SSI for mobility issues (herniated discs).

However, others who are most definitely disabled, they are not allowed a secondary vehicle. Others (not disabled) aren’t allowed a secondary vehicle so they must walk, ride bicycles, or catch a ride with one of us who have transportation out of here. There is a golf cart that you can sometimes get a ride to the bus stop. I was without a car out here from December to February, and was politely given a ride four (4) times to the bus stop. I see an occasional person also getting a ride. The van that the staff has does not have seats in the back and we are told it’s only for transporting supplies.

Another example of favoritism is that some of the RVs/ trailers are not actually occupied. The rule is if you are gone more than 48 hours, you are kicked out the programe (called a Denial of Service). Yet one of the other ladies here, who gave her permission to show you these photos, when she broke down recently and was stranded away from the VTC trying to get her rig to run (having informed her case manager, but they are from Bayview Hunter’s Point Foundation, and not Urban Alchemy, who “run” the VTC), she was denied re-entry, having been towed back from where she was broke down, she was told she couldn’t come back in. She sat stranded next to the front entrance, for over a week, sending outraged emails and phone calls until the Dept of Homelessness program manager insisted she be allowed back in and paid for the tow company with a City credit card. The unnecessary stress and outright fear caused her was in retaliation for complaining about having her vehicle hit by an Urban Alchemy staffer.

Oct 5, 2023 she was finally towed back in. Note the City car supervising.

Every time I drive away from the VTC, I wonder if I am going to be allowed back in. All it takes is getting the top staff saying you can’t come back in.

One of the rules is we are not allowed to photograph. It too can lead to a Denial of Service. You can see how angry Director Louis Reed looks at me when he catches me filming one of the human zoo tours.

There need to be a panel of the tenants who decide. Once a week they meet and review the write-ups from Urban Alchemy staff, then they the people decide who gets thrown out of the VTC. It’s too much power in hands of one person.

I disagree that the model used by Urban Alchemy of hiring only the formerly incarcerated is a proper business model when it comes to running a campground. Completely opposite kinds of training-in-life: people who live very self-reliant, out in nature (as most campgrounds are rural) compare to the VTC where people who are in recovery from being forced to live in crowded, violent, segregated, soul-crushingly ugly places with a eat-or-be-eaten environment, zero trees or beauty, it’s important to ask WHY would those people, formerly incarcerated and frankly, tortured, why would they understand why we, the vehicle dwellers, are furious at being restricted into a 30 x 15 foot space, two spans of fence, so many UNPOSTED made-up rules (therefore, not rules at all!), sole people subject to more rules than others which is a type of collective intimidation.

No services our RVs need, like roofs and floors, mechanic work, tires, batteries.

I could get a D.O.S. Denial of Service for all the films I make. You can see the director doesn’t like looking at my phone in his face one bit, as he walks around another tour of City officials seeing how the huan zoo looks.