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. In 2021, San Francisco hired Urban Alchemy to take on a slightly different task: patrolling areas of the city with high concentrations of homeless camps and offering resources to those living outside. He put his face within a foot of one of the 16 new hires. I did a line with an Urban Alchemy guy, Sarah Gossage, a current encampment resident, said. A comprehensive rundown I heard it happening. Los Angeles, CA. This academic faction has a narrative that is made up. If necessary, employees call paramedics, homeless outreach teams or if confronted with violence or the threat of violence police. Volunteers wear bright yellow shirts, denoting them as members of the community and part of the Downtown Streets Team. 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. We can give them the training. In our experience, cleaning is one of the . Employees dont always succeed in deterring violence. In training, Hammonds taught the new employees to be patiently persuasive when asking people who may be homeless, addicted or traumatized to stop blocking sidewalks or using drugs in public. The police are brought in to offer deescalation training, helping to establish a relationship between law enforcement and employees of Urban Alchemy. 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. Urban Alchemy also prohibits predatory sexual behavior because of the power dynamics, according to Clinebell. 'The Fence is Never Coming Down,' and Other Things Urban Alchemy Told Miller started Urban Alchemy in 2018. Aaron Kelly, a current resident of the camp, said he did crystal meth with the same Urban Alchemy employee, who no longer works at the Sausalito encampment. Know Your City! The four-bedroom residence serves as . 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. Many team members spent time in prison and surviving that was possible, in part, because of an ability to deescalate a situation. Urban Alchemy is moving the needle where nobody else is really able to move the needle, which is because theyre doing the same old, same old, Miller said. After Clark-Johnson, director of residential services, and Hammonds, chief of training, stopped coming to the camp on a regular basis, two Urban Alchemy employees, Mike and Joseph, whose last names are unknown, took over. 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. They told the class theyve been in jail, homeless and raped. Were stunned with the insensitivity of calling our workforce mercenary, especially since our practitioners are primarily Black, Latino and formerly incarcerated or homeless, Miller said. Most of Urban Alchemys 1,100 employees have served life sentences in prison, but did serious self-work to get out from under their incarceration, according to its website. Bruce criticized Urban Alchemys hiring model, saying it was a recipe for disaster to have people with troubled backgrounds acting as authority figures over the most vulnerable citizens. Urban Alchemy said issues have surfaced in a small fraction of interactions. And outsourcing government functions to nonprofits can make it more difficult for the public to evaluate whether spending is achieving results. To achieve this, Elliott encouraged landscape architects to continue to design for everyone, not specific populations. Wounded Warriors Collier County opens second house for homeless veterans Last year, more than 450 employees filed a potential class action suit alleging labor violations. The San Francisco Standard. A majority of employees are people of color, and some have been homeless. Then, after 90 days of close supervision and further training, the organization decides whether to keep the employee. 'Urban Alchemy' responds to LA's homeless crisis The organization later urged employees to call police instead of engaging with dealers. Each response includes a licensed mental health worker. Within seconds, he blocked all further communication. That goal was the focus of a recent training for new employees that The Chronicle attended. In this case, unfortunately, our staff was not informed of the pregnancy by the resident or her partner during intake nor were there any noticeably apparent signs that the resident was pregnant, Tyler said. The Urban Alchemy employee told police that Bruce had threatened him and that he pushed Bruce in self-defense. Because a city this offbeat deserves a newsletter with some In San Francisco, a shooting early last year highlighted workers role in the line of fire as private patrols paid with city funds. They allege he is a bully. We dont have weapons, mace. Once the city increased the contract, we got all these new Urban Alchemy people coming and going, Powelson said. The second worker was shot in April by an assailant who approached from behind, though the organization and police have not discussed a possible motive. Urban Alchemy has helped me to learn to help myself, Paradox said. Urban Alchemy officials reject that characterization, saying they told Los Angeles officials they didnt want police involved in outreach to the unhoused and didnt coordinate with officers during sweeps. Kevin Fagan is a longtime, award-winning reporter at The San Francisco Chronicle, specializing in homelessness, enterprise news-feature writing, breaking news and crime. In order to combat the housing issue, the city council has committed to at least 140 new units of permanent support housing in all 9 council districts to be built over two years. Before that, she freelanced with a focus on the Yemeni diaspora while studying at the City University of New York Graduate School of Journalism. They can go to sleep at night, no one's going to touch them, hurt them, creep in their tent, she said. Training consists of two days in class, followed by a week in the field. A third organization, Urban Alchemy, is based in California and is hiring staffers for Austin. So far, cities are willing to take the risks. Based on Cooks Facebook profile, it appears he still works at Urban Alchemy; however, he is no longer on duty in the Sausalito encampment. 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. Ive had 20 years of homelessness off and on, and this has given me great purpose.. At the Sausalito tent encampment, Urban Alchemy moved three employees to other locations after altercations with community members, the organization said. He asked if I want to do a line and I said sure. The nonprofits unusual slogan is No fuckery., What were trying to do, co-founder and CEO Lena Miller said in an interview, is just make spaces safe and clean and raise the vibration, so to speak, in areas that in the past have been dirty and scary, particularly for people who are vulnerable.. The American Society of Landscape Architects Mara Paradox, who is nonbinary, raises their hand during a training session for new employees of the outreach group. No arrests have been made in either case. Students also learn that disrespect, defiance, doing drugs and showing up late will make you unsuccessful at Urban Alchemy, Hammonds said. The few people who remained on the block stayed out of the middle of the sidewalk and tried to keep any drug use out of view. Wilson says Urban Alchemy workers dont fit the definition of patrol officer or security guard, and therein lies their advantage. When a neighborhood, street or intersection earns a reputation as a place to avoid, we turn it around. When asked about the stories of assault, harassment and misdeeds at various projects, Miller said they paint an inaccurate picture and distract from the good Urban Alchemy has done. 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. As can be seen below, veterans homelessness spreads across generations. One organization the city is working with, Urban Alchemy, was founded to provide career opportunities for the formerly incarcerated. 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 . 636 Eye Street, NW I was going to hit him, but UA escorted him off the property.. URBAN ALCHEMY - Los Angeles, CA - Yelp Urban Alchemy is a peaceful and supportive presence, inviting communities to rebuild and restore a sense of pride and respect in urban spaces. 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. We know what it means to be dismissed and disrespected. 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. Were able to do this because we share a special bond with societys most vulnerable and because we see ourselves in their struggle. In February, Miller said, a drug dealer shot an Urban Alchemy worker who had told the dealer to stop selling outside a city-run tent encampment. I can attest to the fact the meth was real., Kennedy said he knows two Urban Alchemy practitioners who brought meth into the camp, although neither works at the Sausalito location any longer. But where others in the nonprofit services sector and psychologists see prison trauma as debilitating, Millerwho recently received a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of San Franciscobelieves that struggling to survive on the inside requires expertise in an encyclopedias worth of social cues. | Melina Mara/The Washington Post via Getty Images, By clicking Subscribe you confirm you have read and agree to our. Urban Alchemy Campers can bring in their own tents and whatever other belongings fit inside their assigned space. That was predatory. Miller earns $220,000 a year, according to the same contract. Because a city this offbeat deserves a newsletter with some The lawsuit, which also names the city as a defendant, is ongoing. The . For Davis, we are all here to hold each other accountable to be our better selves.. When a neighborhood, street or intersection earns a reputation as a place to avoid, we turn it around. The only reason why were where we are is because we get to work. Urban Alchemy: A rapid rise with rampant risks One organization the city is working with, Urban Alchemy, was founded to provide career opportunities for the formerly incarcerated. Reduce the number of homelessness-related calls to dispatch, in areas where the CART program's community-strengthening interventions have occurred. The ARCH is a City-owned facility providing shelter and resources in downtown Austin, managed by Urban Alchemy and Austin Area Urban League. Ian Clark-Johnson and Loving Lou Hammonds told the campers they came to help and make them more comfortable. Council Approves California Homeless Service Provider Urban Alchemy to Washington, DC 20001-3736, Phone: 202-898-2444 He bought her a sandwich, prayed with her, then took her to the citys linkage center. Curating the best of The Standards top-notch reporting, every Saturday. Los Angeles has opened its first government-run homeless encampment on a quiet, commercial block beside the 101 freeway in East Hollywood. Urban Alchemy responds to LA's homeless crisis, uses community-led But there have been very notable setbacks in Urban Alchemys projects in the Bay Area and beyond that call into question the efficacy of this approach. She listed examples as violence, discrimination and disrespect to women. Urban Alchemy saved 85 lives in 2018, through Narcan deployment, which brings back people from drug overdoses, and providing water to dehydrated people. I was in a vulnerable situation, she said. Del Seymour, a Tenderloin community leader, called Urban Alchemy phenomenal because it helped calm the streets without police and allowed the city to quickly open homeless shelters. That "super power" is needed to work the streets of LA says Kirkpatrick Tyler, the Chief of Government-Community Affairs for Urban Alchemy. Urban Alchemy saved 85 lives in 2018, through Narcan deployment, which brings back people from drug overdoses, and providing water to dehydrated people. Whether you are an abolitionist or a police cheerleader, we all agree whats been done in the past is not working.. Criticisms of Urban Alchemy run the gamut, from being a mercenary organization to inadequate staff training. Most campers reported few problems with Mike and Joseph. Kennedy claims he watched Cook take an intoxicated female camper, who was stumbling when she walked, out of the camp. Wounded Warriors opened its first residence for homeless veterans, called Alpha House, at 1361 Fifth Ave. N. in the city of Naples in January 2020. He just gave it to me. 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. LA poised to launch unarmed crisis response pilot - Spectrum News 1 Miller said the organization doesnt condone employees pushing extreme political views on the job, and her staff said it was aware of the tattoo and had received no complaints from residents. Since 2019, the organization has won $62 million in. Urban Alchemys contract to run the Sausalito site expires at the end of June. Powelson said he reported drug use by Urban Alchemy staff to Josh, who was a shift supervisor. You have entered an incorrect email address! Employees get paid starting at $21 an hour and benefits, according to Urban Alchemys latest city contract. bitea dose of arts, culture and more. Some campers were offended by several of Joshs numerous tattoos, which include white supremacist symbols. After I was done, he let me keep the 20 dollars., Gossage gave the employees name off the record because she said hes the only Alchemy person I could trust.. The three organizations are the inaugural members of the Austin Street Outreach Collaborative. S.F. looks to calm its streets with Urban Alchemy, a nonprofit that In Sausalito, where city officials paid Urban Alchemy $464,000 to run a tent encampment for six months, a photo shows that a worker wearing shorts had a visible 88 tattoo on his right calf, a well-known code for Heil Hitler. (H is the eighth letter of the alphabet.) 1. In general, the countys coordinated entry system prioritizes people based on a vulnerability index that measures physical and mental health. Security is something totally different. Although the pair mentioned they were with Urban Alchemy, Powelson said the men gave the impression they were homeless advocates from San Francisco. He later bought her a sandwich, prayed with her, and took her to the Tenderloin Linkage Center. Email: mallory.moench@sfchronicle.com, kfagan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @mallorymoench, @kevinchron. From February through December 2021, the City of Sausalito entered into several contracts with Uban Alchemy. Los Angeles is seeking answers to the homeless crisis. When youre trying to prevent theft, who do you hire? Mayor London Breed awarded the non-profit Urban Alchemy an $8.8 million grant to blanket the downtown area in August 2021. The city formally announced its relationship with Urban Alchemy in a Feb. 16, 2021 online statement. And unlike at the West LA VAs safe camping site, this one doesnt share a campus with various health care facilities, and campers dont have access to a special pool of housing rental vouchers like eligible military veterans do. Made in L.A. Streaming music, news & culture from KCRW Santa Monica, Live streaming music, news & culture from KCRW Santa Monica. California is ranked number 1 in homelessness, with nearly 130,000 homeless individuals, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and numbers only continue to rise. Traumatized people do a better job of understanding other traumatized people, she and her staffers say. See how far weve come. This expansion, in Millers view, is owed to an innovation that came out of her own study of trauma. A parking lot has been turned into a homeless encampment that offers 24-hour security and free meals. Council weighs 'calculated risk' with new management of - impact Plans for continuing education such as computer and financial literacy are also in the works, the organization said.