http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yurt
Posted on 08/31/2006 5:08:31 PM PDT by Pontiac
LOS ANGELES
A community of squat, futuristic domes once billed as a utopian refuge from life on the streets is itself facing homelessness.
The silvery, igloo-like fiberglass structures, packed tightly on a downtown lot, are being sold online to the highest bidder.
Such is the unceremonious end to Dome Village _ activist Ted Hayes' model of a self-governed, self-sufficient community for the homeless. Since its founding in 1993, the village has been visited by celebrities but has gone largely unnoticed by thousands of commuters buzzing past on the freeway nearby.
Hayes said a big rent increase _ from $2,500 to $18,330 per month _ is forcing the village from its site near the downtown Staples Center. The partnership that owns the land said the increase reflects soaring downtown property values.
Residents were saddened by the decision to sell. They must leave by October.
"We have such a family here," said Graham Foster, 51, a former nightclub manager who arrived three years ago after living several months in a battered motor home. "Closing down is almost like an explosion."
When Dome Village was founded 13 years ago, Hayes envisioned a cooperative of 30 homeless working and living together, and counseling each other through tough times.
About 450 people have occupied the village over the years, living in the domes and using community kitchen, laundry and bathroom facilities on the site. Families and singles alike planted gardens, paid $70 a month in rent and divided chores on the 1.25-acre lot, which was once choked with weeds that grew neck-high through cracks in the asphalt.
Proceeds from the eBay auction will help replicate the village elsewhere in Los Angeles, Hayes said. In the meantime, families have been placed in shelters across the city.
Bids started at $3,000 per structure. The domes can be broken down to fit into the back of a pickup truck.
Hayes, a Republican, blamed politics for the village's demise. He said Democratic landlords raised the rent two days after he appeared at a meeting of a Bel Air Republican women's club. A lawyer for the landlords denied politics were at play.
"It's just not financially viable for us to allow them to remain there," attorney Mike Sidley said.
About 90,000 people _ including 10,000 children _ are homeless in Los Angeles County on any given night, according to estimates by the homeless services authority.
Dome Village was built with the help of a $250,000 grant from the Los Angeles-based oil company Atlantic Richfield. It was seen as an innovative approach to downtown's intractable homeless problem. Over the years, Prince Edward of England, Denzel Washington and the Beastie Boys visited the site, according to the online advertisement.
Brushes with celebrity did not immediately translate into bids. As of Thursday afternoon, no one had made an offer on any of the 14 domes for sale.
On the Net:
http://www.domevillage.org
"It's just not financially viable for us to allow them to remain there," attorney Mike Sidley said.
Uhmm sure I believe him.
Because everybody knows the DimicRATS really care about the homeless.
Ted Hayes honorary freeper bump!
Forgot to credit Drudge for posting the link to this article.
Hmmmm maybe this is why the Dimrats have the longknives out...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1674284/posts
Who would have thought that the Dims would have supported a project that made the homeless even a little bit self-sufficient.
With them it’s all about the government taking care of the poor.
Maybe the fact that Hayes was an “Activist for the Homeless” made them think that he was a DimicRat.
Yeah he wasn't their type of activist :(
This is truly the downside of high real estate prices. From skid row to high-rise row in just a few years.
It's a pity that he wasn't able to find a cheap site he could move the village to. I suspect it was very difficult for him to think about moving away from his home base there.
I wonder what Ted's next project is. Whatever it is, I wish him all the best.
Incidentally, the eBay auction is here for anyone interested.
D
Great to see he is a member of the Minuteman Project.
I think the Laguna Beach day labor site is not necessarily a bad idea for the homeless.
So long as they discourage Illegal Aliens from using it.
Don't worry. If the housing prices keep going up in Cali and New York City/Suburbia, Ted Hayes will have a future in building home domes for the middle class.
TED HAYES DESERVES BETTER THAN THIS, for fighting to help others better themselves.
As regards the staggering rent increase, how can you conscienceless Democrats bear to look in the mirror?
Prayers up for Ted and his noble work.
Since most rentals loose money and are used to offset profits from other income on Federal Taxes I don’t see this argument as valid.
From the description this is essentially a vacant lot. Unless they are intending to build on the lot (1.5 acres) I don’t see this as a valid argument.
Also with only 1.5 acres to build on I don’t see the potential for huge profits.
Maybe they are going to build a new drug store. We all know the need for new drugstores and the high profits (a bad word for Dimis by the way) to be made selling drugs at high prices to elders.
I love how the headline indicates this is just a sad homeless story, and the political aspect is buried waaaaayyyy deep in the article.
Good observation.
The press is very sly and subtle in the way they slant this.
CROSS COUNTRY
Rasta Republican
Meet Los Angeles's Ted Hayes. He's black, dreadlocked--and belongs to the GOP.
BY JILL STEWART
Thursday, April 28, 2005 12:01 a.m.
LOS ANGELES--Condoleezza Rice and Ward Connerly once epitomized black Republicans in California. But their ilk now also includes Ted Hayes, a social activist and inner-city coach whose billowing robes and dreadlocks don't exactly conjure up an image of the GOP.
More blacks than ever support vouchers and faith-based initiatives, and side with President Bush on gay marriage. Mr. Hayes recently made the transition himself, ending a long journey for this former leftist who founded Dome Village, an outcropping of pod-like homeless shelters along the freeway in downtown Los Angeles.
There are other prominent black Republicans in California, of course, such as syndicated radio host Larry Elder and community relations expert Joe Hicks. But even among these unusual thinkers, Mr. Hayes stands out. He's an intense critic of L.A.'s powerful "black old guard"--Democratic politicians, charity bosses and inner-city preachers who, for a generation, have responded to poverty and illiteracy by demanding government programs and blaming white racism.
Not surprisingly, plenty of people wish pesky black Republicans like Mr. Hayes would just slink away. He has skewered L.A.'s entrenched black leaders as "Negro officials," and he has the street cred to get away with it. As L.A. endured another crisis between black leaders and cops recently, he refused to denounce police for shooting dead a 13-year-old, Devin Brown, after a car chase. Instead, Mr. Hayes's press release faulted black church leaders who, despite their great power, rarely point to the lack of parental responsibility...-- snip --
Los Angeles Liberals: Screw The Homeless…
December 29, 2005by Bob ParksI thought I’d share this commentary by Ted Hayes, a black conservative homeless advocate in Los Angeles. This is in partial response to those who take offense to my assertion that liberals and their policies are inherently racist by design….
Prejudice
By Ted Hayes
December 28, 2005American blacks who are affiliated with the Republican Party are vigorously vilified by Democrats, especially black Democrats. Uncle Tom, sell-out, Oreo — the list of slurs is long.
But it is not only insults. I am the founder and director of a unique, progressive homeless facility in downtown Los Angeles, known as the Dome Village. Yet the 35 men, women and children and their pets who call the Dome Village home are being “evicted” from privately owned property after 12-and-a-half years — apparently on account of my political beliefs and activities. You see, though I am a leading homeless activist, I am also a conservative Republican and a strong supporter of President Bush.
Here’s how the situation played out. Recently, I was invited to address a local Republican Women’s Club; my landlord read an article in the local paper reporting on the event. Soon after, I received a notice raising the Dome Village rent from $2,500 a month to $18,330. Shocked, I inquired as to the seriousness of the change and the property owner blurted out that the cause of our “eviction” was “because you are Republican.” He said that as a Democrat, he was tired of helping me and the Dome Village. In other words, let the homeless be damned.
And people think the Democrats are the party of compassion and tolerance. Private property should be protected, of course, and I have no intention of causing any trouble for this property owner as we part ways. Whatever he does with his valuable land — it is only a few blocks from the Staples Center — is no concern of mine, and I will not go to court.
Still, I cannot help but be saddened by the whole business. When I founded the Dome Village 12 years ago, we had an understanding that he could ask for his property back at any time for any reason, and I would say “absolutely” without hesitation. Still, his reason was prejudice against Republicans.
We see this across the country. Michael Steele, the lieutenant governor of Maryland and a Republican candidate for the Senate, has been crudely denigrated on racial grounds. A prominent leftist Web site, for instance, depicted him as “Sambo,” among other aspersions. When Condoleezza Rice was nominated as Secretary of State, she faced similar treatment: editorial cartoons depicting her as a racial caricature, personalities calling her “Aunt Jemima” on liberal talk radio, and so forth. Clarence Thomas, Ward Connerly, Colin Powell, Thomas Sowell and other black conservatives regularly face similar smears.
These conservatives are attacked not because of the validity or judicious consideration of their views but because those views are supposedly heterodox for American blacks. Yet it is my opinion that many black people in the U.S. are politically and philosophically conservative — and many are in fact actually closeted Republicans, fearful of persecution by friends, business associates, society clubs, school mates and even churches.
It is time for American blacks to have a conversation about the phenomenon of Democrats persecuting black Republicans. Why is this happening? What is it that the Democrats don’t want black folks to understand about Republicans? What is it that the Democrats don’t want black folks to know about Democrats? And how is it that we have come to this point — after having endured so much — where we have ourselves curtailed the freedom of political expression through the threat of retaliatory consequences?
- Mr. Hayes is a homeless activist in Los Angeles
For those of liberals out there who are offended that I continue to use the very words against you that are gleefully tossed by yours at conservatives, please explain how you claim to support the homeless, yet are willing to kick them to the curb because a black man who chooses to feed, clothe, and house them is a Republican.
So much for tolerance and inclusion yet again.
###
Posted in Bob Parks at 8:13 am by Bob Parks
The Dome Village, a project of Justiceville/Homeless USA, is a non-profit organization which offers a structural alternative for homeless people unable or even unwilling to live in traditional shelters or return to the "mainstream" life style.
The domes themselves and the actual village arrangement is utilized as a stabilizing tool to provide basic, affordable, transitional housing which is non-threatening to the chronic homeless person nor to the local neighborhood.
Dome Village has created a positive and innovative approach to housing homeless people and achieves the goals of alleviating homelessness as it reduces urban blight and decay in our city.
Located in the heart of downtown Los Angeles, the Dome Village was founded by homeless activist Ted Hayes in 1993.
It has transformed an unsightly encampment site into a community of formerly homeless people who have become productive, industrious and responsible.
The Dome Village is comprised of 20 Omni-Sphere domes which provide housing and supportive service for up to 34 individuals and family members.
It is to be especially noted here that the Omni-Sphere dome was designed by Mr. Craig Chamberlain, a Vietnam Veteran; student and personal friend of the late Buckminster Fuller.
The Dome Village is often able to assist individuals who have shunned or been unsuccessful in traditional programs for the homeless offered elsewhere.
While its true that a variety of programs for the homeless are available, most have fallen short of providing long-term impact on the problem, unable to meaningfully engage individuals in activities which can alter the course of chronic hard-core homelessness.
The Dome Village’s philosophy of self-governance, responsibility, productivity, volunteerism and respect for individuals and the community right where they are, allows avenues for homeless people to seek empowerment and make a break from the chronic cycle and psyche of homelessness.
Reforming the Environment
Dome Village In Los AngelesTen years ago in Trimtab we reported on Ted Hayes, homeless activist and his Justiceville, USA. We’ve been following his work over the years and spoke with him recently on the phone. Hayes and his organization, Justiceville/Homeless USA, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, has transformed an unsightly 1 1/4 acre homeless encampment site in downtown Los Angeles into a community of formerly homeless people allowing them to become more productive, industrious, and responsible. In April of ’93, ARCO, under the then leadership of CEO and Board Chairman, Mr. Lod Cook, led the way with a contribution of $250,000. Mayor Richard Riordan endorsed the project and smoothed the way for progress through the city bureaucracy. The Village opened on November 5, 1993, providing housing and supportive service for 18-24 individuals and families. The 20 foot Omni-Sphere domes “stand as symbols of innovative solutions which depart from the way things have ‘always been done.’”Their most recent addition is the CyberDome, a new computer education center. The computer education center is housed in a special 20 foot Survival Sphere Dome designed by Craig Chamberlain. The Dome Village has been sponsoring regular computer education classes since February 1998 which have provided positive results for many residents. Student volunteers from USC have assisted the Dome Village Program Director with teaching. It is hoped this program will be greatly expanded in 1999. A number of USC/CyberDome special events are planned such as “Cyber Teach-Ins” which will bring volunteers together with homeless and youth from the community for educational programs.
Hayes feels they have learned many good lessons from the current Dome Village. For their next project they plan to improve the domes by using an insulated structure. Currently the cities of Miami Beach, San Francisco, Oakland and Berkeley have expressed interested in setting up dome villages in their cities.
Hayes has also written the “National Homeless Plan” to “stop outlawing homelessness and to break the homeless cycle.” The Plan advocates the appointment of a cabinet-level Commissioner of Homeless who would have the task of coordinating a National Commission on the Homeless. The Commission would work with HUD and other government agencies to implement real solutions to transition people from homelessness to active economic participation (as outlined in the Plan). The Plan has been submitted to President Clinton and has gained support from Representative Richard Gephart, the Mayor of Los Angeles and others. For a copy of the full Plan visit their web site at www.domevillage.org...
You tell them Ted! He is spot on and very courageous. The questions he raises for the black community to discuss are right on the money. Good for him. It just goes to show the truly innovative and intelligent are conservatives or at least those unwilling to be brainwashed and held down by the party line!
I have often believed that the true unleashing of the black community from bondage would be the renewal of our country and there is no question that the black community has allowed themselves to be held in bondage by the Democratic party for a long, long time. The relationship screams, "Yes Maser'" and this is the dependent relationship they must strip themselves of as a community. It is not only the death of their children, but the death of their souls.
There is no full equality for them until they release themselves from this weight of evil restraint.
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