Atlanta homeless shelter declares: ‘We’re not going anywhere’

Hundreds of homeless men receive shelter every night at the Task Force for the Homeless building on Peachtree and Pine streets in midtown Atlanta. Through the machinations and dirty dealings of a cabal of speculators, corporate heads and politicians, they are being threatened with eviction.

On May 4, Manny Fialkow, a Norcross developer who earlier created a charitable-sounding company, Ichthus Community Trust, to buy the shelter’s outstanding $900,000 worth of loans, abruptly ended negotiations with the Task Force and foreclosed on the property. That morning, he had insisted that an agreement to forestall foreclosure was on track and the papers were ready to be signed. The foreclosure was not included in the monthly auction that takes place on Fulton County Courthouse’s steps. By late afternoon, news of the foreclosure was made public.

As of this writing, no official notice has yet been received by the Task Force director, Anita Beaty.

Beaty stated: “Until no one needs our services, we will stay here. This is home for thousands of people over the course of a year. It is where they get access to all kinds of necessary referrals and help.” She explained the vital role the Task Force performs in preventing homeless people from living and dying on the streets, especially at this time of rising unemployment and foreclosure rates, cuts in social programs and the closing of other Atlanta shelters.

The foreclosure takes place following years of maneuvering by major business leaders to force the removal of the Task Force from a prime piece of real estate, near to high-priced condominiums and fancy office towers, on Atlanta’s prestigious main thoroughfare. In collusion with city officials, public and private funding have either been diminished or terminated through a campaign of political and economic pressure, media demonization and racist imagery.

In television interviews, Fialkow claims that he has no interest in developing the property now and that his only concern is finding better housing for the shelter’s clients, yet he stands to make millions of dollars in the building’s resale or development. When word of the foreclosure got out, consultants and surveyors immediately demanded entrance to see the building.

The Task Force’s claims of a concerted campaign of forced removal are backed up by voluminous e-mails and documents found through discovery in a federal civil rights lawsuit charging Central Atlanta Progress, the City of Atlanta and others with “tortious interference.”

Their stated goal of eliminating the Peachtree-Pine shelter is part of an effort to remove poor, homeless African-American men, in particular, from the downtown business and tourist areas, says Beaty.

A HUD complaint claiming violations of the fair housing law has also been recently filed. Both of these legal actions pose the opportunity for a groundbreaking examination of how unelected businessmen, bankers and developers determine public policy in their own financial interests, contrary to those of the general public.

Numerous corporate and civic leaders have already been deposed. An astounding revelation concerns the role of former City Council member, Debi Starnes, who designed draconian ordinances meant to rid downtown Atlanta of poor people during the 1996 Olympics. She became the “homeless czar” in the Shirley Franklin administration. While claiming to be a city employee, her salary was paid by the business community and funneled through the United Way to her. (Atlanta Progressive News)

Starnes oversaw the development of a multimillion dollar a year “one-stop” center, located in the former city jail building. It refuses assistance to homeless people regarded as “noncompliant.” Her private consulting company does work for agencies competing for the same funds that constantly criticized the Task Force and falsely claimed it lost funding because it was mismanaged, and that it was only “warehousing” the homeless rather than helping them get back on their feet.

This claim flies in the face of the Task Force’s ongoing housing, job training, medical and legal assistance programs and its counseling services. Unlike the city-run Gateway Center, Peachtree-Pine has an art studio, gallery and photography classes. It relies on resident input and participation in all its programs. These are just some of the manifestations of the “community-building” philosophy that goes together with the practical work of providing emergency shelter, explains Beaty.

In explaining why the lawsuit and HUD complaint are important, Beaty said, “The evidence will show that racist, exclusionary and anti-poor measures define Atlanta’s policies on affordable housing, public transportation, education, health care and recreation.” The organization has been targeted, Beaty explains, because, “the Task Force has never shirked from ‘speaking truth to power,’ demanding justice, not charity, for poor people, for all people.”

The men who are served by the Peachtree-Pine shelter say that they “are not going anywhere.” They and the volunteers and community activists who support the Task Force’s work, political mission and vision are resisting this latest attack.

Plans are being readied for support rallies, media events and community defense. For more information, see www.homelesstaskforce.org or join the Facebook page. Donations are welcome to assist in this struggle.