Ron Book, head of Miami-Dade Homeless Trust, brought ZERO donations to the homeless registrant camp

If there is one day out of the year that opens the hearts (and wallets) of charities, it is Christmas. Charities around the globe see an increase of donations around this time of year. In turn, charities tend to do more hands-on work this time of the year. Those of us at the Anti-Registry Movement are hard-pressed to think of a more desperate situation for registered citizens than the ongoing homeless crisis in Miami. Currently, a homeless camp sits deep in an industrial park in Hialeah, a place with no running water or toilets. The nearest store to gather supplies or to use a flushing toilet is about a fifteen minute walk away if you are healthy enough to walk. (One man at the camp is an 84-year-old man in a wheelchair and cannot reach these stores without assistance.) 

The Anti-Registry Movement, with assistance from Women Against Registry's Florida chapter, visited the camp and brought some underwear, socks and other supplies to the camp on Christmas Eve. Derek Logue of ARM even camped out at the homeless camp to better gauge the need there. While there, Mr. Logue observed other local charities bringing food to those at the camp (noting we were the only group bringing other supplies this day). These charities were not identified outside of being connected to local churches.

However, there is one charity, one that is the most connected to Miami's homeless, and that is the Miami-Dade Homeless Trust. Once again, Ron Book was conspicuous by his absence. He was nowhere to be found Christmas day. Go ahead, check out their Facebook page and see for yourself. And barely a day later, the Miami-Dade Homeless Trust was given an additional $30 MILLION to "expand services."

The Anti-Registry Movement has a far smaller budget because we aren't funded by lobbyists, corporations and millionaires; we are a network of regular folks who share a desire to abolish the registry. ARM raised $900 to bring the homeless camp in Hialeah, delivering brand new socks, underwear, camping goods and hygiene products to the camp. This so-called Homeless Trust, with their multi-million dollar budget, brought NOTHING to the camp.

Ron Book hasn't done anything to help the camp in so long, only a handful of folks even know the name Ron Book, much less the fact he is responsible for putting them there. The residents of this camp are too busy trying to survive to do anything about it. It isn't like they can leave on their own, either-- pretty much every resident there is wearing an ankle monitor and on parole. Don't expect a dime of the Homeless Trust money to be used on them, either, even to buy an 84 year old man an electric wheelchair.

Why do they call this organization a 'Trust" if you can trust those in charge to do the right thing?

You can read a detailed report at the Miami camp by clicking on the link below:

http://sosen.org/blog/2016/12/29/christmas-at-the-camp.html

These are pictures from the current Miami Homeless Camp:

Those at ARM even had the opportunity to visit the site of the original homeless registrant colony under the Julia Tuttle Bridge ("Bookville"). There isn't any sign of the original camp-- even the iconic messages "We R Not Monsters" and "They Treat Us Like Shit" were painted over.