TOP HN PHOTO: A Hyannis homeless couple is under arrest after multiple reported disturbances at their camp on public lands…

HYANNIS, MASSACHUSETTS – [HN NOTES & MULLINGS ON THE MATTER] – A man and woman are under arrest, after reportedly leaving nearby residents and police with no other option.

The pair had been living in squalor and misery, in oppressively hot and humid conditions, inside a small tent, in the woods off Old Colony Road. Officers needed to step carefully while approaching the homeless camp. The trail was littered with hazardous human waste and garbage, including feces and other hazards. Can you imagine living outside these days, inside a cramped area, in the heat, down on your luck, out of options, with your significant other? Possibly throw in mental health and substance abuse challenges and the future looks extremely bleak. And the recent amplification of the local homeless crisis is very much the fault of our current state leadership in my humble opinion…

… and it’s inhumane.

In an article from the Center of Immigration Studies, Jessica Vaughn writes:

Taxpayers in Massachusetts have spent more than $1 billion to date on the emergency shelter system that has been overwhelmed with the task of housing thousands of newly arrived migrants, some who entered illegally and some who arrived under one of the Biden administration’s controversial parole programs. State budget officials expect they will have to spend another $1.8 billion in the next two years.

And what frustrates many local advocates for the homeless and downtrodden, including myself, is that our state leaders knew full well that the Cape was already overwhelmed with a growing homeless population and ongoing affordable housing crisis. And now, because of poor government decisions, the Cape and the rest of Massachusetts is forced to shoulder the increasing burden of paying for and housing other poor souls from other foreign lands before taking proper care of our own downtrodden and “working poor.”

And now everyone is underserved and overextended, from our first responders to our lifelong residents, housed or “un-housed.” From our healthcare providers to our school systems. The price of housing has only skyrocketed further. The working poor are becoming poorer. And the misery of the downtrodden has been amplified, to say the least.

What has been allowed to happen in Massachusetts is simply inhumane. And it’s HN’s job to show those realities, instead of all the happy horseshit that somehow passes as “news” around here. The beach balls, seagulls, public street fairs – which are nice during more stable times – but are not priority, front-page news items.  The Cape is in crisis on too many fronts.  Most importantly, we have homeless human beings just barely clinging to life (let alone hope and “positive thinking”) all over this once-great, elongated sand dune. Look at the HN photos. They are there for the people who need to see them. They are there for the people who need to wake up. And if you’re a member of the working poor, like many others, you’re likely just one paycheck away from finding yourself also trying to survive under similar dire circumstances. Take a look at your children. What will their lives be like in the decades to come if these asinine government decisions continue to be made?

Our police now have the impossible, all-day job of shifting around the Hyannis downtrodden.  They continually receive numerous complaints about their mere presence, complaints about disturbances… they routinely arrive and ask homeless individuals to please move someplace else… to be quieter… to be less volatile, etc… only to have the complaints begin anew at their next destination… because these poor souls have absolutely no place to go!

There’s no place for them to go. Where are they going to go? Pile on mental health and substance addiction, and the fact our public services and safety nets are being spread thinner and thinner… what hope do they have? Is it all their fault?  Is it all their “own doing?” Really? Have you have been in their shoes? Have you ever tried picking yourself up-from-under when living inside a cramped tent, in the oppressively hot and damp woods, surrounded by mosquitos and your own excrement? I consider myself pretty tough and very well trained, but I doubt I’m tough enough to pull myself out of the woods of Hyannis without help. I could see myself becoming overwhelmed and depressed under those conditions. I can even see myself becoming volatile, angry, and possibly even suicidal. I can see myself taking to the bottle at times… maybe all the time… maybe for the duration. I like to think of myself as being pretty tough and well trained…  yeah right… nobody is ever trained enough for being completely disenfranchised… completely overwhelmed without support…

HN CHALLENGE: To all the tough guys (and gals) reading this… the ones thinking you could easily handle being homeless during extreme weather conditions… put yourself in a tent with barely anything else, with an equally overwhelmed significant other for the unforeseen future, and let’s see how tough you are after just a week or two… let’s see how bad ass you are then. Could you make it? Be honest.  I can sometimes tolerate guys and gals who think they’re tough. But I find it much harder to tolerate “tough” guys and gals who lie in order to make themselves appear better than others.

HERE’S WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT YESTERDAY’S SCENE ON OLD COLONY ROAD:

At around 11:35 a.m. yesterday – Monday, 8/5/2014 – a number of Barnstable Police squad cars responded to a report of a volatile disturbance in a homeless camp on Old Colony Road, near the intersection with Nantucket Street. Upon arrival, officers entered the woods to investigate. Officers also spoke with a homeowner who lives near to the homeless camp. Most residents in the vicinity have reluctantly put up with the homeless living on public lands near their homes. It happens every year to some degree. But yesterday, a homeowner expressed being at wit’s end this year in particular. The encampments have slowly moved closer to his backyard. He expressed being frustrated with the loud arguments that happen around the clock. The arguments often escalate in intensity, with the sounds of people “beating the crap” out of one another. At times, it has escalated to the point where he no longer feels safe inside his own home.

Meanwhile, a police officer explained to HN that they have responded to this particular camp a number of times in recent days for similar disturbances, involving the same two individuals. It’s illegal to camp on those particular public lands and there are many signs that clearly say so. He truly has empathy for the couple’s plight and has tried to give them time to seek better arrangements. And he has tried to convince them to curb their loud, volatile behavior toward one another. The last thing he really wanted to do was to take them into custody. But they reportedly forced his hand…

Yesterday, police managed to initially get the couple to calm down and they were told that they had to find someplace else to go. Police then gave them space and left them to do what they needed to do. But alas, the peace and quiet didn’t last long…

At approximately 12:50 p.m., Barnstable Police were called back to the same camp, for the same type of disturbance. Officers reportedly entered the woods and told the couple they had to move on, forthwith. According to police sources, the couple became more volatile, failed to cooperate, and were taken into custody as a result.

Once in custody, both began to descend deeper into despair. One became suicidal. The other began to suffer a panic attack. Two Hyannis ambulances responded, and both were transported to Cape Cod Hospital.

What will become of this particular couple is anyone’s guess. Police said they will allow them to return to the camp to retrieve their stuff… (very likely their only remaining earthly belongings). They will probably be booked and released. And, with a little “good fortune,” they might be able to pull themselves together long enough to make it over to court as their cases unfold… but the reality is, very often the downtrodden fail to make it to court… and then warrants are issued … and police then need to find them, probably in the woods somewhere… and they are arrested again… ambulances respond again… and the entire insane cycle begins all over again…  (By the way, you and your children, the taxpayers, continue to pay more and more for the insane cycle, which includes the police, firefighters, hospital bills, court costs, etc… and it still keeps getting worse and worse…)

… and this insane cycle unfolds all day long in Hyannis.  Every…  single…  day…  of the week.  And meanwhile, Massachusetts continues to put up, feed, and fund thousands of strangers from other, far-off lands, while forcing us (including the working poor) to pay for it.

That’s your government in action. The government you may have voted for. And the government you may deserve. (And this “government” most certainly needs our thoughts and prayers… and maybe a stern phone call or two…)

About an hour after the Old Colony Road fiasco, police needed to respond to a report of several homeless individuals setting up a camp at the corner of Willow Ave and Elm Street, next to the Baby Center, an organization that gives out diapers and baby supplies to our many low-income parents. Police arrived and began the impossible task of shifting the unwanted from one place to another. During the shifting process, one homeless individual required a Hyannis FD ambulance to respond and transport him to CCH for a medical condition.

And so it goes…

… and God bless you K.V., wherever you are.

P.S. – Today’s Hytown Vignette is a brought to you by Grant Green… [CLICK IT/CRANK IT! HEADPHONES ABSOLUTELY OBLIGATORY!]

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