Cherry Willow Apparel

This week I found an article that is closer to home.  https://evanstonroundtable.com/2024/05/23/as-seasonal-shelter-closes-city-will-go-another-summer-without-emergency-homeless-site/ I attended Loyola University Chicago, which is 5-10 minutes from Evanston, from 2010-2014. I started my volunteer work with the homeless after I got in trouble for drinking in the dorms. In my drunken stupor, out of desperation for trying to avoid strike 2, I pretended to be one of my friends who lived in the dorm and this decision landed me 50 hours of community service. I originally went to serve my hours at Misericordia, which is a charity that serves people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, with my friend who had also gotten in trouble. He told me it was a sweet gig because they had him baking cookies for the residents and staff. I thought that would be a great way to get my hours in as I love baking cookies (still do, buy over $250 worth of Cherry Willow merch and I'll send you a

Whenever I am looking for an article or a news story to write about for my weekly blog there is never a shortage out there. What I am always shocked by is the number of people who exclusively place blame on the homeless people. This was the article I read this week and there are many quotes from residents and business owners who claim to feel "empathy" but it is evident they are more concerned with how the homeless population is affecting them, their business and their customers. https://gazette.com/news/homelessness/colorado-springs-homeless-problems/article_6f2d1f8e-12da-11ef-ad24-13ec9a303f88.html Homeless people are not the problem. The problem is we live in a society where stray dogs and cats receive more compassion and resources than people battling mental health or addiction. The United States GDP is the largest in the world by Ten Trillion dollars over 2nd highest nations GDP (China) and is more than the 3rd-10th nations GDP combined. With this amount of wealth and r

 Hostile Architecture is not a solution      I was reading a News article from KTLA (link to the article below) discussing how business owners were taking measures into their own hands by having planters installed on the sidewalk to deter homeless encampments. LA has the 2nd highest amount of people impacted by homelessness in the US with the most recent figures estimating over 75,000 people are homeless there. While I understand that having a bunch of tents set up in front of the business isn't ideal for the business owners or for customers, installing planters isn't helping nor is it a solution. The strategy of using hostile architecture to purposefully guide behavior isn't new to urban design. This style of architecture is designed to impact people who rely more heavily on public spaces, like people impacted by homelessness. Think about anytime you have been at a park and you saw a bench with an armrest in the middle of it. Think of concrete ledges that are sloped or tha

 Biking from Seattle to San Diego to Chicago to Brooklyn      Just writing that feels like a lot but that is my plan. Biking this route will allow me to pass through the 12 of the top 13 cities with the most homeless people (7 of which are in California) as well as Grants Pass, Oregon. The city whose case against homeless citizens is currently being decided on by the Supreme Court. I will also go through Chicago where I have lived for the last 14 years and my passion for helping the homeless began. Finishing in Brooklyn is also very meaningful to me. My grandfather used to tell my Dad that my dad was more Irish than my Grandpa because my Dads mom was an Irish Citizen and the Fogarty men have been living in Brooklyn since the 1700's. I also used to tell me friends when I was little that I was born in Brooklyn. I thought it was cooler than being born in Dayton, Ohio and also it was easier to explain why I am a Jets and Mets fan. A cruel fate indeed but at least my dad was an Ohio Sta