Mean Streets
The LORD make His face shine upon thee,
and be gracious unto thee;
The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee,
and give thee shalom. (peace)
Bemidbar (Numbers) 6:24-26
| Posted on Mon, Jul. 18, 2005 |  | ||||||||||||||
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| THE MEAN STREETS Killing shows a change for the worse in homeless community The Wichita Eagle 
There is a code, much of it unspoken, among the homeless population in Wichita. Share what you can with others in need, whether it's food, clothing or a blanket -- but never, ever take another person's backpack. "Your backpack is your life," Darin Mulanix said between bites at the Lord's Diner on a recent evening. "Everything you own is in there." Over the past couple of months, however, the code has broken down. Thefts, fistfights and disputes among the homeless have increased noticeably, according to men who live on the street. "I don't know if people are more desperate, or if there's something in the air, but things have changed," Bruce Beatty said as he ate downtown at the diner, which offers a free meal to anyone who wants one every night of the year. The change is symbolized by the death of a 49-year-old homeless man in a downtown alley last week. Wichita police are investigating the death as a homicide after an autopsy showed the man had been beaten with a blunt object. His name is being withheld until relatives can be found and notified, police said. Word on the street, Beatty and Mulanix said, is that the man had been robbed and beaten on Sunday. He had lived in a lean-to in the alley next to the 200 block of South Commerce for some time, they said. The area is a popular "address" for the homeless, they said, because the warehouses have awnings that can provide cover from the sun and rain. One man had stayed so long, they said, that he had a mattress and desk in his "digs." In the days since the death was discovered Tuesday, police have been combing homeless haunts -- downtown bridges, Heritage Square and Naftzger parks, the plaza of the downtown public library -- in search of people who can shed light on what happened. Tents and lean-tos have become so common downtown that Wichita police are working with the city's legal department to draft an ordinance outlawing camping and tent-type structures in the city limits, Wichita Police Capt. John Speer said. "We don't want little havens for these people," Speer said. "People being homeless is one thing. People being homeless and criminals is totally different. "If they're out here committing crimes, we want to get them off the streets." There have been many complaints about homeless people getting drunk and urinating in public, Speer said. "Some of them try to give themselves sponge baths in the sinks" at the library, he said. Speer said police are paying extra attention to Naftzger Park, known as "Wino Park" to the homeless, and Heritage Square Park, dubbed "Naked Lady Park" by the homeless in honor of a bronze statue that has been there since the park opened in 1978. "Not only do we want to clean up those two areas, in regards to trash and camping, we want to educate the homeless people that frequent those places... on other options than being out there," Speer said. "Problem is, a lot of these people don't want to go to the drop-in center or seek a lot of social services." The Salvation Army's drop-in center has room for only about 60 people at a time, Beatty and Mulanix said, and the Union Rescue Mission is typically so full they feel safer and more comfortable on the streets. But even the streets are getting crowded, they said. A bridge that used to offer a night's lodging for four people now sleeps 25. Fights over food, clothing, blankets, a place to sleep -- even cigarettes -- have become commonplace, they said. Beatty said someone stole his backpack a couple of weeks ago, and he's been struggling to get by ever since. "Homeless people tended to stick together," Mulanix said. "We kind of looked out after each other. "Not anymore." It may simply be a sign of the times, Speer said. "They had limited resources to begin with, and that's why they're out there," he said. "As times get tough for the general populace, they're also going to get tough for homeless people." Mulanix talked about getting a free pair of socks and a hot meal on Thursday. "That's a good day" for a homeless person, he said. Wichita actually has a lot of services to help the homeless, Beatty said, even compared to much larger cities. Free food and clothing are typically readily available. Besides being able to eat at the Lord's Diner -- if they can get there -- the homeless can receive meals from downtown churches on weekends. If police and city officials want to get homeless people off the streets, Beatty and Mulanix said, they need to open a place where the homeless can stay, clean up and hang out. Shelters won't let the homeless stay there during the day, they said. "There's lots of empty buildings downtown," Beatty said. "They need to buy one and use it." Few homeless people are that way by choice, Mulanix said. Most are battling mental illness, drug problems, alcoholism or some combination of the three that has cost them a job or even landed them in prison. Mulanix said he has been homeless for years because of mental illness, but he is now receiving medication and counseling from Sedgwick County's Comcare agency. For the first time in years, he said, he has hope. He's not ready to handle a full-time job, he said, "but I'm getting there. "One step at a time."
Reach Stan Finger at 268-6437 or sfinger@wichitaeagle.com. | |||||||||||||||
