SOEquity feeding Hawthorne homeless

 By Brad Smith

MEDFORD, Ore. – Despite last month’s police crackdown on Hawthorne Park’s tent city and its homeless population, some are still doing what they can to help.

Prior to that, Clarence Carr was spearheading daily free meals and helped pull together mutual aid program helping the homeless and those displaced by the Almeda Fire. Since the Medford police’s sweep, Carr has been working with others to establish a nonprofit group focused on helping the homeless. As he’s been getting the paperwork together, Carr said he’s working with the Mother Teresa Genesis Home nonprofit.

 “It’s going to take some time but everything starts small in the beginning,” he said.

In the meantime, someone is stepping up. Earlier this month, the Southern Oregon Coalition for Racial Equity announced that it would be helping with volunteer efforts feeding and aiding the homeless. Emily Mann, SOEquity’s social media director, said their role is a “logistical one.”

“We are organizing/scheduling volunteers/ordering meals/accepting donations,” she said. “Everyone agreed that having an entity with some of the supportive tools we have – scheduling software, fiscal sponsorship – would ensure sustainability in the project. We are in this for the long run. We are doing lunch daily and dinner three times a week. We are able to give out about 60-75 individual meals each time we serve.”

 Mann said SOEquity volunteers go through about $100 of snacks and drinks a day. Their meals are delivered through Rogue Food Unite. “They’ve been awesome to work with and provide such an incredible service to the community,” she said.

Little Caesar’s Pizza, bagels, fruit and snacks are the typical fare, along with bottled water. Mann and other volunteers network via Facebook on a regular basis and, so far, it’s been working.

 People – people who would probably starve – are getting fed.

 Last month, Melissa Mayne, executive director of the Compassionate Highway Project, took to social media and made a number of outrageous, unsubstantiated claims that Antifa agitators were being bussed in from Portland and even outstate. She also claimed that Black Lives Matter supporters were involved in criminal activities and, along with Antifa, had something to do with last month’s fires. She made similar claims at a Medford city council meeting too.

Despite Mayne’s group claiming to help the homeless, both Mann and some volunteers said that that they haven’t seen CHP volunteers in the park.

 “It’s odd, since we both help the same group of people,” Mann said. “We haven’t seen much from them.”

 A number of homeless after the Medford Police Dept. sweep relocated to a section of the Bear Creek Greenway many call “Paradise.” Mann said SOEquity volunteers distribute food to them once in a while when they have a few mobile volunteers.

 Some volunteers help in many ways. Melissa Jones said she helps deliver and serve food and drinks to the homeless. “When I can, I bring harm reduction supplies – needle exchange, safe sex, Narcan/opiate overdose prevention, things like that. I do what I can,” she said.

 Mann said SOEquity is committed to helping.

“We aren’t positive when Clarence will be taking over. We definitely want work with his 501 c3 when it’s up and running,” she said. “Overall, things are going well. We haven’t had much issue with rumors. Honestly, we haven’t really had any negative run ins with unsupportive community members or the police so far. It’s going smoothly, very smoothly.”