By Christopher Rosacker
Staff Writer
Monday, February 13, 2012
The Union Newspaper
Divine Spark Founder and Executive Director Thomas Streicher has demanded for months that Nevada City officials provide a facility to rent for his proposed seven-day feeding center for homeless people.
But Nevada City Council members say the nonprofit director has not taken advantage of several opportunities to work with them and other agencies in order to address the issue.
"Hospitality House went out and found their facility; they made it happen without Grass Valley handing them something," said Councilman Duane Strawser. "It feels like we're being demanded that we need to be the ones to hand over a facility to this one specific organization, otherwise we're the bad guys."
Streicher's tactics have become more aggressive, protesting on the steps of City Hall and admonishing council members inside for not addressing his concerns. A small cadre of supporters have joined him in speaking on the issue during the public comment portion of council meetings. Streicher declared in a January meeting his intent to start a recall effort of council members for not allowing his feeding program on their meeting agenda.
"By law, we cannot respond at that time because it's not on the agenda. All we can do is hear it and he takes advantage of that," said Councilwoman Sally Harris, in reference to Brown Act requirements. "(H)e'll take advantage of that and says things that are sometimes untrue and sometimes incomplete and unfair."
At Wednesday's meeting, the issue of homelessness was on the council's agenda to review implications of a tri-city and Nevada County meeting on the matter, which council members said would provide an opportunity to engage Streicher.
But Streicher did not stay for the conversation. As such, he was not on hand to hear, or respond to, rebukes of him by all five council members.
Streicher again began to speak during Wednesday's public commentary, which is provided to afford members of the public to address non-agenda matters. But this time, Mayor David McKay interrupted Streicher, telling him the issue would be discussed later in the meeting.
"Are you afraid to hear the truth?" Streicher said loudly, before leaving the meeting shaking his head. He later said he was not aware the issue was on the agenda.
"Did I know homelessness was on the agenda? I didn't know. Call me ignorant," Streicher said. "(But) if I stayed there, they would have just knocked it to me."
Streicher's absence from the dedicated portion of the meeting on homelessness is typical, said Councilwoman Reinette Senum. Streicher has been invited to Nevada City meetings with the Salvation Army to discuss the warming center initiatives; to Continuum of Care Committee meetings; to Sierra Roots meetings and others, Senum told The Union, and has not attended one.
"He has not been to one of these collaborative meetings. He is invited and his input and information is valued, but he's not there," Councilman Robert Bergman said at Wednesday's meeting. "What are we supposed to do?"
Streicher denied receiving any invitations. He said he would be honored if city administrators wrote a letter, left a telephone message or even sent an e-mail inviting him to a homeless issue.
"I have never, ever been invited to a meeting," he said. "Any one of those members has never called me, I don't know what they are trying to prove by that. But it irritates me when they say that … If somebody wants to talk openly about homelessness, I will."
Past operations
Divine Spark was founded to provide resources to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. Later, the organization began feeding western Nevada County homeless people every Sunday at the Madelyn Helling Library.
"I didn't realize there was such a plight here for poor and homeless people," Streicher said.
Over five years, Streicher grew the operation to a five-day program, which he then moved to the Nevada City Veterans Hall on Pine Street and fed between 30 to 60 homeless people at a cost of about $3,000 per month, he said.
In 2010, when Streicher still housed his five-day feeding program at the Veteran's Hall, Divine Spark's total gifts, grants and other contributions amounted to slightly more than $55,000, according to the organization's tax documents. Of that amount, Streicher recouped $2,400 as the executive director. Renting the Veterans Hall from the city costs about $20 per hour, Streicher told The Union, for a monthly total of about $500.
"The vast majority of residents near the facilities he has utilized for his program ended up swamping us with negative comments and saying this isn't OK here, things are happening here that we are not OK with, and we live here," Strawser said at Wednesday's meeting.
No stranger to opposition, Streicher attributed such complaints to fear.
"Here we are servicing poor and homeless people," Streicher said. "I can't think of why they would complain unless they were scared."
Throughout the program's use of the Veteran's Hall, Streicher said only one person came to him complaining of litter. In the program's six years, Streicher said that he never had the police called.
"(W)hen problems started happening and we got no assistance whatsoever from Divine Spark to try to solve them; it clearly wasn't working," said Harris. "It was terrible for everyone."
After failing to receive council approval to increase his operation to a seven-day feeding center, Streicher struck an agreement with the local restaurant, Amigos & Co., which agreed to feed homeless individuals daily. With a solution secured, Streicher gave his two-week notice to terminate his lease of the Veterans Hall with Nevada City.
However, within days of Streicher's giving notice, the restaurant backed out of the deal and the city would not reinstate Divine Spark's lease, leaving the homeless feeding center itself without a home.
"When we did try," Bergman said, "it didn't work and it didn't work in a pretty dramatic kind of way."
Plan B
Streicher turned to the five Nevada City business owners to support a voucher program, after the collapse of his homeless feeding center.
Since losing the Veteran's Hall and doling out vouchers, Streicher has delivered a document he claims has more than 1,000 signatures of people who support the idea of a seven-day meal program. However, Streicher said this document is not intended to be a formal petition to be verified by the election commission, but merely evidence of support.
As to specifically discussing a seven-day feeding center on the council's agenda — it's been discussed and decided, McKay said.
"If it's an agenda item we've had and already made a decision on, we have the right to say we've already discussed and not revisit it," McKay said.
Council's agenda is set by the city manager and mayor. Residents and non-residents alike can file a request to have an item placed on the agenda, or petition them to do so, but that doesn't guarantee it will happen, McKay said.
"No one is entitled to be on the agenda," McKay said.
Nevada City has two spaces available to rent for a feeding center: the Veteran's Hall and the Seaman's Lodge at Pioneer Park, Harris said. Another possibility is the soon-to-be-vacated Alliance for a Post-Petroleum Local Economy's Center for Sustainable Living at 416 Commercial Street. But at least two other area nonprofits are already vying for that location.
"We have tried and we don't really have other options and I don't think we want to go down that road again, because there is nothing I've heard that would make me believe the outcome would be any different than it was the time before," Harris said.
With the outlook grim for a city-allocated facility, Streicher is looking for a private site to house a seven-day feeding center at a cost of $3,000 a month, Streicher said.
City Manager David Brennan said he has tried to help Streicher find a location. One option is old armory at the intersection of Zion Street and Ridge Road. Brennan said he has spoken with the National Guard advocating for Divine Spark.
"We'd love to have a private facility," Streicher said. "It's moving in that direction."
Another location is on Lower Grass Valley Road, Streicher said.
"I'm not going to be attending (council meetings) as much any more because I don't have time for that," Streicher said. "I'm not such a politician, as I am a human rights activist. I'm not much of a talker, I'm a doer. I'm action-oriented."
To contact Staff Writer Christopher Rosacker, e-mail crosacker@theunion.com or call (530) 477-4236.
by Christopher Rosacker
28 January 2013
The Union Newspaper
A leader of a Nevada-City based homeless service provider has accused local government officials of making false statements that led to the cancelation of plans to open a feeding center in Truckee.
"I would have liked them to have been supportive of us," said Thomas Streicher, co-founder and director of Divine Spark.
Nevada City Manager David Brennan, Police Chief Jim Wickham and Nevada County Health and Human Services Agency Director Jeffrey Brown each delivered negative testimony to the Truckee-Donner Recreation and Park District about Divine Spark’s previous efforts to feed the Nevada City homeless residents at the Veterans Hall on Pine Street.
Thomas Streicher
The Union photo by John Hart
Streicher said those officials' comments helped sway the Recreation and Park's board of directors to rescind its Dec. 13 decision to grant him use of Truckee's Community Arts Center's kitchen, at 10046 Church St., on Wednesdays for a six-month period to feed homeless and in-need individuals.
"That really shook them up," Streicher said. "It is one of the reasons I didn't get it."
The largest concern park board members said they had at the meeting was regarding the location of a feeding center. The Community Arts Center is home to Twin Ridges Home Study Charter School and Arts For the Schools, and board members said they didn't like the idea of children and Divine Spark's clientele possibly intermingling.
Brennan, Brown and Wickham's comments indicated that patrons of a Divine Spark's warm meal program came early and lingered around, left a mess in the Nevada City neighborhood and attracted homeless from outside the area, according to information submitted to the park board.
"Everything I told them was based on fact that I knew since I have been here," Brennan said of his solicited opinion. "I didn't embellish on anything."
Streicher took particular exception to Brennan's paraphrased statements, which were submitted to the park board based on a phone call to him from Steve Randall, the park district's general manager, Brennan said.
"I don't think his comments were very accurate," Streicher said. "He doesn't realize we have a new program we've been doing for two years."
Divine Spark was founded to provide resources to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. Later, the organization began feeding western Nevada County homeless people every Sunday at the Madelyn Helling Library.
Over five years, Streicher grew the operation to a five-day program, which he then moved to the space leased from the city at the Nevada City Veterans Hall to feed between 30 to 60 homeless people at a cost of about $3,000 per month, according to Streicher.
After failing to receive Nevada City Council approval to expand to a seven-day feeding model, Streicher gave two-week notice in April 2011 to terminate the lease at the Veterans Hall, when Amigos & Co. agreed to feed homeless individuals daily at its since-abandoned restaurant location on the corner of Broad and Nevada streets.
However, the restaurant backed out of the deal within days and the city would not reinstate Divine Spark's lease, leaving the homeless feeding center without a home. Instead, Streicher said he enlisted the help of local restaurants to provide vouchers to homeless people, which Divine Spark has purchased since.
"Divine Spark never disclosed there were issues in Nevada City," Kevin Murphy, the lone Truckee-Donner park board director who voted against Divine Spark's request on Dec. 13, told the Sierra Sun prior to the meeting. "I still feel we were a bit misled."
After Brennan was hired in June 2011, he said he worked with Streicher to let him use the Veterans Hall again in a limited capacity, as long as Streicher tempered neighbor's concerns. Those neighbors submitted a petition asking that the feeding operation be located elsewhere, Brennan noted.
"The neighbors came unglued," Brennan said. "It isn't like we are totally opposed to him and his program, but we have to consider everybody's rights and considerations."
Streicher continues to use the Veterans Hall for his two-day annual holiday celebration around Christmas.
"We haven't had any problems with that," Brennan said.
With the park board's decision, Streicher said he will push for a voucher program in Truckee.
"We're trying to get established and work toward a full-time model where people get vouchers like we do here," Streicher said. "We're going to keep on going. You have got to hang in there." ♥
Margaret Moran, a staff writer at the Sierra Sun, The Union's sister publication in Truckee, contributed to this article. To contact Staff Writer Christopher Rosacker, email crosacker@theunion.com or call 530-477-4236.
By Christopher Rosacker
Staff Writer
Friday, December 23, 2011
The Union Newspaper
'Tis the season for giving, but for five food-industry business owners December marks the eighth month they have provided vouchers to feed Nevada City and Grass Valley homeless people.
Fudenjüce owner Chuck Stuthard, Subway franchise owner Keith Miller, SPD Markets co-owner David Painter, Grass Valley Quiznos owner Kathryn Jechura and Broad Street Bistro co-owner Theresa Vojtech have worked with Thomas Streicher, founder of the homeless advocacy group Divine Spark, to provide 250 vouchers every week to the homeless in western Nevada County.
"These people know what it is like to be without, and they are coming to bat for others during their time in need," Streicher said. "I feel privileged to work with these caring people."
At a cost of about $5,000 per month, Streicher purchases vouchers at a bulk-rate discount from the businesses. Recipients exchange their five weekly vouchers for food at the corresponding establishments.
Streicher also hands out a bag of food containing a couple sandwiches, hard-boiled eggs and usually some fruit or a can or tuna.
"There are a lot of merchants struggling, and I can't give much, but I can certainly open up my restaurant to help feed people," Jechura said. "I want to give to the community. We all need one another. I know it is a good cause for me."
Streicher turned to the business owners after the collapse of his homeless feeding center, housed at the Nevada City Veterans Hall on Pine Street, where he fed between 30 to 60 homeless people five days a week for a cost of about $3,000 per month, according to Streicher's estimates.
Renting the Veterans Hall was costing about $20 per hour, Streicher told The Union, for a monthly total of about $500.
After failed solicitations with the city to increase his operation to a seven-day feeding center, Streicher struck what seemed to be a solid secondary solution with the help of a local restaurant, Amigos & Co., which agreed to feed homeless individuals daily.
With this agreement seemingly secured, Streicher gave his two-week notice to vacate and terminated his lease of the Veterans Hall with Nevada City.
However, within days of Streicher's giving notice, Amigos & Co. backed out of the deal and the city would not reinstate Divine Spark's lease, leaving the homeless feeding center itself without a home.
Amigos & Co. has shut down since then and Streicher has been unsuccessfully appealing to get a new lease somewhere in the area.
With no feeding center, Streicher turned to the voucher program. After nearly a year, he said a majority of the homeless people he services prefer the vouchers because it provides independence to eat when it is convenient for them.
"Why is it a big deal to do something that is simple and the right thing to do? It was one of those things that I could do, so I did," said Miller. "We all need help sometime."
If Streicher doesn't find a place to house his homeless feeding center in the next month, he said he will expand his voucher program to meet the demand of the growing homeless population - something he said isn't ideal when temperatures drop.
"This voucher system cannot survive the winter because it requires the homeless to travel distances not readily accessible during inclement weather conditions," wrote Streicher in a letter to the Nevada City Manager dated Oct. 17. "The need for a facility is now reaching crisis proportions."
Whether Streicher secures a feeding center location or not, he said he plans to continue handing out vouchers.
"It's our way of feeling like we need to give back the community that has been good to us," Vojtech said. "I think socially, it is meaningful and helpful to the community."
To contact Staff Writer Christopher Rosacker, e-mail crosacker@theunion.com or call (530) 477-4236.
By Christopher Rosacker
Staff Writer
Saturday, November 12, 2011
The Union Newspaper
Four times a year for the last decade, Divine Spark founder Thomas Streicher has hauled donated frozen turkeys, hams, sewing machines and clothes to one of the largest, poorest Indian reservations in the country.
But the more than 1,300-mile trek from Nevada City to Pine Ridge, South Dakota, before Thanksgiving is especially important, Streicher said.
"We do this to improve relations with the original people of this country. We want to heal the intergenerational trauma of genocide," Steicher said. "We're trying to improve, not only their financial situation, but also improve communication between our two cultures."
(click on the image to see a larger view)
For this year's trip, Streicher is looking for warm donations like sweatshirts, stocking hats, winter clothing and heavy socks to help the Lakota Sioux at Pine Ridge.
This will be Streicher's 36th journey to Pine Ridge, which at nearly 3,500 square miles of land, is the eighth-largest reservation in the country - larger than Delaware and Rhode Island combined.
Population estimates of the reservation range from 20,000 to nearly 30,000, according to separate estimates from the US Census Bureau and Colorado State University.
But both institutions agree the reservation is one of the poorest - with pre-recession figures hovering around 80 percent, with 49 percent living below the Federal poverty level.
Divine Spark, Streicher's nonprofit organization dedicated to servicing those in need, has brought more 400 donated sewing machines to Pine Ridge as part of the Lakota Quilts project.
Streicher said the sewing machines have allowed traditional Sioux artists to pursue quilt making, a traditional artform.
Visit www.lakotaquilts.com to see the works.
Streicher will be leaving for Pine Ridge the Sunday before Thanksgiving, but still needs donations. In addition to winter wear, he is also accepting food and monetary contributions.
To donate, call Streicher at (530) 265-2620. He said donations can be dropped off or he will pick them up.
To contact Staff Writer Christopher Rosacker, e-mail crosacker@theunion.com or call (530) 477-4236.