2023 KCRW All Rights Reserved. Kevin Fagan is a longtime, award-winning reporter at The San Francisco Chronicle, specializing in homelessness, enterprise news-feature writing, breaking news and crime. Since 2018, Urban Alchemy has grown to 1,100 employees in five cities, with projected revenue of $55 million for the fiscal year ending June 30, records show. They come through word of mouth, walk-ins, job fairs, online searches, and referrals from parole officers or other organizations. Nobody else fucking wanted to do that, Miller said. This academic faction has a narrative that is made up. envisions eventually helming a nationwide homelessness organization, permanent, unbridgeable emotional distance, role in the line of fire as private patrols paid with city funds. At the July 28 City Council meeting, all but two members voted to hand over operations of the Austin Resource Center for the Homeless (ARCH) to Urban Alchemy.. That's the California-based . After I was done, he let me keep the 20 dollars., Gossage gave the employees name off the record because she said hes the only Alchemy person I could trust.. Shes just mad because I wont let her suck my dick, Josh said to the police, according to two campers. The city has also signed $53 million in contracts with Urban Alchemy to run eight homeless shelters and help staff the citys new Tenderloin Linkage Center near City Hall, where people can connect to services. They allege he is a bully. Hammonds said employees dont stop peoples addictions and dont force people on sidewalks to move although people usually do when asked. The organization has created 24 safe and clean public toilets in Tenderloin and other parts of San Francisco with high homeless populations and given homeless individuals jobs cleaning and maintaining those toilets, BART stations, the Civic Center area, downtown streets, and parks. In training, Hammonds taught the new employees to be patiently persuasive when asking people who may be homeless, addicted or traumatized to stop blocking sidewalks or using drugs in public. The idea is that while police are trained to respond to active threats, life has trained CIRCLE team members. By the end of this year, however, he needs it back. Since 2019, the organization has won $62 million in. At about midnight on Jan. 7, 2022, the fire department responded to a report that a stillborn baby was found in the portable bathroom of a tent village referred to as a Safe Sleep Site.. That paradigm gained momentum when a Minneapolis police officer murdered George Floyd in May 2020, galvanizing calls for reform and police alternatives. Through emails, Clinebell detailed Urban Alchemys policies about employee drug use on the job and sex with campers. bitea dose of arts, culture and more. Josh, too, is no longer working in Sausalito. The Pacific Sun contacted Cook through Facebook for comment on the allegations. The best of what to see, hear, eat, do, and more. But for decades it was politically unpopular and considered radical. Based on Cooks Facebook profile, it appears he still works at Urban Alchemy; however, he is no longer on duty in the Sausalito encampment. In reality, the nonprofit provided cover for city efforts to roust people from their tent sites, according to activist complaints documented in a UCLA research paper describing Urban Alchemy workers as a surveillance group, an arm of the police and a mercenary outfit intent on exploiting their workers own precarity as feel-good media narratives.. Some advocates are concerned, however, that even with a $1 billion homelessness spending plan proposed for this coming fiscal year, the city is investing too much in short-term band aids over long-term solutions. Urban Alchemy is a peaceful and supportive presence, inviting communities to rebuild and restore a sense of . 'Urban Alchemy' responds to LA's homeless crisis 5 January 11, 2023, 8:41 PM Los Angeles is seeking answers to the homeless crisis. And they were also hired to help clear out Echo Park last summer. After being hired to guard and provide other services to homeless encampments in the Los Angeles Skid Row neighborhood, workers became associated in the citys progressive media with a decision to evict homeless people from a downtown park. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) The Clean. Council is set to vote July 28 on a $4.14 million agreement with Urban Alchemy that would establish the nonprofit as the ARCH's operator for 13 1/2 months. The CIRCLE dispatch center can respond to 911 calls to LAPD that aren't criminal in nature. They told the class theyve been in jail, homeless and raped. Urban Alchemy first came to Los Angeles in 2020 as part of an effort to provide showers, handwashing stations, and cleaning to Skid Row. Mallory Moench is a San Francisco City Hall reporter. of SF politics and culture. The marginalization of homeless individuals often leads them to ignore the social norms of public space. People like Ronda Briggs, who was once homeless, hope to provide non-emergency help, homeless outreach and referrals to supportive services. The organization said it wouldnt seek to renew because it didnt make sense to keep coordinating a small project from San Francisco. He put his face within a foot of one of the 16 new hires. Marcia Gilmore, a Lower Nob Hill resident, pointed to an incident in which people asked an Urban Alchemy worker to intervene with a man banging a mailbox with a hammer and arguing with strangers. Louie Hammonds, chief of training for Urban Alchemy, instructs new employees on the outreach program. Mara Paradox, who is nonbinary, raises their hand during a training session for new employees of the outreach group. A report published by the UCLA Luskin Institute on Inequality and Democracy attacked the nonprofit, calling it a mercenary and saying its function is to disappear visible poverty in a manner that appears less violent and more palatable than previous sweep systems.. One organization the city is working with, Urban Alchemy, was founded to provide career opportunities for the formerly incarcerated. Sidewalks once crowded with people doing or selling drugs are now more passable, these people say. ADVERTISING Advertise Legal Notices Obituaries Writing An Obituary Submit an Obituary, COMPANY INFO Job Opportunities Privacy PolicyTerms of Service, What to Include in Your Marin County Obituary, Nikki Silverstein is an award-winning journalist who has written for the Pacific Sun since 2005. Urban Alchemy provided services to homeless residents in Sausalito for almost a year. 1. (The federal government already operates a similar site on the West LA Veterans Affairs campus in Brentwood.) While it hires people convicted of violent crimes, it doesnt employ registered sex offenders or people convicted of sexual assault. Newspapers from San Francisco to Los Angeles have recently reported on issues with Urban Alchemy, a nonprofit that manages homeless encampments, including the city-sanctioned camp in Sausalito. Hammonds sweeps up trash along Golden Gate Avenue in the Tenderloin. Miller grew Urban Alchemy out of her nonprofit Hunters Point Family, which won contracts with San Francisco Public Works to run the citys public toilets starting in 2016. Urban Alchemy officials reject that characterization, saying they told Los Angeles officials they didnt want police involved in outreach to the unhoused and didnt coordinate with officers during sweeps. We recognize the humanity in those who are struggling and we treat them how we once wished others had treated us. The San Francisco Standard. When we became aware of this situation, we quickly identified the resident and helped connect her with emergency medical care. Entry level positions for Urban Alchemy, like the Clean Teams, have become a familiar site in downtown Los Angeles, Venice and Hollywood. Traumatized people do a better job of understanding other traumatized people, she and her staffers say. Including them as part of the community helps ensure norms are met. And Ive been here for 87 damn years in this community, she said. The people that complain and dislike the homeless for whatever reason.. If you have no self-control, no discipline, or choose to take it personally, he said, this is not the job for you.. Homeless Population: 8,124. One of the worlds richest regions has some of its starkest divides, with its top 10% of households holding two-thirds of its wealth. Urban Alchemy Practitioners have been turning the San Francisco Clean program since 2015. Josh responded that he would take care of it. Youre using force, he said. See how far weve come. Because a city this offbeat deserves a newsletter with some Many . The second worker was shot in April by an assailant who approached from behind, though the organization and police have not discussed a possible motive. The operator of the site, the nonprofit Urban Alchemy, has since moved on to open a homeless shelter in Lower Nob Hill and was recently granted a contract by the city to perform homeless outreach. 2 stars. One organization the city is working with, Urban. He wanted information about whats going on at the camp, Kelly said. I heard it happening. Statistics only tell half the story. Breeds homeless services department awarded eight of 12 no-bid contracts to the organization to quickly set up homeless shelters. So doing nothing also costs a lot of money.. With Urban Alchemys contract ending this month and their denial of the allegations, it appears the trauma the campers say was caused by the employees will not be addressed. They dont have name tags on, and some were pretty confrontational. Urban Alchemy said its employees de-escalated 54,000 potentially dangerous situations in the Tenderloin and Mid-Market by calming a mental health crisis or preventing a fight, for example, during the 10 months ending in April. The organization also reported reversing 123 drug overdoses using Narcan nasal spray. For Urban Alchemys Executive Director Lena Miller, the organizations rapid San Francisco expansion is just the beginning. We are alchemists, Hammonds told his class, and we want to make where we are a more golden, loving space.. The ARCH is a City-owned facility providing shelter and resources in downtown Austin, managed by Urban Alchemy and Austin Area Urban League. Helping with that transformational experience takes extensive preparation, said Lola Whittle, president of the Urban Alchemy board of directors. Not lead. One organization the city is working with, Urban Alchemy, was founded to provide career opportunities for the formerly incarcerated. Some have a trash can on wheels. At the time, Powelson and the other campers had no idea Clark-Johnson and Hammonds were high-level managers in an organization retained by the City of Sausalito. Most of the calls involve people experiencing homelessness, in some cases drug use. The . We dont have a badge. What are you going to say, Hammonds asked, when someone comes at you like this and calls you a snitch-ass motherfing police?. "I haven't had a dissatisfied customer yet," says Briggs. Urban Alchemy also runs the safe parking program in the Bayview, cabins at 33 Gough St., as well as the now closed Civic Center tent village, although it is upfront about not providing . Building community and state level buy-in is central to achieving these goals. The police are brought in to offer deescalation training, helping to establish a relationship between law enforcement and employees of Urban Alchemy. Thailand's 'most beautiful transgender woman' and husband wear $580K in attire at extravagant wedding, Desperate mountain residents trapped by snow beg for help; 'We are coming,' sheriff says, U.S. court won't require FAA to make airplane seat size, spacing rules, Convicted killer Alex Murdaugh's new mugshot revealed after double life sentence, Rebel Wilson says she was banned from Disneyland for 30 days for taking a bathroom selfie, SoCal in for cool start to weekend, but light rain makes brief return, Mizzou implodes in SEC Tournament, as the program asks what's next, Did Arkansas women's basketball do enough to make March Madness? A UA employee fucked [a female camper] in the tent next to the tent Im in, Deschamps said. Know Your City! Theyre not just getting out of prison and putting them out there.. LA has a well-documented shortage of affordable and subsidized apartments. Employees dont always succeed in deterring violence. Employers arent bending over backwards to hire returning citizens. The developer, a former city redevelopment official and executive with the homeless services organization PATH named John Molloy, is loaning the parking lot to the city for free in the meantime for its safe camping site. Now, faced with a ballooning homelessness crisis and a federal judge demanding emergency action, LA officials are embracing the concept. I was in a vulnerable situation, she said. Some campers were offended by several of Joshs numerous tattoos, which include white supremacist symbols. A female camper spoke about her intimate involvement with Josh, an Urban Alchemy supervisor who worked at the camp until recently. Powelson denies that anyone from Urban Alchemy requested more information. An hour after the interaction with Snider, Hammonds rolled a woman in a wheelchair out of the middle of Market Street, where she was screaming and refusing to move, and into a cafe. Some have brooms and plastic trash bags. Urban Alchemy offers four core services designed to meet the needs of the people and places in the communities we work. A half dozen porta potties stand in a row along one side of the lot. In our experience, cleaning is one of the . Thanks to everyone for continuing to meet the moment with persistence, grit, resilience, and compassion, wrote Mayor Eric Garcettis homelessness czar in an April 2020 email chain involving Miller. Within seconds, he blocked all further communication. In 2021, San Francisco hired Urban Alchemy to take on a slightly different task: patrolling areas of the city with high concentrations of homeless camps and offering resources to those living outside. I looked on their website and it was hella vague. When a neighborhood, street or intersection earns a reputation as a place to avoid, we turn it around. Kirkpatrick Tyler, head of government and community affairs for Urban Alchemy, said it did not house pregnant women at the site as a policy but that staff was unaware of the pregnancy. The San Francisco-based nonprofit Urban Alchemy, which operates three similar campgrounds in the Bay Area, has a contract with the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, a city-county agency, to run the East Hollywood site. Employees called 911 nearly 300 times during the same time period. You have some people who are very inappropriate.. Urban Alchemy works with long-term offenders, integrating them back into society in order to prevent them from experiencing homelessness. Urban Alchemy has helped me to learn to help myself, Paradox said. Her group has gone from providing monitors for Department of Public Works toilets and supplanting the police in various capacities Downtown to potentially taking on new roles as a San Francisco 911 first responder team and the operator of a network of government homeless camps in Portland. The organization birthed out of Hunters Point Family, an earlier non-profit Miller founded that focused on public housing. If our 100% San Francisco journalism helps you make sense of your city's changes and crises, please make a tax-deductible donation . According to Deschamps, he heard Josh threatening Kennedy for a few minutes before he was able to turn on the video recorder on his phone. Urban Alchemy asserts that spending 20+ years in a confined environment teaches instincts that cant be learned in a classroom, making their practitioners uniquely qualified to work with homeless people. These guys were able to come out and talk to young guys and explain to them that they want to do something different, Milton said, adding that it can be inspiring when I see these guys in uniform, just guys out there working., In Los Angeles, Urban Alchemy was hired to provide services to homeless encampments. Ian came up to me and said, Why did you throw us under the bus with that? Powelson said, referring to Clark-Johnson, Urban Alchemys residential services director. Soon, four workers gathered around Sarah Snider, who said she had been homeless for more than 20 years, and waited until she injected fentanyl and cocaine into her thigh before packing up to leave. Mayor London Breed, along with many residents, businesses and community leaders in the Tenderloin and Mid-Market neighborhoods, praise Urban Alchemy for making streets cleaner and safer. Hassan Halfin, an Urban Alchemy supervisor who served 30 years in prison, said, I was amazed at how people were just lost in drugs, hustling, just walking around looking crazy. The American Society of Landscape Architects This comes one month after LA officials cleared what was one of the citys largest encampments a makeshift community of nearly 200 tents, an outdoor food pantry and a shower stall that spanned the popular near-mile loop around Echo Park Lake just two miles away. She envisions eventually helming a nationwide homelessness organization that provides direct services and also acts as a consultant to cities looking to set up similar outfits of their own. Michael Clinebell, senior director of strategic initiatives at AMF Media Group, a public relations and crisis communications firm, is the spokesperson for Urban Alchemy. And the Biden administration, responding to a national surge of homicides, is investing $500 million in community violence intervention. In Sausalito, where Urban Alchemy was hired to guard a tent encampment occupied by former residents of boats that had been confiscated, media reports described meth use, pot dealing and sexual encounters and assaults involving Urban Alchemy staff. She joined The San Francisco Chronicle in 2019 to report on business and has also written about wildfires, transportation and the coronavirus pandemic. In November of last year, the city awarded Urban Alchemy $2.6 million to lead a pilot program called CIRCLE, "Crisis and Incident Response through Community-Led Engagement." He then clocked out, came back into the camp, and hung out., However, Mike was later moved to another Urban Alchemy location after being caught on cell phone video calling a woman at the Sausalito encampment a bitch and a whore.. Urban Alchemy is "moving the needle where nobody else is really able to move the needle, which is because they're doing the same old, same old," Miller said. Instead of an hourly wage, they offer a non-cash basic-needs stipend, case management, employment services, and a support network within their community. At the ASLA 2019 Conference on Landscape Architecture in San Diego, Brian Elliott, policy analyst for San Diego Councilmember Chris Ward; Brandon Davis with the California-based Downtown Streets Team; and Lena Miller with Urban Alchemy, discussed strategies to reintegrate homeless individuals into their communities, ranging from top-down policy decisions to empowering local unsheltered populations through employment options. Last year, more than 450 employees filed a potential class action suit alleging labor violations. Cook was going to take her to the liquor store until Kennedy intervened and brought the woman back into the encampment. At the Sausalito tent encampment, Urban Alchemy moved three employees to other locations after altercations with community members, the organization said. Steveo. Despite skepticism from some homeless advocates, Urban Alchemy sees its separation from law enforcement as central to its mission. Criticisms of Urban Alchemy run the gamut, from being a mercenary organization to inadequate staff training. Hammonds helps a woman in distress out of the middle of Market Street. I was going to hit him, but UA escorted him off the property.. Low cost affordable housing for individuals and families. Ill say, Have a good day, sir, the trainee responded. S.F. Starting salaries are less than half those of sworn police officers. "They've been great," he said. The San Francisco-based nonprofit Urban Alchemy, which operates three similar campgrounds in the Bay Area, has a contract with the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, a city-county agency, to run the East Hollywood site. One organization the city is working with, Urban Alchemy, was founded to provide career opportunities for the formerly incarcerated. Heres what we know. LA County sheriff's recruits graduate months after Whittier crash, Highways into the San Bernardino Mountains are closed to drivers, LA County passes motion requiring retrofit of some buildings by 2033. And then you can start planning: What do I need to do to start getting into a more permanent, secure situation?. Sausalito Mayor Janelle Kellman didnt respond to the Pacific Suns request for comment, nor did the rest of the city council members. Email: mallory.moench@sfchronicle.com, kfagan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @mallorymoench, @kevinchron. "It's impossible to serve people that you're afraid of and we have connected with folks on our teams who aren't afraid to be in what we would consider hairy areas or hairy situations oftentimes because they came from those places," says Tyler. And unlike at the West LA VAs safe camping site, this one doesnt share a campus with various health care facilities, and campers dont have access to a special pool of housing rental vouchers like eligible military veterans do. Know Your City! Powelson claims Clark-Johnson was one of the two men in upper management who smoked concentrated marijuana oil with the campers. Kirkpatrick Tyler, Urban Alchemy's chief of community affairs said in a statement that Perry was a long-time employee of another nonprofit homeless agency called Five Keys and was recently hired at Urban Alchemy. The Lee County Homeless Coalition reports 394 people were homeless on the night of Jan. 26, 2021 when volunteers fanned the community to conduct the annual "point in time" surveys, according . We collaborated with everyone from the homeless to local business owners to unite the community and clean up the area. Fresh off tens of millions in local contracts, the Urban Alchemy founder now has her sights set nationwide. One of the worlds richest regions has some of its starkest divides, with its top 10% of households holding two-thirds of its wealth. He asked if I want to do a line and I said sure. He wasnt trying to sell it., Mike drank a beer while working, according to Kennedy. No arrests have been made in either case. Miller pointed to their high levels of emotional intelligence, their ability to read people, and their ability to interact with different kinds of people. Today, it's a $50 million agency with 1,200 employees . Id rather see Urban Alchemy than the cops.. Most of our team have served life sentences in prison. In one altercation, Arthur Bruce, who is homeless and lives near the encampment, accused an employee of hitting him during an argument and sending him to the hospital with an injured wrist, an account backed by two friends who said they witnessed the encounter. She previously covered immigration and local news for the Albany Times Union and the Alabama state legislature for the Associated Press. You have to understand why people do the things they do, what it looks like and the process. Not even base metal. Urban Alchemy made their first contact with Sausalito's homeless residents on Feb. 13, 2021, about two months after the first tent was pitched, according to Robbie Powelson, a former Sausalito camper and president of the Marin Homeless Union. With so few reviews, your opinion of Urban Alchemy could be huge. The agreement calls for Urban Alchemy to provide positive engagements with the campers, de-escalation interventions and custodial services. Urban Alchemy started back in 2018. And, its always a firing offense., Theres no such thing as consent here, Clinebell wrote. "For months, Councilmember O'Farrell's office worked with a non-profit outreach partner, Urban Alchemy, as well as the Los Angeles Homelessness Services Authority (LAHSA) to place more than 180 unhoused individuals (as you noted) who had formerly been living at Echo Park Lake into transitional housing." Copyright 2021 Capital & Main Robert Milton, a supervisor at the Department of Public Works, the agency that funds much of Urban Alchemys work, said seeing people who served long sentences holding on to a steady job sends a message.