Help A Disabled Unhoused Neighbor In Glendale
Donation protected
Hello! My name is Claudia, and my boyfriend is Andrew Atkin, the owner of Kafn Coffee in Adams Square/Glendale. Per the suggestion of others in the community, I’m starting this GoFundMe to help an unhoused neighbor named ROBERT who has been living in the Adams Square Mini Park the past few weeks.
When the neighborhood's solution was to call the police, Andrew took it upon himself to take action and help. As a reaction to threats of violence and hostility against Robert, my boyfriend moved Robert out of the park and into a hotel for a few days. But this is only a temporary fix, and I’m hoping this page will help us all work together as a community to provide a more long-term plan and support.
We are reaching out to organizations that are best suited to help the homeless—and especially those better equipped to aid individuals like Robert. Funds raised will be used to immediately provide shelter, personal items, food, and clothing. A long term plan would help Robert get into a permanent home.
Here’s the full story:
My boyfriend’s coffee shop (Kafn Coffee) is right across the street from this lovely little park. Adams Hill is a small community in Glendale and neighbors tend to look out for one another. Robert began sleeping in the park in late December. For the most part, Robert was keeping to himself and cleaning up after himself—but this has some challenges. Some neighbors have observed Robert yelling leaving personal items around the park. When Andrew first engaged with Robert he found him to be non-violent but clearly exhibiting signs of Autism, Asperger’s, or Turette’s.
Over the past couple weeks Andrew has built a relationship with Robert. Robert is a 60 year-old Armenian man who has lived in Glendale for almost 40 years. He studied mathematics & physics at CSUN. He’s made Glendale his home as he feels most comfortable being around fellow Armenians.
On 1/9/21 a complaint about Robert appeared on the app Nextdoor. The comments quickly escalated to violence and the overall solution was to call the police and have him removed. It turned into a full on plan for multiple people to call the police that night and exaggerate the disturbance. Calling the cops on an unhoused person and especially someone with disabilities puts them in a very dangerous position. I would have hoped that as a community we had learned (especially this year) that calling the police on a person should be an absolute last measure. Unfortunately, when you choose to call the police you don’t know what you’re going to get and it is especially dangerous to disadvantaged people.
As many of you know, it’s not easy to relocate the homeless. The police simply ask them to move but there is really no place to go. Having them “removed” by police is simply a matter of forcing them to relocate to another less familiar neighborhood late at night. What I am proposing instead is mutual aid. We may not be able to solve the whole problem all at once, but imagine if instead of moving an unhoused neighbor to someone else’s neighborhood we all within our individual communities helped a local friend in need?
It’s my understanding that the people at Ascensia are aware of Robert, but his application was abandoned when he lost access to his cell phone and computer (as is the case with most homeless). Andrew gave Robert an Amazon tablet to help make calls and check emails, and I’m hoping this will help him reconnect with Ascencia.
The homeless crisis in LA is at an all time high due to the current pandemic and it will only get worse unless we start to make small change on a community level and push for better legislature.
Here’s how we will use funds raised by this campaign:
-the most immediate need is to get Robert off the streets because many neighbors have suggested violence and he is at risk of being removed by the police. His removal by police would cause trauma, jeopardize his safety, and also make it extremely hard for social workers to locate him. His being able to work with a social worker is of the utmost importance. This is how we can find long-term solutions for him. We would like to get him a hotel room for two weeks, so that we can actively try and contact his social worker and get the process going. We admittedly don’t know how long this will take so we will update here as we gain info.
- funds will also be used towards food, hygiene products, transportation, daily necessities, etc.. We are not totally aware of what the process will be like as we are exploring all options and possibilities but it could require things like getting him an ID or a visit to a medical practitioner to verify his disability so he can qualify for certain government resources. All of this will take both time and funds.
-if for any reason we have leftover money we will donate it to an organization such as SEHLA Neighborhood Homeless Coalition, Streetwatch LA, or Mutual Aid Network Los Angeles.
Robert is intelligent and we believe with a little help he can find a home and likely find a job that could accommodate his needs.
Any amount is appreciated to help Robert! We are also open to any other resources and suggestions as this is new territory for us as well. If anyone knows of organizations that might help or has connections to different agencies or orgs please share and get in touch! We need all the help we can get. We are exploring all options and have been in touch with neighbors and members of a couple local mutual aid groups as well to brainstorm.
I understand those of you who are bothered that he is in the park. I am too. It breaks my heart to think of anyone having to deal with that reality. I hate seeing that in my community too. But I refuse to let the discomfort of seeing someone else suffering so close to home lead me to a response of cruelty and scarcity, instead we can all choose to respond with compassion. In my experience people usually respond to homelessness in three different ways: they choose to ignore it completely because they don’t know how to help and feel too overwhelmed to help; they see it as something so horrible yet so hopeless that they decide it’s something to be feared and removed from their community at all costs; or, they feel they have the resources to help and decide to take action. I believe in this community. I believe that together we can all feel we have the resources to take action. I believe we can look deeper within ourselves and come together to help change one man and one neighbor’s life. We are stronger together. Please consider donating if you believe the same.
When the neighborhood's solution was to call the police, Andrew took it upon himself to take action and help. As a reaction to threats of violence and hostility against Robert, my boyfriend moved Robert out of the park and into a hotel for a few days. But this is only a temporary fix, and I’m hoping this page will help us all work together as a community to provide a more long-term plan and support.
We are reaching out to organizations that are best suited to help the homeless—and especially those better equipped to aid individuals like Robert. Funds raised will be used to immediately provide shelter, personal items, food, and clothing. A long term plan would help Robert get into a permanent home.
Here’s the full story:
My boyfriend’s coffee shop (Kafn Coffee) is right across the street from this lovely little park. Adams Hill is a small community in Glendale and neighbors tend to look out for one another. Robert began sleeping in the park in late December. For the most part, Robert was keeping to himself and cleaning up after himself—but this has some challenges. Some neighbors have observed Robert yelling leaving personal items around the park. When Andrew first engaged with Robert he found him to be non-violent but clearly exhibiting signs of Autism, Asperger’s, or Turette’s.
Over the past couple weeks Andrew has built a relationship with Robert. Robert is a 60 year-old Armenian man who has lived in Glendale for almost 40 years. He studied mathematics & physics at CSUN. He’s made Glendale his home as he feels most comfortable being around fellow Armenians.
On 1/9/21 a complaint about Robert appeared on the app Nextdoor. The comments quickly escalated to violence and the overall solution was to call the police and have him removed. It turned into a full on plan for multiple people to call the police that night and exaggerate the disturbance. Calling the cops on an unhoused person and especially someone with disabilities puts them in a very dangerous position. I would have hoped that as a community we had learned (especially this year) that calling the police on a person should be an absolute last measure. Unfortunately, when you choose to call the police you don’t know what you’re going to get and it is especially dangerous to disadvantaged people.
As many of you know, it’s not easy to relocate the homeless. The police simply ask them to move but there is really no place to go. Having them “removed” by police is simply a matter of forcing them to relocate to another less familiar neighborhood late at night. What I am proposing instead is mutual aid. We may not be able to solve the whole problem all at once, but imagine if instead of moving an unhoused neighbor to someone else’s neighborhood we all within our individual communities helped a local friend in need?
It’s my understanding that the people at Ascensia are aware of Robert, but his application was abandoned when he lost access to his cell phone and computer (as is the case with most homeless). Andrew gave Robert an Amazon tablet to help make calls and check emails, and I’m hoping this will help him reconnect with Ascencia.
The homeless crisis in LA is at an all time high due to the current pandemic and it will only get worse unless we start to make small change on a community level and push for better legislature.
Here’s how we will use funds raised by this campaign:
-the most immediate need is to get Robert off the streets because many neighbors have suggested violence and he is at risk of being removed by the police. His removal by police would cause trauma, jeopardize his safety, and also make it extremely hard for social workers to locate him. His being able to work with a social worker is of the utmost importance. This is how we can find long-term solutions for him. We would like to get him a hotel room for two weeks, so that we can actively try and contact his social worker and get the process going. We admittedly don’t know how long this will take so we will update here as we gain info.
- funds will also be used towards food, hygiene products, transportation, daily necessities, etc.. We are not totally aware of what the process will be like as we are exploring all options and possibilities but it could require things like getting him an ID or a visit to a medical practitioner to verify his disability so he can qualify for certain government resources. All of this will take both time and funds.
-if for any reason we have leftover money we will donate it to an organization such as SEHLA Neighborhood Homeless Coalition, Streetwatch LA, or Mutual Aid Network Los Angeles.
Robert is intelligent and we believe with a little help he can find a home and likely find a job that could accommodate his needs.
Any amount is appreciated to help Robert! We are also open to any other resources and suggestions as this is new territory for us as well. If anyone knows of organizations that might help or has connections to different agencies or orgs please share and get in touch! We need all the help we can get. We are exploring all options and have been in touch with neighbors and members of a couple local mutual aid groups as well to brainstorm.
I understand those of you who are bothered that he is in the park. I am too. It breaks my heart to think of anyone having to deal with that reality. I hate seeing that in my community too. But I refuse to let the discomfort of seeing someone else suffering so close to home lead me to a response of cruelty and scarcity, instead we can all choose to respond with compassion. In my experience people usually respond to homelessness in three different ways: they choose to ignore it completely because they don’t know how to help and feel too overwhelmed to help; they see it as something so horrible yet so hopeless that they decide it’s something to be feared and removed from their community at all costs; or, they feel they have the resources to help and decide to take action. I believe in this community. I believe that together we can all feel we have the resources to take action. I believe we can look deeper within ourselves and come together to help change one man and one neighbor’s life. We are stronger together. Please consider donating if you believe the same.
Organizer and beneficiary
Claudia Elizabeth Musikul
Organizer
Glendale, CA
Andrew Atkin
Beneficiary
