In a recent editorial, a writer accused me of being self-serving, implying that the only reason I am an advocate for RVs & trailers as legal dwellings is because I live in a trailer myself.

If I were solely self-serving, I wouldn’t be putting myself – and my wonderful landlords – at risk. All it takes is one malicious, anonymous complaint to Nevada County Code Enforcement. My landlords would be threatened with fines and tax liens if they didn’t immediately evict me. I would be forced to relocate when there is no place to go.

Of course, it’s “self-serving” of me to advocate for the Nevada County Alternative/RV Housing Ordinance because I am a stakeholder. On the other hand, I’m also professional reporter and social worker who has lived-experience as a victim of our homeless/housing crisis.

I am reporting from the front lines.

I am here to serve people who are unhoused through no fault of their own. And I’m especially here to serve unhoused people who, like me, are recovering from the diseases, disasters and bad choices of our lives.

Meet my people

To protect their privacy and their homes, I am using pseudonymous initials for these very real people.

JT lives in a trailer nestled behind a friend’s house. “If it weren’t for this trailer and the kindness of my friends, I’d be homeless,” JT says. In his late 70s, JT has spent most of his life most as a painter and monologuist performing one-man shows around the country. Fading memory and eyesight has reduced his ability to perform and paint as he struggles to get by every month on just $800 a month from Social Security.

JC was recently divorced after several decades of marriage. Her part-time schedule as an in-home support specialist limits her financial options. She bought an old trailer with a leaky roof. A  woman who takes pride in her  surroundings, she’s neatly covered the roof with a tarp and turned her front yard into a horticultural wonderland with potted plants and yard art from her former home.

Although this is not what JC planned, a trailer on private property is all she could find or afford. “It’s beautiful out here, it’s quiet. I plan on staying here for a while and save up some money.”

BH lost his 50-acre ranch in the Bear River Fire. Complications from a messy  divorce and a greedy lawyer have left him homeless. He lives in a pickup camper with his dog. Finding a safe place to park and sleep is a near-daily challenge.

While he waits for his insurance settlement in his years-long legal fight, BH  has become a leader among homeless people. “This is my tribe,” he asserts with a mixture of pride and amazement at finding acceptance in a community he never thought he’d become a member of.

JL, a single mother and legal immigrant from a Mideastern country, struggles to get by as a jewelry-maker and seasonal farmworker. When I interviewed her, she and her 14-year-old son were living in a trailer she was renting. Because she had no proof of a legal address to enroll her son in school, her landlord had to help her get her son enrolled.

“Due to the fact the owners of the property do it from the heart and do it to assist people that need housing, the rent is lower, and I can afford it to get back on my feet again,” JL said with great gratitude. She and her son have since moved to better housing.

And then there’s me, a 78-year-old, disabled, working creative and social justice advocate – but enough about me. It’s not about me. It’s about us.

self service

Of course, there are awful, bad actors in the at-risk/homeless community. We see some of them on the streets every day.

Many ordinance detractors have claimed, without proof or empathy, that the people who would live in the dwellings covered by the Alternative/RV Housing Ordinance would be low-life drug abusers, mental health patients, criminals and sex offenders.

Nobody wants those people living  RV & trailers on pristine private property. That’s why the No Place To Go Project is working to create one or more safe camps – safe for them, safe for us.

And don’t be throwing stones at at-risk/homeless folks when there are undesirable, despicable people living  in big, fine houses, including the current occupant of the White House in Washington, D.C.

I’m not here to serve myself. I am here to serve my people. Somebody has to speak for them. I’m not doing this because I want to. I’m doing this because I have to.

Please come to the Nov. 13 Planning Commission public hearing at 1:30 p.m. in  the Rood Center in Nevada City to support the Alternative/RV Housing Ordinance. As always, we ask that ordinance  supporters show up and speak up in the spirit of peaceful and compassionate democracy.

Everybody deserves a safe place to live.

Tom Durkin is the executive director of  the No Place To Go Project, a nonprofit organization using the creative arts to advocate social justice for at-risk and homeless people. Donations are tax-deductible and gratefully appreciated. Durkin may be contacted at www.noplacetogoproject.org.