They don’t want people to see what goes on in here

The person being interviewed requested anonymity for fear of further retribution from the local homeless shelter

Eddie: Okay, so I’m just gonna ask you some questions… how many nights ago was it?

Jared: Three

Eddie: Three days ago, you had been staying at the shelter, right?

Jared: Yes, a little over a month.

Eddie: Okay, so you’d stayed at the shelter a little over a month, and one day you just decided to take a picture of your meal.

Jared: Yes, in fact it was Wednesday afternoon.`

Eddie: So, tell me exactly what happened.

Jared: I went to lunch Wednesday afternoon and took a picture of my lunch
tray, and…

Eddie: What was on your lunch tray?

Jared: Two biscuits, a little bit of gravy and a cup of Kool-Aide…

Eddie: So that was your…

Jared: That was our lunch for the day.

Eddie: So, you took a picture of your lunch tray…

Jared: And one staff member seen me take a picture of the tray and asked me why I took a picture, and I told him that I always take a picture of my trays, and he said, “Well, you’re not allowed to take any kind of pictures inside our building, of, you know, stuff that we do. So, we’re not allowed to take a picture of the trays, we’re not allowed to pictures of anything that happens inside the building? And he asked me to remove it off of my phone, and I said, “It’s on my phone, and whatever’s on my phone, I should be allowed to keep.” And he told me that I was being barred off the property and I had to talk to pastor One to get back in, I talked to pastor One and…

Eddie: Let’s back up for just a second, so were you aware of this rule beforehand?

Jared: No.

Eddie: So, there’s no signs posted or anything like that, that say no photographs or no filming, no etc., so you had no idea that this was a rule?

Jared: No.

Eddie: Okay, so they came up to your table, they don’t give you like a warning or anything, they didn’t give you a chance or anything, like, “You can’t do that in the future.” They just said…

Jared: They made me leave.

Eddie: That’s it.

Jared: I didn’t even get to eat my lunch.

Eddie: So, what did they do then? You left; did you go see pastor One then?

Jared: I went back the next day and I talked to pastor One and pastor One said he was going to talk to pastor Two and find out what was going on, and that night I was criminal trespassed off the property.

Eddie: And that means what…

Jared: It means that if I go back on their property, I go to jail. The only place I’m allowed to be near the mission is over across the street on the sidewalk.

Eddie: So now you have to sleep outside.

Jared: Yep.

Eddie: And they know that.

Jared: Yeah, they know. I slept outside on the sidewalk Wednesday night, Thursday night and Friday night.

Eddie: And so, you went and appealed to pastor One, and he said…

Jared: And the next thing I know is that I went in to see if I could talk to pastor One again and they said I was criminal trespassing and called the cops. The cops came and told me that they were gonna give me a verbal warning but if I came back on the property, I will go to jail. And I haven’t been back there since.

Eddie: Were they aware that you were gonna have to sleep outside?

Jared: Yeah, but they don’t care. They’ve criminal trespassed six people in the last five days, over stupid stuff. One guy got criminal trespassed because he took a… he takes everything out of his book bag and puts it in his clear bag. Well, he takes is book bag, rolls it up and puts it in his clear bag too. They criminal trespassed him cause he took his book bag in. Cause you’re not allowed to have a book bag inside the building. And he didn’t have anything in it, it’s just the fact that it’s their way of having control over someone.

Eddie: Did they give you any sort of period of time that this would last, or it’s just indefinite.

Jared: It’s just indefinite.

Eddie: Did they give you any recourse, did they say, “Come back and talk to us in a week or a month or…

Jared: No. Nothing like that. Nope. All over a picture.

Eddie: Did they seem upset, or disturbed or angry? Or was it just…

Jared: I mean, they were all calm about it, it seemed like more to me like they were worried about the pictures getting to someone they didn’t want them to get to.

Eddie: Because… why? Why wouldn’t they want people seeing what you’re eating?

Jared: Because honestly, I’ve seen them on certain days when they serve, you know, good meals, they have people come in there and take pictures and video of them giving people that meal. But they don’t’ do it when they give us a tray like they gave us a tray Wednesday for lunch.

Eddie: So, you have seen people come in and video…

Jared: Oh yeah! They’ve done that on Thanksgiving and two or three other times since then. But they only do it when they give us full trays of food that they think looks good to them.

Eddie: And it shows the community that they’re giving you…

Jared: Good food, good meals. But that’s only once every two or three months. They don’t have them come in there any other time. They don’t have them come in there and take pictures of the food that, like the tray we had Wednesday for lunch. They don’t want nobody seeing that because that’s not a real meal. Two biscuits and a little bit of gravy wouldn’t fill up my twelve-year-old daughter. And they don’t want people seeing that. And I think that’s the main reason why they criminal trespassed me cause I wouldn’t take the picture off my phone. But I should have the right to take a picture of anything I want, that’s my right.

Eddie: So, what are your plans now?

Jared: Gotta work and keep trying, I don’t’ know how I’m gonna do it, cause I got nowhere to take a shower now. I mean, I’m gonna keep going to work and eventually get my own place. It’s gonna take a little while, but I’m gonna do it.

Eddie: Are you a person of faith?

Jared: Yep.

Eddie: So, this mission says it does what it does in Jesus’ name, or something like that, how does that sound to you now?

Jared: I don’t think that they really do try to restore people’s lives, for some people, they make their lives worse.

Eddie: Does it feel like a Christian organization to you?

Jared: No. Not at all.