Fan, You hit the nail on the head with your post about bringing kids to B&W. It was well written and much more constructive than Clams repetitive posting. (canned bb speach)

my 12 year old daughter is just starting to "go to town" with her friends. there are a few places she is forbidden to go into...and while i know she and her friends are looking forward to the opening of the B/W snackery i think Bell really needs to be very cautious from the start regarding her policies toward vagrancy (thanks Ted for hitting the nail on the head!) one reason i don't mind her going into Einsteins, no matter who is hanging out there, is what i perceive as the transparent storefront which is very exposed to both duane, main, and the interior of the store. the snackery space does not have that same transparency, and if i sense at all she's not safe it's going to be off limits. I sincerely appreciate your efforts and applaud your life changes since l982, but when it comes to a 12 year old daughter you can certainly see who comes first with me...
we look forward to seeing what you've done with "Craig's!"

quote:

(canned bb speach)

Stop it!!

quote:

Originally posted by GEM:
Fan, You hit the nail on the head with your post about bringing kids to B&W. It was well written and much more constructive than Clams repetitive posting. (canned bb speach)

Thank you GEM. Your acknowledgment of my always well-written words makes me feel all fuzzy inside. And, your obvious disdain for Clamato makes me feel great as well.

quote:

The homeless situation seems to be a large sore point, I will speak directly to the Village and PADS personnel to see if there is a way to find a compromise.

I am curious, what does talking with PADS have to do with who you openly invite into your eatery?

FAN hit the nail on the head with this and I join him in his sentiment:

quote:

I hope Bells and Whistles Snackery is a huge success...further, I've seen all you've done in the Village in your short time and I'm impressed by it and inspired by it. However, if my interpretation of your post is accurate, you'll be disappointed and saddened with the response of the community to your venture and your open door policy, including my family.

I am one of those folks who will not allow their children into the library unattended. I hate to be so crude, but why on earth would you spend all this time and energy creating a "family friendly" environment, complete with an arcade and all while also inviting drug addicts, alcoholics, mentally ill, ex-cons and HIV positive folks or, any combination of these characteristics into this same environment? You do know that 70% of PADS clients are mentally ill and/or addicts, don't you? If the eatery turns into what FAN has described as a "homeless refugee camp", I will not be needing your business.

BB, 70% of PADS clients are mentally ill and/or addicts???? Where did you get that stat? I mean if you're including cigarettes and caffeine in the addict category, it's probably even higher but I think 70% sounds high, assuming you mean true addicts.

From an article called "What's wrong with our society?" dated 12/12/07

quote:

Our biggest challenge is usually staffing sites with volunteers and finding space to fit all of our clients and store needed materials for our program," said Scott Block, director of McHenry County PADS.

He said 70 percent of shelter guests were substance abusers, mentally ill or both

Although the above is McHenry and not DuPage PADS, the following information is directly in relation to DuPage PADS and supports the aforementioned stats:

quote:

In the PADS shelters guests/clients self-report any personal characteristics at the time of intake. Multiple characteristics may be reported, and a staff person does not override a selfevaluation, even if the guest/client is obviously intoxicated or delusional. The numbers are therefore much lower than government estimates that put alcohol and mental illness at 30-40% of the homeless population of the U.S. According to Amy Dusek of the PADS staff, “we believe that a substantial portion of our guests are addicted to either drugs or alcohol””

Underneath this passage there were stats in a bar chart which shows 52% of 452 clients who self-reported are addicted to drugs, alcohol and are mentally ill. Keep in mind that these stats are lower because of the self-report procedure.

I know I have seen the 70% directly in reference to DuPage PADS, I'll see if I can find it.

Based on my husband's experience in McHenry, I'd say 70% of the entire county is addicted to drugs or alcohol or mentally ill.

But seriously, don't knock yourself out looking for more stats - that's good enough. I asked because it seemed steep but then again, the more I think about it, it's not that suprising. Although, I think we could all agree that people with drug or alcohol addiction are not, by nature, dangerous or even a safety issue.

I'd like to know what percentage of the general population is addicted to drugs or alcohol because of my own experiences with families with these issues as well as my husband's experiences with patients with these issues. He gets drug seekers every single day - sometimes several of them a day - and those are just the ones that he knows are drug seeking.... I'll see what I can dig up regarding the general population.

quote:

HIV positive folks

Bitter, why is it that you keep including this in your list of 'rants' about PADS clients? What is your fear? I know of two GE residents that have HIV from getting blood transfusions. They are both currently healthy, upstanding citizens of our village. Would you like to separate them as we used to do with lepers? Shall we have them wear a patch on their outer clothing so you can cross to the other side of the street when you see them coming? How would you know that these residents are infected? <these are the only two that I know of...how many other Glen Ellyn residents have this disease? How many of our citizens are walking around HIV positive that don't know because they haven't been tested?>

The only way someone could actually contract HIV from someone who is positive is through direct contact through mucous membranes with bodily fluids (i.e. blood & semen). This is something that the medical community found out in the 1980's when they were researching this unfortunate illness that has killed thousands of humans Worldwide. Please, don't spread unnecessary fear about this disease. We have learned a great deal about this disease in the last 20+ years and to have someone include it in a list of rants about 'vagrants' is just plain ignorant, IMO.

I would think the inclusion of HIV is in response to the high rate of drug addictions and the stigma associated with repeated and shared needle use. It does not seem from his previous posts that he is homophobic. GER, maybe you need to relax a little about this.

I will say that as I was eating breakfast this morning with the family, the concept of PADS and the message board came up. I mentioned the 70% statistic and Fanette, who is infinitely smarter and more observant than me, said: "That number is skewed as it includes HIV. I wish people would stop including that as someone being infected with HIV has no bearing on anything." I agreed.

So, GER, glad you pointed that out.

RH - Where did GER say anything about homophobia?

quote:

GER, maybe you need to relax a little about this.

RH, my response has nothing to do with homophobia and I never stated anything in my posting about this being an issue of homophobia. Besides being gay, I also have degrees in Health Administration and Community Health/Health Counseling. This was more based on my education and background as a health educator than my being gay, which you really just 'assumed' was why I was responding in such a fashion. You know what they say about assuming...

Yes, there may be a higher rate of drug addictions/HIV infections within this population of PADS clients. How does this effect whether a person will have any normal, day-to-day contact with such a person, Rob? This is where the ignorance comes in. If you aren't educated about this disease and its transmission, it is ridiculous to include it in a list of rants. It is being used as a belittling or fear factor to support a claim. Lets be honest, that is why it is being used, IMO.

Oh, and just an FYI, I won't 'relax' about this. Again, I thought this was an open discussion. Why should I hold back when I feel passionate about something and maybe can actually add to the discussion? I happen to have a background in this area. If this was concerning an area of the law, we would welcome our group of law professionals to voice what they know.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: GlenEllynRing,

GER - Need to know, Jeffrey Lewis fan or not?

Fan, I don't even know who that is, so I guess not a fan, but only because of not-knowing.

OH, THAT Jeff Lewis. HUGE fan.

Posted a picture of him. The guy is absolutely hilarious....and a total dick.

I knew it....

quote:

and a total dick

Agreed. And I wear the same shoes.

Just for the record... I absolutely adore Jeff Lewis!

I have a very dear friend who teaches homebound students. One of them contracted the HIV virus from a transfusion and eventually died right after achieving his goal of graduating high school. He and his family didn't want anyone to know his true disease due to the stigma attached to it. How sad...he was a wonderful person who could teach alot of adults a thing or two about life and living.

quote:

didn't want anyone to know his true disease due to the stigma attached to it.

M2C, excellent post.

I thought the stigma was gone? This thread makes me think otherwise.

I mean, Magic Johnson has had the disease for 30 years (part of the conspiracy theorist in me thinks that he has never had it), played hoops with it, lived with it and by all accounts, hasn't spread it to anyone by touching, sweating, spitting, etc.

He would probably spread it through IV drug use and unprotected sex, but I don't intend on sharing a needle with Magic or visiting Perplexed's rumpus room with him anytime soon.