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Transient Surveys Shelters
NATIONAL NEWSARTICLE
Sunday, November 20th, 1988
Seattle Post Intelligencer
Associated Press
MEDFORD, ORE- In his wandering from San Diego to Seattle Chris Walters has surveyed homeless shelters and developed ideas about how to make them better.
"I'm not doing just a survey" says Walters from a phone
booth in Stockton, California."I live there. I'm a homeless person too."
James Harris, Manager of Oregon's Homeless Program, says Walters has provided information about the needs and movements of the homeless and transients on the I-5 Corridor - information that
officials wouldn't get otherwise
"I think he's doing a public service".
Walters said he worked in security for 10 years as a clerk in a bank in Florida before hitting the road. After a six month stint as a motel clerk in 1986, he was back on the road again. "If you were looking at me, you couldn't tell I was homeless." He said on the telephone."You would assume I worked in a bank or something. The only thing that would give me away would be my disintegrating tennis shoes."
His office is a notebook he carried in a small duffle bag along with a change of clothes and a few personal items.
In His travels he distributes his reports on homeless shelters
to city managers, county supervisors, social-service
departments, Congressmen, Senators, Libraries, and Newspapers
He applauds a decision in California to open National Guard Armories as shelters on cold nights and would like to see other states do the same. "It keeps people from freezing to death, "
he said. Walters ranks Oregon first in the West in helping homeless men to go back to work, followed by Nevada, Arizona, Washington, and California.
He said the short time a person can stay in a shelter makes it
harder for him or her to settle down and get a job. "When a homeless person is in Medford and his five days are up, he's not going to starve to death or freeze to death at night,"
Walters said, "He's going to go north to Roseburg or south to Redding. Most homeless move around because the homeless system is set up to encourage them to move around.
He would like to see shelters allow one 30 day stay a year, so people can get a job and start a life for themselves.
The Honorable Mark Hatfield
Washington, D.C. 20510-10AM
Western Union Mailgram
1-128754U070004 03/10/88 ICS WA16612 SOTA
02873 MLTN VA 03/10/88 JN15212
Chris Walters
722 I Street
Modesto, CA 95354
Thank you for your most recent correspondence regarding the homeless. I greatly appreciate your list of
shelters on the West Coast Corridor which currently offer work placement services. When the Senate considered
the urgent relief for the Homeless Act I added an amendment which would provide for case management to track and
assist the homeless in obtaining comprehensive services, including job training. It is likely that this matter will
come up during debate on welfare reform. Your interest and compassion are to commended.
Kind Regards
MARK O HATFIELD, U.S.S.
09134 18:02 EST
MGMCOMP
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Endorsement From FEMA 2005
Mary Margaret Walker
NIMS Integration Center
DHS/FEMA
Washington, DC
From: Fluman, Al
Sent: Monday, February 27, 2006 6:16 PM
To: Walker, Mary-Margaret
Subject: RE: NIMS Related Research Project
It ties to NIMS is the following ways:
Preparedness: Any emergency management related preparedness activity is tied directly to NIMS.
This preparedness tool (listing of key contact personnel by state and county) is a valuable planning activity and
an important resource for response and recovery activities.
Communications and Information Management: The web-based contact list is an extremely valuable response and
recovery tool especially for resource management during and after an incident.
Plus, the tool will be made available on a CD for use if the internet is down during an incident.
An emergency manager in a county could pull out the CD or the printed version of the CD and use the information.
Resource Management: See above, the tool can be used by logistics personnel in a county emergency operations center for potential contacts of resources statewide.
As for interoperability … the definition of interoperability in its basic form is the
ability of a system to use parts or equipment of another system … while we may be stretching things a bit
with this tool under the basic definition of interoperability … the key contact list from all counties in
the state has various uses in all phases of emergency management + it can be used in its CD form or printed
form during an actual event. The data from this tool/system can be used in various other systems
(resource management/emergency operations plans/etc.)
Hopefully this will help. Al.
US Senator Bob Packwood
United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510
May 22nd, 1989
Mr. Chris Walters
345 Commercial Street
Salem, OR 97301
Dear Mr. Walters:
Thank you for sending me a copy of your letter to Governor Goldschmidt regarding your concern over the budget for the Oregon
Shelter Network. I appreciate your bringing your concerns and comments to my attention.
There is no question that the issue of homeless is a huge problem and we must all work together to address the cause of
the problem and not just warehouse these individuals"
I find it reassuring that people like you are concerned about the problems facing our country, and are interested in actively
searching for solutions. Again, thank you for getting in touch with me. I have made a note
of your position and will be sure to keep your comments in mind.
Sincerely, SIGNED BOB PACKWOOD
BP/OJB-
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