Fresno Homeless Big Sue's Funeral.. how does a city get away with the slow killing of it's homeless
Big Sue, who was a homeless advocate and homeless herself, was given a funeral today that started at the place of her death, outside the gate of the Poverello House (a homeless center in Fresno). About 100 homeless people, family members, and friends followed the hearse to Broadway and San Benito where services were held at a homeless ministry run by Ray Polk, who is also homeless.
Photo below: Minister Ray Polk with Big Sue’s daughter Suzzanne. The baby is Big Sue’s grandson.
Ray Polk holds placard that will be with the other many placards of the Homeless who have died. The placards are one of the only thing left of the Homeless encampments.
The context of Big Sue’s death is important to know about if you want to understand the circumstances of her death. Big Sue, like hundreds of other homeless people in Fresno, had no shelter following the City of Fresno assault on their shelters. City crews have destroyed almost every tent and shelter in downtown Fresno, returned to take homeless peoples sleeping bags, extinquished the fires that keep them warm and forced them to sleep on the cold hard sidewalks.
Big Sue died on December 28, on the sidewalk in front of the Poverello House, on a day when temperatures where below freezing. Dozens of homeless people have pneumonia and Community Hospital has had to lock their emergency room doors, because so many people are trying to seek medical attention.
Just last Thursday, City of Fresno crews were destroying homeless peoples property on Santa Clara Street. See: http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2012/01/12/18704665.php
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See the images of what City of Fresno does for the HOmeless. It doesn't match their words
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2011/12/09/18702227.php
Land of the homeless and downtrodden. I guess it is easier to let people die, then to try and come up with solutions to fix the homeless crisis in this country. Very sad. 
We are all such insignificant numbers to our stewards.
Big Sue was just one person who is chronically homeless. There will be others who will die from the elements as there hasn't been a change for the better. The City continues to take shelter.
The verses of "Amazing Grace" rang out from beneath a freeway overpass in downtown Fresno this morning, as family and friends of Sharen "Big Sue" Bobbitt paid a final farewell to the woman who has become a symbol of Fresno's homeless struggle. The mourners marched behind a hearse carrying Big Sue's body from the Poverello House in west Fresno to the "Homeless Church" at an underpass near San Benito Avenue and Broadway.
Other than freeway traffic whizzing above at 65 MPH, this could have been any other Fresno funeral. A pulpit was set up and mourners sat in chairs on uneven pavement as pastors, family members and friends told of Big Sue's commitment to her homeless brothers and sisters. They sang hymns, recited Bible passages and talked about God's plan for everyone, including the homeless.
ig Sue, 59, died Dec. 28 on the street, where she had helped numerous others cope with the daily struggles of not having permanent housing. She had opportunities to stay with family members or to live in an apartment, but she said her place was on the street helping other homeless. She looked for ways to find them shelter, even if she wouldn't find it for herself.
Former Mayor Alan Autry was among those who spoke at the service, saying that Big Sue was an important sounding board for him on homeless issues when he was in office. Autry said he made some mistakes in dealing with the homeless during his tenure and Big Sue was quick to point them out. She also offered him advice on how to handle the difficult problem. Like the others who spoke, he said he was better for knowing Big Sue.
She was part of the city's homeless task force and worked with Naomi's House, which was a shelter that also offered services for homeless women. She counseled on the street, and many she had helped were among those in this morning's funeral procession.
I knew her through a close friend who is Big Sue's cousin. I met other family members -- cousins, aunts, her daughters and grand-daughters. They did what they could over the years to get her off the street. Sometimes she would crash at their houses, but it didn't last long. Family members who loved her dearly were frustrated that Big Sue didn't ever picture herself in permanent housing. She suffered from mental illness, family members said, and that compounded her personal issues.
In our short conversations, she told me about her work with the homeless and she occasionally called me at the office to give me an update on the homeless problems in Fresno. There was always more that she needed to do. She sounded in control, as she discussed her plans to help Fresno's homeless. But we knew life on the street was not easy, especially when you're approaching 60 and have health problems.
Big Sue saw her life among the homeless as a calling, and she wasn't going to have it any other way. She was one of them until the last breath she took three days after Christmas.
Do the city authorities think that by taking their few belongings the homeless will just disappear into thin air? I don't get their logic.
It just seems so cruel and unnecessary, particularly in winter.
