THE FIRST PTH OFFICE SPACE

Anthony Williams: So we go into CHARAS, and Chino says, “Why don’t you go check out Judson?” And then I was like, “Fuck them churches!” You know what I mean? Like, “Fuck them. I’m not going, I’m not, no. Fuck it, I’m done.” And Lou was like, “Anthony, we got to go to Judson. We have to go talk to them.” I said, “No, I don’t have to talk to them.” And I said, “I’ll walk over there with you, but I’m not going in that church to talk to them.”

Lewis went in the church and talked to Peter Laarman. And he came back out, and said, “Anthony! They want to meet with us. The reverend wants to meet with you.” I was like, “Hell no, I don’t want to meet with him.” He goes, “I need you to talk to the Rev, to Reverend Peter Laarman. He wants to hear what we have to say. So, we should at least let him hear us out. Okay?”

Anthony Williams: So, after the twenty-four-hour action, Peter said, “We have an office downstairs. If we can clean that out, we can give you an office.” And I’m like, “Really?” He goes, “Yeah, we just need to clean it out.” So, we got a phone. Then we got a computer, site visits was coming to see what we do. You know, you can’t show people something that’s not there! Right? It has to be there for you to show them, and the only way to get what you need is by showing them that you have something unique, and you have something that’s worthwhile for them to come and support. And we had that. We had all of that. We had every bit of it.

Anthony Williams: Going to San Francisco, that was an eyeopening experience, because we don’t see homeless people in these places, doing these things. If the Coalition on Homelessness [San Francisco] was the first homeless organization in the country, and the people that you see in that organization, who are homeless and formerly homeless, are working in the office, and sleeping there… And I’m sleeping on the floor, and doing interviews with people about New York, and these are major hubs. It’s nothing to take lightly, you know?

When I went to San Francisco, I was amazed, just at the civil rights stuff, and I knew that if this is what homeless people are asking for, this is what we should give. I mean, that’s how we determine, you know? It was no miracle for them to talk about the police, and talk about how they felt about selective enforcement, and [being] treated differently.

Anthony Williams: I think it was important for us to see, instead of me seeing it, I wanted everybody else to see it too.

It was important that they got to see anorganization that was run by homeless and formerly homeless folks, that they’re actually doing it. It could be done! Yes, and it was being done! They won a lawsuit! That was one of the most important pieces I think I took out of that. They actually got the mayor’s office and the city to pay for people’s belongings being taken illegally and thrown in the trash.

Paul Boden: I was really energized about the people that came out to [San Francisco] to talk about doing it and this absolute belief system that they were going to do it. There was never a question in my mind that these guys weren’t going to do the shit.

That was the same experience I had when I first met Denver Homeless Out Loud folks. It was very clear there was a fucking plan afoot. They didn’t know exactly what the plan was, but there was a plan to do this shit. And so, it was just exciting!

I think the more we can share… They’ll end up doing whatever the fuck they want. But to be able to actually talk to a group of people with the same belief systems and talk about the freedom of well, just start stirring some shit. Like, you’ll figure it out as you go. If you listen to people, you’ll figure it out.