Occupy Des Moines camp welcomes antiabortion protesters, pays its electric bills

The Ticket

DES MOINES, Iowa -- Young anarchists may be synonymous with the stereotype of Occupy Wall Street, but at the Occupy Des Moines camp Friday, many people standing in the 41 degree weather at noon in Stewart Park were adults, some more than 60 years old, and all were obeying the law.

"Our mayor has been very kind and generous to allow us to camp here," Sandy Berkland, 64, told Yahoo News. "But we've also followed all of the rules and regulations and done our best to comply with whatever the city deems necessary."

Frank Cownie, the mayor of Des Moines, asked the Occupy protesters to relocate in October from the state capitol to nearby Stewart Park. The protesters accepted the offer and ever since have camped at this square, open-air park, which is abutted by major roads and decorated with a colorful children's playground. The group files weekly occupancy permits, takes care of its trash and pays electricity bills.

There are many local detractors, including at least one very angry neighbor who lives within sight of the tent city, John Frankling, a local handyman, told Yahoo News. But the community has also offered food and supplies to the camp, and some people are making an occasional cash donation.

Today, Occupy Des Moines has become a place where most everyone is welcome, even proselytizers who oppose abortion rights.

"I didn't know how welcoming they'd be with me being pro-life," Reeves Grogan, 46, a pastor from Los Angeles, told Yahoo News. "But at Occupy, not everyone agrees with every issue, but there's the core issue of economic injustice and corporate greed that got us into this mess."

On Friday afternoon, Grogan was sharing living space at the park with a varied group including Frankling, the part-time handyman; Berkland, who lost her job but was able to retire; the homeless; a young police liaison and activist from Chicago; and a local woman on disability who comes down each day to support and speak with friends.

Berkland, who helps organize food and supplies for the camp, said that between 17 and 35 people are camped at the park at any one time. Berkland doesn't sleep at the camp, she told Yahoo News as an icy wind furled an Iowa flag hanging from a nearby tent, but she spends each day there. She said many of the Occupy Des Moines residents work part-time or menial jobs.

Those who live on the grounds, including Frankling and Grogan--who set up his small blue and orange tent just days earlier--say the amenities are abundant.

"Hot coffee, hot water ... a facility that washes our dishes," Berkland said as she pointed out the kitchen tent, an 11 feet by 20 feet structure with electricity, multiple heat lamps, an eating area, a sink, a refrigerator and a microwave--all contained in an enclosed room with a working door.

"I'm an inner-city missionary so I'm on a very tight budget," Grogan said.

There's also a supply tent, portable toilets, and a meeting tent where a general assembly session is held each day. Recently, protesters set up an "Occupy the Caucus" office space downtown, where they handle logistics and the press.

"I could live here," Nancy May told Yahoo News as she walked through the kitchen door.

May, who doesn't call herself an Occupier, has a home nearby but travels to the camp daily to spend time with friends and support the cause.

May, who sometimes uses a motorized chair to get around, lives on disability, and said that she had at one time been homeless. Today, she says she's "next to being homeless" again.

"Maybe Congress will wake up and realize, Hey, these people really need help," May said of the homeless and next to homeless living at Stewart Park, some of whom she counts as friends.

The varied group of people at Stewart Park on Friday all were inspired to go there because of how the Occupy Wall Street movement opposes greed and corruption.

"The issues in our country need to be addressed and people need to be heard," Berkland said.

"We need to do something about this corruption in politics," Grogan said.

"We're the corporate states of America," Frankling said.

The camp's future is uncertain as Occupy Des Moines faces its first winter.

The city has recently enjoyed a spate of unusually warm weather, but the temperature dipped sharply on Friday, bringing with it a biting wind.

Frankling, who has a home but has spent some 70 nights at the camp, has no plans to leave.

"I plan on being here all winter as long as people keep supporting us and helping us out," he said, as cars drove by honking their horns.

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