Definition of TROLL
: a lure or a line
with its lure and hook used in trolling
(http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/troll)
Once again it would seem that Greg Staffa, a.k.a. @HomelessDefend , @staffaroadtrip has nothing better to do but lead otherwise well-meaning friends down the path of misinformation on his eternal quest to feed his need to troll but when does trolling cross over to outright harassment and libel? What I present here is the full context of what I’ve been watching for several months now and copies of Greg’s behavior as it has been for quite a while. What’s interesting about Greg’s behavior is that he construes any kind of criticism of his own behavior as personal attacks rather than finding better things to do with his life, like real activism. A true activist doesn’t waste all their time making up fake accounts on the internet then sending friend requests to people under aliases so he can phish through their accounts.
Is deliberately following someone around to try to get them fired from jobs and cancelled from speaking gigs harassment? If so, Staffa is guilty. Let’s take a look at an example of one of the kinds of letters Staffa sends to people once he finds out Mark Horvath might be associated with. Keep in mind comments in parenthesis are mine!
From: Greg Staffa [mailto:greg.staffa@hotmail.com]
Sent: Thursday, November 03, 2011 12:47 AM
Subject: harassing the homeless
This is a email I wish I did not have to write. I had written a similar email several months ago with no luck in fact it got worse.
If a nurse in a nursing home constantly harasses a patient there would be outrage.
If a person working with the homeless constantly harasses homeless it goes ignored……. why?
(Because Greg, sane people already figured out you’re not telling the truth.)
For my protection I have Bcc’d Politicians of the Glendale area as well as other members of the community and people who might have a vested interest. I’ve also included the Glendale Chief of Police as well as the California Attorney Generals office. (I’d like a follow up with Glendale’s Chief of Plice and the California Attorney General’s office to find out if in fact Greg’s claims have any truth in them or if they just threw is allegations into a oval file cabinet)
I have done so because as a homeless person the Harassment must stop. It is bad enough when it is some chucklehead who does not know better but its another thing when it is done by someone in the Homeless services.
Since 2009, while homeless I have been exploited and harassed by Mark Horvath of Glendale’s Ascencia.
(Where’s the proof Greg was harassed? This statement is an allegation only)
It has reached a point where I no longer feel safe even though im a 1000 miles away.
I had written the Ascencia Executive Director begging for the harassment by one of her employees to stop but that simply made it worse.
(Executive Director is sharp enough not to pay attention to allegations with no real proof)
The tough part is Mark is a king on social media like Twitter. With his 16,000 plus followers he has been able to say whatever he wants and get away with it.
Mark Horvath has tried to bribe me, use lawyers to silence me. lied about police investigating me (Ha ha ha! Where’s the part where Greg shows responsibility in admitting it was his slanderous claims that got him into trouble in the first place?) in order to get my silence from speaking out about his exploiting of me.
(Where’s the proof of a bribe? As I remember it, Mark tried to show he was willing to support you regardless of your behavior and since when does Greg’s WILLINGNESS to have his pictures used grounds for claiming exploitation? If donating money to somebody to help them out is a bribe then Greg needs to start saying all donations Greg gets are in fact, bribes! Following his line of reasoning then, Greg needs to tell ALL the people he willingly let interview him and take his photos that they exploited him for personal gain but notice how he doesn’t do that with anybody else but Mark Horvath!)
Two weeks ago it reached a whole new level where for 5 days almost 200 tweets Mark lashed out at me on twitter.
(Mark didn’t lash out at Greg, he simply stated the facts Greg was twisting out of context.)
It reached a point when Mark tweeted dozens of time that I hurt children and focused on a child he claimed I attacked online named Zach. Never mind Zach came forward saying he had no clue what Mark was talking about.
(This is an outright lie on Greg’s part regarding what Zach said and is completely out of context. What kind of adult drags innocent kids into
his perverse dramas? I invite anyone who see’s Greg’s tweets to go back and find the original tweets, blogs and comments that were actually said by other people and compare them to how he spins them in his own posts.)Im not the first person to come forward saying Mark exploited them. Marks outed homeless people who dont want their name or location given out over twitter but mark has done it.
(Name who all the people were that came forward to say they were exploited and let’s see their proof that Mark personally made money off them without their permission. If you can’t, you’re a liar, pure and simple.)
In my opinion, Mark Horvath should not be left alone with homeless people let alone working in a shelter.
(Greg, this is just YOUR opinion and nothing more than that! Mark helps homeless people on a daily basis. Many of the people Mark helps no one else will, and you want him to stop helping homeless people?!!)
The sad thing is groups like Blog World embrace him. And the Pierce Family foundation are set to give him a $10,000 grant. Why so Mark Horvath can exploit more of us?
(Where’s your proof that the grant is from exploitation, Greg? Again, you make allegations with no sound evidence. In case you forgot, hearsay is not court evidence as you try to make it seem.)
Brianna Karp was a homeless woman who wrote about Marks abuse. But nobody listens to us homeless people.
(Brianna Karp wrote a lot of things that were exaggerated and she failed to admit she gave Mark permission to talk to her otherwise, wouldn’t she have just simply chosen not to talk to him at all? How hard is it to say “no”? Fyi to Brianna, I write too but I don’t need to exaggerate the truth just to sell a story)
I WANT THE HARASSMENT TO STOP. Mark Horvath is a NATIONALLY KNOWN PUBLIC FIGURE yet to me he is a bully.
(Greg seems to think his hijacking conference tags isn’t a form of bullying or poor judgment on his part which leads the rest of us wondering when Greg’s lunacy will stop!)
Mark claims my first letter tried to get him fired. I don’t believe that was the case, but now given the level of his actions and the nature of his job I am asking for Mark Horvath to be let go.
(Greg, you did and continue to try to get Mark fired but then, what else would you do with your time? If you want credibility, stop your obsessing with Mark and get to work filling up your time with helping people which by the way, would be the main theme in your blogs and tweets. In case youhaven’t figured it out yet, you are the one making a fool out of yourself every time you make claims you can’t substantiate. Taking Mark’s words out of context and lying on videos are not evidence.)
The sad part is I doubt anyone I bcc’d will speak up meaning that I am 100% certain Mark Horvath will retaliate against me in some very public way
(Again, Greg shows us he can’t handle criticisms on his own behavior so he lashes out by calling criticisms “attacks”. )
I invite you to check out my blog which outlines some of Marks actions and flat out lies
Im disappointed that the people of Ascencia sat back and watched even after I raised concerns
Im disappointed that Delta Hotels and Murphy followed his tweets and said nothing
Im disappointed the Pierce family foundation is about to give him a $10,000 grant.
(The above statements just proved that Greg admitted he harasses Mark’s sponsors. How did he know about grants and who sponsors Mark unless Greg trolled for information to use on his smear campaign?)
Please make the bullying by Mark Horvath stop. Will someone help me please? Picking on a homeless person???
Who stands up for the homeless when the homeless are bullied by the people suppose to be helping them
And when you read what Mark did/said about Zach you will be outraged
(Actually, reading your pathetic attempt to drag an innocent boy into your warped reality is enough to enrage anybody, Greg.)Why was this allowed to continue??????
Please help
Greg Staffa
This is only one of the several poorly written letters Greg wastes his time sending out to people. If Mark has been exploiting and harassing people, why are legit organizations behind him?
Another example of Greg’s behavior is brought out in a case where he made all kinds of allegations against one Carolyn Sampson. Needless to say, the judge dismissed Greg’s allegations:
http://www.oah.state.mn.us/aljBase/032017434.DISM.OR.htm
Here is one of several letters that Mark has gotten, do you see any claims of feeling like Mark was harassing the homeless?
Anne Marie Batten
Community Outreach Street Nurse
4 Flowers Crescent
Ajax, Ontario L1S 4C1October 4, 2011
Sean French
Community Liason
Community Action Committee
c/o 925 7th Ave. SW
Ste. 308
Calgary, Alberta T2P 4E8Dear Sean:
I wish to extend my appreciation for the opportunity to be involved in Mark Horvath’s recent visit to Canada and his invisiblepeople.tv roadtrip. It is difficult for me to describe my work these days without including the impact that Mark’s visit had on my outreach work.
When Mark arrived in Toronto, I was in the process of attempting to expand our outreach services as the needs are changing demographically in our part of the city. In preparing for Mark’s visit I had travelled around to other areas of Toronto and met with other service providers as well. Many of our clients are marginally housed but I knew that there were many experiencing absolute homelessness as well. I had the opportunity to travel outside of my area and discovered a tent city as well as two girls living on the roof of a church. During Mark’s visit, he met one of these girls, Terra. I have been able to follow up and may not have found her if not for this tour. My outreach rounds have now expanded and I am also doing some volunteer work in a different area as well.
On a personal level, working with Mark reminded me of the importance of really listening directly to the voices of our clients. Traveling with Mark and experiencing his interviews with those who are homeless and vulnerable was an inspiration to me. I was impacted by the realization of how we often make program decisions based on what we feel is best for people without getting their opinions. I have always been involved with advocacy in my work. However, I have been reminded to communicate what I am hearing directly from my clients as well as my own impressions.
We have several challenges in Toronto right now and one is the suggestion of criminalizing panhandling. During Mark’s visit, he met Billy who is dealing with this issue everyday. Our local City TV has also done a short series on this issue. When asked my opinion, I refer to Billy’s story as it is genuine and told by someone who is actually experiencing this.
I have recently had the honor of being interviewed by the College Of Nurses of Ontario for an article about my work. Of course, Mark Horvath’s tour has been mentioned as this experience has impacted my career. I have signed up with the Canadian Alliance To End Homelessness. I am very grateful to be involved and to be connecting with other service providers and agencies all across Canada raising awareness and working toward finding a solution for homelessness.
Sincerely,
Anne Marie Batten
Need more? Here you go!
https://docs.google.com/open?id=1iZ8XRQO56gNVhCMz03O72o_yNl8zwJfKAcn1E7-0h77twgIA8BqvLbN39gdX
Here is a reference letter from State of Utah:
https://docs.google.com/open?id=1lvnBGpbEGtHKCjSc_MW1fF0dBbaOeSVhKVZ21iJ_2Tpg8to8nBxTtgdHBi1Q
Here are the reference listed by some very important nonprofit executives and others on Great Nonprofits
http://greatnonprofits.org/reviews/invisible-people
Would an organization like The Salvation Army work with Mark if he were truly exploiting the homeless? Judge for yourself:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLYXEqUE7cM
The above are only a few examples of organizations that know Mark Horvath is a legitimate advocate. Any reasonable person can plainly see that Mr. Horvath is not engaged in exploitation because if he was, all these organizations wouldn’t be working with him now would they? But hey, the key word here is REASONABLE. I could go on and on with examples of how Greg lies to feed his victimization fantasies but quite frankly, I got better things to do than waste my time on internet trolls. I made this blog post simply because as a homeless person myself who has worked with Mark, not once have I felt like I’ve been “exploited, harassed or bullied.” How sad it is then, when people who are presented the facts, choose to ignore them.
P.S ….It wouldn’t surprise me one bit if Greg uses my words out of context like he does with Mark and anybody else he makes up reasons to have a beef with. After all, when Greg came up to Seattle and told me he wanted to meet me for coffee, he got awful snotty when I told him I couldn’t because the transmission on my mini van was being worked on. His attitude told me then and there what kind of guy he is. I feel Greg only wanted to “exploit” meeting with me to give his little road trip more validity.
