Another Good CAHA Meeting

Good Information About the State of Cleveland

The Cuyahoga Affordable Housing Alliance Meeting from last week was one of the better meetings. We had David Cooper from the Cleveland Department of Building and Housing, who went through the gruesome details facing the city. Cooper talked about the City's efforts to manage this crisis by taking down 950 buildings last year compared to 220 in 2006. The City is estimating 8,000 to 10,000 structures abandoned. They are working on search warrants in order to enter houses with questionable ownership to determine who is responsible for maintaining these properties. The City has put up another $6 million for this year. Last year, with the assistance of Cuyahoga County, the City of Cleveland spent $9 million to take down houses. The Department has created an Operation Efficiency Task force to make sure that they are boarding and taking down properties in an efficient manner with coordination of all other City Departments. The City has boarded up 1,860 properties in the first four months of this year.

The City Department of Building and Housing averages $8,500 to demolish a building. The one benefit of the crisis is that Cleveland is getting a pretty good deal to demolish a house. Simple economic theory says that with volume comes economies of scale, and cheaper prices to take down these homes. Wards 5, 12, 10, and 14 are the hardest hit.

CMHA also gave a presentation on the state of affairs when they are being funded at 83% of what everyone agrees is the cost of running the agency. They have 8,700 units occupied, which is the highest number since 1989. CMHA has about 1,500 move outs every year and 6,700 people on the waiting list. 60% of those waiting are waiting for a one bed room apartment, because the housing authority has designated 29% of their units for those 50 and over. With welfare reform, now only 4% of the total CMHA households receive cash assistance as their main source of income. 20% are employed and 21% receive a disability check as their primary income. 23% have no income at all. There are 17,000 total people living in a CMHA properties throughout the community. The Housing Authority was represented by Scott Pollack who went through all the current modernization development projects to keep their units in good working order. The Housing Authority gets knocked, but they actually perform a vital function as a key agency in preserving our critical infrastructure. I wish that they would get rid of their senior only (50 and over) housing, but otherwise they do a good job with shrinking resources. We should all make this a high priority to restore CMHA funding for next year.

Finally, Steve Wertheim came to report on final results from 2007. There were 148,100 calls made in Cuyahoga County to First Call for Help. The two biggest reasons for calling were requests for help with utility bills at 14,900 calls and information about the local food pantry at 14,600 calls. Homeless shelters (11,100 calls) and foreclosure assistance (7,900 calls) were the next largest number of calls. Home rental listings rounded out the top five with 5,700 calls and job finding assistance was close behind with 4,300 calls.

Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.

WKYC Slams Lakeside Shelter

Tom Meyer Presents One-Side of the Story

WKYC-TV, normally a decent local television news program, presented a one-sided story last night about homeless people. I know that local television news are only out for ratings and focus their energy on sex, blood, violence, and scandals so what should we expect? My experience is that WKYC is usually a step above the low bar set by television news, but last night was a low point for these guys. What happened to presenting the other side of the story? What happened to talking to homeless people or homeless advocates or even the shelter directors that you have defamed? What happened to journalistic standards? Tom Meyer should be ashamed of himself for presenting such a distorted fairy tale.

For background, the story was about the large number of EMS runs to the Lakeside Shelter. This is a problem, and we all recognize that there is an issue. This is too complicated of a story to put into a nice sound byte, but that does not stop "the investigators" from trying. Here is the laundry list of problems with Mr. Meyers distortion of the news:

1. Why didn't the shelter get to comment?!!!
2. What the hell does the number of sexually based offenders have to do with this story? Why was this even mentioned except to enrage the viewer? Did Mr. Meyer bring this up to say that sexually based offenders who have completed their jail time do not deserve an ambulance? or health care? or to live in our society?
   
3. $145,000 to $545,000 for public safety runs to the shelter seems cheap to me. If we are willing to buy for millions of dollars a vacant building in this community clean it of asbestos and then sell it again for a loss or pay millions every year for a few sports teams to have beautiful houses in order to make money with ticket sales than the least we can do is pay a half million to keep homeless people alive and safe at the shelters. We waste so much money in this community, and you begrudge homeless people the right to 215 calls to EMS?
   
4. Homelessness is not fun and there is nothing enjoyable about staying at a shelter so calling the fictional story "2100 Club" is just offensive.
   
5. What do you expect, Mr. Meyer? Until we have universal health care in the United States, hospital emergency rooms will become the primary care facilities for the poorest among us. Any collection of 450 disparately poor people in the same place will require large scale and expensive supportive services with food, health care, and counseling.
   
6. Even the lead in to the story was wrong... Tim White said, "Most of those emergency calls can be traced to one location." Are they saying that the majority of calls come from Lakeside? This is factually incorrect. If there were 1,018 Safety calls in one year to Lakeside, that would mean that there are less than 2,040 total calls in the City of Cleveland for all three safety forces. In fact, EMS alone handles over 85,000 calls a year. Lakeside is a drop in the bucket at 215 calls. I am willing to bet that calls to the jail and some of the larger subsidized housing properties exceed 215 EMS calls in a year.
   
7. Insurance requirements dictate that only a health care professional can say if a call is serious enough for an ambulance within the shelters. Shelter staff are not qualified to make a decision about the seriousness of a health care need. No staff want to have a guy die because they refused to call the ambulance. Put a doctor at the shelter in the day and evening (more than $545,000 a year) and you would cut the number of calls way down.
   
8. This is a battle taking place between City Hall and EMS and Fire officials. Why do you have to put homeless people in the middle of this battle? At least identify the contract dispute taking place and be honest that EMS is using our airwaves to try to get a better contract.

I suggest the shelter call down to WKYC to make sure that it is acceptable to call EMS each time they think about calling 9-1-1. Since they are so close to the shelter the guys at Lakeside shelter should stop into the clean, beautiful lobby of WKYC and thank Mr. Meyer for such a fine example of journalistic ethics. I am sure that they would not mind if the residents wait in the lobby until Mr. Meyer has time to accept the thank you of all 400 guys.

Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.

Ohio Needs a Homeless Hate Crimes Bill

Hate Crime Against Homeless Report released today

Rep. Foley's bill made national news today in the USA Today. The national hate crimes report was released today and can be downloaded from the National Coalition for the Homeless website. NEOCH helped put this report together, which showed Ohio is the fourth most dangerous state in the United States for homeless people. Please do not read it cover to cover. The brutality and depravity of some of our nation's young people will turn your stomach. We hope this is a call to action for Ohio state legislators to add homeless people to the state hate crimes statute and pass Foley's bill. We hope that the County prosecutors drop their opposition to this bill. If any other minority or religious group was being targeted at this level, there would be a national outcry and immediate legislation passed at a national level.

There was also a nice profile of a local homeless individual, Eugene Clemons, targeted two weeks ago by a group of thugs on the East Side of Cleveland in today's Plain Dealer. I have a hard time understanding how a veteran who served his country and worked a full day of work is beaten to the point of being hospitalized by a group of young people. We did not identify this gentleman in this blog because he did not give us permission. I have been looking for him for a couple of weeks. I am glad that the Plain Dealer caught up with him. The Cleveland Police Chief did respond to our letter complaining about the police not taking a report. Summer is the worst time for hate crimes against homeless people, and we need to meet with the new Third District (old fifth district) commander to talk about this disturbing trend.

Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.

Mike Foley to Headline NEOCH Dinner

State Representative Foley is Keynote Speaker of NEOCH Dinner and Auction on May 2, 2008

Mike Foley, former director of the Cleveland Tenants Organization will be the Keynote speaker for the May 2, 2008 Dinner: "Partnering to End Homelessness." The Auction and Dinner are at GESU Family Center at 6:30 p.m. at 2490 Miramar Boulevard across from John Carroll. You can RSVP through our website, and even pay for your tickets online. We will give out the Ione Biggs Award for Social Justice as well as announce the winner of the fourth annual poetry contest winners. There are some fantastic items donated by local businesses and non-profits to be auctioned off at our seventh annual dinner and auction. We hope that you can join us.

If you have any questions, call Teri' Horne at 216/432-0540 ext. 101.
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.

Community Meeting: Housing Trust Fund

Mary Brooks Comes to Cleveland to Talk About Developing a Housing Trust Fund

On May 8, 2008 at 3 p.m. a the NEOCH/CTO conference room, we will have invited guest Mary Brooks from the Center for Community Change in Washington DC. She is an expert on the development and use of Housing Trust Funds, and has assisted communities like Franklin County and the State of Ohio with the development of a dedicated revenue source to build affordable housing. We are having a meeting earlier in the day with the County Commissioners. This meeting will set a time line and assign tasks to bring on additional allies. All are welcome to attend this critical meeting to work toward a $10 million resource to build additional housing in the community.

Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.

Foreclosure to Homelessness

National Homeless Report Calls For ACTION to Break the Foreclosure to Homelessness Cycle

Washington, DC – The National Coalition for the Homeless released a report today forecasting an increase in homelessness due to the foreclosure crisis. The report, Foreclosure to Homelessness: the Forgotten Victims of the Subprime Crisis, summarizes the findings of a national survey of state and local homeless coalitions conducted in winter 2008 to ascertain whether their communities were seeing an increase in homelessness due to the foreclosure crisis.

Among the survey findings:

• 61 percent of survey respondents reported an increase in homelessness in their communities since the foreclosure crisis began in 2007.
• Respondents reported a variety of living arrangements among the newly homeless victims of the foreclosure crisis, including stays with family and friends, in emergency shelters, and on the streets.

The report criticizes state legislatures and Congress for their inattention to homelessness prevention initiatives in their response to the foreclosure crisis. “Nearly forgotten in the foreclosure crisis are the thousands of homeowners and renters who have become homeless once their equity is exhausted,” said Bob Erlenbusch, President of the National Coalition for the Homeless. ”We hope this report will sound an alarm and inspire policymakers to take proactive measures that prevent more Americans from falling from foreclosure to homelessness.” The Cleveland Metropolitan School District is reporting a 40% increase from 2006 to 2007 in the number of homeless children seeking help from the Homeless Children and Youth Program, and they are attributing part of this increase to the foreclosure crisis.

Among the policy recommendations offered by NCH to break the foreclosure to homelessness cycle is an infusion of funds into the federal Emergency Food and Shelter Program, a highly effective program already in place to provide rental and mortgage assistance to persons at risk of homelessness. At the request of NCH and other organizations, Congress is now considering action on this recommendation as part of foreclosure relief measures.

Foreclosure to Homelessness: the Forgotten Victims of the Subprime Crisis, is available on the NCH web site at www.nationalhomeless.org on the front page.

The National Coalition for the Homeless is the oldest national organization advocating with and on behalf of persons experiencing homelessness. Our mission is to end homelessness. The National Coalition for the Homeless engages in public education, policy advocacy, and grassroots organizing. We focus our work in the areas of housing justice, economic justice, health care justice, and civil rights. Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless is a Cleveland area advocacy organization working to amplify the voice of homeless people.

Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.

Are We Creating Angry Machines?

How Long Will We Pay for Iraq?

While I was in DC, I talked to a Vietnam veteran who was trying to get people to listen to his warnings about what we all need to be prepared for with the returning Iraq War veterans. He said that his one year tour of duty in Vietnam messed him up for a couple of years after he came home, and he became homeless for a period of time in the 1970s. The blood, the life-and-death decisions, the tension, the sleep deprivation, the pressure, the explosions, the horror of war are overwhelming to one's mind.

This war with many of the same issues as Vietnam, an insurgency using any means necessary to defend their home against outside aggressors, is certain to screw up many of our soldiers. The difference is that we no longer have one-year tours. We have 15 month tours and the stop loss program can send people back into the theater repeatedly. Has anyone planned for the cost of mental health, housing, and health care for the these soldiers? My friend in DC worried that we were creating "monsters" who will not be able to function in society. Every car backfiring or hostile driver, or family conflict is a potential explosive situation. Already, we have had veterans murdering their spouses and veterans crawling into drain pipes to die. How many will become homeless because of the extended tours of duty? How many will need lifelong mental health counselling because of the stop loss? I fear that this war and its consequences will make the aftermath of Vietnam look like a cake walk.

Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.

Hate Crime Against Homeless in Cleveland

System Failed One Homeless Man

Last Saturday, a homeless guy was sitting near the freeway overpass on Superior Ave. on a milk crate. He was not bothering anyone, just enjoying the first nice weekend of the year in Cleveland. He was attacked by a group of young people who beat him for five minutes with a board with nails in it. He stumbled over to the Lakeside Shelter, and collapsed.

The worst part is how this homeless guy was mistreated by the system. The Police refused to take a report because the guy did not know his attackers. MetroHealth treated his broken wrist, but not the leg wounds from the nails. He was discharged almost immediately despite his open wounds. Those wounds are now infected and he needs almost round-the-clock care. Beaten by a group of disturbed individuals, then violated by the police and finally kicked to the curb by the hospital. A day in the life.

Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.