Candlelight Vigil: December 21, 2012

The first day of winter occurs this year on Friday, December 21^st.  It’s on this day, the traditionally longest night of the year, that the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless hosts its annual Homeless Memorial. The candlelight vigil is held for those who passed away this year and had previous experience with homelessness at some point in their lives or were friends of the homeless.

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Hand Up Gala Next Week

The 2012 Hand Up Gala is next Thursday December 6, 2012, but the drawing for the prizes will be December 14, 2012.  You have a little over two weeks to make a donation to this unique event in Cleveland.  Executive Caters is donating table cloths, napkins and plate for the event.  We have six florists donating centerpieces (Lyndhurst, Monica's, 12th St. Florist, Cloud, Berghaus, and Diamond's Flowers) for the tables.  We have musicians from the Cleveland Institute of Music (Conrad, Gary and Doug).

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Tonight on Rock Center...

The National Coalition for the Homeless has worked to assist NBC News with a feature on Family Homelessness in America over the last couple of months ago.   Thursday at 10 p.m. on NBC on the television program Rock Center with Brian Williams will feature an awareness piece on family homelessness. If you paid attention to this website or the Street Chronicle--family homelessness is on the rise and families are the fastest growing population in Cleveland and many other cities.

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Downtown is Much Improved

I participated in the count this Thanksgiving weekend, and I have to say Downtown Cleveland is much better than it was in the 1990s.  It still seems dead compared to the pictures of the 1960s and 1970s and that movie A Christmas Story filmed in Cleveland.  But I have to say that the Downtown is actually beautiful for an industrial city like Cleveland.  There is not the debris blowing around downtown like tumbleweed of the Plain States.   There were visible clean up crews who gave up their Black Friday shopping to keep the downtown looking nice.  There are more people walking around than there were in previous years with the Casino operational, but even the abandoned buildings are well maintained.

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Dramatic Decline in Outside Homeless in Downtown

Where have all the homeless gone?   Every year since 1999, we have walked the downtown from the river to East 20th and the Lake to Carnegie Ave. to see how many people are sleeping downtown.  In the 1990s, Mayor Michael White was ordering the Police to go downtown on Thanksgiving weekend to harass homeless people off of the streets in order to reassure shoppers that it was safe to come downtown.  There were over 60 people sleeping in the downtown in the winter of 1998.

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Say No to Voting Laws During the Lame Duck Session

The Ohio Senate has recommended another change in the law regarding voting procedures to correct some of the issues that came up with the November election.  There were problems with counting provisional ballots and the forms required to complete in order to cast a legitimate provisional vote.  There was a lawsuit over early voting during the last weekend before the election.  There were issues with the hours of operation at the local level for early voting, and the sending out of early voting applications to every registered voter.  There were long lines for early voting and still issues with identification that need to be addressed. 
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Woodchoppers Ball December 8, 2012

12th Annual Benefit for the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless.
Saturday December 8th 7PM Doors open at 6PM Tickets: $20Advance, $23 Day of Show, all seats reserved
Featuring 9 of the best acoustic guitarists in the World

Hosted by the venerable Charley Brown

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Blanket Drive Starts This Month

Thanks to UAW employees of ALCOA who kicked off our blanket donation drive with a sizable donations of blankets and other items, which went out the door to homeless people on the same day.  We collect blankets and other items for the winter to distribute to those sleeping outside.  We try to collect 500 to 1,000 blankets and distribute it to those who are resistant to shelter. People who sleep outside go through plastic and blankets quickly and need refresher gear every couple of weeks.
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NEOCH Submits HEARTH Comments

We have posted our comments regarding the changes to funding the shelters here (called HEARTH rules).  This is going to be a big changes for the shelters from how to count homeless people, the intake process and discharge procedures.  It will most likely lead to cities looking differently at transitional shelters.  There were well over 400 comments submitted after the deadline was extended until November 16.  If you want to read the other comments go to www.regulations.gov and enter "Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing Continnum of Care."  Click on the docket number FR-5476-N-02 and then HUD-2012-0089 then click "view all comments" and you will see a summary of the 491 comments submitted.
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Updates on Hand Up Gala 2012

The Hand Up Gala is set for December 6, 2012.  We will have a wonderful meal prepared by Chef Matt Barnes of the new LMM Central Kitchen.  He is opening this program later this month which will train culinary students to get jobs in the food service or restaurants of Cleveland.  Chef Barnes will prepare a four star meal for 200.  We have a number of celebrity servers assisting with the lunch including Councilman Zach Reed and Phyllis Cleveland.  Each table will be set with a table cloth and a fresh flower centerpiece. 
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Sad News from Legal Aid Society of Cleveland

We received some sad news of layoffs at the Legal Aid Society in a time of increased need.  Our Homeless Legal Assistance Program is built on all volunteers and has seen two years of increased demand.  We already know that it is nearly impossible to get legal representation in a divorce with children.  We know that it is extremely difficult to find legal help with an eviction for those not in a subsidized building, and there is not much help for anyone facing child support or child custody issues

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NEOCH Lost our Voting Appeal

We lost the appeal that the Secretary of State launched over his last minute directive before the November Election.  The federal district court Algenon Marbley (appointed by President Clinton) had blasted the Secretary of State Jon Husted for issuing this directive only four days before the election late in the evening on Friday.  He had said that it changed state policy from what had happened in the past and what his own lawyers had argued in court only 12 days before this directive.  Judge Marbley believed that the directive violated the Ohio State voting law.

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Thank You to Our Veterans

Today is Veterans Day, and we honor those who served their country.  This Veterans Day comes as we continue to see between 20 and 24% of homeless population made up of individuals who served the United States.   There is a plan to end Veterans homelessness by November 2014.  This is a good thing, but we are a long way from that reality.  We saw a report from HUD this last year that showed a decline in veterans homelessness, but that was based on fiction and guesses that could never withstand academic scrutiny.

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New Paper on the Website

 The new issue of the Cleveland Street Chronicle is now on the streets.  It actually was on the street a couple of weeks back, we just overlooked it because of the election.  The new issue has Raymond and Buzzy on the front cover and has a lot of useful information contained inside.  There are 15 pages of information, news items, features, poetry, photographs, and commentaries.   Please pick one up from your friendly neighborhood vendor today.

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A Victory for Turnout

We wrapped up another historic election, and homeless and subsidized housing residents in Cleveland participated.  In 2008, there were 1,111,286 voters registered in Cuyahoga County and 60.52% of the voters cast a ballot.  This year there were only 927,996 registered voters and 66.5% of the voters cast a ballot in the county. This is a huge victory in the face of all the obstacles put in place that more people turned out in Cuyahoga County than did in 2008.

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Go VOTE!!!

It is time to cast your ballot on Election Day if you have not done it to this point.   We have seen so many obstacles put in our way in order to cast our ballots, but November 6 is the last day.  If you are forced to vote a provisional ballot, be careful.  Election officials in Columbus have made it difficult to complete.  If I had to vote a provisional ballot, I would ask the election precinct judge for help filling out the affirmation.  The forms seems to indicate that it is up to the voter to complete, but the poll worker is supposed to complete the form.  Bottom line is that everyone should avoid the provisional ballot like the you avoid a robocall.

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PD Article Gets Bad Review from Outdoor Homeless

The Shelter Resistant called to complain about the Cleveland Plain Dealer article earlier this week about the campsites that have grown on the near West Side.  There are a number of people who would never live in a shelter even if we opened up the Renaissance Hotel as a shelter.  I was stuck in DC during hurricane Sandy, so I was not in town when the article appeared.  A few of the guys called the office to complain about this invasion of privacy by reporter Mark Naymik.  This is always a tricky situation since publicity usually results in more people offering help, but this is also their home and no one likes a reporter trampling around your home describing your castle no matter if it is brick or blue plastic sheets.

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NEOCH Offers Election Day Help

We have distributed a flyer to all the local shelters offering help with getting out voters.  We are offering a free ride over to polling places anywhere in Northeast Ohio.   NEOCH will be on the phones the entire day answering questions about homeless participation in the election, registration information on clients, and the exact ID needed in order to vote.  We can offer a ride out to Summit County, Geauga County or Lake County if the voter was not able to change their registration because they became homeless over the last 30 days.
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Volunteer Opportunities on Election Day

We have a fantastic opportunity to volunteer on Election Day Tuesday November 6—anytime.  We are looking for volunteers to transport homeless people back to their polling place of origin.  If people have become homeless anytime over the last 30 days, they might need a ride back to their polling place to vote.  We have notified shelters that we are available to help.   We still need volunteers early 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. and late 3 to 6 p.m.  If you have a car and can help, give us a call at 216-432-0540.  If it is after business hours leave a message at ext. 100.

For More Information go here or here for a summary of all voting documents.

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