Columbus Coalition Conference

Working Out of Homelessness

The Columbus Coalition for the Homeless is hosting a conference focusing on their effort to employ homeless people and start micro enterprise projects. The conference is Thursday January 20, 2011 in Columbus at the Broad Street Presbyterian Church. The keynote speaker is Dr. Fadhel Kaboub of Denison University who will discuss "the economy and the workforce picture today." There will be a panel discussion on the challenges facing homeless people in competing for jobs. There are workshops on how businesses can work with non-profit organizations to employ homeless people. There is a workshop on social enterprise projects and micro-finance projects. Also, some discussion on where there are funding opportunities for employing homeless people will take place.

The conference is only $50 and an additional $10 for Social Work CEUs. They have a workshop on street newspapers, training programs, the underground economy, urban farming, and faith based support for these projects. All the details are available on the Columbus Coalition website. The Columbus Coalition always does a good job, and we encourage you to attend. Plus it is right across from the statehouse, so you can stop in and lobby your state legislator while visiting the Capital City.

Brian
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Cleveland Media Forgot About Homelessness in 2010

Top 10 Homeless Stories Missed by the Cleveland Media in 2009

There were so many stories in the homeless community from 2009, and below are the top 1o that were missed by the local media. I was thinking back to 20 years ago and how many options there were to get stories into the media. Every radio station had at least one reporter and there were magazines that featured news, and we had weekly newspapers from all over the community. Now there are blogs but very few feature general news stories that are not opinion driven.

Here are the stories that were missed in 2009:
1. Despicable Process for Distributing Stimulus Dollars. President Obama helped get $1.5 billion out to the states and communities for preventing homelessness. Cuyahoga County received $14 million. There was one story in the Plain Dealer that focused entirely on a NEOCH vs. the County dispute over these funds. The story was much bigger and was the prime example for why voters distrust County government. The City let down their constituency by just giving their $10 million from the Stimulus over to the troubled Cuyahoga County. A good plan was developed by homeless people, service providers and advocates which was set aside by the County and for some inexplicable reason a different plan was funded. So far in the first 2 months only 10 people were given housing help. So much for stimulating the local economy.

2. Homeless Memorial Day 2009. We read the names of 45 people who passed away over on the first state designated homeless memorial day. This was the 23rd time we have presented the homeless memorial day, and the first time no media showed up to cover the event (except the Grapevine).

3. Homeless Stand Down 2009. Again, an important event with over 2,000 homeless people in attendance. This year no media showed up to cover this huge social service fair. We had entertainment, 60 health care/social service groups, and hundreds of volunteers. No television, no radio news reporters, and no special interest coverage.

4. Huntington Bank Help with North Point Transitional. Introduced in late 2008 and early 2009 was a new effort to get homeless people to start using the banking system. There are so many poor people excluded from the banking system, which manifests itself in the proliferation of payday lenders. Huntington Bank has stepped forward to help guys who are trying to rebuild their lives with support in getting a bank account. A good program that has received no publicity.

5. County Publishes Blueprint for Change. As part of the stimulus dollars and the new focus on prevention efforts, the County Office of Homeless Services published a new strategy for how to end homelessness on July 1, 2009. This document got ZERO coverage in the media, and is a fairly radical departure from what was done in the past. The document had zero input from homeless people and very little input from homeless shelter providers. It was also unfortunate that it came out one and half months after all the groups submitted proposals for how to use the prevention dollars. Maybe it is better that this got no coverage, so that it will be easier for this document to quietly fade away.

6. Shelters Overflowing even in the summer. The New York Times, Washington Post and other papers did stories about the overflowing shelters in their cities due to budget cuts and the instability in the housing sector. There was a brief mention on WCPN, but for the most part the story did not get any coverage in Cleveland.

7. Many work while living in the shelters. This is on the list every year, but it is a good story that never gets enough attention. The mythology is that most people living in a shelter or on the streets are lazy. No one ever does a story about how these guys get up at 4 a.m. to try to get sent out to work at the Temp. company. No media tries to dispel some of these horrible myths about homelessness in America.

8. Failures of the Alcohol and Drug System and its impact on the Imperial Ave. murders. It was said over and over that most of the women killed on Imperial Ave. were substance abusers, but I never saw one story breaking this down. What happened to the alcohol and drug addiction system and the safety net that we pay for as tax payers? Where was the breakdown? Did these women try to get help? Why do we base most of our treatment on outpatient assistance? Why does the alcohol and drug system not follow people long term and why don't they help with housing? How does this system work or how does this system fail poor people? There was such a wealth of stories about the failures of government to protects its citizens from this predator that just never got any coverage.

9. Tough Decisions Made By the Shelters in this Bad Economy. There were a number of stories this past year about the problems of suburban hunger and the growing issues with pantries. I never saw similar stories about the struggles within the shelter community. Cleveland has seen a loss of six shelters in the last six years, and none of the shelters have seen a cost of living increase from government. They should all be given metals for the ability to keep costs under control in the face of flat funding from the government. Despite the rumors, no shelters gets paid based on the number of people entering the building. All the shelters get a set yearly budget and have to figure out how to make that work.

10. The Ability of Social Service Providers to keep the Outdoor Homeless Numbers Down. Over the last three years, despite increases in the number of people sleeping in shelters, the numbers sleeping outside in the downtown area have remained steady. This is a testament to the social service outreach units that go outside every night to build relationships with those who are resistant to shelter. The Volunteers of America, Care Alliance, Veterans Administration, Mental Health Services, Salvation Army, and John Carroll's Labre Project all provide a valuable resource to Cleveland. The media did not do any stories about these wonderful people who earn the trust of those disenfranchised from government and "the system" and in fact save many lives.

Brian

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Hilda, We Need You

Low Wage Workers Exploited: Worse for Homeless People

The New York Times detailed a study released this Wednesday, which showed a majority of low wage workers faced recent exploitation. A good article that is even more prevalent problem within the homeless community. We have tried to assist low income workers to complain to the US Department of Labor when they are ripped off by an employer. A Department of Labor complaint was not worth the paper it was written on over the last five years. No one followed up. If they did follow up, they would demand more paperwork that was held by the employer or they would delay until after the two year deadline passed. There was never any investigation done or any heat ever put on the employer.

There is so much exploitation of homeless people in employment matters especially among the temporary labor companies. They illegally nickel and dime the workers with fees that often drop their wages below the minimum wage. They try to discourage workman's comp. claims even paying their own doctors to convince people that they do not need to file a claim. We need you Department of Labor Secretary Hilda Solis to step up and start enforcing the existing laws. These men and women do the worst back breaking work in our communities, and then at the end of the day one-third of their pay is stolen by their Escalade driving supervisors. They get sent out to clean out dumpsters, paint in 120 degree heat, or lift huge pieces of equipment on or off the factory line, and they deserve all of their pay and more. These men and women are the heart of our economy, and have earned a hard days pay, but when they leave the agency they don't even have enough money for a motel room. They never can save enough money to afford rent even after trying to work as many hours as they can get.

Brian
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Why Does the PD Print Hate?

Letters Paint Homeless With Hate-filled Brush

In the Sunday PD, there were three letters about homeless people and one about panhandlers. Two were very well-reasoned arguments against the curfew. Check them out. There was one from a woman from Brecksville who urges the pedestrians to give to agencies instead of giving money to "beggars." The final letter should never have been printed, because it is factually inaccurate and dripping with hatred. The individual paints all homeless people who decide against using the shelters with the same tired stereotypes. He urges Connie Shultz to "concentrate on the fact that this their choice: to avoid responsibility and mooch change to sustain their filthy, disgusting existence." Then he sums it up with a jailing of all those who sleep outside and forcing them into a work camp or concentration camp. Why is it acceptable for a reader to ask that those who choose not to use a shelter be labeled disgusting, filthy and thrown in a work camp? The editors would never publish a similar letter about members of the Jewish or Muslim faith or targeting African American or Latino members of our community with this type of language.

Yes, a few homeless people use the outdoors for their bathrooms. Yes, there are also a bunch of people who come downtown to party and use the outside as their bathroom. In fact, the front page story in the Plain Dealer highlighted a few neighborhoods where people used the street and yards to puke and relieve themselves, and they were not homeless. How about building a public restroom downtown, and I guarantee that you would take care of 80% of the problem with homeless people using the outdoors to relieve themselves. Get rid of all the bars downtown and you would take care of the non-homeless using the downtown streets as a restroom. I would argue that only a small number make it bad for the majority of people who just want to be left alone. I do not understand why the Plain Dealer allows such stereotyping and characterizing a broad and diverse group of people as disgusting.

There are couples who do not want to split up and so stay together outside or in abandoned buildings. There are no shelters for couples in our community. There are those who stay with their pets. There are those who do not want to accept charity. Then we find many who feel the shelters are unsafe. There are homeless people who do not like all the rules and want to be independent. These individuals obey all the rules and laws, but decide to live outside. There are many cleaning up the stadium at night, and are familiar with a hard day's work. In fact, many homeless work harder than anyone else in our community in some of the most backbreaking jobs known to man, like cleaning out waste management trucks or lifting car parts on to the assembly line to be painted.

I am just trying to imagine the kind of heat that the editorial page would get if this letter was directed at any other ethnic or racial group. Any letter based on unfounded stereotypes about a lazy, disgusting or filthy minority or religious group who should be jailed for their behavior would be viewed as hate mail and thrown in the garbage. This is the reason that there are so many hate crimes directed at homeless people. The Plain Dealer publishing these types of letters makes it seem as though homeless people are less than human, and available for attack. I would write a letter, but the daily has a new one letter per month rule.

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