Stephanie Tubbs Jones

A Friend to Low Income People Leaves the Stage

All of the staff and Board at the Coalition are stunned by the loss of Stephanie Tubbs Jones as our representative to Congress. Rep. Tubbs Jones talked regularly about housing and health care, and was always willing to attend discussions about homelessness. She was a speaker at our Homeless Memorial Day to grieve for those who passed away, and spoke regularly on defending the rights of voters in Ohio. She recognized the Coalition as the place to get answers regarding homelessness. We supported her efforts to reintegrate those coming back from incarceration into the community, and wish that there had been a better environment in DC for her ideas on universal health care.

I remember Stephanie as always being so enthusiastic for her role as the leading advocate for Cleveland. She truly loved Cleveland, and was our heart. She was born in Cleveland, and was one of our best promoters on the national stage. We were well served in Washington by Rep. Tubbs Jones. The last event that we staged in which Tubbs Jones attended was in 2006 with our protest over the voter identification rules. It was the day before election day November 2006, and we called a vigil outside of the Board of Elections with a few homeless people and ACORN activists. A couple of elected officials attended, but toward the end of the vigil Ms. Jones comes out of the darkness exhausted from an entire day of walking, shaking hands and campaigning for other candidates. Her seat was safe so she traveled the county urging voters to support other democrats. She showed up about 8 p.m. in her slippers telling all those gathered that she felt this was an important event and had to attend. She said a few words before she headed east. We will miss her support; her strong voice, and her inspirational story. She embodied success having moved up the ladder through hard work to become a key decision maker in Cleveland. She was respected by both sides of the political spectrum as chief ethics officer for Congress, and she held powerful committee assignments that will take our region years to regain.

I attended and participated in a number of election time candidate panels featuring, moderated and hosted by Rep. Tubbs Jones. It was always an honor to be given the opportunity to share the stage with Cleveland's leading advocate. I also had the privilege of sitting on a panel with her as a few of the distinguished alumni of CWRU to inspire undergraduate students to work on solving problems in the community while they work toward their degree. She, of course, stole the show as a dynamic public speaker urging the young people to volunteer and bring their talents and treasure to Greater Cleveland. I know that she was a role model to young girls throughout the region who saw that strong women can be successful and can be powerful leaders. Stephanie Tubbs Jones was our regions Secretary of State and Chief Executive Officer, and it is going to take an exceptional person to recapture that role as a successful social justice crusader.

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