Hand Up Gala

Two Charities Join to Provide Fantastic Meal for Homeless People

As Cleveland receives the dubious distinction of being the second poorest city in the United States, Catholic Charities and the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless collaborate on the first “Hand Up” Gala on November 9, 2010 to provide an amazing meal to homeless people prepared by Chef John Aldewereld of San Souci Restaurant at the Renaissance Hotel. This special meal will benefit both charities as they prepare for another difficult Cleveland winter. “We are asking for support from the public to purchase tickets so that homeless people can attend this four star luncheon with all the amenities cooked by a gourmet chef,” said NEOCH executive director Brian Davis.

Tickets are $40, and can be purchased at the NEOCH website at www.neoch.org/handupgala.htm. Everyone who buys a ticket will be entered into a drawing to win some fantastic gifts provided by area business partners. Some of the auction items include theatre tickets, hotel stays, restaurant gift certificates, tickets to the Nautica Queen and the Midwest League Champion Lake Erie Captains, along with many other items. All proceeds support the advocacy organization, NEOCH, as well as the Cosgrove Center and their daily meal and social service programming.

Executive Sous Chef John Aldewereld has a four star meal planned, and we will create a wonderful ambiance for this once-in-a-lifetime meal featuring table cloths, china, and floral centerpieces. There will be a jazz ensemble, and we hope to have local celebrities serve and act as hosts for the event. We will serve 225 low income, homeless, and hungry individuals.

This event is supported by sponsors including Keybank, Avalon Foods, Berghaus Flowers, and Morgan Linen.

For those who are not aware: The Bishop Cosgrove Center

Catholic Charities supports a comprehensive continuum of care to fragile populations throughout Northeast Ohio, including at the Bishop Cosgrove Center. They offer a breakfast and lunch to hundreds of hungry people everyday and offer supportive services to those who have struggled to find a hand up out of poverty. The Bishop Cosgrove Center also serves the neighborhood with a pantry program, and they have a 20 year history of providing comprehensive care to those struggling with poverty.

And then for those who are not aware the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless

NEOCH devotes time and resources to advocacy, public education and programs designed to assist homeless men and women break the cycle of poverty and work their way out of homelessness. A few of NEOCH’s initiatives include free legal assistance, an affordable housing website, and publications of research and reference guides. NEOCH sponsors a number of different programs, including the Cleveland Homeless Legal Assistance Program, and co-sponsors the annual Homeless Stand Down service fair. NEOCH also educates the public about homelessness through initiatives such as Teach-Ins and the Street Voices Speakers’ Bureau.

Brian
Posts reflect the opinion of those who sign the entry.

NCH Director Named Change Maker

Photo From the Change.org blog under End Homelessness: Changemaker

Donovan Featured on Best Homeless Blog in Country

He only was hired four and a half months ago, and he has already become a Changemaker. Neil Donovan, new Director of the National Coalition for the Homeless has been named by the folks at Change.org as a leading voice for social justice in America. Full disclosure: I am on the executive committee of the National Coalition, so I am one of the people who hired Mr. Donovan. There is no truth to the rumor that our only goal was to pick someone with the same name as the new HUD Secretary. While he is new to NCH, he has many years of experience with the National Alliance to End Homelesssness and he did some work on Rural homelessness in Ohio. Obama gets the Nobel Peace Prize in his first year, and Neil Donovan is named Changemaker in his first year of office. Both awards are well deserved for a lifetime of work and the promise of moving a huge agenda forward. Neil is a deep thinker and has worked closely with homeless people in Boston as his anti-poverty career began. This job at NCH is tough for anyone, because of the long history of the organization with basically 18 strong personalities who are all leaders in their states or local communities serving on this one board. So far, Neil has done a good job in balancing the agendas of civil rights, economic justice, housing and health care among all these passionate board members.

Donovan is able to bring some movement forward out of the chaos of "Blueprints for Roadmaps and Plans to End Solutions..." floating around the country. Part of the dirty secret with being a director of a non-profit is that you have to figure out how to keep your work on the big picture when in fact you are swimming in an ocean of bureaucracy and red tape. So far, Neil has kept all the plates spinning while trying to nudge his way onto the giant national stage.

For those who worry that one of the founders of homeless advocacy and one of the giants in community organizing has been put on a shelf in the dark basement of the National Coalition's office, you can rest easy at night. Michael Stoops went back to his true passions of community organizing and pushing for civil rights for those experiencing homelessness as an employee at NCH. Yes, Michael's office is in the basement of NCH, but that was his choice from a couple of years back. No one sent him to the basement. Besides great ideas do come out of the basement so stop making fun of basements. I believe that the internet was created in Al Gore's basement and the Beatles were created in Stuart Sutcliffe's basement.

Continued success to Neil Donovan of NCH.

Brian
Posts reflect the opinion of those who sign the entry.

Is it Charitable to Make People Suffer?

Change of Fortune… FOR THE WORSE!

For those of you unaware of the situation, we here at NEOCH have run afoul of a “charitable” organization known as Change of Fortune Foundation. This foundation is a program of Skyline Financial Group based in sunny LA, an investment and MORTGAGE COMPANY. The beginnings are outlined in this Free Times article from June 29, 2007 (scroll down to “Help From Above”):

If you don’t feel like reading it, the short version is these big wigs from California showed up in little old Cleveland to buy up homes and give them to homeless families rent-free so they can get back up on their feet. They had bought four houses for four families and planned to have 10 families moved in by the end of 2007. In addition, the families would receive free investment, financial, and job training.

However, that article was written in June 29, 2007, and could therefore only report on what the Change of Fortune Foundation said they were going to do. What they actually did, after they were out of sight of the cameras and reporters, was give keys to only three families. Here’s how this worked out:

• The first family, LaTosha Hanna’s family, was given keys to a home with a broken furnace, missing windows, and broken locks.
• The second family was given keys to an unlivable house with a broken furnace, busted water pipes, and missing windows. This family NEVER MOVED IN to the house due to the problems and wound up finding housing on their own.
• The third family we don’t know much about, but we do know this:
• the third family to receive keys was not the homeless family that was selected by the mayor’s office to live there, and
• the third family is PAYING RENT.

Luckily, the Free Times revisited the situation recently and published a new article about the goings-on. Please check it out here (scroll down to “No Good Deed”):

Anyways, now that you’re caught up, I wanted to offer some response to Skyline’s remarks in the article as well as some personal insight into the Big Wigs of foundation who are acting more like the Three Stooges.

The rent-free window is supposed to pad savings, [Ken Miller of Change of Fortune] says, allowing tenants to build the financial wherewithal to fix credit problems [Cleveland Free Times, April 9, 2008]

That’s funny, didn’t you say you were going to provide help in fixing credit and financial problems originally?

[Change of Fortune CEO Gene Parker] also is commited [sic] to helping [the families] get back into the game of life with; job training, credit repair, investing. [Change of Fortune Press Release, June 18, 2007]

Whoops. It looks like you did make that promise, albeit in a grammatically incorrect way. In Change of Fortune’s defense, they aren’t very savvy in the ways of the normal world.

So, why aren’t they doing anything? Well, they respond to that with:

Change of Fortune had hoped that minor problems with the houses would be covered by the new tenants. [Cleveland Free Times, April 9, 2008]

I was taken aback by this, because when I asked them why they were not making repairs, they informed me that I was a clown. They seem to have taken a different strategy in responding to that question when speaking with a member of the press, which, in retrospect, is probably a wise decision.

However, we’ve been asking Change of Fortune for months about making these repairs, and not once did they say, “We were hoping LaTosha would take care of it.” Instead, they usually told us, “We’ll get on it… let me get back to you… we’re sending someone out right now to take care of it.” Not that expecting a struggling homeless single mother with a sick child to make repairs that they should’ve made before they gave it to her is admirable, but at least letting us know that they expected Ms. Hanna to make the repairs instead of giving her false hope that "Change of Fortune" staff were about to make those repairs any moment now would’ve probably been a better strategy.

"Some people, they want a big screen and not just a TV," Miller says. [Cleveland Free Times, April 9, 2008]

LaTosha never asked for any TV, let alone a big screen TV.

“They want a mansion and not just a house.” [Ken Miller, Cleveland Free Times, April 9, 2008]

LaTosha never asked for a mansion, just someone to keep his word.

“We've bent over backwards to make sure LaTosha had a home.” [Ken Miller, Cleveland Free Times, April 9, 2008]

Here is their definition of bending over backwards:

• October 28 – November 10
• Ken Miller received a phone call almost every day letting him know LaTosha Hanna’s furnace was not working and that the water company is going to shut off Ms. Hanna’s water because of a past due bill from before she moved in. He did not return these calls.
• November 16
• Change of Fortune pays some of the past due water bill, but not all.
• Ken Miller is informed that LaTosha found someone on her own to fix the furnace.
• November 17
• Change of Fortune arrives at LaTosha’s home in order to see what needed to be fixed. Nothing is fixed, but they do make the following promises:
• the windows will be fixed,
• the locks will be fixed,
• a screen door will be installed
• a motion light for the backyard will be installed.
• November 18 – January 20
• Nothing is done.
• January 21
• LaTosha’s lawyer sends a letter to Change of Fortune demanding the repairs to be made in 30 days.
• January 22 – February 19
• Nothing is done.
• February 20
• Change of Fortune shows up at LaTosha’s house and tell her they will find someone to make the repairs.
• February 21 –
• Nothing is done.

Perhaps I’m a little “old school”, but where I come from, “bending over backwards” for somebody implies that you actually do something. Saying you’re going to do something does not actually get that thing done. You don’t just make declarations, there’s a whole process involved after you declare what you’re going to do, and it usually involves doing what you declare. Really, you can do almost anything, just as long as what you’re doing isn’t nothing. If you’re doing nothing, you’re doing it wrong.

“Very seldom do I get a call and it's like, ‘Hey, thanks, I'm going to school now.'” [Ken Miller, Cleveland Free Times, April 9, 2008]

You didn’t get that call because LaTosha isn’t going to school now, nor has she received any help from Change of Fortune in her attempts to return to school. Do people usually call you and thank you for things you had nothing to do with? If so, I can understand why you’re so disappointed no one’s called you about returning to school. I never get a call from anyone about school, either. I understand your pain.

“It's, ‘Hey, there's a knob that needs to be fixed' or something.” [Ken Miller, Cleveland Free Times, April 9, 2008]

All the knobs in the house work fine. Do you even listen to us when we call? We have never said anything about broken knobs.

"What happened is, all the resources under Change of Fortune, with all the repairs that had to be made, had become exhausted," Miller says. [Cleveland Free Times, April 9, 2008]

So, all the resources of a self described “financial empire” [Change of Fortune Press Release, June 18, 2007], all the resources that were intended to be used to house 10 families by the end of 2007, were exhausted half-repairing one house for one family. I would love to see an itemized list of expenses next to the moneys they set aside for rehabilitating 10 houses for 10 families for 2 years. Either they were building these houses from the ground up out of solid gold wood or they just set aside a shot glass of dollars out of the bathtub of moonshine that is their financial empire.

"We went to get other nonprofits involved to assist us to make this work, but they didn't want to help." [Ken Miller, Cleveland Free Times, April 9, 2008]

You needed money and you went to nonprofits? A MORTGAGE COMPANY needed money, so they went to not just any nonprofits, but nonprofits in Cuyahoga County, the foreclosure capital of the nation and one of the poorest communities in the US? Of course they didn’t help. If I walked down to LMM’s 2100 Lakeside Men’s Shelter and said, “Hey, Duane [the director], I’m gonna give free homes to all your clients, but I don’t have any money, so can you give me money to do it?” of course he is gonna say no. If we had the money to put homeless people in houses, we’d be doing it already.

"But we'll do a better job during the selection process from now on," [Ken Miller] adds [Cleveland Free Times, April 9, 2008]

You didn’t have anything to do with the selection process. The clients were chosen by Bridging the Gap and the City of Cleveland. Perhaps instead of “we’ll do a better job during the selection process” you should reword it to “we’ll do the selection process.”

and yes, that's a dig at Hanna, whom [Ken Miller] says has "just been totally unreasonable" [Cleveland Free Times, April 9, 2008].

Change of Fortune apparently defines totally unreasonable as a single mother living alone with her young daughter asking to have locks on her home. A group that said, “It is unconscionable that men, women and children are living in shelters,” [Change of Fortune Press Release, June 18, 2007] also finds it unreasonable that homeless families should live somewhere safe.

These guys really irk me. It’s not enough that they’re totally taking advantage of a vulnerable single mother, but they have to have really annoying personalities to boot. Whenever I listen to them talk, I feel like I’m at a medicine show. They flew in with free gifts, and we accepted the gifts on behalf of our client and expected that these businessmen would live up to their words.

In the end, all that’s important is that these repairs get made so LaTosha and her daughters can move on and begin to get their lives back in order. If anyone out there in cyberland wants to help out, the number for Skyline Financial Group, the parent organization of Change of Fortune, is 818.716.3610.

The CEO is Gene Parker III. He’s the one who signed LaTosha’s lease. Please call and remind him that LaTosha Hanna still needs locks and her windows fixed. He doesn’t respond to either myself or LaTosha, so maybe you’ll have some luck. Also, ask him if he switched the water bill into Change of Fortune’s name like he’s supposed to. I know he said he was going to, but he said a lot of things. Finally, ask him to keep his promises on all the City of Cleveland by offering free housing to homeless people.

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

Updates on Previous Stories

The Ups and Down of Previous Blog Stories

Great Music and Good People
I attended the Woodchopper's Ball last night at the Kent Stage. I have been to two or three, but I think that this one was one of the best. It was worth the trip down to Kent despite the weather for this great event. Sure it was $20, but the concert featured 9 artists plus talented guitarist and host Charley Brown for four and half hours of music. That is $2 bucks an artist or $4.44 per hour. Where can you find great music for between $2 to $4.44 in Northeast Ohio? The three panels were expertly paired, and they all complemented each other nicely. We raised a fair amount of money for NEOCH. Brian Henke, of Bay Village, puts a ton of work into this concert every year, and the guys from Kent Stage were great and unbelievably hospitable to the cause. Catch it next year--it was well worth the journey.

How Did Cuyahoga County Get Beat by Fayette County??
We reported a couple of weeks ago about the rough process for developing a grant to prevent homelessness locally. In case you don't want to go back in time, the State of Ohio released funds to put in place five demonstration projects in order to prevent homelessness. Cleveland has by far the largest homeless population in the State and we have one of the best programs in the state to identify people who are potentially homeless with the Cleveland Tenants Organization's eviction diversion program so we were a natural for the program.

Unfortunately, the Cuyahoga County application had a mistake, and so we did not even get to compete. Toledo, Dayton, Columbus, Cincinnati, and Fayette County are the five places that will be funded to develop programming to prevent homelessness. This is a setback for homeless people in Cuyahoga County. The Office of Homeless Services, which coordinated this process, has promised that they will find other funding to implement the program locally. What program will be cut in order to fund this prevention project, stay tuned?

Plain Dealer published the Correction today
I never did see an official correction in the paper, but the Plain Dealer published my "Letter to the Editor" today correcting their story about NEOCH's support of the anti-panhandling campaign.

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

More Events to Get Ready For

Homeless Memorial Day and Phil-an-thro-pia

Homeless Memorial Day is set for December 21, 2007 at Franklin Circle Church at 5:15 p.m. This is a candlelight vigil for those who passed away over the last year and had experienced homelessness. Franklin Circle will host a special meal after the event, and InterAct Cleveland will bring inter-religious figures to the event for a diverse prayer service. Peter Lawson Jones, Cuyahoga County Commissioner, will say a few words, and NEOCH will read the names of people who have passed away over the last year. Everyone is welcome to attend.

Every year Executive Caterers hosts a luncheon, and the profits go to various non-profit organizations. This year the luncheon is on Monday December 10, 2007. Tickets require a minimum donation of $50 per person by sending a donation into Landerhaven, but making the check out to NEOCH. Your donation is tax deductible and you get to enjoy a delicious lunch with other activists or your co-workers. Call NEOCH and we can send you a reservation card or give you more information at 216/432-0540.

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

Other Problems With Questionable Fundraising

Gang of Women Scam Artists on the East Side

It is that time of year...We have heard reports of a group of three or four women who ask for money at Shopping Centers on the East Side of Cleveland. They usually have a clip board (because everyone looks official if they are holding a clip board), and they claim that they are raising money for NEOCH, a Women's Shelter, or a Domestic Violence Shelter. They also have a fake identification badge that they created with the NEOCH name on it. Then, as the final attempt to look legitimate, they give the individuals who "donate" the front side of our Street Card. We have tried to have these people arrested many times, and only a few cities actually find it even worth their time to run them off. Most cities tell us that it is a minor misdemeanor because the victim only lost $1, $5 or at most $10, so why bother engaging them. Even though this criminal enterprise is taking away hundreds of dollars of good will it is stealing a little from many different people. So, these women give a document meant for homeless people, claiming that they are raising money for charities, and then use that money for the purchase of illegal substances.

They are doing all of this on private property, which makes it very difficult to regulate. They used the Grapevine at first as their front, but that was expensive since they had to buy each copy for a quarter. The Street Card is free and so they can run those off at Kinkos or the Library for a few cents a copy, and they have an scam with very low overhead. Only the Salvation Army and the Grapevine are legitimately outside raising dollars for homeless causes or homeless people. The shelters do not raise money on the streets, and neither does the Domestic Violence Center. Please call the police if you see this gang deceiving people with their Street Card scam. Since our name is used, NEOCH would be happy to testify at any trial against these women as the victim of this crime. They move around and have been seen in Euclid, Richmond Hts, East Cleveland, South Euclid, Woodland, Cleveland, Southgate, and Cleveland Hts. In the height of hubris, we also had a report that they were asking for money on the steps of Cleveland City Hall. They no longer fear punishment for this scam and are willing to conduct their illegal activity at the center of government in Cleveland. None of their money goes to any charity, and they will not stop until they are put in jail for a very long time.

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

Speaking of Donations...

Questionable Solicitors at the West Side Market

Speaking of where to donate your charitable dollars...I am all for second chances, but should a guy convicted multiple times for theft be the representative to ask for money for St. Jude's Hospital? The Grapevine vendors are complaining about a guy standing behind the West Side Market asking for donations for St. Jude's Hospital. He did this last year, and this year was given a license by the City of Cleveland Parks Department. His name is Steve, and he has a long history of questionable activities with charities including NEOCH, the Salvation Army, St. Augustine with multiple arrests and convictions for theft, grand theft, receiving stolen property, passing bad checks, unauthorized use of a credit card, and more between 1990 and 2000.

I am a big supporter of the Second Chance Act, and reintegrating those coming out of incarceration back into society, but there are some jobs that may not be appropriate. I mean, it takes a great deal of trust to put cash into a person's hand and expect it to get to the charity. Just as I would not hire Jim Bakker or Winona Ryder as cashiers, Steve may not be the best person to ask for cash for St. Jude's Hospital. St. Jude's feels bad that they sent all the material to Steve, and we now know that the City does not do a background check on the people requesting a permit for soliciting charitable dollars. Steve told St. Jude's that he was raising dollars by conducting a craft fair, but instead is asking for money while standing behind the West Side Market. Last year, he gave the charity $800 and also stood behind the Market asking for money during the holidays. Now, I am sure that the Salvation Army can raise more than $800 a day behind the West Side Market, but certainly they could do it in two days. Otherwise, it would not be worth paying those guys $7 per hour to ring the bell all day in the cold. Steve pulled a permit for an entire week.

Shoppers beware of who you give your money to. This includes panhandlers, bell ringers, charity solicitors, and Grapevine vendors. The badged vendors of the Grapevine are a good bet. Make sure that you get a paper or call us at NEOCH. If they are rude or inappropriate in any way, let us know and we can yank their badge. The red kettle of the Salvation Army is a good bet. Those guys have a code of conduct, a permit, and their is local oversight. You might want to avoid Steve, the convicted felon, "raising" money for St. Jude's Hospital. Your choice-you decide.

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