A Couple of Items You May Have Missed

Homelessness in the Media

NPR's Morning Edition had a story of a homeless woman trying to get enough money to send a Christmas Card to her daughter on the popular StoryCorp section of the broadcast.  While living in the shelter, Queen Jackson was depressed around the holidays until she received a hygiene kit that contained a bottle of lotion with the most fantastic fragrance.  It cheered her up, and got her through the season.  Remember NEOCH is also collecting items to distribute to homeless people.  We are collecting blankets and winter items including hygiene items to distribute to those on the streets. Maybe your donation could help a woman down on her luck make it through the holidays. 

Staff of the local coalition as well as the National Coalition for the Homeless were quoted in the latest Nation magazine.  The article describes the cuts to the housing budget nationally and the strain that is putting on those with a low income.  I really like the quote from Neil Donovan at NCH:

“Today the housing safety net isn’t just frayed,” says Neil Donovan, executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless. “It’s missing. And still everyone’s being told to walk the tightrope without any net.”

The entire issue is dedicated to a look at the cuts to all the New Deal programs and the impact of those cuts on our society.   From Medicaid to Food Stamps to poverty programs, they are all facing the chopping block, and the authors look at how this affects the Bronx or Cleveland or the Oakland school system.  It is a good read--check it out. 

The National Center for Family Homelessness has received a great deal of attention for their report on the sharp increase in children experiencing homelessness during the recession. The director was on Tell Me More on NPR talking about the report, and many newspaper wrote about how their state compared with regard to childhood homelessness.  This is the best part of the Center for Family Homeless reports is that it compares various state efforts to address the problem. It shows how state efforts to cut taxes has a consequence on the number of people living in poverty.   This report shows that nearly every deep Southern state as well as the desert southwest states having the largest increase in homelessness of over 40% in the last three years.  California is also on the worst list.  Texas is in the second worst category of 31% to 40% increases in childhood homelessness along with the other states bordering the South along with New York and Oregon.  Two Southern states (North and South Carolina) break with the rest of the South seeing only a 21% to 30% rise in childhood homelessness.  These are certainly not good numbers, but at least they are not horrible like much of the South and West.  This 21% to 30% increase in childhood homelessness is the same percentage increase for Ohio, Michigan and Indiana.

Brian Davis
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Our Thoughts are with the Men at St. Hermans

Hospitality in Ohio City

As most have seen, the spiritual leader of St. Herman's Shelter and meal program is having significant health issues. There are now calls by "community leaders" for this capricious and whimsical director to leave the facility and focus his attention on his health. NEOCH staff do not have much contact with St. Herman's except that we all respect its value on the near west side of Cleveland. The facility does not receive any public money, but adds a strong dose of religion to every meal. They operate a small shelter, but their meal program is critical for the community. There are other meals in Ohio City and Tremont (St. Augustine, West Side Catholic, St. Malachi, and St. Patrick's), but on the weekend and on Friday night St. Herman's is the only place to go.

We hope that the gentrification crowd does not use the health issues of the director to try to close down this facility. We hope that the near west crowd does not use the guns issue to continue their effort to dislodge poor people from neighborhood. We don't want to see St. Herman's go the way of the Jay Hotel. We need a House of Hospitality like St. Hermans in every neighborhood including Ohio City and another one in Tremont as well as one in East Cleveland, Cleveland Hts, Lakewood, and Euclid. It is a refuge from the cold and a sanctuary from an overburdened society in a residential setting. St. Hermans is a part of our social safety net, and we believe the facility needs to find a new leader who can carry on the mission.

It was interesting to note that "community leaders" were concerned about a cache of guns across the street from the shelter, but had no problem with their tax dollars going to other shelters with documented substandard conditions in this community. One national expert noted that we were lucky that this facility was not administered by a Muslim congregation, because this story would have had a much different tenor. At this point, no one is alleging that there were guns on the site of the shelter or meal program. It seems that the agency that runs the largest shelter (Lutheran Metro Ministry) is going to step in to keep the program in operation. According to the Plain Dealer, Fr. John Henry is stepping aside. All these are positives for the facility. I hope that St. Herman's many supporters will come together to secure the facility for the long run. We can't forget the guys who sleep outside, but use this facility for a shower everyday. We cannot forget the families that need a little bit of help with a meal once a week at St. Herman's. And we can't forget the incredible history of providing an open door to the thousands of people in need over the last 30 years.

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

Easily Offended??

Zero Eviction Day Angers City Leaders

On Monday, advocates gathered at an abandoned house owned by a mortgage company which has other eyesores on their books. The Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign, NEOCH and the Homeless Congress were asking City/County leaders to take bold action to turn some of these buildings over to all the people sleeping in shelters. This seemed low key and entirely sensible. It seemed like a common sense request that no one would oppose--similar to the clean water act or the clean air act. How does anyone oppose "clean air" or "zero evictions?" Turns out that linking the City of Cleveland or any government with the foreclosure crisis or the assertion that the City may be allowing property to deteriorate is a mortal sin. Don't do it or face the wrath of city leaders.

Everyone understands that the City did all the could in suing the mortgage companies, passing a law to protect home owners, and yelling about this issue in Columbus and to the national media. The concern of almost every homeless person in Cleveland is, "Why there are so many vacant houses and at the same time the shelters are full?" They long for a bold Mayor like Kucinich or Stokes who will create an urban homesteading program to turn these eyesores over to homeless people. They just want to hear from City leadership that they recognize this paradox and are trying to do something about it. They want an FDR or Teddy Roosevelt to move mountains to create a program to close down the shelters while moving people into the millions of houses that sit vacant. The men sitting on their bunks at 2100 Lakeside want the City and County to use the new County Land Bank to take over property and turn it over to able bodied skilled workers who can take off the boards and cut the grass and bushes on these houses. City leaders did not see this demonstration as a cry in the wilderness for bold ideas. They took it as a criticism of the cities response to the foreclosure crisis.

We got spanked for even hinting that the City was not doing all they could. We were taken to task for not recognizing all that the City has done to help homeless people and stem the tide of foreclosures. And they shook their finger at us for our "astonishingly ignorant" message. It would seem that government would want people out in the streets angry about what the banks did to this city. I have found that people and especially elected officials are today hyper sensitive to any criticism. They hear a whiff of anger or second guessing their decisions, and they shut down. It is difficult to be a social justice advocate when city leaders bristle and run away from an issue.

So, for all the city leaders out there: "We respect all that you have done to make sure shelters do not turn people away at night, but that does not mean you could not put in writing a plan to close all the shelters and get all those people into housing in the next four years. We appreciate the leap of faith in your vote of confidence in the Permanent Supportive Housing projects, but we will not let you off the hook for preserving and expanding other housing opportunities in the community. We love and thank you everyday for the rich diversity of non-profits that you fund, but that does not mean we will not push you to force these groups to deliver a minimum level of care and work together on a coordinated plan to eliminate duplication of services. We expect the ethical stewardship of public money, but will praise you for any attempt to provide health care, housing, income, and civil rights to fragile populations. We acknowledge all that you did to stop the foreclosures, but you need to do more to help those who were forced out of their housing to get them quickly back into some kind of housing.

by Brian Davis
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City and County Officials Refuse to Sleep in Shelter

No Access to Showers is “Doable” for Women Struggling With Housing but Not for County and City Bureaucrats!

Last week female board members from the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless extended an invitation to Ruth Gillett from the County Office of Homeless Services and Natoya Walker Minor Public Affairs Director of the City of Cleveland to spend two nights at the shelter. After Gillett and Walker Minor toured the shelter, they informed the women that while it was “inconvenient” to only have only one shower on site, it was “doable.” After one year of planning this renovation, Gillett and Walker Minor made the decision to relocate the women to a temporary shelter without a shower, and now they refuse to sleep in a shelter that they created.

Gillett responded via an e-mail letter saying, “It would serve no purpose other than to take space away from someone who needs it.” Walker Minor did not respond. Gillett’s response is puzzling since just this weekend the facility had 9 women sleeping on mats in the day room, and the women would welcome City and County officials to join them on a mat in the shelter.

The Community Women’s Shelter is the entry point for the women’s shelter system, and is not supposed to turn anyone away. It was recently moved to a commercial building at 1701 Payne Ave. that has only one shower that must serve 77 people every night. The City and County, in a letter to the Coalition, contends that this is only a temporary issue, because the regular shelter is currently undergoing renovations and will be ready in the fall. We have to ask if the City would issue an occupancy permit to any residence in the community if in order to shower, the resident had to walk to a building down the street. “We want Ruth and Natoya to spend the night at the shelter and then tell the community if 1701 Payne is appropriate for the mothers and grandmothers who become homeless this summer,” said board member Rosie Palfy.

The Coalition Board is unified in its condemnation of the City and County for violating building and housing codes, Ohio Basic Shelter Standards, basic hygiene requirements and infectious disease protocols by placing 70 women for the summer in a facility that is absolutely unacceptable for congregate living. The NEOCH Board want the two women who made this decision to see how difficult it is for disabled women to maintain their personal hygiene in the Community Women’s Shelter. We want to show that without access to showers it is difficult to find or maintain a job, and we want Walker Minor and Gillett to see how their decisions are harming these women. “Anytime they would care to join us in an overnight or weekend stay, the female board members from NEOCH will gladly join them. We cannot risk women getting a staph infection or losing their job because they cannot maintain their personal hygiene,” said NEOCH board president, Marcia Bufford.

Press Release by Marcia Bufford and Rosie Palfy

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Women Still Do Not Have Access to Showers

Cleveland can afford a stadium that is only used 10 times a year, and yet we can't afford a building to provide showers to 50 to 70 women?

NEOCH Board Members Invite City Chief of Public Affairs and the County Director of Homeless Services to Sleep in the Shelter They Fund

Press Release Issued by NEOCH 6/26/2010

The Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless Board of Trustees are inviting Cleveland’s Chief of Public Affairs Natoya Walker-Minor and the Cuyahoga County’s Director of Homeless Services Ruth Gillett to spend at least two nights at the Community Women’s Shelter. The invitation is in response to the city and county officials moving homeless women to a temporary site with only one shower while their regular facility is undergoing renovations for six months. Board members are worried about the spread of infectious diseases due to lack of shower and hygiene problems in the hot summer months. “We have concerns about accessibility issues for those women with a disability sleeping in the shower this summer,” said Rosie Palfy who is leading the advocacy of the NEOCH Board on this issue. The invitation is an attempt to show the deplorable living conditions at the temporary site of the Community Women’s shelter with a hope of prompting a change. The site violates the Ohio Basic Emergency Shelter Standards as well as multiple building code regulations.

On May 3rd, residents of the Community Women’s Shelter moved to their current temporary facility on 1701 Payne Ave. and Walker was quoted in the Plain Dealer indicating “City and County officials spent years planning the renovation and looking for temporary sites.” In an e-mail to the Coalition after a tour of the temporary women’s shelter, Walker said, “While it is inconvenient for the women to walk less than 300 feet to a shower, it is doable.” The chosen site was without showers, forcing women to walk around the block to the nearby Cosgrove Center limited to only two hours a day or the inaccessible North Point Men’s Transitional Shelter to shower on the next block. The board is concerned that the limited shower schedule could interfere with women looking for housing and jobs.

The NEOCH Board is concerned that the message delivered to the women is that our county has enough money to build a medical mart, renovate the baseball stadium, and buy an asbestos building on East 9th and Euclid, but we do not have the money to house women in a safe, decent place while they struggle with their housing. According to CWS and City and County officials, installing showers at the new location was not cost effective, and there are no other buildings that they could find to house the women.

Residents have complained and filed grievances to NEOCH citing lack of proper facilities and expressing concern over feminine hygiene issues. More than 70 women are currently living at CWS and advocates are not satisfied with the current conditions. The NEOCH board is calling on city and county officials to live in the shelter for two nights to see if the current situation is “inconvenient” or intolerable. NEOCH is asking for city leaders to develop a better solution for our most fragile population under the care of the City of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County. We asked for a response by Tuesday June 29, 2010. Many of these women are disabled and have mobility challenges, and they need regular access to a shower.

Contacts: Rosie Palfy and Marcia Bufford on behalf of NEOCH
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Tough Year for the Shelters and Homeless Individuals

The Northeast Ohio Coalition for Homeless sent the following letter to Mayor Jackson asking for help with regard to the trauma that the homeless population has gone through over the last year. Our concern is that a great deal has happened, and we have not gathered as a community to address some of these big issues.

Dear Mayor Jackson:

Over the last year, a number of high-profile incidents have deeply traumatized the homeless population of Cleveland. Although there was a great deal of attention in the media on these issues, we have had neither a proper recognition of the seriousness of these incidents, nor a discussion of how to prevent these issues in the future. We were witness to the murder of a shelter director after which there was no investigation, no community-wide discussion, and no after-incident report issued to avoid future violence within the shelters. Questions such as, “How could the discharge procedure or grievance procedure or safety plan be improved to assure that this never happens again?” have yet to be addressed.

Some of the more horrific incidents over the last year include:

1. Nearly a dozen women were killed on Imperial Ave. A few had spent some time in the shelters, while most were homeless and never sought help for their addiction or their lack of housing from the social service providers. Why did these women with addiction issues avoid staying in the shelters in exchange for abuse by a sexually-based offender?
2. The young child who was scalded in an East Side motel had only recently left the shelters. Was she discharged properly and was there anyone within the system representing the best interest of the child? Again, there was no discussion locally about this tragedy; what could we do to avoid this in the future?
3. There were a number of other issues that we have seen including a suicide within the shelter, the loss of limbs because of MRSA or a serious staph infection, improper discharges into the night, and shelter staff defying their own grievance procedures. What can we learn from these incidents to keep residents of the shelter safe in the future?

Although these terrifying issues significantly impacted the shelters and the local residents using them, no government entity has convened any discussion to provide a roadmap for a safer future. It must be said here that most of the shelters are wonderful places and are healthy places for individuals and families experiencing homelessness. There are a few that are not up to the standards of the others. For example, the veteran’s facility on East 152nd St. is a great shelter that is respectful to the veterans population, but has no standard for intake or discharges. Cuyahoga County looked into the death of the toddler in the hotel, and the City looked into the Imperial Ave. murders, but no one has convened a discussion about these incidents and their impact on the shelter system in Cuyahoga County/City of Cleveland. As a homeless advocate, in our opinion, these incidents point to a systemic lack of oversight of the shelters.

We believe that it is time for the City of Cleveland to pass legislation to regulate the shelters. In the City Council elections, 13 elected council members said that they would support a shelter standards bill if it were proposed. We just need one office within the City to oversee these regulations. NEOCH is requesting that the city take the lead in discussing these issues and look at examining these regulations for the shelters. To compare, the residents of the City of Cleveland have a place to go if they need to complain about predatory mortgage brokers, landlords or nursing homes, but on the other hand a resident of the shelter has no where to go to complain. We spend over $30 million dollars per year on shelters and permanent supportive housing programs directed toward homeless people, but we do not have regulations to move these shelters up to a safe level in which we can all be proud. We believe that the shelter standards regulations are the appropriate response to these tragedies within the homeless community.

The shelter standards would address the follow issues:

1. In response to the Imperial Ave. murders, the need for a “wet” shelter in the community to serve those who are actively using and need help with their addictions.
2. In response to the MRSA or staph infections, an infectious disease protocol for shelters.
3. In response to the death of the shelter director, the shelters should have a plan for keeping residents and staff safe that is approved by an outside agency.
4. In response to the East side motel scalding, the shelters should have specific rules for housing children in an effort to keep them safe.
5. To address all of these issues, the City should employ someone to resolve grievances and there should be a client advocate system constructed within the shelters.

All these points and more would be addressed by the passage of the shelter standards bill. Please help us move this legislation forward.

Sincerely,
Brian Davis
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Another Successful Stand Down

Friday's Health and Service Fair at the Convention Center

Larry, directing transportation outside, William sitting with a red shirted volunteer on Friday, and Luke checking a guest into breakfast attended all three Stand Down's this year. The final one wrapped up on Friday at the Cleveland Convention Center. We were able to serve over 1,700 guests over the three days and gave out hygiene kits, bus passes, information, haircuts, messages, and a ton of clothing.

InterAct Cleveland is the main sponsor of the Stand Down now, but the show could not go on without the hundreds of volunteers and all the social service and health care providers who attend. We gave out more haircuts than we have ever done in the past. In addition, we also had the largest number of social service providers gathered together to serve homeless people compared to the previous 18 years of Stand Downs. We have to recognize the City of Cleveland and the Department of Public Health for securing the facility and helping bring all the health care organizations to the event. The Department of Veterans Affairs does a tremendous amount of work helping to stage the Stand Down. Care Alliance and MetroHealth are critical healthcare partners for the success of this event. The FoodBank and Catholic Charities Cogrove Center are important partners to provide the breakfast and lunch. Finally, the Stand Down could not exist without Sr. Donna, Toni and Pam from InterAct Cleveland. They dedicate so much time to make this event a success. They deserve heaps of thank yous from all of us in the community for taking up this wonderful social service fair. It was another fantastic event with food, entertainment, health care, jobs, housing, referrals, and specialty services all in one place to provide for every need of the homeless population of Cleveland.

As we get more stats, we will post the information and more pics.

Brian
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Overflow in Cleveland

Community Women's Shelter in Cleveland Ohio

Sheltering People in Cleveland During the Winter

Will the winter of 2010 be the first year that Cleveland has to turn people away? One of the best things about Cleveland for homeless people is that we are one of the last cities in America that still has guaranteed access to shelter. If a family or an individual shows up looking for a bed, they will be given a space inside and will not be denied access. This means we will not have many babies born in mangers, but it is expensive and it often means that Mothers and Fathers have to split up. This twenty year old commitment that has survived three Mayors and many County Commissioners is something that all tax payers can point to as a wonderful use of public dollars. This has saved the lives of many individuals and clarified the role of government in serving those without housing. We do not have the number of people sleeping outside, riding the buses all night, or dying of hypothermia that other cities have because of this guaranteed access to shelter policy.

The way it works in Cleveland is that we have two shelters that act as the entry point for those without housing. We have formalize that this year by placing the central intake case workers at these two shelters. Men go to 2100 Lakeside after 3 p.m., and are given a bed for the night. Women and women with children go to 2219 Payne Ave. anytime during the day. They are given an extensive assessment to see if they have other alternatives or to figure out what their path off the street is going to be fastest for them. After receiving a bed and the assessment, it is hoped that they quickly move into a less crowded facility or a shelter that can dedicate staff to finding permanent stable housing.

If the two entry shelters are full, they pull out mats on the floor or people take beds that are empty from people out on leave or working all night. If all the beds and mats are full, the individuals are transported to other shelters that may have vacant beds. For the past two summers, we have not needed a men's overflow shelter during the summer months. But usually beginning in November, every men's shelter bed in the community is used and the County has to pay for additional spaces first in the basement of the VOA then at the City Mission and then at a local church. The transportation costs and the overnight costs and the logistics are difficult for the City, County and the shelter providers, but they have made it work for all these years.

We are worried that this might be the last year for a number of reasons.

1. In summer 2009, the women's entry shelter had almost two times the capacity of the facility and the men's entry shelter was completely full by 5 p.m. every day. This is unusual.
2. We just started offering "rapid rehousing" assistance to people who go through central intake at the entry shelters. This is the first time with the new stimulus programs that shelters are giving out rental assistance right from the shelter. We are afraid that this will attract more people, and the entry shelters will be overwhelmed.
   
3. The economic downturn and the subsequent cuts to government programs are pushing more and more people to the point that they cannot sustain their housing.
   
4. The women's shelter is having heating issues and in the near future they are planning a major renovation. We still do not have a plan for where all these families will stay during the renovation.
   
5. Will it get to the point that it is just too expensive to provide shelter to all those in need and willing to live in a shelter? Some cities do a lottery every night for the limited shelter beds others just close the doors when they get full.
   

We will continue to advocate for universal access to shelter as the least we can do to help people who find themselves without housing.

Brian
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Struggling Non-Profits

Cleveland Urban League Closing Down

I am just shocked that the Urban League is closing down after 92 years. I had a staff member who had gone through one of their training programs, and always spoke highly of their program. The above pictures are from the Urban League's website, and the new building that seems to be half of their debt. For a non-profit organization, they always seemed to be stable and sound. They had all the big players that all the other non-profit directors in the community would have wished to have on our boards. All the major banks, Cleveland Schools leadership, CSU, someone from Channel 5, Dominion, John Carroll, Sam's Club, Squire Sanders, public relations firms, newspapers, and many insurance companies were at the table as board members. For those teaching non-profit management, this was the golden board that could be a model for the rest of us. I just can't believe it. AIG, Lehman Brothers, and Bear Stearns all had pretty good boards as well. I guess it is a new day in America for non-profit and for-profit corporations since September 2008. If the Urban League can go down, then how close to the edge are the rest of us? This is a huge blow to Cleveland, and someone should host an emergency meeting of all the local non-profits to stop the bleeding. I am especially worried about the social justice organizations in Cleveland closing down. I mean, if an important group that provides job training like the Urban League with their strong board and United Way funding closes, how soon until the gadflies, public policy experts, and rebel groups in the community face the reaper? The one thing that Cleveland needs more than anything else is job training programs. How did this happen?

Brian
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NEOCH Mentioned at the State of the City

Making Progress: Mayor Talks About Homelessness

We have come a long way in Cleveland from the time in the 1990s when the only mention of homeless people by the Mayor was how he was going to criminalize being poor to the time when the Mayor said that he was working with the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless in a positive way. Here is the text from the Mayor's State of the City speech from this last week.

Quality of Life - Homelessness
"Over the past three years, I have worked with the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless, our Community Development Department, County staff and others to address this. My focus is not solely on providing emergency shelter but on finding ways to offer permanent supportive housing; access to wraparound social services; and, job opportunities.

In Cleveland, we have built 351 units of permanent supportive housing. But it is not enough. Addressing issues like service, safety, health care and homelessness must be matched with significant investment in our neighborhoods."

It is true, we did a ton of work in 2008 to improve conditions for homeless people. We have a report on our website on the state of downtown Cleveland. An interesting note on the report, one of the smaller recommendations that seemed harmless when the report was published raised a great of attention and opposition from one segment of the population. Keep in mind that these are just recommendations (not demands), and we would need a great deal of help accomplishing these goals from our partners. But one of the recommendations was taken more as an attempt to overturn the apple cart, and was rejected.

There are a bunch of opportunities this year for Cleveland with the $13 million in prevention dollars, the increase in funding for Public Housing, and the Land Bank program. We hope that the Mayor will continue to focus on homelessness, and take a lead role in addressing this issue.

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

Even the Service Industry is Suffering

This was posted on the Crooks and Liars website this morning.

Ann Taylor closing 117 stores nationwide.

Lane Bryant, Fashion Bug, Catherines closing 150 stores nationwide

Talbots will close all 78 of its kids and men’s stores plus another 22 underperforming stores.

Gap Inc. closing 85 stores

Foot Locker to close 140 stores

Wickes Furniture is going out of business and closing all of its stores. The 37-year-old retailer that targets middle-income customers, filed for bankruptcy protection last month.

Levitz - the furniture retailer, announced it was going out of business and closing all 76 of its stores in December. The retailer dates back to 1910.

Home Depot store closings 15 of them amid a slumping US economy and housing market. The move will affect 1,300 employees. It is the first time the world’s largest home improvement store chain has ever closed a flagship store.

Movie Gallery – video rental company plans to close 400 of 3,500 Movie Gallery and Hollywood Video stores in addition to the 520 locations the video rental chain closed last fall as part of bankruptcy.

Sprint Nextel - 125 retail locations to close with 4,000 employees following 5,000 layoffs last year.

Wilsons the Leather Experts – closing 158 stores

Bombay Company: to close all 384 U.S.-based Bombay Company stores.

KB Toys closing 356 stores around the United States as part of its bankruptcy reorganization.

CompUSA (CLOSED).

I have been concerned that the United States no longer produces anything. We cannot feed ourselves, and we cannot supply our own natural resources. We moved into a service economy, and from the list above that is not working so well. It is hard to serve people who have no money to buy anything. The above list is certainly not comprehensive, but it is frightening. The United States does not even have a lock on technology anymore, and new ideas or inventions are coming from other parts of the world. In Cleveland, we faced a hurricane of foreclosures, substantial job losses, increases in utility costs, and there is talk of the destruction of Regional Transit Authority (massive fare increase at the same time we see massive service cuts). We saw a couple of American Cities (Detroit, Cleveland, and New Orleans) practically destroyed due to neglect and unregulated greed by the federal government. We need some leadership nationally to move this economy forward. This current strategy is not working, and large numbers of people are suffering every day because of tax cuts and unchecked capitalism.

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

Reply to Your Questions

This Came in the Comments Section of the Blog...

I am from Colombia South America and I am going to travel to Cleveland for the world Sur Fin business show in August. I have read your blog and I wonder if the city has a current political schedule to make the economic improvements? In another issue, what´s the city culture? Does it have a potential market for tourists? I'd like to know what´s the positive side of the city.

Gracias ! :)

Okay, so we usually respond to these in the comments section, but the guy brings up some interesting questions and it is cool that someone from South America reads our blog. Economic improvements are the hope of every Mayor, Governor, and elected official in the area with the hope of bringing more jobs to the region. We have a shrinking population, a dramatic loss of jobs, and stagnant wage structure. We have made some huge policy errors over the last 20 years that started us down this spiral. While Rome was burning, our local and state politicians were fiddling around with dumb laws like concealed carry, IDs for voting, terrorist watch lists, panhandling, and speed cameras. Basically, our elected officials took their eyes off the ball for short term election gains. They forgot their main function was to provide for the common good and not just to figure out the quickest way to get re-elected. There is new leadership all around, and all of us are hoping and praying that these guys get back to the business of creating and retaining jobs in Ohio. After all, it is getting difficult for these politicians to figure out ways to blame someone else for the problems Ohio faces when most just have to look in the mirror to come up with the answers.

Cleveland has great potential for tourists, and I am sure that Cleveland+ is the ticket to start bringing in the guests. Okay, so that was facetious, but no matter what crazy slogan some consultant comes up with Cleveland is attractive. No matter how many times they call us "The Plum" we have a nice Metropark system, a great group of museums, great radio stations, and a very diverse population. There is the West Side Market, the Hessler Street Fair, Coventry, and a very good music scene that makes this city special. This blog focuses on poverty and homelessness--mounds of depression, but Cleveland is a great city.

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