A Shameful Day in America

David Westcott and Marcia Bufford at the 2006 Homeless Memorial Day.  Photo by City of Cleveland

An Assault on our Morality

A great friend of the Coalition, David Westcott, passed away a couple of years ago, and was one of the organizers of the local anti-death penalty group. For years I knew David only with regard to his hunger and homeless work.  I was surprised to see him at Old Stone Church for a prayer service when Ohio began executing people again in the 1990s.  I should have realized that David was a part of all the social justice groups in Cleveland, but we had never talked about other issues besides hunger and homelessness.  David would be profoundly sad after the death of Troy Davis by the State of Georgia last Wednesday and the message it sends to the rest of the world. 

We have to say upfront that the death of any law enforcement officer and in fact anyone who dies while serving the public is a tremendous loss for our society.  We cannot forget the initial incident and the victim of the crime in question.  Off duty police officer, Mark MacPhail, intervened in a fight that involved a homeless man.  Sylvester Coles was pistol whipping Larry Young, the guy experiencing homelessness.  Officer MacPhail, a father of two young children, intervened and was shot twice and killed. Intervening to help a homeless guy in Georgia is a courageous and rare act, and we can't forget that this entire incident was about a police offer keeping the peace when he was struck down. 

The problem is that the case against Davis as the shooter had crumbled over the years.  The vast majority of witnesses recanted their testimony, and the two who remained changed their story.  There was no physical evidence or even any evidence tying the gun to Davis.  It just seems that if there is such a large amount of doubt, taxpayers should not tolerate an execution on our behalf.  It is a loss of stature on the world stage that we cling to executions especially with such a flimsy evidence.  It is hard to condemn Iran for keeping our two hikers for two years in jail, when we have engaged in torture of potential terrorists and we executed Davis in Georgia with limited evidence and Humberto Leal Garcia by the state of Texas without giving him appropriate counsel from Mexico. It is just one more of a thousand cuts to our moral standing as a society. As a social justice organization, we are hurt by the taking of a life by the state especially one with so many questions.  As a citizen of the United States, we are all harmed by the state killing a citizen with all the concern, doubt and confusion surrounding the case.  All acts of revenge by the State are improper, but this one was especially painful.

Brian Davis
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Saying Goodbye to David Westcott

Family Honors "Great Man"

David Westcott was memorialized on Tuesday. Much of the NEOCH Board and many past and present staff attended. The family did a great job of remembering David, and as his son-in-law, John Rowland, said David was a role model and a great man. Joe Cistone, the Executive Director of International Partners in Mission, spoke on behalf of all the non-profit organizations that David did work for in the community. Joe talked about David's unique relationship with various social justice organizations as Board member, volunteer, confidant, money manager, and bread maker. One group that did not get much attention, and I neglected in my original post and that was the Greater Cleveland Anti-Death Penalty group, which David was a founder and treasurer. I went to a prayer vigil at Old Stone Church before the first execution in Ohio in 23 years in 1999, and was surprised to see David as one of the leaders of the group. David was a humble man, but had a broad menu of social justice causes that he cared about.

Both of his grandchildren had prominent roles in service with Matthew doing a wonderful version of Amazing Grace on the guitar and Ian holding back tears to talk about the volleyball games against his grandfather well into David's 80s. The Lutheran Church of the Good Shepard did a wonderful job hosting the service, and Rev. Lee Penvose talked in the sermon about David's role in the faith community. The church was full with family, friends, young people, and those working in the non-profit sector. I wish that there was some way to learn all these important details of a person's life before a memorial. It would be great to hear about a person serving in both World War II and the Korean conflict during happier times. I would have enjoyed hearing about how David interacted with IPM board and staff five years ago, but we just never get that opportunity.

What struck me the most was that David was a white guy from the South with average jobs of a printer and such, but in the last quarter century of his life dedicated his time to changing the lives of those suffering the negative side of capitalism. He was not the guy out front yelling and screaming about social change. David was the guy signing the checks, ordering the paper, and keeping the staff plugging away. He made sure that many organizations functioned properly, and let the directors do the advocacy and public speaking required to get their message out. David was a behind-the-scenes guy who made the non-profit trains run on time.

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

Details on the Westcott Memorial

NEOCH Will Miss David Westcott

Details of the Westcott memorial were in the Plain Dealer today:

David N. Westcott
DAVID N. WESTCOTT, age 82, cherished husband of Gloria E.; beloved father of Susan G., and Beth C. Rowland (John); loving grandfather of Matthew and Ian; brother of Rev. Edward (deceased) and Eunice McKie (deceased), Ruth Eggert and Lois Junjkuntz. Passed away on Friday, Feb. 27, 2009. Memorial contributions may be forwarded to International Partner in Mission, 3091 Mayfield Rd., Suite 320, Cleveland Hts., 44118 or Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless (NEOCH), 3631 Perkins Ave., Suite 3A-3, Cleveland, 44114. Memorial service Tuesday, March 3 at 11 a.m. at Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd, 8235 Memphis Ave., Brooklyn, OH.

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

We Mourn the Loss of An Advocate

NEOCH Will Miss David Westcott

The Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless Board and Staff are deeply saddened to learn of the death of our beloved treasurer David Westcott on Friday February 27, 2009. Funeral services will be announced in the Cleveland Plain Dealer on Sunday. David served on the NEOCH Board for eleven years. He came to the organization in the early 1990s as a true advocate for homeless people. He pushed the agency to rise above every barrier to focus our attention on an end to homelessness. David was always frustrated with the pace of change in this community, and wanted to see religious, government and social service organizations come together to reduce the number of people sleeping in shelters. He was a real asset to NEOCH by improving our systems and operations and guiding us through rough years after September 11 and the beginning of this latest recession in 2007. As treasurer, he set up a wonderful system of checks and balances, and can boast a solid history of clean audits.

Westcott was a former production manager in Milwaukee as well as a Periodical Product Manager for Concordia Publishing of St. Louis. He was a former Army officer in World War II and Korea. Westcott served as Executive Director of the Lutheran Council of Cleveland and as a social worker at WESM. He volunteered with Brookside Family Neighborhood Center, International Partners in Mission (IPM), and the ACLU. He was proudest of his work as a Board member of IPM building a solid organization that reaches out a hand in peace and in the model of the teachings of Christ to lift up disenfranchised populations in El Salvador, Beruit, and India. He was the 2002 Homeless Advocate of the Year as selected by the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless. David came into the agency every Thursday to sign checks or take a deposit to the bank or just to see if we were all working. Thursdays will not be the same at NEOCH for a long time.

Brian