Is Diversion Ethical?

Guests at the 2011 Hand Up Gala 

Is the trend toward diverting from shelter a passive barring the doors?

In November, the City of New York was sued by Legal Aid and the Coalition for the Homeless regarding the tactic of diverting families from shelter.  New York City is one of the only communities in the United States with a court protected right to shelter for every family showing up requesting help.  Diversion is a trend sweeping the country, encouraged by the so-called experts. to reduce the number of people "improperly" using the shelters.

The policy described by the City of New York is an attempt to "verify that people seeking shelter were truly homeless."  There was broad concern that the policy was being pushed too quickly and the social service community would not be ready.  The new date for implementation of the policy was scheduled for Friday of this week.  Advocates described the policy as "harassing and mean spirited."  The new policy in New York City was to determine if the person applying for shelter had exhausted every alternative including sleeping on a couch at a friends house before coming to the shelter.    The goal was to free up shelter space for those who have no where else to go.  The family shelter population has skyrocketed during the downturn to as many as 48,000 people on any given night just in New York City. 

Cleveland is flirting with a similar policy that often confuses those who are seeking shelter.  We are one of the few cities in the United States that has guaranteed access to shelter for those who request it.  So, a woman or a woman with a child goes to the Community Women's Shelter on Payne Ave. and men go to 2100 Lakeside Shelter.  Cleveland has also experienced record numbers in the family system.  Over the last two years, the central intake staff at the Women's Shelter have been working to "divert" people from entering shelter.   This means an interrogation about alternatives available in the community.  I have not seen much change at Lakeside.  Either the men truly have no where else to go or they understand that the answer is, "I have no where else to go."  The women and women with children get confused by the questions and think that the shelter is denying them access.  On the phone the women hear from the worker on the other line, "We are full have you tried to find other places to stay?"  Those who do not understand the shelter system or diversion and will get discouraged.  They think that the shelter is saying, "go find somewhere else because we cannot serve you."  They may decide to stay with an abuser over sleeping on the street or in a car or may jeopardize a family members rental lease by quietly moving onto a couch and trying to stay away from the landlord. 

Some of the potential residents looking for help do not press the person on the phone and the shelter worker does not mention that they will take anyone who comes to the door in need of shelter.  They are both talking past each other and some women are turned away.  It is not until they call our office or call First Call for Help back before they are told to show up at the shelter and they will be offered a bed.  I do not know if the shelter is intentionally deceiving the callers or not caring what happens to those seeking the shelter, but it confusing for the mom desperately seeking help for her kids.  It seems to me that if we have a truly central intake everyone in need of shelter would show up, and then the shelter would sort out where they can best be served.  But playing this game on the phone seems unethical to me.   We know that the courts in New York City did not look favorably on the diversion policy and the City was forced to delay implementation of this plan. 

Brian
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Shelter Still Lacking in Showers

NEOCH Scolded For Asking for Decent Conditions

In an interview with Ohio News Network about the debacle surrounding the temporary location of the Community Women Shelter, Cleveland’s chief of Public Affairs, Natoya Walker Minor, claimed that NEOCH is “completely wrong on [our push for improved condition for the 80 women currently sleeping at the shelter].” She went on to say that the issue “has gained too much notoriety for a temporary situation.”

Much of the notoriety the issue has gained has been because of the Board of the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless voicing concerns over the shelter, which is accommodating more people every night than that building can handle, and only has one shower. Because of these issues, NEOCH feels that this location is unacceptable for human habitation, regardless of whether it is a temporary situation. After all, half the women who enter the shelter today will not be there by the middle of August. So, there entire experience with homelessness will be at a facility without enough showers, beds, sinks or toilets.

Because the city and the county have largely dismissed the pleas and concerns of the NEOCH Board, they have filed complaints with the State, the fire department, and other government entities. NEOCH Board members, however, question the planning process that preceded the shelter’s relocation. Walker Minor and Cuyahoga County Director of Homeless Services Ruth Gillett said they spent between six months to a year planning the renovations and move of the shelter, but were unable to find a facility with showers.

"The question is why do city and county officials think that inhumane and intolerable living conditions are acceptable under any circumstances -- temporary or otherwise? That is the most disturbing part of all of this,” said board member Rosie Palfy. The NEOCH Board cannot understand how any plan involving a temporary shelter did not consider the shower needs of the women and the natural increases in homeless women every summer. The facility has had over 100 women on some nights with even pregnant women sleeping on the floor on a mat.

“I’ll be the first to admit, it is inconvenient,” Walker Minor told ONN. NEOCH maintains that this inconvenient solution is not an acceptable one, especially after a year of planning. If there was an apartment building with 90 residents and only one working shower, that building would quickly be condemned and the residents would be immediately moved into a facility that is in compliance with the law. “Why do homeless women and pregnant women have to suffer through this summer sleeping on the floor without adequate bathroom facilities because of poor planning and an unwillingness to seek help from the public to pay for a decent temporary shelter,” asked Marcia Bufford, NEOCH Board President?

These problems, accompanied by the sweltering heat Cleveland has encountered recently, combine to exacerbate the issues facing the women staying at the temporary shelter. The shelters need to maintain compliance with some minimum level of basic standards, and should not place women who have already experienced extreme hardship into a facility that is so overcrowded and does not provide a place for women to practice good hygiene as they prepare for job interviews or a meetings with potential landlords.

Press Release by Marcia Bufford and Rosie Palfy
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More Restaurants Should Do This

BBQ Eel, Avocado Roll, Sesame Vinaigrettes

Dante Restaurant Commits to Feeding Homeless for a Year

[From our Friends at LMM] Dante Restaurant in Tremont has generously offered to donate food to Lutheran Metropolitan Ministry’s 2100 Lakeside Men’s Shelter once a month for a year.

The first Saturday of each month, this busy, high-end restaurant will cook and deliver a fresh, nutritious meal to feed 200 men who are homeless. This is the first time that a restaurant has ever made this type of commitment to 2100 Lakeside. The money that is saved on food will be reallocated to strengthen other services provided at the shelter, designed to ultimately build self-sufficiency and help transition men out of homelessness.

“The donation not only impacts us financially but provides the men with the added benefit of having a restaurant quality meal rather than the industrial style cooking we provide - an experience they might not otherwise ever have,” said Michael Moguel, Director of Operations at 2100 Lakeside.

The effort was coordinated by Mauricio Rocha, Dante Restaurant stakeholder and staff member, with Dante Boccuzzi, chef and owner of Dante Restaurant. I always wanted to be in a position of doing something like this – helping people that need help. The restaurant is doing well so I talked with Dante and we decided to give a little back to the community,” said Rocha.

Boccuzzi was eager to get involved and said, “It’s my duty to help the needy and I’m in the position to bring some comfort and relief to people that need it.” This unique partnership is so vital in the way that it is helping men who are homeless to see the community support that is behind them and the number of people that want to help them improve their lives.

Dante Restaurant, which opened in Tremont on January 9, 2010, now serves more than 600 people a week.

From Press Release of Jessica Rocha of Lutheran Metro. Ministry Cleveland Ohio.

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Mike Tribble

Another Death Within the Homeless Community

Our good friend from the 2100 Lakeside, Mike Tribble died on Monday while battling cancer. He was fiercely independent, and tried as hard as he could to start a shelter for homeless people on the West Side. It did not work, but he was passionate about homelessness. His memorial is 2 pm. at Boyds on March 13, 2010. He worked for many years at the largest shelter in Ohio. He would do anything to help those struggling with homelessness or addictions. He was always willing to offer a ride or a place or an ear to a guy in need of help.

We had a friend of Mike's submit a reflection. It is called "Farewell Mike"

Once in awhile you come across a person who is the perfect definition of volunteer. We are talking about a person who has no time for the BS, or for people trying to take advantage of the less fortunate. A person who would give his last dollar if he saw that someone else really needed it.

Mike Tribble was such a person.

He used his own money to purchase anything that was needed to complete whatever project he set in his mind. He was a person who, if he saw someone needing to get to the doctor, would provide them with bus fare, or even take them himself, without any question of reimbursement.

Mike never asked anything of anyone except to just ”keep it real” when you came to him for help; he never said a lot but was always watching and seeing who was doing what. He didn’t see white, black, Hispanic; he saw those people that he would be willing to help, and those he would not waste his time on. He could look at any situation and if he could not help you, he would tell you, upfront, that was out of his area. He would take individuals under his arm and try to help them to get their bearings, or if nothing else, just provide someone to talk to. To Mike it didn’t matter what brought you here, it mattered whether you were trying to get yourself out and what he could do to assist you in that goal.

If this world had more people like Mike Tribble it would be a more caring world.

To me this is the day that 2100 Lakeside lost a very big asset, and Independence community lost a very positive role model. You will be missed very much Mike!! But you will live on in those lives that you touched, and were able to help. We will celebrate your time with us!!

Gone but never forgotten!!

Written By David Harmon II with the help of LMM Staff

The Lakeside shelter is divided into six communities and one is the Independence Community in which Tribble worked.

Brian
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Reflections on the Death at the Shelter

Aftermath of the Shelter Director Death

We now have some distance from the death of Rita Ciofani and it is time to focus less on the grief and start talking about causes. We also need to talk as a community about how to avoid this ever happening again. Before anyone gets the wrong idea, I have to say that I love the VOA Veterans Resource Center. I have been in the facility many times, and each time I feel a sense of pride that this is how we are treating our veterans. It is one of the best shelters in the community and a place that honors the service of those who are struggling after giving a period of their life to preserve and protect the United States. I also have to say that I have the utmost respect for the Volunteers of America as an agency. Their facilities are always clean and well managed. They provide some of the most important services in the community, and we work with them often.

I have begun getting calls about upgrades in security at the shelters locally. While homeless people and shelter workers want to feel secure, there is a danger that we will focus on devices and technology and not on the people. We can't turn the shelters into prisons. There are a great many people already who refuse to use the shelters because of the rules and the institutional environment. We cannot add to this number by making the shelters into jails. As the police said to us at the Homeless Congress meeting, "anything can be used as a weapon, and some times people just snap." So, we need to work on reducing tensions and defusing conflict in the shelters as a part of the security plans. I am sure that Ms. Ciofani was working on reducing conflict because of her background, but I don't know if all the shelters use a similar strategy.

My biggest concern was the article that appeared in the Plain Dealer on the day after the tragedy. I understand the need for the media to get the story quickly, but I was offended that the Volunteers of America responded to the story. The story was basically about the events of the day of the attack and the reason that Raymond Ice was thrown into such a rage. I don't understand why the VOA could not say, "We are not going to comment at this time, because we are focused on comforting the families and the residents at the shelter." Instead we got spin about how the shelter did not discharge Mr. Ice to the streets.

Out of respect for the families, I have held my tongue about this incident. The reality is that discharging someone to Lakeside is the same as discharging someone to the streets. See the way things work in Cleveland is that Lakeside does not turn people away, but those new to the shelter must leave everyday and do not have a standard bed. Mr. Ice had worked his way up to the VOA where he enjoyed semi-privacy and had a place to keep his stuff. Then he was discharged back to the beginning without a bed and without a locker. He had done all that work to get to the VOA and he had to start all over. To the public this sounded like the VOA had found an alternative for Mr. Ice, but in reality he was being kicked to the streets. Why did the VOA official feel the need on the day of the deaths to talk about the private case plans and the veteran's history within the shelters?

I have no idea what happened in this incident except that Mr. Ice tried to find help to prevent his discharge, but he was unsuccessful. He reached out to other agencies (not NEOCH), but no other agency is willing to interfere in the private management of other facilities. I don't know if we will ever know if Mr. Ice was in fact given two weeks notice, but we do know many shelters kick people out the day of the infraction. Since there is no government agency that oversees the shelters, there is no where that a person can go to challenge their discharge. This is a huge issue for homeless people and it came up two weeks later with regard to the scalding death of a toddler.

It is unlikely that anything could have been done to prevent the deaths within the VOA shelters, but there are many things that we could do to make sure that people are not put in this same position in the future.

Brian
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WCPN Picks Up Homeless Portrait Story

Lakeside Shelter Featured on Radio

The photo display by NEOCH Board member, Lydia Bailey opened on snowy Friday in Cleveland. It was a very nice show with narratives about the men featured in the photography. It is a big step forward in to dispel some of the myths.

On Monday morning, WCPN featured Mike Sering of LMM and Lydia Bailey for an interview about the project. It is a very good overview of the project and had some good stories about the men in the shelter giving back to the community. Mike mentioned a group of men who are repairing the school bus and even working to transport the men to the current overflow every night.

The show is available to view every day at CSU at the Levin College through March 31, 2010. Check it out.

Brian Davis
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Save the Date for 2010

Portraits of Homelessness at Levin College of Urban Affairs

Join advocates and friends of the Coalition on Friday January 8, 2009 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the Thomas Campbell Exhibition Gallery at Cleveland State University Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs Atrium for the Portraits of Homelessness Gallery show. Featuring photos and stories by Lydia Bailey, Board member of NEOCH and staff at Lutheran Metro Ministry 2100 Lakeside Shelter. Lydia and shelter director, Mike Sering will talk as well as remarks by the men featured in the exhibit. For more information go to the CSU Urban Affairs website. 2100 Lakeside Shelter is the largest meal program and shelter in Ohio, and Lydia takes some of the stories that she has found and puts a face on the story of homelessness.

Please join us at CSU on January 8, 2009.

Brian
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We Need Blankets!!!

The Shelters Are In Need of Your Help!!

The Lutheran Metropolitan Ministry Men's Homeless Shelter at 2100 Lakeside is in need of blankets for their residents. The economic downturn has caused them to lose a few of the sources they had supplying their blankets so they have asked for our help. They will take any new or good used blankets in any size. Please consider doing a blanket drive where you work or at your faith congregation for 2100 Lakeside Shelter. Blankets can be dropped off at the shelter on your way to work, at lunch, or on the way home. If you do a blanket drive and can collect more than 30 blankets one of the shelters would be happy to pick them up for you. For more information or to schedule a pick up call NEOCH at 432-0540 ext. 103

Brian
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Question About Blog Ethics

We Got a Call from Tom Meyer

Two weeks ago, WKYC broadcast a terribly distorted "investigation" about EMS runs to 2100 Lakeside Shelter. We took Tom Meyer's to task for exaggerating the importance of this story and the offensive mention of sexually based offenders for no apparent reason. We also sent a note to the News Director of WKYC. Now for the ethical quandary--Tom Meyers called to respond. Do we print what Meyer said on with his call in the blog if we did not discuss publicizing his call? The broadcast was public, and our concern was public, so do people have a right to know about Tom Meyer's reply since the station has decided not to issue a correction? He has to know that NEOCH publishes the Homeless Grapevine, and he never said that his call was off the record. If the reporter code is you must tell a reporter in advance that your comments are "off the record," and the reporter must accept those terms, does that code apply to anytime a reporter talks to you? Besides, we are the homeless advocacy organization in Cleveland, and he never gave us a chance to respond to his one-sided story.

So, I will go ahead, and if he complains we can take this down or apologize. Needless to say, Meyer did not see my point of view. He said that he stood by the story and since I was the only one to complain he was not going to apologize. He specifically said that he was not doing stories just to please me. Thank God, since I do not watch any local news. I was told by a colleague that there was a "hit piece" on Channel 3 the night before. Thanks to the marvels of the internet I could watch this story online. Meyer was concerned that we had not written the note to him first instead of involving his boss. Why would we reach out to the reporter who did not reach out to us?

Meyer said that the number of sexually based offenders was a fact, and so it was correct to put it in the story. He did not seem to understand my point that it was also a fact that one-third of the men are veterans or that 40% work regular jobs. Those are facts that he could have presented had he talked to the shelter staff. Meyer felt that the two sides of the story were both represented and they included EMS on one side and the City of Cleveland on the other. He did not think it was a good idea to shove a microphone in front of the shelter staff. I guess that the staff and shelter residents were just causalities caught in the crossfire. Meyer was proud that he had made it clear on camera that he was not saying that homeless people did not deserve health care or ambulance assistance, and felt that the story was relevant. He did not say why he had not mentioned the statistics for EMS runs or the on-going contract dispute.

Homeless people will not get an apology, and local news continues to slip in the abyss of fake news and ratings. I am so happy that sweeps week is over for a couple of months.

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