Interesting Comment

We Have Another Alumni of the Shelters Reading This Blog

If you check out the comments section of this blog, you know that CynDe regularly comments on the conditions within Cleveland as a former member of the homeless community. She regularly responds to the issues raised in this blog, and we love hearing from someone who has made it through the trauma of homelessness and is doing well far from the bustle of Public Square. Now, we have a new person who stayed at CWS, and does not have the best memories of those days. Telerisghost commented on two of our recent posts about her experiences as a homeless Mom in Cleveland. She raises a couple of interesting points. I do not believe that St. Malachi meal is going to close, but I will follow up with this comment. My understanding was that there were two religious communities at Malachi and they would be merging into one, but I will look into this and report back. But, I absolutely agree that Malachi is one of the best programs in the City and part of the fabric of our community. That program not only feeds people on Monday nights but they operate a food window everyday and a shower program. The volunteers at Malachi deal with the hunger of those staying on the near West Side, but also the soul with medical help and care for those struggling by their many volunteers. NEOCH actually sent a letter to the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese last week asking that in this consolidation of churches that we not lose any services such as the meal at Malachi.

Both CynDe and Telerisghost commented on last week's blog entry on the Presidential address and the question relating to homeless. CynDe had a post on her own blog about the press conference before our post went up. Both agree that the pathetic poverty income that comes with disability is keeping many people homeless. Some of the politicians in DC last year tried to survive on the standard food stamp allocation for one month. This was a great exercise, but there is still a food safety net that exists in the United States, so there are places that give out food products and hot meals to supplement food stamps. How about these politicians including Obama try to survive on the typical monthly disability check? There is no emergency rent saftey net in America that a person on disability can turn to when they have a health care emergency one month and need additional medicine. There is no emergency car repair fund when a disabled person can't afford to fix their vehicle, which is critical while living in a suburban or rural environment. As I said before, America, including those surviving on disability payments, needs a raise. In addition, as soon as a person is approved for disability they should be given a housing voucher so that they would pay no more than one third of their income for housing. This is critical to keeping people from sliding back to homelessness. Welcome to the blog, Telerighost, and we look forward to reading your side of the story.

Brian

Disability and Long Term Homeless

Two Interesting Stories About Poverty

Marcia Bufford Update
In case you missed it Andrea Simakis had a very good story/summary/update on how Marcia Bufford has fared since the shooting in 2006 that appeared in yesterday's Plain Dealer. We had regular blog updates last year about Bufford here and here and here. I really like Andrea's writing, and she weaves a very good story with her profile of Marcia. Anyway, Marcia has struggled with poverty, and the inability to find a job that does not require her to be on her feet. She has struggled paying her bills and complete her school. She has had a real hard time with her recovery, and thanks only to the kindness of strangers was she able to walk in her own graduation Saturday. She appeared on Channel 3 on Tuesday night, and then Friday was in the Plain Dealer. Marcia is still a member of the NEOCH Board of Trustees, and helps out whenever she can.

The most amazing part of this story is that Marcia Bufford has a bullet lodged at the base of her skull and the State of Ohio has determined that she is not disabled. How can you get shot in the face and walk with a cane and yet not be disabled? The system for determining disability is broken and needs to be fixed. They seem to turn everyone down and force them to hire an attorney to get the scraps offered to disabled people in America. It is a disgrace to treat fragile populations like this, and make them grovel for a small check that does not cover fair market rent anywhere in the country.

Update: There was an article in the Akron Beacon Journal about the need for more judges to look at all the backlog on cases last week. I missed it, but here is the link.

The Bush's Car Salesman Speaks
This morning on Weekend Edition with Scott Simon, he interviewed Phillip Mangano who heads up the federal Interagency Council on Homelessness. Mangano is the snake oil salesman for the Bush administration--putting a positive face on domestic policy toward homeless people. He sounds so sincere and so determined, but it is a house of cards. As I have said before, there is no way to address homelessness in America while cutting funds to Public Housing and the Housing Choice Voucher program. It is fake to push these 10 year plans while making families, youth and the unemployed the next long term homeless in America with budget cuts to the housing programs. These guys will all be long gone when the cities discover these 10 year plans don't work and have not solved homelessness. How about we solve homelessness for everyone living in the United States instead of pitting one population against another?

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