More Reasons to Support the ACLU

Homelessness Discussion Available On-Line

Earlier this year, we promoted an event at the American Civil Liberties Union on homelessness. I was privileged to be invited to speak to a surprising large crowd for the middle of the day about homelessness and the 20 years of legal work that we have undertaken to protect the rights of homeless people. It was another good event by one of the premier civil rights groups in the United States. Because of the work of Chris Link, Ray Vasvari, Kevin O'Neill, Gary Daniels, Joan Englund, Gino Scarselli, James Levin, Jason Jaffery, and Carrie Davis (no relation), the ACLU has always been a tremendous partner to protect the rights of very low income and homeless people in Cleveland and Ohio. They have posted the video from the talk on their website here.

There were a number of very good questions from the crowd, and I talked about the long history of working to protect the civil rights of homeless people. Because of NEOCH and the ACLU working together, things are better for homeless people compared to other areas of the country. For example, Cleveland is one of the few communities in the United States with a signed agreement between the police/city and the Coalition that prevents the police from arresting or threatening arrest for purely innocent behavior of sitting, sleeping or standing on the sidewalk. This reduces the number of homeless people who end up in jail for being poor, and reduces conflict between homeless people and city officials. If you want more information go watch the video. Also, make sure you support the ACLU because some group in our community should have the job of protecting and preserving the Bill of Rights and not just paying lip service to "protecting the Constitution."

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

Question of the Day?

Why No Cleveland Street Soccer Team?

This weekend was the national tournament to pick the team that will represent the United States in Street Soccer in DC. The question of the day is why doesn't Cleveland have a Street Soccer team? It is a great empowerment project to send current or recently homeless people to represent your city in a national tournament and possibly to compete for the United States in an international tournament. The team from San Francisco won the tournament, and a team will be picked that has the best players from all the teams to go to Milan to compete. ESPN always has some coverage of the event. HBO did a special on the tournament for Real Sports a couple of years ago.

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

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.