First Day of Workshops
The U.S. Social Forum in Atlanta is spread out throughout the City. The way that the Forum is set up is to have opening remarks and a short talk in the morning then a 10:30 a.m. workshop lasting until 12:30 p.m. then a 1:00 p.m. workshop. After a short break from 3:00 to 3:30 p.m. there is another two hour workshop. Then into the evening with two one and half hour plenary sessions at the main stage at the Civic Center. There are 109 different workshops happening all at the same time all over the City of Atlanta. They are held at hotels like the Marriott, Renaissance, and Westin, at libraries, churches, coffee shops, parks and at the Metro Atlanta Task Force.
The workshops were in the areas of:
**Agriculture/food/land **Community
**Culture/Media **Economy
**Education **Environmental Justice
**Globalization/International Trade **Health
**Immigration/Migration **Indigenous
**Labor/Workers Rights **Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgendered
**Militarization/War & Peace **Movement Building
**Politics/Democracy **Poverty
**Prisons/Police/Courts **Race & Class
**Religion/Spirituality **Human Rights
**Social and Public Service **Urban Issues
**Women/Gender Issues **Youth/Age/Families
So, there were plenty of choices in workshops to attend. It was very difficult to move from one side of town to the next in a half hour so that had an influence over which place to go. There were activities going on all day at the cultural tents. There were social justice films all day going on as well as cultural events throughout the day.
I decided to attend the workshop to start out the day with the survivors of Katrina and Rita. There were four people from Louisiana and Mississippi along with a moderator also from New Orleans. Two of the presenters had family members who died during the aftermath of the flooding. One of the women had her mother left behind because she could too sick to make it down the stairs. The national guard members said that they would go back--it never happened. Everyone who presented kept saying that national guard members would tell people they would be back and they never did come back. The other woman lost her brother-in-law. They saw babies dehydrated and dead outside the Convention Center. They saw police brutalizing the population forgetting to protect and serve. The first plenary of the night also featured survivors of Katrina/Rita who charged that race played a big role in the rescue and rebuilding effort. No one had good things to say about Ray Nagin, the Mayor of New Orleans.
From both the workshop and the plenary, we learned how bad the situation was in New Orleans. There is a great deal of anger toward the federal government, and a big movement demanding the right to return to their homeland. The survivors are asking for help under the U.N. guiding principles on Internally Displaced people, which mandates that people who were forced from their homes by man-made or natural disasters must be provided help in returning to those areas. The men and women of the Gulf Coast are angry over evacuation efforts, forcing people out of their homes, the refusal to re-open public housing after three years, the rent gouging and the gutting by 85% of the budget in 2004 to shore up the levee system. All of those who testified had to endure the worst conditions and the most pathetic response from government that they all deserve reparations. These angry former residents are holding a tribunal in New Orleans at the end of August. It would be great to have similar tribunals throughout the United States around the same time to document the stories from displaced citizens from all over the country.
The elevator system in the Westin Hotel was a nightmare. So, from then on I decided to skip any workshops on the upper floors of the Westin--if I could not make it with the stairs I would not go. They lock the stairwell on the upper floors. I got to hear a little about the overthrow with the support of the U.S. of Aristide in Haiti. I also got to hear from the American Friends Service Network and the Black Panthers talk about the Criminal Justice System in the United States. There were three panthers including Fred Hampton's son, and then one Panther called in on the telephone. They talked about Attica and the segregation of black nationalists within the prison system. The prisons label people as "gang members" for any organizing and then place these individuals in solitary confinement or in supermax confinement which is 23 hours alone. There was also mention of the Lucasville 5 in Ohio who took the fall for the riots and are serving life sentences.
The last workshop of the day was by the National Coalition for the Homeless about criminalization efforts around the Country. As the co-chair of the NCH Committee, I gave my pitch about efforts in Ohio to make it illegal to be homeless. I did not learn much here since I help put together the national report, but helped further the presentation. I left after the first plenary session of the evening on Katrina--too much depression for one day. I missed a few cool sounding workshops on the disappearance of Native Americans and housing as a human right because of conflicts, but a full day none the less. The theme of "Another World is Possible*Another US is Necessary" did not really fit for the forum. So far, I have not learned much to hope for, but just a series of condemnations on the current system. They sure could have used a few plenary sessions on keeping hope alive and the good things that are going on in America. Maybe I was biased because of all the problems at NEOCH. Four or five workshops in a row could really put a fragile person over the edge.
Regarding NEOCH finances: Back in Cleveland, we started getting some response to our e-mails and the article that was in the Plain Dealer. Our Board secretary was interviewed by Channel 5 and WTAM. Supporters began calling and asking what they could do to help. Old friends that we have not heard for a while were shocked to hear of the problems. Letters started coming in asking the foundations to support the organization. All of the support certainly raised the spirits of the staff.
Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
Sunday, July 01, 2007
Gathering of Advocates in Atlanta
Official Start of U.S Social Forum
Day Two (Official Day One) Another hot day in Atlanta with the temperature around 90 some degrees. The parade kicked off in the afternoon at the State Capital. We headed over to Centennial Olympic Park past the monument to capitalism: World of Coke or Coca Cola World or whatever. An entire building designed to a stupid drink, and thousands of tourists pay to enter this shrine to corporate dominance. By the way, the entire city is dominated by Coke. They sponsor time in Atlanta and Diet Coke sponsors the temperature. They support nearly every art institution and they seem to own the transportation system. There are many workshops about how bad Coke is to India, workers, and water resources, and there is a protest scheduled after a Native American water ceremony.
We went over to the parade for the start of the United States Social Forum and found a few of the Cleveland group who came down. There were some great signs and great papier-mache masks. A lot of talk of impeachment and the state of America. If nothing else, progressives know how to throw a good parade. Drums circles, performance artists, and every possible progressive or radical political cause under the sun. It was the most diverse collection of people I have ever seen. All under the watchful eye of the Atlanta police in their motorcycles, helicopters, Segues, and those cool Atlanta police cars. There were 10,000 advocates for social justice in the streets of one of the meanest cities in the United States toward homeless people.
Their Civic Center is the center of the progressive universe for this week. There were tents for the indigenous peoples, Africa, Democracy, tent of the Americas, Immigrant rights, Youth, Native American, Solidarity Economy, and our friends from Philadelphia with the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Tent. I met up with the group that came down on a bus. There were 40 people from various progressive organizations like Jobs With Justice, Organize!Ohio, STOP, and May Dugan Center. There were hundreds of information tables with literature on every problem from the 9/11 conspiracy theorists to the Vegans and the Cuban 5 supporters.
Regarding NEOCH's financial situation: The Cleveland Tenants Organization is collecting letters of support. We have received calls from many of our friends asking what they can do to help. All of the outpouring of support has certainly raised the spirits of the Board and staff. I have stayed in contact with people back in Cleveland, and we are fighting for our future.
Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
Day Two (Official Day One) Another hot day in Atlanta with the temperature around 90 some degrees. The parade kicked off in the afternoon at the State Capital. We headed over to Centennial Olympic Park past the monument to capitalism: World of Coke or Coca Cola World or whatever. An entire building designed to a stupid drink, and thousands of tourists pay to enter this shrine to corporate dominance. By the way, the entire city is dominated by Coke. They sponsor time in Atlanta and Diet Coke sponsors the temperature. They support nearly every art institution and they seem to own the transportation system. There are many workshops about how bad Coke is to India, workers, and water resources, and there is a protest scheduled after a Native American water ceremony.
We went over to the parade for the start of the United States Social Forum and found a few of the Cleveland group who came down. There were some great signs and great papier-mache masks. A lot of talk of impeachment and the state of America. If nothing else, progressives know how to throw a good parade. Drums circles, performance artists, and every possible progressive or radical political cause under the sun. It was the most diverse collection of people I have ever seen. All under the watchful eye of the Atlanta police in their motorcycles, helicopters, Segues, and those cool Atlanta police cars. There were 10,000 advocates for social justice in the streets of one of the meanest cities in the United States toward homeless people.
Their Civic Center is the center of the progressive universe for this week. There were tents for the indigenous peoples, Africa, Democracy, tent of the Americas, Immigrant rights, Youth, Native American, Solidarity Economy, and our friends from Philadelphia with the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Tent. I met up with the group that came down on a bus. There were 40 people from various progressive organizations like Jobs With Justice, Organize!Ohio, STOP, and May Dugan Center. There were hundreds of information tables with literature on every problem from the 9/11 conspiracy theorists to the Vegans and the Cuban 5 supporters.
Regarding NEOCH's financial situation: The Cleveland Tenants Organization is collecting letters of support. We have received calls from many of our friends asking what they can do to help. All of the outpouring of support has certainly raised the spirits of the Board and staff. I have stayed in contact with people back in Cleveland, and we are fighting for our future.
Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Away from Cleveland
US Social Forum in Atlanta
First Day: This is the worst time to be away from Cleveland with all that NEOCH is going through. I made plans to come to the U.S. Social Forum in Atlanta months ago, before all these problems came to the surface. NEOCH has always struggled during the summer, because people don't think as much about homelessness, but this is the worst it has ever been. This is the first gathering within the United States of activists as part of the World Forum, and so I decided to go ahead. It is an especially difficult time for the United States with assaults on the Bill of Rights during the middle of an unpopular war and giant gaps in the social safety net. It is important for progressives to get together on a strategy to move forward. I have not had time to go to the computer after a long day of activities, but have been writing things down as I went along.
We got here a day early to see Atlanta. The City is very hot with unrelenting and oppressive heat. We did not see many native residents of Atlanta out on the streets except for homeless people. Atlanta is about the same size as Cleveland, but it seems like a bigger city with a subway system and more cars on the streets. We visited the King National Historic Site here, which is inspiring. The King Center has the tomb of Coretta Scott and Martin Luther King Jr. sitting on smaller version of the DC Reflecting pool with a brick building featuring rooms dedicated to Rosa Parks, Gandhi, King's Family, and the movement. We saw the old and new Ebeneezer Baptist Church as well as the restored neighborhood that King would have seen as a child. All of these except the new Ebeneezer Baptist Church are run by the National Park Service.
We visited the Forum site to register for the Social Forum at the Civic Center. No MARTA (subway) passes available, but we did check in, and got the packet of available workshops. The conference is spread out throughout Atlanta, which makes it hard to get from one workshop to the next battling the heat. Also, there are hundreds of possible workshops in the areas of environmentalism, imperialism, immigration/indigenous people, freedom/democracy, rights of minority populations and women. The conference is overwhelming considering that many of the possible workshops were not accepted. There are thousands expected and it seems that each person has a talent to relate to others. There are artists, cultural events, movies, and public expressions. I met up with Steve Cagan who was hanging his photo exhibit from his images of Columbia. The US Social Forum proves that everyone is an expert in some area. More to follow...
Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
First Day: This is the worst time to be away from Cleveland with all that NEOCH is going through. I made plans to come to the U.S. Social Forum in Atlanta months ago, before all these problems came to the surface. NEOCH has always struggled during the summer, because people don't think as much about homelessness, but this is the worst it has ever been. This is the first gathering within the United States of activists as part of the World Forum, and so I decided to go ahead. It is an especially difficult time for the United States with assaults on the Bill of Rights during the middle of an unpopular war and giant gaps in the social safety net. It is important for progressives to get together on a strategy to move forward. I have not had time to go to the computer after a long day of activities, but have been writing things down as I went along.
We got here a day early to see Atlanta. The City is very hot with unrelenting and oppressive heat. We did not see many native residents of Atlanta out on the streets except for homeless people. Atlanta is about the same size as Cleveland, but it seems like a bigger city with a subway system and more cars on the streets. We visited the King National Historic Site here, which is inspiring. The King Center has the tomb of Coretta Scott and Martin Luther King Jr. sitting on smaller version of the DC Reflecting pool with a brick building featuring rooms dedicated to Rosa Parks, Gandhi, King's Family, and the movement. We saw the old and new Ebeneezer Baptist Church as well as the restored neighborhood that King would have seen as a child. All of these except the new Ebeneezer Baptist Church are run by the National Park Service.
We visited the Forum site to register for the Social Forum at the Civic Center. No MARTA (subway) passes available, but we did check in, and got the packet of available workshops. The conference is spread out throughout Atlanta, which makes it hard to get from one workshop to the next battling the heat. Also, there are hundreds of possible workshops in the areas of environmentalism, imperialism, immigration/indigenous people, freedom/democracy, rights of minority populations and women. The conference is overwhelming considering that many of the possible workshops were not accepted. There are thousands expected and it seems that each person has a talent to relate to others. There are artists, cultural events, movies, and public expressions. I met up with Steve Cagan who was hanging his photo exhibit from his images of Columbia. The US Social Forum proves that everyone is an expert in some area. More to follow...
Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
Monday, June 25, 2007
Homeless Coalition Needs Help
Future Uncertain for NEOCH
Dear Friend/Member/Advocate:
The Board of Trustees of the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless (NEOCH) is asking for help from our friends and partners in our collective mission to end homelessness. We need the support of community leaders and our members now as never before.
For 18 years, NEOCH has struggled for social justice and worked to ensure the safety of those who experience homelessness. We have taken on the Herculean task of preserving housing, expanding access to health care and social services, creating living wage jobs, and preventing the criminalization of homelessness. NEOCH's programs have provided legal assistance, voicemail, and housing services, and have given the homeless a voice in the media and in the halls of government.
Because of the Coalition's work, only one individual has died on the streets of Cleveland in the past four years, and hundreds of affordable housing units have been preserved. NEOCH is the only organization that keeps the public and media informed about the issues and the problems associated with life without a home. We have witnessed 20 straight years of increases in homelessness. Last night alone, 4,000 people in greater Cleveland grappled with the effects of homelessness. The need for advocates for the homeless is greater than ever. Behind all the numbers, everyday the staff of the Coalition hears the words from homeless people, "Without you being open, I would not be here or I would not have been able to find housing."
Unfortunately, even as the ranks of the homeless have increased, it has become increasingly difficult to attract financial support for NEOCH's mission. We have seen significant reductions in support from government, and have had a series of setbacks from foundation support this year. Despite efforts by the Board and staff to develop new and diversified funding sources, financial support for NEOCH fell more than 35% between 2004 and 2006. We currently face an additional 23% decline in revenues for 2007.
NEOCH Board members are committed to finding a way to preserve the organization and to continue to provide essential services to homeless people. Without an increase in funding, however, NEOCH cannot continue to serve its vital function in the community. We need a commitment both to resolve this immediate problem and to provide consistent long-term support for our mission. The next few weeks are critical to the future of the Coalition and a time for the community to determine if they value our advocacy and programs. As we meet with elected officials, and corporate and foundation leaders, we ask members, partners, friends, and all who share our concern for those impacted by homelessness for their thoughtful consideration and assistance. There are so many ways to help, and to that end we are having an Open House on July 19 at 7 p.m. to discuss some of those options. As we enter the 2008 Presidential election season, and people begin to hold house parties, solicit their friends, tap alumni associations, we ask that you think about putting a similar effort into assisting the local Homeless Coalition to allow us the opportunity to continue to serve homeless people.
The NEOCH Board of Trustees
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
Dear Friend/Member/Advocate:
The Board of Trustees of the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless (NEOCH) is asking for help from our friends and partners in our collective mission to end homelessness. We need the support of community leaders and our members now as never before.
For 18 years, NEOCH has struggled for social justice and worked to ensure the safety of those who experience homelessness. We have taken on the Herculean task of preserving housing, expanding access to health care and social services, creating living wage jobs, and preventing the criminalization of homelessness. NEOCH's programs have provided legal assistance, voicemail, and housing services, and have given the homeless a voice in the media and in the halls of government.
Because of the Coalition's work, only one individual has died on the streets of Cleveland in the past four years, and hundreds of affordable housing units have been preserved. NEOCH is the only organization that keeps the public and media informed about the issues and the problems associated with life without a home. We have witnessed 20 straight years of increases in homelessness. Last night alone, 4,000 people in greater Cleveland grappled with the effects of homelessness. The need for advocates for the homeless is greater than ever. Behind all the numbers, everyday the staff of the Coalition hears the words from homeless people, "Without you being open, I would not be here or I would not have been able to find housing."
Unfortunately, even as the ranks of the homeless have increased, it has become increasingly difficult to attract financial support for NEOCH's mission. We have seen significant reductions in support from government, and have had a series of setbacks from foundation support this year. Despite efforts by the Board and staff to develop new and diversified funding sources, financial support for NEOCH fell more than 35% between 2004 and 2006. We currently face an additional 23% decline in revenues for 2007.
NEOCH Board members are committed to finding a way to preserve the organization and to continue to provide essential services to homeless people. Without an increase in funding, however, NEOCH cannot continue to serve its vital function in the community. We need a commitment both to resolve this immediate problem and to provide consistent long-term support for our mission. The next few weeks are critical to the future of the Coalition and a time for the community to determine if they value our advocacy and programs. As we meet with elected officials, and corporate and foundation leaders, we ask members, partners, friends, and all who share our concern for those impacted by homelessness for their thoughtful consideration and assistance. There are so many ways to help, and to that end we are having an Open House on July 19 at 7 p.m. to discuss some of those options. As we enter the 2008 Presidential election season, and people begin to hold house parties, solicit their friends, tap alumni associations, we ask that you think about putting a similar effort into assisting the local Homeless Coalition to allow us the opportunity to continue to serve homeless people.
The NEOCH Board of Trustees
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Updates from Homeless Coalition
Ways to Get Involved...
1. Teach In set for this week
2. Please renew your membership if you have not done so
3. Volunteer Open House July 19
1. The AmeriCorps*VISTA members of the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless will host a Homeless Teach In on Wednesday June 27, 2007 at 6 p.m. to focus on the homelessness and mental health issues. The Teach In is a 3 hour tour of homelessness in Cleveland with speakers from the homeless community and profiles of programs that serve homeless people with a mental illness. Please RSVP to Emily at 216/432-0540 to join us for this event. We will provide a light meal, and materials to provide a glimpse of homelessness in Cleveland.
2. Our membership renewal went out this week, so if you have forgotten to renew your membership for 2007 please do it this week. Celebrate freedom in America on this upcoming July 4th weekend by renewing your membership in the Homeless Coalition. You can do that online at our website at www.neoch.org or by returning the envelope that we sent to you.
3. NEOCH is hosting an open house on July 19 to provide information to potential volunteers. We will talk about all of the exciting opportunities for helping the Coalition. There are special events, planning parties, major donor efforts and increasing membership in the Coalition. We need your time and talent. If you are a good writer or have good people skills we need your help. Join us on Thursday July 19 at 7 p.m. and learn how your talents can be put to good use.
If you have any questions give us a call at 216/432-0540
Brian
Monday, June 18, 2007
Wild Boys of the Road
DC Trip Yields Big Movie Find
I was in DC last week for the National Coalition for the Homeless meeting and got to marvel at the extreme level of security, while so many in the city have no housing security. How can so many funds and resources be directed at protecting buildings while our "leaders" step over fellow citizens who are left vulnerable and unsafe? It will never cease to amaze me how government officials capable of ending homelessness drive by or walk over humans on their way to cast a vote that could end all this suffering.
NCH worked on policy issues and various bills that are winding their way around Washington that would change homelessness. We have a summary of the bills we are following in the June newsletter of NEOCH.
One great piece of history that I found when I was in DC was a movie called Wild Boys of the Road from 1933. I had to go to the Library of Congress to see the movie, but it was worth the hassle of trying to find the movie room. After walking down long halls that all look the same for 40 minutes, I found the correct room. It was a depression era film with great relevance for today especially in Cleveland. The folks at NCH actually found the movie and passed the information on to me. [*Spoiler Alert*] I am going to give away the ending of the movie because it is long out of print, and I doubt many will go to DC to schedule a movie screening from the Library of Congress.
Eddie, Tommy, and Grace were the Wild Boys who were around 16 years old and discovered that there families could not afford to keep them. They hopped a train to Chicago to look for work. There were these groups of well dressed men who would wait at the train station and round up the train stowaways for jail or a return to their city of origin. They hopped on the next train to Columbus, Ohio and got stopped 10 miles outside of town. This time Eddie led a rebellion against the nicely dressed thugs waiting to arrest the train stowaways. Tommy got his leg cut off while jumping from a train, and they ran into some really bad railroad employees who raped one of the female stowaways.
The group made it up to Cleveland next and lived in a tent city near the train station. The group lived in those giant sewer pipes waiting to be carried out on the trains. The tent city grew and soon hundreds were sleeping on the outskirts of Cleveland. They would go downtown in large gangs and cover every street corner with panhandlers. They would ask every business owner, every pedestrian for money as they moved down the street 50 strong. Much as today, this was too much for the Mayor who ordered a break up of the tents by sending police into order the boys to leave the City. The headlines screamed, "Sewer Pipe City Must Go" and "Police Seek to Control Vagrants." The police were very kind and spoke in the finest Queens English while asking the men to move on. One police officer was sad that he had his own children and that he saw in the faces of his children every time he looked at the kids sleeping in the sewer pipes . The police were sad that they had to evict these kids, but then they turned the hoses on these squatters.
The group made it to New York City and got mixed up with the wrong people. They got arrested and went before a judge. At first, the judge was going to throw the book at them because they would not give up their parents names or the city that they came from. Eddie and Tommy give a great speech about homelessness:
Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
I was in DC last week for the National Coalition for the Homeless meeting and got to marvel at the extreme level of security, while so many in the city have no housing security. How can so many funds and resources be directed at protecting buildings while our "leaders" step over fellow citizens who are left vulnerable and unsafe? It will never cease to amaze me how government officials capable of ending homelessness drive by or walk over humans on their way to cast a vote that could end all this suffering.
NCH worked on policy issues and various bills that are winding their way around Washington that would change homelessness. We have a summary of the bills we are following in the June newsletter of NEOCH.
One great piece of history that I found when I was in DC was a movie called Wild Boys of the Road from 1933. I had to go to the Library of Congress to see the movie, but it was worth the hassle of trying to find the movie room. After walking down long halls that all look the same for 40 minutes, I found the correct room. It was a depression era film with great relevance for today especially in Cleveland. The folks at NCH actually found the movie and passed the information on to me. [*Spoiler Alert*] I am going to give away the ending of the movie because it is long out of print, and I doubt many will go to DC to schedule a movie screening from the Library of Congress.
Eddie, Tommy, and Grace were the Wild Boys who were around 16 years old and discovered that there families could not afford to keep them. They hopped a train to Chicago to look for work. There were these groups of well dressed men who would wait at the train station and round up the train stowaways for jail or a return to their city of origin. They hopped on the next train to Columbus, Ohio and got stopped 10 miles outside of town. This time Eddie led a rebellion against the nicely dressed thugs waiting to arrest the train stowaways. Tommy got his leg cut off while jumping from a train, and they ran into some really bad railroad employees who raped one of the female stowaways.
The group made it up to Cleveland next and lived in a tent city near the train station. The group lived in those giant sewer pipes waiting to be carried out on the trains. The tent city grew and soon hundreds were sleeping on the outskirts of Cleveland. They would go downtown in large gangs and cover every street corner with panhandlers. They would ask every business owner, every pedestrian for money as they moved down the street 50 strong. Much as today, this was too much for the Mayor who ordered a break up of the tents by sending police into order the boys to leave the City. The headlines screamed, "Sewer Pipe City Must Go" and "Police Seek to Control Vagrants." The police were very kind and spoke in the finest Queens English while asking the men to move on. One police officer was sad that he had his own children and that he saw in the faces of his children every time he looked at the kids sleeping in the sewer pipes . The police were sad that they had to evict these kids, but then they turned the hoses on these squatters.
The group made it to New York City and got mixed up with the wrong people. They got arrested and went before a judge. At first, the judge was going to throw the book at them because they would not give up their parents names or the city that they came from. Eddie and Tommy give a great speech about homelessness:
"Edward 'Eddie' Smith: [to judge] I knew all that stuff about you helping us was baloney. I'll tell you why we can't go home--because our folks are poor. They can't get jobs and there isn't enough to eat. What good will it do you to send us home to starve? You say you've got to send us to jail to keep us off the streets. Well, that's a lie. You're sending us to jail because you don't want to see us. You want to forget us. But you can't do it because I'm not the only one. There's thousands just like me, and there's more hitting the road every day.The judge relents and says "I am going to help you." I am going to assign someone to your case to help you with housing, jobs, and then rejoin your family. He said things will turn around and everything is going to be better. This was the best part of the movie, because it shows what we need today. Our system is so fractured today no one ever says, "I will help you with everything." They say go here to get this, then go here to get that and then get on this waiting list. Many people are looking for the kind of help in our community as this benevolent judge offered solid help with all the kids issues. This movie was cheesy with outdated language and a high entertainment value, but it had a good message that has resonance today. Where are the judges, social workers or case workers who solve people's problems? Two thumbs way up for Wild Boys of the Road, which shows us that government can work and can solve problems.
Tommy Gordon: You read in the papers about giving people help. The banks get it. The soldiers get it. The breweries get it. And they're always yelling about giving it to the farmers. What about us? We're kids!
Edward 'Eddie' Smith: Go ahead! Put me in a cell. Lock me up! I'm sick of being hungry and cold. Sick of freight trains. Jail can't be any worse than the street. So give it to me!"
Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Food Fights on Public Square
Where do we Feed Homeless People?
We had a meeting on Tuesday with the City of Cleveland to discuss the feeding of homeless people on Public Square. One interesting comment was that the two groups engaged in this activity include progressives like Food Not Bombs and Evangelicals don't agree on much except that they do not want government to tell them what to do. The problem is that there are so many people who want to deliver food to homeless people and most use Public Square as the staging area. The issue is that there is no coordination, not enough trash receptacles, and not enough bathrooms. Now, we have witnessed church groups fighting with each other over the space.
We need coordination of the feeding so that we have one or two churches per night. We need a place in doors to serve homeless people. This is why those residents of the tents were staying near the Square. They needed to be near the place where food is served. The City is concerned and has reopened discussions about food service downtown. This planning started under the previous administration, but went no where. We will see how this effort proceeds, but it started out well with the Mayor's Chief of Staff attending the meeting.
We really need a building in which homeless people can gather that has running water and bathrooms. We need a place that churches and others can come and serve food with a set schedule so that every night is covered. We need a place on the East Side that serves dinner for all those who choose not to use the shelters. Ralph Delaney would go Downtown to deliver food and water to homeless people in the 1990s before he was beaten to death. His dream was to see the creation of a 24 hour drop in center for homeless people. I would love to see a place for homeless people inside so that they can eat and rest with a measure of dignity.
Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
We had a meeting on Tuesday with the City of Cleveland to discuss the feeding of homeless people on Public Square. One interesting comment was that the two groups engaged in this activity include progressives like Food Not Bombs and Evangelicals don't agree on much except that they do not want government to tell them what to do. The problem is that there are so many people who want to deliver food to homeless people and most use Public Square as the staging area. The issue is that there is no coordination, not enough trash receptacles, and not enough bathrooms. Now, we have witnessed church groups fighting with each other over the space.
We need coordination of the feeding so that we have one or two churches per night. We need a place in doors to serve homeless people. This is why those residents of the tents were staying near the Square. They needed to be near the place where food is served. The City is concerned and has reopened discussions about food service downtown. This planning started under the previous administration, but went no where. We will see how this effort proceeds, but it started out well with the Mayor's Chief of Staff attending the meeting.
We really need a building in which homeless people can gather that has running water and bathrooms. We need a place that churches and others can come and serve food with a set schedule so that every night is covered. We need a place on the East Side that serves dinner for all those who choose not to use the shelters. Ralph Delaney would go Downtown to deliver food and water to homeless people in the 1990s before he was beaten to death. His dream was to see the creation of a 24 hour drop in center for homeless people. I would love to see a place for homeless people inside so that they can eat and rest with a measure of dignity.
Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Tent Township Ends at Noon Friday
Police Deliver Deadline to Those Sleeping in the Tents
After stories in the Plain Dealer today and the Free Times yesterday, the Police finally delivered the message to those living near the Brown's stadium that they had to move. The Third District Police went to the walking bridge today and told everyone sleeping at the site that they had until noon on Friday to leave or face arrest. Again, I never understood why the City was not honest and just said that they need the space for an event. They gave notice. They own the property. They do not want to encourage people sleeping outside, and there is space in the overflow shelter. This dodge and weave about safety was not believable since these guys spent much of the winter outside.
We have learned for the future that we will have to have police or city officials go down and carry the message first before we intervene from now on. The guys who sleep in the tents viewed us as the bad guys these past few weeks. They were getting conflicting messages from some mystery person who said that they could stay. Then the deadline came and went on Monday and still no reply from the City. Finally, today four days after the deadline the police showed up to force a relocation of these guys. So, this made us look like we were making up stories. That is until today, when the police intervened. We miss Commander Gonzalez from the Third Police District. He was very skilled at keeping all of us on the same page in previous relocations. He was very good about setting deadlines and sticking to his word. He made sure that the social services were in place and that they helped relocate people. There were even two people who got into housing with the relocation at the airport. I am sure that he is doing good things at CMHA, but we needed someone from the City to get that huge bureaucracy of the various city departments all on the same page.
Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
After stories in the Plain Dealer today and the Free Times yesterday, the Police finally delivered the message to those living near the Brown's stadium that they had to move. The Third District Police went to the walking bridge today and told everyone sleeping at the site that they had until noon on Friday to leave or face arrest. Again, I never understood why the City was not honest and just said that they need the space for an event. They gave notice. They own the property. They do not want to encourage people sleeping outside, and there is space in the overflow shelter. This dodge and weave about safety was not believable since these guys spent much of the winter outside.
We have learned for the future that we will have to have police or city officials go down and carry the message first before we intervene from now on. The guys who sleep in the tents viewed us as the bad guys these past few weeks. They were getting conflicting messages from some mystery person who said that they could stay. Then the deadline came and went on Monday and still no reply from the City. Finally, today four days after the deadline the police showed up to force a relocation of these guys. So, this made us look like we were making up stories. That is until today, when the police intervened. We miss Commander Gonzalez from the Third Police District. He was very skilled at keeping all of us on the same page in previous relocations. He was very good about setting deadlines and sticking to his word. He made sure that the social services were in place and that they helped relocate people. There were even two people who got into housing with the relocation at the airport. I am sure that he is doing good things at CMHA, but we needed someone from the City to get that huge bureaucracy of the various city departments all on the same page.
Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Last Days of the Tent City
Drifters Must Move on Again...
They were told to leave from the Convention Center, and now it is very difficult to stay on Public Square for a many reasons. So, this weekend the men and women gathered under the Shoreway are asked to leave another spot. First, I have to put a few things on the table. I have to say that this is not a Tent City. The Israelis know how to do a tent city, 15 tents is not a city. This is not a settlement, and I am not sure that this is even a Tent Township. It is, however, the largest number of tents that I have ever seen together in Cleveland. It does not compare to the nearly 100 tents in Seattle, Portland or Denver tent cities.
I know that a bunch of volunteers helped these couples with locating the tents. If you decide to construct a tent city in the future:
We did a series on tent cities in the Grapevine way back in the early part of 2000, and talked to people who sleep outside. At that time, we asked people about sleeping in a tent city, and many felt that they wanted to be left alone. They did not want to be near a bunch of people for their own safety (the same reason they were not in shelter.) There is a feeling of empowerment to construct a set of rules for clean up, and basically to construct a governing structure when a bunch of tents are in the same area. In other cities they have a strict code of conduct, and they have a law enforcement component built in to the tent city. For advocates, at the end of the day, these people still deserve a place inside to live. They will not go into shelter so the government (We the People) has/have an obligation to provide other alternatives. Right now in Cleveland, we have a choice between shelter and the streets. We have a wait of 3 to 5 years for non-disabled and non-senior housing. Advocates should not actively construct tent cities, but if one develops the City needs to have a better response then "Go to shelter!" In other words, if these tents annoy the City then provide these couples and these men with a house to live in.
The City did give about three weeks notice to this group to move, but has yet to propose a real solution. The issue is that so many people come downtown to feed people, and these guys need to be close to Public Square in order to have access to the food. We have a meeting with the City to talk about food distribution on Tuesday. I am sure that the tents will come up. We will see and report back.
Breaking News...
The Skittles analogy from the previous post got me a spot on one of the upcoming Ideas program on Wednesday night at 7:30 pm. replayed on Sunday at 11 a.m. on WVIZ/PBS talking about the Emerald Commons project and supportive housing.
Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
They were told to leave from the Convention Center, and now it is very difficult to stay on Public Square for a many reasons. So, this weekend the men and women gathered under the Shoreway are asked to leave another spot. First, I have to put a few things on the table. I have to say that this is not a Tent City. The Israelis know how to do a tent city, 15 tents is not a city. This is not a settlement, and I am not sure that this is even a Tent Township. It is, however, the largest number of tents that I have ever seen together in Cleveland. It does not compare to the nearly 100 tents in Seattle, Portland or Denver tent cities.
I know that a bunch of volunteers helped these couples with locating the tents. If you decide to construct a tent city in the future:
- Have plenty of lawyers on hand before starting.
- Do it on public land that does not have a purpose or private land that has been left to deteriorate. This current property is neither.
- If you don't want community attention don't gather more than 3 or 4 tents in the same area.
We did a series on tent cities in the Grapevine way back in the early part of 2000, and talked to people who sleep outside. At that time, we asked people about sleeping in a tent city, and many felt that they wanted to be left alone. They did not want to be near a bunch of people for their own safety (the same reason they were not in shelter.) There is a feeling of empowerment to construct a set of rules for clean up, and basically to construct a governing structure when a bunch of tents are in the same area. In other cities they have a strict code of conduct, and they have a law enforcement component built in to the tent city. For advocates, at the end of the day, these people still deserve a place inside to live. They will not go into shelter so the government (We the People) has/have an obligation to provide other alternatives. Right now in Cleveland, we have a choice between shelter and the streets. We have a wait of 3 to 5 years for non-disabled and non-senior housing. Advocates should not actively construct tent cities, but if one develops the City needs to have a better response then "Go to shelter!" In other words, if these tents annoy the City then provide these couples and these men with a house to live in.
The City did give about three weeks notice to this group to move, but has yet to propose a real solution. The issue is that so many people come downtown to feed people, and these guys need to be close to Public Square in order to have access to the food. We have a meeting with the City to talk about food distribution on Tuesday. I am sure that the tents will come up. We will see and report back.
Breaking News...
The Skittles analogy from the previous post got me a spot on one of the upcoming Ideas program on Wednesday night at 7:30 pm. replayed on Sunday at 11 a.m. on WVIZ/PBS talking about the Emerald Commons project and supportive housing.
Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
Sunday, June 03, 2007
I Am Sorry for the Death of Jason West
How to Protect the Mentally Ill?
I live in Cleveland Heights, and have been deeply saddened by the loss of Officer Jason West. I have read as much as I can, and listened to the Regina Brett Sound of Ideas on Friday show about the whole affair. It was amazing to hear from the mother of Timothy Halton Jr. call into the show to say that she was not given enough help for her child. I also understand that Mental Health Services revealed that Mr. Halton was recently homeless. I read Phillip Morris' column in the Plain Dealer, and his snap assessment of the whole affair. It was good that he talked to the mother, but I am not sure one law could have prevented this sad encounter on Altamont Ave. I have seen some of the crazy comments, the tremendous sadness, and the anger.
The one thing that I have not seen is an apology. No where on any of the local Mental Health Agencies websites did anyone say, "We are sorry that we messed up." The President of the Mental Health Board wrote a letter to the editor in todays paper, and yet there was no apology. This was a colossal failure of the system, and someone should apologize. The reason that people do not trust government or government institutions is because no one ever takes responsibility. No one ever admits that they messed up or that they let someone slip through the cracks. We are all so afraid of lawsuits that no one ever takes responsibility for anything.
NEOCH is the advocacy organization working to end homelessness. Mr. Halton Jr. was homeless, and we did not do our jobs before that fateful May 25th evening. I want to tell the family of Officer West that I am sorry for not doing enough to protect him from a serious mentally ill man. I am sorry to the other police officers in Cleveland Heights for making their job more complicated. I will dedicate myself to do more to make sure that people do not fall through the cracks. I will do all that I can to protect my constituents who are homeless from extreme responses to this tragedy while balancing public safety. I will work as hard as I can to make sure that there are no more deaths due to mental illness.
Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
I live in Cleveland Heights, and have been deeply saddened by the loss of Officer Jason West. I have read as much as I can, and listened to the Regina Brett Sound of Ideas on Friday show about the whole affair. It was amazing to hear from the mother of Timothy Halton Jr. call into the show to say that she was not given enough help for her child. I also understand that Mental Health Services revealed that Mr. Halton was recently homeless. I read Phillip Morris' column in the Plain Dealer, and his snap assessment of the whole affair. It was good that he talked to the mother, but I am not sure one law could have prevented this sad encounter on Altamont Ave. I have seen some of the crazy comments, the tremendous sadness, and the anger.
The one thing that I have not seen is an apology. No where on any of the local Mental Health Agencies websites did anyone say, "We are sorry that we messed up." The President of the Mental Health Board wrote a letter to the editor in todays paper, and yet there was no apology. This was a colossal failure of the system, and someone should apologize. The reason that people do not trust government or government institutions is because no one ever takes responsibility. No one ever admits that they messed up or that they let someone slip through the cracks. We are all so afraid of lawsuits that no one ever takes responsibility for anything.
NEOCH is the advocacy organization working to end homelessness. Mr. Halton Jr. was homeless, and we did not do our jobs before that fateful May 25th evening. I want to tell the family of Officer West that I am sorry for not doing enough to protect him from a serious mentally ill man. I am sorry to the other police officers in Cleveland Heights for making their job more complicated. I will dedicate myself to do more to make sure that people do not fall through the cracks. I will do all that I can to protect my constituents who are homeless from extreme responses to this tragedy while balancing public safety. I will work as hard as I can to make sure that there are no more deaths due to mental illness.
Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Emerald Commons Ribbon Cutting
Who is Paying for All this Supportive Housing?
In the Sunday Plain Dealer, Joe Frolik, did a nice overview of supportive housing and the new Emerald Commons Project. Then yesterday, WCPN, did one hour on the supportive housing fad that is sweeping the country. We have talked about these projects in the past, and disclosed the reservations that we have for supportive housing. Today, is the ribbon cutting for the Emerald Commons project.
Don't get me wrong...These are great projects and anyone would love to live in one of these buildings. In fact, every homeless person should have access to these kind of buildings. What never gets discussed is where is all this money coming from? Dan Malthroup tried to get to this discussion when he talked about the value of the $9 million that went into the Emerald Commons project on WCPN. Unfortunately, this he did not dig deep enough on this issue. The champions of these programs keep telling the public that supportive housing saves money, but they never answer the question, "Are those systems that are seeing savings, paying for these programs?" We heard over and over that these projects save health care costs, criminal justice costs and alcohol treatment costs, but are any of these systems paying for these buildings? No, the Cleveland Clinic did not contribute, nor did the Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections and the Alcohol and Drug Board is not giving money to these projects. So, if they are saving all this money why aren't they paying the costs for the building?
Who is paying for these services and the building's capital costs? Money directed at poor people and homeless people are the individuals paying for these projects. By their own admission, the long term homeless (the only people who have access to these buildings) make up 10-15% of the total homeless population, so why are we paying the majority of the budget for these projects? Why is 30% of the homeless dollars in our community going to these projects when these groups only make up 10-15% of the total homeless population? How many family vouchers (40% of the homeless population) would $9 million pay for? How many in-patient recovery beds for the addicted (60% of the homeless population) could we buy with this money? How many vouchers with case management could we buy for those with a mental illness (32% of the homeless population)? My concern is that no one is making strategic economic decisions with the homeless money we get, and no one is talking about how we are going to fund the supportive services for these buildings in the long run.
The other big issue that the champions try to put forward is that the long term homeless use 60-80% of the resources so if we can free up these resources then we have more money for families, mentally ill, and alcohol and drug treatment. First of all I don't believe these statistics are universal for every city. Secondly, the problem with this theory is that the only way this logic works is if you solve long term homelessness, but no one is planning on solving this problem. We heard that Columbus is doing 500 units over 7 years, and Cleveland is doing 1,000 units over 7-10 years. This is not going to solve the problem and during that time another 5,000 more long term homeless will ask for help along with all the other homeless people who knock on the front door of our shelters. So, you will not close one shelter bed and demand will still be the same as before one of these units opened. There will still be the same number or more of those experiencing homelessness who sleep outside and the same number or more in shelters after all these millions are spent on supportive housing locally. Also, while not solving the problem, we are actually creating other populations like families who will be long term homeless because all the resources are used for the disabled.
It is similar to a giant vat dropping Skittles at a rate of 10,000 per year or over 800 rainbow colored Skittles per month into your bedroom. You cannot use your bedroom while 800 Skittles keep dropping on you as you sleep, so you decide to pick up the Skittles that have been on your floor the longest. You spend 30% of your monthly income on a box to hold your Skittles that you clean up. You pick up 1,000 Skittles or 143 Skittles a month out of your bedroom over seven years during which time another 70,000 Skittles dropped from the inappropriately located vat in your bedroom. Would you notice a difference between the 70,000 rainbow colored Skittles if you did nothing or the 69,000 Skittles left after spending time and 30% of your income every month for seven years trying to clean up your bedroom? You would have one really nice box of Skittles on your desk, but not much else. It is a silly example, but so is supportive housing championed as a solution to homelessness. Either get rid of the vat that keeps dropping Skittles or clean up all the Skittles as they fall or your efforts will never be noticed by the community. At the end of the seven years and the millions spent, the public is going to be ticked off that there is no visible change in the landscape except these very expensive Skittle boxes.
Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
In the Sunday Plain Dealer, Joe Frolik, did a nice overview of supportive housing and the new Emerald Commons Project. Then yesterday, WCPN, did one hour on the supportive housing fad that is sweeping the country. We have talked about these projects in the past, and disclosed the reservations that we have for supportive housing. Today, is the ribbon cutting for the Emerald Commons project.
Don't get me wrong...These are great projects and anyone would love to live in one of these buildings. In fact, every homeless person should have access to these kind of buildings. What never gets discussed is where is all this money coming from? Dan Malthroup tried to get to this discussion when he talked about the value of the $9 million that went into the Emerald Commons project on WCPN. Unfortunately, this he did not dig deep enough on this issue. The champions of these programs keep telling the public that supportive housing saves money, but they never answer the question, "Are those systems that are seeing savings, paying for these programs?" We heard over and over that these projects save health care costs, criminal justice costs and alcohol treatment costs, but are any of these systems paying for these buildings? No, the Cleveland Clinic did not contribute, nor did the Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections and the Alcohol and Drug Board is not giving money to these projects. So, if they are saving all this money why aren't they paying the costs for the building?
Who is paying for these services and the building's capital costs? Money directed at poor people and homeless people are the individuals paying for these projects. By their own admission, the long term homeless (the only people who have access to these buildings) make up 10-15% of the total homeless population, so why are we paying the majority of the budget for these projects? Why is 30% of the homeless dollars in our community going to these projects when these groups only make up 10-15% of the total homeless population? How many family vouchers (40% of the homeless population) would $9 million pay for? How many in-patient recovery beds for the addicted (60% of the homeless population) could we buy with this money? How many vouchers with case management could we buy for those with a mental illness (32% of the homeless population)? My concern is that no one is making strategic economic decisions with the homeless money we get, and no one is talking about how we are going to fund the supportive services for these buildings in the long run.
The other big issue that the champions try to put forward is that the long term homeless use 60-80% of the resources so if we can free up these resources then we have more money for families, mentally ill, and alcohol and drug treatment. First of all I don't believe these statistics are universal for every city. Secondly, the problem with this theory is that the only way this logic works is if you solve long term homelessness, but no one is planning on solving this problem. We heard that Columbus is doing 500 units over 7 years, and Cleveland is doing 1,000 units over 7-10 years. This is not going to solve the problem and during that time another 5,000 more long term homeless will ask for help along with all the other homeless people who knock on the front door of our shelters. So, you will not close one shelter bed and demand will still be the same as before one of these units opened. There will still be the same number or more of those experiencing homelessness who sleep outside and the same number or more in shelters after all these millions are spent on supportive housing locally. Also, while not solving the problem, we are actually creating other populations like families who will be long term homeless because all the resources are used for the disabled.
It is similar to a giant vat dropping Skittles at a rate of 10,000 per year or over 800 rainbow colored Skittles per month into your bedroom. You cannot use your bedroom while 800 Skittles keep dropping on you as you sleep, so you decide to pick up the Skittles that have been on your floor the longest. You spend 30% of your monthly income on a box to hold your Skittles that you clean up. You pick up 1,000 Skittles or 143 Skittles a month out of your bedroom over seven years during which time another 70,000 Skittles dropped from the inappropriately located vat in your bedroom. Would you notice a difference between the 70,000 rainbow colored Skittles if you did nothing or the 69,000 Skittles left after spending time and 30% of your income every month for seven years trying to clean up your bedroom? You would have one really nice box of Skittles on your desk, but not much else. It is a silly example, but so is supportive housing championed as a solution to homelessness. Either get rid of the vat that keeps dropping Skittles or clean up all the Skittles as they fall or your efforts will never be noticed by the community. At the end of the seven years and the millions spent, the public is going to be ticked off that there is no visible change in the landscape except these very expensive Skittle boxes.
Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
One Strange Speaking Engagement
The Most Bizarre Street Voices Presentation
The contact, a social worker for a special care center for elderly, mentally ill individuals gathered residents, telling them a meeting on housing was about to take place. Housing? On the phone she asked me to bring her a motivational speaker. Immediately, I told her that Street Voices doesn’t primarily cover housing. She continued to collect an audience, telling me something like “Okay, but people will come if I tell them the presentation is on housing.”
So, when the audience was gathered, I did my spiel. My colleagues and I gave some information about housing, and I explained that we were there to talk about homelessness. I introduced our speaker who had previous experience with homelessness. I explained that after the speaker tells their story, there would be time for questions and comments.
The format of the presentation became a dialogue instead; between the speaker and the audience. This only happened because the social worker interjected to explain what addiction is to the speaker and my colleagues, as well as other information known to people familiar with social services and homelessness. She did this repeatedly.
The speaker continued his dialogue with the audience, primarily about a triangle concept used in Narcotics Anonymous. There were other interruptions; residents, announcements made frequently by a harsh loudspeaker, and an electric screwdriver, all echoing in the small space. I understand this could not be helped, and do not fault the social worker, but it did contribute to the haphazard atmosphere.
At the end of the dialogue an individual asked if we were going to talk about housing. The social worker was absent, and I explained that we had been invited to talk about life experience with homelessness, not housing. I felt ridiculous, like I was tattle-taling on a forty-eight year old woman. Then, while the speaker finished talking with an audience member the social worker asked me why our group from NEOCH felt uncomfortable with the audience. Honestly, I told we were not. Soon after, she thanked me for coming, and told me about some of the difficulties she experiences. We then left.
“She’s playing with people’s lives” was the opinion of the speaker. Here is what I wanted to ask:
Why should her clients trust her when she lies about the subject of a simple hour-long presentation? What does she expect people to think when she tells them to bring her a motivational speaker and supposes indirectly that they’ll either pull together a housing presentation or ignore the falsity she’s told the audience?
I can understand desperation, and the devotion to getting inspiration and resources for your clients. However, this woman is a professional. Too bad she didn’t act like one. If she’s like this with other organizations, what hope do her clients have? Tainted odds with obtaining outside support, compared to those with truthful, trustworthy social workers.
Emily Kiefer
Street Voices
If you would like to have a Street Voices Presentation for your group or religious organization please give Emily a call at 216/432-0540 or you can fill out a request from the website.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Violence Against Homeless People
Are We Ready for a Dangerous Summer Part II?
We posted a concern on Saturday about the murder using a gun that happened on Friday night near the Bishop Cosgrove Center might be a hate crime. We were relieved to find out this was not a hate crime. Henry Casey was killed because of his association with the wrong people in the community. We actually had a lot of contact with Mr. Casey over the last three years. He was one of the individuals who filed a complaint against the state last year because he could not vote because he did not have identification. His girlfriend did a lot of work for us in 2004 signing homeless people up to vote in the Presidential election. Mr. Casey also was a valuable source for what is going on in the East 18th St. neighborhood with regard to homeless people and relations between police and those who choose not to use the shelters. His girlfriend and friends want a memorial session, which we will help to organize. His family is from Arkansas, and will be burying Mr. Casey in Little Rock, but his Cleveland friends want to say "goodbye".
As the Plain Dealer reported today, we have witnessed a string of attacks on people experiencing homelessness in Cleveland. NEOCH sounded the alarm on Monday after the third documented attack in less than a month with three people ending up in the hospital. Care Alliance had two other attacks that they were aware of in the same neighborhood from February and March 2007. This is a sharp increase since the last attack we documented in Cleveland was October and December 2005 and those both were on Public Square. We are worried that these might be connected or might be gang related since they are all in the same area and all involve young white kids. I hope that the attention given by WKSU, WKYC TV3 and WJW Fox8 along with the Plain Dealer will make people more aware of a problem and will keep homeless people safe. Also, we would love to see the dog, Train, returned to the couple who lost their encampment and their puppies after losing their housing last year.
For those who are wondering..."Why would anyone sleep outside, when we have so many shelters and services in the community?"...there are many reasons. There are those who do not like the rules or have an addiction that they cannot kick even for the night. There are those who do not want to accept charity from anyone. There are those who are married without children or just a couple and do not want to break up. Finally, there are those with animals that they cannot part with and so stay outside or abandoned buildings. NEOCH estimates that there are as many people sleeping outside or abandoned buildings as there are in the shelters every night.
Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
We posted a concern on Saturday about the murder using a gun that happened on Friday night near the Bishop Cosgrove Center might be a hate crime. We were relieved to find out this was not a hate crime. Henry Casey was killed because of his association with the wrong people in the community. We actually had a lot of contact with Mr. Casey over the last three years. He was one of the individuals who filed a complaint against the state last year because he could not vote because he did not have identification. His girlfriend did a lot of work for us in 2004 signing homeless people up to vote in the Presidential election. Mr. Casey also was a valuable source for what is going on in the East 18th St. neighborhood with regard to homeless people and relations between police and those who choose not to use the shelters. His girlfriend and friends want a memorial session, which we will help to organize. His family is from Arkansas, and will be burying Mr. Casey in Little Rock, but his Cleveland friends want to say "goodbye".
As the Plain Dealer reported today, we have witnessed a string of attacks on people experiencing homelessness in Cleveland. NEOCH sounded the alarm on Monday after the third documented attack in less than a month with three people ending up in the hospital. Care Alliance had two other attacks that they were aware of in the same neighborhood from February and March 2007. This is a sharp increase since the last attack we documented in Cleveland was October and December 2005 and those both were on Public Square. We are worried that these might be connected or might be gang related since they are all in the same area and all involve young white kids. I hope that the attention given by WKSU, WKYC TV3 and WJW Fox8 along with the Plain Dealer will make people more aware of a problem and will keep homeless people safe. Also, we would love to see the dog, Train, returned to the couple who lost their encampment and their puppies after losing their housing last year.
For those who are wondering..."Why would anyone sleep outside, when we have so many shelters and services in the community?"...there are many reasons. There are those who do not like the rules or have an addiction that they cannot kick even for the night. There are those who do not want to accept charity from anyone. There are those who are married without children or just a couple and do not want to break up. Finally, there are those with animals that they cannot part with and so stay outside or abandoned buildings. NEOCH estimates that there are as many people sleeping outside or abandoned buildings as there are in the shelters every night.
Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Follow Up on Homeless Stories
Does That Happen Here?
On Sunday, 60 Minutes (which oddly only has 42 minutes of content) aired a segment on the dumping of homeless people from hospitals in Los Angeles. The premiere news magazine in the United States had guest correspondent Anderson Cooper spending time on Skid Row to find out the extent of the problem. It was amazing to see the number of the homeless people in the homeless capital of the United States compared to Cleveland. LA has four times as many people homeless every night as we have in the entire year, and a sizable number are concentrated in this one neighborhood of LA.
I was asked at least three times this week if this happens in Cleveland? Yes, but no where to the extent it happens in other cities. MetroHealth moves people as fast as they can and there is a long wait sometimes in the emergency room, but I have not seen them improperly discharging people to the streets. I am not sure that we all realize what a gem MetroHealth Hospital is for our community. The other hospitals need some work. I recently met with St. Vincent about this and other issues. So, give them credit for trying to work on the problem. They have done some work to try to build relationships with the current homeless social service providers. The other hospitals seem to do everything they can to avoid providing care to poor people and then have no problem "relocating" people to the shelters. It does not happen everyday, but there is a problem. Neighbors wonder how a King from Jordan travels 2,500 miles to go to the hospital here in Cleveland, while the Fairfax resident cannot walk around the corner and get access to health care.
Every few days we see people arrive with bandages that need changed or colostomy bags or prescriptions that cannot be filled. There is this slow dribble out of the hospitals into our shelters with open wounds or follow up services needed. We only have 9 respite beds located in Cleveland and those are for men. We have only sporadic nursing care within the shelters, and we now see regular ambulance runs from our shelters back to the hospitals. We have many who are not sick enough for hospital beds, but too severe for the shelters. Few want to be confined to a nursing home, and so they are stuck in limbo. The economics are that the hospital saving money by discharging a homeless person for a broken leg is wasted when they show up a week later with an infection and an improperly healed leg. Cleveland has a growing problem with hospital dumping, but certainly a solvable problem.
Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
On Sunday, 60 Minutes (which oddly only has 42 minutes of content) aired a segment on the dumping of homeless people from hospitals in Los Angeles. The premiere news magazine in the United States had guest correspondent Anderson Cooper spending time on Skid Row to find out the extent of the problem. It was amazing to see the number of the homeless people in the homeless capital of the United States compared to Cleveland. LA has four times as many people homeless every night as we have in the entire year, and a sizable number are concentrated in this one neighborhood of LA.
I was asked at least three times this week if this happens in Cleveland? Yes, but no where to the extent it happens in other cities. MetroHealth moves people as fast as they can and there is a long wait sometimes in the emergency room, but I have not seen them improperly discharging people to the streets. I am not sure that we all realize what a gem MetroHealth Hospital is for our community. The other hospitals need some work. I recently met with St. Vincent about this and other issues. So, give them credit for trying to work on the problem. They have done some work to try to build relationships with the current homeless social service providers. The other hospitals seem to do everything they can to avoid providing care to poor people and then have no problem "relocating" people to the shelters. It does not happen everyday, but there is a problem. Neighbors wonder how a King from Jordan travels 2,500 miles to go to the hospital here in Cleveland, while the Fairfax resident cannot walk around the corner and get access to health care.
Every few days we see people arrive with bandages that need changed or colostomy bags or prescriptions that cannot be filled. There is this slow dribble out of the hospitals into our shelters with open wounds or follow up services needed. We only have 9 respite beds located in Cleveland and those are for men. We have only sporadic nursing care within the shelters, and we now see regular ambulance runs from our shelters back to the hospitals. We have many who are not sick enough for hospital beds, but too severe for the shelters. Few want to be confined to a nursing home, and so they are stuck in limbo. The economics are that the hospital saving money by discharging a homeless person for a broken leg is wasted when they show up a week later with an infection and an improperly healed leg. Cleveland has a growing problem with hospital dumping, but certainly a solvable problem.
Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Violence Increasing Against Homeless
Are We Looking at a Rough Summer?
Over the last two weeks, NEOCH has seen a rise in hate crimes directed at homeless people. A guy was beat up outside of Franklin Circle and wound up in the hospital. His attackers targeted him because he was homeless and an "easy" target. Then a couple were attacked when they were sleeping off the beaten path near the Flats. The group that attacked the couple first wanted to buy the couple's dog, when the couple refused they came back and beat up the man and stole the dog. The homeless man sleeping in the Flats was hit over the head, and the woman broke her collar bone. The worst part of this is that the police were called three times and never came. Then the group came back the next night with a larger crew and again attacked the homeless couple.
There was another incident that we did not get to interview the victim, because he had relocated by the time we got the story. Then on Friday night a guy was shot in the head near the Cosgrove Center and two of the largest shelters in our city. Media reports have suggested that the victim may have been homeless. This is highly unusual since most homeless people do not carry around a gun so it is unlikely to be homeless on homeless violence. Before doing any investigation, we at the Coalition are afraid that this either a hate crime or has something to do with the drug trade downtown. We will look into this further and see if any homeless people know any details.
We are also working on a "Be Safe" flyer to alert those who stay outside of the rise in attacks. We are also looking into cell phones in order for our constituents to reach the police. We don't want to frighten people, but if there are people going out to attack vulnerable people we need to make people aware. Attacks rise when young people are out of school, and get bored. If we are already seeing a rise before school is even over, we are going to have a very bad summer here in Cleveland.
Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
Over the last two weeks, NEOCH has seen a rise in hate crimes directed at homeless people. A guy was beat up outside of Franklin Circle and wound up in the hospital. His attackers targeted him because he was homeless and an "easy" target. Then a couple were attacked when they were sleeping off the beaten path near the Flats. The group that attacked the couple first wanted to buy the couple's dog, when the couple refused they came back and beat up the man and stole the dog. The homeless man sleeping in the Flats was hit over the head, and the woman broke her collar bone. The worst part of this is that the police were called three times and never came. Then the group came back the next night with a larger crew and again attacked the homeless couple.
There was another incident that we did not get to interview the victim, because he had relocated by the time we got the story. Then on Friday night a guy was shot in the head near the Cosgrove Center and two of the largest shelters in our city. Media reports have suggested that the victim may have been homeless. This is highly unusual since most homeless people do not carry around a gun so it is unlikely to be homeless on homeless violence. Before doing any investigation, we at the Coalition are afraid that this either a hate crime or has something to do with the drug trade downtown. We will look into this further and see if any homeless people know any details.
We are also working on a "Be Safe" flyer to alert those who stay outside of the rise in attacks. We are also looking into cell phones in order for our constituents to reach the police. We don't want to frighten people, but if there are people going out to attack vulnerable people we need to make people aware. Attacks rise when young people are out of school, and get bored. If we are already seeing a rise before school is even over, we are going to have a very bad summer here in Cleveland.
Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
New Blogger Cleans Up River
River Sweep Visits Living Rooms of Homeless People?
Last week at the NEOCH staff meeting, our Executive Director passed out an attractive flyer encouraging staff and VISTA members to participate in the Homeless Blog on our web site. Because the flyer did not use Times New Roman font, I obliged.
On May 12, my cousin and I met a group of folks outside the West Side Market Café to participate in the 2007 River Sweep Event, which organizes volunteers in different neighborhoods to go out and pick up garbage. After suiting up with garbage bags, gloves, a t-shirt featuring frogs and instructions not to poke ourselves with hypodermic needles, we were off to perform community service and clean up the riverside.
Initially, I felt good about cleaning up the environment, until our clean-up crew happened upon a homeless camp. Then I felt invasive. There appeared to be at least two or three people who called this area home and slept under the bridge where our well-intentioned crew diligently cleaned. The individuals did not store many belongings there; visible items were cardboard beds, hotel sized bottles of shampoo and conditioner, a toothbrush and two washrags hanging from a branch. My cousin and I also identified an area where two strategically placed wooden stumps may have been the sparse furnishings of a living room.
The residents weren’t the best housekeepers, and were not “home.” Volunteers threw away a fair share of glass bottles and other miscellaneous materials. I don’t know when the homeless individuals returned that evening if they were pleasantly surprised that someone had tidied up while they were out, or if we deemed their treasures as our trash and swept their belongings to the recycle bin?
This event could be another way to educate environmentalists about homelessness by distributing educational materials or hosting a Street Voices Speaker at Nautica Entertainment Complex where more than 100 volunteers gathered for a free lunch after the clean up.
Valerie McCoy
BTG
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
Saturday, May 12, 2007
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.
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.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Brainwashing the Re-Entry Crowd
Homeless Services Meeting
I attended the Office of Homeless Services Advisory meeting. Don't worry you didn't miss anything...It is one of the worst named groups in the City, because they do not give advice to anyone. The one bright spot was that an actual homeless person was selected to this discussion group. No progress on ending homelessness, but the County Office of Re-Entry was introduced and their new staff gave a presentation. This is a very good idea that the staff of the Office of Homeless Services were instrumental in starting. Everything is going along well with their presentation until they threw in this phrase "cognitive restructuring." This is the euphemism that the Re-Entry crowd is using to tell employers and potential landlords that they are transforming these guys into productive members of society, but it sounded so Guantanamo-Nazi- creepy in a U.S. Department of Justice way.
Every time the staff of the new office used those words I got lost in thought trying to think what "cognitive restructuring" exactly means. Was this a shock treatment? Was it one of those movies with half second images and the person is seated with his eyelids forced open? Was it spending the entire day reading "Cathy" the cartoon and "Hints from Heloise" all day until the individual breaks from reality? Then I am thinking shouldn't we have had this cognitive restructuring before the guy went to jail? If we invested more in the children couldn't we have saved a lot of the incarceration money? Then I am sitting there thinking about the HBO series "OZ" and how the hell does a person get cognitive restructured after fending off murders, rapists, and white supremacists? Then the meeting ended.
Sr. Donna Hawk finally spoke up asking the presenters to stop using these words. Office of Re-Entry is a great idea--the language they are using is very bad.
Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
I attended the Office of Homeless Services Advisory meeting. Don't worry you didn't miss anything...It is one of the worst named groups in the City, because they do not give advice to anyone. The one bright spot was that an actual homeless person was selected to this discussion group. No progress on ending homelessness, but the County Office of Re-Entry was introduced and their new staff gave a presentation. This is a very good idea that the staff of the Office of Homeless Services were instrumental in starting. Everything is going along well with their presentation until they threw in this phrase "cognitive restructuring." This is the euphemism that the Re-Entry crowd is using to tell employers and potential landlords that they are transforming these guys into productive members of society, but it sounded so Guantanamo-Nazi- creepy in a U.S. Department of Justice way.
Every time the staff of the new office used those words I got lost in thought trying to think what "cognitive restructuring" exactly means. Was this a shock treatment? Was it one of those movies with half second images and the person is seated with his eyelids forced open? Was it spending the entire day reading "Cathy" the cartoon and "Hints from Heloise" all day until the individual breaks from reality? Then I am thinking shouldn't we have had this cognitive restructuring before the guy went to jail? If we invested more in the children couldn't we have saved a lot of the incarceration money? Then I am sitting there thinking about the HBO series "OZ" and how the hell does a person get cognitive restructured after fending off murders, rapists, and white supremacists? Then the meeting ended.
Sr. Donna Hawk finally spoke up asking the presenters to stop using these words. Office of Re-Entry is a great idea--the language they are using is very bad.
Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
Mayor Jackson Speaks
Homelessness: Do We Have the Will to End it?
We had a great fund raiser at Massimo da Milano on Friday night. I think that it was the best event of the last six years. We had a great street poet who stole the show. He was living in an abandoned house, but worked every day. He said that he was angry when he wrote the poem about how people act around poor people. The poem will appear in the next Homeless Grapevine, and the poet got to sit at the table with the Mayor for the evening. George Lockhart III said that he was angry and sent in a poem, and then he is eating dinner with the Mayor. The photo exhibit was great with every one of the images sold at the auction. Three out of the four photographers were present at the event. This was part of a disability grant to teach homeless people photography and then have their work displayed and sold.
The keynote speaker of "Partnering to End Homelessness" was Mayor Frank G. Jackson. He actually talked for longer than I have heard in the past. He gave a good overview of poverty in the city referencing some of the surprising statistics with regard to homelessness. The Mayor mentioned the 35 to 40% of the population who work, and the fact that one third of the homeless children in Ohio come from the Cleveland Municipal School District. He talked about the reality that 72% of the homeless population are African American. After setting the table for the crowd, he presented the appetizer with the statement, "There is a lot of money in misery in Cleveland."
The main course for the evening was Frank asking the crowd if there was the will out there to end homelessness? He told us that he was absolutely sure that we had the ability to solve homelessness. Mayor Jackson went through all the great services, programs and opportunities that exist, but he was not sure that we had the will. His focus over the next few years for addressing the problem will be in three areas: housing and the preservation of housing, employment and jobs, and his most important priority--education. Jackson talked about each of these priorities and the places that he plans to spend his time. It is a tall order, but we have someone heading up the ship who is at least talking about the issues (a big change from the past).
Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
We had a great fund raiser at Massimo da Milano on Friday night. I think that it was the best event of the last six years. We had a great street poet who stole the show. He was living in an abandoned house, but worked every day. He said that he was angry when he wrote the poem about how people act around poor people. The poem will appear in the next Homeless Grapevine, and the poet got to sit at the table with the Mayor for the evening. George Lockhart III said that he was angry and sent in a poem, and then he is eating dinner with the Mayor. The photo exhibit was great with every one of the images sold at the auction. Three out of the four photographers were present at the event. This was part of a disability grant to teach homeless people photography and then have their work displayed and sold.
The keynote speaker of "Partnering to End Homelessness" was Mayor Frank G. Jackson. He actually talked for longer than I have heard in the past. He gave a good overview of poverty in the city referencing some of the surprising statistics with regard to homelessness. The Mayor mentioned the 35 to 40% of the population who work, and the fact that one third of the homeless children in Ohio come from the Cleveland Municipal School District. He talked about the reality that 72% of the homeless population are African American. After setting the table for the crowd, he presented the appetizer with the statement, "There is a lot of money in misery in Cleveland."
The main course for the evening was Frank asking the crowd if there was the will out there to end homelessness? He told us that he was absolutely sure that we had the ability to solve homelessness. Mayor Jackson went through all the great services, programs and opportunities that exist, but he was not sure that we had the will. His focus over the next few years for addressing the problem will be in three areas: housing and the preservation of housing, employment and jobs, and his most important priority--education. Jackson talked about each of these priorities and the places that he plans to spend his time. It is a tall order, but we have someone heading up the ship who is at least talking about the issues (a big change from the past).
Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
Friday, May 04, 2007
A Few Quick Notes
Why Don't We Ever Talk About Homeless Animals???
There is some real passion for animal shelters and the animal protective league in society. NEOCH does not usually get into discussions about the push for finding "homes" for animals when America does not take care to find housing for our brothers and sisters. In the 1990s we did not storm the Animal Protective League when it turned out that the animal shelter was cleaner and more hospitable then the men's shelters in Cleveland. But it is another thing when it is in your face. This week, fliers appeared all over the building in which NEOCH's main office is located inviting us to a fund raiser in support of "Homeless Animals." It had a cute couple holding a cat and a dog and asking the public to adopt a "homeless" animal. We were debating sending homeless people to the event and having them try to keep some of these "Homeless Animals" in their care, so that when the animals are adopted, the family gets a package deal. Adopt a pet and get a human companion along with the dog or cat. Why did these fliers show up at our office? Was this a message to NEOCH staff? Was this a message about the priorities of society? If we had more cute homeless people would there be more fliers for adopting homeless people? I have no answers.
Speaking of fund raising...
The NEOCH Annual fund raiser, "Partnering to End Homelessness" is tonight. Frank Jackson is the keynote speaker. We are awarding Mayor Jackson the Ione Biggs Social Justice Award. There will be silent auction, music and great food. We are full for the event, but we may have space for others at tables of people who RSVPed, but do not show up for the event. No homeless animals are allowed.
WCPN on Monday...
Tune in to WCPN Sound of Ideas program from 9 to 10 a.m. on Monday May 7 for a discussion about Health Care for Homeless people. I will be on the program to discuss this critical subject because studies show that homelessness has an impact on shortening a person's life.
Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
There is some real passion for animal shelters and the animal protective league in society. NEOCH does not usually get into discussions about the push for finding "homes" for animals when America does not take care to find housing for our brothers and sisters. In the 1990s we did not storm the Animal Protective League when it turned out that the animal shelter was cleaner and more hospitable then the men's shelters in Cleveland. But it is another thing when it is in your face. This week, fliers appeared all over the building in which NEOCH's main office is located inviting us to a fund raiser in support of "Homeless Animals." It had a cute couple holding a cat and a dog and asking the public to adopt a "homeless" animal. We were debating sending homeless people to the event and having them try to keep some of these "Homeless Animals" in their care, so that when the animals are adopted, the family gets a package deal. Adopt a pet and get a human companion along with the dog or cat. Why did these fliers show up at our office? Was this a message to NEOCH staff? Was this a message about the priorities of society? If we had more cute homeless people would there be more fliers for adopting homeless people? I have no answers.
Speaking of fund raising...
The NEOCH Annual fund raiser, "Partnering to End Homelessness" is tonight. Frank Jackson is the keynote speaker. We are awarding Mayor Jackson the Ione Biggs Social Justice Award. There will be silent auction, music and great food. We are full for the event, but we may have space for others at tables of people who RSVPed, but do not show up for the event. No homeless animals are allowed.
WCPN on Monday...
Tune in to WCPN Sound of Ideas program from 9 to 10 a.m. on Monday May 7 for a discussion about Health Care for Homeless people. I will be on the program to discuss this critical subject because studies show that homelessness has an impact on shortening a person's life.
Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
Thursday, May 03, 2007
Congress Met Today
Homeless Meet with City/County Today
The Homeless Congress meeting today had a huge agenda, and was one of the best meetings we have ever had. Our good friend Cleveland Councilwoman Phyllis Cleveland attended to hear about the Shelter Standards. She pledged to bring the issue to the rest of Council. We agreed to give the social service providers a month and a half to get comments back to the Congress. Homeless people who attend the June 21 meeting will review the comments and suggest changes to the standards. Ruth Gillett and Rick Werner of Cuyahoga County both attended, and Natoya Walker of the City of Cleveland also joined the Congress. Gillett had not seen the Shelter Standards document, but did say there were already minimum standards for shelters. She suggested that if homeless people had problems they should file a grievance with the shelter.
This is not a NEOCH meeting, so it would have been appropriate to stand up and scream at Ruth that her suggestions just do not work in the real world in the same style many homeless people face at night when they question shelter staff. The problem is that a grievance always stays within the shelter, and there is no impartial look at the problem. It is like suggesting to those families facing foreclosure because of a predatory loan that they file a grievance with the mortgage company that issued the unethical terms for the loan and expect that they will reform themselves. We have laws in place to protect tenants, homeowners, nursing home residents, but homeless people have no law to turn to for protections against being thrown out into the snow in the middle of the night.
The most interesting part of the meeting was the discussions about Aviation High School and the North Point Motel. As we have discussed Aviation will close on Halloween, but the scariest part of this is the unworkable plan that the City and County have developed to replace Aviation. Tonight there are 550 people using either 2100 Lakeside shelter and Aviation High School, which operates as an overflow. The City and County are pushing the other shelters to take up the slack and move more people into housing/transitional housing and treatment. They want to reduce the number to 375 this summer so that there is no need for an overflow shelter. Then they want to open North Point as a permanent housing facility. Based on the questions, the Homeless Congress members were very skeptical of this plan. It was amazing to me that the only people in the room that could do basic math were the homeless people. This plan had post-war Iraq planning written all over it.
We have 15 years of proof that we are not going to open a facility like North Point with two people in a private room and expect fewer people to utilize the homeless system. It is like these government people do not understand poverty and they work in the poorest city in America. There are so many people waiting for housing (Over 50,000 according to most studies), but many choose not to use the shelters. Most in the community feel shelters are degrading, dirty, unsafe, or have one of a thousand other reasons, but if the City makes a shelter available that has a private room more people will show up for help not fewer.
City and County officials made a commitment to continue to allow anyone who shows up at the door to sleep inside a shelter, which is unique to Cleveland. No one explained how all these people would fit inside 2100 Lakeside or how many would sleep in the halls and cafeteria after the loss of the Aviation overflow site.
Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
The Homeless Congress meeting today had a huge agenda, and was one of the best meetings we have ever had. Our good friend Cleveland Councilwoman Phyllis Cleveland attended to hear about the Shelter Standards. She pledged to bring the issue to the rest of Council. We agreed to give the social service providers a month and a half to get comments back to the Congress. Homeless people who attend the June 21 meeting will review the comments and suggest changes to the standards. Ruth Gillett and Rick Werner of Cuyahoga County both attended, and Natoya Walker of the City of Cleveland also joined the Congress. Gillett had not seen the Shelter Standards document, but did say there were already minimum standards for shelters. She suggested that if homeless people had problems they should file a grievance with the shelter.
This is not a NEOCH meeting, so it would have been appropriate to stand up and scream at Ruth that her suggestions just do not work in the real world in the same style many homeless people face at night when they question shelter staff. The problem is that a grievance always stays within the shelter, and there is no impartial look at the problem. It is like suggesting to those families facing foreclosure because of a predatory loan that they file a grievance with the mortgage company that issued the unethical terms for the loan and expect that they will reform themselves. We have laws in place to protect tenants, homeowners, nursing home residents, but homeless people have no law to turn to for protections against being thrown out into the snow in the middle of the night.
The most interesting part of the meeting was the discussions about Aviation High School and the North Point Motel. As we have discussed Aviation will close on Halloween, but the scariest part of this is the unworkable plan that the City and County have developed to replace Aviation. Tonight there are 550 people using either 2100 Lakeside shelter and Aviation High School, which operates as an overflow. The City and County are pushing the other shelters to take up the slack and move more people into housing/transitional housing and treatment. They want to reduce the number to 375 this summer so that there is no need for an overflow shelter. Then they want to open North Point as a permanent housing facility. Based on the questions, the Homeless Congress members were very skeptical of this plan. It was amazing to me that the only people in the room that could do basic math were the homeless people. This plan had post-war Iraq planning written all over it.
We have 15 years of proof that we are not going to open a facility like North Point with two people in a private room and expect fewer people to utilize the homeless system. It is like these government people do not understand poverty and they work in the poorest city in America. There are so many people waiting for housing (Over 50,000 according to most studies), but many choose not to use the shelters. Most in the community feel shelters are degrading, dirty, unsafe, or have one of a thousand other reasons, but if the City makes a shelter available that has a private room more people will show up for help not fewer.
City and County officials made a commitment to continue to allow anyone who shows up at the door to sleep inside a shelter, which is unique to Cleveland. No one explained how all these people would fit inside 2100 Lakeside or how many would sleep in the halls and cafeteria after the loss of the Aviation overflow site.
Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
Brunner Speaks (a lot)
Secretary of State Attends Housing Conference
I was able to attend the Coalition on Housing and Homelessness Conference in Columbus last week. I presented a workshop on homeless people participating in the democratic process from registration to voting on election day along with a representative of the Secretary of State's office. Jennifer Brunner, current Secretary of State, gave a keynote address during the conference. She also was on WCPN on May 1.
At the conference, Brunner was described as the new sheriff in town. She brought a message to housing and homeless advocates that her goal is to make sure that if you want to vote and are eligible, her office will help facilitate that activity. She talked briefly about the NEOCH lawsuit and said that she opposed the identification requirements before it was passed, but now she is an elected official and must enforce the law. Brunner said that the state legislature, controlled by Republicans, is not willing to back down on the ID requirements. She said that there is very little evidence of voter fraud in which people attempt to vote more than one time, but the legislature will not back down on the ID law.
Brunner said that she will enforce current law, but with the goal of enfranchising every eligible citizen. To this end she issued a directive which we talked about in this space in early April. The directive provides some clarity for local Boards of Elections and it expands the number of documents that can be used for ID. It also allows students with ID from another state to vote. There are a few holes still, but it is a start. Our case with the State of Ohio and Brunner continues. We are looking for some compromise and settlement but we are not there yet. By the way, Secretary Brunner misidentified COHHIO as the plaintiff in the ID lawsuit and not NEOCH.
Brunner spent a good deal of time talking about the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections and their Board issues. She said that voting is important and the nation pays attention to Ohio. She stated that her election in November had donations from around the country and military service men and women from around the world who voted for her in order to see the election process cleaned up. She repeated the common refrain, "As Ohio goes, so goes the nation." She was critical of Ken Blackwell and his inability to provide direction or oversight of the election process. She repeatedly stressed accountability. Brunner talked a great deal about the fight with Bob Bennett, and the messed up Cuyahoga Board.
Having worked closely on the elections in the past, I was so glad to hear of the firing of the Board and the clean up of the elections. There are so many problems with our elections, I am not sure that she will be able to clean them all up during the next eight years before her term is expired. As Brunner said on WCPN this morning, I think the voters were looking for a change from the Blackwell era.
Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
I was able to attend the Coalition on Housing and Homelessness Conference in Columbus last week. I presented a workshop on homeless people participating in the democratic process from registration to voting on election day along with a representative of the Secretary of State's office. Jennifer Brunner, current Secretary of State, gave a keynote address during the conference. She also was on WCPN on May 1.
At the conference, Brunner was described as the new sheriff in town. She brought a message to housing and homeless advocates that her goal is to make sure that if you want to vote and are eligible, her office will help facilitate that activity. She talked briefly about the NEOCH lawsuit and said that she opposed the identification requirements before it was passed, but now she is an elected official and must enforce the law. Brunner said that the state legislature, controlled by Republicans, is not willing to back down on the ID requirements. She said that there is very little evidence of voter fraud in which people attempt to vote more than one time, but the legislature will not back down on the ID law.
Brunner said that she will enforce current law, but with the goal of enfranchising every eligible citizen. To this end she issued a directive which we talked about in this space in early April. The directive provides some clarity for local Boards of Elections and it expands the number of documents that can be used for ID. It also allows students with ID from another state to vote. There are a few holes still, but it is a start. Our case with the State of Ohio and Brunner continues. We are looking for some compromise and settlement but we are not there yet. By the way, Secretary Brunner misidentified COHHIO as the plaintiff in the ID lawsuit and not NEOCH.
Brunner spent a good deal of time talking about the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections and their Board issues. She said that voting is important and the nation pays attention to Ohio. She stated that her election in November had donations from around the country and military service men and women from around the world who voted for her in order to see the election process cleaned up. She repeated the common refrain, "As Ohio goes, so goes the nation." She was critical of Ken Blackwell and his inability to provide direction or oversight of the election process. She repeatedly stressed accountability. Brunner talked a great deal about the fight with Bob Bennett, and the messed up Cuyahoga Board.
Having worked closely on the elections in the past, I was so glad to hear of the firing of the Board and the clean up of the elections. There are so many problems with our elections, I am not sure that she will be able to clean them all up during the next eight years before her term is expired. As Brunner said on WCPN this morning, I think the voters were looking for a change from the Blackwell era.
Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
Monday, April 30, 2007
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.
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.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
National Homeless Picture
Things are Bad All Around
I attended the National Coalition for the Homeless Board meeting this last weekend. They do this segment of the Board meeting in which each city, state or national organization gets the opportunity to say a few words about how their city is addressing homelessness. Cleveland and Ohio certainly have problems, but nothing compared to some of the cities in the United States.
Atlanta is at all out war against homeless people. They have closed most of the shelters and are trying to make it as difficult as possible for homeless people to survive in the city. They have one of the most restrictive laws regarding identification and voting that has faced repeated challenge in court. Currently, the City of Atlanta is trying to kill all affordable housing in the community. There is a plan to close 5,000 units of public housing by early next year. They are illegally providing housing vouchers for people and telling them that they can only use those vouchers outside the City.
The Washington DC Mayor has turned out to be a disappointment after having run on a friendly homeless platform. In the transition, Adrian Fenty, appointed a commission to look at homelessness in the District, and seemed to be very interested in the issues of affordable housing. Instead, Mayor Fenty has continued to try to close shelters and has not provided adequate resources to the existing shelters.
Los Angeles is also a city that the new Mayor had promised change with the introduction of a huge plan to “end” homelessness. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has also disappointed advocates with criminalization efforts and doing little to address the problem locally. We have discussed in this space the dumping of disabled homeless in Los Angeles’ Skid Row, but the City has seen huge reductions in resources for services as well as housing.
Baltimore is unveiling its plan to end homeless in June. Let’s hope that they do not bring the Bush Administration official, Phil Mangano to town to kick this effort off. It is hypocritical to have the Bush Administration on the one hand cut affordable housing resources then claim to want to end long term homelessness in 10 years. It is almost like claiming to want a quick end to a war while sending more troops to a foreign land to occupy another sovereign country. Wait...never mind.
Texas is trying to get a homeless hate crimes bill passed to have stepped up sentences if a homeless person is attacked and targeted because of his or her homeless status. The City of Austin has exhausted every possible anti-homeless ordinance they can think of including anti-panhandling, anti-sleeping, and loitering ordinances. One new dangerous trend that cities in Florida and the West Coast are passing is “No Feeding Ordinances.” These make it illegal for churches to go into the Downtown and provide food to hungry and homeless people or they will set tight restrictions like only one time a year and no more than 25 people fed at a time. These are crazy, mean spirited and violate the separation of church and state, but the cities have exhausted every other way to make it illegal to be homeless and yet there still are homeless people.
Denver is still having huge battles over identification. Homeless people are caught in the middle of a right wing agenda to restrict immigrants from getting services or any help with a policy to limiting access to identification. Philadelphia and a few other cities are fighting over the creative use of statistics that "show" we are making progress in solving homelessness. Solving homelessness on paper seems to be the new trend by local and federal government agencies. This way they get to send out a press release congratulating themselves for figuring out how to spin data to show progress.
I will post the Cleveland report in the near future in addition to a report from the State housing and homelessness conference this week in Columbus. The COHHIO Conference heard from all the top elected officials in Ohio including Governor Strickland.
Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.Friday, April 20, 2007
The Mentally Ill are Going to Take A Hit
Virginia Tech Shooting Means Rough Road Ahead
In September 2001, I was naive and believed all the hot air that I was hearing about tolerance and not to stereotype people. For example, I believed that a bill, the Patriot Act, that had near unanimous approval was not an overreaction--then I actually read the law. I believed what President Bush said to a joint session of Congress:
Are we going to build a bunch of asylums? Are we going to confine people to extended stays in the hospital against their will? Are we going to force people to take medicine against their will? Or are we going to build forced labor camps for immigrants or those bipolar folks in our community? I know that we are not going to provide health care and housing for our citizens, and everything short of that will just make their lives miserable.
Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
In September 2001, I was naive and believed all the hot air that I was hearing about tolerance and not to stereotype people. For example, I believed that a bill, the Patriot Act, that had near unanimous approval was not an overreaction--then I actually read the law. I believed what President Bush said to a joint session of Congress:
"I also want to speak tonight directly to Muslims throughout the world. We respect your faith. It's practiced freely by many millions of Americans, and by millions more in countries that America counts as friends. Its teachings are good and peaceful, and those who commit evil in the name of Allah blaspheme the name of Allah. The terrorists are traitors to their own faith, trying, in effect, to hijack Islam itself. The enemy of America is not our many Muslim friends; it is not our many Arab friends. Our enemy is a radical network of terrorists, and every government that supports them."I was a sucker, and did not realize that we would soon attack two Muslim countries, men who look Muslim would be excluded from airplanes, and the first Muslim elected to Congress would be asked on a national television show how we could trust him? So, now we are told not to jump to conclusions about immigrants or those with a mental illness after the shootings at Virginia Tech. Well, maybe I am jaded or just wiser, but I believe there will be some big changes for mentally ill people. When the United States acts in haste in response to a national tragedy, civil rights usually go out the window. From World War II and the Japanese American forced into concentration camps to the stomping on privacy and individual liberty in the name of fighting terrorism today, we often go overboard with our answer to a crisis.
Are we going to build a bunch of asylums? Are we going to confine people to extended stays in the hospital against their will? Are we going to force people to take medicine against their will? Or are we going to build forced labor camps for immigrants or those bipolar folks in our community? I know that we are not going to provide health care and housing for our citizens, and everything short of that will just make their lives miserable.
Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
Saturday, April 14, 2007
If I had a Law Firm...
Akron Man Finds Housing in Mall
The Rolling Acres is nearly abandoned, and one adventurous man, Brandon Shawhan, decided that the Mall would be the perfect place to live. If I had a big law firm, I would assign a few lawyers to represent Shawhan, and put capitalism on trial. There was most likely public subsidy that went into the building of the mall. Mr. Shawhan, for whatever reason, cannot find enough money to pay for housing in our society. He did whatever he could do to survive including borrowing space that was no longer in use. The basis of my case would be the question: does our society have an obligation to house every citizen? If we are all equal and our government has an obligation to protect us then do they have an obligation to provide a place inside to protect us from the elements? If government can sweep in and place us in an asylum for "observation" against our will, then why do we not have an obligation to provide a space inside for every citizen? It certainly would be attractive to the jury that he took up residence at the Diamond's Mens Store, and he was a man who wanted to look sharp.
Akron does not have an adequate supply of shelter, and regularly turns people away. They do not have a publicly funded shelter for men that does not push religion on the client. Akron was named by NEOCH as the Biggest Roadblock of the Year in 2006, because they do not take care of their homeless population. I am not saying Akron has an obligation to force people into shelter, but if the shelter is not even available then they should not be able to prosecute people for finding heated publicly funded spaces out of the weather. This would be a great trial that would generate a lot of media attention.
Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
The Rolling Acres is nearly abandoned, and one adventurous man, Brandon Shawhan, decided that the Mall would be the perfect place to live. If I had a big law firm, I would assign a few lawyers to represent Shawhan, and put capitalism on trial. There was most likely public subsidy that went into the building of the mall. Mr. Shawhan, for whatever reason, cannot find enough money to pay for housing in our society. He did whatever he could do to survive including borrowing space that was no longer in use. The basis of my case would be the question: does our society have an obligation to house every citizen? If we are all equal and our government has an obligation to protect us then do they have an obligation to provide a place inside to protect us from the elements? If government can sweep in and place us in an asylum for "observation" against our will, then why do we not have an obligation to provide a space inside for every citizen? It certainly would be attractive to the jury that he took up residence at the Diamond's Mens Store, and he was a man who wanted to look sharp.
Akron does not have an adequate supply of shelter, and regularly turns people away. They do not have a publicly funded shelter for men that does not push religion on the client. Akron was named by NEOCH as the Biggest Roadblock of the Year in 2006, because they do not take care of their homeless population. I am not saying Akron has an obligation to force people into shelter, but if the shelter is not even available then they should not be able to prosecute people for finding heated publicly funded spaces out of the weather. This would be a great trial that would generate a lot of media attention.
Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
Saturday, April 07, 2007
Finally, Clarification of ID Rules
Brunner Clarifies Voting Requirements
The Coalition sued Blackwell last year to assure that homeless people had a right to vote in the November election. Subodh Chandra and his legal team did a great job in getting clarification of the rules for the last election, but the case still goes on. We are hoping that the legislature will clarify the rules and strike down the ID requirements, but until then the Secretary of State issued a directive. We waited 10 months for Blackwell to explain the rules and he never got around to it. These new rules are basically the same as the settlement that we agreed to last year with the State of Ohio. Here is the link to the Secretary of State's statement clarifying the rules. The ID requirements were a stupid rule passed by a terrified Republican party to keep down Democratic turnout. So, while this stupid requirement for showing ID in order to vote is still the law of the land in Ohio, Brunner's directive is the best that we can do under the current law.
All of this touches on battles that are going on in Washington DC over the firing of the U.S. Attorneys. We keep hearing that the Bush Administration and specifically Karl Rove wanted all these U.S. Attorneys fighting "voter fraud" around the country. They keep talking about these mystery multiple voters, and massive registration fraud. State Rep. Kevin Coughlin had the same file of possible voting violations during the hearings held last year before the HB 3 ID rules were passed, and these were the same files that were being pushed on the U.S. Attorneys. These are all minor cases in which a person registers Michael Jordan or Mickey Mouse, but in nearly every case these made up voters do not show up to vote. There is not this huge wide spread conspiracy. There are isolated problems usually from voter confusion, and the U.S. Attorney's were right to resist moving on these issues. It is too bad the State of Ohio legislators did not resist the pressure to pass legislation over a problem that did not actually exist.
Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
The Coalition sued Blackwell last year to assure that homeless people had a right to vote in the November election. Subodh Chandra and his legal team did a great job in getting clarification of the rules for the last election, but the case still goes on. We are hoping that the legislature will clarify the rules and strike down the ID requirements, but until then the Secretary of State issued a directive. We waited 10 months for Blackwell to explain the rules and he never got around to it. These new rules are basically the same as the settlement that we agreed to last year with the State of Ohio. Here is the link to the Secretary of State's statement clarifying the rules. The ID requirements were a stupid rule passed by a terrified Republican party to keep down Democratic turnout. So, while this stupid requirement for showing ID in order to vote is still the law of the land in Ohio, Brunner's directive is the best that we can do under the current law.
All of this touches on battles that are going on in Washington DC over the firing of the U.S. Attorneys. We keep hearing that the Bush Administration and specifically Karl Rove wanted all these U.S. Attorneys fighting "voter fraud" around the country. They keep talking about these mystery multiple voters, and massive registration fraud. State Rep. Kevin Coughlin had the same file of possible voting violations during the hearings held last year before the HB 3 ID rules were passed, and these were the same files that were being pushed on the U.S. Attorneys. These are all minor cases in which a person registers Michael Jordan or Mickey Mouse, but in nearly every case these made up voters do not show up to vote. There is not this huge wide spread conspiracy. There are isolated problems usually from voter confusion, and the U.S. Attorney's were right to resist moving on these issues. It is too bad the State of Ohio legislators did not resist the pressure to pass legislation over a problem that did not actually exist.
Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Marketing Breakdown
New Orleans to Host Conference about Suicide
Now, I would be the first to admit that marketing is not my forte, but even I recognize this as a potential train wreck. The American Association of Suicidology is hosting their conference in two weeks in New Orleans! I am all for supporting New Orleans, and we have written a great deal about how disgraceful the recovery effort, but this is one conference they might have passed on. The Conference is focused on 40 years of preventing suicide--"moving forward with education and training". That is all well and good, but New Orleans? Didn't they think that pundits might get word of this and poke fun at the city. If we keep giving pundits more opportunities to poke fun at a City doesn't that make it more likely that the City will try the hemlock? Suicide professionals from around the country coming to the City most in need of someone to talk the City down from the ledge? Some will say that it is fitting that a community that was just designated as the most dangerous in the Country needs more than any other some help from suicide prevention professionals. Was Mayor Ray Nagin feeling low and this was a way to disguise his seeking counseling by inviting hundreds of suicide counselors to his city? No matter how you look at it hosting a conference for suicide prevention professionals in the devastated city of New Orleans is ripe for humor.
Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
Now, I would be the first to admit that marketing is not my forte, but even I recognize this as a potential train wreck. The American Association of Suicidology is hosting their conference in two weeks in New Orleans! I am all for supporting New Orleans, and we have written a great deal about how disgraceful the recovery effort, but this is one conference they might have passed on. The Conference is focused on 40 years of preventing suicide--"moving forward with education and training". That is all well and good, but New Orleans? Didn't they think that pundits might get word of this and poke fun at the city. If we keep giving pundits more opportunities to poke fun at a City doesn't that make it more likely that the City will try the hemlock? Suicide professionals from around the country coming to the City most in need of someone to talk the City down from the ledge? Some will say that it is fitting that a community that was just designated as the most dangerous in the Country needs more than any other some help from suicide prevention professionals. Was Mayor Ray Nagin feeling low and this was a way to disguise his seeking counseling by inviting hundreds of suicide counselors to his city? No matter how you look at it hosting a conference for suicide prevention professionals in the devastated city of New Orleans is ripe for humor.
Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Upcoming Events in Community
Mark Your Calendars
Bill Faith of COHHIO on Monday
The Cuyahoga Affordable Housing Alliance meeting on Monday April 2, 2007 at 1:30 p.m will feature Bill Faith of the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing Ohio. Bill is the state director and chief lobbyist for housing and homeless issues. He will talk about issues related to state and federal budget issues. He will also talk about the possibilities of funding a federal housing trust fund and increasing the revenue going to the state housing trust. The meeting takes place in the U.S. Bank building at East 14th and Euclid Ave. in the lower level. All are welcome to attend and there will be time for questions.
COHHIO Conference April 23 and 24
If you would like to know more about housing and homeless issues in Ohio, COHHIO sponsors an annual conference and lobby day. The conference is Monday April 23 and April 24 in Columbus. To register or for more details go to the COHHIO website at www.cohhio.org. On Wednesday April 25, housing advocates will descend on the state capital to push for the state to get back to serving poor people. The state has not had a housing agenda for years and has turned its back on poverty issues. The April 25 lobby day attempts to remind state legislators that three cities in Ohio are high on the list of the poorest cities in America.
ABLE Also Going Down to Columbus
The Advocates for Budget Legislation Equality has organized in Northeast Ohio to push for fairness in education, human services, health care and housing issues with the State budget. They are taking a bus down to Columbus to lobby for equity in the budget on April 26, 2007. If you would like to go down with the bus please call Tim at May Dugan at 631-5800.
NEOCH Annual Fund Raiser
Mark your calendars for May 4, 2007 and join us for the NEOCH Annual fund raiser. We will have special keynote speaker Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson and the announcement of the award winner of the Ione Biggs Social Justice advocate of the year. The fund raiser is at Massimo da Milano at 6 p.m. Tickets can be purchased from the NEOCH website or through the NEOCH office. The invitations will be mailed next week and you can sign up online beginning on Monday. If you have questions about any of these activities feel free to call NEOCH at 216/432-0540.
Also next week we will post the important legislative issues that the Coalition is following in the federal, state and local legislative and executive branches of government.
Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
Bill Faith of COHHIO on Monday
The Cuyahoga Affordable Housing Alliance meeting on Monday April 2, 2007 at 1:30 p.m will feature Bill Faith of the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing Ohio. Bill is the state director and chief lobbyist for housing and homeless issues. He will talk about issues related to state and federal budget issues. He will also talk about the possibilities of funding a federal housing trust fund and increasing the revenue going to the state housing trust. The meeting takes place in the U.S. Bank building at East 14th and Euclid Ave. in the lower level. All are welcome to attend and there will be time for questions.
COHHIO Conference April 23 and 24
If you would like to know more about housing and homeless issues in Ohio, COHHIO sponsors an annual conference and lobby day. The conference is Monday April 23 and April 24 in Columbus. To register or for more details go to the COHHIO website at www.cohhio.org. On Wednesday April 25, housing advocates will descend on the state capital to push for the state to get back to serving poor people. The state has not had a housing agenda for years and has turned its back on poverty issues. The April 25 lobby day attempts to remind state legislators that three cities in Ohio are high on the list of the poorest cities in America.
ABLE Also Going Down to Columbus
The Advocates for Budget Legislation Equality has organized in Northeast Ohio to push for fairness in education, human services, health care and housing issues with the State budget. They are taking a bus down to Columbus to lobby for equity in the budget on April 26, 2007. If you would like to go down with the bus please call Tim at May Dugan at 631-5800.
NEOCH Annual Fund Raiser
Mark your calendars for May 4, 2007 and join us for the NEOCH Annual fund raiser. We will have special keynote speaker Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson and the announcement of the award winner of the Ione Biggs Social Justice advocate of the year. The fund raiser is at Massimo da Milano at 6 p.m. Tickets can be purchased from the NEOCH website or through the NEOCH office. The invitations will be mailed next week and you can sign up online beginning on Monday. If you have questions about any of these activities feel free to call NEOCH at 216/432-0540.
Also next week we will post the important legislative issues that the Coalition is following in the federal, state and local legislative and executive branches of government.
Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Shelter Showdown Set
East Side Catholic Strikes Back Against County
After the County Office of Homeless Services Advisory Board voted in January to withhold future funding until East Side Catholic family shelter found a fiscal agent to manage their money, the shelter staff and board have finally responded. They have obviously calculated that they are too valuable to the community and the County will back down. They might be right, but my experience says that the County usually wins it just takes a great deal of time and aggravation.
For those who do not remember and do not want to go back to the link, East Side Catholic received repeated warnings about problems with the shelter. The County has had issues for two years now with the shelter and the administration of the shelter. It seems that the director left and the board dissolved. There were problems with an audit, and the programming that the women were receiving in the shelter. Anyway, there were serious problems and all the Board including the Coalition for the Homeless supported the actions taken by the County.
East Side Catholic sent a harsh letter to Ruth Gillett of the County Office of Homeless Services rejecting the oversight and demanding a meeting with the Federal Department overseeing shelter funds and Cuyahoga County. "East Side Catholic refuses to forfeit its FY 2006 grant award...East Side Catholic will not waive its rights to make application for FY 2007. " The Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development gives a great deal of discretion to the local government entity to manage each of the projects. There are thousands of project sponsors in the United States and HUD depends on the local jurisdiction to provide oversight of each shelter. The FY 2007 applications are already done and currently under review. East Side Catholic already missed the local application deadline and is certainly going to be skipped.
I especially like this line from their letter, "East Side Catholic continues to have grave problems receiving complete and clear information from OHS. " Ain't it the truth. Ruth is notorious for providing incomplete and vague information. That is how she has survived in government for so long. No matter if this is true or not, the County will win. They beat Care Alliance and in the end owned the Care Alliance buildings. They eliminated University Settlement from federal funding. The County will eventually prevail. It seems that the staff and Board of East Side Catholic feel that the County is weak and can be bullied. That is a facade that the OHS staff put out, but it is not the case. There will be a long drawn out battle, which may lead to the entire program failing and hundreds of homeless families struggling to find a place to live. This is emblematic of how things work in the homeless system--no coordination, much competition, very little cooperation, lots of fights, and very little progress is ever made toward the goal of ending homelessness. The worst part of this is the negative impact this will have on a population that is already struggling in our community: homeless families.
Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
After the County Office of Homeless Services Advisory Board voted in January to withhold future funding until East Side Catholic family shelter found a fiscal agent to manage their money, the shelter staff and board have finally responded. They have obviously calculated that they are too valuable to the community and the County will back down. They might be right, but my experience says that the County usually wins it just takes a great deal of time and aggravation.
For those who do not remember and do not want to go back to the link, East Side Catholic received repeated warnings about problems with the shelter. The County has had issues for two years now with the shelter and the administration of the shelter. It seems that the director left and the board dissolved. There were problems with an audit, and the programming that the women were receiving in the shelter. Anyway, there were serious problems and all the Board including the Coalition for the Homeless supported the actions taken by the County.
East Side Catholic sent a harsh letter to Ruth Gillett of the County Office of Homeless Services rejecting the oversight and demanding a meeting with the Federal Department overseeing shelter funds and Cuyahoga County. "East Side Catholic refuses to forfeit its FY 2006 grant award...East Side Catholic will not waive its rights to make application for FY 2007. " The Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development gives a great deal of discretion to the local government entity to manage each of the projects. There are thousands of project sponsors in the United States and HUD depends on the local jurisdiction to provide oversight of each shelter. The FY 2007 applications are already done and currently under review. East Side Catholic already missed the local application deadline and is certainly going to be skipped.
I especially like this line from their letter, "East Side Catholic continues to have grave problems receiving complete and clear information from OHS. " Ain't it the truth. Ruth is notorious for providing incomplete and vague information. That is how she has survived in government for so long. No matter if this is true or not, the County will win. They beat Care Alliance and in the end owned the Care Alliance buildings. They eliminated University Settlement from federal funding. The County will eventually prevail. It seems that the staff and Board of East Side Catholic feel that the County is weak and can be bullied. That is a facade that the OHS staff put out, but it is not the case. There will be a long drawn out battle, which may lead to the entire program failing and hundreds of homeless families struggling to find a place to live. This is emblematic of how things work in the homeless system--no coordination, much competition, very little cooperation, lots of fights, and very little progress is ever made toward the goal of ending homelessness. The worst part of this is the negative impact this will have on a population that is already struggling in our community: homeless families.
Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
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