High Poverty Areas and HUD Funding

Local Cleveland Shelters Ask HUD for Additional Help

A diverse group of advocates and Cleveland area service providers are proposing that communities with a history of acute poverty have access to additional funding in accordance with the implementation of the HEARTH law. Advocates and social service providers have a concern that traditionally high poverty areas will be harmed by the new regulations, and will not be able to access the high performing community designation and any funds that accompany this designation. We have expressed our concerns with Congressman Dennis Kucinich, and have included that letter.

As set forth in the law, communities must meet certain performance guidelines in order to qualify for additional or bonus funding from HUD. Over the last ten years, the City of Cleveland/Cuyahoga County has been the recipient of these additional funds to strategically assist the continuum in better serving those experiencing homelessness. The additional funding has enabled us to increase housing capacity and maintain a high quality of service to a growing homeless population, while also establishing one or two new strategic housing programs per year.

As you know, the soon-to-be-implemented HEARTH Law will mandate that additional bonus HUD dollars may be allocated to those communities that attain “High Performing Community” status. In order to qualify for this designation the community must: decrease the length of homelessness by 10%, reduce recidivism to 5% a year, implement the use of HMIS in every program, reduce the number who become homeless, and include programs that serve youth and families. We are asking that a similar fund be established for High Poverty Communities of equal value to assist those communities experiencing the highest rates of distress in the United States.

We maintain that severely impoverished communities nationwide, like Cleveland, could have substantial difficulty in decreasing the length of homelessness, reducing recidivism, and/or reducing the number of individuals and families who become homeless. In Cleveland, again as with many communities, there are mitigating factors that will significantly compromise endeavors to attain the “High Performing Community” status as set forth by the HEARTH Law.

While we will make every effort to be a High Performing Community, in the event we are not able to achieve those goals, we believe that the poorest cities in the United States need additional support from HUD to continue to address the issue of homelessness caused by the loss of jobs and a reduction in the ability to secure housing. Communities, such as Cleveland, need additional resources to continue to provide quality care to homeless people in an already stressed system. We believe that in a time of long waiting lists for mental health and alcohol and drug services as well as overcrowded shelters, quality programs specifically designed to serve and reduce the homeless population will be forced to close because of the huge demand and significant competition for limited resources.

We propose that if a community meets four (4) of the ten (10) factors that demonstrate a history of acute poverty, and is chosen by the HUD Secretary through a similar selection process as outlined in the HEARTH legislation for a “High Performing Community,” they have access to a pool of resources to reduce homelessness. The ten (10) factors are as follows:

1. The community experiences a natural disaster of national significance as declared by FEMA (flooding, earthquake, etc) in the previous year.
2. If according to the American Community Survey/US Census, the community is consistently listed among the top 20 poorest big cities in the nation.
3. In any of the last three years, the community experienced a decrease of 20% or more in State mental health funding.
4. In any of the last three years, the community experienced a decrease of 20% or more in State alcohol/drug addiction funding.
5. The community’s annual unemployment rate increases by more than 10% from one year to the next.
6. The community experiences a 10% increase in the number of evictions from one year to the next.
7. The community experiences a 10% increase in the number of households delinquent on their mortgage or there is a 20% increase in the number of foreclosure filings in any of the last five years.
8. The community experiences a 10% increase in the number of individuals receiving food stamps from one year to the next measured over the last three years.
9. The community experiences a 5% increase in the number of indigent care cases at local hospitals within the Continuum from one year to the next in any of the previous five years.
10. The community experiences a 5% increase in the number of offenders returning from the prison system from one year to the next any time over the last five years.

Again, in keeping with these ten (10) mitigating factors, we propose that if a community is quantifiably assessed to present with at least four (4) of the above-mentioned items, it receive access to a similar level of funding as those communities designated as a “High Performing Community.”. We are proposing that a community be measured over the last five years, and if at least four (4) extenuating factors are found in any of those five years, HUD designate the community as a “High Poverty Area,” and offer access to additional funding. The community should be allowed to maintain dispensation from “High Performing Community” status for a period of no less than three (3) years into the future while they work through their poverty issues. Additionally, the community should be re-evaluated every year, as part of the application process, to determine progress toward reducing poverty and meeting HUD guidelines.

We are sending this ahead of the introduction of the HEARTH guidelines in hopes that these concepts are included in the draft. As those serving on the “front lines” to effectively meet the needs of the homeless population, we thank you for your time and consideration of this correspondence.

This letter sent to Congressman Dennis Kucinich and and the Department of Housing and Urban Development to the Assistant Secretary of Community Development. It was signed and written by the directors of the Salvation Army Harbor Light Complex, Y-Haven transitional shelter, LMM 2100 Lakeside shelter, Joseph's Home transitional shelter, New Life Community, and Transitional Housing Inc. along with NEOCH.

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Women's Shelter Population Growing

Is there anywhere that is free out there in Cleveland to house 100 homeless women?

Rising Temperatures and Resident Counts at Women’s Shelter Continue to Worry NEOCH Board Members

Nearly two weeks after Natoya Walker Minor, Cleveland’s Chief of Public Affairs, and Ruth Gillett, Cuyahoga County’s Director of Homeless Services, refused an invitation from the female board members of Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless to spend two nights at the Community Women’s Shelter, conditions continued to deteriorate over the holiday weekend.

As the weekend temperatures soared, so did the number of homeless women seeking shelter at the temporary location. The almost 80 women found themselves enduring the scorching heat wave in a shelter with only one shower. During previous years, this shelter has traditionally housed about 100 women a day during the summer months. Despite this fact, Walker Minor and Gillett made the decision to relocate the women to a facility designed to house only 50 people when the publicly-funded shelter closed in early May for renovation.

Each government official said that they had spent years planning for the renovation and searching for temporary sites, yet they chose a building with only one shower, five sinks and five toilets. Walker Minor and Gillett declined the invitation to stay at the shelter, whose facilities they agreed were “inconvenient”, but “doable.”

Due to their poor planning, the residents have been forced to use showers at the nearby Bishop Cosgrove Center and North Point Men’s Transitional shelter. Cosgrove was closed over the holiday weekend as well as on Monday. During this time, the women’s only other option was North Point, which only has one shower available for their use.

“There are too many people living in that shelter. They've run out of beds, so some women are sleeping on mats on the floor. This building is clearly not designed to accommodate the needs of that many people," said Rosie Palfy, a NEOCH board member. "There is absolutely no way that nearly 80 women can be expected to adequately bathe themselves under these conditions."

The steady increase in the number of women sleeping in this shelter has caused concerns about the women’s hygiene and safety while in the shelter. The current situation violates not only Ohio’s Basic Shelter Standards, but also Cleveland’s building and housing codes. Aside from these issues, the limited number of showers continues to cause worry about its inaccessibility to disabled women and fear about the residents’ ability to find and maintain employment.

“We cannot risk women getting a staph infection or losing their job because they cannot maintain their personal hygiene,” said Marcia Bufford NEOCH's board president. The board continues to fight for shelter standards and stands unified in their decision to challenge city and county officials to improve the living conditions for homeless women.

Marcia Bufford and Rosie Palfy are the contacts for this information

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Post Script: After this release was developed, we have been told that 100 women are now sleeping in the shelter. Ruth and Natoya would know this if they had accepted our offer to sleep at the shelter.

Cleveland: A Nice Place to Live

Photo by Pleasure Simmons, which was one of the images selected by the Downtown Cleveland Alliance Photo competition.

What Makes Cleveland Great???

The City of Cleveland feels scorned by the loss of LeBron James, and we all feel like electing Dan Gilbert as the County Executive for what he wrote and said. Cleveland is not all about sports, and no matter if the Indians, Cavs and Browns stink we have a great deal going for this city that often goes unrecognized. In the area of housing and homelessness, there are a number of things that make us among the top cities in America.

1. Guaranteed Access to Shelter: There are still some issues to work out on release of information, intake, and disciplinary procedures, but we still maintain the appearance of allowing everyone who comes to the door into the shelters. If a person is willing to abide by the rules they will have access to one of the publicly funded shelters. This is expensive and causes overcrowding, but it is a life saver for many. The City of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County officials should be thanked for all their work to protect homeless people.

2. Peace with the Police: The City of Cleveland signed a consent decree in 2000 that settled 10 years of lawsuits. The Coalition repeatedly sued the City over their policy of arresting and threatening arrest of anyone who decided not to sleep inside. We finally settled the lawsuits, and the City agreed not to arrest or threaten arrest of those who are sitting, sleeping, standing, or eating on the sidewalk. This agreement has held for the last 10 years. In that time, the population of those living outside has decreased.

3. Project ACT: The homeless children and youth program at the Cleveland Metropolitan School District is over 20 years old and a model in the United States. They try to serve every child that becomes homeless in our City. They make sure that the child's school is not disrupted if the family becomes homeless during the school year. They serve thousands of children every year.

4. EDEN Inc./Shelter Plus Care: Cleveland is unlike most of other cities in that a private non-profit distributes the vouchers to the disabled. We have over 1,000 vouchers currently on the streets providing housing to homeless people with a disability. This is a great resource that the County has continued to put more funding every year into this program, and is a great supplement to the Housing Choice Voucher Program.

5. Coordinated Outreach: In both Columbus and Cincinnati, they have one or two teams out on the streets, and in both cities one of the outreach teams is a for-profit social worker employed by the downtown business district. Cleveland has five or six teams that go out on the streets to try to build a trusting relationship with homeless individuals. These teams have mapped out the entire city, and regularly meet with people as they struggle to stay alive. They have saved countless lives and moved hundreds into the shelters or housing.

There is plenty more, but this is a good list for now.

Brian
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LeBron Is Not Homeless!!!

End the Madness

NEOCH is usually in the top five under Google News Searches for "Cleveland Homeless." We were knocked out of the top five this week with two stories (AP and Salon) with a subject of LeBron James being "homeless." It all ends today, and we can get back to real stories of homelessness. Go Home Mr. James!!!

Brian Davis
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New Resources on the Website

Veteran's Street Card and Legal Schedule Updated

The Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless updated our website with the new Veteran's Street Card for 2010. Our website features the regular Street Card from 2009 and the 2010 East Cleveland Street Card. We are working on getting the Street Card printed. In addition, we are working on a Family Street Card to assist families that are experiencing problems with their housing. These should both be updated by the end of the summer.

In addition, the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association in partnership with NEOCH have added an additional clinic to the schedule for 2010. We have found attorneys who will staff the clinic at Trinity Cathedral beginning in August 2010. This clinic will offer legal advice to those who are in danger of being homeless or who are currently homeless on the third Wednesday of the month. The updated legal schedule is now on the website for distribution.

Brian
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Take A Bottle of Water To Work Week

Water Needed Downtown

Your assignment for this incredibly hot week is to help out a friend with a bottle of water. Tonight and all this week put a plastic bottle of water in the freezer. Take it out on your way to work and give it to someone sitting or sleeping downtown. Even that annoying panhandler will appreciate a bottle of water especially with some ice in it. Water can be a life saver for the men and women who stay outside.

If you are not comfortable approaching someone on the streets, drop bottled water or even gallons of water at the NEOCH, Care Alliance, Volunteers of America, West Side Catholic or 2100 Lakeside shelter offices. We can all use water during the summer, and we will get it to the people most in need. To find one of these facilities go to the First Call for Help website. They all ring the downtown, and they are probably on your way into work. But to make thing easy, if you work downtown you can just drop the water bottle in a homeless individuals cart or bag. My experience is that we typically have as many homeless people die of heat exhaustion as we have die of hypothermia in Cleveland.

Please keep your fellow citizens in mind this week as you go downtown. Water is a great way to make a difference in another person's life.

Brian
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More Restaurants Should Do This

BBQ Eel, Avocado Roll, Sesame Vinaigrettes

Dante Restaurant Commits to Feeding Homeless for a Year

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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City and County Officials Refuse to Sleep in Shelter

No Access to Showers is “Doable” for Women Struggling With Housing but Not for County and City Bureaucrats!

Last week female board members from the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless extended an invitation to Ruth Gillett from the County Office of Homeless Services and Natoya Walker Minor Public Affairs Director of the City of Cleveland to spend two nights at the shelter. After Gillett and Walker Minor toured the shelter, they informed the women that while it was “inconvenient” to only have only one shower on site, it was “doable.” After one year of planning this renovation, Gillett and Walker Minor made the decision to relocate the women to a temporary shelter without a shower, and now they refuse to sleep in a shelter that they created.

Gillett responded via an e-mail letter saying, “It would serve no purpose other than to take space away from someone who needs it.” Walker Minor did not respond. Gillett’s response is puzzling since just this weekend the facility had 9 women sleeping on mats in the day room, and the women would welcome City and County officials to join them on a mat in the shelter.

The Community Women’s Shelter is the entry point for the women’s shelter system, and is not supposed to turn anyone away. It was recently moved to a commercial building at 1701 Payne Ave. that has only one shower that must serve 77 people every night. The City and County, in a letter to the Coalition, contends that this is only a temporary issue, because the regular shelter is currently undergoing renovations and will be ready in the fall. We have to ask if the City would issue an occupancy permit to any residence in the community if in order to shower, the resident had to walk to a building down the street. “We want Ruth and Natoya to spend the night at the shelter and then tell the community if 1701 Payne is appropriate for the mothers and grandmothers who become homeless this summer,” said board member Rosie Palfy.

The Coalition Board is unified in its condemnation of the City and County for violating building and housing codes, Ohio Basic Shelter Standards, basic hygiene requirements and infectious disease protocols by placing 70 women for the summer in a facility that is absolutely unacceptable for congregate living. The NEOCH Board want the two women who made this decision to see how difficult it is for disabled women to maintain their personal hygiene in the Community Women’s Shelter. We want to show that without access to showers it is difficult to find or maintain a job, and we want Walker Minor and Gillett to see how their decisions are harming these women. “Anytime they would care to join us in an overnight or weekend stay, the female board members from NEOCH will gladly join them. We cannot risk women getting a staph infection or losing their job because they cannot maintain their personal hygiene,” said NEOCH board president, Marcia Bufford.

Press Release by Marcia Bufford and Rosie Palfy

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Cincinnati Coalition Files Suit

They Do Some Crazy Stuff in Cincy

We have been trying to convince the City of Cleveland to pass a law that would regulate the shelters. I guess sometimes you have to watch what you wish for, because you may get it. The City of Cincinnati passed an updated shelter standards bill and placed a bunch of Easter eggs in the legislation. They included in the bill a requirement that every shelter receiving public money must discourage panhandling among their clients. So, the shelters are expected to dissuade their residents from engaging in a perfectly legal activity. They must report to the City every year how they "discouraged panhandling." All of the other issues in the world that the shelters should be counseling their clients against like drugs, prostitution, and even state sponsored gambling, and the City picks out the legal practice of panhandling for special scrutiny.

The Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless is suing the city over this ridiculous policy. The City has also taken the oversight of the shelters away from the Coalition and given it to the group that distributes the federal funds locally. The City claims that it is premature to file suit since it is not sure that the policy will become law.

"City Solicitor John Curp said the lawsuit is premature because council's approval of the rules does not mean they will be implemented by city administrators. He said his office must review council's recommendations to determine whether they are constitutional." according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Brian
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Women Still Do Not Have Access to Showers

Cleveland can afford a stadium that is only used 10 times a year, and yet we can't afford a building to provide showers to 50 to 70 women?

NEOCH Board Members Invite City Chief of Public Affairs and the County Director of Homeless Services to Sleep in the Shelter They Fund

Press Release Issued by NEOCH 6/26/2010

The Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless Board of Trustees are inviting Cleveland’s Chief of Public Affairs Natoya Walker-Minor and the Cuyahoga County’s Director of Homeless Services Ruth Gillett to spend at least two nights at the Community Women’s Shelter. The invitation is in response to the city and county officials moving homeless women to a temporary site with only one shower while their regular facility is undergoing renovations for six months. Board members are worried about the spread of infectious diseases due to lack of shower and hygiene problems in the hot summer months. “We have concerns about accessibility issues for those women with a disability sleeping in the shower this summer,” said Rosie Palfy who is leading the advocacy of the NEOCH Board on this issue. The invitation is an attempt to show the deplorable living conditions at the temporary site of the Community Women’s shelter with a hope of prompting a change. The site violates the Ohio Basic Emergency Shelter Standards as well as multiple building code regulations.

On May 3rd, residents of the Community Women’s Shelter moved to their current temporary facility on 1701 Payne Ave. and Walker was quoted in the Plain Dealer indicating “City and County officials spent years planning the renovation and looking for temporary sites.” In an e-mail to the Coalition after a tour of the temporary women’s shelter, Walker said, “While it is inconvenient for the women to walk less than 300 feet to a shower, it is doable.” The chosen site was without showers, forcing women to walk around the block to the nearby Cosgrove Center limited to only two hours a day or the inaccessible North Point Men’s Transitional Shelter to shower on the next block. The board is concerned that the limited shower schedule could interfere with women looking for housing and jobs.

The NEOCH Board is concerned that the message delivered to the women is that our county has enough money to build a medical mart, renovate the baseball stadium, and buy an asbestos building on East 9th and Euclid, but we do not have the money to house women in a safe, decent place while they struggle with their housing. According to CWS and City and County officials, installing showers at the new location was not cost effective, and there are no other buildings that they could find to house the women.

Residents have complained and filed grievances to NEOCH citing lack of proper facilities and expressing concern over feminine hygiene issues. More than 70 women are currently living at CWS and advocates are not satisfied with the current conditions. The NEOCH board is calling on city and county officials to live in the shelter for two nights to see if the current situation is “inconvenient” or intolerable. NEOCH is asking for city leaders to develop a better solution for our most fragile population under the care of the City of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County. We asked for a response by Tuesday June 29, 2010. Many of these women are disabled and have mobility challenges, and they need regular access to a shower.

Contacts: Rosie Palfy and Marcia Bufford on behalf of NEOCH
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ACLU Brown Bag Lunch

Join NEOCH at the ACLU Lunch in Two Weeks

2010 American Civil Liberties Union Brown Bag Lecture Series
You bring your lunch. We’ll bring the experts.

Homeless, Not Hopeless:
The homeless community’s fight for fair treatment
July 7, 2010 on Wednesday | Noon - 1:00 p.m.
Max Wohl Civil Liberties Center
4506 Chester Ave., Cleveland 44103

Far too often municipalities enact unconstitutional ordinances that criminalize homeless people and greatly restrict their access to public space.

Join us for a discussion of the homeless community’s fight for equality with Brian Davis, executive director of the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless and advocate for the estimated 26,000 homeless in the Cleveland area.

This program is part of the Brown Bag Lecture Series. Lectures will be held throughout the summer on Wednesdays from noon – 1 pm at the Max Wohl Civil Liberties Center, 4506 Chester Ave., Cleveland.

This event is free and open to the public. Free parking is available. Drinks and desserts will be provided. To RSVP, call (216) 472-2200 or click the RSVP button.

Save the date for our statewide membership conference!
July 30 - 31, Columbus.
Get more information at www.acluohio.org/conference2010

Join the ACLU and help strengthen our freedoms. Already a member? Click here to find out what else you can do to restore our rights.

Stand up! Get active! Make some noise! Our new website has all the tools you need to restore lost liberty.

From an e-announcement from the ACLU

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New Meal Program in East Cleveland

Divine Outreach to Serve Once Per Month

After the article appeared in the Plain Dealer regarding the lack of food providers within the city limits of East Cleveland, a number of church groups stepped forward to offer volunteers and food to help out. Divine Outreach Ministry would like everyone to know that they will be serving a meal on the fourth Friday of the Month at Windermere Living Hope Church. The meal will be from 4 to 6 pm. at 14035 Euclid Ave. in the beautiful Windermere Living Hope Church. This will add a fourth night of food being served out of this historic church. The first meal for Divine Outreach Ministry in East Cleveland is Friday June 25.

Divine Outreach currently does the meal behind the Mental Health Services Building at East 18th and Payne Ave. in Downtown Cleveland on the Second Saturday of the month. They have a long history of working with homeless people as the lead organization providing food at the Homeless Stand Down. If you have questions or want to help volunteer or provide additional donations, you can call Dorothy at 216/355-6953.

Brian
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A Home Has Showers

County Relocates Women to Shelter Without Adequate Showers for Summer

The Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless calls on all taxpayers of Cuyahoga County to refrain from showering this summer unless you go next door to your neighbor's at a scheduled time. NEOCH is asking for this drastic action to show support for the women forced to live in a shelter without the proper number of showers. When the publicly-funded Community Women’s Shelter was closed for renovations last month, City and County officials relocated the 52 women to a facility that did not have a working shower. Because of budgetary concerns and Not-In-My-Backyard issues, the City and County allowed the shelter to relocate for the next six to nine months to 1701 Payne Avenue, a facility that only this week installed “one shower for emergency uses only.”

Between the hours of 9 and 11 a.m. weekdays, the 50 homeless women can go outside and walk next door to the Bishop Cosgrove Center to take a shower. At other times the women are forced to walk to a nearby men's transitional shelter, escorted by staff, to use one available shower on the second floor of a men’s residential floor. Those with mobility issues must figure out how to take care of their hygiene needs using a sink, because the transitional shelter 1550 Superior Avenue facility is not handicapped accessible.

The Board of NEOCH has received numerous complaints from women living in the shelter regarding this matter. Many women said that they have had to resort to washing themselves in the sinks because they could not make it to Cosgrove during those two hours. Residents are concerned this unsanitary practice will put them at risk for contracting infectious diseases. “The City and County selected this location knowing it didn’t have showers,” said Rosie Palfy, a NEOCH board member. “The women were told on numerous occasions showers would be installed before they moved, but it never happened because they said it was too expensive.”

"Women in the care of Cuyahoga County who are incarcerated at the jails have access to daily showers on-site. The Men’s shelters have access to showers. Even the animals in the custody of Cuyahoga County at the Cleveland Metropolitan Zoo have better access to showers. Why are homeless women being denied the ability at the facility in which they live?" asked Marcia Bufford, NEOCH board president. "We find this move an unconscionable disservice to the women at the shelter who have no regular access to showers on site."

The members of the Board of the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless (NEOCH) oppose the move of the Community Women’s Shelter, even on a temporary basis, to a facility without the appropriate number of showers on-site. The facility is administered by Mental Services for Homeless People, a $15.5 million non-profit organization largely funded by government support. We ask:

• the City and County to enforce the Ohio Basic Shelter Standards
• install showers in the facility or move the women somewhere that does have showers on-site immediately.
• the Cleveland Health Department enforce basic health and safety standards for a residential facility.

In support of homeless women and any children who become homeless this summer, the NEOCH Board asks that Cuyahoga County tax payers stop using their own showers and instead schedule a two-hour window in which they can go to their neighbor’s house and use their shower.

Contacts for this issue:
Marcia Bufford and Rosie Palfy
NEOCH Board members
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Drew Carey Entertains City Council

Next Week Carrot Top Unveils a Device that Will Revolutionize Cleveland...

I like Drew Carey, I really do, but to give him a couple of hours before City Council is an insult. It makes us look like we live in a Cow Town. I have a long history with stand up comedy, and Drew Carey was one of the best. I mean, his routine about Cleveland's unofficial motto being "At least it's not Snowing" is hilarious. He also has did a great routine about driving a Yugo among many others. He is no doubt a great comedian, but he is a lousy community leader. In a time in which 29 miners died in West Virginia, 11 oil workers died in the Gulf, and banks destroyed neighborhoods in Cleveland and around the country, how does a person who believes in less government have any credibility?

I watched all the Nick Gillespie/Reason Magazine videos, which contained only a dash of Drew Carey, and felt cheated. Advertising these as Drew Carey videos is like calling Ken Burn's Civil War series the Studs Terkel videos. He was a minor part of the presentation, and these videos had very little value in forwarding civic discussion. I just don't understand how anyone watched them and said, "We need to get this guy to testify before City Council."

They kept bringing up the state of Cleveland sports, and somehow making the connection with the decline of Cleveland. The Browns were perennial contenders in the 1980s, the Indians in the late 1990s, and now the Cavs are regular participants in the playoffs. If this was a valid point all of our teams would be cellar dwellers since the river caught fire. Complaining about high taxes, privatizing schools, and restrictive land use policies are not a solution for anything. They are conservative talking points that have not worked in practice. Our own state has flirted with charter schools and that has resulted in high failure rates among these schools, and for profits making money off of providing education to the next generation. We have had nearly two decades of cutting taxes, and where has that gotten us--two unpaid wars, trillions in debt, and many angry people who are not willing to pay their fair share for living in a democracy. The first combination strip club/pawn shop/payday lender that goes into Gates Mills, Bratenahl, or Avon Lake would be the end of less restrictive land use policies.

I really wanted to hear some good ideas for how to turn around population decline, job losses, and a collapse in the housing market, but was disappointed. There were two good points made during the videos: We wasted millions on playgrounds for the rich with the two stadiums and the arena, and that we need to figure out a way to reduce red tape within government. That being said it is a giant leap to say end the MedMart deal, sell the West Side Market and allow a Walmart to go up where ever they want. We are all-in on the MedMart deal. No matter what we think, we have invested far too much public money to stop this train now. A year after we sell the West Side Market, it will close. It will go the way of every other farmer's market and a Walmart will open in its place. I loved how Gillespie mentioned transparency when talking about how a corporation could run the West Side Market better. I have never thought of WalMart, BP, Exxon, Halliburton, Blackwater, or AIG as especially transparent in their business dealings. This was the most laughable part of the videos. Government can at least be forced to be transparent, but corporations guard their privacy above all else.

I think Michael Symon could offer more help to Cleveland as a local business man than Drew Carey. Libertarian views are great for the classroom discussion at CWRU, but they are impractical and silly in practice. The private sector cannot solve homelessness, poverty, massive job losses, and population declines that currently face the City of Cleveland.

Brian
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A Home or a Jail?

Metal Detectors at the Shelters?

Since the death of the shelter director in February, many of the shelters in Cleveland have moved to increase security. There were many issues associated with the death at the Volunteers of America shelter including discharge plans, the care of those with a mental illness, de-escalation training, conflict resolution, intake process that reveals previous violent encounters with the law, and many more issues. Instead of looking at all of these problems, most of the concern is with security including metal detectors and bag searches.

This is an issue that needs broader discussion within the community. Are the shelters emergency homes for people or are they corrections facilities? Should our main concern be the safety of the staff or making the facility as accommodating as possible so that people are not sleeping on the streets? Have we wasted our money when their is a stabbing at a shelter with metal detectors? There are so many issues, and we need some real discussion about this in the community. We should not have a knee jerk response when we invest in these new technologies when a weapon can be formed out of can of beans in a sock or box cutter or any number of a thousand other items. How would you feel if your landlord put up a metal detector and a bag search at the front door of the apartment building in which everyone entering, including all the tenants, had to have all their items searched every day?

These decisions will have a negative impact on how many people choose to use the shelter system. It could result in more people sleeping on Superior Ave. in Cleveland. It may lull people into a false sense of security, and people who should expect that every person they encounter is armed will let down their guard. It could change the power dynamic within the shelters in which searches are used as another form of punishment. There are many dangers associated with stepped up privacy searches. Before the shelters jump into this movement toward metal detectors, the community of social service providers and homeless people should have a conversation. Alternatives should be discussed, and the consequences of these decisions should be laid on the table. Increasing security does not have to mean comprehensive searches and wand searches. There are cameras, random searches, conflict management, and counseling options that could make the shelters safer, and may in fact be cheaper. It is unfortunate that there is not leadership locally to look at all these issues before we jump into the transition of the shelters into corrections facilities.

Brian
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Housing Cleveland update

The affordable housing website for Cuyahoga County, housingcleveland.org was funded by stimulus dollars for another three years. It is a real gem for the community, and we wish the state would invest funds to expand this site statewide. It is administered by Socialserve.com in North Carolina, and organized locally by 211/First Call for Help and NEOCH. To be honest, the current state of Ohio funded housing website is a huge waste of money. Taxpayers should be up in arms over the horrible waste of money. HousingCleveland is regularly updated (every three weeks) and has a bilingual call center. The Ohio funded housing site is a static website that is rarely updated, and has only a fraction number of units that we have on the Cuyahoga County site.

Here are some stats from the Housing Cleveland site from May 15, 2010:

• There are 1,360 available listings or 2,026 total units on the Housing Cleveland site with a total of 26,982 total units in the database.
• 54% of the units are within the City of Cleveland and the rest are spread throughout the county.
  
• There have been 2,281 units added to the site since January 2010. This is down from the 3,500 units added in the same period in 2009. We suspect that many people were marketing their houses as apartments because of the foreclosure crisis in 2008-9, but not doing that as much in 2010.
• There are 1,706 basic searches done everyday from 217 unique users.
  
• There were 693,000 searches done by 88,600 unique users done in the last year.

There is also an expanded site in Medina County (HousingMedina.org). They have 44 searches done every day, and 61 available listings or 166 available units. Housing Medina could benefit from some marketing help, but that is another story.

It is time to make Socialserve the sole provider in Ohio for a housing website. It is a wonderful non-profit that is surprisingly affordable.

Brian
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Community Development Policy Forum

Housing Policy and Community Development

Monday, June 7, 2010
4:00-6:00 p.m.

Cleveland State University

Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs

Glickman-Miller Hall

1717 Euclid Ave

Cleveland, OH 44115

Book Talk and Panel Discussion
in partnership with The Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland with David J. Erickson, author of The Housing Policy Revolution: Networks and Neighborhoods and director of the Center for Community Development Investments at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. He also edits the Federal Reserve journal Community Development Investment Review.

Erickson's new book traces the shift in U.S. housing policy from the 1960's-era, federally funded programs to today's collaborative networks of community developers, advocates, local governments, bankers, and property developers, supported by federal tax credits and block grants. Through historical analysis and detailed case studies, he reveals a system that adjusted to a changing political climate and innovated in the delivery of affordable housing.

The response panel of local housing and community development professionals will discuss the impact of this policy shift on the availability and affordability of housing for low-income families and individuals in Northeast Ohio.

Response Panel:
Moderator: Kathryn W. Hexter, Director, Center for Community Planning and Development and Levin College Forum
Kate Monter Durban, Assistant Director, Cleveland Housing Network
John O. Anoliefo, Executive Director, Famicos Foundation
W. Dennis Keating, Professor and Distinguished Scholar, Director, Master of Urban Planning, Design & Development Program

Free and open to the public.
Registration requested at Forum or call 216.523.7330

Brian
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Homeless Hate Crimes Bill Re-Introduced in Ohio

After Cincinnati Attacks, Ohio House Introduces Stronger Penalties

With the multiple attacks these last few months in Cincinnati, the State of Ohio has responded by introducing a bill that would allow prosecutors to increase the penalty for an attack or intimidation of people based on their lack of housing should the attacker be convicted. This is similar to the hate crimes laws in Ohio, and we hope will provide some deterrent to future attacks on those resistant to shelter. This is an extremely vulnerable population that lives without a door or a lock or the security that the rest of the population enjoy. And to have skinheads and young people go out hunting for homeless people justifies the state coming down with tough punishments on these individuals.

As Introduced

128th General Assembly Regular Session 2009-2010

H. B. No. 509

Representatives Murray, Foley

Cosponsors: Representatives Sears, Pillich, Hagan, Walter, Harris, Heard, Williams, B., Domenick, Skindell, Winburn, Fende, Gerberry, Harwood

---

A BILL

To enact section 2927.121 of the Revised Code to create the offense of intimidation of a homeless person.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:

Section 1. That section 2927.121 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:

Sec. 2927.121. (A) As used in this section, "homeless person" means either of the following:

(1) An individual who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence;

(2) An individual who has a primary nighttime residence that meets any of the following criteria:

(a) A supervised publicly or privately operated shelter designed to provide temporary living accommodations;

(b) An institution that provides a temporary residence for individuals intended to be institutionalized;

(c) A public or private place not designed for, or ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings.

(B) No person shall violate section 2903.04, 2903.041, 2903.05, 2903.11, 2903.12, 2903.13, 2903.14, 2903.21, 2903.211, 2903.22, 2903.31, 2905.01, 2905.02, 2905.03, 2905.11, 2905.12, 2907.01, 2907.03, 2907.05, 2907.06, 2909.01, 2909.02, 2909.03, 2909.05, 2909.06, 2909.07, 2911.02, 2913.01, 2913.02, or 2917.01 of the Revised Code if the offender commits the violation with the intent to cause harm to any victim of the violation because that victim is a homeless person.

(C) Whoever violates this section is guilty of intimidation of a homeless person. Intimidation of a homeless person is an offense of the next higher degree than the offense the commission of which is a necessary element of intimidation of a homeless person.

We need to get other members to support this legislation and hold a hearing in Columbus on this bill. We will keep you informed.

Brian
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Arthur Price Sr Passes

Hard Working Vendor Joins Wife

We have had to put the Grapevine on hold while we fund raise, and get our own house in order. Arthur Price Sr. was a vendor of the Grapevine for years outside of the West Side Market. He saw many in his family die of cancer including his own mother. He wanted to stay busy so he started selling the paper in his 70s. I guess that he saw a number of relatives retire, and then pass on quickly. Arthur was determined to stay active, and sold the Grapevine through his latest illness in 2009. He passed away last week and his memorial service was Saturday.

Arthur was a stern and gruff old guy similar to many men born in the 1920s. He was hard on many people, but he was a good salesman. He loved working for the Grapevine, and he told me every few weeks that the Grapevine saved his life. He said that it forced him to get up and go outside. He had a purpose and that was to sell papers. He loved meeting people at the Market and loved interacting with the other vendors, the customers, and the WSM workers. Behind his rough exterior, the one soft spot was for his wife. Just as Bernadette Janes described in the 2006 article in the Homeless Grapevine newspaper, Arthur loved his wife, Clarabelle. She passed away in January, and this made it difficult for Arthur. He had moved to hospice care, and could not move around for the last four months.

The family asked the Chaplin from the Hospice Care Center to conduct the service. This was unusual since she had only four months of interaction with Arthur to pull together the ceremony. It worked really well in that she was not deeply emotionally attached to Mr. Price, and had sat with him and talked about what he wanted in the service. So she presented the facts that Arthur wanted to pass on to all of us. She talked about the Grapevine, his family and the love for his wife. She thanked the people that Arthur wanted thanked, and she mentioned that there were a few fragile people within the family that Arthur wanted to make sure were taken care of. The Chaplin was clear that Arthur had joined his wife, and was at peace at this point. It was a very nice service that Cathy, one of our other vendors, attended on behalf of the Homeless Grapevine.

Brian
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Support A Reduction in Family Homelessness

Dear Friend of the Coalition:

Honor your Parents for the Holidays

The fastest growing subpopulation of homeless people in America is families, which typically means a Mother and one to two children. Imagine your own mother having to spend time in a homeless shelter. Imagine trying to figure out how to maintain a job, your child’s schooling, and search for housing while staying in the shelter. It is a miracle if a Mom and a Dad can stay together during a period of homelessness in Cleveland, and please realize that it is extremely difficult to find a shelter bed for a Dad with his children.

The Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless is working every day to preserve affordable housing opportunities, expand job opportunities and eliminate civil rights barriers that confront homeless people. We make every effort to work with the City and County and the social service community to reduce the time a family spends homeless in Cleveland. In our recently published State of Homelessness Report we found that:

• The school district reported a 17% increase in children experiencing homelessness in the last year.
• First Call for Help reported a 82% increase in requests for food pantry assistance since 2006.
• The Domestic Violence Center reports a 8% increase in families served between 2008 and 2009.

Today, we introduce an effort to honor the mothers and fathers in our community while improving the services to those families that become homeless. We are asking for your support in an effort to create a Family Street Card directed at parents facing either foreclosure or are danger of becoming homeless. In exchange for a $35 donation, we will post a message on our website honoring a mother or father that you feel deserve to be recognized. We need $2,500 to prepare this Family Street Card, print the card and begin to distribute this one page easy to use resource for families struggling in our community. Currently, we print an East Cleveland Street Card, a general Street Card, and a Veteran’s Street Card. With the explosion in family homelessness over the last four years, and the decline in the number of shelter beds for families over the same period, now more than ever we need a resource to distribute to those families struggling with their housing.

For every donation that we receive, we will memorialize on our website the parent or loved one who worked to raise a child and deserves some public recognition. We will also send a thank you note either to that individual or directly to you for your support of social justice and of families who are struggling with housing. Your tax-deductible donation will allow us to create a new resource for families and at the same time honor the parent in your community who influenced you or demonstrated exemplary behavior in teaching the next generation.

To support this project, you can return the enclosed form or go to our website and donate online. Either click on the “Reduce Family Homelessness” button on the front page of our website or go directly to www.neoch.org/honoring_parents.htm in order to donate. Mark your donation with the phrase “Family Homelessness” in the purpose line. We can send a card to you to recognize your donation or we can send the card directly to your parent or the individual that you want honored, and we will also post a message on our website honoring a parent in our community.

Please help us create a new resource for families and support the Homeless Coalition. As you prepare for Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, take a minute to acknowledge someone who has had a tremendous impact on your life.

To donate go to www.neoch.org and click on Family Homelessness!

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Homelessness Around the United States

Local Reports April 2010

National Coalition for the Homeless Met in DC this last Week

Minnesota

Significant growth in homelessness within the State. They are working on a Tenant Bill of Rights in Minnesota— it would cap late fees, require receipts provided by landlord, and guidelines for screening tenants. Applications for an apartment would have to be provided an apartment in the order they were received. Denied for a subjective reason, the tenant would get any fee back. The state is facing massive cuts in emergency assistance.

Miami Florida

Sex offenders going into hotels after the encampment under a freeway overpass was fenced off. Miami held as a model city in the Continuum of Care, but there are issues with budget cuts and expanding populations. Florida house passed the homeless hate crimes legislation. Looks good for passage in the Florida Senate.

Ft. Lauderdale

HPRP not doing well, and much is going to moderate incomes. State has cut homeless funding. Broward cut 50% of their services due to the downturn. Several large shelters have closed. Transitional shelters have had to close. Cut beds, services and hours to deal with budget cuts. Proposal to continue to criminalize homelessness in Ft. Lauderdale and Oakland Park will fine people who give food and money to homeless people. Increasing number of homeless and decreasing number of beds. No programs for the long term homeless. Alternatives to incarceration coalition established to try to reduce prison stays and long term punishments and mandatory minimums. Florida has a huge problem with one of the worst rates of incarceration in the United States.

Indiana

Continued budget cuts and HPRP has supplanted local dollars, and so there are more shelters and services closing locally. The state is defunding shelters, and more attempts to make it illegal to be homeless. Poor use of the HPRP funds for smaller groups especially in the rural communities.

Puerto Rico:

They do a poor job in receiving funding from the United States federal government. Worst managed HOME program in the United States, which has opened the door to greater scrutiny. Feeling threatened over HEARTH act, and attempts by local planning groups that could block grant of all those federal dollars. Have not been able to open an affordable housing project because of local bureaucracies, and while the buildings are done they have not been able to move in and now have become targets for vandalism. New protocol on how homeless people are served in the courts. There is a law that gives the rights to people who find themselves homeless, but it is ignored in the local community. Census told the population that they had to have an address to work for the Census.

Atlanta, GA

Shelter facing foreclosure is in court, and proving that you can operate without funding. Residents of the shelter do a lot more to operate the facility. 99.9% of staff are still hanging around without funds. Local grassroots organizations excluded from Neighborhood Stabilization and HPRP. There is some danger of losing the Foreclosure money (Neighborhood stabilization), which would go back to the Federal government. Massive demolition of public housing, 50% cut to public transportation, and privatization of the last public hospital..

DC

Catholic Church not going to close the shelter over the DC gay marriage issue. Big cuts that resulted in decrease in the number of shelter beds. They have closed the winter shelters for the spring/summer/fall. Family homelessness is increasing. Incidents at the shelters have increased including a death where an individual was turned away and died of exposure on a bench outside of the shelter. They have seen an increase in the incidents between shelters and staff because of the budget cuts.

Little Rock, Arkansas

Coalition is still on life support. Talked to the Mayor of Little Rock, because of city being named one of the meanest cities. Paid homeless coordinator in Little Rock to help. Another Little Rock About 1% of the population is homeless in the state of Arkansas. shelter closed because of a lack of funds.

South Carolina

State does not have any state dollars for homelessness—all dollars are pass through from the federal government. State initiative to require homeless veteran’s a preference over all other populations for a shelter bed and first for services. This did not pass. Defeated an initiative to be able to evict tenants within 15 days without going to court. Magistrate could appear without the tenant and get rid of the tenant. Four police officers arrested for Civil Rights violations in Greenville They have pled out after an investigation by the FBI. State HPRP is not being spent. At the local level it is being allocated at a good pace. Homeless awareness is increasing because of the NCH VISTA program educating the community. One City Administrator in Greenville has indicated a willingness to talk about ending homelessness. This is unusual for a public official in South Carolina. over the beating of a homeless person.

Montana

No more Montana Council for the Homeless by the Governor, and they may switch to become a private non-profit. Statewide HPRP going to the usual suspects. It is given out, but difficult to find in some communities. Information has spread and made a run on many of the programs.

Baltimore, MD

Mayoral transition difficult after the Mayor was forced to resign. She was very good for homeless people despite the scandal. The United Way initiative to end homelessness and continue the 10 year plan is still on track. All HPRP went through the United Way to administer the funds. Money is going out in large numbers.

South Dakota

Major issues in trying to distribute HPRP and lots of complaints with state for changing guidelines periodically. No state money going into local homeless services. Safe home program --32 long term homeless units is the cornerstone of the City’s project and they have now walked away from the program. No local dollars in Souix Falls from City. The City has established a zero tolerance for kids in the shelter to try to get them back into housing quickly. Indian reservations are the hardest hit.

Sacramento, California.

Massive deficit and massive proposed cuts. Hate crimes legislation introduced. Massive cuts to human services at the local level, and huge Continuum of Care cuts. Advocates want a safe ground to organize themselves with temporary structures while they search for housing. They won the lawsuit—got $250,000 to buy back tents and stuff after the police came in and destroyed their camps. Advocates have also registered hundreds of people and did a candidate forum focused on housing and homelessness. Training in May over HEARTH planning for the future. State HPRP is not going out very quickly. Better at the local level and trying to link the employment programs. Religious community organizations are trying to match HPRP funds in Sacramento. Director of Hunger and Homeless Program now including re-entry stuff into their work.

Denver

Sustained a huge budget cut for Health Care for the Homeless fund in order to fill gaps in the state budget. Cut the general assistance funds to single adults. After protests state government had to reverse the GA cuts and they never went into effect. Also advocates convinced them to reinstate the $2 million of the $3 million cuts to Health care for the Homeless. HPRP is given to the state Coalition and there is a match from TANF families. Some agencies are getting the funds out, but others are struggling. No ability to do training. Started construction on a 98 units of affordable housing that will include a work component in which they get homeless people to do the labor on the project then get first preference. Took over the HMIS system, and assure that privacy protections are in place. Colorado Springs has the homeless computer system is contracted to the local sheriff to manage. The State Coalition has told them to stop this or they will no longer have access to the management system or the funds that goes with it. Down the road the health care reform bill that just passed Congress will help our constituents including the leveraging of Medicare resources.

Taken from notes at the National Coalition for the Homeless Board meeting this past weekend April 2010 by Brian Davis

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