Next CAHA Meeting focuses on Foreclosures and the Land Bank

The next meeting of the Cuyahoga Affordable Housing Alliance is October 7 at 1:30 and will feature Bill Whitney of the Cuyahoga Land Bank and Lou Tisler of Neighborhood Housing Services.  Bill will give his regular update on the clean up of the foreclosure crisis in Cleveland.  The land bank is taking down shells of housing so that the land can be re-developed into parks, farm, or housing.  They are also working with a few community groups on creative solutions to the protect Cleveland neighborhoods going forward.  Recently, they were granted permission to use some of the foreclosure assistance money to take down more abandoned properties when the Treasury Department decided to allow the hardest hit fund to go to demolish housing.  This had been used to save people's homes and now it will be to wipe away abandoned housing.   Someday at CAHA after the foreclosure crisis is over we will have to discuss if the American dream of homeownership is now dead for millions of lower income families now that the housing bubble has burst and we taken down thousands of units of housing.  

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The Future of the Cuyahoga Affordable Housing Alliance Meetings

The last CAHA meeting was about the future of HUD in Ohio.  In a cost saving move HUD will be closing nearly all of the HUD multifamily field offices in the United States. These are the offices that oversee private landlords who serve low income families (Lupica, Rainbow Terrace, Emeritus House).  Every resident in the building gets a subsidy from the federal government.  HUD monitors the quality of these buildings, assures compliance with federal rules and is the government watchdog to make sure that the buildings maintain occupancy rates.  The Cincinnati office has already closed with Columbus and Cleveland closing their multifamily offices in 2014.   They are moving staff to DETROIT?? and Chicago.  Does anyone find it ironic that HUD multifamily staff will be located in a bankrupt city with a similar number of abandoned properties as the area around Chernobyl in the Ukraine?

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South Carolina Reverses Criminalization of Homeless

We posted two blog entries about the absurd Columbia South Carolina law that would require homeless people to seek shelter or go to jail.  With all the national attention and pressure put on the City from national groups like the National Coalition for the Homeless and the National Law Center, the petitions on Change.org and the national media stories was too much for the City Council.  They backed away from the law and will go in a different direction.  It is amazing to me that they did not have the backing of their own police, and that not one council member saw the potential problems associated with this legislation to vote against it. 

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Strange Article in the Plain Dealer About Housing

There was a strange and long article in the Plain Dealer last week from Stephen Koff regarding "social engineering"  at the Department of Housing and Urban Development that you might have missed.  The article suggests that enforcing a Civil Rights era law could be "social engineering."  Then a letter was published on Friday that shows the fear and mythology that has developed around the Housing Choice voucher program and Public Housing in our community.  First, the letter was highly offensive and incorrect, and should not have been printed in the paper.  Ms. Melillo has no proof that "incoming section 8 people bring their bad habits and culture with them--violence, drugs, prostitution, deterioration and loud music..."

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Even Police Oppose South Carolina Forced Shelter Law

We wrote about this "crazy South Carolina law"  in the last two week, but it turns out that not even the police agree with the scope of this law.  Huffington Post printed an article on August 28, detailing Columbia Interim Police Chief Ruben Santiago's opposition to the new law.  The National Law Center has been raising concerns about this issue and staff appeared on MSNBC last week.  The Huffington Post quoted the acting police chief saying, " We can't just take people to somewhere they don't want to go.  I can't do that. I won't do that." 

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Marcia Leaving the Board

Our former Board and staff member, Marcia Bufford has left the city.  She was currently serving as Board Treasurer after retiring from three years as Board President.  She started out in 1997 as a volunteer with the Homeless Stand Down recruiting and training other volunteers. She then took a turn as an Americorps*VISTA with CTO and with NEOCH.  She did tenant and community organizing for the two organizations.  She leaves today for greener pastures in another state.  She could not find a job here after working with homeless people and children for over a decade.

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Hand Up Gala Date Announced

One of the most unique events in the community is a collaboration between Catholic Charities and the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless called the Hand Up Gala.  The 2013 event is set for October 18, 2013 at the Bishop Cosgrove Center on Superior.  Most of the non-profit agencies in Cleveland have a once a year dinner and silent auction.  This event turns that concept on its head.  The main beneficiaries are homeless and hungry people in Cleveland Ohio.  We have a chef prepare a four star meal and we provide all the atmosphere of a high end restaurant.  

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Promissory Note Still Comes Up Short for Housing

50 years ago, African American leaders gathered in DC to seek justice and equality.  Most remember Martin Luther King Jr. delivering  the single best oratory speech since the Gettysburg Address, but John Lewis, A. Phillip Randolph and Roy Wilkins also gave powerful speeches.  Just focusing on the world of housing which was a critical plank in the push for jobs and freedom in 1963 there have been strides, but the United States has a long way to go to repay the debt.  We have seen poverty and homelessness disproportionately impact African Americans for 150 years.

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Satire: Do We Need Early Voting At All?

Thank you, Ohio legislators for protecting us from having to get up from our Playstations on the weekend to go vote!  We are so glad that you are saving us from President Obama who spent time and resources in Ohio to open up weekend voting so that we will have less time to spend with our families on that weekend before the election in 2014.   We "support" State Representative John Becker's effort to cut down on early voting because 35 days is just too tempting to try to vote multiple times with so many days available. Ohioans may vote the first week in October and then forget and try to vote again on Election Day.

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Columbia South Carolina Passes Crazy Law

Columbia South Carolina passed a shocking ordinance to limit the number of homeless people within their borders by a unanimous vote of the City Council.  It is easy to laugh this off as another crazy law from backward legislators, but this law is especially disturbing.  Urban homelessness disproportionately impacts African Americans in the United States.  In Cuyahoga County 80% of the homeless population are black while according to the US Census the overall county statistics show that only 30% of the total population are African American.  The Columbia South Carolina Mayor is black and four out of the seven City Council members are black yet they all voted to make it illegal to be homeless in the city.

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CAHA Meeting for 9/9/13 Looks at Land Trusts

The next Cuyahoga Affordable Housing Alliance meeting is moved to September 9, 2013 because of Labor Day. This meeting we will look at the changes that are taking place with HUD locally and how this will impact Cleveland tenants living in HUD backed apartments, current landlords and even the CAHA meetings in the future.  We will also get a good overview of the Land Trust program (not the Land Bank program). 

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City of Miami Working to Overturn Deal with Homeless People

Before Cleveland homeless individuals settled with the City in 2000, Miami lawyers struck an agreement to step back from the effort to make it illegal to be homeless.  Word came out that the current city government is working on ways to get out from under this 1998 settlement.  The National Coalition for the Homeless wrote a letter condemning these attempts to scrap the Pottinger settlement.   

The National Coalition for the Homeless is very concerned that the City of Miami is working to cancel its agreement with those experiencing homelessness in the Pottinger settlement of 1998.

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Cato Institue Publishes Flawed Report

The Cato Institute updated a report from 1995 and published what can only be characterized as the dumbest research projects ever published.  The report titled "The Work vs. Welfare Trade Off: 2013" might be the most absurd collection of disjointed statistics that has ever been put down on paper.  This report has no redeeming value in any policy debate that I could think of except maybe in showing that the minimum wage is too low in many states.  Cato "researchers" have lumped together entitlements such as food stamps with housing assistance limited by a significant lack of supply to Medicare limited to a small number of people to make the case that "welfare" may pay better than work pays.

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Veterans Homelessness in the Community

There are many in the community who do not like homeless people.  Much of this has to do with myths and misconceptions about those struggling with housing.  There are two populations which get near universal support: kids and vets.  Homeless children are innocent and did not ask to be without housing.  They are often the victim of their parents bad decisions or problems revolving around the inability for the parent to find a job or maintain housing.  Veterans are viewed by most as the "deserving poor" because they served their country, and often have problems associated with the trauma or personal demons from combat.

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Panhandling Ruled Constitutional by Appeals Court

The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals (which covers Ohio and Michigan) upheld a lower court decision that found the Grand Rapids Police gave a ticket to two homeless people for asking for money.  The court ruled the statute that made it a crime to beg for money illegal.  The court found that this was an infringement on the free speech protections of the First Amendment.  The court found that the Supreme Court has never specifically ruled that an individual asking for money is engaged in expression, they did find that organizations were protected for soliciting charitable funds.  The court found that Michigan had the right to regulate soliciting funds.  It could not prohibit begging for money by criminal law.

The Detroit News has a nice summary of the ruling here.  The two individuals, James Speet and Ernest Sims, sued in federal court to dismiss the ticket.  Speet was holding a sign that said, "Cold and Hungry, God Bless." He pled guilty when the police issued his ticket, and was unable to pay the $198 fine.  

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Advocates Support ABA Homeless Resolution

This will not likely make much national news, but it should be mentioned.  On August 12, the American Bar Association (ABA) House of Delegates passed a resolution calling on the U.S. government at all levels to promote and implement the human right to housing.
 
In the resolution, the ABA "urges governments to promote the human right to adequate housing for all through increased funding, development and implementation of affordable housing strategies and to prevent infringement of that right."
 
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Housing 101 Workshop for September

The Housing101 workshop is an opportunity to learn more about housing and sign up to use the HousingCleveland.org website.  It is directed at staff working with very low income and homeless people including social workers, case worker, and advocates.  One goal is to get more case workers signed up to use the Special Needs functions of Housing Cleveland.org.  The other goal is to teach case workers about how to access fair housing, central intake and permanent supportive housing.  Finally, the goal is to teach participants about the basic landlord tenant law. 

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Cuts to the Shelter Dollars Announced

The Department of Housing and Urban Development announced the allocation for new projects in the United States.  Cleveland/Cuyahoga County asked for $25.59 million, but received only $24.28 million.   Local officials are happy and "grateful" that they only received a 5% cut.  There was a new Permanent Supportive Housing Project and more Shelter Plus Care vouchers.   The million dollars lost would have helped disabled homeless people pay rent to exit the shelters.

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Rights of LGBT Community and Homelessness

The last Cuyahoga Affordable Housing Alliance meeting this week featured Kris Keniray of the Housing Research and Advocacy Center gave a presentation on a change in the fair housing law being implemented by the Department of Housing and Urban Development.  In 2012, HUD published the rule which regulates all programs funded by federal housing dollars provides for equal access to housing regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity (contained in the Federal Register Feb. 3, 2012 Vol. 77 No. 23).  The new rules went into effect on March 5, 2012, and governs Public Housing, the Voucher program, Block Grant funding, HOME dollars, FHA mortgages, and even Emergency Shelter grants.


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We Won Our Extension of our Voter ID Agreement

Federal District Court Judge Algenon Marbley released his decision this morning to extend our agreement with the State of Ohio through the next Presidential Election at the end of 2016.   We had asked for an agreement through 2024 (so three presidential elections) and we got one.   This only means we need to work for a clarification of the law in the next four years or seek additional time on the agreement if there is still a need based on the issues that come up in 2014 or 2016.  It is likely that the State of Ohio attorneys who advocated on behalf of Secretary of State Jon Husted that the agreement should end will appeal this decision.

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Affordable Housing Stories in the News

There are a bunch of stories in the media over the last few weeks about affordable housing. The first and most important was the Plain Dealer support for the Low Income Housing Tax Credit program that the Cleveland Housing Network called our attention to in their newsletter.  In an article by one of the reporters separated from the Plain Dealer wrote about the concern by advocates over the loss of the Tax Credit program.  The tax credit program is not the best way to develop affordable housing because the housing is not really affordable to the lowest income people in our community, but it is still an important program.  Typically, the rents are reduced but they are not reduced to the point of the housing voucher program or Public Housing.  

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Congress Holds Hearing on Poverty without Anyone Living in Poverty

Congressman and Republican Vice Presidential candidate Paul Ryan hosted a hearing on poverty in America and failed to include anyone currently living in poverty.  NEOCH is in business to provide a voice to those often forgotten by society, and we could have provided any number of individuals to help illustrate the point.  We could have sent a number of our Street Voices speakers such as Don to talk about long term health issues that keep him living in poverty.   The long waits for the state to determine if a person is in fact disabled and deserves government support to keep them in poverty for the rest of their lives is another reason for poverty in America. 

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New Homeless Chronicle is on the Streets

The new issue of the Street Chronicle is now on the streets.  All the vendors have picked up their paper and are on the streets selling the paper.  A number of interns provided much of the content, which is exceptional for this paper.  We have a story about the new Veterans Center on Euclid Ave. and one about the Free Clinic of Greater Cleveland. Many of the vendors added stories to this issue including one from Diana who was going blind while living in the shelters.  Delores reflected on her friend Linda, and Buzzy wrote about his new apartment.   An especially revealing article was from Jennifer who talked about the relationship between domestic violence and the child custody issues locally.

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New Staff at Critical Social Service Agencies

Diane Gatto was appointed as the Director of First Call for Help/211 in Cleveland.  This is a United Way critical program for the community that is often forgotten because it works so effectively.   They offer essential referral help to those looking for food, shelter, health care, job training or legal assistance. They regularly update treatment services available and they can provide for all the hotlines numbers (domestic violence, rape crisis, suicide prevention, and veteran's services) anytime.   211 operates 24 hours and they have a fantastic website that is regularly updated.  All the information that they provide is verified on a regular basis.  Diane has been with the organization for years and knows everything about running a telephone referral system.

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Update on Legal Assistance for Poor People

If you want to see one of the  biggest casualties of the 2008 financial downturn visit the lobby of the Legal Aid Society on Tuesday mornings.  You will see long lines, many turned away, and the harm inflicted on legal assistance programs for the poor in the United States with the cut in the interest paid in trust accounts and a decrease in public assistance.  Just when millions were in need of a lawyer to help them weed through the foreclosure crisis and battling the big banks and mortgage companies, the legal aid societies across America reduced staff.  In Cleveland, they had to layoff 8 staff last year and had to limit their services.

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Sewer District to Present at CAHA

We have all seen the fee added to our Sewer District bills to improve the storm sewer overflow system in Northeast Ohio, but how will these new fees impact the preservation and development of affordable housing in Cleveland?   At the August 5, 2013, Cuyahoga Affordable Housing Alliance meeting we will have staff from the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District present to talk about the fees and what commercial entities can do to reduce costs.  Businesses are being assessed for every square foot of concrete and the water that comes off buildings going into the sewer. 

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Josh Memorial Featured Thunderstorm

There are no words to express my inability to understand what happened with Josh.  I found this nice picture of Josh in our archive from 2006 or 2007 from a happier time.  I was able to attend a respectful memorial last week in Cleveland for Josh, and everyone who spoke talked about his dedication and commitment to social justice.  It was a hot and steamy evening in Cleveland on Friday July 19, 2013, and at the close of the ceremony the sky opened up for a short thunderstorm. 

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Grapevine Vendor, Linda, Passes Away

We lost Linda, a Grapevine vendor this last week.  Her service was July 18, 2013 at Carey's Funeral Home on Lorain Ave.   You may remember her at the West Side Market selling the papers.  She also wrote for the paper.  She was an environmentalist who loved cats.  She had a great deal of trouble keeping stable housing throughout her life, and she was overtaken by cancer this last year.  Linda had a rough life and struggled with behavioral health issues.  I remember that she met a lot of politicians at the West Side Market when she was selling the paper, and she always offered her opinions on the state of the nation.

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How Do We Respond To the Extreme Heat and Homelessness?

This has been a rough week in Cleveland for those who are homeless and do not want to go into shelter.  Five days of heat advisories have been tough on the population.  On Monday evening, a man died outside of the main shelter, and we are waiting for the Medical Examiner to make a decision on the cause of death of this 70 year old homeless individual.  The men’s shelter has opened earlier in the day all this week, and is trying to keep the lines down and has offered water to everyone around the facility.  The Volunteers of America outreach are handing out gallons of water this week as they conduct their outreach on the streets.

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Social Security Makes it Harder for Homeless People

Cleveland is one of the few communities in the United States to have a collaborative ID program for homeless people.  This was organized way back in 2005 by one of our VISTAs, Joseph, at NEOCH with most of the homeless programs in Cleveland participating.  The program is led by staff at West Side Catholic and St. Colman's Catholic Church.  Last week, we were notified that the Social Security Administration had tightened their rules and will not give a printout indicating the individual has a social security number without proof of citizenship and identity. 

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Do We Believe that the Ohio Secretary of State Will Help More People to Vote?

There was nice coverage of the hearing yesterday in federal court by Associated Press Reporter Ann Sanner in the Akron Beacon Journal and the Columbus Dispatch and the Cincinnati Enquirer.  Why, in the home city of the lead plaintiff, NEOCH, was there no coverage?  I do not know.   But anyway, it was an interesting court hearing down in Columbus.  Our lawyers were in Federal Court asking for an extension of the agreement we finalized with the State of Ohio in 2010.  We have signed an agreement with the State over voters use of Identification before every election since the law was passed in the lame duck session of 2005.

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Medicaid Expansion Rally in Columbus

 Late Tuesday morning we boarded the van at NOBLE/Organize!Ohio offices and headed to Columbus for the Medicaid Expansion rally.  Knowing in advance that the politicians of the House and Senate were on their respective breaks, I did not think this was going to be much of a trip.  The rally was being held indoors in the atrium of the Capitol, which in hindsight should have sounded off bells and whistles.  After taking the elevator to the first floor, we approached the entrance to the atrium and immediately ran into a wall of humanity.

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Voting and New Statistics Added to the Website

We have added the press release on our site regarding the temporary victory over the state to extend our voting agreement.  We have a hearing in Federal Court this Friday at 2 p.m. in Columbus.  We hope to extend the consent decree from the 2008 election beyond this year.   There are new circumstances and the law has not changed.  We all thought that the state would reform their voting law by now.  We thought with the long lines and all the lawsuits the state would have forced a compromise on a new law.

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Family Pets and Homelessness

We received a call in the office today from a woman who was in need of rental assistance to prevent an eviction.  This is not unusual since we get about four of eviction calls per day.  This is by far the single greatest need in the community, but what made this especially difficult is that she had a pet.  She was looking for a shelter that accepted pets.  There are none.  All shelters will, of course, accept service animals, but none will accept a pet.  There are allergies, health regulations, and liability issues that make it impossible for the shelters to allow animals.

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Family Overflow Shelter Constructed This Summer in Cleveland

Over the past few months, NEOCH, Frontline Services, formerly MHS Inc., and Cuyahoga County have been working to address the rising problem of family homelessness. Each May, Cuyahoga County sees a rise in families in need of housing—a rise that continues to increase throughout the summer and lasts into early fall. Many reasons can cause this rise in homelessness, ranging from relocation in warmer weather, an end to the school year for kids, or personal reasons unique to each family. For more information on the causes of family homelessness, see our past blog post here. 

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Advocates Push for Medicaid Expansion in Ohio

Despite advocates, health care professionals, business leaders, and social service providers agreeing that Ohio needs an expansion of Medicaid, the Ohio legislature failed to include the expansion in the 2013-2015 budget.  This will mean that at this point 275,000 additional Ohioans will not be able to take advantage of Obamacare in 2014.  On Tuesday July 9th at 1 p.m. advocates will gather at the State Capital Atrium in Columbus to urge the Governor to push Medicaid expansion through the legislature.

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Joshua Kanary Event Planned for July 19

The family and friends of Josh Kanary will gather on Friday July 19, 2013 at 7 p.m. at St. Paul’s Community Church 4427 Franklin Blvd. (near St. Herman’s) on the Near West Side of Cleveland.  Rev. Jim Link will officiate and his friends Emily and Sarah (pictured next to Josh here)  will organize the program to remember Josh.   There was a memorial in May in Toledo and many of his friends in Cleveland were not able to attend the services.

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Councilman Brancatelli will Speak to CAHA on Monday

Councilman Tony Brancatelli, the Chair of the Community and Economic Development Committee, will attend the next Cuyahoga Affordable Housing Alliance meeting to present to the group.  CAHA is at the lower level of the HUD offices at 1350 Euclid Ave. in the US Bank building on July 8 at 1:30 p.m.   He will talk about the City of Cleveland's efforts to clean up after the foreclosure crisis.  He will talk about the City Budget for community development in light of federal austerity and budget cuts from Sequestration.  Finally, he is expected to answer questions regarding the development of affordable housing in Cleveland.

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Atlanta Race and Politics and Nonprofits

The June 16, 2013 edition of the Atlanta Progressive News has an interesting article about Race, Poverty and Non-Profits in Atlanta.  I am no fan of Atlanta, but Matthew Cardinale has a "devastating critique" of the city and the leading non-profits.  He makes the point that Atlanta Georgia is the "birthplace of the Civil Rights Movement" with the King Center a wealth of history in the new Capital of the South, but is also the city that has led a war on poor people.   He lists an amazing resuscitation of crimes against the poor by the City of Atlanta including prioritizing both the public hospital and the schools, destroying public housing, and making it illegal to be visibly homeless. 

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County Council Awards Funds for Veterans

I don't know how we missed this, but the County redirected Veteran's Service Commission money to other veterans programs in Cuyahoga County.  Who knew that the Veteran's Commission money (as much as $1 million per year) was being returned to Cuyahoga County general revenue fund every year.  The new government decided that these funds should go to veterans as they were intended.  In June, the Council approved $733,000 to various government and charities that serve veterans locally.

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A Sad Day in America

Homeless people in Ohio care about voting rights and the Voting Rights Act.  In Cleveland, around 78% of the homeless population are African American, and there are similar numbers in most of the large American cities.  The VRA is important because homeless people do vote, and NEOCH has always made voting a priority issue.   We have been engaged in a lawsuit with the State of Ohio over identification issues since 2006, and we are working to extend that lawsuit for the next few years to protect access to voting in person on Election Day for those without identification in the statewide election of 2014 and the national 2016 Presidential Election. 

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NEOCH Releases Voting Report and Press Release

The Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless spent a great deal of time in 2012 assisting homeless people to vote. We worked on our identification lawsuit to assure that a homeless person who shows up to vote in person on Election Day without identification, they should have the opportunity to vote.  We also drove hundreds over to the Board of Elections early to vote.  State Rep Nickie Antonio and State Senator Nina Turner monitor Board of Elections on Saturday November 3, 2012 We registered thousands within the shelters between the shelter staff and NEOCH staff.  We also physically took over 200 people to vote and registered over 300.

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NCH Hires a New Executive Director

The Board of Directors of the National Coalition for the Homeless, of which I am a member, announced this week the appointment of Jerry Jones as its new Executive Director. Jones follows the successful work of Neil Donovan, who stepped down from this role in May.

Board President John Parvensky announced the new hire: "Homelessness in America is a national tragedy that has been tolerated for far too long. We can no longer stand quietly while budgets are cut and our political leaders try to manage the problem rather than solve it.

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Check Out our Facebook Page

Kim, our volunteer who created the Facebook page, has been out sick for the past month, but we have kept the page updated in her absence (Search Clevelandhomeless).  We have some nice photo albums including five photos from Cynthia Miller one of the original Grapevine photography projects.   There are also photos of our vendors in their uniforms and photos from the pancake breakfast.  We also post events that about homelessness and housing in Ohio on the Facebook page.

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Dan Kerr Does Community Organizing in DC Now

Dan Kerr, a founder of Food Not Bombs in Cleveland and writer of Derelict Paradise is now teaching at American University in Washington DC and working on a history project of the Center for Creative Non-Violence Shelter.  Here are where the actual oral histories are kept about homelessness in DC.  Professor Kerr cut his teeth in Cleveland where he would interview people after the meal downtown about homelessness.

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Toledo Providers Object to Central Intake

The Department of Housing and Urban Development is pushing an untested strategy of centralizing the intake on homeless people.  They are urging cities to undertake this system where everyone goes to the same place to be screened for the best path off the streets. Cleveland moved to a Central Intake model in 2008 for men, and in 2012 for families.  The shelters that receive public money must participate in the Central Intake.  The benefits are that shelters cannot screen people out who are hard to serve as they had done in the past.  The problem in Cleveland is that the Central Intake are in shelters which draws more people to shelter.   


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HUD to Close on Friday Because of Sequestration

On Friday June 14, you will not be able to call the Department of Housing and Urban Development to get a copy of a housing list because of Sequestration.  You will not be able to talk to a human being if you want to find out the procedure for filing a fair housing complaint.  You will not be able to figure out who to talk to find out if a landlord receives federal dollars to house low income or homeless people because the HUD offices will be closed.  This furlough day is to satisfy Congressional demands to reduce the federal budget.

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Anna Louise Inn Sold in Cincy

I was reading the Streetvibes (Cincinnati's Street newspaper) from Cincinnati and they detailed the sale of the Anna Louise Inn to developers.   We covered this last year with a call for boycotting Western and Southern over their bullying of this shelter and permanent supportive housing.   The folks at Streetvibes and the staff of the Cincinnati Coalition are not too happy about the deal.  The shelter operator decided that the long drawn out court case was not worth it anymore.  Developers had paid enough so that the shelter could relocate to a new facility and serve the same number of women.

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County Responds to Family Homelessness

Each summer as school ends and warmer weather (usually) begins, more and more families find themselves without shelter and a place to sleep. Family homelessness itself can be caused by many reasons: poverty, unemployment, difficulty accessible affordable housing, addiction, domestic violence, etc. But around every April, Cuyahoga County slowly sees a rise in the number of families in need of shelter. Why the rise now?

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Emergency Shelter Grant Takes Major Hit in Cleveland

The City of Cleveland received some unexpected news about a large decrease in funds for the Emergency Solutions Grant which supports the emergency shelters and the housing rental assistance programs in Cleveland.  City and County staff have not developed a plan yet for how these reduced funds will be distributed locally.  It was reported by HUD that Cleveland would receive a 22% decrease in funds while Akron received a 25% decrease.

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Religious Support to Reduce Family Homelessness

On May 28^th, a group of representatives from Mental Health Services, Inc., Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless, local churches and community activists met to address the rising problem of family homelessness in Cleveland.   Family homelessness is a distinctly different problem in that it dramatically increases during the summer months when school ends and kids are not in school and may make it difficult for grandmothers or friends to maintain their house.

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New Street Chronicle Available in Cleveland

The new issue of the Street Chronicle is available and on the streets of Cleveland.  Make sure you pick one up from your favorite local vendor.  They are available on the streets of Cleveland and always at the West Side Market.  There are some fantastic photos from the rally down in Columbus asking for Medicaid expansion, the pancake breakfast, and the new vendor uniforms.   There are stories from each of the vendors of the paper.  There are news stories about the Homeless Congress and the new Cleveland Foodbank program.  We have a couple of poems including one by our departed friend Daniel Thompson. 

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Secretary of State Issues Fraud Press Release

The Ohio Secretary of State issued a press release about referrals of fraud to the Ohio Attorney.  This was a bizarre release about the lack of voter suppression in the last election, which was strange since we witnessed offensive billboards put up in the inner City of Cleveland.   The release claims that there was not an "epidemic," but there were some irregularities in the last election.  Out of 5.7 million voters, there were only 135 suspicious ballots which is the farthest away from an epidemic that you could ever get.  There was no discussion of the long lines that are a form of voter suppression.  There was no discussion of not allowing weekend voting another voter suppression activity.

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Memorial Day: Remember those Veterans Who are Homeless

Today is Memorial Day in the United States.  A time when we remember those serving the United States who gave the ultimate sacrifice.  It is great that there are hundreds of volunteers cleaning up cemeteries, and attending memorials or parades.   But what if we remembered those veterans who are largely forgotten by our society but not dead?  There are large numbers of veterans who are homeless and living in isolation from our society including a large number of vets still from the Viet Nam era. 

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Mental Health System Full of Holes in Ohio

The Dispatch estimated that taxpayers pick up $1.3 million from the Franklin County jail because of untreated mental health care. This does not include the billions of unreimbursed care at the emergency rooms throughout Ohio that taxpayers pick up.   The Dispatch mentioned the significant cuts to the Mental Health system since 2007.  One of the surprising advocates has been Governor John Kasich. The Dispatch mentioned that Kasich's brother is mentally ill.   He approved a budget that cut mental health agencies in 2011, and most agencies were happy that they did not receive a bigger cut.   The Governor's rhetoric has been very good, but the actions have not followed suit.

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Cleveland Endorses National Housing Trust

At the May 13, Cleveland City Council meeting the members passed a resolution in support of HR 1213, the Common Sense Housing Investment Act of 2013.  The goal is to get all of our local Congressional members to endorse this campaign.  The United for Homes campaign under the direction of the National Low Income Housing Coalition worked over the last few years to develop a strategy to fund the National Housing Trust.  Congress created the trust, but the funding source collapsed as the 2008 housing bubble burst. 

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Family Homelessness Almanac Published

We received a beautiful and comprehensive American Almanac of Family Homelessness published by the Institute for Children, Poverty and Homelessness.
 
This is a huge book in the style of a coffee table book from the 1970s.  Every page has some wonderful charts or graphs. For policy wonks this book is not to miss.  There is a page dedicated to each state with statistics on the major cities within those states.  These stats are based on flawed Annual counts, which dramatically undercounts families.

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Missing Persons Website a Needed Improvement

Back in 2009, NEOCH wrote about the gruesome discovery of 11 women in the home of a serial killer.  These women were in effect homeless women who made the fateful decision to reject shelter and instead found a home with a predator.  Then in 2011, a report was issued by the City of Cleveland in response to the perception that the City dropped the ball on preventing the deaths of 11 women on Imperial Ave.  The missing persons report (click on the pdf in the middle of the page) provided a series of recommendations for improving missing persons searches.

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Local Reports from DC National Meetings

One of the best part of the meeting of the National Coalition for the Homeless meeting is hearing the local updates from around the United States.  It is good to hear that the struggles in Cleveland are nothing compared to some of the other areas of the country.   Every once in a while there are victories that we could all learn to replicate locally.
South Dakota
Has decided not to expand Medicaid.  Worked to establish a state Housing Trust Fund in March 2013, and part of the fund goes to economic development.

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Pancake Breakfast Successful

The National Honor Society Members of St. Josephs Academy organized a Pancake Breakfast last Saturday to raise money for NEOCH.  These future leaders of Cleveland took a Saturday to help out homeless families in Cleveland.   They found donations of food and coffee for the breakfast.  They raised $1,250 to help us publish the Family Street Card, and continue to organize around the effort to meet the overflow demand of Moms and Kids that we know will show up at the shelters this summer.  These funds will help us staff the partnership to bring religious organizations to the table to assist MHS keep families together this summer. 

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Come to Thursday City Council Hearing

Many governmental bodies including the County Council are not big on these pieces of legislation that urge other governments to do something.   I know that they are symbolic and don't have a lot of impact, but I like them.  It is a chance for your local elected officials to state their positions and identify what proposals they would like to see enacted, but are not in their purview to regulate.  It makes it easier for voters to know the values of their local leaders, and makes it easier to select candidates to support for higher office. 

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Sequestration Means Shelter/Programs Close in 2014

We have posted more detailed information after staff met with senior HUD officials in our membership site.  You can only get to it by logging in to the site.  It is posted in the Member HUB section of the website.  You have to be a member to get access to the member section, but we try to include detailed information for those working in the system or want additional information for their advocacy.

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We Worry About Michelle Knight and the Other Kidnap Victims

Michelle Knight was the taken first and so she endured the torture for the largest number of years.  If media reports are correct she was beaten and held alone in the basement for years chained like an animal for a dozen years rarely being outside.  There were no rallies or missing person flyers hung up for Ms. Knight.  She lived a troubled life before her kidnapping, and her mom moved to Florida after not hearing from her daughter for a couple of years.  The community were not aware that she was even missing, and so she is basically without a place to return upon her discharge from the hospital.

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Family Homelessness on the Rise: Houses of Worship Asked to Respond

Every summer family homelessness increases in Cleveland.  Last year we had record numbers, and we need help.  We don't necessarily need space, but we need volunteers, hygiene items, care kits, and support for the family shelters in Cleveland.  The first meeting in April, there was discussion about an overflow plan for the summer.  We are working on finalizing that plan over the next few weeks.  The goal is to not turn anyone away from shelter and to keep families together.  If you are a member of a religious congregations social justice committee, or your House of Worship youth committee, or your hunger and homeless committee we want you to attend the meeting.   Tuesday May 28, 2013 at 5:30 p.m. at the Mental Health Services main building.

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Bill Faith at CAHA on May 6

The next Cuyahoga Affordable Housing Alliance meeting is May 6, 2013 at HUD (1350 Euclid Ave) in the US Bank Building lower level at 1:30 p.m.  We will have the Executive Director of the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio, Bill Faith who will give an overview of the state budget process, talk about some national policy issues, and the protection of the state housing trust fund. Bill is the leading advocate down in Columbus for the past 20 years on housing and homelessness.

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Josh Kanary: An Intimate Portrait From a Co-Worker

Anyone who met Josh Kanary would describe him as kind, but he was far more than a surface-level "nice person." He was a guy who devoted his life to helping people -- to fight for the underdog, to focus on the otherwise forgotten. He was a homeless advocate, a community organizer, a self-described "oddity in an American world" who was about to receive his master's degree in social work. I met Josh while working at the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless (NEOCH).

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Former NEOCH Staff Dies

NEOCH was fortunate to have Joshua Kanary work for us between 2005 to 2009.  He began his career as an AmeriCorps*VISTA member serving the United States for two years here locally.  He was soft spoken and would go out of his way to help people.  We received word from two former employees that Josh had passed away over the last two days. Larry Davis, our volunteer coordinator, was hired by Josh and worked closely with him at our West Side location.  He could not believe the news, and wants to gather people for a local remembrance.  We are all terribly sad today to hear the news of his death at such a young age.

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Pancake Breakfast this Weekend

We hope that you will support the Coalition by attending the pancake breakfast being organized by the National Honor Society students at St. Josephs Academy.  It is Saturday May 4 from 9 to 1 p.m. at the Dining Hall on the St. Joseph's campus.  We thank CareSource for providing the funds to buy the supplies for this fundraiser.  This is the first year for this collaboration, and we hope to raise the issue of the increases in family homelessness.  We anticipate another rough summer and we hope to distribute additional resources to meet the demand. 

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Government Programs Do Work #2

The affordable housing website was created by funding from Fannie Mae (before they turned to the dark side) and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.   There is a need for a list of housing that is available to the public in every city.   There must be a free resource available for landlords to list their apartments and those apartments that accept a voucher.  This service is a prime example of private--public partnership.   Socialserve.com is a non-profit organization funded by government and the quasi government organization in Fannie Mae Foundation.  We call it HousingCleveland or HousingOhio locally and it has been active in Cleveland since 2005, and in 2011 we crossed one million searches done in one year.

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We Mourn the Loss of a Good Reporter

I have met with hundreds of reporters about homelessness in the last 18 years.  Most are zoned out just doing their job in getting the facts.  There are some who are so burnt out that they don't care about anything you are saying.  I swear you could say, "Homeless people are planning an armed overthrow of the Human Services building" to some of these reporters and they would not even flinch or follow up.  There are a few reporters that care deeply about their subject matter and listen and try to interpret exactly what the subject of their interview is talking about.  I don't want to mention specific people, because I know that I will miss some.

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Day Care Horrors Featured on Fresh Air

There was a lengthy article in the New Republic by Jonathan Cohn about the crisis in the Day Care industry in America.  The story weaves in the tragedy of one Houston area home day care throughout the long expose on day care in America.  The Houston day care center had many children and the lone care taker left oil heating on the stove and went to Target and Starbucks while her house caught on fire and four of the children died.   This may be the extreme, but the facts surrounding day care speak for themselves.

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Drumplay Plans Second Daniel Thompson Concert

The Drumplay folks are doing a second show to remember the poetry of Daniel Thompson.  April is the anniversary of his birth (also national poetry month), and so there is always a great deal of activity.  Of course, poetry in the spring is always the best time of year to be open to the creative uses of the English language. 

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Rally in Columbus for Medicaid Expansion

 On Tuesday, April 9^th, a bus load of Cleveland lobbyist, assembled and organized by Northern Ohioans for Budget Legislation Equality (NOBLE),  headed to Columbus to voice their concerns on the items that were going to make up the 2013 Ohio State budget.  The headlining issue was the Medicaid Expansion suspected of being removed from the budget.  Teams of delegations were formed and we headed out to either planned appointments or several unscheduled stop-ins on officials that could not meet with a delegation.

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Thanks to Forest City Employees for the Donations

Thanks to the staff at ForestCity Enterprises in Cleveland, Ohio for collecting hygiene items and delivering six big boxes today to our offices.  They have a "Jeans Day for Charity" program in which staff pay for the ability to wear jeans to work.  They took our list from our website and collected items such as soaps, toothpaste and deodorant, blankets, towels, and hand sanitizers. 

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Vendors with New Uniform Featured in PD

One good reason to buy the paper today is to get a look at the nice Gus Chan photo on the front page of the Plain Dealer Metro Section today.  I know that you can see it on-line or on your tablet, but it looks best on the printed paper.  Plus there is a special bonus picture on page B3 today. We have included our own pictures on the new uniforms here, but the Plain Dealer featured a nice article about the changes in Public Square and our vendors trying to regain a foot hold in the Downtown.
 
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Government Can Solve Problems 1

Government has taken a beating beginning with "government is not the solution to our problem;, government is our problem" and continuing with "the era of big government is over;" falling dramatically from the lofty ideas first collected in 1787 as the preamble to the Constitution.  Government has figured out a way to heal after a Civil War, a way to regulate against food that killed, destroy an evil political ideaology that had swept Europe and put a man on the moon after a 10 year goal was set.  They have developed a way to bring states back from the brink when they refused to enforce court ordered integration of schools with the Civil Rights Act and the important Voting Rights Act.

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Organize!Ohio Bus Trip to Columbus

Organize!Ohio and the Advocates at NOBLE are planning a trip to Columbus to lobby state officials on state budget issues including Medicaid expansion and more dollars for the local community.  The advocates want an increase in support for safety net services such as health care, public transportation, and food programs.  You can reserve your space on the bus by calling Kameelah at 216/651-2606.  The bus leaves Tuesday April 9 at 8 a.m. from Merrick House in Tremont. 

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Summer Internships Available

NEOCH has a couple of interns already assigned to work on solutions to homelessness this summer, but we still have two additional spots available.  You can apply by sending an e-mail to NEOCH to request an application.  We have a flyer below to entice you to participate in our internship program and we have a web page with descriptions.

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Legal Assistance Schedule Released

The Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association and the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless have released the schedule for Homeless Legal Assistance for 2013.  We lost one site on the East Side, but the basic schedule remains the same.

We are looking for additional attorneys to volunteer to expand the number of clinic sites.  We would love to see a monthly clinic at the new Veterans Resources on Euclid Ave. or one at the Domiciliary over in University Circle.  We would also love to find an attorney for the Carl B. Stokes Center where there are two homeless programs.

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Calling All Religious Organizations to Help Homeless Families

We are inviting Religious Leaders to a meeting on April 30, 2013 at 5:30 p.m. at 1744 Payne Ave. (the MHS administrative offices) to discuss opportunities for collaboration.  NEOCH is planning this meeting with the largest homeless social service provider in our community, Mental Health Services.  Our goal is to figure out what resources religious groups can bring to the table.  We would like to explain the new referral system for obtaining a shelter bed, and we want you to hear from us what we kind of help we need to serve homeless families.

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Housing 101 Workshop May 17, 2013

The first Housing 101 workshop was so successful we have scheduled a second one.
Friday May 17, 2013
10 a.m to 1 p.m. at
NEOCH 3631 Perkins Ave.
3 Social Work CEUs
There are only 10 spaces left, so we ask that you RSVP if you are interested in attending
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Danel Thompson Event This Month

On the eve of what would have been Daniel's 78th birthday, poets and percussionists will gather to celebrate the "Famous in the Neighborhood" poet.  Maj Ragain, Bill Kennedy, Ray McNiece, Larry Smith, James Onysko, and Ernie Krivda will gather to perform some of his poetry with a number of musicians at the Lakewood Public Library front porch.  Thompson toured with Drumplay belting out his poetry while the percussionists and saxophone players performed.

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NCH Looking for a New Executive Director

The National Coalition for the Homeless Announced last week that they were seeking a new Executive Director for the organization.  They have an announcement on their website here.  I am board member of NCH, so am somewhat biased here.  It is sad to see Neil Donovan leave the organization.  He has been with the organization since 2009 turning the organization around after a rough period.  He worked well with the staff and restored some of the credibility of the organization at the National level.

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New Uniformed Vendors to Compete Against Panhandlers

The Cleveland Street Chronicle vendors gathered on Public Square yesterday for their bi-weekly meeting and to meet the media.  Unfortunately, no television media showed up, but we took plenty of pictures for the upcoming issue.  We are working to professionalize the vendor crew and compete better with the panhandlers.  The vendors want to retake the Downtown against the panhandlers.  They went through a customer service training and have the bright green uniforms in the hopes that pedestrians view them as more professional and trustworthy. 

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Voting Champions for Homeless People

One of the most important things that NEOCH did in 2012 was our work registering homeless people and encouraging those individuals to step up to the ballot box to vote.  We have to recognize our main partner in this effort is Cuyahoga County.  The County is one of the only in the country that measures every shelter on how they encourage their residents to vote.  Ruth Gillett of the Office of Homeless Services has always made this a priority, and we certainly thank her for making this a priority issue.  We co-hosted a training in April 2012 with all the providers to discuss the proper procedure for registering and then assuring that voters actually show up to vote. 

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NEOCH Organization Highlights for 2012

Advocacy

• NEOCH staff did a great deal work on national and local level regarding the dramatic changes taking place with regard to funding for shelters, and the federal cuts to housing and services.
• NEOCH spent the summer and fall of 2012 working to register and then get homeless people to vote. We worked with all the shelters and housing programs to register their constituents and then mobilize them to vote.  NEOCH staff registered 324 voters and 93% of those individuals took the time to cast a ballot—only 2 people voted on Election Day.

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Annual Meeting Looks to the Future

At the NEOCH Annual Meeting last week approximately 30 people attended to enjoy Interim Executive Director Gino Scarselli's home made lasagna.  We have to thank Ohio City Pasta for donating the pasta for the Annual Meeting.  The NEOCH Board gave out awards which can be seen elsewhere on the blog. Gino also gave an overview of all the work we did in 2012, and the important role the Coalition has in the community. 

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Larry Davis Completes His Service

Larry Davis has worked as the NEOCH volunteer coordinator for the past eight years.  Here he is pictured preaching to guests at the 2012 Annual Meeting on March 20, 2013.  He has set up the Annual Blanket Drive and coordinated transportation issues for the Annual Homeless Stand Down.  He has scheduled volunteers to work here at NEOCH and the Street Voices speakers.

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NEOCH Annual Meeting Success

The Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless held its annual meeting for 2012 this week.  It is a time to reflect on the past and look forward.  The Board sets an agenda for 2013 and elects a new group of officers.  The most important thing that we do is give out awards to people who have gone above and beyond to serve homeless people over the last year or provided a lifetime of service to the community.

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The Rise of Disabled Americans

This weekend the entire hour of This American Life radio program was dedicated to the issues associated with Social Security Disability.  The program dedicated the whole hour to Chana Joffe Walt exploring the SSDI program after noticing a sharp increase in the numbers.   She looked at the lawyers who help get people the proper appeal, the children who are ruled disabled, and the states that are using the program as an alternative to welfare.  There are now 14 million currently living on disability which averages around $13,000 per year. 

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Legal Assistance to the Low Income

There was a nice article in the Atlantic this week regarding the right to legal assistance marking the 50th anniversary of the Supreme Court case that guaranteed a right to counsel.  NPR also did a similar story this morning.  We wrote about access to legal counsel in the latest issue of the Street Chronicle by Greg and then a follow up question and answer article by a staff member of the ACLU about this issue.  This is a huge problem within the homeless community, and can significantly increase the stay in a shelter.

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Sequestration and Homeless People

We have a complete Advocacy Alert on our website here, but here is our best guess of what the impact on homeless people in Cleveland will be with the Sequestration.  We are most concerned about CMHA and the impact of this and the Continuing Resoltion has on Public Housing.  You can check out our advocacy alerts here.

Public Housing saw an 11% decline in the amount of money they were supposed to receive in March 2013.  This means for now they are not moving anyone into housing and freezing their budget with a hope that this will be resolved by the end of the month.
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Homeless Seniors on the Rise

NPR had a nice story about homeless seniors in Boston.  One of my favorite NPR reporters, Pam Fessler, was able to talk to a number of seniors who live outside in Boston. There was a follow up story on All Things Considered following a couple in Baltimore.   The morning story was going along really nicely with all the facts clearly laid out and then she talked to Dennis Culhane and the credibility of the story was undermined.

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New NEOCH Facebook Page

Just as Facebook is beginning to wane in our society, NEOCH has jumped in to reinvigorate our Facebook page.  We are now regularly updating our Facebook page which we have selected Clevelandhomeless as a somewhat convenient way to find us.  We hope to keep our members updated on the latest news and events with the organization. The page is updated regularly with the latest blog posts on what’s going on in Cleveland.  

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Senior Homelessness on the Rise

NPR had a nice story about homeless seniors in Boston.  One of my favorite NPR reporters, Pam Fessler, was able to talk to a number of seniors who live outside in Boston. There was a follow up story on All Things Considered following a couple in Baltimore.   The morning story was going along really nicely with all the facts clearly laid out and then she talked to Dennis Culhane and the credibility of the story was undermined.  We written before about how we do not trust the information from Culhane because he is also a paid consultant to many cities.

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What Does Sequestration Mean for Homeless People?

We have a complete Advocacy Alert on our website here, but here is our best guess of what the impact on homeless people in Cleveland will be with the Sequestration.  We are most concerned about CMHA and the impact of this and the Continuing Resoltion has on Public Housing.  You can check out our advocacy alerts here.
Public Housing saw an 11% decline in the amount of money they were supposed to receive in March 2013.  This means for now they are not moving anyone into housing and freezing their budget with a hope that this will be resolved by the end of the month.
 
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Why We Need Shelter Standards...

There is an awful story in the Huffington Post regarding the shelters in Tallahassee.  Another shelter director in the city went undercover and discovered abuse by the staff of women staying at the facility called The Shelter in Tallahassee.  Since there is very little oversight of the shelters, this could happen in any city in America.   These experiences could happen in Cleveland because the shelters govern themselves.   There are health inspections, but otherwise government takes a hands off approach to the monitoring of shelters.

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NEOCH Annual Meeting

The NEOCH Annual Meeting is next Wednesday March 20, 2013 at 5:30 p.m. at NEOCH (3631 Perkins Ave. Cleveland 44114).  Typically, at the Annual NEOCH Meeting, we:

• Release our Annual Report.
• Update the community on our 2012 Accomplishments.
• Talk to our constituents about our plans for the next year.
• Present Awards to the Social Service Voting Champions.

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Sequestration = Chaos and Confusion

Two CMHA officials gave their periodic update about the agency at the last CAHA meeting.  Media are not supposed to quote presenters at CAHA so that they can be free to be speak honestly.  But we can give you the basics of the meeting: Sequestration means chaos and confusion.  Throughout the federal government this week and with non-profit agencies receiving the bulk of their money from the federal government there are lots of meetings happening.  They are wasting human capital figuring out how to cut staff, travel, or other costs because Congress is so dysfunctional. 

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Street Chronicle Featured in the Plain Dealer

Mark Naymik wrote a nice commentary in today's Cleveland Plain Dealer about the 20th year of the Street Newspaper in Cleveland.   Mark focused on the history of NEOCH publishing a street newspaper from the Xerox copies in 1993 to the color newspaper of today.   He was able to talk to vendors Angelo and Mike (although Mike's comments did not make the final cut).   Mark did a good job with detailing the rough history of the paper in Cleveland.  From fights with the City of Cleveland to struggles keeping the vendors on the straight and narrow, we have had a tough 20 years.

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